After the school beauty rejected me, I became her mom's number one fan!

Qiao Feiyu's body stiffened for a moment.

Her legs felt a little numb when she stood up; she had been kneeling for too long.

Qiao Jingtang had already turned around and walked to the window.

He had his back to his daughter, his hands folded on his cane, and his shoulders looked shorter than before.

The old locust tree outside the window rustled in the wind.

This tree was planted by Qiao Jingtang's father, and it's over sixty years old now.

The silence lasted for a long time.

Qiao Jingtang's voice came from the window, muffled, as if it was being squeezed out from his chest.

"That kid surnamed Ning...does he know about you?"

Qiao Feiyu stood still, her voice very soft.

"He knows."

Qiao Jingtang didn't say anything more.

He tapped the ground twice heavily with his cane.

Thump, thump!

It was as if this brought the conversation to a close.

A very reluctant period.

Qiao Feiyu bent down to pick up the medicine bottle from the ground and put it back in his pocket.

She paused at the door and glanced back at her father's back.

The old man, who had always stood straight, now had his back bent, whether from age or something else.

She opened her mouth, as if to say something.

In the end, he said nothing and went out the door.

……

Inside the room, Qiao Jinlin sat in a chair, his hands clasped together, his nails digging into his palms. Ning Xiuyang sat on the bench opposite him, holding a cup of tea that had long since gone cold.

Qiao Jinlin had asked three times, "Will Grandpa be very angry?" Ning Xiuyang answered each time, "Your mom will handle it."

On the fourth time, the door to the side room was pushed open.

Qiao Feiyu stood at the door.

Her face wore an expression that was hard to describe.

A mix of relief and exhaustion, like someone who has just finished a marathon and finally sees the finish line.

Qiao Jinlin jumped to his feet: "Mom! What did Grandpa say?"

Qiao Feiyu glanced at Ning Xiuyang, then looked at her daughter.

"Your grandfather said dinner will be served as usual."

Qiao Jinlin let out a long breath, his whole body relaxed, and he almost lost his balance.

Ning Xiuyang put down his teacup and stood up.

He noticed a faint red mark around Qiao Feiyu's eye, and her foundation makeup was also a bit smudged.

He could roughly guess what this woman had gone through inside.

Qiao Feiyu nodded slightly to him, then turned around and said she was going to check on how the kitchen preparations were going.

She walked out with slightly unsteady steps, but her back was very straight.

Ning Xiuyang watched her figure disappear around the corner of the corridor.

Qiao Jinlin leaned closer and whispered, "Senior, did my grandpa scold my mom? Her eyes are all red."

"Probably," Ning Xiuyang said. "After all, your grandfather isn't too happy."

"But he agreed, didn't he? Having dinner as usual means he agreed?"

Ning Xiuyang thought for a moment: "At least they didn't kick me out."

Qiao Jinlin hugged his arm and buried her face in his sleeve: "That's great. I was so nervous just now."

Ning Xiuyang patted her head with his other hand.

……

Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. sharp.

Four dishes and eight bowls were laid out on the octagonal table, following the old-fashioned family banquet rules of Beijing.

Braised pork knuckle, steamed sea bass, deep-fried meatballs, and candied yam – four main dishes.

The eight small bowls contained cold dishes and soups, and their placement was carefully arranged. The old housekeeper brought them out one by one, paying meticulous attention to the direction of the chopsticks and the orientation of the spoons.

Qiao Jingtang sat in the main seat.

He changed into a dark gray jacket with his hair neatly combed, looking completely different from the old man who had been angry that afternoon.

But there was no smile on his face.

His expression wasn't exactly fierce, but rather that awkward "I'm very unhappy, but I'm still sitting here" kind of expression.

Ning Xiuyang sat to his right, Qiao Jinlin sat to his left, and Qiao Feiyu sat next to Qiao Jinlin.

There was a little incident when we sat down.

Ning Xiuyang stood up and poured wine for Qiao Jingtang.

In front of the old man was a small blue-and-white porcelain wine cup, which Ning Xiuyang filled eight-tenths full with a bottle of Moutai.

Not too much, not too little, just right for people who value etiquette.

Qiao Jingtang glanced at the cup.

"Um."

Just one word, then picked it up and drank it all in one gulp.

He put down the glass, picked up the bottle, and poured himself another glass.

Ning Xiuyang noticed this action.

If Qiao Jingtang truly rejected him completely, she wouldn't drink the wine he poured.

But the implication of pouring himself another cup was also very clear.

I accept the wine you poured, but I don't need you to serve me.

A delicate balance.

Qiao Jinlin picked up a piece of deep-fried meatball from across the table and chewed it carefully.

She took a couple of bites, her gaze drifting between her grandfather and Ning Xiuyang, looking back and forth.

After hesitating for a while, she tentatively asked, "Grandpa... what do you think of my senior?"

Qiao Jingtang's chopsticks hovered in mid-air for a second.

He raised his eyes and glared at Qiao Jinlin.

"Eat your food!"

Qiao Jinlin said "Oh," shrank back, and obediently lowered his head to pick at the rice in his bowl.

She secretly made a face at Ning Xiuyang, her mouth moving silently as if to say "Don't be afraid."

Ning Xiuyang didn't respond to that. He used serving chopsticks to put a piece of steamed sea bass on Qiao Jingtang's plate.

Qiao Jingtang looked at the fish on the plate, neither thanking him nor pushing it back.

I picked it up and ate it.

The dinner table was quiet for a while, with only the sound of chopsticks hitting bowls and the old housekeeper's occasional footsteps adding rice.

This silence was uncomfortable, but it wasn't to the point of being tense.

It's just... awkward.

I felt awkward all over.

After eating half a bowl of rice, Qiao Jingtang suddenly spoke.

His tone was different from when he was scolding Qiao Jinlin earlier; it had a businesslike feel to it.

"What is the annual output value of your Hanhai Shipbuilding?"

Ning Xiuyang put down his chopsticks and straightened his posture.

"Last year, the total output value was 34 billion yuan, and in the first half of this year, it has already exceeded 20 billion yuan."

Qiao Jingtang hummed in agreement, then asked, "What types of ships do you mainly build?"

"We mainly focus on bulk carriers and oil tankers of 100,000 tons or more. Last year, we started to enter the LNG carrier field, and there are currently two under construction."

"Was the membrane-type liquid tank technology for LNG carriers independently developed or imported?"

This is a very technical question.

Ning Xiuyang raised an eyebrow slightly.

Although this old man wasn't in the industrial sector before he retired, he asked this question with great expertise.

"The core technologies are independently developed, and we have joint research projects with design institutes under China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The Invar steel welding process for membrane-type liquid tanks was a breakthrough made by our own team."

Qiao Jingtang nodded, his expression changing from critical to something else.

It's like they're carefully evaluating a report.

How many workers do you have under your command?

"Hanhai Shipbuilding's headquarters has more than 22,000 employees, and with the supporting industrial chain and related companies, it can provide employment for nearly 100,000 people."

Qiao Jingtang didn't ask any more questions and lowered his head to eat a bite of food.

But two minutes later, another question popped up: "What's your opinion on the competitiveness of Daxia Shipbuilding in the international market?"

This is no longer about asking about company data; it's about testing his strategic thinking.