Grandpa leaned back on the sofa and said slowly, "Xiao Jiang, you and Xiao Lin are an engaged couple now. Is there anything we can't talk about as a family?"
Jiang Yubai sat on the sofa on the other side. He answered the question irrelevantly: "Last month, I wanted to bring Lin Zhixia to a party at home..."
Before Jiang Yubai could finish, his mother interrupted him: "At that time, I didn't agree with you bringing Lin Zhixia here because your father and I hadn't met her yet and didn't know her well enough."
Jiang Yubai asked: "If I'm not engaged, would you be willing to get to know her?"
Uncle and Jiang Yubai echoed each other: "Yes, if Xiao Jiang wasn't engaged, his parents would probably still be on vacation in the Maldives."
Grandpa turned his head and looked at uncle.
This time, the uncle didn't back down at all, and even smiled: "Dad, to be honest, I've been fed up with it for a long time. Xiao Jiang is still dating Xiao Lin. You always think that they are not a good match, have different ideas, and will break up sooner or later. You have never thought about how to accept Xiao Lin. A friend of my sister-in-law always wants to introduce her daughter to Xiao Jiang to create opportunities for them to be alone... I'm not saying that other girls are bad, but this kind of behavior is inappropriate and I don't support it."
After my uncle finished speaking, my aunt looked at him sideways.
The uncle whispered to her, "Am I right?"
Auntie said softly, "Yeah, that's right."
The uncle smiled even more: "It's enough that my wife understands me."
Aunt squeezed his hand tightly.
Dad's expression didn't change at all - Jiang Yubai hadn't yet mastered his skill of not showing his emotions. From childhood to adulthood, his father was Jiang Yubai's role model, and Jiang Yubai respected him very much.
However, today, my father said: "Marriage is a major event in life. You are only in your early twenties. Your decision was a bit hasty."
Jiang Yubai calmly replied, "Lin Zhixia and I have known each other for twelve years and have been in love for four years. This is enough time for me to make a decision."
The hall was silent.
Uncle continued to form a united front with Jiang Yubai: "Brother, many years ago, you and sister-in-law had just known each other for four months..."
Dad picked up a glass of water and just took a sip when uncle stopped talking.
After a moment, the uncle still finished the sentence: "You and sister-in-law have known each other for less than four months... and you're already married. Isn't that a bit hasty?"
Dad put the glass in his hand on the table, knocking it with a light "bang". He said, "The time of dating is not the key issue. I told you before that as a family, everything can be discussed."
The uncle held his breath and said, "You also said that if we can't reach an agreement, we can only be kicked out of the house."
Before he finished speaking, his uncle slowly took his aunt's arm.
Aunt smiled and said, "The night before Shaoqi and I got engaged, my mother asked me if it was too fast. I answered, no, I have liked Shaoqi for more than ten years, and we have a foundation for our relationship. Everything that happened afterwards was just a matter of course."
My uncle agreed again and again: "My wife is right. We heard it in the box. Xiao Jiang and Xiao Lin have had a relationship for more than ten years."
"I'm not against them," Mom suddenly said, "Jiang Yubai did such a big thing as an engagement without saying anything. Is this really appropriate?"
My uncle was speechless.
Mom continued, "A few days ago, my secretary did a background check on Lin Zhixia's family for me." She took out a document and placed it in front of everyone: "I'll put the investigation report here. It includes her parents, brother, uncle's family, and uncle's family."
Jiang Yubai frowned slightly: "Her parents and brother are kind-hearted..."
"Good people can also encounter risks," my mother warned, "When you hire a group of new employees, you have to check their credit and their previous jobs. How can you not be cautious when getting married?"
Grandma chimed in: "Lin Zhixia has a good personality. You can tell that she is a lively and optimistic girl, a world-class talent. The most rare thing is that she is not arrogant. You won't feel tired when you get along with her..."
The uncle showed an awkward but polite smile - he knew that Lin Zhixia had once brought a great psychological trauma to Jiang Yubai, and thanks to Jiang Yubai's timely adjustment, no bad consequences were caused.
Grandma opened the investigation report and said, "Your father just said that we are family, so we can discuss everything. You didn't discuss it with us. You just turned 22 and you are in a hurry to get to this point. Even if Lin Zhixia is a good child, no matter how outstanding she is, it is her own business. We are not a good match..."
Grandma didn’t say anything after that.
She stopped there.
Jiang Yubai stood up from his seat, his tall shadow falling on the neat carpet. He walked to the center of the meeting room, in front of everyone's sight, and then he said frankly: "You are all my family, and you are very important to me, and so is Lin Zhixia. You have checked Lin Zhixia's background, and you probably know that she is paying off her mortgage..."
Grandma was a little surprised: "How big a house did she buy?"
Jiang Yubai answered truthfully: "It's over 200 square meters, close to the university town, so it's convenient for her to go to get off work."
Grandma was silent.
After a while, she asked again: "You didn't give her money to buy a house?"
