Chapter 880

Lin Xiuhong grew up in Linjia Village, which isn't far from Lijia Village—about ten to fifteen minutes by car.

Lin Xiuhong rarely drives, so she sat in the driver's seat of Xu Rong's Mercedes, with Li Luo in the front passenger seat.

While waiting for the traffic light, she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the three girls sitting quietly in the back; she couldn't help smiling with a quiet sense of fulfillment.

I wonder if Li Luo's grandparents will be overwhelmed when they see these three girls?

As Lin Xiuhong thought about this, she hummed a little tune under her breath and drove smoothly into the entrance of Linjia Village.

When they pulled into the courtyard of Li Luo's maternal grandparents' home, the two elders had already come out, staring curiously at the car.

Only when they saw Li Luo step out first did their faces break into smiles, wrinkles creasing as they grinned.

"Our little Luo is here?" Grandma beamed, stepping forward to grab Li Luo's wrist and scanning him up and down, muttering nonstop, "You're getting handsomer by the day, but have you been eating well? You seem a bit thinner."

"Grandma, I'm plenty strong now—this is called 'clothes make you look slim.' Look." Li Luo raised his arm, letting Grandma pinch his biceps, which were well-developed. "Where's my uncle?"

"He's asleep," Grandma said, reverting to the tone of any mother talking about her son. "Ignore him. I've told him a hundred times—he still loves sleeping in, won't wake up even if you shout. Don't you ever learn from him."

"I run every morning at six," Li Luo grinned. "Uncle should learn from me."

"Exactly!" Grandma immediately jumped in, nodding vigorously. "Little Luo is such a good kid. Your uncle's this old and still doesn't have half your sense."

As she spoke, Lin Xiuhong at the driver's seat and the three girls in the back stepped out one by one.

Ying Chanxi had grown up in the same environment as Li Luo; though she'd rarely visited Li Luo's maternal grandparents' home, when Li Luo came here as a child, she'd always insist on tagging along, so Lin Xiuhong and Li Guohong had brought her along too.

So Li Luo's grandmother still had some memory of this girl.

Now Ying Chanxi stepped forward first and sweetly greeted them: "Grandpa, Grandma, do you still recognize me?"

"You're…" Grandpa, slightly nearsighted, leaned closer but still couldn't make her out clearly.

But Grandma glanced and instantly recognized her, beaming: "Aren't you Xixi? You used to always run after little Luo, clinging to him so tight no one could pry you away."

Ying Chanxi blushed, hugging Grandma's arm: "Grandma, don't say that—it was so long ago."

After some small talk, Grandpa and Grandma's eyes turned to the two unfamiliar girls.

They looked between Li Luo and Lin Xiuhong: "These two…"

"They're… Li Luo's…" Lin Xiuhong hesitated, wanting to simply introduce them as Li Luo's friends visiting for the New Year.

But before Lin Xiuhong could finish, Li Luo cut in: "They're all my girlfriends."

At these words, not only did Grandpa and Grandma stare in shock, but Lin Xiuhong's pupils dilated—she hadn't expected her own son to say something like this in front of elders.

Ying Chanxi and the others turned bright red; even Yan Zhusheng and Xu Youyu, under such circumstances, felt nervous and flustered hearing Li Luo say this.

Yan Zhusheng was slightly better—she blushed but stole glances at Lin Xiuhong, curious about her reaction.

But Xu Youyu, still a relatively normal person, could never be this bold in front of others, no matter how wild she got alone with Li Luo.

With their relationship so bluntly exposed, the three girls froze in place, utterly at a loss.

Grandpa and Grandma didn't know how to respond either, their eyes darting between the three girls, each strikingly beautiful—it would be nearly impossible to choose just one.

But if all three were their grandson's girlfriends… well… that didn't sound so bad?

Grandpa and Grandma exchanged glances, when a familiar voice from the second-floor balcony broke the silence.

"Li Luo?" Jian Chun poked her head out the window, saw the scene below, and smiled, greeting them, then turned to Grandpa and Grandma: "Uncle, Auntie, don't keep them standing outside—come upstairs and sit down?"

"Yes, yes, let's go upstairs first—we'll talk up there."

Grandpa snapped out of his daze and motioned everyone upstairs.

