Chapter 82
"Dragon Palace?" Hao Ren was a bit surprised.
Zhao Guang nodded with a smile. After he and Zhao Hongyu have met Hao Ren's parents, the remaining doubts were gone, and it was time to bring Hao Ren to deal with more complicated things.
This group of people said goodbye to each other outside of the restaurant. Even though Zhao Hongyu mentioned having Zhao Yanzi as Grandma's granddaughter-in-law and it was quite a shocker, the atmosphere during lunch was still very harmonious and pleasant.
Because of Grandma, the two families already trusted each other, and both thought that the other family was a great family.
Yue Yang patted Zhao Yanzi's head to say goodbye to her. Even though this little girl was her daughter-in-law in name, Yue Yang wasn't in a hurry to invite her over. It was only her first-time meeting Zhao Yanzi, and there would be other chances in the future to get to know her better.
Hao Ren helped Grandma to get in the car while Hao Zhonghua went to the driver's seat, and Zhao Yanzi's family also got into their vehicle. They waved at each other and went separate ways.
On the way back, Grandma sat in the back seat, and she was happier than someone who had won one million yuan when she thought of the cute Zi becoming her granddaughter-in-law.
The car headed to their house near the sea. On the way back, Hao Zhonghua's cell phone rang about five to six times, and those calls were all about work. In the end, he turned off the phone so that no one could reach him.
To make Grandma happy, he took the whole day off from work to spend it with his family.
He finally woke up from the punishment today; even though his science career was booming, he couldn't neglect his family either.
On the other hand, Yue Yang turned off her cell phone to avoid any disturbances as well.
After they arrive at the house, Hao Zhonghua parked the car in the garage and brought the whole family inside.
This house had two floors and was bigger than Zhao Yanzi's family's two-story home. The living room was located on the main floor, and the entire wall that was facing the sea was made from gla.s.s. This was a true oceanfront cottage.
The bedrooms were located on the second floor, and the dining room was located in a small wooden house that was connected to the second floor by a little bridge. Uncle w.a.n.g, who usually cooked for Grandma, lived on the first floor of the small house.
There was a big garden on this property, and Uncle w.a.n.g also took care of all the flowers and gra.s.s.
If Grandma wasn't too lonely staying here, this type of house would be very comfortable to live in.
"Mom, I'm not going to the laboratory today. I'll spend some time with you," Hao Zhonghua held Grandma's hand and said respectfully.
"I know you are busy with work. I am your mom, and it's fine if you don't place too much time and energy on me. However, you can't neglect my savior, Zi's family, in the future, understood?" Grandma said.
"Yes, it was my fault today," Hao Zhonghua admitted his mistake sincerely and explained on behalf of Yue Yang as well, "In fact, Yue Yang arrived at my laboratory very early this morning. I wanted to finish the job I had on hand and thus dragged her down with me."
"It is fine, you don't have to explain. I'll be happy if you guys come home more often. Even when you're busy with work, you still need to take care of your bodies. You two should go take a nap now that you are home," Grandma patted Hao Zhonghua's arm and said.
After all, he was still her son. She hit him pretty hard earlier, and she felt sorry for him.
"That's nothing, we will walk around with you outside."
"Go for a walk? I'm going to take a nap. I'm a bit tired today," Grandma walked into her room and closed the door.
Thus, Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang had to return to their room for some rest. Indeed, they had been busy and were still jet-lagged when they came back home.
Hao Ren also went back to his room, locked the door, and opened the window. He started cultivating the Spirit Concentration Scroll.
In this period of time, he had been wearing two Mount Tai Bracelets, which meant that he was carrying more than 50 kilograms on a daily basis. Therefore, he had to cultivate the Spirit Concentration Scroll and use the Nature Essence inside his body all the time. Other than sleeping at night, he couldn't slack off at all.
Because of this, he had gotten better at cultivating the Spirit Concentration Scroll. Even though he didn't go to Su Han's office in the past two days, he had been cultivating on the way to school, in cla.s.s, and when he was eating.
