Riding the wind of rebirth

"What... is going on?" Zhou Zhi stood there in a daze.

"Mommy!" Mai Xiaomiao jumped out of the driver's seat, ran across the grass and threw herself into Louise's arms.

"Ah, this..." Zhou Zhi was sweating coldly on his forehead. He tried hard to recall his behavior in the past few days to see if he had offended Ms. Louise in any way.

"Is the elbow here?" McGeoff came to Zhou Zhi and took the gift box from him, which contained two bottles of red wine.

McGeve was a little sensitive when he saw the red wine: "Isn't this wine too expensive?"

"Oh!" Zhou Zhi came back to his senses and cleared his throat nervously. "These are the two bottles of red wine that Spencer, the lobby manager of the French restaurant, recommended to us. He said it's very suitable for barbecue. It's from 92, a good vintage and not expensive."

"That's good." McGeve smiled. "I heard from Xiao Miao that you are also very busy in New York. Come on, I will introduce you to another important woman in our family."

"Uh...it seems like we know each other." Zhou Zhi was a little amused: "Auntie, is she a senior executive in the investment department of Collins Bank?"

"Eh? When did you two meet? I didn't hear Xiao Miao and her mom mention it..."

"Hello, Auntie." As they were talking, they had already crossed the lawn and came to the mother and daughter who were hugging each other. Zhou Zhi greeted them obediently. He would never believe that this was a coincidence. Maybe the mother-in-law was secretly taking the opportunity to test her son-in-law. "I didn't expect you to be Xiao Miao's mother. I was so rude before. Please forgive me."

"Mommy?" Now it was Mai Xiaomiao's turn to be surprised: "You know each other?"

"Yes, I know her." Louise smiled innocently, but the mischief in her eyes revealed her inner thoughts: "Aren't you here this time for the lawsuit between the Digital Alliance and the Music Practitioners Association? Collins Bank, where Mommy works, invested in the second round of financing for the Digital Alliance Music Forum and became a shareholder."

"We met in court a few days ago when the main person in charge of the forum alliance, important shareholders, and legal representatives were listening to the case debate." Zhou Zhi secretly complained to Mai Xiaomiao: "At that time, I asked you to come with me, and you said that your uncle asked you to go to the college to teach the senior brothers and sisters. Otherwise, I would have known it was your aunt at that time."

"It's not too late now." Mai Xiaomiao was very happy: "Now that we know each other, it's even better. Elbow won't be restrained anymore."

I am more restrained, okay?! Zhou Zhi silently complained in his heart, didn’t you hear that I was complaining?

The smile in Louise's eyes became even more intense, with a hint of naked sarcasm. She was the only one in the family who understood the intention behind Zhou Zhi's words, but she knew Mai Xiaomiao and her husband's personalities even better. Outside of academics, both of them could be described as naive, and they could not understand Zhou Zhi's way of speaking with hidden meanings.

"Elbow is really like a general. He even didn't go to the court to watch the case these days. I thought you knew it and were too embarrassed to see me." Louise smiled. She did not deny at all that she was going to observe him without telling anyone. She also raised her eyebrows at Zhou Zhi, meaning, do you dare to sue me in front of the father and daughter?
Zhou Zhi felt extremely fortunate at this moment. Fortunately, Xiao Miao's personality was like his father's. If he was as eccentric as his future mother-in-law, it would be difficult.

In a situation like this, the best solution is to raise the white flag and surrender immediately: "No, no, if I had known earlier, I would have treated myself to the meal and not invited anyone else."

"Elbow, I told you, my father's name is Jeffrey McGeff, and my mother's name is Tang Xinyue, Louise Tang." Mai Xiaomiao asked doubtfully, "You don't remember?"

Zhou Zhi still remembered that Mai Xiaomiao introduced that her mother worked in an investment bank, but the world is so big, how could he have imagined that they had overlapping businesses?
Moreover, foreigners have more surnames than given names. Saying my mother's name is Louise is like introducing a man in China with a surname of Zhou. Of course, there won't be many associations. "It's my fault. I didn't make the connection at the time." Zhou Zhi quickly admitted his mistake.

"How can you be blamed for this?" Mai Jeff came to Zhou Zhi's rescue: "I heard from Xiao Miao that you have been repairing some ancient artwork these days?"

"Yes, there is a Chinese. His ancestors were from a big family in Shanghai for several generations. They had a great man who was the teacher of the last two emperors of the Qing Dynasty."

"He had a batch of ancient books that he was going to transfer, and he had contacted the Shanghai Museum before. But when I went to visit him, I found that one of them, Jiyun, was very important to my studies, so I decided to transfer it."

"Mr. Weng was moved by my sincerity and agreed to transfer these ancient books to me, and donated three ancient paintings to the Shanghai Museum as compensation."

"It just so happens that I know a little about the restoration of Chinese paintings, so Mr. Weng entrusted me to restore the three paintings to their best condition before donating them. This can be regarded as a contribution to the Shanghai museums and also as a form of compensation."

"Do you need funds to turn around? Short-term loan." Louise immediately thought of this question out of professional instinct: "You just said that the three paintings are donations, and the batch of ancient books are transfers. It must cost a lot of money, right?"

"Uh, Auntie, you have great business skills..." Louise was wearing loose casual veil trousers and a small vest today, and her hair was casually draped, which made her look much more approachable. She didn't look like a white-bone demon in a suit and a bun in the city. But Zhou Zhi didn't expect that her thoughts were still so unconventional. "I don't need it for now. I usually use cash checks from the Bank of China in New York... But if you need it, I must trouble you, Auntie."

"Sit down and chat." Mai Jeff invited Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao to sit down together: "Just like at home, don't be restrained."

"What are we having for lunch?" Mai Xiaomiao was unwilling to sit down and asked this question first.

"How about going to town to eat? Or having a barbecue in the yard?" McGeoff had no idea at all.

Mai Xiaomiao pulled Zhou Zhi up and said, "Let's go to the kitchen and take a look."

"Uh..." Zhou Zhi had already sat down, but now he had to stand up again: "Uncle, Auntie, I'll go with Xiao Miao to take a look first."

"Xiao Miao likes elbows very much." After the two of them walked into the villa hand in hand, McGeve said to Louise: "You saw him two days ago. What do you think of this young man?"

"You're not very ambitious, not like a young person." Louise raised her eyebrows and said, "What do you think?"

"I think he's pretty good. Dad also said he's a good kid." McGeoff was a little worried, "It's just that Xiao Miao was a little impatient. He only knew him for less than a week, but he already followed him to the primitive mountain area."

"Are you mocking me for trying so hard to pursue you in college?" Louise's eyebrows raised.

"No, no, we are just talking about the children..." (End of this chapter)