Chapter 289: Going to the Jiang Family for Dinner
It took the two of them quite some time to build the snowman.
Shi Lan was from the south originally and hadn’t seen much snow. Plus, being a homebody outside of work, she had never really played in the snow seriously.
This was the first time she had ever put her heart into building a snowman.
Jiang Xia didn’t have the patience to make a big one. Every time he rolled a small snowball, he couldn’t help but show it off to Shi Lan. If she praised him even a little, he’d get so excited he would end up crushing it.
Eventually, Shi Lan had him place the small snowballs he finished next to her. Her own large snowball was then made by combining her work with all of Jiang Xia’s little ones.
Before they knew it, the snowman began to take shape.
Shi Lan gathered some pebbles from outside to give the snowman a smile. Its nose was a flower Jiang Xia picked from the garden, and he picked other flowers to make a floral crown for it too.
Although the overall look was a bit strange, the colorful flowers added a great deal of beauty to the snowman.
Shi Lan also took off her own scarf, wrapped it around the snowman, and then took a picture.
Seeing her bare neck, Jiang Xia quickly took a new scarf out of his storage space and helped her put it on.
"Thank you, Jiang Jiang."
Shi Lan looked at the picture of the snowman on her chip, tilted her head, and smiled at Jiang Xia.
Jiang Xia grinned, revealing his white teeth and canine fangs. Seeing her smile, he also took out his chip and started taking pictures.
’This is the first snowman Lanlan and I ever made.’ He decided he would have a special display case made for it and place it in the ice room.
The two spent the rest of the afternoon in the ice room. It wasn’t until dinnertime approached that Jiang Xia’s father sent a message, asking him to bring Shi Lan home for a meal.
So, Shi Lan bought some gifts and they went to the Jiang family home again.
As soon as they arrived at the Jiang residence, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang came over to greet them warmly. Seeing their own son trailing closely behind Shi Lan like a shy little bride, carrying a pile of gifts with his eyes glued to her, they couldn’t help but clear their throats.
Jiang Xia beamed. "Dad, Mom."
"Oh, right! These are the gifts Lanlan bought for you. Hurry up and thank her."
"AHEM..."
Hearing this, Shi Lan nearly choked on her own spit.
’As someone of the younger generation visiting my elders, it was only proper for me to bring gifts. How could I let them thank me?’
She shot Jiang Xia an exasperated glare, but he just blinked, not understanding, and cautiously shut his mouth.
Shi Lan quickly said, "Sir, Ma’am..."
"Oh? You should be calling us something else now."
Du Yi reminded her, a smile on her red lips. Shi Lan blushed and followed her lead. "Dad, Mom, these gifts are just a small token from me. Jiang Jiang has a pure and simple heart; there’s no need for thanks."
’Pure and simple heart?’
Jiang Hua glanced at his son, who was secretly playing with Shi Lan’s shadow behind her back, and felt the young lady’s assessment of him was far too generous.
’Even I, his own father, feel like I raised a fool.’
Just then, hearing Shi Lan’s praise, Jiang Xia let out a couple of dopey giggles. Mr. Jiang pressed a hand to his forehead. ’Thank goodness he’s married off.’
’If it weren’t for his high spiritual power, I’d have worried no one would ever want him.’
"You’re still being too formal, child. From now on, treat this place as your own home. Come over whenever you want."
Du Yi affectionately took her arm, and Mr. Jiang took the gifts from his son’s hands. The four of them walked inside.
The meal at the Jiang family’s home was already prepared, just waiting for Shi Lan and Jiang Xia to arrive.
The spread on the table was particularly lavish. Throughout the meal, Du Yi, Jiang Hua, and Jiang Xia continuously piled food onto Shi Lan’s plate, afraid she wasn’t eating enough.
After her body was enhanced by spiritual power, Shi Lan’s constitution and appetite had improved greatly. She ate every last bit of the food they gave her, and by the end, she was completely stuffed. She glanced over and saw Jiang Xia was still diligently clearing his plate.
