Chapter 779: Neither Marrying Nor Taking a Wife, Yet Married

But this time it proved—ginger is indeed spicier when it's old.

Her judgment was wrong, but her mother-in-law's judgment was correct.

Nianyin and Lao Qi were lovey-dovey for quite a while before they realized people were watching them.

Nianyin is a shy girl; upon discovering they were being watched, she bashfully pushed Lao Qi away and announced to everyone: "I came here this time to marry Lao Qi, please make sure to attend our wedding."

"Wow—"

It was indeed as everyone had guessed.

People crowded around to offer their blessings and ask all sorts of questions...

Only later did they figure out that although Nianyin came to Jiangzhou this time to marry Lao Qi, after the wedding, the two of them would live in Jiangzhou for half a year and in the Ji Family for half a year.

It wasn't considered Lao Qi taking a wife, nor was it considered the Ji Family marrying off a daughter; the two of them were marrying as equals.

There was no bride price, and there was no dowry.

Jiangzhou and the Ji Family each have their own assets, and after the wedding, they would also maintain separate finances, independent personalities, and economic independence.

For the sake of Lao Qi, Nianyin had a deep conversation with the Clan Leader before the Abdication Ceremony.

She did not want to give up on Lao Qi, and she also knew that Lao Qi would not be happy if he married into the Ji Family as a live-in son-in-law. Ji Yingjie was disdainful: "You are just too weak; if you were tougher, he would agree."

"Take advantage of the fact that he can't let you go now to propose your conditions; if you wait until things cool down, I'm afraid he won't agree even if you make concessions."

In fact, Ji Yingjie also felt that Lao Qi was very suitable for Nianyin.

Nianyin had saved her several times and was truly filial to her; people always exchange sincerity for sincerity, and Ji Yingjie now treated Nianyin like her own daughter.

A good man like Lao Qi—if you miss this village, I'm afraid there won't be this shop.

Nianyin told the Clan Leader her true inner thoughts; she did not want to change Lao Qi. If she were to change Lao Qi to be like the men of the Ji Family, that would be impossible and would only make everyone miserable.

Love is not oppression, but mutual understanding, appreciation, and appropriate concessions and compromises.

Unilateral, blind devotion does not lead to good results; the heat of love will eventually fade one day, and maintaining a long-term relationship between two people requires relying on those later conditions to sustain it.

She even used Shi Youxuan and Sheng Hanyu as examples.

The fact that they have been married for many years and are still as loving as ever does not rely on the initial passion, but on understanding, trust, mutual appreciation, and mutual consideration.

These words caused a great stir in Ji Yingjie; no one had ever said these things to her before—of course, others wouldn't dare.

Nianyin hadn't dared to before either; the reason she spoke out this time was that she no longer worshipped Ji Yingjie like a god, but was pouring out her heart as if to a mother.

After the mother and daughter discussed it, they decided that Nianyin should make a trip to Jiangzhou!

To ask if Lao Qi would be willing to live in Jiangzhou and the Ji Family for half a year each?

If their future child is a girl, she will take the Ji surname; if it is a boy, he will take Lao Qi's surname, Zhang. This way, it conforms to both the aesthetic of the Ji Family and the traditions of Jiangzhou.

That Ji Yingjie could make such a concession was basically a milestone of progress.

How could Lao Qi not agree?

To him, this was a pie falling from the sky.

He hadn't even dared to dream of it, yet it actually came true, so he immediately nodded in agreement.

Nianyin and Lao Qi held two wedding ceremonies.

The first was held in Jiangzhou.

Then they went to the Ji Family to hold the second one.

Because the journey was long and the environment of the Ji Family was special, they didn't want too many outsiders to know.

So the only people who went to attend the wedding were Shi Youxuan and Sheng Hanyu—no, there was one more person: Shi Ran.

After careful consideration, the couple decided to take Shi Ran to the Ji Family.

Ji Yingjie was especially happy to see Shi Ran; during those few days at the Ji Family, she almost never let go of Shi Ran's hand, and even when sleeping at night, she invited Shi Ran to stay in her room.

Shi Youxuan was worried; she was worried that her aunt would hide her daughter and not return her.

So she found an excuse: "The child is too restless, and being in the same room as you will affect your rest."

Ji Yingjie could see through this little trick without even using her brain, and she mercilessly exposed it: "Are you afraid I'll keep Ranran and not let her go back? Let me tell you, Xuanxuan, on my turf, what I say goes!"

Her aunt was as domineering as ever, and Shi Youxuan had to bow her head while under someone else's roof.

What was infuriating was that her husband also felt she was overthinking it and advised her: "Aunt won't be that low; don't worry."

Sheng Hanyu was a good judge of character, and Ji Yingjie was indeed not that low.

Shi Ran stayed in the same room with her, and although no one knew what they talked about, the change in Ji Yingjie was obvious; she was smiling every day and was much more easygoing.

Shi Youxuan asked the two of them, but neither would say, claiming it was a secret between them!

After attending the wedding at the Ji Family, the family of three specifically took the path through the Forest on their way back.

Shi Ran had heard the story of the "Bai Lang" family of three many times and never got tired of it; she had always wanted to see them, but it was just a thought.

Now that there was this opportunity, it would be a pity not to seize it.

As it turned out, they specifically took the path through the Forest, but they didn't see the Bai Lang family of three, which was a regret.

Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles; if it weren't for the fact that Sheng Zichen was always thinking about food wherever he went, they would have brought him along this time.

They didn't bring Sheng Zichen on the trip, so they had to bring a gift back for Erbao.

The gift prepared by his father was an abacus made of pure gold; since his son would inherit the family business in the future, it wasn't a bad thing to start calculating early.

The gift prepared by his mother was a cookbook!

The same model as the one his sister gave last time.

Because the one from his sister was thrown away by his father in a fit of rage, the little guy had cried for a long time.

From then on, there was no smile on his face; he always kept a little face straight and frowned.

That look was very much like his father's, mature from a young age.

Sheng Hanyu frowned as soon as he saw the cookbook; he felt his wife was deliberately going against him, and he was very resistant to this gift: "Are you doing this on purpose? I finally managed to correct this bad habit of his, and you're giving him this thing again. Isn't everything I've done going to waste?"

Shi Youxuan said with a grin, "If everything you do can be so easily shattered, then it means it never had any meaning to begin with."

Sheng Hanyu:...

Had his wife reached such a profound level of enlightenment?

She was progressing very quickly, but he refused to accept it, and even brought up what his grandfather had taught him back in the day as an example: "Children shouldn't be allowed to do whatever they feel like; I didn't like everything Grandfather arranged for me when I was little either, but looking back now that I'm grown, Grandfather was right."

"Sheng Zichen is only unhappy for the moment; when he grows up, he will understand my painstaking efforts, and he will be grateful to me."

His wife did not argue, but instead asked in return: "Were you happy? I mean, when you were little."

The smug expression on his face paused, then vanished in an instant.

He covered it up, saying: "What's this about happy or not happy? I am very happy now."

A moment later, he added: "Responsibility is greater than happiness."

He had things he liked when he was a child too, but his grandfather kept instilling things like "responsibility" and "the future of the Sheng Family" into his mind, and slowly, he forgot what he used to like.

But one thing was certain: he was not happy when he was little!

Shi Youxuan: "People! They always walk and walk until they forget why they started; if you lose your happiness, what does it matter if you win the whole world?"

On this point, the couple could never reach a consensus.

In the end, they always stuck to their own ideas; although the mother did not interfere with the boy's education, she could still decide what kind of gifts to give, and Sheng Hanyu could only compromise.