Dragon King's Son-In-Law

by Dragon King

  In fact, Hao Zhonghua cared a lot about his mother, However, each time he called her, she would complain over the phone for more than one hour, making his tight schedule even tighter. As time went on, Hao Zhonghua called his mother less often.

  Facing Grandma’s continuous complains, a thought occurred to Yue Yang, “Mom’s greatest hope is for Ren to find a girlfriend.”

  She turned to Hao Ren and asked, “Ren, the girl who came to the lectures with you is your girlfriend, isn’t she?”

  80 A Granddaughter-In-Law?

  Zhao Yanzi, who had been eating a steak absent-mindedly, suddenly became alert.

  Zhao Guang and Zhao Hongyu, who had been talking and laughing with Hao Ren’s parents also became serious.

  Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Hao Ren explained in a hurry, “Mom, she is our Class President.”

  “Class President?” Yue Yang didn’t believe him, “I saw you holding her hand.”

  “No, I didn’t! Mom, stop it!” Hao Ren was anxious and tried to explain, “She… she just dragged me in there to find seats!”

  Hao Ren’s face was turning red from the anxiety, but Yue Yang, who was oblivious to the situation, thought Hao Ren was shy. She laughed, “Hehe, don’t hide it from Mom. I won’t object to it, and your grandma will be happy for you as well. Besides, that girl is very pretty and warm-hearted. You father thinks well of the girl, too.”

  Biting her lips, Zhao Yanzi’s expression had been changing while her parents’ expression turned from astonished to unreadable.

  “Ren, is she really your girlfriend?” Grandma asked.

  “No, she isn’t. She is really just the Class President. We only went to the lectures together!” Hao Ren explained while sweat began to form on his forehead.

  Although there was nothing yet between Zhao Yanzi and himself, he was at least her fiancé in name. Besides, there was nothing between him and Xie Yujia; he wouldn’t take the blame for things he didn’t do.

  However, his explanation only convinced his parents that something was going on. Seeing his mother’s interest, Hao Zhonghua warmed up to this topic and added, “Ren, although I only had a glimpse of her, I think she is a good girl. She was good to you, I won’t object if you go out with her. If she is not your girlfriend yet, you can pursue her since she looks like a fine and considerate girl. I’m sure your Grandma will like her as well.”

  He had angered his mother with his lateness, and now he wanted to cheer her up with her favorite topic.

  However, they didn’t know they were making the matter worse in the eyes of the potential in-laws sitting across the table.

  Due to Zhao Yanzi’s young age, they had never thought of pairing Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi together.

  Seeing Hao Ren’s recent good mood, Grandma thought that he had a girlfriend. Now with her guess confirmed by Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang, her face lit up. “Ren, don’t hide it from us. Find some time and bring the girl back to visit me!” she said cheerfully.

  After all, making Zhao Yanzi her granddaughter-in-law was just her wishful thinking, and she would be happy if Hao Ren had indeed got a girlfriend.

  Zhao Yanzi couldn’t listen to it anymore. With a snort, she stood up abruptly and left their compartment.

  “Zi!” Zhao Hongyu called after her, but Zhao Yanzi didn’t look back.

  Frustrated, Hao Ren hurriedly stood up and followed her out of the compartment.

  Seeing Hao Ren following her, Zhao Yanzi quickened her steps and ran toward the stairs. However, how could she outrun Hao Ren?

  Hao Ren rushed up and grabbed her wrist.

  “The Class President is not my girlfriend!” Hao Ren told her in earnest.

  Zhao Yanzi snorted and shrugged away from his hand. “You don’t have to give me an explanation!” she yelled.

  Hao Ren looked at her and asked, “Are you angry?”

  “I have nothing to be angry about since I don’t like you. I don’t care who your girlfriend is,” Zhao Yanzi said stiffly.

  “Ok, I will explain it to you anyway. That day, the Class President wanted to go to the lecture. Since no one wanted to go with her, she asked me. Later during the book signing event, since one student could only get one signature, she dragged me there to get one extra signed book for her…”

  Hao Ren explained in earnest, but Zhao Yanzi put her hands on her ears, refusing to listen to him.

  “This silly girl…” Hao Ren took her right hand away from her ear and said, “You must listen to me…”

  “No! No! No…” Zhao Yanzi kept shaking her head.

  Helpless, Hao Ren grabbed her hand and began to drag her back to their compartment.

  “Let me go! I won’t go back!” Zhao Yanzi hit Hao Ren’s arm with her left hand.

  Determined, Hao Ren bent over abruptly and carried her in his arms before walking back to their compartment.

  “You jerk!” Zhao Yanzi cursed at him while hitting Hao Ren’s shoulders and chest with both of her fists and kicking around above his arm with her feet.

  However, her feeble struggle was nothing to Hao Ren who was now on the second level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll.

  “Don’t kick, or your skirt will slide up,” with Zhao Yanzi in his arms, Hao Ren warned her.

  “You…jerk!” she turned her head abruptly and bit Hao Ren’s arm.

  “Ouch!” Hao Ren yelled but didn’t put her down. “Are you a dog?” he asked.

  Fortunately, he had reached the second level of the Spirit Concentration Scroll, and his arm muscles were as hard as rocks; that was why Zhao Yanzi’s teeth didn’t injure him.