Li Luo immediately went to the trunk, helped Ying Chanxi and the others carry in a pile of New Year gifts, and followed them up.

After they'd put everything away upstairs, Grandma turned to Lin Xiuhong with a reproachful look: "You came, fine—but why bring so much? Your dad and I can't eat all this."

"If you can't eat it, give it away—saves you from buying new stuff," Lin Xiuhong said casually. "Have you prepared lunch? If you haven't bought groceries yet, I'll go get some."

"Already bought," Grandpa waved his hand. "You said five people were coming—do you think we'd let you starve?"

At this, Grandma beside him wore a peculiar expression.

She and Grandpa had been puzzled earlier—why five people?

Especially since Lin Xiuhong said Li Guohong couldn't come because he was hosting guests, so that made only two: Li Luo and her. Who were the other three?

But since Lin Xiuhong hadn't explained, they hadn't pressed—after all, they'd find out when they saw them.

Now that they'd seen them, they were truly stunned.

Their grandson had quietly brought back three girlfriends.

When Lin Xiufeng brought home a girlfriend this year, they'd already been delighted.

But Li Luo? His uncle brought back one—he brought back three.

No wonder he was the mastermind behind Lin Xiufeng's blossoming—when he took matters into his own hands, he was even more impressive.

But Grandpa and Grandma, curious yet unsure how to ask, were stuck in awkward silence, occasionally glancing at the three demure girls, not knowing what to say.

Finally, Li Luo took the initiative: "You know Xixi—she grew up with me."

"This is Xu Youyu—you can call her Youyu or Xiao Yu."

"A few years ago, after I finished my middle school entrance exam, my parents bought me a school district house from Third Uncle's family."

"At the time, Youyu was renting there—we never canceled the lease, so we just lived together."

"She writes novels too, just like me—if you're interested, you can check them out."

"Oh, what are you saying…" Xu Youyu tugged Li Luo's sleeve discreetly, whispering, "Why talk about writing novels?"

Fortunately, everyone else already knew about this—Jian Chun, as Xu Rongsheng's student, was well aware.

But as Li Luo recounted it all, Jian Chun listened intently, like watching a drama, absorbing his story of how he'd met these three girls.

"This is Yan Zhusheng," Li Luo continued, taking Yan Zhusheng's hand to introduce her to Grandpa and Grandma. "My high school desk partner—we sat together in class."

"Her mother is Yuan Wanqing—the one who sang 'Wrong Time and Space' on this year's Spring Festival Gala."

"You probably don't remember the song title—Zhusheng, how does it go again?" Li Luo turned to Yan Zhusheng.

Yan Zhusheng paused, then instinctively cleared her throat and softly hummed a few bars.

"I gaze at the stars you once gazed upon~ crossing a hundred years of time to meet again~"

She was nervous, singing tremulously—something she'd never done, not even when performing on stages surrounded by ten thousand spectators.

But even so, her singing was still beautiful; after hearing it, her grandfather immediately slapped his thigh and exclaimed: "Oh oh oh, this one! This song is great!"

"This song was written by Li Luo," Lin Xiuhong added beside them. "I told you about this before—Li Luo's songwriting is amazing now; most of his songs are sung by Yuan Wanqing, and they're all wildly popular."

After chatting a while longer, the grandparents had formed a preliminary impression of the three girls, and now they liked them more and more with every glance.

Since there was a mahjong table here too, Lin Xiuhong felt a sudden urge to play and pulled them over to join.

The grandmother didn't like playing, but Li Luo's grandfather adored mahjong.

Lin Xiuhong called her father over and invited Jian Chun and Xixi; the four of them sat around the mahjong table and began clacking the tiles with a crisp, rhythmic clatter.

Li Luo took the two girls and sat with the grandmother, watching TV and chatting casually.

Xu Youyu sat down voluntarily beside the grandmother and spoke to her with great affection, recounting amusing moments he'd shared with Li Luo.

The grandmother listened happily; perhaps these few days around the New Year were the happiest of her entire year.

At just past ten in the morning, Lin Xiufeng, who had been sleeping in upstairs, shuffled down with a messy bird's-nest of hair, half-asleep.

Rubbing his head at the lively scene in the living room, he slowly came to his senses and remembered—it was his sister's return day.

