I'm in high school, is my dating system working correctly?

Zhou Qianyun's old black Mercedes was parked at the entrance of the residential compound.

This car was purchased by Zhou Qianyun's father when he first became wealthy and wanted to buy an expensive car to show off. Now it is used by her mother for transportation.

The driver's side window rolled down, and a well-maintained middle-aged woman waved to Lu Yu. This was Zhou Qianyun's mother, Liu Ping.

"Sit in the back."

Lu Yu opened the back door and got into the car.

Zhou Qianyun sat in the passenger seat.

She wore a light purple short-sleeved T-shirt, denim shorts, revealing her fair and slender legs and white sneakers. Compared to the pristine look of her school uniform, she exuded a more youthful and lively vibe.

The girl with her hair in a ponytail glanced at the back seat through the rearview mirror inside the car, without saying a word.

"Hello, Auntie, what brings you here?"

Lu Yu greeted him.

"Ah Yu, there's a gift box in the back seat. Take it and give it to the old man as a birthday present tomorrow."

Liu Ping turned her head and smiled.

Lu Yu then noticed a tote bag next to him containing an elegantly packaged gift box. Judging from the description on the back of the gift box, it was a set of exquisite writing implements.

Zhou Qianyun's grandfather was an intellectual who supported the Third Front construction. His wife died early, and he had a good relationship with Lu Yu and other younger generations.

Influenced by his father, Lu Yu also developed a fondness for literary things from a young age. He was decent at Chinese, knew a little about Go, and had beautiful calligraphy skills.

It's a nice gift to present writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones to an elderly person on their birthday.

Lu Yu couldn't even imagine the price of this set.

"I've already discussed it with your parents."

Liu Ping added another sentence.

So, the meaning of "no need to bring gifts" is that Zhou Qianyun's family will prepare gifts for them.

Lu Yu didn't quite understand the social etiquette among adults, and he was too lazy to think about it. He was only seventeen years old, and there weren't many complicated relationships between him and Shen Liyuan and his son.

"Remember to pack well tomorrow."

Zhou Qianyun suddenly spoke up, as if warning or reminding.

"No problem, I'll wear my most expensive clothes."

"Ultraman suit?"

"?"

A question mark appeared above Lu Yu's head.

What does this woman mean?

This was actually an embarrassing incident from his kindergarten days. When he was supposed to perform on stage, for some reason, Lu Yu asked his family to rent an Ultraman suit to play the hero, but he ended up looking completely out of place with everyone else on stage.

Lu Yu thought, "Holy crap, Ultraman's suit is so cool! Who could resist turning into light?"

The hero in the story is Ultraman, so what's wrong with that?

That was already alright.

On the day of the performance, Zhou Qianyun was verbally abused by several naughty boys. The righteous Lu Yu, dressed in an Ultraman suit, kicked them, but was then ganged up on by the boys in a despicable manner. When the kindergarten teacher arrived, they were all scolded.

Lu Yu's disheveled appearance was talked about by his classmates about his upcoming school entrance exams, and even some students in the first and second grades of elementary school mentioned it.

The darkest part of history.

"Alright, Ayu, you should go back now and get some sleep."

As Liu Ping spoke, she gently patted her daughter.

"Goodbye, Auntie... I'm leaving."

Lu Yu said goodbye to Liu Ping, then glanced at Zhou Qianyun.

"Don't oversleep."

Zhou Qianyun muttered something, as if to say goodbye.

After getting out of the car with the gift box, Lu Yu stood there and watched the Mercedes reverse and drive away.

Inspiration struck him, and Lu Yu perked up his ears.

Under the effect of [Basic Listening], the muffled conversation between Liu Ping and Zhou Qianyun, as if separated by glass, could be heard.

"Is this alright? You've been making all this fuss about coming over, but then you give people the cold shoulder. What's the point?"

"mom!"

"Alright, alright, I won't say anything more. Next time this happens, you'll have to do it yourself..."

The rest were too far away to hear.

Lu Yu looked at the gift box of the Four Treasures of the Study in his hand.

I've decided to leave the worries for tomorrow.

*

On the way, Lu Yu checked the United States on his phone.

"So it's that difficult for people from that area to get into the wealthy neighborhood?"

According to online sources, the city planning there is designed to isolate people from different social classes. Ordinary people find it difficult to reach the areas where the wealthy live, and even if they have a car, they cannot easily navigate to those upscale neighborhoods. Many people go through their entire lives without ever knowing that there is a world outside the "wall".

