Li Yan and Zhang Yurong walked hand in hand into her parent's home.

Whenever they return, they put on a loving display, but even up until the last time they came, it was a habitual performance of affection—holding hands or linking arms only as a formality at the moment of entering. This time, however, was different; they genuinely held hands from the time they got out of the car, Li Yan leading her inside with Zhang Yurong showing no resistance at all.

When they saw Zhang Tianyi and Yang Yun, Li Yan gave them the gift that Yurong prepared, somewhat embarrassedly mentioning it was bought in Beihai Country.

Yang Yun was delighted to receive tea instead of cigarettes or alcohol, continuously praising his thoughtfulness, making Li Yan feel more embarrassed.

Despite the slight delay on the road, dinner seemed not ready yet, so they continued chatting.

Zhang Tianyi, still the chairman of the board, generally does not return to the company unless there's an extremely important meeting. Therefore, during each visit, he routinely inquires about the company's situation. Even though he knows his daughter, being highly competent and even more accomplished than he was in his youth, has managed the company excellently, as a man, he remains emotionally attached to the empire he built, using such inquiries to remind everyone of his presence and involvement.

Moreover, Zhang Tianyi especially loves to ask about Li Yan's situation. Though he's completely confident in his daughter, when it comes to his son-in-law, he trusts him in personal life hoping he takes good care of his daughter, but professionally, he doesn't have much confidence.

"Li Yan has been working hard at the company recently, having trained in various key departments through multiple positions. Soon, I'll have him take over as the general manager of a new subsidiary. He should gain excellent experience," Zhang Yurong cheerfully reported Li Yan's situation.

Li Yan smiled, somewhat shyly. In reality, he's only drifted through several departments; if that counts as training, then training seems too insignificant. However, before his father-in-law, he didn't dare to refute.

"Hmm, not bad, keep up the good work. I've heard about your significant contributions in developing Beihai Country. I truly haven't misjudged you. You have a promising future!" Zhang Tianyi smiled satisfyingly.

Li Yan merely gave a humble smile and nod, putting on a modest demeanor.

"Isn't Xueyin here yet?" Zhang Yurong changed the subject.

"Yes, that girl said she'd arrive soon, yet somehow she's not here yet," Yang Yun responded.

Li Yan looked at Zhang Yurong, puzzled, as if asking her: Are there other guests?

Zhang Yurong shook her head, not directly explaining to him.

Just as they were talking, the doorbell rang. A young girl with short hair and a tomboyish style entered, enthusiastically greeting Yang Yun and then warmly embracing Zhang Yurong. If not for the clear indication that this was a girl, and seemingly a relative of Yurong's, Li Yan might have felt a twinge of jealousy.

After Zhang Yurong exchanged pleasantries with the girl, the girl then greeted Zhang Tianyi and pulled her in to introduce her to Li Yan: "This is my cousin, Xueyin!"

"My name is Jiang Xueyin. You must be brother-in-law? Nice to meet you, and please take care of me in the future." The short-haired girl naturally extended her hand.

"Li Yan, hello." Li Yan reached out for a polite handshake and quickly withdrew.

"Xueyin also works at Heavenly Film. She's in charge of finance, so she'll be your efficient assistant in the future. That's why I wanted to bring her to meet you, the general manager, today." Zhang Yurong explained with a smile.

"Her? Finance?" Li Yan finally understood why he hadn't seen much of her relatives before, and why suddenly a cousin showed up—turns out they'd be working together.

"Yes, I majored in finance. It's just that finding a job is difficult nowadays, so I asked cousin for help. It just so happened the new company needed staff, and cousin decided to consider talent before kinship, giving me an opportunity. I'll need Li always to guide me in the future!" Jiang Xueyin continued with a smile.

Li Yan felt a bit sweaty, although trusting relatives in finance is common. But can such a young girl really handle finance? Besides, he couldn't shake the feeling that Yurong arranged for someone to watch him, so he wouldn't mess around with unwritten rules!

"I'll need your assistance instead. Your brother-in-law's skills are rather ordinary."

"Alright, everyone is here, let's have dinner!" Yang Yun cheerfully invited everyone.

...

Tonight's family dinner was much livelier with Jiang Xueyin present, significantly easing Li Yan and Zhang Yurong's pressure as they no longer had to face the parents directly. Her role was like how Yue Yao is at their home.

With the lively atmosphere, dinner lasted slightly longer than usual. After dinner, the women went to another room to chat. They might inevitably ask Yurong about having children, seeing her glance at him before leaving, Li Yan knew it was time to talk to his father-in-law.

