You're dumping me, huh? Fine, then I'll just pick up the school beauty and make her my wif

Sister-in-law...

Su Qinghe's initial low mood due to inferiority complex was immediately washed away by intense shyness and joy upon hearing those three words.

Su Qinghe's head drooped even lower than before. She hugged the sunflower tightly in her arms, wishing she could bury her blushing face in the flower bushes.

Although the lush flowerbeds obscured the girl's shy face, the tips of her crystal-clear ears were still exposed, now flushed with a deep crimson.

Sitting next to her, Jiang Che watched as Su Qinghe appeared shy on the surface, but was actually secretly laughing to herself while hiding her true feelings. He felt both amused and heartbroken.

It's funny because of her instant change of expression, but heartbreaking because the price to make Su Qinghe happy is so low.

So low that all it takes is a verbal promise with no guarantees, a verbal promise about her and his future, and she'll be happy for ages.

Jiang Che immediately withdrew his bared teeth. He reached out and gently grasped Su Qinghe's slightly cold palm. He wanted to say something, but the words ultimately turned into a soft sigh.

Feeling the warmth from Jiang Che's palm, Su Qinghe raised her head slightly, and her gaze met his.

In those brief few seconds of eye contact, Su Qinghe understood the heartache in the boy's eyes, and finally read that extremely precious emotion she had longed for—love.

Her breath hitched for a moment, her heart pounded uncontrollably, and a morbid madness began to creep into her clear eyes.

But this madness had only been born for a few seconds, and before it even had a chance to appear in her eyes, she forcibly suppressed it back into the depths of her heart with reason.

Her sweet smile widened, and she threw herself into the boy's arms, begging for a hug.

Bai Yuning was steering with one hand while observing the subtle movements of the two people in the back seat through the rearview mirror.

She pursed her lips and clicked her tongue in disapproval, "Oh dear, so you've forgotten about your older sister now that you have a man. Little Qinghe, little Qinghe, do you know how much this hurts your older sister?"

Su Qinghe retorted in a barely audible voice, "Sister Yu Ning...you're making fun of me again."

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore."

Although teasing Su Qinghe was indeed very fun, seeing that they were not far from Yunqi Pavilion, Bai Yuning toned down her joking expression, clearly having something serious to say.

"Jiang Che, besides welcoming Qinghe today, there are actually other things to do."

Bai Yuning glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that Jiang Che and Su Qinghe were both looking at her with slightly puzzled expressions. She paused for a moment, then looked away guiltily.

"Well... it's not a big deal, it's just that a few of our elders are passing through Lincheng today, so they decided to stop by and see you and Qinghe."

What a convenient route!

Jiang Che was speechless after hearing Bai Yuning's flawed explanation. Both the Bai and Jiang families were in the capital, and the capital was hundreds of kilometers away from Lincheng.

Which elder could possibly travel all the way from the capital to Lincheng?

Jiang Che looked at Bai Yuning's outfit again: a camel coat, a silk shirt, and even her hair was styled perfectly with a jade hairpin.

Having spent so many years with Bai Yuning, he naturally knew very well that what she disliked most was this old-fashioned formality.

But today, he's dressed in the very thing he hates most. So, who exactly is this elder who's come? The answer is pretty obvious.

In the Jiang and Bai families, only two people could have treated an elder so seriously that the head of the Lincheng Central Hospital would even act as their driver and personally pick them up.

"My parents are here, right?"

Jiang Che said this in a very calm tone, without showing any surprise at all.

It was as if he had foreseen that this would happen sooner or later.

Bai Yuning chuckled twice, then used her right hand to push up her large-framed sunglasses. "You're quick-witted, but don't blame me for acting first and asking questions later. I had no choice."

"My aunt called me last night and said that my uncle happened to be in Lincheng these days to discuss a project, so she came back to Lincheng with him from Beijing and stopped by to see you and Qinghe."

"You know your aunt's temper. If I dared to let you two go without telling her, she might have my dad give me a good scolding later."

Bai Yuning's performance was so sincere and touching that if you ignored the smile on her lips that she couldn't suppress, Jiang Che might actually have believed what she said.

Since things have already come to this, Jiang Che needs to think about how to deal with them in advance.

Since Lao Jiang was willing to keep Uncle Liu by his side for his command during this period, it means that he has personally approved of Su Qinghe.

But getting past my mom wasn't so easy.

He knew his mother Bai Qing's personality best; she was a typical matriarch of a wealthy family, and she managed almost all the affairs, big and small, of the family.

Although my mother isn't as unreasonable as the wicked mothers-in-law portrayed in TV dramas, she's pretty much the same in one aspect: her standards aren't low either.

Especially when it comes to choosing her son's future wife, the future matriarch of the Jiang family, Bai Qing is even less likely to be as evasive and careless as Jiang Dahai.

Despite Jiang Dahai's decisive and ruthless business dealings and his imposing position as the head of the family, once he returns home, he basically has to listen to his wife on everything, including choosing a daughter-in-law.

Therefore, it's not enough for Guangjiang Dahai to agree to Su Qinghe's request; as long as Bai Qing doesn't nod in agreement, even the Heavenly King himself can't do anything about it.

Jiang Che could actually understand his mother's thoughts and way of doing things. After all, given her special status, it was impossible for her to talk about ideals without considering reality.

What she pursued was absolute stability and equality. If the Su family hadn't fallen, things would have been fine, but now that the Su family is gone, Su Qinghe is just an ordinary person.

Getting past my mom is tough.

Jiang Che was genuinely unsure.

At this moment, there was someone even more panicked than Jiang Che, and that was Su Qinghe.

Upon learning that she was suddenly going to meet Jiang Che's parents, Su Qinghe froze on the spot as if her computer had crashed.

When she came to her senses a moment later, Bai Yuning was already reversing into the parking space.

"Ah Che, I...I..."

There was no time left to even think about it, and Su Qinghe's face was immediately filled with visible tension and panic.

My mind went completely blank for a moment, and I stammered for a long time, but I had no idea what I wanted to say.

She instinctively gripped Jiang Che's hand tightly, with great force, and soon left several bright red marks on Jiang Che's palm.