Dragon King's Son-In-Law

by Dragon King

  Ka…

  Zhao Jiayi opened the door and walked in. He saw the three of them sitting together and focusing on the laptop. “What are you watching? You even locked the door? Oh, sh*t… Are you watching that kind of…”

  “That’s something YOU would do! I am a well-adjusted young fellow of the modern society!” Zhou Liren said presumptuously.

  Zhao Jiayi rolled his eyes at him and squeezed over, covered in sweat. “Eh? Is that the Class President Xie Yujia?”

  “Yeah, it’s a video of her when she was in middle school,” Zhou Liren explained, “She is indeed Ren’s girlfriend; she even found such an ancient tape for him to watch.”

  Hao Ren smiled and shrugged as he was too lazy to explain. However, if she were really his girlfriend, it would have been a lovely move to show a video of her childhood to her boyfriend.”

  “Damn… Xie Yujia was absolutely a killer when she was in middle school!” Zhao Jiayi took over half of Zhou Liren’s seat regardless of his sweatiness from training. He watched the video with full attention as well.

  “She is gorgeous now as well. Especially after she started dating Ren, she is dressing prettier and prettier,” Zhou Liren said.

  “There must have been a lot of guys after her when she was in middle school,” Zhao Jiayi said as he watched, “I would have pursued her if I was at her middle school!”

  “Alright, alright, move now!” Hao Ren pushed them away as he didn’t think the three of them would understand “art.”

  “Ok, ok, we’ll leave Hao Ren alone to enjoy this.” Zhao Jiayi pulled Zhou Liren and Cao Ronghua away from the laptop.

  Hao Ren had never seen Xie Yujia when she was in middle school, but he could get a feel through this videotape. Then, he thought about Zhao Yanzi and sensed the similarities as well as the differences between the two most popular girls at LingZhao Middle School of different times.

  Hao Ren watched the entire two-hour video patiently, yet he still wished there was more. Xie Yujia was almost perfect throughout the play, whereas Zhao Yanzi’s performance lacked practice but was ingenious.

  “Juliet was 100% focused in love and was willing to die for love. Xie Yujia is actually like that too…” Hao Ren put away the disc and returned the laptop to Chen Ke.

  “I didn’t expect Xie Yujia to be so gentle and cute in her middle school years,” Hao Ren thought.

  That was the period of time when he and Xie Yujia missed each other, but this video filled up that portion of his memory.

  Xie Yujia looked elegant and innocent in the play. No wonder Zhao Yanzi wanted to challenge her; she didn’t want to lose to the current version of Xie Yujia and also the middle school version of Xie Yujia.

  In the second day, Hao Ren returned the disc to Xie Yujia before their first class in the morning.

  “What do you think? In fact, I forgot about the details already,” Xie Yujia wanted to know how Hao Ren thought about it.

  “You were beautiful when you were in middle school too. If we could enter this play in some contests, you are probably going to win,” Hao Ren laughed.

  “I rarely participated in school activities while I was in middle school; that was the only one. Therefore, I paid extra attention to it. I was probably not as good as your Zi from yesterday, right?” Xie Yujia asked.

  “You both did a good job,” Hao Ren felt like she started to targeting Zhao Yanzi more and more now, so he went ahead and changed the topic. “What did you and Zi’s mom agree upon after all? I thought about it all night yesterday and still couldn’t figure it out.

  “It’s nothing. I’m just going over to visit her tonight.” Xie Yujia smiled as she put the disc in her drawer.

  283 The Dinner!

  “What are you standing up for? Go ahead and sit!”

  Suddenly, Ma Lina pushed Hao Ren from behind and forced him directly into the seat beside Xie Yujia.

  “I’ll sit in the back!” before Xie Yujia could answer, Ma Lina run to the back row where Hao Ren usually sat cheerfully.

  Hao Ren turned to look at Ma Lina speechlessly. However, since it happened already, he sat down beside Xie Yujia and accompanied her.

  The class bell rang, and the teacher walked in with his materials. He noticed that Hao Ren, who usually sat in the back, was sitting in the second row with Xie Yujia; he found it a little strange, but he didn’t ask about it.