"Looks like it's just the two of us here with tea..." Zhang Tianyi looked at Li Yan with a half-smile, "Tell me, during your time in Beihai Country, was there any?"

Li Yan broke out in a sweat, was he being tested again? He smiled and said, "There was!"

"Oh? Let's hear it!"

"The snow scenery I admired in Beihai Country was something you can't see in S City. I didn't expect it to be so warm here; it's already quite cold on Jiangyue Road. The world is truly vast!"

"…" Seeing Li Yan earnestly narrating his travel experiences on Jiangyue Road, Zhang Tianyi jokingly scolded, "You little rascal, just bragging!"

"Well, it was quite nice."

"Oh?" Zhang Tianyi immediately showed a touch of curious gossip.

Li Yan was referring to Shinohara Mirai's Yun Country ancestry, but of course, he wouldn't share such a detail with his father-in-law: "Didn't you know? It's said that during Emperor Qin Shi Huang's era, Alchemist Xu Fu led five hundred boys and girls to sea in search of immortality herbs for the Emperor, but never returned. Legend has it, Xu Fu reached what's now Beihai Country instead of Penglai Immortal Island, and even today, people claim to find Xu Fu's tomb in Beihai Country. If the legend holds true, generation after generation growing in number, then those five hundred kids two thousand years ago may have branched into many Beihai ancestors, all intermarried — how can you discern who doesn't carry Yun Country blood today?"

Zhang Tianyi was almost dozing off! He silently cursed the boy's cunningness.

"Alright, quit pretending."

"Dad, come on, of course, there wasn't anything!"

"Wasn't there a girl from Beihai Country who liked you? Didn't you... have any romantic interlude?" Zhang Tianyi, cunningly smiled.

Li Yan looked at him regrettably: "That... honestly, no! I was daydreaming a bit, thinking perhaps a girl fancied me, but it turned out she needed my outsider's help because people around her were worried, she was searching for her father. Tell me, was she in the mood for romance? Afterward, Shiroyama Gou began clearing adversaries, sending us to Jiangyue Road, claiming it was for vacation but actually for refuge — who was in the mood? Then it was all commercial negotiations, and my mind wasn't up for it."

"Wasn't the Beihai Country girl crushing on you?"

"Really, she wasn't." Li Yan muttered quietly; more like it was open admiration...

"Haha, that's reassuring. Absolutely can't bring infection home."

With Zhang Tianyi's remark, Li Yan felt rather awkward. This old man, he seems open-minded, but who knows when he's serious or joking!

"Oh, Dad, I want to talk about something serious." Li Yan coughed, needing to address the issue causing Yurong concern, at least earning more time, otherwise, she'd feel too overwhelmed.

"What's possibly serious from you? Is it about having children?" Zhang Tianyi chuckled.

Seeing that he already noticed, Li Yan decided not to beat around the bush: "Exactly. I feel your constant urging—especially towards Yurong—is quite... inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?" Zhang Tianyi chuckled, "You two have been married for nearly a year, you're no spring chicken anymore, and so is Yurong. It's time to have children. Other young people hesitate because they can't afford raising kids. We don't have such difficulty; there's no need to worry about expenses. If you, young ones, find kids annoying, your mom and I can take care of them. We don't mind the hassle."

Li Yan was speechless; are we being treated as child-making machines?

"Then let me say something unpleasant..." Li Yan smiled softly.

"Oh? What's unpleasant? Just us two here, nothing's off-limits. You know I always appreciate you, and your openness only adds to it!" Zhang Tianyi laughed.

"Then it's... you two are too selfish!" Li Yan directly said.

Hearing that, Zhang Tianyi was taken aback, too selfish? As a son-in-law and junior, after he offered to take full responsibility for raising any children, to receive such a selfish critique—even the most gracious person couldn't help but feel slighted.

"Oh? How am I selfish?" Zhang Tianyi kept a calm demeanor, seemingly unperturbed.

Li Yan smiled, "Perhaps I shouldn't say more! Further conversation might make my words harsher; I wouldn't know how to face Yurong if you end up upset!"

(Already updated with Chapter 490, by noon tomorrow, it's still 10 monthly tickets for an additional chapter! We have 494 monthly tickets now; who else still has votes? Old Lai will release tomorrow's minimum guaranteed content coded out first.) (To be continued, for more details, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, support legitimate reading!)

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