Why did the system take my request to take photos with a cosplayer seriously?

He could actually guess the general idea.

Long He initially regarded Zhao Yanxi as his "official girlfriend," so he always had a subtle competitive mentality when facing her.

Zhao Yanxi's maternal grandfather was discharged from the hospital today, and Zhao Yanxi went to pick him up. She had told Ding Heng in advance.

More than two hours later, the car stopped in front of the First People's Hospital of Zhuzhou City.

Just as Ding Heng was about to unbuckle his seatbelt, Zhao Yanxi suddenly reached out and pressed down on his wrist.

She instructed him, "Brother Ding Heng, when you get to the hospital, whatever my grandfather says to you, just ignore it and don't take it to heart."

Ding Heng chuckled and said, "It can't be that bad, can it?"

"real!"

Zhao Yanxi sighed: "I've already visited my grandfather twice during his hospitalization. He doesn't actually have any major illnesses, just that he's getting old and has all sorts of minor problems. But he keeps saying that he doesn't have much time left."

He has two obsessions now. One is to see my uncle have a son, and the other is to see me get married.

"Your aunt's belly still hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy?"

Zhou Rongsen got married with the intention of starting a family and would probably want to have children as soon as possible. The fact that there has been no news for a long time suggests that one of the couple may have some issues.

"Why would I worry about that?"

Zhao Yanxi rolled her eyes and sighed again: "As for the second thing... in this situation, how could I dare to make any promises to my grandfather?"

Ding Heng reached out and patted the kitten's head: "Don't overthink it, just leave it to me."

Zhao Yanxi gave a soft "oh" and didn't say anything more.

The two people got out of the car and walked into the inpatient building.

The elevator stopped on the fifth floor, and lively laughter and chatter came from the ward at the end of the corridor.

Zhao Yanxi pushed open the door and went inside; the room was already full of people.

"Grandpa, how are you feeling?"

"At my age, this is all I can do."

Grandpa waved his hand with a smile: "If you don't leave the hospital soon, you'll make even a healthy person sick from being locked up!"

Laughter erupted from inside the room.

"Xiao Ding, it's been a long time!"

Zhou Rongsen stepped forward and patted Ding Heng on the shoulder, to which Ding Heng responded politely.

"Hello, Uncle. How's business lately?"

"Eh..."

Zhou Rongsen waved his hand and sighed, "It's not easy to do business. You know the current market conditions. It's good enough if we can just stay afloat. How can we dare to dream of making big money?"

After saying that, he turned his gaze to Zhao Yanxi and deliberately winked.

"I heard Yan Xina's coffee shop is closing down? Xiao Ding, how much did you lose? Do you want your uncle to make up for it?"

"Hey! Uncle, what's it to you!"

Zhao Yanxi immediately got angry and glared at Zhou Rongsen irritably: "You can't even run your own business properly, so stop worrying about me."

"You little rascal, your temper is getting worse and worse!"

"Rong Sen, say less. She lost money and is in a bad mood."

Zhou Rongmei smoothed things over at the right moment and arranged, "Pack up and get ready to be discharged from the hospital. I've already made reservations at the restaurant. Today also happens to be Mom's birthday, so let's have a good meal together as a family."

Everyone hurriedly helped Grandpa onto a wheelchair and wheeled him out of the ward.

When Ding Heng got downstairs, he realized that there were indeed quite a few relatives from the Zhou family who had come today.

Aside from my maternal grandparents, uncles, and aunts, there were also quite a few cousins, making a total of nearly twenty people, who walked in a grand procession towards the parking lot.

Following the address given by Zhou Rongsen, Ding Heng and Zhao Yanxi drove to a high-end restaurant.

The private room was very large, with a large round table seating everyone.

The dishes were served quickly, and the waiters were busy coming and going. The relatives chatted among themselves, and the atmosphere was quite lively.

Ding Heng noticed that Zhao Xingguo wasn't there; he was probably busy with work again...

A short while later, a distant relative suddenly spoke up.

"Yanxi, your dad didn't come again? He always disappears when something happens at home. Today is also your grandma's birthday..."

There was a moment of silence at the table, then someone spoke.

"They're big leaders, very busy people, do you think they're as idle as you?"

A burst of laughter erupted, and Zhao Yanxi's face turned ugly.

