I awakened the cultivation panel.

Chapter 110 An Encounter (4.4K)

For Li Shiming, the thought of being able to do the same thing despite being so far apart makes her happy.

Outsiders don't understand the little joys of this ambiguous period.

Chen Jingle asked, "What's wrong?"

She replied, "I was just visiting relatives to see my grandmother, but my aunt insisted on introducing me to someone, saying that he was reliable and stuff. I refused, but she kept talking and talking. I was speechless."

I was more than speechless; I was even a little angry.

She couldn't imagine that the person her aunt introduced could be more outstanding than Chen Jingle.

Do you really think that kind of rich, handsome, and successful guy is everywhere?
How could a truly tall, rich, and handsome man not have a girlfriend?
Do I need you to introduce it?
Putting aside everything else, in the Jiangbei rich second-generation circle she knew, apart from a few bookworms, they were all living the high life.

Who knows what kind of person my aunt will introduce?

He might not even be a tall, rich, and handsome man; he could very well be short, rich, and ugly, and not even as wealthy as her family.

Upon seeing this message, Chen Jingle chuckled: "What a coincidence, my aunt just asked me the same question, but I ignored her and changed the subject. I didn't want to talk about this."

Regardless of whether he wants to find someone now, when he did want to find someone before, he wouldn't just find anyone; it would have to be mutual affection.

And for someone of his age who still wants to find true love, some people might think he has some serious health issues.

The most common argument is: "There's not that much true love in this world. Aren't we all just living together for the sake of each other?"

Coincidentally, Chen Jingle didn't want to find someone to live with.

He can cook for himself if he wants to; if you actually cook for him, he might just be a hindrance.

Even love can't overcome all difficulties, so how long can a marriage based on mere cohabitation last?

Those people seem to have never considered these issues; it's as if their mission is accomplished once you're married.

It's really incomprehensible.

Li Shiming wholeheartedly agreed: "Exactly, exactly. These adults are really... I don't know what to say. They don't have anything to talk about, but they insist on talking about things that are unpleasant."

Chen Jingle laughed and replied, "If you don't like it, just refuse directly. If you act weak, people will think you're easy to talk to and will insist on getting your way. If you're really tough, it might cause some unpleasantness, but it will save you a lot of trouble."

"Makes sense!"

However, Li Shiming couldn't bring herself to say anything unpleasant to others; at most, she could only ignore them.

She thought to herself, "If only Chen Jingle were here. He's tall and strong, and when he gets angry, people would definitely not dare to force him if they could see his expression."

For example, scaring away those two scoundrels before.

As long as I stand there, my aunt will naturally shut up.

Of course, they might also be keeping quiet for other reasons.

Thinking of this, she felt a little embarrassed and asked, "By the way, are you free tomorrow? Would you like to go out for dinner?"

"Nothing's wrong, but... I don't really want to go out, or rather, I haven't had any desire to go out lately."

Chen Jingle thought about it and decided not to hide anything.

I've been a bit lazy lately, especially after breaking through in the Qi Refiner class. I'm not as eager to advance in other classes anymore, and I've become quite laid-back. Although I'm still doing my daily tasks, I feel a bit Zen-like about it.

Lie down if you can.

"what?"

Li Shiming was disappointed; she had been hoping that Chen Jingle would come out to have dinner with her.

A little unhappy.

"what happened?"

Seeing that she was looking down at her phone, her expression shifting between happiness and disappointment, Liu Qiong asked in a low voice.

On the other side, Lin Cuiling was whispering to the old lady, indicating that she had no other meaning, and subtly complaining that the old lady shouldn't have said those things earlier, making her lose face, without noticing the little conversation between the mother and daughter.

"It's nothing. I was planning to meet up with a friend for dinner tomorrow, but she had something come up at the last minute."

Li Shiming shook her head slightly, feigning composure.

Liu Qiong glanced at her indifferently: "It's perfect that we can eat at home, instead of eating junk food outside all the time."

Li Shiming was furious. Prejudice! This is prejudice!
There are plenty of clean restaurants out there. To assume that all restaurants are unhygienic just because one or two are not is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Just then, Chen Jingle replied: "I feel like there are too few places to visit in Jiangbei. After eating, we might just buy a cup of milk tea and sit for a while. We don't know where to go, so we chat for a bit and then go home. The process is too formulaic."

"really."

Li Shiming noticed this too, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "Then, shall I buy some food and bring it to your house?"

She simply wanted to be with Chen Jingle; the location didn't matter.

Chen Jingle's home is better; the environment is more comfortable than outside, and there are cats, birds, and all kinds of flowers and plants.

"Sure, just buy whatever you like. I'll buy some too."

Chen Jingle was somewhat surprised, yet it was also understandable, since he had previously told them that they were welcome to visit anytime.

Li Shiming was very happy to receive a positive reply.

Liu Qiong subtly stepped on her daughter's foot, and when she saw her daughter look up, she gave her a warning look, the meaning of which was self-evident.

"Stop playing on your phone all the time."

