Fang Pingying and Li Yuchun were talking as they walked. When they were about to reach home, they happened to run into Fang Xiu getting out of a car.
And it wasn’t just Fang Xiu; there was also a man standing beside her.
The man was of average height, modest and scholarly-looking with a pair of glasses, seemingly reliable on the surface.
Fang Pingying guessed that he must be the university teacher Fang Xiu was meeting for the blind date today, and since he had escorted Fang Xiu all the way here, it seemed both were quite satisfied, which suggested that things looked promising.
Fang Xiu also saw Fang Pingying and Li Yuchun from afar, smiling and calling out to Fang Pingying, then waving over.
Right after, the man nodded towards them, murmured something to Fang Xiu, and they both started walking over.
When they reached them, Fang Xiu introduced them, "Big sister, mom, this is Gao Sheng, the teacher Aunt Aihua introduced."
Then she turned to the man named Gao Sheng and introduced, "This is my big sister, my mom."
Gao Sheng nodded politely at Fang Pingying and her mother, joining Fang Xiu in greeting them, "Big sister, Auntie."
Fang Pingying nodded and smiled back jokingly, "I heard that Mr. Gao teaches university students, didn’t expect you to be so young."
Gao Sheng glanced at Fang Pingying, and as if something occurred to him, he looked at her and asked, "I remember, you’re Teacher Li Aihua’s daughter, I’ve seen you with Teacher Li before, and heard Teacher Li talk about you in the office."
Fang Pingying was somewhat surprised; this Gao Sheng seemed quite familiar with her.
However, she figured that people of Li Aihua’s age mostly talked about their children when chatting, so it was not strange that Gao Sheng, who worked in the same office as Li Aihua, knew more about her.
She didn’t think much of it and just replied with a smile, "Right."
Then, Gao Sheng gave Fang Pingying another look, seemingly incredulous, and asked Fang Xiu, "Fang Xiu, the big sister you mentioned, the one who’s extremely good at business, that’s her who owns the big supermarket in the provincial city, right?"
Fang Pingying felt slightly displeased upon hearing this, wondering why this man kept revolving around her, whether she owned a supermarket or engaged in business, why he needed to inquire so intricately.
This gave Fang Pingying a slightly worse impression of him.
"That’s right." But Fang Xiu didn’t think much and replied very proudly.
In Fang Xiu’s view, having such a capable big sister was her pride.
Gao Sheng looked puzzled because he didn’t know the relationship between the Fang Family and the Li Family, but he didn’t voice a question. After confirming Fang Pingying was indeed the capable big sister, he smiled at her warmly, "Big sister is truly a heroine among women, honored to meet you, truly."
After chatting for a while, since Fang Xiu didn’t invite them up, Fang Pingying naturally didn’t either.
Firstly, for two people who were dating, there were certain proprieties to observe. If the woman was too forward, it might make the man feel that the woman lacked modesty to some extent.
Moreover, perhaps because the man had talked too much about her, Fang Pingying felt uncomfortable inside, didn’t quite like the man, and thus didn’t say much.
After a few words, since nobody from the Fang Family invited Gao Sheng upstairs to sit, it was not quite appropriate to keep standing and chatting downstairs, so Gao Sheng left.
After returning home, Fang Pingying probed Fang Xiu, "Xiu’er, what do you think of this person?"
Fang Xiu hesitated, then Li Yuchun quickly said, "I think he’s not bad, modest and educated, far different from Luo Zhiming’s slick and powdered look."
Hearing this, Fang Ping’an, who was sitting to the side, scolded Li Yuchun with displeasure, "How many times have I told you not to bring up Luo Zhiming as soon as you open your mouth? Any man in this world is better than Luo Zhiming."
"Alright, alright, I won’t talk about him; I won’t bring up Luo Zhiming in the future," Li Yuchun also felt that such a comparison was inappropriate and laughed, patting her own mouth before cheerfully saying to Fang Xiu, "Xiu’er, I think this guy is good, he seems to like you as well, otherwise he wouldn’t have sent you back, right?"
Fang Pingying still wanted to hear Fang Xiu’s own take, "Xiu’er, what do you think yourself?"
Fang Xiu hesitated a little, her attitude wasn’t particularly enthusiastic, but she also couldn’t specific what was wrong, simply saying, "Can’t say it’s too good, but also can’t say what’s wrong, it’s okay I guess."
Fang Ping’an was more attentive than Li Yuchun and noticed that Fang Xiu’s tone was not very satisfied, but since Li Yuchun was talking it up so much, he consulted Fang Pingying’s opinion, "Pingying, what do you think, how is he?"
After all, they had met just once, Fang Pingying didn’t dare to make a judgment, and simply suggested, "If Fang Xiu herself feels it’s alright, then getting to know each other better wouldn’t be bad, but just get to understand each other, nothing more."
Fang Pingying stressed the last point to Fang Xiu particularly, to prevent her from getting too involved with someone like she did with Luo Zhiming before they were married, which left Fang Ping’an without options when he found out.
Fang Xiu understood Fang Pingying’s meaning, blushed, and said softly, "Big sister, I know, now I have Haohao, I won’t act rashly." Chapters first released on novel·fıre·net
Fang Pingying nodded, "That’s good, you just need to be clear about it, if you’re unsure, discuss it with us."
This year’s Chinese New Year’s Eve was very lively at Fang Pingying’s house, equivalent to three families celebrating together.
On New Year’s Eve, Fang Pingying made extra beddings available so that everyone could stay up together, talking and laughing, playing with the children, truly joyous.
Until the first few days of the lunar month, the entire family stayed at Fang Pingying’s house, all in harmonious joy. Compared to last year spent at the Luo Family, this New Year was much more joyful.
Being together sometimes inevitably led to differences in opinion or slip of the tongue, especially between Li Yuchun and Li Aihua, both women with fussy temperaments. Sometimes there were disagreements over children, but mostly they managed by giving in and being tolerant, without any quarrels.
And when it came to spending money, even though the Fang Family couldn’t compare to the Li Family, the Fang Family never thought of taking advantage.
Since New Year’s goods and food were prepared by Fang Pingying, Li Aihua and Zhao Longsheng gave their grandchildren quite a sum of New Year’s money. The Fang Family gave money for the children, but Fang Pingying refused to accept it, after all, the Fang Family couldn’t compare with the Li Family.
Seeing this, Fang Ping’an let Li Yuchun buy some clothes for the two children and some small items for Fang Pingying’s house, trying to balance out the money spent.
Naturally, they also knew their financial strength could not match Li Aihua’s, but they tried not to make Li Aihua feel like they were always taking advantage of Fang Pingying’s hospitality, even though Li Aihua wouldn’t think that way.