Before he died, my grandfather forced me to marry the richest man in the capital.

The sun was eager to go home, slowly descending from the west, leaving a reddish glow before it set, staining the sky red and leaving its mark.

I got off work the next day.

A family-oriented man is adorable. Ji Hancheng went to the Ji residence to pick up Lele first. Before leaving, Yuan Shu was still worried about her careless son and repeatedly gave him instructions. Before getting in the car, she also made Xiaoyouzi pee once to avoid him needing to go to the toilet on the way.

Thoughtful in everything.

Watching her son's car drive away, Yuan Shu felt uneasy. She had been taking him with her every day recently, and now that he was gone, she felt empty and had nothing to do.

Ji Hang reminded him from the side, "Alright, he's almost thirty. How could he not take good care of such a young child? Don't think of him as useless. He's changed quite a bit. He did a good job bathing Lele last night and didn't scold the child."

Hearing this, Yuan Shu felt relieved. "He's too careless. He gives all his care to his wife. He's always careless and doesn't understand the children."

Ji Hang smiled and said, "He's a first-time father too. Everyone has a first time. It's good that he's improving every day. Haven't you noticed that your son can now accept opinions and rebuttals, and has learned to respect people? He's no longer stubborn and self-centered. This is a good thing, and it's also thanks to your daughter-in-law."

Yuan Shu knew this, of course; her son was much more humane now than before.

When the car arrived at the Imperial Capital Hospital, Xiao Youzi, who had been sitting in the back seat with her legs crossed, stopped turning a triangular Rubik's Cube in her hand and looked up at Ji Hancheng. "Daddy, Mommy."

Ji Hancheng glanced at his son, who was leisurely crossing his legs, through the rearview mirror. "Yes, pick up Mom."

Little Youzi looked out the car window toward the hospital entrance, searching for his mother, Tang Junyao. After a while, he still couldn't see her, and called out, "Mommy?"

Ji Hancheng: "There are still 8 minutes left, and Mom hasn't gotten off work yet."

Little Yuzu, unaware of the meaning of 8 minutes, responded just like an adult, "Okay."

Eight minutes later, Tang Junyao, Su Xue, and Han Guoguo walked out of the outpatient building side by side.

Su Xue put her arm around Tang Junyao's shoulder and gestured with her chin toward the black Maybach in the distance. "Your husband is here to pick you up. Hurry up and go."

Tang Junyao patted her hand and said with a smile, "If he knew you called him Lao Ji, I reckon your devoted husband would be in trouble."

Then she said, "Come with me to try on my wedding dress on Sunday, and you guys try on your bridesmaid dresses."

"And Guoguo, are you free this week?"

Tang Junyao looked at Han Guoguo and asked.

Ji Hancheng said the finished product would be ready by Sunday of this week, but only Ji Hancheng knows why it can be ready so quickly.

Han Guoguo readily agreed, "What could I possibly need? I'm not in a relationship, I don't have a career, and I just laze around at home during my holidays. Don't worry about my schedule, I'm available anytime."

Han Guoguo thought to herself, "Isn't she the one with the most free time? Su Xue and Tang Junyao have already gotten their marriage certificate and have a lovely child. Now even her brother is dating. It seems like she's the only one left who has nothing to do every day."

It's a bit leisurely, but I feel free and unburdened, which is great.

"OK, it's settled then, bye-bye." After saying that, Tang Junyao waved and walked towards the car.

Tang Junyao opened the back door of the car and got in. As soon as she got in, she kissed her son on the cheek and asked him to kiss her back, saying, "Lele, it's only fair to return the favor, give Mommy a kiss."

A splattering sound echoed in the carriage, and the man in the driver's seat frowned slightly. "I can reciprocate in kind."

Tang Junyao glared at him. "Your perks for this week have all been canceled. There's no reciprocity, only blandness."

Ji Hancheng knew she was referring to what happened last night, and in a good mood, he smiled and said, "I'll be more careful next time."

She ignored him and continued playing with her son beside her, pinching his cheeks and giving him kisses. The man in the driver's seat would occasionally glance over, filled with envy.

Before coming to the Tang residence, Tang Junyao did not inform Aunt Zhang in advance, for fear that informing her would make her busy, and kept watching the time.

The sound of the car being parked and turned off still startled Xiaomei inside. Seeing the familiar car, she felt a little flustered and hurriedly went back to the living room to call Aunt Zhang, "Auntie, um, Miss Tang is here, she's here."

Aunt Zhang immediately stood up from the recliner. Due to her age, her rheumatism in her legs had recently flared up, and she endured the pain as she walked outside.

