That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1334 I'm just the eldest brother, I can't interfere in other people's business

After Li Ye came out of the restroom, he didn't go back to Wen Leyu and Sophia's place. Instead, he found a seat with a good view and sat down again. Anyway, there were hardly any people in the coffee shop, and there were plenty of empty seats.

Then he carefully examined the interior of the coffee shop and the street outside again, checking for any unusual circumstances.

Having watched too many Mission: Impossible movies in his past life, Li Ye always felt that there might be an Ian Hunter lurking nearby, so from the moment he arrived at the coffee shop, he labeled everyone around him as "suspicious."

Although Wen Leyu was an official investigator openly using foreign exchange to conduct business, who knew what kind of environment Sophia was in? What if it aroused suspicion from some people?
Only after Li Ye used his extraordinary keen observation skills to check everyone around him and confirmed that they were all ordinary people did he breathe a sigh of relief.

To be honest, Li Ye was somewhat unwilling when Wen Leyu was assigned to contact Sophia.
My wife provided the funds, so she came along to supervise them and make sure they didn't spend the money recklessly. She just wanted a share of the credit, so why did she have to show her face in public? So many people are eager to take the lead! Why not just let them come and negotiate?

But Wen Leyu's words, "Why should we share the credit with others for our family's achievements?" silenced Li Ye.

Women love to scheme; they don't want anyone to take advantage of them and they only feel comfortable when they can claim all the credit for themselves.

After Sun Xianjin came out of the restroom, he sat down in Li Ye's seat, while Bian Jingjing, who was behind him, hesitated.

"Xianjin, why don't you go over and help translate? I don't think Sophia's Chinese is very good."

Sun Xianjin glanced at Bian Jingjing and whispered, "Don't talk, follow the rules."

Bian Jingjing immediately fell silent.

Although she quietly kept Sun Xianjin under her thumb at home, she was a smart woman and knew that Sun Xianjin was her most important support in life, while Li Ye was a major asset to Sun Xianjin.
So she can quietly throw a little tantrum most of the time, but if Sun Xianjin gets serious with her, she will definitely obey and support him unconditionally.

When Bian Jingjing was brought here by Sun Xianjin today, he didn't explain to her exactly what they were going to do, but she could guess a little bit about it.

After so many years of contact and investigation, Bian Jingjing learned that Wen Leyu "came from a military family" and was a genuine scion of a military family.

Now that Wen Leyu is talking to Sophia alone, it must be the "big deal" he's been anticipating.

Although Bian Jingjing had her own selfish motives, hoping that Sun Xianjin could be deeply involved in this big deal, everything in excess is as bad as deficiency. You can't take what others don't give you.

So although Bian Jingjing was itching to watch, she suppressed her curiosity and silently watched Wen Leyu and Sophia chatting and laughing.

After a long while, Sophia politely shook hands with Bian Jingjing, then got up and left the coffee shop, seemingly unaware of Li Ye and Sun Xianjin sitting on the other side.

Sun blinked, feeling somewhat disappointed.

We were old friends who almost hugged when we met just now, how come they've become like old hags now?
Because Bian Jingjing and Sun Xianjin were present, Li Ye couldn't ask Wen Leyu how his talk with Sophia went. Sun Xianjin and Bian Jingjing also "followed the rules" and got into the car and went back to the hotel without saying a word.

However, once they got in the car, Wen Leyu started chatting to liven things up: "Hey, guess how old Sophia is this year?"

Li Ye glanced at Sun Xianjin and said, "She should be about the same age as us, right? She and Sun Xianjin are in the same grade."

"That's not right!"

Wen Leyu held up four fingers: "She's four years younger than us, only twenty-four this year. She had excellent grades in school and went to university at fourteen."

Bian Jingjing exclaimed in surprise, "She's only twenty-four? I feel like she's almost thirty! How can there be such a big difference?"

Wen Leyu nodded and said, "Yes, yes! She asked me how old I was, and I told her I was twenty-eight. She didn't believe me at all, and even laughed and said she would check my immigration records to see if I was really that much older than her."

Sun Xianjin said helplessly, "That's just how people in Su'e are. At thirteen or fourteen, they're like young women back home. But once they're over thirty, most of them look incredibly old. But there are exceptions. We have a teacher at our school who's over forty, but she still looks like she's in her thirties." Bian Jingjing immediately said, "Then she must be wearing makeup. Anyway, I've been in Su'e for almost a year, and I've never seen anyone over forty who still looks like they're past their prime."

"."

After listening to Bian Jingjing's words, Li Ye couldn't help but admire her; she was indeed a natural-born "straight man."

[Don't you know about the physical characteristics of women like Sue? Why were you so surprised when you heard Sophia was only twenty-four?]

But thinking about it, it makes sense. When Li Ye first met Bian Jingjing at school, he knew she was a "smart and ambitious" girl, and he had been practicing his straight man skills for many years.

As they were talking, Bian Jingjing suddenly said, "It's really strange, they were really beautiful when they were teenagers. Jin Peng and Huo Renqiang both carefully groomed several girls, all around sixteen or seventeen years old."

Li Ye: "."

[Why the hell do you have to bring up all that nonsense when you're supposed to be the straight man? Food and sex are basic human needs, our ancestors told you that long ago. Isn't it only natural for a grown man to leave home, eat and drink, and raise two girls?]

But after hearing this, Wen Leyu blinked and slowly turned her head to look at Li Ye.

What are you looking at me for? I'm just their "big brother," I can't control what others do.

Li Ye quickly changed the subject, saying, "I know why girls from Suzhou age so quickly. It's because their skin is very special; it's difficult for it to retain moisture."
When you're young, your skin has good elasticity, so it's not a big deal. But after you turn twenty, your skin loses its vitality and loses moisture even faster, just like a flower that wilts without water.
Furthermore, because their skin lacks moisture protection and is not resistant to ultraviolet rays, it is prone to developing freckles.

"."

Li Ye's words indeed attracted the attention of the two young women. Jingjing asked in surprise, "Li Ye, how do you know these things?"

"Well... to be honest, I'm a little ashamed to say this, but I'm actually angry. A few days ago, a classmate told me that several of the female students from Peking University's batches of international students married white men."

You said you'd get married, fine! But then you came back to brag to everyone, saying you'd only marry a white man—fair-skinned, gentle, kind, and very respectful of women, unlike the women of our land who spend all their time cooking.”

"They're talking nonsense!"

Bian Jingjing said decisively, "In the past six months or so I've been in Suzhou, most of the men I've met are alcoholics. Some of them fight with their wives when they're drunk. Gentle and kind? Give me a break."
I've heard of those women you mentioned. They only married into those countries to get citizenship, and they still respect women? They don't do housework or cook after they marry into those countries.”

"Those people are two-faced, and I even suspect that they have ulterior motives and ill intentions in promoting their ideas."

Li Ye was surprised.

He had just seen Bian Jingjing encouraging Wen Leyu to curb Jin Peng and A Qiang's philandering ways, and he thought she was a pioneer of feminism! Little did he know that Bian Jingjing was not what he had imagined.

At the height of Western prosperity, she did not blindly worship the West, but followed the principle of "seeing is believing," and rationally analyzed the motivations of certain people's behavior, showing remarkable clarity of mind.

Moreover, even though she is now a successful businesswoman who earns extra income for her husband, she still believes that she should cook at home.

This is quite similar to Wen Leyu.

Wen Leyu could be considered a young lady from a wealthy family! Yet she still cooks for Li Ye at home.

(End of this chapter)