Everyone at the table had the surname Zhou, so they naturally made fun of her father without any restraint.

But as her daughter, she couldn't stand it anymore. She slammed down her chopsticks and was about to lash out when Zhou Rongmei stopped her in time.

"Xiao Ding, could you and Yan hope please go back and get two bottles of wine?"

Fearing trouble, Zhou Rongmei had no choice but to make an excuse to let the two leave first.

"okay."

Ding Heng took Zhao Yanxi's hand and quickly left the dinner.

Once back in the car, Zhao Yanxi slumped into the passenger seat and remained silent for a long time.

Ding Heng asked curiously, "Yan hope, what was your maternal grandfather's family like before?"

Zhao Yanxi sighed, then gave a self-deprecating bitter laugh.

"It's a long story..."

The girl began to tell her story slowly.

“My maternal grandfather used to be a middle school principal, and my maternal grandmother was retired from the education bureau. In those days, their family was considered very well-off… My father, on the other hand, came from a rural family and worked hard to make his way in the world. When he married my mother, he suffered a lot of injustices at my maternal grandfather's house.”

Ding Heng continued, "Didn't your uncle complain to you?"

Do you think my dad is the type of person who complains?

Zhao Yanxi sighed, "I didn't understand when I was little. I only knew that my dad rarely came to my grandma's house for gatherings, and he always said he was busy with work. My mom never said anything... Later, when I grew up, I slowly realized that it wasn't that he didn't want to come, but that he felt uncomfortable when he came."

Finally, Zhao Yanxi gave a bitter smile.

"Brother Ding Heng, thankfully you can't find any fault with it."

Ding Heng turned his head to look at her.

"Look..."

Zhao Yanxi said happily, "He's handsome, rich, nice to me, and doesn't have an annoying air about him."

Ding Heng chuckled: "Are you praising me, or praising your own good taste?"

"Just telling the truth!"

Zhao Yanxi snorted twice and complained again: "You have no idea, when I was arguing with those relatives just now, I was actually quite nervous. You are almost the perfect son-in-law, but some people still made sarcastic remarks to my mother, saying that they wanted to introduce me to a new boyfriend. I don't know if they were jealous of me or if they were deliberately trying to cause trouble."

Ding Heng didn't reply, but just smiled faintly.

The car stopped in front of a gray-white building. Zhao Yanxi turned her head and looked out, only to realize that it was her father's workplace.

"Brother Ding Heng, you..."

Ding Heng unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door.

"I didn't eat lunch earlier, so I'll have something to eat with your dad now."

"Huh? Then I... should I go in and find him?"

"No need, I've already sent a message to my uncle."

Ten minutes later, Zhao Xingguo came out of the building, and Ding Heng immediately pushed open the door to greet him.

The veteran detective's expression remained unchanged, revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Xiao Ding, I'm busy right now."

"No matter how busy Uncle is, he can always find time to eat a meal, right?"

"This……"

Zhao Xingguo's gaze passed over Ding Heng and landed on his daughter, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, in the car.

Zhao Yanxi was peering at him through the car window, her eyes revealing a hint of anticipation.

In the end, Zhao Xingguo nodded.

"Let's go."

Ding Heng didn't choose any fancy restaurants, but instead found a small Hunan cuisine restaurant that looked fairly clean on the roadside nearby.

The three sat down, and Ding Heng ordered several home-style dishes.

While waiting for the food, Zhao Yanxi kept quiet and fiddled with his phone, while Zhao Xingguo chatted with him about all sorts of things.

Ding Heng glanced at the father and daughter; the empty tabletop between them was like an invisible wall.

"Yan hope, why aren't you talking to your dad?"

“My mom must have messaged him beforehand.”

Zhao Yanxi pouted.

She knew her father too well; if it weren't for Ding Heng's sake, he would definitely have scolded her.

Zhao Xingguo put down his teacup and said in a serious tone, "Zhao Yanxi, you're in your twenties, can't you be a little more sensible? Today is your grandmother's birthday, can't you talk things out properly instead of going against your elders?"

Zhao Yanxi raised her head and gave Ding Heng a helpless look.

The meaning couldn't be clearer... You see, I knew this would happen.

Ding Heng did not respond to the girl and naturally changed the subject.

"What has Uncle been busy with lately?"

"nothing……"