After the college entrance examination, life began to follow one's heart

Chapter 245 Ms. Ren and Ning Yuhan, Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law Meet
In the afternoon, Ms. Ren specifically sought out a more upscale restaurant.

These restaurants have a nicer environment, and the diners aren't as noisy as those in budget restaurants.

Ms. Ren was quite particular about her first meeting with Ning Yuhan.

She comes from a well-mannered family and always pays attention to etiquette.

Ms. Ren chose a window seat with a wide view of the street outside.

"Are we there?"

Ms. Ren sent a message to her eldest son.

Xu Lin replied five minutes later: "I just parked the car, the restaurant sent it to me."

So Ms. Ren sent him a restaurant recommendation.

Xu Lin glanced at it; it was on the fourth floor.

"Let's go, let's take the elevator up."

Xu Lin held Ning Yuhan's hand.

"Oh."

Ning Yuhan just thought it would be a simple meal like usual.

Today is Friday, I'll go home after dinner later.

So Ning Yuhan didn't think too much about it and just followed Xu Lin.

She had no idea she was going to meet her parents.

Actually, there are some nuances to meeting the parents. If you can meet the parents, it means that the other person really likes you and their parents can accept you. If you can't meet the parents, then forget about it and move on to the next one, because the other person is just playing around with you, you're not presentable, or their parents don't like you. This applies to both men and women.

The two took the elevator up and quickly arrived at the fourth floor.

The fourth floor is the food court, with all kinds of restaurants, including a few relatively high-end ones. So there are fewer people, since a meal can cost over a thousand yuan, which is unaffordable for the average working person. You can buy two pounds of good quality beef at the market for a little over a hundred yuan at most.

Xu Lin saw the restaurant that Ms. Ren had mentioned.

Restaurants with English names.

It's hard to say whether it's a foreign restaurant or not; it's probably just run by Chinese people who have given it an English name.

Ms. Ren had been staring at the doorway the whole time, and now she finally met Xu Lin.

As Xu Lin led Ning Yuhan in, Ms. Ren was immediately struck by Ning Yuhan's charm; she was the kind of girl who could make a good first impression.

Ning Yuhan has beautiful eyes, and she looks around the restaurant with curiosity.

Soon, her gaze met Ms. Ren's.

Ms. Ren is a successful woman, not extremely successful, but not bad either.

It is well known that a successful woman possesses an aura and charisma, and the same is true for successful men. This group, regardless of gender, has a unified name in society: social elites. When the general public stands next to them, the contrast is obvious, and they are absolutely overshadowed.

This group is destined to stand out.

Even setting aside aura and temperament, just in terms of image, elites will always present themselves well, while ordinary office workers may not. For example, women sometimes just do a simple grooming.

However, if you are entering a higher-level workplace, you need to dress up, because this is a basic social etiquette. It's not about making yourself look better or anything, but simply a matter of social etiquette. Even if you are not good-looking, at least you should try your best to present a presentable image.

When you're out and about, respect your appearance before you treat others. This means that you should first take care of your own image before interacting with people. Respecting yourself is respecting others.

As for those who say that appearance is not important, that's obviously because they're not doing well in life. It's like when they say that education is not important; they only interact with the general public, their understanding is limited to that, they think that's how the world is, and they lack the mindset for learning.

Or perhaps it's those who are extremely wealthy; they don't need to worry about their image, and wearing slippers is perfectly fine. But the wealthy are an exception and cannot be used to discuss specific issues, so they lack general significance.

Ms. Ren is like that; she takes good care of herself. Moreover, she is beautiful. At thirty-nine years old, she looks like she's in her early thirties, which is quite young for a woman.

All things considered, Ms. Ren was the most dazzling person in the restaurant, surpassing everyone else.

Therefore, Ning Yuhan noticed Ms. Ren at a glance.

However, she suddenly felt that she had seen this woman somewhere before. Ning Yuhan couldn't remember where she had seen her before, but she just felt that she was familiar.

"This way!"

Suddenly, Ms. Ren waved to her.

what?
Are you calling me?
Ning Yuhan was puzzled.

