From Ren Bonian, the Ren Family had reached its third generation with Ren Minghang and his elder brother. Before Ren Bonian, the Ren surname wasn’t part of any distinguished lineage, and the only well-known thing associated with the Ren name was a character from a popular martial arts novelist from the last century, Ren Woxing.
The personalities of the Ren Family members were quite similar to that martial arts character. After retiring from the military, Ren Bonian now just spends his time feeding fish and playing chess in the nursing home, appearing imposing but in reality quite genial.
Mr. Ren was originally a university lecturer, but when he was thirty, he met his later partner, Mrs. Ren, a miss from a political family. Their student-teacher romance faced unanimous condemnation from both the university and the educational circle, and in a fit of anger, he too abandoned teaching for politics. Thus, Mr. Ren still carries a strong scholarly air.
"My mother has been spoiled by my father and can be somewhat headstrong. But she’s very fond of me and won’t make things difficult for you. My brother and sister-in-law’s family are all quite amiable." As Ren Minghang’s car approached the Ren Family’s compound-style villa, Xia You had already sketched out a rough picture of the Ren Family in her mind.
Unlike Xia You’s simple four-person household, the Ren Family’s old, middle, and young three generations, with their distinct political and military background, could easily intimidate ordinary people before they even entered the door.
These scattered tales were what Ren Minghang chatted about while driving to entertain Xia You.
"Minghang, you seem more nervous than I am," Xia You observed Ren Minghang, noting he had unfastened his seatbelt even before the car was properly parked.
The Ren Family’s villa was built on the foundation of a quadrangle courtyard initially allocated to Ren Bonian. It is situated in a transitional area between Qinyang and Bazhou, occupying about one hectare. Converted to the market’s housing size, it’s roughly a thousand square meters. The distance to both cities is about the same, requiring roughly an hour’s drive.
When Mrs. Ren married into the family, she fancied the architectural style of the Republic of China era of the last century and renovated the courtyard into the then-popular European-style building. It is a three-story building with an open western garden, planted with seasonally blooming flowers from all over the world, and was given a heavily western-sounding name, "Ren Mansion."
After Ren Minghang’s brother got married, considering only their parents lived in the house, he did not move out and decided to live on the third floor. Ren Minghang resided on the second floor with his parents, while the first floor was used for receiving guests and daily dining.
Tonight, Xia You’s arrival had Mrs. Ren put in quite some effort. She had gleaned information about Xia You indirectly from Ren Minghang’s brother. Considering Xia You’s ordinary family background, Mrs. Ren specifically instructed to prepare some homestyle dishes for the evening and reduced the number of servants attending the dining hall to just one.
Everyone says politics is treacherous, but his wife, even after attaining a high position, still thoroughly considered the dignity of their youngest son’s girlfriend from an ordinary background, something Mr. Ren found quite comforting.
The couple had been waiting in the living room since Ren Minghang went out to pick up the guest. Around six o’clock, their eldest son and daughter-in-law also returned.
"Dad, Mom, big brother, sister-in-law, we’re back," Ren Minghang hurriedly ushered the guest in through the door.
The four members of the Ren Family all turned their gaze simultaneously towards the girl beside Ren Minghang, their faces showing palpably relieved expressions.
You see, this was the first time Ren Minghang had brought a girlfriend home, and she was also the only woman he had ever favored in his more than twenty years. After years of outside speculation about their youngest son being homosexual, suddenly there was Xia You, and it was inevitable for the Ren Family to have some bizarre guesses.
For example, whether this Xia You would be grotesquely unusual, or not conforming to public aesthetics, which could catch Ren Minghang’s attention. On seeing her tonight, Xia You was quite a standard pretty girl with delicate features.
With fair skin, clear eyes, evenly cut long hair, and a petite and slender figure, her attire was also appropriate and proper. Though she hailed from the Rand Military District, she did not possess any trace of a soldier’s rough demeanor.
For a family like the Ren’s, this kind of temperament wasn’t out of place; a daughter-in-law who could fit into any setting was a good choice.
Perhaps due to the Ren Family’s overly unified and conspicuous reaction, it created a rather comical effect, which made Ren Minghang feel quite embarrassed.
On the contrary, Xia You looked around at the other members of the Ren Family with ease, softly nudging Ren Minghang as a reminder not to forget the introductions.