Qiao Jing’s brows knitted tightly, her red lips parted slightly as she reminded Zhan Nanqing,
"Zhou Yunze is at Purple Garden."
She was very curious why Zhou Yunze would appear at Purple Garden, and moreover, why he had come out of it with Su Manhan.
Could it be that Zhou Yunze planned to start with Su Manhan?
But that didn’t make sense, because as the mother of Zhan Nanqing, Su Manhan would definitely know that the two of them had broken up. Why would she still meet with Zhou Yunze?
After hearing Qiao Jing’s words, Zhan Nanqing paused, turned back to look, but saw no car behind her.
"What? He didn’t come."
She had just finished speaking when she saw Zhou Yunze walking out together with Su Manhan.
Zhan Nanqing immediately furrowed her brows, fire flaring up in an instant as she glared fiercely at Zhou Yunze.
It didn’t take long for Su Manhan and Zhou Yunze to approach the group.
When Su Manhan saw Chi Yuhang, she nodded in approval, her face blossoming into a smile.
"Nanqing, your boyfriend is so handsome. Why didn’t you tell me? That suit fits him perfectly."
Zhan Nanqing watched Zhou Yunze intently, gripping Chi Yuhang’s hand even tighter.
"Of course, I helped him choose this suit. It has to fit well."
Chi Yuhang had not expected to encounter Zhan Nanqing’s mother before he even had a chance to go in.
Yet he didn’t forget the training from yesterday and immediately greeted her politely.
"Hello Auntie, my name is Chi Yuhang."
Su Manhan smiled and nodded her head, stepping forward to meet them.
"So it’s Xiao Hang. I just happened to see you all hesitating to come in through the surveillance, so I came out to see what was holding you up."
After saying that, she quickly walked over to Qiao Jing’s side and asked in a lower voice,
"Qiao Jing, what do you think of him?"
Qiao Jing glanced at Su Manhan and responded in an equally subdued voice.
"I can’t tell for now, but they seem to be very affectionate at the moment."
The smile on Su Manhan’s face deepened as she looked at Chi Yuhang with increasing approval.
"That’s great, that’s great. All I want is for their relationship to be good."
Qiao Jing hummed softly in affirmation and narrowed her cool eyes slightly. Her expression was cold as she scrutinized Zhou Yunze with a probing gaze from head to toe.
"Madam Zhan, who is this?"
Upon hearing Qiao Jing’s inquiry, the smile on Su Manhan’s face stiffened slightly as she glanced at Zhou Yunze.
"He is the eldest young master of the Zhou Family, named Zhou Yunze. Today he specially came at his mother’s request to bring some gifts for my visit."
Zhou Yunze felt a chill down his back under Qiao Jing’s stare, a sense of fear inexplicably rising from his spine.
He was so frightened that he almost forgot to respond to Su Manhan, but regained composure and nodded in agreement after a moment.
"Right, my mother sent me to see Auntie Su. Auntie Su, and who might this be?"
It was their first meeting, no grievances whatsoever; why did she look at him with such eyes?
Moreover, her intimidating gaze made him somewhat uneasy, yet it also strangely gave him a feeling of deja vu.
Su Manhan, proud, looped her arm through Qiao Jing’s and began to introduce her to Zhou Yunze.
"This is my daughter-in-law. You didn’t attend Qipei’s wedding previously, so you haven’t met her, right? Her name is Qiao Jing."
Zhou Yunze nodded in sudden realization, his smile carrying a trace of ingratiation.
"So it’s Miss Qiao, what a pleasure to meet you."
Qiao Jing nodded slightly in response.
After hearing Su Manhan’s introduction to Zhou Yunze, there was a suspicion in her heart as to why they had decided to keep him around.
If Zhou Yunze came for a visit out of the blue on his own, that would be fine, she could say she didn’t have time.
But Zhou Yunze brought his mother along, which meant the Zhou Family’s name was at stake with this visit. Turning them away would be a sign of disrespect to the Zhou Family.
It seemed that after a period of quiet, Zhou Yunze had resurfaced, and this time he was making his move through Su Manhan.
Su Manhan saw that everyone was still standing outside and began to invite them in.
"Let’s go inside first, instead of standing here and talking."
Zhan Nanqing rolled her eyes in front of Zhou Yunze and then walked ahead, arm in arm with Chi Yuhang.
Zhou Yunze’s smile froze on his face as he quickly followed behind them.
"Nanqing, have you changed boyfriends? The guy I met last time wasn’t this one, and this one seems much worse than the previous one."
Upon hearing Zhou Yunze’s words, aside from Chi Yuhang, everyone’s expression darkened.
Zhan Nanqing stopped in her tracks and retorted without any courtesy:
"As long as he’s better than you, it’s fine."
Su Manhan was also very dissatisfied with Zhou Yunze’s remark. She frowned, her voice growing colder as she warned:
"Zhou Yunze, that man is Nanqing’s boyfriend."
She wouldn’t allow anyone to speak ill of her daughter’s boyfriend, as such words would clearly suggest her daughter lacked discernment!
Considering Su Manhan’s presence, Zhou Yunze worried about being thrown out and immediately closed his mouth.
Qiao Jing and Su Manhan walked together at the back, and the group made their way to the living room.
Qiao Jing did not immediately sit down on the couch but stopped Su Manhan.
"Madam Zhan, when did Zhou Yunze come over?"
Su Manhan glanced at Zhou Yunze, her eyes carrying a hint of scorn.
"He arrived not long ago, asking where Nanqing was. I’m not oblivious to their relationship. To prevent Nanqing from bumping into him upon her return, I deliberately mentioned that Nanqing was bringing her boyfriend home today, hoping he would take the hint and leave. But instead, he insisted on staying for a meal before leaving, showing a complete lack of tact. He brought gifts and represented the name of the Zhou Family, so I couldn’t just send him away directly. When I came out earlier, he followed."
After understanding the whole story, Qiao Jing pressed her lips together.
"Alright, I understand."
Everyone took their seats, with Qiao Jing sitting opposite Zhou Yunze.
Zhan Nanqing sat next to Chi Yuhang, and Su Manhan sat across from them.
The living room table was filled with exquisite gift boxes, containing all sorts of nourishing supplements, such as bird’s nest, and also some luxury skincare products from well-known brands.
Clearly, these were all brought by Zhou Yunze.
When Zhou Yunze noticed that Chi Yuhang had come empty-handed, he feigned kindness as he inquired:
"Chi Yuhang, where are your gifts? I might have brought too much, and there’s no more space on the table. Why don’t you put your gifts on the floor?"
After saying that, he turned to Zhan Nanqing.
"Nanqing, some of these are specially prepared for you, and my mother has bought a few things for you, too."
Chi Yuhang, caught off guard by the question, found it a bit awkward to respond:
"Auntie, I brought a fruit basket, but it’s still outside. If you don’t mind, I’ll go get it now."
Although he was told by the auntie not to bring anything yesterday, he felt it would be impolite not to bring anything, so he still picked something up.
He had placed the gift in a small pavilion outside, wanting to take a good look at the architecture of Purple Garden. However, he was suddenly brought inside before he could fetch it.
But upon seeing the skincare products on the table, he felt his gift was incomparable to Zhou Yunze’s and somewhat embarrassed.
Zhou Yunze burst into laughter upon hearing this.
"A fruit basket? Are you sure? Do you really think Auntie Su’s home is in need of a fruit basket?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than they were caught by a sharp remark from Su Manhan.