Reborn in the 70s: Pampered by Regiment Commander
Chapter 168 - 135: Father-in-law Looks at His Son-in-law

Chapter 168: Chapter 135: Father-in-law Looks at His Son-in-law

It was the second watch of the night, with one watch remaining.

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Time-wise, her father should be on his way here soon. What a sight it would be for him to see a crowd gathered around like this? Yet she could hardly shoo these people away. After a moment’s thought, she looked at Zhou Xikang, "Big Brother, I’m well-rested now."

Zhou Xikang reacted quickly and waved everyone off, "Grandma Jiang, Auntie Jiang, once Third Brother and I have time, we’ll visit you and Grandpa Jiang, Uncle Jiang..."

Old Lady Jiang with a smile reminded them, "Don’t forget to bring Miss Xiao Lin with you."

"That’s right, you must bring Third Sister-in-law Mi!" Jiang Xue insisted as she came forward and grabbed Chuxia, "Third Sister-in-law Mi, you must come visit our home. It’s such wonderful news that you’re marrying into our family!"

Being addressed as Third Sister-in-law Mi repeatedly made Chuxia feel overwhelmed; she could only offer a perfunctory smile and say, "Sure, I will definitely come."

After they had walked a good distance and turned a corner, out of the prying eyes of the crowd, Chuxia finally let out a sigh of relief. Wow, that family is way too enthusiastic!

After such a long time, Zhou Mikang still hadn’t brought Lin Baohe and his wife over, which could only mean one thing—Lin Baohe had run off somewhere! Concerned that Chuxia might feel awkward, Zhou Xikang initiated a conversation, "The Jiang Family and our family have a longstanding relationship. They genuinely hope that Xiaomi has a good life with them. They truly like you. They mean it."

Although it was only the second time Chuxia met Zhou Xikang, she could tell that his temperament was entirely different from Zhou Mikang’s—he was a much more easygoing person. She plucked up the courage to ask, "I feel like their enthusiasm is... a bit much. Is there a reason for that?"

"Well..." Zhou Xikang hesitated uncomfortably, it wasn’t a secret, but he felt it wasn’t quite right for him to be the one to discuss this with his future sister-in-law.

What’s more, he wasn’t sure if Laosan had told Chuxia about Ye Meiru’s incident. Worried that his chatter might trigger more complications, he quickly added, "There’s no particular reason; it’s just that both families are close, and Xiaomi has grown so big without settling down, naturally, they are anxious along with us."

"I see, so the two families really are quite close." Chuxia, seeing through his pretext, didn’t call him out. She had been presumptuous. Even if he was amiable, how could he possibly share everything with her?

"Yes, Grandpa Jiang and our grandpa were comrades-in-arms from the same trenches. They enjoy bickering when they meet and love competing in chess, boasting about wins and losses. But in times of trouble, they will unquestionably stand side by side without hesitation.

Because of the strong bond between the elder brothers, Grandma Jiang and our grandma also have a special relationship. Uncle Jiang grew up with our dad, and we younger generations grew up with the Jiang kids. The affection spanning three generations is incredibly strong.

As a result, whenever our elders worry about something, the Jiang elders get involved too. Once you’re married into our family, you’ll understand. It’s almost as if the two families eat from the same pot. Actually, when we were kids, we often freeloaded at Grandpa Jiang’s place..."

Listening to Zhou Xikang’s rambling explanation, Chuxia’s lips curved into a small smile. Clearly not telling her the full story, he became more nervous and gave her detailed accounts of the relationship between the two families.

Just as Zhou Xikang ran out of excuses, Zhou Mikang and Lin Baohe with his wife finally came into their sight. Chuxia hurriedly walked up to meet them.

Lin Baohe’s head was almost bowed to the ground!

"Chuxia..." Zhao Yulan was also visibly uncomfortable, "Chuxia..." Especially upon seeing Zhou Xikang, she became so agitated that she was lost for words.

"Mother, it’s fine. It’s not father’s fault." Chuxia spoke as she reached out to pull on Lin Baohe’s arm, softly calling out, "Father."

Lin Baohe looked up, his face flushed red, "Chuxia, Dad has embarrassed you."

"What embarrassment?" Chuxia turned directly towards Zhou Mikang, "Do you think it’s embarrassing?"

"Of course not!" Zhou Mikang responded with a wry smile, "I’ve been explaining all the way to my parents, but they just can’t get over this hiccup."

"Could you have handled it any better?" Chuxia glared at him fiercely, "When my dad is in front of you, you belittle him like that. Zhou Mikang, do you sincerely want to marry me, to truly regard my parents as your own?"

"Chuxia..." Zhao Yulan hurriedly tugged at her daughter’s sleeve.

"Mother, this is his fault. We came to the Zhou family, who else did we get to know other than him? If he doesn’t look out for us, who else will protect us?" Chuxia stood her ground firmly, "Zhou Mikang, I’ve agreed to marry you, but that’s on the condition that you must respect my family. But now... but now you’re just making a fool of my father!

My father has lived his whole life without venturing farther than our county, and the most influential household he’s ever visited is my aunt’s. We come from a small place, which you were well aware of. How could we feel comfortable in your home?

My father is already a man of few words, and when nervous, he becomes even more at a loss. Your family might think that my father should just drink if offered liquor or smoke if offered cigarettes and that he’s brought this discomfort upon himself by accepting everything.