Xu Lin then pulled her over, leaving Ning Yuhan somewhat bewildered.

"This is my mom. I'm introducing you to her today."

Xu Lin pulled her in front of Ms. Ren before introducing Ms. Ren's identity.

"Ah, hello Auntie!"

Ning Yuhan was startled and quickly greeted her, immediately becoming tense. She never expected that this woman was Xu Lin's mother.

"Alright, alright, please have a seat!"

Ms. Ren had a smile on her face and looked very gentle.

Ning Yuhan was very reserved. Xu Lin asked her to sit down, and she sat down after him. But she was so nervous that she didn't dare to breathe, afraid that Ms. Ren would not like her.

"Auntie, my name is Ning Yuhan!" she quickly introduced herself.

"Auntie knows your name. Xu Lin told me. Auntie will call you Hanhan! And we met last year. You even called me teacher back then, do you remember?"

"Oh, I remembered!"

Ning Yuhan suddenly realized that it was no wonder she felt that Xu Lin's mother was familiar at the beginning. It turned out that she had met her last year. At that time, she thought that Ms. Ren was a teacher at the school, so she greeted her with "Hello, teacher".

Ms. Ren smiled and said, "But Auntie isn't a teacher, she's a lawyer. She came to your university to find Xu Lin."

"oh oh."

Ning Yuhan sat there with her hands clasped in her pockets, sitting upright, unsure of what to say for a moment. Like most people meeting the parents, she was genuinely uninhibited, unless it was someone with very good conditions, such as the man visiting the woman's family. If the woman's family was of average means, but the man's family was well-off, such as a government employee's family or even better, then the man would certainly not be reserved. Similarly, it's the same for women meeting the parents.

Meeting the parents is essentially a process of value confrontation.

Ms. Ren could tell that the girl was quite nervous, and being understanding, instead of telling her not to be nervous, she asked her, "How long have you known Hanhan and Xu Lin?"

She was actually asking a question she already knew the answer to, but it was a lighthearted topic that could ease the other person's tension. It's like if someone is short of money and can't even take out a hundred yuan from their pocket, and you just come up and say "don't be sad" and then spout some random platitudes. Saying that kind of thing is completely useless. It would be more practical to just give them two hundred yuan.

Therefore, Ms. Ren used lighthearted topics to distract the other person and help them relax.

“We met last September at the freshman orientation ceremony. My husband was the freshman representative and I was the host. That’s when I met him.”

Oh, she's even calling him "husband" now.

Ms. Ren didn't say anything, but thinking back, she used to call Xu Lin's father the same way when she was in college.

"We've known each other for quite a while now."

The freshman ceremony was Xu Lin's first day of school. Now May is almost over, and there is still a little over a month left before Xu Lin's freshman year ends.

Ms. Ren then asked, "Did Xu Lin confess his feelings to you?"

"no!"

Ning Yuhan shook her head. "I was the one who confessed my feelings."

"Huh? Hanhan confessed her feelings first?"

"Yes, yes, I confessed my feelings first."

"Haha, is that so? I thought it was Xu Lin who confessed first!"

Ms. Ren smiled happily. But thinking about it, it made sense. Her son was also very good-looking. Even though he hadn't made it big yet, he was over 1.8 meters tall, had a good figure, and was good-looking. Xu Lin had inherited the excellent genes of both of them. These were high-quality genes. He had never lacked girls who liked him since kindergarten.

Then, the two chatted about light topics, from Xu Lin to academics, postgraduate entrance exams, and career choices.

But they never talked about family.

When parents meet, the other person will usually ask you what your parents do.

But Ms. Ren wouldn't do that. First of all, her family is well-off, and Ning Yuhan's family is far less well-off than the Xu family. Ms. Ren felt there was no need to ask. If she did ask, the other person might suddenly feel inferior, which would be bad and would affect her good mood.

This kind of topic is one that affects negative emotions, but Ms. Ren and Ning Yuhan talked about positive topics. She found that this girl was very independent, had strong opinions and goals, and was excellent in her studies. She also had a clear life and career plan.