Upon seeing Tang Junyao, whom she hadn't seen for several days, Aunt Zhang walked even faster. Since Lan Cheng returned, Tang Junyao had come several times during her lunch break, bringing vitamins, ointment, and calcium tablets, worried that Aunt Zhang, being older, wouldn't get enough nutrition.

"You silly child, why didn't you tell me you were coming? I didn't prepare anything!"

Aunt Zhang scolded him with heartache.

"Hehe, I did it on purpose, I just didn't want you to know." Yes, Tang Junyao deliberately didn't tell you.

Xiao Mei was intimidated by Ji Hancheng, but she still politely came to pick up the things, taking the vegetables and fruits out of the trunk and carrying them into the kitchen bit by bit.

Tang Junyao smiled when she saw Xiao Mei being so diligent. Xiao Youzi was taken out of the back seat. Aunt Zhang glanced at the handsome child and smiled. She reached out and took him, saying, "Grandma, can I hold you for a bit? I've missed you so much! You've become even more handsome in just a few days. All the good genes from your parents have been transferred to you."

Ji Hancheng called out calmly, "Godmother."

"Hey, hey, don't stand outside, come in and sit down."

"Mm." Ji Hancheng followed at the very back.

Aunt Zhang really misses her child, but she's used to living here. "Little darling, what do you want to eat or play with? Grandma will get it for you, okay? Just tell Grandma."

Tang Junyao knew that her godmother doted on the child and didn't object. She watched everything with a faint smile. Suddenly, Ji Hancheng said to Xiaomei, "Call Xu Mingkai over for dinner."

Xiao Mei seemed to have heard something earth-shattering, "Huh?............"

Ji Hancheng only said this one sentence and didn't say a second one. The husband's authority cannot be exercised by talking too much with other women.

Tang Junyao looked at Xiao Mei, who was looking blank and at a loss, and comforted her, "Do you have Assistant Xu's phone number? If so, you can call him and ask him to come over for dinner."

"Oh, oh, I have it, I do."

Xiao Mei turned around, looking a bit like a thief as she left the house and went to the yard to make a phone call.

Tang Junyao looked up at the calm-faced man and asked, "You were allowed to hit him, so why did you let Xiaomei do it?"

Besides, he's your subordinate; can't you just resolve this with a single sentence?

"Saves electricity?" Ji Hancheng uttered only two absurd words, succinctly.

Tang Junyao looked at him with an expression that said, "You can make your excuse even more ridiculous." Seeing his wife's disbelieving look, Ji Hancheng added, "They're quite familiar with each other."

Sensing the juicy gossip, Tang Junyao wanted to delve deeper, but Xiao Mei had already entered. She felt awkward asking about gossip in front of the person involved, so she gave up. "I'll ask later," she thought, "I still need to be polite."

Half an hour later, Xu Mingkai arrived at the Tang residence by taxi and immediately received a look from Xiao Mei as soon as he entered.

Xu Mingkai didn't understand what Xiao Mei's eyes meant, so he frowned slightly and squinted to ask what she meant.

When Xu Mingkai came in, Tang Junyao and Ji Hancheng turned their attention to him. Watching the way the two exchanged glances, she seemed to understand why Ji Hancheng had invited Xu Mingkai to dinner.

It seems there is some truth to that, Tang Junyao guessed.

Ji Hancheng toyed with the Rubik's Cube his son had carelessly tossed on the table, leaned back on the sofa with his legs crossed, and casually asked Xu Mingkai as he entered, "Pretty smart, huh?"

Confused and uneasy, Xu Mingkai asked, "Young Master Ji, what did I do wrong?"

Ji Hancheng remained silent, letting Xu Mingkai guess for himself.

Xu Mingkai racked his brains, trying to recall if he had made any mistakes recently. His work was all arranged perfectly, and he wasn't chatting with anyone in his secretary's office anymore. He was just focused on making money and preparing to buy a bigger house.

After thinking it over, it seemed there was nothing wrong. "Young Master Ji, could you perhaps offer some guidance?"

Ji Hancheng glanced at Tang Junyao, who was watching the scene unfold, and said with amusement, "Are you in a relationship?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mei, who was standing to the side, blushed bright red, and her ears gradually turned red as well. Her little hands were nervous and she didn't know what to do with them. The couple saw all of this.

Aunt Zhang didn't pay much attention to this matter. Recently, her legs hadn't been feeling well, and she was always lying down to rest, so she naturally didn't notice anything unusual. Or perhaps they were just being discreet.

Xu Mingkai understood, scratched the back of his head, and chuckled, "Hehe, I did date someone."

