Dating should happen after get off work.

"If you keep being naughty, I'll send you to Grandpa's."

When Jiang Sheng was a child, as long as he heard these words, no matter how naughty he was a second ago, he would immediately become very well-behaved.

This is the absolute control that Grandpa had over Jiang Sheng.

A black "Hongqi" brand car slowly passed through the carved gate and stopped in the center of the courtyard.

The driver was a thin young man with sharp eyes and dark skin. After the car came to a stop, he got out of the driver's seat and opened the door for the back seat.

At the entrance of the villa, Mr. and Mrs. Jiang stood at the front, followed by Jiang Sheng and Jiang Qingyue, and then three girls with expressions of curiosity and nervousness.

"Watch my eyes and act accordingly," Jiang Sheng turned his head and whispered to the three of them.

Act according to eye contact...

What kind of look is that? What are you doing?

The girls looked bewildered.

"cough--"

A deep cough blew in on the breeze, drawing everyone's attention. The first thing they saw was a wrinkled hand resting on the car door.

The old man was not tall, but his back was straight. He wore a black Zhongshan suit and a pair of black cloth shoes. Although he had a few strands of silver hair, he looked very energetic.

His eyebrows were rather sparse, he had a goatee, and he always had a faint smile on his face, indicating that he was in a very good mood.

After getting out of the car, he waved to the driver to let him leave, then walked slowly toward the gate with his hands behind his back.

If Jiang Sheng hadn't constantly built up the impression that he was "terrifying," he would have looked like an ordinary neighborly grandfather no matter what.

Grandpa (whose name is Jiang Xingmin) nodded in response to his son and daughter-in-law's greeting, his gaze sweeping over the people behind them, and he exhaled through his nostrils:

"Where is my unfilial grandson?"

"Here it is!"

Jiang Sheng quickly raised his hand, approached the old man, and smiled broadly.

"Hmm." Grandpa glanced at Jiang Sheng and said casually, "I thought you'd died out there. You haven't come home to visit in so long."

"They're perfectly fine, aren't they?"

Jiang Sheng quickly grabbed his grandfather's left arm, and while speaking, he cast pleading glances at the girls.

Now they finally understood what kind of look meant and what kind of actions were appropriate.

Jiang Qingyue walked to her grandfather's right side with a smile, took his arm, and continued Jiang Sheng's words: "Not only are they alive and well, but they also brought back three of them at once."

Upon hearing this, Grandpa's gaze swept over the three girls in turn, revealing a satisfied smile and nodding repeatedly.

"Not bad, not bad."

Not daring to let them speak carelessly, Jiang Sheng quickly introduced them to his grandfather, saying, "This is Xia Xiaoman, this is Li Youhe, this is Lu Sanqian, and they are all my friends," and so on.

Unexpectedly, Grandpa only glanced at Jiang Sheng and shut him up.

"The three of you," Grandpa said slowly.

The three children instantly tensed up, focusing intently on what Grandpa Jiang was about to say.

"Before you came, did that brat say a lot of bad things to you, like 'My grandpa eats children'?"

Grandpa looked at the three of them with a smile, and could roughly tell from their obviously surprised expressions.

"Don't listen to his nonsense," Grandpa said. "Just make yourselves at home and relax."

After he finished speaking, he called out.

"Lin Ying".

"Here it is."

"Is lunch ready?"

"Everything is ready," Jiang's mother said with a smile. "Your son prepared it himself."

Grandpa was stunned. Looking at Jiang Chen, who was expressionless, he thought, "I'll just consider it my son's way of being filial. I won't have any expectations for the taste."

He then smiled and waved to Li Youhe and the other two, saying, "Let's go inside and have a meal."

In terms of how much Grandpa Jiang Sheng doted on everyone present, the three little ones were definitely in the top tier, followed by Jiang Qingyue, then his son and daughter-in-law, with Jiang Sheng at the bottom.

He couldn't even get a word in edgewise.

He could only follow behind his grandfather with a long face.

At least his marriage wasn't discussed in front of so many people, and the "team building" plan did indeed put Grandpa in a good mood, so it can be considered that the goal was achieved.

Ideally, this should continue until we get home.

......

The white elm wood table in the first-floor living room became the dining table.

The main dish was stewed beef, accompanied by some home-style stir-fries. It's hard to imagine that all of these were made by Mr. Jiang.

There are rules about seating.

Grandpa sat in the seat of honor.

On the right are Jiang Sheng, Lu Sanqian, Li Youhe, and Xia Xiaoman.

On the left are Jiang Qingyue, Jiang's father, and Jiang's mother.

As soon as he sat down, Jiang Sheng busied himself pouring wine for his grandfather, and only poured wine for his grandfather, completely ignoring his parents.

Li Youhe got up and poured wine for Jiang's father and mother, saying it was "what a junior should do."

Li Youhe +1 point.

Then Jiang Sheng saw Xia Xiaoman's annoyed expression of "Oh no, I got beaten to it," and Lu Sanqian's nervous expression that made him want to become mute.

"Li Youhe was also a great help," Mr. Jiang said. "You can try her cooking."

These words drew a surprised look from Grandpa, whose eyes showed even greater satisfaction.

Li Youhe gets another 1 point.

Jiang Qingyue poured wine for Jiang Sheng with a smile, and then Jiang Sheng poured wine for the three girls. At this point, the relationships on the scene were in complete chaos.