Li Shiming realized that she was still with her grandmother, so she quickly composed herself and put away her phone.

Liu Qiong's expression relaxed, but she still felt that something was not quite right.

……

Listening to her mother and aunt chatting about all sorts of trivial things, Li Shiming simply stood up.

He laughed and said, "I'll go to the kitchen and see if I need any help."

"No need, no need. You can just sit here. Your uncle and the others can handle the cooking."

Lin Cuiling quickly replied.

Don't be fooled by her seemingly thoughtless words just now; if she actually asked Li Shiming to help with the chores, her husband would definitely yell at her to death.

The custom here is that when there are few people around, whoever has time can cook; there is no rule that it must be a woman who cooks.

For large family and friends gatherings, it is usually the men who are in charge of cooking, while the women at most help out.

Therefore, Li Shiming's uncle and cousin were busy in the kitchen, while the women sat here chatting.

"It's okay, I'll just take a look."

Li Shiming smiled faintly, but what she really didn't want to do was stay next to her aunt.

Lin Cuiling was about to say something when Liu Qiong interrupted her with a smile, saying, "It's alright, she can't stay still, let her be."

Li Shiming walked over to the kitchen and asked, "Uncle, Xu-ge'er, is there anything I can help with?"

My uncle's family has two kitchens. One is a small kitchen with a range hood, where they usually cook when there aren't many people around.

There is also an open kitchen outside, with a strong fire that can hold several large pots at the same time. When there are many people and we need to cook various hearty dishes, such as braised pork belly and braised pig's feet, we use this kitchen.

Uncle Liu Shan quickly waved his hand: "No need, no need. The kitchen is smoky, you can just sit there and chat with them."

My cousin Liu Cunxu turned around and grinned: "Sister Shiming, are you hungry? Wait a little longer, dinner will be served soon."

The dishes were prepared well in advance of their arrival; they just needed to be cooked. The portions weren't large, just a matter of having two more pairs of chopsticks than usual—no problem at all.

As we all know, the most troublesome part of cooking is preparing the ingredients, but once the ingredients are prepared, cooking them is quick.

Li Shiming waved her hand: "No, no, I ate breakfast at 8 o'clock, so I'm not that hungry. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could help with, even just carrying the plates."

Unlike his aunt, his uncle Liu Shan was a typical good-natured man who had farmed all his life and knew nothing else.

With the help of Li Shiming's father, they contracted several hilltops and large tracts of farmland in the village to grow various fruits.

For example, lychees, longans, mangoes, cream, guavas, etc., are produced by a well-known fruit producer in the area.

The income is decent.

As for his two younger cousins, Liu Cunxu is outgoing, carefree, and a bit chubby. He has a beer belly at a young age and also has dyed his hair yellow.

Although I didn't have much formal education, I learned how to operate excavators, and my income is decent.

Aside from that, she has a decent talent for cooking, at least enough to prepare meals for family gatherings. Of course, her cooking certainly doesn't taste as good as Chen Jingle's.

My younger cousin, Liu Cunxing, is not very talkative and his academic performance is not very good. He studied pharmacy at a nursing school. My uncle used his connections to help him find a job working in the pharmacy of a private hospital in a rural town.

Compared to his older brother, he was even more completely laid-back, embodying a "live and let live" attitude, addicted to games, and often complained about by his aunt. At home, he was basically just a waiter.

Li Shiming came here to take his job.

However, for young people today, playing games at home is already the lowest-cost form of entertainment. Li Shiming also plays games, so naturally she wouldn't be harsh on her younger cousin.

At most, I think playing games all night is unnecessary and harmful to your health.

She hasn't been staying up late much lately; going to bed early and waking up early is definitely better than applying face masks and doing skincare.

Actually, there's really nothing in the kitchen that needs help.

Liu Shan and his two sons could handle it, but after much persuasion, Li Shiming finally managed to get a task to help serve the dishes. Otherwise, just standing by and watching would have been very impolite.

……

Chen Jingle, on the other hand, also had the important task of serving dishes.

He held the baby in one arm and helped serve the dishes with the other.

The aunt couldn't help but laugh and said, "Why is Lin Yuqing so clingy? She's such a little clingy person."

The second half of the sentence was said to Lin Yuqing.

Chen Jingle said helplessly, "I don't know either."

The little guy didn't want to get down at all, so he had to keep holding him. Fortunately, carrying dishes didn't require much effort.

As for Sister Xin, she's talking to her grandparents right now. I vaguely heard that they were talking about her in-laws' side of the family, but Chen Jingle wasn't interested.

Lin Yuqing said in her childish voice, "It's comfortable when Uncle holds me."

Chen Huijuan decided to tease her: "Come on, let your great-aunt hug you too."

Lin Yuqing hesitated for two seconds, then shrank back into Chen Jingle's arms.

"Oh dear, are you being so disrespectful?" Chen Huijuan said, both amused and exasperated.

