Jing Ran has always given people the impression of being dull, but he is also stubborn and once he decides on something, he won’t change his mind. For example, when his grandparents said that his mushroom-like hairstyle looked good, he kept that hairstyle for over ten years. As he grew older, his family wanted him to change his hairstyle, but he refused.

However, Jing Ran has always been clever since he was young, and he is more obedient and sensible than other children. Being the only child in the family for several generations, his family has always been tolerant of his stubbornness in certain aspects. As he grew older, Jing Ran leaned towards the image of a homebody, not dressing well and having poor luck with girls, which made his family worry about whether he would find a partner in the future.

Grandma(paternal) took a closer look at Jing Li, a pretty little girl, but she appeared thin and malnourished in the eyes of the elderly. However, since Jing Ran was able to find a girlfriend, they shouldn’t complain too much.

Grandma(paternal) was worried that Jing Ran’s girlfriend might not be of legal age, and it would be troublesome if they accidentally broke the law, so she asked, “Is she of legal age?”

Jing Ran: “…”

Grandma(maternal) stood up and said, “She is a classmate of Ranran’s, and she is half a month younger than him.”

“Oh,” Grandma(paternal) responded, then asked Jing Ran, “How long have you been dating? Do your parents know?”

Jing Ran replied, “Two months, my parents still don’t know.”

“Oh my, how can such a big matter be kept from your parents? I’ll call your parents tonight and invite them to have dinner to meet your girlfriend,” Grandma said, then picked up her phone, went to the balcony, and dialed Jing’s mother’s number.

Chen Wenbin saw this situation and felt a little uncomfortable. He told Grandma, “Grandma, I bought these fruits for you to eat. I have something to take care of, so I need to leave now. I’ll come visit you again next time.”

Grandma(maternal) saw him off and said, “Okay, come again next time.”

After chatting on the balcony, Grandma walked back into the house and lamented, “Ranran, your mom said she’s busy today, and asked you to bring your girlfriend to meet the parents another day.”

Upon hearing that she didn’t have to meet Jing Ran’s parents today, Jing Li breathed a sigh of relief.

Grandma said to Grandma Xin, “Ah Xin, don’t cook today. Let’s go to the restaurant and bring Ranran’s girlfriend with us.”

“Okay, I’ll go change into a different outfit,” Grandma Xin said before returning to her room.

Grandma then observed Jing Ran from head to toe and couldn’t help but admire, “So handsome, my grandson looks really good.”

The restaurant they were going to was nearby, so the three elderly people took a taxi while Jing Li and Ranran walked over.

Just now, Jing Ran noticed that Grandma said his parents weren’t coming, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He was a little concerned and asked, “Lili, do you not want to see my parents?”

“Huh?” Jing Li didn’t understand why he was asking like that and was a bit puzzled. She replied, “No, not at all.”

“But Grandma said my parents weren’t coming, and you breathed a sigh of relief.”

Jing Li didn’t expect Jing Ran to be so attentive and notice her subtle movements, so she had to be honest and explain, “I came in a hurry today and didn’t have everything prepared. Look at me, I’m not wearing a dress today, and I didn’t put on makeup, so I don’t look good. I’m afraid your parents will look down on me.”

“Lili, you are very beautiful!” Jing Ran didn’t understand Jing Li. She was clearly so pretty, so why did she always say she’s not good-looking? But the book said that girls are never satisfied with their appearance and always want others to compliment them. Jing Ran truly felt that Jing Li was originally beautiful, so his expression when speaking was more sincere.
Although Jing Li really liked this kind of praise in her heart, she couldn’t stand Jing Ran’s serious look every time he complimented her, which made her feel especially embarrassed. Saying she’s good-looking, Jing Ran is much better-looking than Jing Li.

Little prince is handsome and does well in his studies, so he has more and more admirers at school.

As a “learning loser” like Jing Li, many things are not done as well as Jing Ran. In the past, she felt that she had the advantage in looks compared to Jing Ran, but now, after Little prince transformed himself, his looks are several levels higher than Jing Li’s. She is starting to feel a bit of pressure, fearing that others might think she’s not good enough for Jing Ran and that their relationship will be hindered.

Jing Li, holding Jing Ran’s hand, asked anxiously, “Ranran, what if your parents don’t agree to our relationship, what should we do?”

Jing Ran tilted his head and asked, “Why wouldn’t they agree?”

Jing Li was worried, “I’m so dumb, I can’t do anything right… Will your parents dislike me?”

“Lili, I’m severely nearsighted, will your parents dislike me?” Jing Ran used to work at the bakery, and sometimes his grandmother would hear about girls the same age as Jing Ran from regular customers and joke about introducing them to Jing Ran.

Those regular customers said that with Jing Ran’s severe nearsightedness, the other party’s parents might not like it.

So, when Jing Li mentioned taking him back to D city to meet her parents on May 1st, he also feared that Jing Li’s parents might dislike his nearsightedness.