Looking up, Lu Yu saw the brightly lit bus stop sign that read "Golden Dreamland Community" and thought to himself, "Thank goodness I'm in China. Rich people can't wait to let everyone know how luxurious their place is. It's just a bus ride from here."

Lu Heng and Feng Jiahe both changed into more formal clothes, though it was unclear when they had bought them.

As for Lu Yuyao, he chose an ordinary shirt, paired with dark trousers and sneakers, and looked presentable enough.

Around 10 a.m., after registering their visit, the three were led into the community's private club by the housekeeper.

This private club in the upscale community combines functions such as a restaurant, gym, KTV, and tea room. Zhou Qianyun's grandfather's birthday banquet was held in the banquet hall.

Upon entering the banquet hall, Lu Yu immediately spotted the old man sitting in the main seat.

Unlike the large banquets with dozens of tables that I was used to, the banquet hall only had a few tables and not many people were invited.

Lu Yu didn't recognize most of the adults; he could only hear their intermittent conversations through his [Basic Listening] ability, mostly about business.

Business people seem to be like this: they seize every opportunity to treat others to meals to cultivate relationships.

Especially for small-scale banquets held in private clubs, the invitees are mostly long-term partners.

Lu Yu suddenly felt that Old Master Zhou had a kind of loneliness that was hard to describe as pitiful.

The family sat down at the head table.

After the standard birthday greetings, Lu Yu handed the gift to Old Master Zhou.

"Wow, Xuan brushes, Huizhou ink, Xuan paper, She inkstones, these are all good stuff. Ah Yu really understands me. Please, have a seat."

Grandpa Zhou beamed with joy and pulled Lu Yu to sit down next to him.

Lu Yu's family was seated at the main table. Besides the three of them, there were also Zhou Qianyun and Liu Ping, as well as Zhou Qianyun's maternal grandparents and other relatives. However, no one had arrived yet, and Liu Ping was busy greeting other guests, making the table seem a bit deserted.

"Let's go say hello to Qingyang."

Lu Heng and Feng Jiahe got up to go find Zhou Qianyun's father, Zhou Qingyang, after sitting for a short while, leaving Lu Yu to accompany the old man.

While chatting with the old man about everyday matters, Lu Yu casually listened to the conversations of the adults in the banquet hall using [Beginner Listening].

"That family just now seemed to be Boss Zhou's childhood friends. They sat right at the head table. The two families are very close."

"The gift they gave to the old man was very thoughtful; he's a person of taste."

"I remember Boss Zhou's daughter had a childhood sweetheart with whom she had a good relationship. It was this boy, wasn't it? He was indeed a handsome young man."

"Let's go and get to know them a bit; it'll be good to make connections."

A well-dressed couple whispered a few words to each other, then smiled and came over to Lu Heng and Feng Jiahe to exchange pleasantries.

Turning his gaze away, Lu Yu glanced at the gift box of writing implements placed beside him.

He didn't quite understand the social etiquette among adults, but even so, he could somewhat figure out the intention behind Zhou Qianyun's father's arrangement.

Uncle Zhou was subtly helping Lao Lu expand his network in his own way.

As for helping Lu Yu gain favor, that was just a side effect.

"What's wrong, Ayu? Does this feel more like Aqian's father's business banquet than my birthday celebration?"

Noticing that Lu Yu occasionally glanced at the adults who were chatting happily, Grandpa Zhou asked without any hesitation.

"kind of."

Lu Yu stopped listening and looked at the old man sitting next to him.

"Actually, it's okay. If my birthday celebration can help Qingyang, I don't mind celebrating it a few more times, as long as I can visit you and Aqian along the way."

Grandpa Zhou is very open-minded.

Perhaps at his age, he doesn't care so much anymore.

After the old man finished speaking, he looked in the direction behind Lu Yu.

At the same time, indifferent and cold words appeared in Lu Yu's field of vision.

Congratulations on completing the task!

You were once inseparable, but slowly drifted apart. Now, the time for reunion has come. Let go of all the regrets and remorse of the past and embrace a new future.

[Task Completion Status: Perfect]

[Reward increased to 1000 yuan]

"You can go back, but there's no one there anymore."

The reward will be sent out within 120 minutes. Please check your account.

While wondering why the mission was completed at this time, Lu Yu heard a commotion coming from a corner of the banquet hall.

Look up.

Zhou Qianyun has arrived.

*

New author, new book! Thank you all for your recommendations and monthly tickets!

Based on everyone's feedback, updates will now be twice a day at noon, starting tomorrow.

Data from this initial trial run is quite important, so I hope you readers will support me!