Chapter 118 - 117: Mother-in-law’s Favorability Maxed Out

Chapter 118: Chapter 117: Mother-in-law’s Favorability Maxed Out

It was 7 PM when Ji Wanqiu finally got home from work, utterly exhausted. She had planned to just reheat some leftovers from lunch and make do, but when she opened the door, she saw a table laden with a sumptuous spread of food.

There was fish-fragrant eggplant, hot and sour shredded potatoes, tofu meatball soup, steamed fish with fermented black beans, and cold shredded chicken. He had even specially made Xiao Man’s favorite dish: scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

Staring at the delicious dishes before her, she froze for a moment. ’When did my daughter become such a master chef? As I recall, the only thing she knows how to make is egg fried rice.’

’Could my unofficial son-in-law have made this? It looks pretty good, but I wonder how it tastes.’

"Aunt Ji, it’s time to eat," Jiang Xia said with a smile, wiping his wet hands on his apron.

"Oh, oh, okay."

Ji Wanqiu quickly went to the kitchen to wash her hands and saw her daughter scooping rice into bowls.

"Mom, have you been busy lately?" Lin Yanwan asked casually.

"Well... I suppose so." She forced a smile. "Let’s not talk about work at home. Let’s eat, let’s eat."

Lin Yanwan fell silent. ’The situation at the factory must be getting worse and worse.’

"Did Xiao Xia make dinner tonight?"

"Who else? He saw how hard you were working and wanted to have a nice meal ready for you when you got home. I wanted to help, but he just had me steam the rice. Then he spent nearly two hours tinkering away in the kitchen by himself. This afternoon, he also played with Xiao Man, taught her how to draw, and told her stories that aren’t in books."

Ji Wanqiu nodded slightly. Although she knew he was doing all this to impress her, his future mother-in-law, she had to admit that she was very pleased with every aspect of the boy so far.

’He even knows how to cook now. If Yanwan ends up with him, wouldn’t she be pampered like a princess?’

The family happily sat down to eat. Ji Wanqiu tried each dish one by one and found them all to be quite delicious.

"Xiao Xia, your cooking skills are amazing! Anyone who didn’t know better would think your family owns a restaurant," she joked.

"I’ve just liked watching my mom cook since I was little. After watching enough, I slowly picked it up." Jiang Xia casually placed a meatball in his girlfriend’s bowl. Blushing, Lin Yanwan gently kicked his foot under the table.

Seeing this, Ji Wanqiu’s eyes filled with amusement. Her daughter had never formally introduced him as her boyfriend, but it seemed unnecessary now. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see what was going on.

To be honest, she really liked Jiang Xia’s personality—natural and poised, not awkward or pretentious. He was straightforward, and that was great.

"By the way, how did your college applications go? Did you apply to the same university, or to different ones in the same city?" his mother-in-law asked with concern.

Jiang Xia swallowed the food in his mouth. "Yes, we’ve already decided. We’re both going to Tsinghua. I’m going to the Tsinghua School of Fine Arts, and she’ll be in the School of Humanities."

"The scores for Tsinghua aren’t low. Can you both get in?" Ji Wanqiu frowned slightly.

"I’m an art student, so the academic score requirement is relatively lower. As for Yanwan, her score is just above the cutoff line, so it should be fine."

"Good, good, good."

Ji Wanqiu beamed and said "good" three times in a row. She had previously thought that for them to be together, one might have to sacrifice their interests when applying for college, or they’d end up in different schools in the same city, only seeing each other on weekends.

But now, her daughter and future son-in-law had both gotten into Tsinghua, the nation’s top university. They were both good-looking and had excellent grades—if word got out, their story would be told as a tale of a match made in heaven.

Jiang Xia’s score in her heart instantly maxed out!

With them at the same university, not only could they look out for each other, but she also wouldn’t have to worry about the relationship problems that come with long distances.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, they were destined to walk down the aisle together in this lifetime.

’It’s just a matter of whether Yanwan can hold onto him.’

After dinner, Jiang Xia chatted with his mother-in-law in the living room for a while before reluctantly saying goodbye to his girlfriend with a kiss in her room.

And by "reluctantly," it meant he wouldn’t stop until he had kissed Lin Yanwan’s lips swollen, even leaving a faint hickey on her collarbone to declare his sovereignty.

By the time he got home, the sky had already darkened. His parents had eaten early and were lying on the sofa, watching the recently aired *Chinese Paladin 3*.

The couple glanced at him coolly. They knew Jiang Xia had spent the entire day at his girlfriend’s house. ’Doesn’t this kid have any shame?’

But they felt it wasn’t their place to meddle in his love life. Besides, that girl Yanwan was truly likable—and not just because she had started calling them "Mom" and "Dad" months ago.

"So, how did the college applications go?" Xia Shanshan cleared her throat.

"You guess."

Jiang Xia chuckled, poured himself a glass of water, and also sat on the sofa to watch *Chinese Paladin 3*.

The new shopkeeper of Yong’an Pawnshop was cheekily reciting his classic line to the young lady of the Tang Family: "My name is Jing Tian. Jing as in ’scenery,’ Tian as in ’sky’."

"Guess my foot! I gave you money today, and I let you go out and have fun. Behave yourself and spit it out. You’re making me anxious now, and in a minute, I’ll make sure you have nothing to be anxious *about*," Xia Shanshan glared at him.

"Alright, alright. Yanwan and I both applied to Tsinghua. Two from one family into Tsinghua. Are you satisfied now?" Jiang Xia said helplessly.

"For real?"

Xia Shanshan was skeptical. ’The nation’s top university isn’t a place you can just get into that easily, is it?’

"Why don’t I call her and you can ask her yourself?"

"It’s really Tsinghua?"

Xia Shanshan swallowed hard, her breathing a little ragged. As both a teacher and a mother, she had worried endlessly about Jiang Xia’s grades ever since he was a child.

She had watched her son slowly go down the "wrong path" in high school by choosing to be an art student, figuring that was that for his future. She never expected there would come a day when he would bring such glory to the family.

’And what did this prove? That her guidance was effective!’

Even though Teacher Xia taught first grade, her class was naturally treated as an advanced class. She reckoned that after the school year started, she might even be promoted to grade-level director.

"Why would I lie to you for no reason? To get a spanking?"

Seeing how excited his mom was, he figured that if this were the future, Xia Shanshan would have probably been showing off on her social media feed the very day the results came out.

"Good, good, good! In that case..." Xia Shanshan shook Jiang Wende’s arm forcefully. "Old Jiang, we have to find a chance to properly thank Yanwan."

"Yes, we really should thank her," Jiang Wende nodded in agreement.

Jiang Xia was a bit bewildered. "Thank her for what?"

"Without Yanwan supervising you all day, do you think you could have gone from a second-rate score to one of the nation’s best in just three short months? Your immense improvement is all thanks to Yanwan. Your own contribution was maybe just a tiny little bit."

Xia Shanshan "stingily" held up one finger, then used her other hand to cover most of it, leaving only the very tip showing.

"Uh... alright, you’re right. We should thank her properly." He shrugged helplessly, finished his water, and went straight to his room, leaving the happy old couple to continue their discussion.

He closed the door, and all was quiet again.

Jiang Xia closed his eyes for a moment, then took out some drawing paper from his drawer and continued to grind out the storyboards for episode thirteen.