Lin Zhiming looked around and saw an old woman with white hair.
The old woman looked to be in her seventies or eighties, but she was in good spirits and dressed very well.
"Hello, old man." Lin Zhiming greeted quickly.
"This is my grandma. Her name is Liu Jun. She is the winner of the 34th Lu Xun Literature Award. If you are a literature lover, you should have read her books." Zhuang Ziyan introduced.
"I've seen it, I've seen it!" Lin Zhiming nodded hurriedly.
"Which one have you read?" Zhuang Ziyan asked with a half-smile.
"I've seen it all!" Lin Zhiming said without blushing at all.
"I don't believe it." Zhuang Ziyan seemed to have seen through Lin Zhiming's lie, and gave Lin Zhiming a playful look before walking to the kitchen.
"You come and set the dishes and chopsticks. Five people will have dinner tonight." Zhuang Ziyan said as she walked away.
"Five people? Which five?" Lin Zhiming asked doubtfully.
"And my husband." Zhuang Ziyan said.
"Oh, I forgot about this! I'll get it right now." Lin Zhiming walked into the kitchen with small steps, got five sets of bowls and chopsticks, and then returned to the living room. While he was placing the bowls and chopsticks, a man walked in from the door.
Young man wearing Chinese tunic suit and glasses holding briefcase.
Lin Zhiming was stunned for a moment, but he quickly guessed the identity of the other party.
The young man was also stunned for a moment, but he quickly recognized Lin Zhiming.
Lin Zhiming showed a smile on his face and said, "This must be my brother-in-law."
"Lin, Mr. Lin Zhiming, why are you... here?" the young man asked in surprise.
"I'm here to be a guest at your house. Come on, hurry up and cook. The food will be ready in a moment." Lin Zhiming greeted.
The young man was a little dazed, thinking that he had gone to the wrong place, but after scanning the surroundings, he realized that this was indeed his home.
At this moment, Zhuang Ziyan walked out of the kitchen.
"Grandpa asked Mr. Lin to come home for dinner." Zhuang Ziyan said calmly.
"Oh..." The young man came back to his senses. He walked up to Lin Zhiming in a somewhat reserved manner, stretched out his hand and said, "Lin, hello Mr. Lin, I... my name is Xia Jianming."
"Hello, hello." Lin Zhiming smiled and held the other person's hand. It turned out that Xia Jianming's hand was slightly damp and seemed to be nervous.
Lin Zhiming immediately let go of his hand and said with a smile, "Brother Xia is so lucky. It is really enviable to have a lady like Ziyan."
Xia Jianming's face froze slightly, then he showed a polite smile and said, "Yes, it is my blessing."
Seeing Xia Jianming's smile, Lin Zhiming vaguely noticed something strange, but he didn't ask any more questions and just smiled and chatted with Xia Jianming.
Xia Jianming was not talkative, even a little boring. Basically, Lin Zhiming was asking, and he was nodding, or um, or oh, and he didn't seem to be good at interacting with others.
After chatting for a few words, Lin Zhiming lost interest, so he walked to the kitchen door to watch Zhuang Ziyan and Liu Jun cooking.
There was a lot of smoke and fire in the kitchen. Zhuang Ziyan's short hair had been tied up into a very interesting ponytail, and her hands were tied up, giving her a very smart look.
"Help me take the dishes out," Zhuang Ziyan said.
"Okay." Lin Zhiming nodded, walked to the stove and took the two prepared dishes out of the kitchen. When he walked into the living room, he found that Xia Jianming had gone to nowhere.
At this time, Zhuang Ziyan also walked out with dishes.
"Where is your husband? I saw him just now." Lin Zhiming asked curiously.
"He should have gone upstairs. He will come down by himself in a while." Zhuang Ziyan said after putting the dishes on the table.
"Your husband is a bit introverted." Lin Zhiming said.
"Well..." Zhuang Ziyan nodded and said nothing more.
At this time, Zhuang Mo walked up from the first floor.
"Grandpa, have everyone been picked up?" Zhuang Ziyan asked.
"Yes, I took them all." Zhuang Mo nodded.
"Okay, we can eat." Zhuang Ziyan said, walked to the door and shouted, "Lao Xia, it's time to eat."
After shouting, Zhuang Ziyan turned around and walked back to the living room, regardless of whether the people upstairs heard her shouting.
Lin Zhiming sat at the dining table, and Zhuang Mo also sat at the dining table. Zhuang Ziyan took a bottle of Fenjiu from the side, opened it, poured a glass for Zhuang Mo and Lin Zhiming, and then poured a glass for herself.
.
"Does Professor Zhuang like to drink Fenjiu?" Lin Zhiming asked with a smile.
"Yeah." Zhuang Mo nodded and said nothing more.
"Don't talk while eating for a while. If you have anything to say, say it after eating. My grandpa asked for silence during eating and silence at bedtime." Zhuang Ziyan leaned into Lin Zhiming's ear and whispered.
"Is it so strict?" Lin Zhiming asked in surprise.
"Yeah." Zhuang Ziyan nodded.
Not long after, Liu Jun, Zhuang Ziyan, and Xia Jianming from upstairs all came to the dining table.
Several people were sitting around a small table.
Because Zhuang Mo didn't move his chopsticks, the others didn't move their chopsticks either.