  On the one hand, students could sit wherever they wanted in the university, and there was no restriction at all. As a matter of fact, it was already a good thing that they showed up for class. On the other hand, Hao Ren was someone who had a golden star next to his name on the attendance list. He was one of the students who were looked after by Lu Qing, the Vice Principal. Therefore, this teacher needed to be extra careful about him.

  After Ma Lina went to the back row where the guys were, Xie Yujia wasn’t used to it at first. But soon, she got close to them and started to chat with them in a low voice.

  Hao Ren, in the front row, didn’t adjust to the change of the situation as well as Ma Lina did. He sat beside Xie Yujia and felt like the teacher was too close to him.

  Although he had known Xie Yujia since they were little, it was the first time that he sat with her during class.

  Hao Ren sensed a warm feeling from Xie Yujia’s body, and he felt the softness of her arm even though they weren’t touching.

  He could see the side of her charming face if he turned his head slightly; it was the scene many guys dreamed of!

  She quickly took notes with the ballpoint pen; her handwriting was graceful but assertive.

  Xie Yujia suddenly turned to Hao Ren and blinked at him with her big eyes. “Why aren’t you taking notes?”

  “Oh, oh…” Hao Ren picked up a pen, not knowing what to write.

  Xie Yujia smiled at Hao Ren’s clumsiness and turned back to the teacher to listen carefully.

  Her facial features were so delicate that she looked like the masterpiece of a sculptor. The graceful and perfect shapes such as her eyebrows, nose, lips were so beautiful that they looked like they were sketched out by an artist.

  She wasn’t wearing any makeup or perfume; all she had was the light, fresh smell of laundry detergent on her clothes.

  “Damn, good boy Ren has such a peach blossom fortune! He even got Xie Yujia as his girlfriend!” Yu Rong, Zhou Liren, and the other guys at the back were very jealous.

  Hao Ren sat beside Xie Yujia and felt like everything else started to turn into a blur. The tree danced outside the window, and the teacher kept writing on the blackboard. Hao Ren felt as if he was in a middle school classroom.

  Hao Ren suddenly had the illusion of him being in a middle school classroom, sitting beside Xie Yujia during class.

  The feeling of being childhood sweethearts, the feeling of knowing someone even better than himself, and the feeling of taking care of someone without the necessity of saying it out loud… All these feelings suddenly overwhelmed him.

  “If only… I was in the same school and same class as Xie Yujia when I was in middle school…” he pondered.

  “Hey… class is over.” Xie Yujia nudged Hao Ren out of the blue.

  “Oh…” Hao Ren scratched his head. He didn’t even hear the bell while he looked at her.

  Xie Yujia covered her mouth as she smiled. After she put her books in her bag, she said with a stern expression, “You have been daydreaming throughout the class. What are you going to do for the exam?”

  “Weren’t you taking excellent notes?” Hao Ren asked.

  She pouted speechlessly. “I’ll give you a copy before the exam!”

  Hao Ren laughed. He turned to the back and found that Zhou Liren and the other guys were long gone.

  “When are you going to Zhao Yanzi’s house?” Hao Ren asked as they walked out of the classroom together.

  “In the evening; Auntie invited me over for dinner,” Xie Yujia answered.

  Hao Ren nodded, thought for a bit, and asked, “Did she say that you are the only gue
st?”

  “Not really.” She shook her head.

  Hao Ren got lost in his thoughts, “I am supposed to go tutor Zhao Yanzi today as usual, but maybe it’s not a good idea to tag along since Zhao Hongyu invited Xie Yujia over for dinner…”

  Xie Yujia looked at Hao Ren; she secretly wished that Hao Ren could go with her. Although she sensed that Zhao Yanzi’s mother was a gentle and wise person, she was still somehow a bit anxious.

  “Call me if you need anything,” Hao Ren said to Xie Yujia.

  “Ok…” she smiled at him and left the building.

  In the afternoon, Zhou Liren dragged Hao Ren to watch Zhao Jiayi’s training. Hao Ren was surprised to find out that the stadium was filled with Zhao Yanzi’s ‘fangirls.’

  Zhao Jiayi had become somewhat of a ‘campus celebrity,’ and his fame almost exceeded Huang Xujie’s.

  “The basketball team had won three games in a roll under Zhao Jiayi’s lead. It is ranked at the top in the National College Basketball League so far,” Zhou Liren said as he scanned the girls.

  Hao Ren suddenly wondered what Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were doing as he looked at those excited girls.

