Chapter 351 - 348: Li Weiya’s Assist

Chapter 351: Chapter 348: Li Weiya’s Assist

The second day of the Lunar New Year is for welcoming the God of Wealth.

After breakfast, as Wang Ming was helping Li Weiya with the chores, the doorbell suddenly rang.

"Ah Ming, go get the door. It might be Ah Xia and Yanwan," came Li Weiya’s voice from the bathroom, where she was washing the last two days’ worth of clothes.

"Oh, okay."

Wang Ming answered, put down the dishcloth, washed his hands, and hurried to the door.

But when he opened the door, he froze, a look of delight filling his eyes.

"Ying, what are you doing here?" he whispered, subconsciously glancing toward the bathroom.

"I came to wish Aunt Li a Happy New Year," Shen Ying said, blinking with a sly twinkle in her eyes.

After all, Li Weiya was practically her mentor at work, so a New Year’s visit on the second day was perfectly justifiable.

Only then did Wang Ming notice she was carrying a gift for her visit.

"Silly, did you miss me yesterday?" she asked with a light laugh, her face blushing slightly.

"I did!" Wang Ming nodded emphatically. "But didn’t you say you had to visit relatives on the second day too?"

"I finished all my visits yesterday."

"Oh."

Hearing no activity in the living room for a while, Li Weiya came out of the bathroom, wiping her hands.

"Ah Ming, who is it?" she asked, puzzled.

"Mom, it’s Shen Ying," Wang Ming said loudly, his heart skipping a beat before he quickly composed himself.

He grabbed the slippers Shen Ying had worn before and offered them to her. "Quick, come in."

Shen Ying had to suppress a laugh seeing her sweetheart pretend to be so calm.

’This guy’s pretty good at putting on an act.’

"Aunt Li, I came to pay my respects for the New Year. Happy New Year!" Shen Ying seized the opening and said immediately.

The shift in their relationship made her feel a little nervous as she said it.

Before, she had simply seen Li Weiya as a respected elder. But now that she was dating Wang Ming, Li Weiya was, for all intents and purposes, her future mother-in-law.

"Yingying?"

Li Weiya was also taken aback. She hadn’t expected the first person to pay her a New Year’s visit this year to be Shen Ying, rather than Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan.

In terms of closeness, Jiang Xia was her godson and Lin Yanwan her goddaughter. It didn’t make sense for Shen Ying to be first, right? Unless...

’Shen Ying is my daughter-in-law?’

Her gaze shifted back and forth between Wang Ming and Shen Ying. Neither of them looked at the other, as if they were deliberately trying to deny any connection.

But it was precisely this deliberate air that made her sense something unusual was afoot.

Li Weiya was now eighty percent certain something was going on between them. They were very likely dating but were afraid she would find out. But how could such a simple little scheme fool her?

She walked forward with a beaming smile. "Happy New Year to you, too."

"Aunt Li, this is ejiao. You’re always so busy, so eating a little now and then can help replenish your qi and blood," Shen Ying said, placing the ejiao on the table.

"Thank you, Yingying." Li Weiya’s smile deepened. ’Is she trying so hard to impress me?’

"Yingying, have you had breakfast?"

"I have."

"Then you’ll stay for lunch?"

Shen Ying glanced guiltily at Wang Ming and agreed in a small voice, "Mhm."

That one glance was all it took. Li Weiya was now almost certain the young couple was in the passionate, shy throes of a new romance.

"What are you standing there for, you silly boy? Go get Yingying some water!" she gently chided her son, subtly playing wingman.

"Oh, oh, okay..."

Wang Ming scratched his head, grabbed a disposable cup from the water cooler cabinet, and filled it with hot water. He walked carefully toward Shen Ying. Their eyes met for a second before they both shyly looked away. Even when they sat on the sofa, they were on opposite ends, leaving an exaggeratedly large gap between them.

Li Weiya took it all in and wanted to laugh. ’Why can’t they just be open about their relationship like Jiang Xia and Yanwan?’ She wasn’t some stuffy, old-fashioned parent; she was very open-minded. Besides, she had always been fond of Shen Ying.

’Besides, isn’t it tiring being so secretive?’

"Yingying, you were the one who helped clean the house before the New Year, weren’t you? Thank you," she asked with a bright smile.

"Huh?"

Shen Ying stared blankly, her face flushing. She couldn’t understand how Li Weiya knew. She instinctively turned to look at Wang Ming, wanting to ask if he had told his mother, only to see he looked just as bewildered.

"Mom... you... how did you know?" Wang Ming asked guiltily.

He hadn’t said a word about it.

Li Weiya just smiled without a word. She went into her room, came back out with a beautiful scarf, and held it out.

"You left this here." She didn’t even ask if it was Shen Ying’s; her tone was completely certain.

Her son didn’t have many female friends. At that time, Jiang Xia and Yanwan were still with her in the Imperial Capital, and she didn’t own a scarf like this herself. Combining that with what Shen Ying had said before about coming home with Ah Ming, everything clicked into place.

Shen Ying’s face instantly turned crimson. She had gotten hot while helping with the big clean-up that day, so she’d taken off her scarf and casually tossed it on a coat rack. She forgot to grab it when she left and had thought she’d lost it. She never expected it to be here, and for Li Weiya to have found it.

"Thank you, Auntie," Shen Ying said, her face flushing and the tips of her ears burning.

It felt like she was having a secret tryst with her lover, only to be discovered by her future mother-in-law.

She wondered if she was imagining things, but whenever Li Weiya looked at her, she was always beaming, her eyes holding an unreadable, knowing expression.

"I should be the one thanking you. If it were just Ah Ming, he definitely wouldn’t have cleaned it this well by himself," Li Weiya said with a laugh.

"How are your parents’ health?"

"They’re in great health."

"Oh, and how’s college life?"

"It was a little hard to get used to at first, but I’m settled in now," Shen Ying answered honestly.

"Mom, Shen Ying’s grades in college are amazing. She gets over ninety in every subject," Wang Ming said proudly.

Li Weiya shot him a look. "You say that as if they’re your own grades. Are you proud of scoring in the seventies and eighties on your final exams?"

His breath hitched, and he looked embarrassed. He wasn’t a freak of nature like Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan, who could work hard and still ace their studies. Not failing any classes was good enough for him. Anyway, it wouldn’t stop him from graduating.

Shen Ying covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

The reason she worked so hard in college was that she had learned her lesson from the college entrance exams. If she had studied just a little bit harder back then, she might have been able to go to school in the Imperial Capital with Wang Ming. It wouldn’t have mattered if they weren’t at the same university; at least they could have met up every weekend.

"Keep up the good work. There’s always a spot for you at the company. I’m just waiting for you to come, and I’ve been looking forward to you joining us sooner rather than later." Li Weiya smiled. This was an affirmation from her future mother-in-law.

"Mhm! I’ll do my best!"

Shen Ying nodded vigorously. To her, Li Weiya’s approval was more important than anyone else’s.

"Well, you two have a nice chat. I’m going back to the laundry. Ah Ming, be observant. If Yingying’s cup is empty, refill it. Put out some snacks and fruit. Turn on the TV. Do I really need to teach you how to entertain a girl—er, a guest?"

Li Weiya glanced at him. ’This silly boy. His girlfriend took the initiative to come meet her future mother-in-law, and he’s still this stiff. He even needs his own mom to play wingman for him. Why can’t he learn from Ah Xia? I wonder when I’ll ever get to hold a grandchild.’