We moved to Golden Courtyard

……

On the other side, the father and son also ran to the balcony. Xu Youde subconsciously took out a cigarette from his pocket, while Xu Qi took out a lighter from his sleeve and lit it for Xu Youde.

"Why do you have a lighter? Were you smoking?"

"No, I'm just used to lighting cigarettes for others."

"You brat..."

After puffing on a cigarette, the middle-aged man, whose temples were already gray, squinted at Xu Qi and said, "You... didn't let her down, did you?"

"Actually, when I brought Airi here last time, Mei was already my girlfriend. I didn't even have a chance to tell you, but you guys already treated Airi as my wife."

So it's our fault after all?

"How could that be, Dad? Without you, I wouldn't have been able to win over Ellie."

"You brat!" Xu Youde stretched out his leg and kicked, but Xu Qi dodged it with a grin.

"Two of them... This isn't ancient times, Xu Qi, you're going to get married in the end! You can't..."

"Don't worry, Dad, I'll handle it."

……

The kids are getting older, they're harder to manage now...

Xu Youde shook his head.

④④④, There are quite a few wives, definitely more than two.

"From what you're saying, you've already decided who to marry?"

"Yes, I will register my marriage with Mei, but I will also marry Alicia. They are both my wives."

The father and son exchanged a glance, and then both couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Your mother and I have loved each other our whole lives. Don't tell me, I only love your mother. How did we end up with such a fickle bastard like you?"

"You've reached your rebellious phase."

Xu Youde was delighted.

"They're a bit late... These two girls are good girls, you can't..."

"Don't worry, Dad. No matter who it is, I won't abandon them."

Xu Youde nodded—what he feared most was his son only thinking about having fun and then cheating on his wife. That would bring retribution...

"I won't ask too much about matters of the heart, but you need to be aware of the situation. Since you were with Mei first, she must have made a tremendous sacrifice."

"I understand, Dad."

Seeing this, Xu Youde knew that he didn't need to say anything more.

Children and grandchildren have their own lives to live, so there's really no need for him to worry about anything.

Moreover... ever since Xu Qi ran away from home that time, Xu Youde has become more open-minded—let his son do whatever he wants, as long as it's not illegal.

Xu Qi glanced to the side. Last year, there were still some black hairs on his father's head, but this year... they were almost all white.

"Dad, are you still working at the mold factory?"

"How am I supposed to support your mother if I don't work?"

"I'm here for you?"

Xu Youde was overjoyed.

"You've only made a little money..."

Annual salary of 40 yuan

"Cough! Cough cough!" Xu Youde coughed for a while, stared wide-eyed at his son, and repeated, "How much!?"

"As I told you last time, the animation job was originally 30. I've been doing well lately, and my boss appreciates it, so he gave me an extra 10."

Of course, Xu Qi wouldn't dare say that he also managed to win over the president of his own company.

Xu Youde fell silent.

"Forget it, save this money to marry your two wives—hey? Now that you're in a relationship, why don't you just get the marriage certificate? Why don't you?"

This time, Xu Qi remained silent.

Xu Youde's expression changed—"You don't want to get married!? Or..."

"Uh, no, it's just... Mei isn't old enough yet."

"what?"

"She...she's only 18 years old this year. The legal marriage age is 20, so she has two more years to go."

……

Xu Youde suddenly started looking down to find something.

"Dad, what are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for the stick I used to hit you with when we were kids, but... I can't find it."

"Dad, don't do this, Dad."

"You've got some nerve, huh? So she's living with you too?"

"Yes, we're living together. Mei is currently in university, East China University of Political Science and Law, isn't that great? She wants to be a lawyer in the future, and I fully support her."

"Hmm...not bad, better than you."

Xu Qi grinned – “That’s right!”

"Since you're coming over today, are you not staying home for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"

"Yes, that's why I came to see you all ahead of time."

"Fine, whatever you want, tonight then..."

"I'll stay here tonight."

Xu Youde's expression turned strange—"But we only have two bedrooms... Oh, you're sleeping on the sofa?"

Xu Qi remained silent and did not answer.

……

Xu Youde put one hand on his hip, scratched his head with the other, looked at Xu Qi with a rather complicated expression, patted him on the shoulder, and said something that made Xu Qi both laugh and cry.

“Son, I’ll introduce you to an old Chinese medicine doctor sometime to treat your condition.”

"Dad, let's take care of yourself first."

"Get the hell out of here!"

