The day before the meeting with the chip team, Shi Fanyin returned from Fashion Week.
That evening, Zhou Shíyì received a call from his father, asking him to bring Zhōng Yì home for dinner. The chef was already preparing the dishes.
On the way home, Zhōng Yì took out a makeup mirror to touch up her makeup and asked, “Is Dad home too?”
“He is. He’s been looking forward to you coming back. If we had a calendar at home, he’d tear off a page every day.”
The image was vivid enough to make Zhōng Yì laugh. “Does Mom still ignore Dad?”
“Probably.”
Zhou Shíyì didn’t have time to ask more; in any case, they wouldn’t divorce.
They had been married for thirty years; if divorce were going to happen, it would have happened long ago. Besides, Father had shown remorse lately.
Zhōng Yì reapplied her lipstick and put away the mirror.
Today, returning home felt more like improving the meals—there wasn’t an ounce of tension.
She found it hard to imagine what her father-in-law’s attitude would have been if they had met before the breakup, back when her identity hadn’t been revealed.
“If we had met the family three years ago, Dad wouldn’t have approved of us being together, right?”
Zhou Shíyì glanced sideways. “I already brought you home back then, so he wouldn’t oppose it anymore.”
Because once it got to that point, opposing would definitely strain the father-son relationship. With his personality, there would be no chance of reconciliation afterward.
It would end up like Jiang Lao Yeye and Jiang Jingyuan—a lifetime of estrangement.
Learning from past experience, and seeing how determined Zhou Shíyì was to marry Zhōng Yì, Father didn’t dare to break them apart lightly.
That was why, even knowing Zhou Shíyì had a girlfriend, Father only ordered him to return to China for arranged matchmaking without making things difficult for Zhōng Yì or forcibly separating them.
“Even if you had brought her home three years ago, you wouldn’t have suffered any grievances.”
Suffering grievances could only happen if Father no longer intended to recognize him as his son.
But that possibility was almost nonexistent.
After all, he was raised by his father. No matter how domineering his father was, his feelings for his son ran deep.
Zhōng Yì mentioned her morning conversation with Jì Fánxīng. “She said you often mention me in front of your parents.”
The two exchanged glances.
Zhou Shíyì didn’t deny it, nodding slightly.
Zhōng Yì turned sideways, resting her chin on the armrest. “What did you say to your parents?”
Zhou Shíyì: “Everything.”
He skipped over the trivial chatter with his mother and spoke about his father. “In a while, I’ll send Dad your research progress. If he doesn’t look at it, I’ll have him comment a bit. He reads it while half-angry.”
Zhōng Yì smiled and asked, “What did you say to Mom?”
The Maybach stopped in the yard, and Shi Fanyin came out to greet them.
Zhōng Yì said, “Tell me when you have time.”
Zhou Shíyì replied, “Okay.”
Since the wedding, Shi Fanyin hadn’t seen the two of them. She studied Zhōng Yì. “You look thinner.”
Zhou Shíyì said, “Busy every day with the Kuncheng Project. It’s tiring.”
Zhōng Yì took over the conversation. “It’s fine. I don’t feel tired.”
That wasn’t insincere; she just felt time was never enough and never thought of herself as tired.
She told her mother-in-law that maybe it was the heat making her eat less recently.
Shi Fanyin held her hand and led her inside. “If you want anything, just tell me, and I’ll make it and send it over. Your dad bought a cake. Have a piece first.”
Zhou Shíyì walked behind them, carrying a chestnut cake he had bought for Zhōng Yì.
When they entered the dining room, the cake the father bought was twenty inches wide—enough for twenty or thirty people.
Zhōng Yì watched as Zhou Yunlian cut the cake, giving the first slice to her.
Zhou Shíyì looked at the huge cake, then turned to his father. “Why didn’t you bring the entire cake shop home?”
Zhou Yunlian glanced at his son, lowering his voice, “Are you sure you can keep your mouth shut?”
Zhou Shíyì ignored him and unwrapped the cake he brought.
Zhou Yunlian eyed the palm-sized cake. “You only bought this small piece?”
Zhou Shíyì: “I buy this often; I don’t need something so big.”
Zhou Yunlian awkwardly withdrew his gaze, his hand pausing mid-cut, realizing he had bought too large a cake.
Shi Fanyin and Zhōng Yì washed their hands and came over, seeing the exquisite cake box in front of her son.
“You bought cake too?”
“Chestnut cake.”