With Grandpa taking the first bite, the meal proceeded smoothly.

Jiang Sheng kept serving his grandfather food, chatting about all sorts of things, as if he wanted to express all the longing he had for his grandfather after not seeing him for so long.

In the chat, he also mentioned his relationship with Li Youhe and others, claiming that they were all great friends.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

It wasn't until Xia Xiaoman picked up a piece of beef and turned to look at her grandfather with a big smile that she finally understood.

"Grandpa! Try this! It's delicious!"

"What are you doing?" Jiang Sheng tapped her wrist with the back of his chopsticks, glaring at her. "Trying to steal my job?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than his grandfather tapped his wrist with the back of his chopsticks, glaring at him and saying, "What are you doing?"

Jiang Sheng chuckled awkwardly, watching as his grandfather happily accepted the beef that Xia Xiaoman had placed on his plate.

"Hehe! Uncle and Auntie will eat too!"

Xia Xiaoman then served food to the other two elders, earning them satisfied nods.

Xia Xiaoman +1 point.

"Jiang Sheng, you eat too."

Li Youhe smiled gently, tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, and picked up a piece of beef for Jiang Sheng.

Then, people who felt the dinner party wasn't chaotic enough appeared.

Jiang Qingyue was sitting right across from Jiang Sheng, but she stood up with a smile and, in front of everyone, transferred the beef from his bowl to her own.

They returned a carrot, euphemistically calling it an "exchange".

Everything's in complete chaos!

But the more this happened, the brighter the smile on Grandpa's face became.

He didn't say anything, just let things develop as they were, and he would eat whoever put food on his plate.

A world where only the wounded deer were born was created.

She watched in despair as her friends acted with ease at the dinner party, while she lacked even the courage to stand up and pick up food, and could only eat the vegetables closest to her.

With his head bowed, his self-loathing for his cowardice reached its peak at that moment.

"If only I could be as cheerful as Sister Xiaoman"

"If only I could be as understanding as Sister Youhe"

"Could I also have a different and wonderful life?"

"What are you spacing out for?"

Jiang Sheng's voice pulled Lu Sanqian out of his thoughts.

He placed a piece of beef into the deer's bowl and whispered, "Just eat quietly with your head down. Tell me what you want to eat, but don't be like them."

"Is it really okay to do nothing?" Lu Sanqian bit her lip.

"That's great." Jiang Sheng put another piece of carrot on her plate. "You're the one I trust the most."

The other two have gone mad, as if someone has given them a mission, constantly trying to increase their favorability.

Normal people should be like Lu Sanqian, keeping their heads down and focusing on their work.

Grandpa had seen everything, and he called out, "Jiang Sheng."

"Yes! You said it!"

Do you think the wine will magically appear in my glass?

That sounds so familiar.

Grandpa tapped the table with his empty wine glass, looking at Jiang Sheng with a half-smile.

"Alright! I'll pour you the wine right away!"

Jiang Sheng eagerly got up, but was pressed back down by a look from his grandfather.

"Please sit down." Then, Grandpa looked at Lu Sanqian with a smile. "Young lady, could you pour Grandpa a glass of wine?"

Those picking up food, those trying to gain favor, and those just wanting to stir up trouble—almost everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at them.

Grandpa... offered to have Lu Sanqian pour him some wine?

Xiao Lu stood up abruptly, as if she had been given the command to "stand at attention" by her instructor during military training, her body ramrod straight.

"Yes, yes, that's fine!"

Xiao Lu mechanically took the wine bottle from Jiang Sheng's hand and mechanically poured a small glass of baijiu for her grandfather.

Then they mechanically "marched" back to their seats.

Before we could even catch our breath, Grandpa spoke again.

"Come on, let's have a drink with Grandpa."

"Okay, okay!"

In a moment of impulsiveness, he prepared to down the liquor in his glass in one gulp, but as soon as he looked up, Jiang Sheng pressed him down.

"Grandpa, she can't drink alcohol." Jiang Sheng raised his glass. "I'll toast you on her behalf."

"Did I ask you to pay your respects?" Grandpa said, squinting.

The atmosphere at the dinner table suddenly changed, from relaxed and pleasant to somewhat oppressive.

The grandfather and grandson looked at each other.

a long time.

Jiang Sheng sighed.

Why are you bullying that little girl?

"How dare you talk like that, brat!" Grandpa glared at Jiang Sheng, then burst into laughter. "Then come and have a drink with Grandpa."

The tense atmosphere dissipated instantly as the two clinked glasses.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Grandpa took a small sip of wine and stared at Lu Sanqian, who had turned to stone.

"Don't overthink it, girl. Grandpa is just testing this brat."

"Okay, okay," Lu Sanqian said weakly.

"See, this test showed it all," he said. "He's even protecting me, which shows how important you are to him."

Jiang Sheng rubbed his forehead.

"You're exaggerating. Xiao Lu really can't drink alcohol. Never mind, Sanqian, you explain it to Grandpa yourself..."

Jiang Sheng didn't finish his sentence.

He turned to look at the girl next to him.

He saw cheeks as red as ripe persimmons, large, watery eyes shimmering with unreadable emotions, and hope, longing, and deep gratitude.

It was as if time had stopped, and everything around me turned into a black and white line drawing, except for the girl in front of me who was in color.

The air vibrated in rhythm with her rapid heartbeat.

thump thump—

thump thump—