It might be because this place was close to the sea and there were a lot of water elements in the air, Hao Ren felt like he progressed further on the second level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll.
The Nature Essence that originally filled half of his body seemed to have increased in volume. Especially the nine critical acupoints in the top, middle, and lower parts of his body, they absorbed more Nature Essence and responded to the Dragon Core in his Dantian 1.
When he realized this, he had already cultivated until night.
Hao Zhonghua came to get Hao Ren for dinner. When his son opened the door, he suddenly felt like this kid not only seemed energetic but also had a unique temperament.
"He has gone through so many changes! I've been out of the country for a month or so, and he has become better looking. No wonder girls have started to like this kiddo," Hao Zhonghua thought.
After dinner, Hao Zhonghua asked his son to go out for a walk along the beach.
The sea breeze was slightly salty, but it felt comfortable when it blew on their bodies. The tides at night made some soft cras.h.i.+ng noises, and it was ear-pleasing. This was a great place to talk as they walked on the soft sand.
"It's been a while. You've become buffer than before, and you look more like a grown-up," Hao Zhonghua said as he walked beside Hao Ren and looked at him under the moonlight.
"I'm not trying to tell you what to do, Dad, but you got to take care of Grandma more," Hao Ren stepped on the sand as he told his dad.
"It's not like I don't care, but your grandma likes to complain a lot. Ah," Hao Zhonghua sighed, "Be honest with me; was the girl we saw at the university your girlfriend?"
"No, she's my Cla.s.s President," Hao Ren answered.
"That girl seems great," Hao Zhonghua whispered.
Hao Ren stopped this topic and asked, "Why did you guys just agree casually to the arrangement today?"
"Zhao Yanzi's family seems very good after we interacted with them today. Besides, we were trying to make your grandma happy when we said that at lunch. You know how your grandma is; once she is certain of something, we must do it her way. Since she likes the little girl, your mom and I had to obey her wishes so she wouldn't get angry," Hao Zhonghua said.
"It wasn't your intention?" Hao Ren asked again.
"You can't say that either," Hao Zhonghua looked at the surging tide and replied, "This little Zi is really beautiful and cute. If she's my daughter-in-law, that's pretty good too. However, you never know what will happen in the future."
He thought for a few seconds and asked, "Do you still remember Little Carrot?"
"Little Carrot?" Hao Ren seemed a bit confused.
"Haha, you forgot already? It's the girl who always came to our home when you were young. Her dad was my cla.s.smate at the university. We were pretty close at the time, and their family always came to our place. We called her Little Carrot because she was tiny and skinny. She used to follow you around all the time, don't you remember?"
Hao Ren thought for a while; in his vague memory, there was a little girl who had a runny nose, wore a light-yellow dress, and had a red flower in her hair. She was a little girl who followed him all the time and always called him " Little Older Brother 2 ".
"Yeah, I remember a little," Hao Ren nodded and asked, "Where's their family right now?"
"Her dad was one of the groups of people who went overseas in my generation. Because the means of communication wasn't developed at the time, we gradually lost contact with each other. That Little Carrot probably went to the States with her dad," Hao Zhonghua looked at the sky and said in exclamation.
"Why mention that all of a sudden?" Hao Ren asked.
"Oh, it was because the two families were close at the time, and we also joked about the baby marriage since you guys got along well. As kids grow up, these types of arrangements don't count," Hao Zhonghua said in disappointment.
"When Zi grows up, if she ends up liking you, your mom and I won't oppose you guys being together. However," Hao Zhonghua's tone changed, "If Zi doesn't like you, or if she finds herself a boyfriend in the future, forget about this and don't force it. Understand?"
"Yeah," Hao Ren nodded as he used the tip of his toe and drew a deep sand pit.
"Zhao Yanzi's family is very well-educated and considerate. Even if we can't be in-laws, it's still good to be friends with them in the long run," Hao Zhonghua said.
"Dragon Palace," Hao Ren looked at the endless sea under the moonlight and suddenly thought of what would happen tomorrow.