But seeing Jian Chun playing mahjong and Li Luo chatting with the grandmother on the sofa, Lin Xiufeng relaxed.

Whether he was here or not made no difference anyway.

"You finally decided to get up?" The grandmother eyed his disheveled appearance and couldn't help scolding, "You've got a girlfriend now—can't you even tidy yourself up?"

"Aw, Mom, Li Luo and the others only come by once in a while—don't spoil the mood," Lin Xiufeng yawned, then grinned at Li Luo. "How long are you staying today?"

"Just for lunch," Li Luo said. "I have to head back in the afternoon—there are guests at my place too."

"Guests?"

"There." Li Luo pointed at Xu Youyu. "Xu Youyu's parents came too."

"Oh oh, then you really should go back," Lin Xiufeng nodded.

Just as they were greeting each other, Ying Chanxi finished a round of mahjong and turned to Yan Zhusheng by the sofa: "Zhusheng, come take my place. Senior, you take over for Teacher Jian."

"Huh? What's going on?" Jian Chun was startled, not understanding Ying Chanxi's meaning. "What's this about?"

"Teacher Jian, come with me—and Uncle too," Ying Chanxi took Jian Chun's hand and led her over to sit beside the sofa.

Lin Xiufeng also curiously edged closer: "What's up, Xixi?"

"It's nothing important—Li Luo asked me to pick out a gift as a blessing for your engagement," Ying Chanxi said, then pulled two red silk boxes from her bag, bright and festive.

Placing the red silk boxes on the table, she pushed them toward Lin Xiufeng and Jian Chun and added: "Open them and see if you like them."

Jian Chun picked up one box curiously and glanced at Lin Xiufeng.

Lin Xiufeng took his own box, met her gaze, and nodded.

The next instant, they both lifted the lids—and inside lay exquisitely carved jade bangles.

"Wow~ so beautiful," Jian Chun's eyes sparkled at the bangle; she reached out to touch it, then hesitated, afraid of smudging it, reluctant even to hold it.

Lin Xiufeng, however, didn't hesitate with Li Luo—he took the smoky-gray jade bangle from his box, felt its cool, smooth weight in his palm, then slipped it onto his wrist.

"What pattern is carved on this one?" Jian Chun leaned close to examine her pure-white jade bangle, curious.

"It's a phoenix," Ying Chanxi said. "Uncle's has a dragon."

"This is truly stunning," Jian Chun praised, finally lifting the bangle with care and sliding it onto her wrist.

As she and Lin Xiufeng leaned together, their wrists touching—the smoky-gray jade and the pure-white jade brushed against each other, emitting a clear, ringing chime.

They looked perfectly matched.

"How much did this cost?" Lin Xiufeng asked. "Is it very expensive?"

"Not expensive at all!" Ying Chanxi vigorously waved her hand. "As long as you like it—that's what matters. Price doesn't matter."

In truth, these bangles had been custom-made by Li Luo—each worth tens of thousands, the pair totaling over a hundred thousand.

But for Li Luo now, this amount meant nothing.

Compared to what his uncle had once done for his family, Li Luo's gift was merely repayment.

As long as his uncle's marriage was happy and fulfilling, that was enough.

After successfully delivering the gift, Ying Chanxi exhaled in relief and returned to the mahjong table with Jian Chun.

Lin Xiuhong, while playing mahjong, asked Jian Chun about her family and inquired about wedding plans.

According to Lin Xiufeng and Jian Chun's plans, the National Day holiday this year would be their wedding date.

To hold the wedding on schedule for National Day, many preparations had to begin as early as the start of the year.

As Lin Xiufeng's older sister, Lin Xiuhong naturally took full responsibility—after all, Li Luo's grandparents were elderly and lacked the energy to organize anything.

Lin Xiuhong called herself Lin Xiufeng's sister, but with such a large age gap between them, calling her half his mother wasn't an exaggeration.

Moreover, in Lin Xiuhong's mind, this was also a rehearsal for Li Luo's own future wedding—so he wouldn't be flustered later.

But…

Watching the three young girls in the living room, Lin Xiuhong couldn't help sighing inwardly.

What good was a rehearsal?

She'd never seen a wedding where a man married three brides at once…