Shi Lan loved watching him eat. He always had such a healthy appetite and was never a picky eater. Sometimes, even when she found the food made by the robots unpalatable, he would still eat it all enthusiastically.
Shi Lan watched, wide-eyed, as he devoured five bowls of rice and numerous side dishes.
She couldn’t help but glance at his flat stomach. She remembered he had faint abs. Considering how much he normally ate, having abs at all was a true gift of genetics.
Mr. Jiang also found it hard to watch his son’s behavior.
’The boy eats like he hasn’t had a meal in eight hundred years.’
’Thank goodness, thank goodness he’s married off!’
Mr. Jiang felt another wave of relief, and the way he looked at Shi Lan was filled with the kind of gratitude one might reserve for a savior.
After dinner, Mr. Jiang pulled away a reluctant Jiang Xia, who didn’t want to leave Shi Lan’s side, for a "deep discussion" between father and son.
In this world, people were quite open about mating and courtship. "Sex," as a form of Deep Healing, was a topic for which there were plenty of educational resources online.
Mr. Jiang hadn’t normally discussed these things with Jiang Xia, partly because they were taught in class and information was readily available online.
’Who would have thought his own son would be the one on the bottom?’
Mr. Jiang looked at his son. The first thing he said when they got back to the study was, "So, how’s the ’studying’ going?"
The moment he heard the word "studying," Jiang Xia knew what he meant. His face grew a little hot. The thought that Shi Lan still had to do most of the hard work made him feel a bit embarrassed.
However, whether it was from a guilty conscience or because watching the videos made him feel useless, he didn’t dare tell his father the truth this time.
He pressed his lips together, gave a slight shake of his head, and mumbled, "Um, it’s... it’s okay."
"That’s good, then."
Mr. Jiang was also a bit thin-skinned and didn’t dare say too much in front of his son, fearing Jiang Xia might corner him to exchange notes on the videos. In the end, he just said, "Keep studying hard. Lanlan is a good female. You have to hold on to her."
’Otherwise, if they really broke up, I’m worried no one else would ever want him.’
’Of course, the Jiang Family can support him for his entire life. But an older, "unmarried" male would inevitably attract gossip. And with my own son’s difficult personality and temper, he probably wouldn’t have a moment’s peace.’
’Most importantly, I can see that he’s very fond of Shi Lan. I definitely hope he cherishes this relationship and doesn’t let something like this cause a rift between them.’
Mr. Jiang only exchanged a few more sentences on the topic before switching to his son’s career, asking if he needed to start getting experience at the company now.
Meanwhile, downstairs, Du Yi and Shi Lan were talking about housing.
Shi Lan hadn’t had time to look for a good plot of land to build on recently. Du Yi happened to ask about her future housing plans, so she explained the situation to her.
"I want to find a large plot of land, build a villa, and then build a few connected houses around it for my five Beast Husbands. That way, we can all live together, which would be more convenient."
"But I haven’t had a chance to look at any plots yet. I’ll probably go in a couple of days."
Du Yi mused, "As for land, I remember Xiaxia’s dad’s company bought a few plots. We can ask him when he comes down later and see if any are suitable."
Those plots were meant for Jiang Hua to expand his company.
The company had hired many males, and he was considering building a dedicated training facility to improve the professionalism of the company’s bodyguards.
Hearing this, Shi Lan’s eyes lit up. "Okay, thank you, Mom."
When Jiang Hua came downstairs, Du Yi immediately asked him about it. Upon hearing that Shi Lan needed land to build a house, before Jiang Xia could even speak, Jiang Hua waved his hand with the magnanimous air of a tycoon and said, "A trifle! Lanlan, you can pick one out later."
"These plots of mine are all close to my bodyguard company, so security will definitely be guaranteed. The surrounding facilities are good, too."
With that, he opened his chip and directly pulled up holographic site plans of the plots for Shi Lan to choose from.