  “Gongzi!”

  Hao Ren only thought of them, and they appeared by Hao Ren’s sides understandingly.

  They looked like two Russian Nesting Dolls in their stylish red jackets. The jackets were kind of loose but very fashionable.

  The appearance of the twins brightened the stadium. Even the members of the basketball team ran as fast as bunnies when they saw that the Lu sisters were watching them train.

  “What have you been doing? I barely see you guys besides the weekends,” Hao Ren asked.

  “Hehe, we have been cultivating and trying to advance to mid-tier Qian-level,” Lu Linlin answered with a bright smile.

  “Plus, we didn’t want to disturb Gongzi,” Lu Lili added lightly.

  “How’s studying going?” Hao Ren asked them.

  “Getting smoother and smoother; the classes aren’t difficult. Oh, we need to go shoot a short video off campus in a few days,” Lu Linlin got closer to Hao Ren as she answered.

  Although she was in the baggy red outfit, the softness of her arms and shoulders was the same.

  “Um. That’s good.” Hao Ren nodded and turned back to the basketball court.

  Lu Lili secretly stared at Hao Ren from his side. She moved closer; she wanted to touch him, but she didn’t have the gut to do so.

  Lu Linlin, on the other hand, put her hands on Hao Ren’s shoulder and rested her chin on her hands, watching the game closely.

  “Damn! Hao Ren will definitely get punished for this!” Zhou Liren said enviously since he was standing the closest to Hao Ren and saw how intimate the twins were with Hao Ren.

  After a little while, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili said abruptly, “Let’s go get something to eat, Gongzi.”

  Hao Ren looked at them with a strange expression. “How did you know that I’m not going to Zhao Yanzi’s house today?”

  “We know Gongzi’s plan too well! If you are going to Little Zhumu’s house, you would be preparing tutoring materials in the afternoon instead of watching the training,” Lu Linlin laughed and said.

  Hao Ren laughed and shrugged, “I might still need to go.”

  He took out the phone and dialed Zhao Hongyu’s number.

  “Where are you, Ren?” Zhao Hongyu picked up instantly.

  “I’m at school,” Hao Ren asked upfront, “Auntie, did you invite Xie Yujia over today?”

  “Yes, didn’t she tell you about it?” Zhao Hongyu didn’t deny it. She paused for half a second and said, “Why don’t you come along?”

  “Ok… but Auntie, do you have something to talk about with Xie Yujia?”

  “Nothing specific. I just want to treat her to dinner and get to know her,” Zhao Hongyu heard Lu Linlin and Lu Lili’s chatter over the phone and asked, “Are Linlin and Lili with you?”

  “Yeah,” Hao Ren answered.

  “Ask them to come over too then,” Zhao Hongyu said straightforwardly.

  Hao Ren covered up the speaker and asked the twins, “I’m going to Zi’s house for dinner. Do you guys want to come?”

  He thought they would say yes without hesitation since they loved big crowds of people. But to his surprise, the twins shook their heads. “We had plans for today already, so we can’t go.”

  Hao Ren answered Zhao Hongyu, “They can’t make it, so I’ll come with Xie Yujia.”

  “Ok. Zi’s dad is busy today, so he won’t be back. It’s going to be the four of us,” Zhao Hongyu said softly and hung up the phone.

  Hao Ren thought back to Zhao Hongyu’s tone and felt like the dinner might not be as complicated as he thought.

  “What are your plans then?” Hao Ren asked the twins as he put his phone away.

  “Hehe, we got an invitation too,” Lu Linlin said.

  They didn’t want to tell him the details, so Hao Ren didn’t push them. No one in the mortal world was able to bully them after all.

  Hao Ren went to the bus stop at the school gate after sending Xie Yujia a message.

  Soon, Xie Yujia arrived at the bus stop in her casual outfit.

  “I thought you aren’t coming,” Xie Yujia relaxed and exhaled before speaking to Hao Ren.

  “I didn’t want to go, but Zi’s mom invited me as well. It is just a meal, nothing else,” Hao Ren laughed.

  “Um!” Xie Yujia nodded. Zhao Yanzi held prejudice against her, but in her mind, Zhao Hongyu was a very gentle lady.

  The bus came, and the door opened after breaking.

  Hao Ren and Xie Yujia got on the bus.

