bestfiction Chapter 378 The in-laws meet
Chapter 378 The in-laws meet
Zhuang Chaoying followed Wan Shu and Tu Nan at a leisurely pace.
He turned slightly to the side, took Huang Ling's hand, and placed it steadily on his arm. He gently patted the back of Huang Ling's hand with his other hand, his voice low.
“Wanshu’s parents are both highly educated intellectuals and are very particular about etiquette. But they are definitely reasonable. There’s an old saying, ‘When you marry off your daughter, you should bow your head and marry a wife.’ Although we are the ones seeking marriage, we should be humble, but we can’t lose our composure. Ah Ling, don’t be nervous. Let’s just be generous and natural.”
Huang Ling took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly.
“I only graduated from junior high school, and I’m afraid I won’t have anything in common with Wanshu’s parents, and things will get awkward.”
Upon hearing this, Zhuang Chaoying leaned her head closer to Huang Ling, a smile playing on her lips. "If you can't connect, don't force it. As long as you and Wanshu can chat enthusiastically, that's fine. Alright, let's get ready to go upstairs."
The door to Wan Shu's house opened early, and Wan Shu's parents had been waiting at the door for a long time.
Upon seeing Tu Nan's parents arrive, Mr. Zhang smiled and quickly reached out to hold Zhuang Chaoying's hand tightly, saying warmly.
"Tu Nan's parents, welcome! Welcome! Happy New Year! Please come inside!"
Huang Ling and Zhuang Chaoying smiled broadly and responded politely. "Happy New Year, Happy New Year, Wanshu's parents."
Stepping inside, the house was filled with the festive spirit of the New Year. Artificial flowers were displayed on the table, and paper-cut window decorations were pasted on the windows and doors.
The gifts that Tu Nan and Peng Fei brought were neatly placed on the coffee table in the living room.
It happened to be during the Chinese New Year, so the children from both families exchanged New Year's greetings and then took turns paying respects to their elders.
Huang Ling was prepared; she took out a red envelope from her handbag and handed it to Wan Shu's sister.
Wanqing's face was flushed, her eyes were bright, and she accepted the red envelope with both hands, thanking them.
Xiaoting and the others also received red envelopes from Wanshu's parents.
After exchanging pleasantries, the two families sat down on the sofa and chairs.
Zhuang Chaoying scanned the room with her eyes. The home of a university professor had a scholarly atmosphere, with one wall filled with books.
Mr. Zhang wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and had a refined and scholarly air.
No wonder they were able to have such a beautiful daughter like Wanshu. Genes really do play a big role; both her parents are very good-looking.
Although he and Huang Ling were not bad-looking, compared with Wan Shu's parents, they seemed to lack a bit of scholarly air, maybe half a point less.
As the groom's parent, he still had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of proposing the marriage.
He straightened his back, his expression solemn, and looked at Wan Shu's parents. "Wan Shu's parents, the main reason for this visit is regarding the two children. As the groom's parents, we should take the initiative. You've met Tu Nan before, and his mother and I have discussed it for a long time and feel it's time to pay him a visit in person."
Mrs. Zhang came over with a cup of tea and poured it for everyone in turn.
Then, she sat down next to Mr. Zhang, her hands unconsciously clasped tightly together.
After hearing Zhuang Chaoying's words, Zhang's mother turned her gaze to Wanshu, feeling a pang of emotion.
It's true what they say, daughters grow up and leave home; it always feels like the child is still so young, so very young, and before you know it, it's time to talk about marriage.
She was very satisfied with the boy, Tu Nan. He knew how to respect people, was perceptive, and was quite good-looking and tall, the kind of boy who would stand out in a crowd. She was satisfied with him from the bottom of her heart.
Mr. Zhang pursed his lips, a pang of sadness rising in his heart, a hint of reluctance flashing in his eyes, but he still nodded in agreement.
"You're too kind. We originally planned to host a banquet at Songhelou Restaurant to properly entertain you. However, the hepatitis A situation in Shanghai is too serious, and Wanshu's mother and I were worried that there might be too many people outside, and we might catch hepatitis A. So we decided to cook a few dishes at home. We hope you don't mind."
Huang Ling sat down next to Zhuang Chaoying with a smile, and immediately chimed in, following Zhang's father's lead.
"Not at all, absolutely not! Actually, we should have visited you a long time ago, but we were worried that we would be too late and leave a bad impression."
Upon hearing this, Wan Shu's mother, Tang Cheng, smiled kindly and gently shook her head.
Upon their first meeting, she had a very good first impression of Tu Nan's parents. Teacher Zhuang's every gesture exuded refinement and elegance; he truly lived up to his reputation as a great writer.
Huang Ling exudes gentleness and virtue, no wonder she was able to raise such an outstanding child as Tu Nan.
According to Wan Shu, Tu Nan's younger sister was the top liberal arts student in Suzhou last year, and the little boy Peng Fei and Wan Qing are classmates.
It would be hard to believe that the two families were not meant to be.
"Tunan's mother, what are you saying!"
Tang Cheng's gaze was gentle as she spoke sincerely, "I genuinely like and admire Tu Nan. Neither her father nor I object to the two children. They've been together for four years now. Back in our day, people their age often had children who were already married and had kids."
Huang Ling couldn't help but laugh, raising her right hand to gently cover her mouth, afraid of smudging her lipstick. "Who says otherwise! We got married early back then. But judging from you and Wanshu's father, you must have gotten married relatively late, right?"
Tang Cheng patiently explained, "Yes. Wan Shu's father and I were twenty-five when we graduated from university. We studied medicine, which is a six-year program, so we got married later than our peers."
Zhuang Chaoying sat to the side, listening to the women chat about everyday things, but her mind was on important matters.
He quietly reached out and gently tugged at Huang Ling's sleeve from behind, gesturing for her to get to the point.
Huang Ling understood immediately, coughed lightly, and reached for the briefcase on the sofa.
She deftly unzipped the bag and took out a square metal box about 20 centimeters long, wide, and 5 centimeters thick.
This iron box contains 15,000 yuan worth of gold, which she and Zhuang Chaoying had accumulated a few years ago.
At the time, the price of gold was over 26 yuan, so I bought a total of 30,000 yuan worth of gold, which I divided into two portions in advance to prepare for the weddings of my two children.
Huang Ling handed the metal box and the passbook together to Wan Shu, who was sitting opposite her.
"Wanshu, this is a small token of our appreciation from your uncle and me."
Huang Ling spoke gently. “You and Tu Nan are about to start a family, and this is the support we can give you. These days, weddings are all about the three major items and the thirty-six legs, and after discussing it with your uncle, we think it's more practical to just give money directly. You young people have modern tastes, so buy whatever you like yourself, so that our tastes don't differ from yours and we don't pick things that don't suit your preferences.”
Wan Shu took the tin box and the passbook, gently opened the passbook, and her eyes widened in surprise.
Sitting next to her, Wan Shu's mother also caught a glimpse of what was inside, and her heart skipped a beat.
Ten thousand yuan! That's a lot! It's clear that Tu Nan's parents are genuinely considering the future of their two children, and it also fully demonstrates how much they value Wan Shu.
Wanshu's mother and father discussed it last night and decided that as long as the two children are happy, they do not intend to ask for a bride price.
After all, they are marrying off their daughter, not selling her.
Moreover, they had already prepared a dowry for Wanshu.