······

Mei didn't know what her mother had talked to her about during the day, but Mei, who had been quite open and relaxed, seemed to have gone back to square one overnight.

She always had a shy and timid demeanor.

She looks like Lin Daiyu, but she's not frail. When cooking dinner that evening, Lin Lai watched Mei tinker with the food—because she'd heard from Alicia that her eldest daughter-in-law was a very good cook.

Good...good...and he looks like he'll have a lot of children. Lin Lai has already started to imagine the scene of holding her grandson in the future.

At the dinner table, the elderly couple sat together, while Xu Qi and the other two sat opposite them.

Lin Lai was already familiar with Ai Li, so she kept chatting with Mei about everyday things.

The more they talked, the more they liked each other. How could her son be so good at finding a daughter-in-law?

Xu Youde remained silent, embodying the image of a traditional father, exuding authority without anger.

After dinner, the elderly couple went straight to their bedroom without disturbing them. Seeing this, Mei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately slumped onto Xu Qi's sofa in the living room.

Alicia smiled and poked Mei's cheek, feeling just like she had before—so nervous and at a loss.

So Mei has moments like this too...

"Xu Qi..."

"Ok?"

"I don't think I... left a bad impression on my uncle and aunt, did I?"

Hearing this, Ellie covered her mouth and chuckled, while Xu Qi stared at Mei with a smile and said, "If you didn't call them Uncle and Aunt, they might be even happier."

"Huh? What's it called?"

"Call them Mom and Dad?"

Mei blushed instantly and buried herself in Xu Qi's arms.

Xu Qi was overjoyed—"We've been married for ages, I don't know how many times I've called you 'wife,' and you don't know how many times you've called me 'husband,' so why are you shy now?"

"No...it just won't work! I can't bring myself to say it..."

Ellie teased, "Alright, Xu Qi, don't make things difficult for Mei. I'll just go call them 'Mom and Dad' later."

Mei looked up instantly—"You dare!?"

"Hahahaha!"

After washing the dishes and tidying up the dining table, the crowdfunding group 456127940 took Mei, who was visiting for the first time, to tour his bedroom.

Alicia also peeked around curiously—just like last time, nothing had changed.

"It's the house I've lived in since I was a child. It's been a long time since I've been back, so I still feel a bit emotional."

But before Xu Qi could finish his reflection, he saw Mei crawling under his bed.

"Hiss! What are you doing!?"

Then, amidst Xu Qi's horrified expression and Ai Li's curious look, Mei found an old metal box under the bed.

It's the perfect size to fit several books side by side.

"Oh ho ho?~~" Ellie covered her lips with both hands, her face full of schadenfreude.

"Hmph! I knew it! This must be the risqué stuff you've been hiding, right?"

Xu Qi was caught in a dilemma: whether to stop her or not. He could only watch helplessly as Mei opened the metal box with a mischievous grin...

Then, he knelt down on the spot, stunned.

"Hmm?" Seeing this, Ellie sensed something was amiss, so she curiously leaned closer, and then...

"Wow……"

Instead of the expected little prince, there was a photo album...

Upon opening it, I saw—Mei…

It was a photo of Mei and Xu Qi standing together in winter clothes. Mei remembered that it was the first Christmas when she and Xu Qi asked a passerby to take the photo.

They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend at that time.

Upon flipping through the photos, I discovered that they were almost entirely Mei's pictures, including photos of her with Xu Qi, as well as landscape photos that Xu Qi took of Mei when they went out together.

The two met online in their second year of high school, and later met in person. Xu Qi pretended to be Mei's brother to attend her parent-teacher conference... On that day, he was like a light, illuminating Mei's dark life.

From then on, the two of them would often go on dates together, and everyone thought they were a couple. Mei herself thought so too—only Xu Qi, that awkward jerk, felt that he was still too young and it wasn't the right time yet.

As Mei looked at the photos, tears streamed down her face, dripping onto the album, which she then hurriedly wiped away—unwilling to damage this precious album.

She murmured, "These...are all..."

Xu Qi turned her head away and muttered, "I just felt that some memories should be preserved, so... I made this photo album."

445. No work tomorrow!

Alishia stood beside Mei with a gentle expression.

As I flipped through the photo album, it felt as if I had also been there for them during those two years of getting to know each other.

"It's been three years now. Actually, I also hid a photo album like this in the courtyard. I was planning to come and get this album sometime, but I kept forgetting."