Ji Hancheng, unusually gossipy, pressed on, "Bring him out to meet me, so I can give him a gift."

Xu Mingkai quickly refused, "No need, no need, you've already given me quite a lot."

Ji Hancheng scoffed, "Yeah, that's quite a lot. You know how to pick people. I pay your salary and you just take advantage of me. You're not bad at all."

Tang Junyao couldn't hold back any longer and patted the arm of the man next to her. "Stop teasing them. Look how confused they are. Assistant Xu, it's nothing. He was just joking with you."

Ji Hancheng bluntly asked, "How many days have you been together?"

Xu Mingkai coughed lightly, "It's not a full month yet."

They thought they could keep it a secret for a while, but who knew it would be exposed so quickly? Does Young Master Ji have eyes like lightning? He hasn't been to the Tang residence these past few days, probably because he was afraid of being discovered.

There were no security cameras nearby, so how was it discovered?

Xu Mingkai persisted, "Can I ask you how you knew? So I can die in peace."

Ji Hancheng said indifferently, "Just put a privacy screen protector on your phone when you have time."

Xu Mingkai: "................" It turns out there was a problem with the phone.

Xu Mingkai walked to Xiaomei's side, took her hand, and said, "We just got together. Being together won't affect our work, and the company doesn't have any rules against employees dating... right?"

Thinking back to the Ji family's employee handbook, it seems there is no such provision.

Tang Junyao chuckled. "Don't be nervous, we don't object. Xiaomei is a nice girl, and we naturally wish you both well if you like each other. Xiaomei and I will go cook, you two chat."

Xiao Mei was so ashamed that she couldn't face anyone. Aunt Zhang didn't seem too surprised either. She understood why Assistant Xu had been running to the Tang residence every day when Yao Yao was in Lancheng. His real intention wasn't to stay with Xiao Mei.

Aunt Zhang smiled and shook her head, instructing Xu Mingkai to treat Xiao Mei well. She said that the girl was quite innocent. Although she was from the countryside, she had not been influenced by some of the bad trends in the big city. She always kept her original intentions, was very kind, and was also diligent in her work.

Xu Mingkai said he would, because he also came from the countryside, and he wouldn't have achieved what he has today if it weren't for Ji Hancheng's guidance.

The only thing he and Xiaomei had in common was that they both worked for Ji Hancheng, but Xiaomei worked for Ji Hancheng indirectly.

In the kitchen, Tang Junyao took out the groceries she had brought and placed them on the counter while asking Xiaomei, who was diligently washing the vegetables, "Xiaomei, don't mind what Ji Hancheng said earlier. He didn't mean any harm. He's just used to joking around with Assistant Xu and doesn't keep his mouth shut. He doesn't think you're bad."

Tang Junyao was afraid that Xiaomei would feel guilty, because she could always see Xiaomei being cautious and sometimes even a little self-conscious.

Xiao Mei looked up at Tang Junyao and smiled, "Sister, no, I know you are all good people. You have never looked down on me because I am from the countryside. Akai said that you are all very nice people, and President Ji is also a very nice person. He is the one who has trained Akai step by step. He told me to work hard to repay you. He also said that even if we get married in the future, he will not go out to work on his own. He will follow President Ji for the rest of his life. As long as you don't fire us, we will always work hard for you."

Ah Kai?

It's impossible not to be moved; they are all kind people, people with no blood relation whatsoever, yet they could do such a thing.

"No, Hancheng and I will still give a wedding gift if you get married. We hope you will be happy. Assistant Xu is a very nice person, and you are kind too. You will only get better and better in the future."

Xiao Mei chattered on about her life, saying that she didn't have a surname, that she was from the countryside, and that she came to the city to work from a very remote village. She also had an older brother who was adopted.

Because the family was poor, the parents were afraid that their older brother would not be able to find a wife. In fact, they kept her by their side as a backup plan. If their brother could not find a wife in the future, she would fill in for him. If he did find a wife, they would have another daughter. They had planned this out long ago.

Tang Junyao was shocked by this story. What shocked her even more was that Xiao Mei's parents did not change her surname but simply called her Xiao Mei, saying that it would be awkward if she became a wife with the same surname as her brother, and it would also damage her reputation in the village.

There are always strange things every year, but this year there seem to be more than usual. There's nothing you can't imagine, only things you haven't seen. Just because you haven't seen something doesn't mean it doesn't exist. The space for imagination is limitless.

In this new era, isn't Xiaomei's situation just bizarre?

Tang Junyao felt sorry for Xiaomei for a few seconds, hoping they could be happy. She guessed there would still be some difficulties in the future, as Xiaomei's eccentric parents might still require some effort.