Chapter 129: Loved to Cry Since Childhood

Zhou Congyu stood up, extended his hand politely, and bent slightly.

"Miss Wen, hello, I am Zhou Yinhe's second brother, Zhou Congyu."

Zhou Yinhe strode forward, patted Zhou Congyu's hand, and said disdainfully, "Why be so polite?"

He got goosebumps all over, feeling this was overly distant.

Zhou Congyu failed to maintain his usual gentlemanly demeanor, rolling his eyes hard.

The way the two brothers interacted amused Wen Ling; Ning Qing glared at her little son and, smiling, explained to Wen Ling, "They're not usually like this."

She tried to give both sons some face, but Wen Ling didn't know Zhou Congyu—could she not know Zhou Yinhe either?

She smiled and nodded, choosing to believe Ning Qing's words.

They sat together; Zhou Yinhe leaned sideways against Wen Ling, playing with his phone. Seeing her son like this, Ning Qing couldn't stand it and scolded, "Can't you act a bit proper?"

"How am I not proper?" Zhou Yinhe lifted his eyes to look at her, looking puzzled.

Ning Qing rolled her eyes again, but Wen Ling smiled, raised her hand, and rubbed his chin, not minding Zhou Yinhe's action at all.

Zhou Zhaoning returned earlier than Zhou Yanqiu, and Zhao Ningyan came along as well.

Zhou Zhaoning was somewhat familiar with Wen Ling, so no need for self-introduction; she kicked Zhou Yinhe's foot to make him move.

Zhou Yinhe furrowed his brow, then had no choice but to get up and sit with Zhou Congyu and the others.

"Why are you here too? What does our Zhou family gathering have to do with you?" He was asking Zhao Ningyan.

Zhao Ningyan laughed lightly, completely unbothered by Zhou Yinhe's aggressive attitude.

"I will be a member of the Zhou family too; how could I not be here?"

I don't know why, but brothers-in-law always seem to dislike their future brothers-in-law, even if they're not sister-obsessed.

Zhou Yinhe snorted, glanced at Wen Ling chatting happily with Ning Qing and Zhou Zhaoning, put his mind at ease, lowered his head, and continued playing with his phone.

The butler stood aside smiling, occasionally bringing fruit and desserts, and thoughtfully poured tea for them.

When Shang Zhiyu and Zhou Yanqiu returned, the three were already chatting excitedly; upon seeing Zhou Yanqiu, Wen Ling politely rose.

Zhou Yanqiu smiled and stepped forward, saying, "Miss Wen, I'll just call you Ah Ling like they do; I'm Zhou Yinhe's eldest brother, Zhou Yanqiu—you can call me big brother."

Just as he was about to reach out, Zhou Congyu, watching the lively scene without minding the fuss, added, "Don't reach out—watch out, or our Xiao Wu will go up and hit your hand."

Zhou Yinhe, angry and embarrassed, kicked Zhou Congyu, while Wen Ling proactively reached out and lightly clasped Zhou Yanqiu's hand.

"Big brother, hello."

"Hello hello." Zhou Yanqiu glanced at Zhou Yinhe, that look full of meaning, as if mocking Zhou Yinhe's petty narrow-mindedness.

Zhou Yinhe rolled his eyes, stood up, pulled Wen Ling over, and sat down with her; not wanting to make small talk with them, he leaned close to her ear and whispered softly, "Ignore them; they'll deliberately bully you."

Shang Zhiyu heard this and chuckled, saying, "Xiao Wu, you can't just scheme against your brothers because you want to cling to Ah Ling."

Zhou Yinhe's chin bumped against Wen Ling's shoulder, he gave a soft hum, rubbed against her, and whispered, "I still just want to be alone with you."

He didn't like Wen Ling diverting her attention to others, yet he wanted her to quickly fit in with his family; these mixed feelings made him uneasy, and he realized he was indeed being a bit petty.

Wen Ling understood him well; without caring who was watching, she rubbed her cheek against his forehead and whispered, "We'll be alone together when we go home tonight."

Zhou Yinhe hummed in agreement, then sighed lightly as he sat up straight.

The Zhou family together watched their interaction and exchanged a glance.

At home, their Xiao Wu is always indulged and spoiled by his parents and elder siblings; now that he has a girlfriend, even in front of her, it's still the girlfriend who's coaxing him.

Hopeless!

Zhao Ningyan leaned against the sofa, feeling sour inside.

After all, it's just envy of Zhou Yinhe's luck—he's always being coddled, unlike him, where even coaxing his girlfriend does nothing, and she still often bullies him.

While eating together, Zhou Yinhe finally showed what a boyfriend should do—carefully peeling shrimp, cracking crab, and picking dishes for Wen Ling; he even accepted pouring her juice, so throughout the meal Wen Ling never needed to reach for the public chopsticks to grab food—everything was Zhou Yinhe placing it onto her plate.

Ning Qing felt a bit sour inside, yet also relieved, feeling her son had finally grown up.

Wen Ling felt a little shy, but she wasn't embarrassed; she lowered her eyes and ate her food bit by bit.

Zhou Shuanglin glanced at them and said to Wen Ling, "Ah Ling, are you still satisfied with Xiao Wu?"

Zhou Yinhe frowned at Zhou Shuanglin, wondering what that meant.

Wen Ling, however, smiled at him, then looked at Zhou Shuanglin and said, "Satisfied, Uncle."

"Then are you willing to become part of our family?" Zhou Shuanglin asked directly: "I and your aunt especially like you; Xiao Wu's brothers and sisters need no saying—they'd practically wish you were their own blood sister; if you agree, I think they'd all be very happy."

The others all nodded, but wondered if this smelled of pressure to marry; Ning Qing spoke first: "Ah Ling, don't feel pressured—this should still be decided between you and Xiao Wu; don't take your uncle's words to heart, he just thinks it's a happy thing for our Zhou family that you could take a liking to Xiao Wu."

Wen Ling understood, smiling, she said, "Uncle, Aunt, I don't feel any pressure." She tilted her head toward Zhou Yinhe and whispered, "I've already made up my mind."

Zhou Yinhe's heart raced wildly, his Adam's apple moved, and his eyes instantly reddened.

"You're not going to cry, are you?" Wen Ling smiled and moved closer to his face; Zhou Yinhe lowered his head to hide, pursed his lips, and whispered, "I'm not."

Ning Qing chuckled, saying, "Xiao Wu has always cried more than his several older brothers and sisters since he was little."

Wen Ling widened her eyes; she'd heard of many bad things Zhou Yinhe did as a child, but she hadn't known he used to cry so much.

Zhou Congyu deeply related to this, helplessly saying, "When I was the one who spent the most time with him as a child, if he acted out and I ignored him, he'd cry—and cry terribly."

"Who says otherwise? I really don't want to bring him along; no matter how I coax, I can't calm him." Zhou Zhaoning said with a look of disdain; she and Zhou Congyu are fraternal twins, but she lacks patience and simply can't care for Zhou Yinhe, who is a few years younger than them and has an even worse temper and less patience.

Zhou Yanqiu was the only one among the siblings who rarely looked after Zhou Yinhe; back then he was only busy with group affairs, having no time to manage this younger brother, but he still recalled an embarrassing thing Zhou Yinhe did as a child.

"When I got engaged to your eldest sister-in-law, Xiao Wu ran up to me and said, 'Big brother, you're not worthy of Sister Zhiyu; don't dream of eating swan meat like a toad—hurry up and let Sister Zhiyu go.'"

Upon hearing that, everyone burst out laughing, the happiest being Shang Zhiyu.

She was almost laughing to tears, saying, "How did I not know about this?"