Overall, she is an outstanding girl, both in terms of appearance and inner qualities.

After chatting for a while, Ms. Ren was actually quite satisfied with Ning Yuhan.

As for the fact that the other party's family was not well-off, Ms. Ren did not pay much attention to it.

Ms. Ren has already made it this far; she may not be a big shot in society, but she has at least made a name for herself.

She understood that to judge a person, you should look at their expected future value.

This girl is very independent in the future, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will have a very successful career.

Even if it's not her own son, she'll meet a boy who's great in every way in the future.

On the other side, Xu Lin saw that the two were chatting happily, and he knew that Ms. Ren was quite capable.

Damn it, they come right up to me and ask, "Oh, what's your family like? What do your parents do?" "Oh, your parents are farmers, right? Your dad's a migrant worker?"
This makes it impossible to play.

Fortunately, Ms. Ren is not like that.

Xu Lin was born into a very good family.

While the two were chatting, Xu Lin started ordering food.

This is a high-end restaurant. You could eat your fill at a regular restaurant for 700 or 800 yuan, but it's different here. Three people won't be full at all, and the food might not even be good.

Oh well, I'll just have to make do.

Soon, the food was served one after another.

Xu Lin was in charge of cooking, while Ms. Ren and the others chatted while eating.

Xu Lin would occasionally chime in with a comment.

The entire meal lasted for more than an hour.

"Alright, we're full. Let's go, Hanhan, let's go for a walk around!"

"Uh-huh!"

Ning Yuhan was quite happy today; it seemed that meeting the parents had gone smoothly.

"Xu Lin, you pay the bill!" Ms. Ren said.

"Oh."

Xu Lin paid the bill, which came to over 1,600 yuan.

"Where to go?"

As he came out of the restaurant, Ms. Ren and Ning Yuhan were waiting for him.

Ms. Ren: "Let's wander around, where can we go?"

Mom thought to herself, "I still want to buy Ning Yuhan a few clothes as a gift."

There will also be red envelopes, but I'll give them out later in separate batches.

This is a large shopping mall, one of the top-tier malls in Jiangdu, where it's convenient to buy whatever you want. Ms. Ren plans to buy some gifts for Ning Yuhan here.

Xu Lin: "I need to use the restroom first."

Speaking of the restroom, Ms. Ren also expressed her desire to go, as did Ning Yuhan.

Xu Lin, a boy, came out of the toilet very quickly.

However, she discovered that Ms. Ren was even faster than him.

"Why are you so fast?"

“I didn’t even go to the bathroom, how could I not be quick? I just wanted to ask if Hanhan wears makeup? I was planning to buy her a set of cosmetics.”

"Don't buy her cosmetics, she doesn't wear makeup. As for jewelry, like a bracelet, that would be more appropriate."

"Then Mom will buy her a bracelet and a few sets of clothes."

"alright."

It's all small change, as long as you're happy.

After Ning Yuhan came out, Xu Lin and the others went downstairs. The third and second floors were the clothing section, and the first floor was the gold and silver jewelry and women's cosmetics section.

Honey, what should I do if my aunt wants to buy me clothes?

Soon after entering a clothing brand store, seeing that Ms. Ren wanted to buy clothes for herself, Ning Yuhan quickly asked Xu Lin while Ms. Ren was picking out clothes.

"Just take it, it won't cost much."

"Ok."

"Hanhan, come here, try this on!"

"Oh, Auntie, I'm here."

I spent more than half an hour picking out clothes, and ended up buying five sets, covering my entire body.

This time, Ms. Ren paid for it herself and didn't let Xu Lin pay the bill, because paying the bill herself would represent her goodwill.

After buying the clothes, the group went downstairs and entered a jewelry store.

Ms. Ren picked out a bracelet for Ning Yuhan. The bracelet cost more than 20,000 yuan, which was not cheap.

Ning Yuhan took the gift, feeling somewhat uneasy, unsure how to reciprocate. She felt that the aunt was being too kind to her, even though they had only just met.

