Chapter 1827

The First Bar!

Zhou Andong had Wang Wentian take Miss Yang home first, then come back to pick him up.

By the time he got home, it was already past ten o'clock in the evening. Yuan Liying hadn't slept yet and was watching TV.

"You're back."

Zhou Andong entered the living room, sat down beside Yuan Liying, saw the oranges on the coffee table, picked one up, and peeled it.

"What time is it, and you're still watching TV."

Yuan Liying sighed, picked up the remote control, and turned off the TV.

Zhou Andong saw this and knew there was a difficult matter, so he couldn't help but smile.

"What's the matter?"

Yuan Liying said with a worried face: "It's about Duan Xu. He ran off with someone else's daughter for so many years; how could her parents not be angry? He went several times and was beaten out."

"Your aunt and uncle also brought things and went twice, but were both given the cold shoulder. There's nothing to be done about this; since we're in the wrong, we have to endure however they treat us."

"But this stalemate isn't a solution. We have to find a way to make the girl's parents stop being angry, so your aunt thought about having you step in to mediate."

Zhou Andong gave a bitter smile. It was no problem for him to step in and mediate; after all, it was his own cousin, but would they give him that face?

To be honest, Tang Qian's parents' behavior was already quite mild. Putting himself in their shoes, if it were him, he would have broken Duan Xu's legs.

Don't say anything about how it was Tang Qian who proposed that Duan Xu go with her; in this kind of matter, a man must take responsibility.

"It's no problem for me to step in, but whether Tang Qian's parents will give me face is really up in the air."

"Try it." Yuan Liying had no other way: "Your aunt is worried sick. The other day, she took a feather duster and chased Li Fan for two miles."

Zhou Andong's mouth twitched, thinking that things here were already arranged, so he really had to go back and take a look.

Mainly because the little devils were still wandering around Jiangzhou, and there was also the matter of Yu Zhan and his old classmate's blind date that needed to be arranged.

"Alright, I'll go back tomorrow." Zhou Andong stood up: "You should get some rest early too; stop worrying about this blindly."

"Can I not worry?" Yuan Liying sighed: "During those years you were in school, your father was paralyzed on the kang. If it weren't for your aunt and your eldest aunt helping out, it's hard to say if our family could have made it through."

"What's the use of you worrying." Zhou Andong said irritably: "If you could solve it, I wouldn't have to go back."

Yuan Liying rolled her eyes at him: "Go, go, go, hurry up and go to sleep."

Zhou Andong smiled helplessly, left the living room, went upstairs to his room, washed up simply, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Zhou Andong first came to Courtyard No. 6.

"Mom, I'm going back to Jiangzhou today. Are you taking a plane or coming with me, and then I'll have someone take you back to Fengjing?"

Gu Minglan was dressing the little girl: "I've already bought the ticket. You go on your own; don't worry about us."

"Alright!" Zhou Andong asked Seeing Jian Qiu again: "What about you? Are you coming back to Jiangzhou with me?"

"I have quite a few things here too." Seeing Jian Qiu shook her head: "You go back on your own."

"Alright!"

Zhou Andong went to the study again, chatted with the old man for a while before leaving, and took the newspaper with him; after all, it was a ten-hour car ride, and it would be hard to endure without newspapers or books.

What he didn't expect was that just as he left Jingcheng, Xiaobei and Cao Yi arrived at Anqiu Hutong.

The two got out of the car and entered the courtyard, where they saw Yuan Liying and the old lady with a nanny planting flowers in the courtyard, and Comrade Old Zhou was moving his feet back and forth while holding onto the windowsill.

"Mom, Grandma!" Xiaobei called out, then looked at Old Zhou: "Dad, I see your legs have much more strength."

"Grandma, Auntie, Uncle." Cao Yi greeted them all.

"Xiaoyi is here." Comrade Old Zhou smiled happily: "Ten-plus hours in the car, you must be exhausted. Hurry up and go get some rest."

Yuan Liying was also beaming with joy and hurriedly washed her hands in a small bucket beside her: "You arrived so early; did you leave last night?"

"Yes!" Cao Yi nodded, letting Yuan Liying pull her hand toward the dining room: "There were quite a few things yesterday, and we only left after dealing with them."

"You haven't eaten yet, have you." Before Cao Yi could speak, Yuan Liying had someone hurry to cook: "After eating, you go take a nap. Whatever you have to say, say it after you wake up."

Comrade Old Zhou lifted his hands from the windowsill. Xiaobei hurriedly reached out to support him but was pushed aside by Old Zhou.

"I don't need your support."

Old Zhou stepped out with his legs, walking forward tremblingly. He walked for about ten steps, then turned around to walk back, and finally sat in the wheelchair.

"Whew!"

Comrade Old Zhou let out a long breath, picked up the towel draped over the wheelchair, and wiped the sweat off his face.

"I feel my legs getting stronger and stronger. Now, without support, I can walk half a circle around this courtyard."

Xiaobei grinned: "If that's the case, keep persisting, and by next year you'll be able to stroll around as you please."

Comrade Old Zhou said with great ambition: "I've already increased the amount of training, striving to be able to go to the dining room for a meal and go to the restroom without a wheelchair by the end of the year."

"That's absolutely no problem." Xiaobei was even more confident than Old Zhou: "I came back this time to discuss getting engaged to Xiaoyi."

Comrade Old Zhou was stunned, then smiled: "Good, good. You'll be twenty in two days; it's good to get engaged after your birthday."

Xiaobei asked: "Is my brother back?"

"He just left, back to Jiangzhou. If you had arrived an hour and a half earlier, you would have run into him." Comrade Old Zhou looked at Xiaobei: "Is your brother only for this matter?"

"I know." Xiaobei said: "It was just around the time after the New Year when my brother went back to Tanghezi that he told me to come back and discuss getting engaged first."

"Good!" Yuan Liying's laughter came from the dining room: "Xiaobei will be twenty in two days. You two get engaged first, and in two years, when Xiaobei is of age, you two get married."

"That's what Big Brother said too."

Cao Yi's face was a bit red. Getting engaged should be something Xiaobei discusses with his family.

But when Yuan Liying asked her why she suddenly came back, and why she came back overnight, and if something was wrong, she just casually said what was going on.

"Mom!" Xiaobei pushed Old Zhou into the dining room: "If you have no objections, meet Xiaoyi's parents tomorrow and set the date."

"Alright!" Yuan Liying made the final decision: "After eating, you two go to sleep first, and go to Xiaoyi's house in the evening."

"Not sleepy." Xiaobei shook his head: "We slept in the car, and now even if you let us sleep, we won't be able to."

"I'll go back after a bite to eat."

Cao Yi was also anxious, thinking about going back quickly to discuss it with her father and mother.

At this time, Cao Jingsong and Deng Yuzhi were waiting at home. They had received their daughter's call last night, saying she would be home this morning and had important things to tell them.

Cao Jingsong paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, looking at the time from time to time.

"It's already past nine, why haven't they arrived yet."

"You're like a donkey pulling a millstone, what are you pacing back and forth for." Deng Yuzhi glared: "If you want to pace, go pace somewhere else; I'm still watching TV."