Have you ever considered that he is just too nervous to reject anything? In his eyes, you are all highly respectable individuals. Anything you ask him to do, he simply doesn’t know how to refuse. All of this is your responsibility!"

"Yes, yes, you’re right. It’s my responsibility," Zhou Mikang quickly nodded in agreement, "Dad, Mom, please forgive me. Meeting you for the first time, I was also nervous, just wanted to take good care of Dad. But the more nervous I was, the bigger mess I made. I’m sorry, Chuxia is right. This is all my fault..."

Laosan admitted his mistake?

Their family’s Demon Lord of Mayhem, Laosan, actually admitted his mistake?!

Zhou Xikang’s eyes bulged as wide as cow’s, and deep down he felt lucky that he hadn’t just told Chuxia the enthusiastic truth about the Jiang family. Otherwise, what if this girl got tough and decided to split ways with Laosan? Wouldn’t Laosan have torn him limb from limb?

No matter whether Laosan admitted it or not, Zhou Xikang could see that Laosan truly felt differently about Lin Chuxia!

In his family, who ever dared to scold Laosan as if he were scolding a mischievous child?

As far as he had seen, no one ever had.

But today, he had seen it.

The lecture that Chuxia gave Zhou Mikang finally drew Lin Baohe out of his entangled emotions. He apologetically smiled at Zhou Mikang, "It’s not your fault, it’s my bad. I can’t blame you.

Suddenly entering your home, I didn’t know where to put my hands or what to say. I was just thinking that as long as I didn’t do anything inappropriate, it would represent the Lin Family’s sincerity, and then..." As he spoke, his face turned red again.

"Dad, let’s just let this go, it’s nothing," said Chuxia. "If their family members laugh at you, we simply won’t marry into their family."

"Silly child, how can you say such things?" Lin Baohe affectionately patted his daughter’s head. "You marrying into Xiao Zhou’s family puts my mind at ease, I truly feel at ease now. This child has genuine feelings for you. Your mother and I, we both feel reassured."

"Mhmm, I agree with your dad. Although this incident was embarrassing, your dad and I feel secure now. Xiao Zhou has genuine feelings for you, and that’s stronger than anything."

What kind of logic is this?

Chuxia was speechless. Were her parents too easily satisfied?

As they were about to turn the corner, Zhou Xikang quickly said, "Laosan, while my younger sister-in-law and I were waiting for you, we bumped into Jiang Xue. She called out Grandma Jiang and Aunt Jiang."

"Did they..." Zhao Yulan looked at Chuxia with a worried face. "Do they know now?"

"No, Big Brother Zhou reacted quite fast..." Chuxia then recounted Zhou Xikang’s response.

Hearing this, Zhao Yulan and Lin Baohe both let out a sigh of relief. If their embarrassment reached another family, they really wouldn’t have any face left to meet their in-laws in the future!

"Xiao Zhou, thank you." Zhao Yulan sincerely thanked Zhou Xikang.

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing," Zhou Xikang quickly waved his hand. "Actually, this isn’t a big deal at all. I explained it to them like that because I didn’t want uncle and auntie to feel embarrassed. Not that I meant... I just mean..."

Chuxia interrupted him with a smile, "Big Brother Zhou, you explained it to the Jiang family this way because you think my parents are thin-skinned. We understand, and it’s precisely because we understand that we’re especially grateful to you."

Zhou Xikang awkwardly laughed, "It’s what I should do; we’re family after all."

As the group reached the Jiang family’s building, Jiang Xue darted out, greeted Lin Baohe and Zhao Yulan with a beaming smile, and then trailed behind as they all headed to the Zhou family.

When they arrived at the Zhou family’s doorstep, Zhou Mikang turned around, coldly eyed her and said, "That’s far enough, you can go back now."

"Third Brother-in-law Mi..."

With a glare from Zhou Mikang, she quickly waved her hands in retreat, but then sharply raised her voice, "Grandma Zhou, I’m here, I came to see you! Third Brother-in-law Mi won’t let me in!"

"Bang!" Zhou Mikang shut her out the door and bolted it from the inside, then turned back to smile at Lin Baohe and Zhao Yulan. "Dad, Mom, today’s business is our family’s affair; we’re not involving outsiders."

"Xiao Zhou, I approve of you as my son-in-law," Lin Baohe said, clapping his shoulder approvingly. He completely understood Zhou Mikang’s intention; it was just to avoid having the Zhou family members accidentally say something inconsiderate and embarrass him.

A man like this might not always act with perfect propriety, but knowing his daughter would be marrying someone who truly looked after her made him genuinely relieved. Because Zhou Mikang valued his daughter, he treated them this way.

He got the message!

Turning around, he planned to talk to his daughter properly; how could they make their son-in-law lose face in front of outsiders?

Considering their own family’s circumstances, they should be holding him in high esteem, to say the least. Besides, it was indeed his fault this time. How could he blame everything on Xiao Zhou?

No, he would definitely have to give his daughter a serious talking-to later!

Of course, Chuxia was oblivious that in the space of this short encounter, her father’s view of Zhou Mikang had transformed into that of a father-in-law who becomes increasingly satisfied with his son-in-law the more he sees of him! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation.)