Jiang Yubai lowered his head slightly and looked at his grandparents: "Lin Zhixia doesn't accept expensive gifts and doesn't care about material conditions. Scientific research and teaching are the focus of her life. People as pure as her are indeed rare, but they do exist."
He went on to say, "Matched is not about wealth or material things, but about character and ideas. Two people who are brought up in the same family are more likely to get along well. Lin Zhixia and I grew up together..."
When the aunt heard this, she was deeply moved. She interrupted and said, "Mom, Dad, Big Brother, Big Sister-in-law, they are already engaged, it's a happy event, and the happy event is coming, so don't be so serious."
"Yes," the uncle perked up again, "Besides, what's wrong with Xiao Lin? He's an associate professor at the age of 22, and he's almost catching up with my position as the principal violinist at the age of 23. If Xiao Jiang wasn't engaged, you didn't value Lin Zhi Xia. If Xiao Jiang got engaged, you..."
Grandpa came to the uncle, who not only did not shut up, but also blurted out: "Dad, more than 60 years ago, you didn't have much money."
Grandpa's expression softened: "Shaoqi, come with me."
My uncle lay still on the sofa, like a stone sculpture.
Jiang Yubai walked between his uncle and grandfather. Jiang Yubai was 1.88 meters tall, and his grandfather had a slightly curved spine. Jiang Yubai was much taller than him. His grandfather raised his hand and patted his shoulder, sighing, "Our little Jiang has grown up."
Jiang Yubai responded, "When you grow up, it's better to make your own decisions than to be indecisive."
Grandpa put his hands behind his back.
Jiang Yubai followed him out. Grandpa paused slightly, and Jiang Yubai also stopped at the door of the meeting room. He stood there and talked with Grandpa for nearly ten minutes. Grandpa's expression became more and more relaxed. Finally, Grandpa asked him: "How do you want us to view Lin Zhixia?"
Jiang Yubai replied that he hoped the elders would try to accept her as a family member.
Grandpa said with emotion: "I will go tell your second uncle and third uncle about your engagement. Next Spring Festival, you can bring Xiaolin home to celebrate the New Year."
Jiang Yubai finally felt relieved.
Lin Zhixia didn't know what happened to Jiang Yubai this afternoon.
Lin Zhixia herself also encountered a troublesome situation.
Fang Yiwen, the only doctoral student under Lin Zhixia, studies quantum chemistry. Fang Yiwen wants to use the chemistry laboratory of another professor named Qu Zongyi in the college. However, the equipment in that laboratory is very tight, and Qu Zongyi must first ensure that his students can get a place, so he politely rejected Fang Yiwen's request.
Qu Zongyi said that after the Spring Festival next year, Fang Yiwen will come to him and he will see if he can arrange a relationship for her.
Fang Yiwen was quite happy after hearing this.
She returned to her laboratory and relayed Qu Zongyi's original words.
Xu Lingbo slapped his forehead and said angrily, "Sister, why don't you understand? Qu Zongyi means that during the Spring Festival, this equipment is used by others. After the Spring Festival, it will definitely not be your turn."
Fang Yiwen pushed her glasses on the bridge of her nose: "No way?"
Xu Lingbo sighed.
Fang Yiwen called Lin Zhixia and asked her what to do.
Lin Zhixia's first reaction was: "It doesn't matter. I still have a lot of research funds on hand. What is the market price of the experimental equipment you want?"
Fang Yiwen said honestly: "Nearly 100 million."
Lin Zhixia was silent.
Fang Yiwen also fell silent.
A few seconds later, Fang Yiwen explained, "The laboratory of Qu Zongyi was built by my former mentor. My mentor designed more than ten drawings and found the best manufacturers in the country to order a batch of equipment. Some parts are limited edition imported goods that cannot be bought with money. My mentor jumped to another university, and the laboratory was assigned to Qu Zongyi by the college."
In this case, Lin Zhixia had no choice but to go and discuss the matter with Qu Zongyi in person.
"Teacher Lin," Fang Yiwen told her, "Please tell Teacher Qu that I am on call 24 hours a day and can do experiments from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m.."
"Is it so hard?" Lin Zhixia was a little hesitant.
Fang Yiwen grabbed her fluffy hair, still looking casual: "At most I can catch up on my sleep during the day, it's no big deal."
Lin Zhixia was full of confidence: "Okay, wait for my good news."
Just half an hour later, Lin Zhixia came back.
Fang Yiwen guessed the result but said nothing.
Zhan Rui was quieter than Fang Yiwen, while Xu Lingbo kept rubbing his face - his former mentor had a wide network of contacts, many methods, and a strong hand, so there was absolutely no situation where he could not borrow a laboratory.
And Lin Zhixia just hit a snag.
She thought for a moment and could only say, "Fang Yiwen, give me your experimental data and paper framework first. I will think carefully about whether there is any other way."
Fang Yiwen immediately handed over a stack of materials.
That evening, Lin Zhixia went to Jiang Yubai's house with the stack of materials. She liked to share a study with Jiang Yubai, and occasionally she would turn her head and look at his profile, and her mood would become very good.