Zhou Shíyì handed the cake fork to Zhōng Yì and said, “I bought this for Zhōng Yì. I already told Dad we’d each buy our own.”
Zhou Yunlian glanced at his son, feeling he hadn’t treated him in vain—he knew how to back him up when it mattered.
Hearing this, Shi Fanyin looked toward her husband.
So this cake was specially bought for her.
But it was so big she’d have to eat several meals a day to finish it.
After expressing thanks, she said lightly, “Why did you suddenly get kind enough to buy me cake?”
Zhou Yunlian didn’t argue, handing the cake to his wife. “Being nice to you is impossible!”
In front of his daughter-in-law, he had to maintain the family harmony; otherwise, Jiang Jingyuan would come looking for him again.
At that moment, Zhōng Yì finally understood why her father-in-law was always eager for her to come home—it was really just an excuse to buy cake for her mother-in-law.
Such an ordinary thing had become quite a grand event for him.
She didn’t want to interfere with the feelings between the elders.
They had their own way of getting along.
Dinner was mainly Cantonese cuisine, an ordinary family meal.
Zhou Shíyì often fed Zhōng Yì during the meal; it had become a habit over the years.
Zhou Yunlian tried to imitate his son by picking up his wife’s favorite dishes with chopsticks but ended up putting them back into his own plate.
Zhou Shíyì saw everything but didn’t help this time.
***
After dinner, Shi Fanyin returned upstairs to the bedroom.
A few minutes later, she came down carrying two gift boxes.
One contained jewelry, and the other held several silk scarves.
“They were all bought three years ago. Finally, I have a chance to give them to you.”
Hearing it was three years ago, Zhōng Yì was slightly stunned but took the gifts first. “Thank you, Mom.”
Then she looked toward Zhou Shíyì.
He looked back but said nothing.
High-quality jewelry never goes out of style, and those silk scarves had classic patterns.
Shi Fanyin had prepared gifts for her son to bring his girlfriend home, but after they broke up, she hadn’t had the heart to throw them away and had kept them all this time.
Zhōng Yì had to work overtime that night and didn’t stay long. She took the two gift boxes and the cake packed for Yán Tínglín back to the Jinghe Campus.
After the two kids left, Zhou Yunlian reproached himself, “You prepared such expensive gifts; why didn’t you tell me? I thought they were just coming back for dinner.”
Shi Fanyin: “Then you can double the money to me; we’ll just consider it a joint gift.”
Since the wedding, the two had been financially independent.
Shi Fanyin occasionally checked his accounts but only for their son’s benefit.
Zhou Yunlian thought about it for a long time but didn’t transfer the money.
Whether they could mend their relationship and ease their marriage problems wasn’t something a few cakes could fix.
If she liked money, then just give her money.
Of course, a few cards weren’t even worth her attention—she had ignored them before.
After much thought, Zhou Yunlian made a decision even he found unbelievable. “From now on, the family office team will report to you. You have decision-making power.”
After speaking, he turned to go upstairs but was grabbed by Shi Fanyin.
She suppressed her excitement, “Are you serious? Zhou Yunlian, you better not joke about this!”
Because she would take it seriously.
Zhou Yunlian: “Who jokes about something so serious? Tomorrow, I’ll have the lawyer draft a letter to the office team.”
That was his private wealth management team, which until now only reported to him.
Two core members of the management team were poached by Zhou Shíyì, a condition for him taking over Kuncheng Motors.
After taking over Kuncheng, his son was stretched thin; his own company and private team were understaffed and unfamiliar with the others’ abilities, so he directly poached two from his father’s team.
Zhan Liang was one of the members of the son’s private wealth management team and had come to Kuncheng with him.
Shi Fanyin held onto him tightly. “I’m afraid you’ll have a clear head in the morning and change your mind. Have the lawyer draft the letter now and issue it officially!”
Zhou Yunlian: “………….. After thirty years of marriage, is there no trust for me in your heart?”
“Don’t ask me; you should reflect on yourself.”
Shi Fanyin accused, “You’re far behind our son! When Shíyì was dating, he shared a study with Zhōng Yì. No matter what call he made with Zhan Liang, he never avoided Zhōng Yì. What about you?”
Sharing a study meant everything—personal privacy and business.
Maybe Zhōng Yì didn’t mind, but who wouldn’t want such unconditional love and trust?
They had been completely honest with each other.
Unlike her and her husband, who didn’t interfere with each other.
To put it bluntly, there was no love at all.
Zhou Yunlian: “The son is like this because I raised him well.”
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