Chen Jingle quickly said, "Auntie, you can go sit over there and have some tea and chat. I can manage in the kitchen. We don't need too many people to carry the dishes; I can handle it. If you're hungry, have some fruit to fill your stomach first. It'll probably be a while before we start eating."

"Hey, there's plenty of time, no rush."

Chen Huijuan peeked out and said, "Okay, since you don't need my help, I'll go over first. Thank you for your help."

"It's nothing," Chen Jing chuckled.

Auntie turned her head and saw Lin Yuqing clinging tightly to Chen Jingle's neck, and said helplessly, "Don't you feel hot at all?"

Lin Yuqing disagreed: "No, Uncle feels cool."

Auntie asked curiously, "It's so hot, why are you feeling cold? Jingle, are you in such poor health? You should make more soup to nourish your blood and energy."

Chen Jingle: "..."

No, it's really not because I'm weak.

The uncle then picked up a stir-fried garlic sprout and fed it to Lin Yuqing, letting the child try it first.

Chen Jingle had to give her a tissue so she wouldn't get the oil on him.

……

After a long wait, it was finally time to eat.

Chen Jingle glanced at his phone and saw that Li Shiming had already started eating.

The little girl really shares everything with him.

Chen Jingle casually took a picture of the food on his table and sent it to her, as they were about to start eating.

Chen Kexin noticed and laughed, "Why are you also taking pictures before eating like other people?"

She seemed to see who the photo had been sent to.

Could it be...

Hmm? Things are getting interesting.

Chen Jingle smiled sheepishly: "Just snapping a picture to record life."

"That's true. Life may be mundane, but we should also be good at discovering its beauty," Chen Kexin said with a smile.

Chen Jingle smiled but didn't reply, remaining noncommittal. He put Xiao Lin Yuqing on a stool and prepared a bowl and chopsticks for her.

This last meal left everyone stuffed, with a large portion still left. It's likely we'll see it on the table again tonight and tomorrow.

Moreover, it was stir-fried in soy sauce to give it color.

After lunch, everyone sat down to drink tea and chat. Around 2 p.m., Chen Kexin and her aunt finally left.

Lin Yuqing was taken back by her mother, and they will consider sending her back next month.

the other side.

As Li Shiming was about to leave, her grandmother held her hand and thought for a while before whispering, "If you find someone suitable, you can consider talking to them. After all, you're all grown up now and working. Just remember to find someone good. It doesn't matter if their family background isn't perfect. In life, many things can't be perfect, so you have to learn to make choices. Just choose the one that suits you best."

Despite her low level of education, the old lady has seen more of the world than many people have, and without being forced to, she naturally has a clearer understanding of things.

As the saying goes: Men fear choosing the wrong career, and women fear marrying the wrong man.

Although getting married and then divorced is nothing new these days, just because it's not new doesn't mean you can get married and divorced so easily.

Marriage is not child's play. Often, the choice of marriage is related to whether you will be happy for the rest of your life. You have to consider whether this is the only chance you will ever have to change your life.

With the son-in-law's family background, he has no worries about food and clothing. As long as he doesn't cross the line or squander his wealth, he has enough to last three generations. The most important thing now is to find a good man for his granddaughter to spend her life with.

“I know my maternal grandmother.”

Feeling the warmth and strength emanating from the old man's broad, kind hands, Li Shiming nodded slightly.

Although she didn't like others interfering in her relationships, the old lady's tone was tactful and she seemed to be considering her feelings, so she could reluctantly listen.

The old lady smiled slightly upon seeing this.

Given her age, it's impossible for her to say she has absolutely no hope, but she doesn't want to force these young people to marry and have children according to her wishes just because of her own circumstances.

This is not fair.

She didn't listen to her family back then, so how can she expect the younger generation to listen to her?

Although most people spend their entire lives without experiencing love and happiness, that doesn't mean outsiders can deny them the right to pursue love and happiness.

What makes a person a person is that they are different from cattle and livestock.

People have their own ideas.

……

In front of the traffic light.

While waiting at a red light, Chen Kexin glanced back at her daughter, who was sitting obediently in the back child safety seat, through the rearview mirror and smiled knowingly.

She had a great time today, although she was very reluctant to leave at the end. Heaven knows why the little girl is so attached to her uncle.

I really don’t understand.

Lin Yuqing, meanwhile, gazed curiously out the car window.

Just then, a wicked glutinous rice car with a Chibi Maruko-chan sticker slowly stopped next to it, also waiting for the traffic light.

Lin Yuqing was slightly taken aback, her eyes widened, and she pointed at the car outside the window: "Pretty sister!"

Ok?
Chen Kexin turned around in confusion, following her daughter's gaze to the little corn car next to her. When she saw the face of the other driver, she was truly amazed.

"She is indeed beautiful. You have a sharp eye."

Chen Kexin chuckled, shook her head slightly, and turned her gaze forward; the light was about to turn green.

Meanwhile, in the corn truck next to her, Li Shiming caught a glimpse of something shaking in the back of the Highlander. She looked in the rearview mirror and was immediately stunned.

(End of this chapter)