But it wasn't over yet, because when it was time to part, Ms. Ren took out a large red envelope that she had prepared in advance from her bag.

There was a thick stack of 10,000 yuan inside.

This is actually a custom. When a girl visits the man's family for the first time, the man's parents give her a red envelope, usually ranging from several hundred to a thousand yuan. Of course, wealthier families usually give more.

"Auntie, you've given me so many things."

Ning Yuhan was already very embarrassed.

"Take this as a blessing from your aunt. I hope you and my son will be happy and healthy."

"Ok."

Ning Yuhan accepted the red envelope and said to Ms. Ren, "I also hope that Auntie will be happy and healthy."

"Haha, okay!"

Ms. Ren smiled broadly; she was in a very good mood today. In her opinion, Ning Yuhan was generally satisfactory and fully qualified to enter her Xu family home.

"Tell me more, where's my red envelope?"

Xu Lin came closer.

Ms. Ren glared at her: "Dream on!"

Xu Lin chuckled.

When it was time to part ways, Xu Lin drove Ms. Ren back to her hotel.

She's staying at a hotel tonight, but tomorrow night she'll stay at a rented apartment, and the day after tomorrow she'll go back to the provincial capital.

Xu Lin drove directly back to the residential area.

When she got home, Ning Yuhan curiously opened the red envelope and found a thick 100 yuan inside.

"Honey, the red envelope Auntie gave us was huge, it looks like it contained ten thousand yuan."

"Just take it. If you really think it's too big, then keep it. We can use it for something later, like buying baby formula when our child is born."

"I'll keep it and use it to buy baby formula later!"

Ning Yuhan gets excited when the topic of children comes up.

"I'm just kidding, why would I buy baby formula?"

"Huh? Why don't you buy baby formula?"

What kind of formula should we buy?

Xu Lin pulled Ning Yuhan onto his lap and buried his face in her lap, taking several deep breaths.

"Xu Lin!"

“Look, he’s so big and healthy. Will we need to buy formula? Will our baby go hungry? Only impoverished women have to think about buying formula.”

"You bad guy!" Ning Yuhan's pretty face blushed.

"Wait a minute! We need to buy baby formula too!"

Xu Lin suddenly changed the subject.

"why?"

"I don't think it will be enough to drink!"

Xu Lin grinned evilly.

"You're so bad!"

Ning Yuhan was stunned for a moment, but when she saw Xu Lin's mischievous smile and remembered that he usually liked to act like a child, she realized what Xu Lin meant.

Because he wants to drink too!

Xu Lin: "So save the money to buy baby formula later."

"No, I won't give you any. You'll have to drink formula from now on!"

"Come on, come on, I want to try it tonight!"

"Oh, you're up to no good again."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and besides, we haven't had any fun together in a while."

For the next half hour, Xu Lin tossed and turned with Ning Yuhan on the sofa.

By the time it was over, it was almost eleven o'clock.

Xu Lin: "Let's take a shower and go to bed later."

"Oh."

Ning Yuhan was exhausted and hadn't recovered yet.

They also shower together.

Around 11:00 PM, the two returned to their room.

"Honey, the professor replied to me. The paper needs to be revised; she's not very satisfied."

In university, when it comes to writing papers, professors can be so strict that they can make you question your existence.

"Change it tonight?"

"Yes, otherwise there won't be enough time later."

"Go ahead and change it, I'll take a look."

"Thanks husband!"

Ning Yuhan was very happy because Xu Lin was with her.

Xu Lin first glanced at Ning Yuhan's thesis.

Because Xu Lin didn't have much knowledge, he couldn't see any problems with Ning Yuhan's paper.

As for the professor's advice, it was just so-so.

As we all know, the professor is highly skilled. She thought this should go like this, and then said, "You mean this method? Hmm? You don't even understand this method? What about method XX? You don't understand that either? How can you be so stupid?"
Don't you realize that professors are at a very high level? Many of them are postdoctoral fellows. The difference between an undergraduate and a postdoctoral fellow is like the difference between an elementary school student and a university student.

