The small town where Mu Linjing's family lived was not large, and it had snowed the day before. The snow-covered streets had few pedestrians, making it easy to find someone.
At the three-way intersection, she found Zhan Yichen, laden with bags, waiting for her in the snow, his ears red from the cold.
She quickly took off her scarf and wrapped it around Zhan Yichen's neck. "You're quite brave, running around even though you don't know the way."
As she spoke, she tried to take the bags from Zhan Yichen, but he dodged. "I can carry them. I'm not cold at all."
Seeing his knuckles were purplish-red, Mu Linjing took off her gloves and put them on him, then put her own hands into his coat pocket. "This way, neither of us will be cold."
The two walked back, sharing the same scarf. Mu Linjing was very curious about where Zhan Yichen got the courage to run out and buy these things.
His answer to Zhan Mohan was confident: "I thought with navigation, I could definitely find my way back."
This explanation made Mu Linjing laugh and cry. "Who gave you the confidence to think navigation could guide you to our doorstep?"
Zhan Yichen was speechless and could only lower his head and remain silent. He had never been to such a small town before, thinking AI was ubiquitous, so he was bold but careless. Now, on his first visit to his in-laws, he had made a fool of himself.
As a result, after returning, he always felt awkward about Aunt Mu's smile.
"Yichen, can you cook?"
Facing Uncle Mu's question, he patted his chest and said, "Yes, Linjing often eats my cooking. Uncle, let me prepare dinner today."
Uncle Mu waved his hand. "Come help me."
He knew Uncle Mu wanted to talk to him about something, but he didn't know if it would be good or bad, and he felt a bit uneasy while cooking.
"Yichen, do your family know you're back with Jing'er?"
Zhan Yichen knew he was probing his family's attitude towards Mu Linjing, so he immediately replied, "Of course they know. My family also asked me to send their regards to you and Auntie."
Uncle Mu was somewhat satisfied with this answer. His biggest worry was the mismatch between their families. If Mu Linjing were to marry into the Zhan family, she might have to compromise.
Their family was in no way comparable to the Zhan family. If their daughter were to suffer any injustice, they would have almost no power to resist. If there was even a possibility of that, he would rather break them up now.
Seeing he had fallen silent, Zhan Yichen continued, "Uncle, I see Auntie's illness isn't getting better, and Linjing also mentioned that in a couple of days, you and Auntie will come back with us, and we'll help Auntie recuperate. It's also a good opportunity for our two families to meet. What do you think?"
He knew what Uncle Mu was worried about. No matter how eloquently he spoke about how popular Mu Linjing was in his family, Uncle Mu might see it as mere sweet talk.
It would be better to let him experience it himself. Perhaps then he would feel reassured about entrusting his daughter to him.
His implication was so clear that Uncle Mu naturally understood, and he had this intention himself.
It takes a long time to evaluate a person, and he didn't want to delay his daughter's marriage. It would be better to interact with the Zhan family's parents. He believed he could discern the quality of a child based on their family upbringing.
"I'll listen to your Auntie."
Uncle Mu, after all, was concerned about appearances. This conversation had made Zhan Yichen sweat profusely. It turned out that fathers-in-law were much harder to appease than mothers-in-law.
The Mu family had always had Uncle Mu cooking. Her father knew his daughter's tastes best. He prepared this table of dishes for his long-lost daughter, and also as a way to guide Zhan Yichen.
After dinner, Mu Linjing talked with her parents. She felt a bit sorry for Zhan Yichen. "Dad, you shouldn't have made things so difficult for him today. He doesn't like spicy food as much as I do. He won't be able to eat all these dishes you made."
Uncle Mu knew his daughter would say this and comforted her, "It's his first time visiting our home, so it's good to make him a little apprehensive. A man needs to be disciplined. You are your parents' treasured pearl, and you should be treated the same by him. If he knows how hard it is to get you, he'll cherish you more in the future."
In fact, Uncle Mu knew he shouldn't be too harsh on a young man, but for his daughter's future life, he had to do this. He couldn't let Zhan Yichen think that Linjing had no background and no one to support her.
Zhan Yichen understood the intention behind all this. That's why, when Mu Linjing comforted him later, he just smiled.
"Your dad raised his daughter for over twenty years and is entrusting her to me. Of course, I can't expect him to be satisfied with me immediately. It's only right that he makes things difficult for me. I deserve it."
Hearing her say this, Mu Linjing smiled. Although it was a case of one willing to be disciplined and the other willing to discipline, she knew that Zhan Yichen was willing to endure this because he had feelings for her.
They had experienced life and death, waiting, and crises of trust. After enduring so many trials, she had already decided on this person in her heart.
Compared to their sweetness, Zhan Mohan and Wei Yumeng's relationship was much more ordinary. They were like an old married couple, and their daily lives were no longer filled with passionate love but had settled into a routine.
There was less passion and more quiet peace of passing years. Wei Yumeng didn't mind this at first.
Moreover, after a woman gets married and has children, she is no longer just herself, but the wife of her husband, the mother of her children, and the daughter-in-law of her husband's family. This is the norm in society, and she didn't think she should be an exception.
So, she felt more content with her current peaceful life.
However, this peace was broken by a phone call.
One day, the snow in Pengcheng had just melted, and the roads were a little easier to navigate. She received a strange phone call.
"Excuse me, is this Mrs. Zhan? Your custom-made gown is finished. Do you have time to try it on so we can make any necessary alterations?"
At first, she thought it was a wrong number, but after the caller verified her phone number, they confirmed it was her. She had no choice but to go to the address provided.
It was a wedding dress shop, with countless pure white wedding dresses in the display window. Wei Yumeng was dazzled.
The shop manager greeted her as she walked in. "Hello, Mrs. Zhan. Please follow me."
She followed the manager to the back, where more wedding dresses were displayed, and they looked even more high-end than those in the window.
"Mrs. Zhan, all our wedding dresses here are custom-made by hand. Yours started being made two months ago and was just finished yesterday, so it was air-freighted over. Please try it on. If there's anything that doesn't fit or you don't like, we can still make modifications."
Wei Yumeng, somewhat dazed, was helped into the fitting room to try on the wedding dress. The skirt was very full, and the train was very long, requiring someone's help to put on.
With the help of the shop assistant, she finally managed to put it on. As the assistant tied the corset strings, she asked, "Mrs. Zhan, when are you and Mr. Zhan having your wedding?"