Chapter 156

Chapter 156

When Han Jiming returned home, it was already past eight in the evening.

His family had already finished dinner, but everyone was still at home waiting for him.

In fact, the moment Han Jiming got off the train, his family had been informed, and dinner had been prepared long ago. They waited for quite a while before finally eating, but he still hadn’t returned. With no sign of their son, the elderly master of the house barely had an appetite.

Old Man Han was a little annoyed: "You, child, took three hours to get home from the train station. Did you get lost or something?"

Knowing full well that the old man was just blowing off steam, Han Jiming merely rubbed his nose and said, "Dad, I went to see a friend earlier. They insisted on keeping me for dinner—I couldn’t just leave without saying goodbye. If you’re upset that I didn’t have dinner with you, I’ll join you for a midnight snack later, alright?"

"What kind of friend?"

"My girlfriend."

Old Man Han went quiet. After a pause, he asked, "You’re not lying to me?"

Han Jiming crouched in front of his father, tilting his head up to look at him just like he did as a child. "It’s true. She lives close to the train station. I originally just wanted to drop by and let her know I was back, but she insisted I stay for dinner. I thought it’d be rude to refuse, and besides, Dad, you’ve always taught me to be polite..."

Old Man Han’s expression immediately softened. "That’s right. Did you eat well for dinner?"

After all, this was his youngest son. A little coaxing and the old man’s sternness melted away. Jiang Huiqi watched the father and son with a faint smile.

Old Man Han scrutinized his son for a long moment, torn between finding his current appearance a mess and feeling heartache for the hardships he must have endured during his trip. Finally, he just sighed and said, "You’ve clearly been through a lot. Go clean yourself up—this is no way to present yourself. Shave that beard too. How could you visit a girl’s house looking like this? Aren't you afraid she’ll be grossed out?"

In his youth, Old Man Han had been a charming intellectual, with many love stories circulating about him in old Beiping. Even in his later years, his charm never faded—he remained a handsome older gentleman well into his fifties. As someone who had always cared about his appearance, he had plenty of romantic adventures in his younger days.

Seeing his son visit his girlfriend in such a disheveled state was just painful to his eyes.

Jiang Huiqi joked, "Our third brother looks like he could be Uncle Ping’s age now."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Jiang Huiqi observed that the old man didn’t even ask about his son’s girlfriend—who she was or what she did—as if he had already decided to let Han Jiming handle things as he pleased. She quietly noted this in her heart, realizing that Han Jiming would likely have full autonomy over his future marriage.

After Han Jiming went to clean up, the family began guessing about who his girlfriend might be.

Jiang Huiqi didn't have much to add to the discussion. Old Man Han’s doting on his youngest son was practically spoiling him, and no one in the family could guess what kind of partner he would allow Han Jiming to choose—whether it would be purely based on his son’s preference or someone of comparable social standing for a good match. Now, it seemed the old man was leaning toward the former.

Thinking back to Yang Zhenhua, one could understand Old Man Han’s perspective. Their own marriage had been arranged, yet it ended in such an ugly split. Theoretically, they had been a perfect match—who could have predicted they’d end up never speaking again? Perhaps that was why he now wanted his son to follow his heart.

Han Jiming was no fool. The fact that he hadn’t pursued anyone all these years meant he had his own standards. He wouldn’t be easily swayed by just anyone.

After this small family gathering, Jiang Huiqi returned to her parents’ home the next day and shared the story with them.

"Our third brother has finally figured it out. Right after getting off the train yesterday, he went straight to his girlfriend’s place. When the old man heard, he didn’t even scold his youngest son—just told him he shouldn’t have visited someone’s home looking such a mess. I think this time, things might actually work out for him. It seems he’s serious about this one. Hard to wrap my head around, the boy we watched grow up is already at the age of getting married."

Sun Miao had liked him so much before, yet the old man never said a word about it. And with Xu Meng’s background, there was even less to object to. This time, the old man didn’t even ask about the girl’s background—clearly, all that mattered was his son’s happiness.

This was also a hint for her cousin Jiang Huijie, who happened to be visiting.

Jiang Huijie had been trying to persuade her cousin to formally introduce her to Han Jiming.

Jiang Huiqi had politely turned her down several times, explaining that their third brother does things his own way. But Jiang Huijie was stubborn. Just back from studying abroad and full of herself, she had been smitten with Han Jiming at first sight and wouldn’t stop bringing it up whenever she saw Jiang Huiqi.

To make matters worse, her uncle and aunt doted on their daughter and kept urging Jiang Huiqi to play matchmaker.

The speaker had intent, and the listener took it to heart. The moment Jiang Huijie heard Han Jiming had a girlfriend, she blew her top.

"Cousin, you never told me he was seeing someone!" Jiang Huijie thought this must be her cousin's excuse to avoid introducing them.