Jing Li retorted, “Why would my parents dislike you? You’re the top scorer in the college entrance examination. I guess my mom thinks I got lucky to have such a great boyfriend.”

Jing Ran nodded, “Yeah, I also think my parents will like you.”

Jing Li smiled with raised eyebrows, “Really?”

Jing Ran continued, “Grandma really likes you, and my mom listens to Grandma.”

Jing Li breathed a sigh of relief, “Then I can rest assured.”

Jing Li and Jing Ran arrived at the restaurant, where the elderly people had already reserved a table and ordered dishes, waiting for the two young people to join them.

Grandma Xin asked Jing Li to sit next to her and started asking about Jing Li’s background, “Lili, where are you from? Who is in your family?”

The elderly are a bit curious and want to know what kind of girlfriend their grandson has. After all, Jing Ran is so well-behaved, not the kind of person who plays with emotions. If there is nothing special, maybe Jing Li will be his future granddaughter-in-law.

Whatever Grandma asked, Jing Li answered. Jing Li comes from a good background. Her parents have overseas experience and hold senior management positions in a large company. During the conversation, Grandma felt that Jing Li is a relatively simple and polite child, similar to Jing Ran, and thinks that this girl has good character and could be the daughter-in-law of their Jing family.

The dishes that were previously ordered arrived one after another, six dishes and one soup, with an equal mix of meat and vegetarian dishes. Grandma asked the waiter to place the meat dishes in front of Jing Li and Jing Ran, and the remaining vegetarian dishes in front of the elderly.

Grandma reached out, fingers together, pointing to a plate of braised pork with preserved vegetables, and said, “Lili, start eating.”

“Oh… okay…” Jing Li hesitated to refuse and picked up a piece of braised pork with her chopsticks.

She picked it up but hadn’t put it in her own bowl yet when Jing Ran, beside her, placed his bowl in front of her and said, “Lili, give it to me.”

“Oh.” Jing Li put the braised pork in Jing Ran’s bowl.

Using his chopsticks, Jing Ran bit off the fatty part of the pork, put the lean meat back into Jing Li’s bowl.

Jing Li, “…”

Jing Li didn’t like eating fatty meat, so Jing Ran helped her bite off the fat and gave the lean meat back to her. Jing Li glanced at the lean meat in her bowl, then at Jing Ran, who smiled at her.

After hesitating for a moment, Jing Li still ate the lean meat. She didn’t mind Jing Ran’s saliva, considering they often kissed, so what’s a little saliva when eating? She just felt it wasn’t appropriate to show such intimacy in front of elders and felt a bit shy.

Jing Li leaned in close to Jing Ran, as if she had something to say. Jing Ran lowered his head close to Jing Li’s and heard her whisper, “Ranran, don’t do this, it’s embarrassing.”
Jing Ran nonchalantly replied, “It’s not embarrassing, my dad also feeds my mom like this.”
Jing Li thought to herself, ‘Well, as long as you’re happy, little darling…’

The elders in Jing Ran’s family were more open-minded and didn’t constantly focus on the interactions between the couple, allowing them to feel at ease. However, Grandma asked Jing Li to eat more meat, so she would gain more weight.

After finishing their meal, the two young lovers took a taxi back to school.

*
Jing Ran’s Molly Team won first place in the school debate competition. According to past practice, the champion team would represent the school in the inter-school competition.

However, there was a change this year. It was decided that the best individual performer would represent the school in the competition. As a result, the list of participants was announced, including Jing Ran, Li Ruihua, Li Xueqing, and a sophomore from the English department named Fang Zhenzhen.

Upon seeing this arrangement, many people criticized it, speculating that it was another case of favoritism by the foreign language department for Li Xueqing. Li Xueqing was eliminated in the preliminary rounds of the debate competition, and the department held a revival match. Her team did not win the championship, so the department changed the award to the best individual performer.

The newly formed debate team and their mentor confirmed the debate topic and agreed to meet in the library study room to discuss the content.

Lately, Li Xueqing has been driven crazy by her father. Since Chinese New Year, Jing Ran has refused the elders’ suggestion for him to be with Li Xueqing. Li’s father wanted to expand his company, but the bank’s loan amount was not high. He therefore considered a marriage alliance with the Jing family, but Jing Ran refused. Since then, Li’s father has been trying to find some rich second-generation men for Li Xueqing, intending to marry her off in this way.

Li Xueqing could not accept her father’s approach. She had been working so hard to make herself excellent, and in the end, to casually marry a rich second-generation man would make all her efforts in vain, wouldn’t it?
Li Xueqing felt that if she were to marry a lazy and idle rich second-generation man, she might as well marry Jing Ran. At least Jing Ran was a good student, relatively easy to bully, and now he had become handsome, especially eye-catching.
Li Xueqing felt that this inter-school debate competition was the best opportunity to get close to Jing Ran. After all, she was much more outstanding than Jing Li, who would soon be eliminated.