Zhuang Mo looked at Lin Zhiming and said, "Welcome Mr. Lin to our home. Tonight is a simple family banquet. It's not too elaborate. You don't have to be too formal. Just treat it as your own home."
"Okay." Lin Zhiming smiled and nodded.
"You can talk when you want to talk and do whatever you want while eating. It is our family rule to be silent during eating and sleeping. You are a guest, so you don't have to abide by it." Zhuang Mo added.
"Why is there such a rule?" Lin Zhiming asked curiously.
"There is no rule without rules. If the traditions left by the ancients are not continued by modern people, they will one day become history." Zhuang Mo said.
"But shouldn't a family meal be lively?" Lin Zhiming said.
"If you have anything to say, you can wait until you put down your chopsticks after eating," Zhuang Mo said.
"Oh... Just don't talk while eating. Can you say yes when you haven't eaten?" Lin Zhiming asked.
"Yeah." Zhuang Mo nodded.
"That's okay, it's not as scary as I thought." Lin Zhiming smiled.
"Here, let me toast you a glass of wine. Although you and I are on opposite sides, but aside from that matter, you deserve a toast from me." Zhuang Mo said.
"Okay." Lin Zhiming picked up the wine glass, clinked it with Zhuang Mo, and then drank the wine in one gulp.
Zhuang Mo drank the wine in the cup without even holding it.
Liu Jun poured wine for the two of them again, and this time it was Zhuang Ziyan's turn to toast.
"I will apologize to you for what happened today." Zhuang Ziyan said.
"It's all a trivial matter." Lin Zhiming smiled and shook his head, then clinked glasses with Zhuang Ziyan and drank the wine in one gulp. Zhuang Ziyan also drank the wine in one gulp.
"I want to toast you too." Xia Jianming also picked up the wine glass.
Lin Zhiming and Xia Jianming also had a drink, but they didn't say much.
After three glasses of white wine, the dinner officially began.
Although Zhuang Mo said that he would not ask Lin Zhiming to eat, Lin Zhiming still said very little while eating, as a sign of respecting the family rules. After finishing the meal, Lin Zhiming thought that Zhuang Mo would have something to say.
After chatting with him privately, it turned out that there was no result. After Zhuang Mo put down his chopsticks, he went back to the study to correct the homework submitted by the students. Zhuang Ziyan and Liu Jun started to clear the table, while Xia Jianming left the living room again and disappeared.
In front of Lin Zhiming.
Lin Zhiming thought that there was nothing he could do, so he went to say goodbye to Zhuang Mo, and then left the banker's house.
"What's for this meal..." Lin Zhiming walked out of the banker's house and shook his head with a smile. He originally thought that Zhuang Mo had some other purpose for inviting him to dinner, but it turned out that he didn't. This was really a waste of his mood.
Lin Zhiming got into the car and was about to leave when his phone suddenly vibrated.
Lin Zhiming picked up the phone and took a look and found that it was a text message from Zhuang Ziyan.
"Find a place to have a drink later."
Um?
Lin Zhiming was a little surprised when he saw this text message. He and Zhuang Ziyan had already had a few drinks during the meal before, but he didn't expect that Zhuang Ziyan would continue to ask him for a drink.
Lin Zhiming looked at his watch. It was already eight o'clock in the evening. Although it was not late, he still had to go home overnight. In addition, Zhuang Ziyan was a married woman and he had to keep a certain distance, so he planned to reject Zhuang Ziyan, but as a result
Unexpectedly, Zhuang Ziyan’s second text message was sent again.
"There are some things I want to tell you about my grandfather."
After seeing this text message, Lin Zhiming pondered for a moment and then said, "Okay, when and where?"
"Nine o'clock, dark coffee."
Dark coffee?
Lin Zhiming was a little confused. Did Zhuang Ziyan mean drinking coffee?
"good."
Although he had some doubts in his heart, Lin Zhiming still agreed.
When it was close to nine o'clock, Lin Zhiming followed the navigation display and came to this shop called Dark Fragrance Coffee.
This store is not open on the roadside, but in a suite on the second floor of a residential building. After entering, the overall environment is dark. The suite is divided into independent booths. Each booth has a small door.
Although the door is not locked, it is quite private and suitable for dating and talking about things.
Lin Zhiming asked the waiter to open a booth near the corner. Not long after he sat down, Zhuang Ziyan came.
In the evening, Zhuang Ziyan wore a long khaki thin windbreaker. After entering the booth, Zhuang Ziyan took off the windbreaker, revealing what she was wearing underneath.
What surprised Lin Zhiming was that Zhuang Ziyan was actually wearing a short dress underneath. The skirt was not very short at all. It reached to the knees, just enough to reveal a pair of pretty and smooth calves.
Zhuang Ziyan sat opposite Lin Zhiming, and then asked the waiter to serve a bottle of red wine.
"This place is quite suitable for a date." Lin Zhiming said with a smile.
"This store has been open for more than ten years. When I was in junior high school, I would often come here to eat with my best friends. The fried chicken rack here is particularly delicious. Do you want some?" Zhuang Ziyan asked.
"No, I've eaten enough at your house. By the way, does your husband have any objection to you going out so late?" Lin Zhiming asked curiously.
"He? He won't care about me." Zhuang Ziyan shook her head.