Jiang Huiqi sighed helplessly, "I only found out about it today."

Jiang Huijie couldn’t hold back anymore, "No, you have to tell me who his girlfriend is."

After leaving Jiang Huiqi’s house, Jiang Huijie stormed off in anger.

She’d always had high standards—those with good looks didn’t meet her height standards, and those with good family backgrounds might not have the appearance she desired. But ever since she accidentally saw Han Jiming returning from school during a visit to the Han family to see her cousin, she’d been spellbound, visiting the Han household frequently during that time.

She pretended to visit her cousin but was actually there for Han Jiming. But no matter how she tried—soft or hard—he wouldn’t engage.

Later, whenever Jiang Huijie visited, Han Jiming started taking detours to avoid her.

Jiang Huijie said bitterly, "I think she just doesn’t want to see me happy."

Her mother also asked, "Then what do you plan to do?"

The Han family’s status was on par with theirs.

But who was Han Jiming? Was marriage something she could demand just because she wanted it?

Moreover, though the Han family had kept a low profile in recent years, the influence of Old Master Han had only grown. The art scene wasn’t like other circles—even after the old man passed away, his influence wouldn’t fade with him. The Jiang family, on the other hand, was not the same. The goodwill from their parents’ era had already allowed one daughter to marry into the Han family, which was already quite fortunate.

The Jiangs’ old man had stepped back years ago, and their influence had waned significantly. Looking at this generation, all three sons of the Han family were outstanding, and they were only headed upward. In truth, Jiang Huiqi’s approach was correct—quitting while ahead was the way to keep ties strong.

Even Jiang Huijie’s doting mother couldn’t help but advise her, "Matters between men and women aren’t something you can force. Han Jiming’s met you—if he liked you, he wouldn’t dodge you every time. You’re old enough now; you should worry me less."

Jiang Huijie seethed, her eyes turning red.

She had always gotten everything she wanted, but now both her cousin and mother were saying such things, making her furious.

Being stubborn by nature, she decided to round up some girlfriends to ambush Han Jiming!

...

After a day recuperating at home, Han Jiming received a call from the university.

He thought they were summoning him back, but the caller informed him that several students who had returned with him had disembarked in Shanxi and Henan—they had gone back to their hometowns and likely wouldn’t return until the semester started. The advisor was wiped out too, so graduate students were assigned to notify everyone to rest at home for a few days and return to campus after the official start of the semester.

Han Jiming breathed a sigh of relief.

This lab project was different from others—while most could choose to work on theirs during the semester, his team had to travel to the northwest every summer, sometimes staying for one or two months. This round was the toughest yet, with several classmates suffering from gastroenteritis after over a month.

For the first time since the project kicked off, their tense nerves could finally relax.

With free time, he was itching to ask Xu Meng out.

Meanwhile, Xu Meng had just finished her work at the factory. These past few days, she had been recruiting workers there. Luckily, finding workers was easy—there were plenty of idle laborers in the village, though it took a discerning eye to spot who could actually pull their weight. She and Zhang Mingqing were practically living in Gaojiazhai these days.

She thought things would ease up after this busy period, but then Feng Yanwen showed up unannounced.

"Mengmeng, mind glancing over these training materials?"

Feng Yanwen’s training school mainly focused on beginner and high school entrance exam courses. Recently, however, more and more people had been inquiring about business communication training for corporate clients rather than beginner courses.

The first drafts were adapted from the lesson plans Feng Yanwen had once prepared for the railway bureau. Later, the tourism bureau also approached her, asking her to train some tour guides for foreign interactions.

The pay was tempting, but Feng Yanwen slept on it but said no.

The English requirements for international tour guides are extremely high; those without formal training simply can't handle the job. The people Feng Yanwen trained for the railway bureau only needed to handle everyday conversations and understand foreigners' basic needs.

But this gave Feng Yanwen a new idea—she wanted to create a set of versatile teaching materials.

Unlike beginner-level training, where the standard textbooks issued by the Ministry of Education could be used directly, spoken communication required setting up specific scenarios. During this period of rest at home, Feng Yanwen focused on developing these materials, using the railway bureau’s textbooks as a foundation.

This effort involved input from school teachers and some ideas from Xu Meng—truly a collective achievement.

Xu Meng reached out and took the thick notebook. "Alright, I have time now. I’ll look at it in a bit."

And so, she spent the entire afternoon on it, only realizing it was dinnertime when Han Jiming called out from the yard at sunset. They had planned to go out for dinner and a movie together.

Xu Meng changed her clothes and hurried out of the house.

After tidying up, Han Jiming looked fresh again—his skin was still dark, unevenly so. The areas around his eyes, usually shielded from the sun, were noticeably darker than the rest, giving him panda-like dark circles.

Every time Xu Meng saw this, she couldn't help laughing. It seemed only time would fix his tan.