"Let me look at the other papers first."

"Uh-huh."

Papers in the field of economics.

If you want to refer to it, you should read more advanced papers to learn from.

Xu Lin went directly to Web of Science.

This is a highly authoritative academic database worldwide, containing over 10,000 influential journals. It's perfect for finding papers in specific fields. Undergraduates and above are familiar with CNKI, but it's more suitable for finding domestic literature. If you want to focus on cutting-edge international academic topics, Web of Science is a better choice.

Xu Lin accessed Web of Science through the university library website, then clicked on products in the upper right corner, selected journal citation reports, and then the page redirected. He then selected categories, and the next step was to select a major subject area.

Click: Economics & Business.

Then look for a specific area, such as economics.

This is the field Xu Lin is looking for.

Next, select SCI, the page will redirect, and the journals that appear will be sorted from high to low based on their impact factor.

When reading academic papers, focus on those with high impact factors, as they have higher research value and therefore greater reference value.

Xu Lin didn't even translate the page. He already had a high level of English, so he just read the English version directly. Besides, the browser translation might have some issues with reading it.

Ning Yuhan is a top student, ranking first in her major since the first semester of her freshman year. She has a perfect GPA, scores over 600 on both the CET-4 and CET-6 exams, and speaks English fluently. However, she is no match for Xu Lin.

Xu Lin reads papers very quickly. He selected one hundred papers to read and finished them in just over two hours. He memorized all the content and felt confident after reading them.

"Let me take another look at your paper."

"Mmm, look."

Ning Yuhan felt that Xu Lin was really amazing. He read papers so quickly, like he was swallowing them whole. Anyone who didn't know better would think that Xu Lin was showing off, but Ning Yuhan knew that this was just Xu Lin's normal operation.

Xu Lin read Ning Yuhan's thesis again, and this time, he finally found the problem.

Moreover, the problem is that the entire paper has issues. Xu Lin suddenly understood Professor Huang's perspective. Was she like him?
However, as everyone knows, what can undergraduate papers possibly be? 99% of them are garbage.

Xu Lin has acquired more knowledge now, so he stands at a higher level, which is why he has higher requirements for Ning Yuhan's thesis.

But Xu Lin himself didn't think it was high. He thought it was like a college student who studied advanced mathematics and was a top student. He thought the middle school student was stupid because it was so easy and he didn't understand.

"Senior, your thesis needs major revisions."

"Oh, does it need major changes?"

"Yes, I'll take it, but it's not a big problem, I'm here!"

If Ning Yuhan were to operate it herself, that would be a long time coming. Wouldn't he be sleeping? He still wants to sleep while holding Ning Yuhan.

So Xu Lin took matters into his own hands.

Once you have the data, writing the paper becomes much easier. In fact, the most difficult part of writing a paper is the data. For some papers that require you to collect your own data, the preliminary work can take a month or even several months of data collection, but the actual writing of the paper only takes a few days.

"Will the professor notice?"

“If you can tell, just say your boyfriend guided you. Then Professor Huang will ask if you hired someone to write it for you, saying your boyfriend is so good. Just call me over. Don’t back down. Besides, with me here, you can learn something even if you just watch. So don’t worry about the details. The important thing is to learn!” Xu Lin pointed to his head.

"Oh!"

Ning Yuhan nodded earnestly.

"Alright!"

"Ok!"

Xu Lin opened Word and got right to work, preparing to write a paper.

Title, citations, literature review...

This is a completely new area for advanced learning! +

Xu Lin suddenly saw the task prompt that popped up, and immediately clicked on it.

[Academic Path: You can randomly choose an academic direction, venture into the academic field, publish a paper with considerable academic research value, and make a splash in the academic world!]

[Note: Completing this task will unlock a random reward.]

"If I were to randomly choose an academic field, which one should I choose?"

There are no restrictions on what academic direction he can choose, so Xu Lin has to figure it out himself.

Xu Lin glanced at the task, then continued working on his paper, thinking as he wrote.

(End of this chapter)