Forced back to the capital by Ouyang Che, Ouyang Hao was naturally unhappy. But thinking about it, tomorrow was the old man’s birthday. He was angry, but only put up a token resistance.
The flight was at eleven in the evening and by the time they reached the capital, it was already midnight. As soon as he got home, Ouyang Hao went to his room and fell asleep immediately until the persistent knocking at the door woke him up the next day.
"Xiao Hao, get up, all the guests are here."
What guests? He didn’t care about any guests!
Ouyang Hao turned over and continued to sleep, ignoring everything. Who knew the knocking would continue without stopping until he couldn’t sleep at all. Annoyed, Ouyang Hao threw off the covers and walked barefoot to the door, opening it.
"Mom, can’t you let me sleep well?"
"It’s not that mom doesn’t want you to sleep, it’s just that we have important guests today, and they’re all downstairs waiting for you. If you feel sleep-deprived, you can catch up on sleep in the afternoon after they leave."
Ouyang Hao knew that wanting a peaceful sleep was not going to happen. Helplessly, he turned around, changed into some clothes, and went downstairs. He was curious, what kind of guests required his personal greeting?
It turned out that the important guests Mrs. Ou mentioned were a middle-aged couple, and next to them was a girl in her twenties.
"Xiao Hao, these two are Uncle Chen and Aunt Chen, and next to them is their daughter, Chen Rong."
"Hello, Uncle Chen, Aunt Chen, and Chen."
"So it’s Xiao Hao, you’ve grown so much. I remember back in the day, when we were in the courtyard, you were just a little boy about a meter tall, haha!" the middle-aged man said.
"Exactly, back then Xiao Hao was only six, and Rongrong was three. I still remember, Rongrong loved to play with Xiao Hao, she was practically his little shadow," Mrs. Ou laughed.
"That’s right, my daughter even said she wanted to be your son’s wife when she grew up," the middle-aged woman said.
"Mom, what are you saying? I was so young back then, how could what I said count?" Chen Rong said, embarrassed.
So these were old friends from the same courtyard, no wonder they were so close.
Ouyang Hao watched everyone in the living room chatting and finally understood why the Empress Dowager had to drag him out of bed so early; it was not just to greet guests, but more likely to introduce him to a potential match, right?
Sure enough, before he could say anything, Mrs. Ou spoke, "Xiao Hao, your Uncle and Aunt Chen have just returned to the country. Mom hasn’t seen them for many years and has a lot to catch up on. It’s all old stuff you young people wouldn’t be interested in. Why don’t you take Rongrong out for a bit."
Ouyang Hao felt a bit helpless at Mrs. Ou’s suggestion; such an old-fashioned matchmaking tactic, did they think they could fool him?
However, Ouyang Hao glanced at the girl opposite, sizing her up. She had above-average looks and excellent temperament, a typical example of a well-bred young lady.
Ordinary men might like her, but to Ouyang Hao, she was too proper and lacked some charm. But as the daughter of his mother’s old friend, he couldn’t embarrass the girl in front of everyone, so he nodded in agreement.
After getting out of the elevator, Ouyang Hao turned to the girl beside him and asked with a smile, "Where do you want to go?"
"I’m not very familiar with the area here. Wherever you think is fun, let’s go there," she replied.
A crafty glint flashed in Ouyang Hao’s eyes, and he smiled, "Anywhere is fine with you?"