  Everything seemed normal, just like the natural change of seasons from spring to summer.

  There were green buds slowly coming out of the tree branches on the roadside, and there were also flowers withering in the bushes.

  “Such nice weather,” Xie Yujia lightly sighed on her window seat.

  “Yeah,” Hao Ren answered casually.

  The sky was clear, and the sun was giving out the last bit of warmth of the day.

  High above the sky, Lu Linlin and Lu Lili were flying inside their energy spheres, following a violet paper crane toward the direction of the ragged house.

  284 Zi Can Cultivate?

  When Hao Ren and Xie Yujia arrived at Zhao Yanzi’s home, Zhao Hongyu was cooking.

  “You arrived early.” Zhao Hongyu wiped her hands on her apron and opened the door.

  “I have no afternoon classes today, so I thought I might come a bit earlier to help. I hope we are not interrupting.” Xie Yujia walked into the house carefully.

  “You don’t need to get us gifts; you are only here to have a meal with us,” Zhao Hongyu said politely as she saw Xie Yujia putting a gift on the ground.

  “It is what I should do,” Xie Yujia replied with a gentle smile.

  Xie Yujia was indeed more thoughtful than Hao Ren as he had never thought about buying a gift for Zhao Yanzi’s parents even though he had been to their house many times.

  “Zi is not back yet. It seems like it is going to take a while. You guys can go read some books,” Zhao Hongyu said thoughtfully.

  “Auntie, let me help you!” Xie Yujia volunteered.

  “There’s no need. I’m just going to make a few quick side dishes,” Zhao Hongyu went back to the kitchen after she replied.

  “It seems like Zi’s mom can cook very well,” Xie Yujia said softly while looking toward the kitchen.

  Hao Ren smiled and thought, “Not only can Zi’s mom cook very well, but she is also a top architect in the country.”

  As Xie Yujia sat down on the sofa, she started to look at the decoration of the house. Although the house was not big, the interior was uniquely designed and made the house feel spaciousness.

  The green and blue tablecloth, the elegant linen curtains, the refreshing bouquet… All those details created a refreshing environment for the guests.

  The house provided a natural sense of belo
ngingness, joy, and calmness of returning home.

  “What a smart and elegant woman…” Xie Yujia suddenly started to admire Zhao Hongyu.

  Pow!

  Zhao Yanzi, who was wearing her sky-blue school uniform and had a bag on her back, opened the door and entered the house.

  When she saw Hao Ren and Xie Yujia sitting on the living room sofa, she froze for a moment before turning to the kitchen and shouting, “Mom, what’s going on!”

  “I invited Yujia over to have dinner with us!” Zhao Hongyu walked out of the kitchen and was holding several plates.

  Zhao Yanzi’s expression immediately darkened.

  “Yujia, Ren, wash your hands and come to have dinner. Zi’s dad won’t be joining us tonight,” Zhao Hongyu ignored Zhao Yanzi’s frustration and said to Xie Yujia and Hao Ren.

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” Xie Yujia said to Zhao Hongyu and went ahead to wash her hands in the washroom.

  Zhao Hongyu looked at Xie Yujia and thought, “I wouldn’t worry that much if Zi is half as polite and considerate as this girl. Hao Ren has such a good temper, and he is spoiling Zi.”

  After Xie Yujia finished washing her hands, she sat down at the table. Then, Zhao Yanzi ran in front of Hao Ren to wash her hands and rolled her eyes at him; she even bumped him with her body.

  They both returned to the table.

  As Zhao Hongyu picked up the chopsticks, she opened her arms and said politely as the host, “Since this is your first time visiting, feel free to start.”

  “Huh! Don’t even think about coming here the second time!” Zhao Yanzi mumbled.

  “Zi!” Zhao Hongyu said to Zhao Yanzi with a stern tone.

  Zhao Yanzi pouted and picked up her chopsticks.

  Xie Yujia smiled awkwardly and said, “Thanks, Auntie.”

  Zhao Hongyu slightly nodded. Then, she looked at Hao Ren and Xie Yujia and thought. “I have to admit, Hao Ren and Xie Yujia look great together. Compare to Zhao Yanzi, who has a bad temper, Xie Yujia gives people a sense of delightfulness.”

  Zhao Hongyu picked up the remote and started playing soft music in the dining room, trying to ease the awkward situation.