  “I’m a dragon!” Zhao Yanzi retorted indignantly.

  Hao Ren put the red-faced Zhao Yanzi down at the door of their compartment. She turned around and tried to escape, but Hao Ren caught her by the shoulders and turned her around. He took her hand before pushing the door open and walking in.

  “What happened?” Hao Zhonghua asked in bafflement.

  “Something came up, and Zi had to run out to deal with it,” Hao Ren said.

  With doubt on his face, Hao Zhonghua asked again, “Then… the matter is taken care of?”

  “Yes, it’s done.” Hao Ren nodded.

  He grabbed onto Zhao Yanzi’s hand a little tighter and tried to prevent her from running out again.

  “Come back to your seats,” Hao Zhonghua said.

  Looking at Zhao Yanzi’s red face, Zhao Hongyu didn’t know what had happened. But seeing Hao Ren rushing out in concern and returning hand in hand with Zi, she thought it was a good sign.

  “You two sit together,” she said as she looked at them.

  Zhao Yanzi didn’t want to sit next to Hao Ren, but she couldn’t get her hand free from his grip. Besides, she didn’t want to appear willful and poor-mannered in front of Grandma and Hao Ren’s parents.

  “That girl really is not your girlfriend?” Yue Yang resumed the topic after seeing Hao Ren returning while holding Zi’s hand; she found it weird.

  “Mom, just believe me when I say she’s not my girlfriend!” Hao Ren said helplessly. The words were for his mom and Zhao Hongyu.

  “Well. I thought you had finally got yourself a girlfriend,” after hearing Hao Ren’s answer, Grandma was a little disappointed.

  “In the old times, a man could have three to four wives. However, our Ren doesn’t even have one…” Grandma lamented.

  Hao Ren began to sweat at his Grandma’s ancient thoughts…

  “Auntie, what do you think of our Zi?” seeing Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren wrestling under the table, Zhao Hongyu asked.

  “Smart, lively, cute… I like her a lot,” Grandma answered.

  “What do Mr. and Mrs. Hao think?” Zhao Hongyu turned the question to Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang.

  “Our impressions of her are excellent. She’s pretty and clever,” Yue Yang said, and Hao Zhonghua, who was sitting next to her, nodded in agreement.

  Sensing the direction of the conversation, Zhao Yanzi and Hao Ren stopped their attacks
and defenses under the table simultaneously and turned their eyes to the elders at the table.

  After observing and pondering for a few seconds, Zhao Hongyu asked Grandma, “Auntie, do you want Zi to become your granddaughter-in-law?”

  81 The Dragon Palace?

  The entire room was quiet after Zhao Hongyu’s remark.

  It was easier for Zhao Yanzi because she had already seen it coming. Hao Ren, on the other hand, was astonished. He had figured that this matter would be brought up, but it was still surprising for Zhao Hongyu to bring it up directly like this.

  He thought this first meeting would be a simple meetup and the marriage proposal would have to wait until after a few meetings between the parents.

  Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang stared at Zhao Hongyu in surprise; they thought they must have heard her wrong.

  Grandma’s right hand was just about to reach for a dish, and it stopped mid-way as her expression was half surprised and half cheerful.

  However, Zhao Guang’s settled expression was telling them that they did not hear anything wrong.

  “You are saying…” Grandma’s lips trembled at the sudden good news, “Zi can be my granddaughter-in-law?”

  “Yeah,” Zhao Hongyu nodded.

  Grandma turned back and looked at Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi, who were sitting together in embarrassment. She then turned to Zhao Hongyu and agreed promptly, “That’s great!”

  Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang looked at each other, confused. They had no idea what was going on.

  Even though they had the fastest brains and the most rigorous logic, it was still beyond their anticipation to receive a daughter-in-law as soon as they got back from abroad. They didn’t even have time to deal with many important issues yet.

  “This arrangement is settled then!” Zhao Hongyu happily clapped her hands and breathed out deeply in relief; she seemed to be very pleased with this answer.

  Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang had no chance to talk at all in the last half a minute as Grandma who was the final boss already made the decision.

  Hao Ren and Zhao Yanzi looked at each other awkwardly; they didn’t expect things to go like this.

  Hao Ren’s parents turned to Zhao Yanzi to actually take a good look at her.

  Although this little girl gave them a pretty good first impression, it was still too soon to upgrade her from the daughter of their mom’s saviors to their own daughter-in-law.

  Fortunately, they have been through many critical events and had the temperament to deal with emergencies. No one knew what embarrassment they would have caused if they didn’t have such good self-restraint.

  “What…is this all about?” Hao Zhonghua eventually asked after a few seconds.

  “I like Ren very much, and Auntie adores Zi. So, we want to assign them a ‘baby marriage’ today,” Zhao Hongyu said softly.

  “What are the kids’ opinions then?” even the top scientist Hao Zhonghua was confused by the situation.

  “I don’t agree, mom!” Zhao Yanzi stood up immediately at the chance to talk.

  “How about Ren?” Hao Zhonghua asked; he valued Hao Ren’s opinion more.

  “I…” Hao Ren hesitated.

  After he looked at Zhao Hongyu’s expecting stare, he paused for a moment and said, “I have no problem with it.”

  “It won’t be a big deal since Zhao Yanzi had already said no. I shouldn’t disappoint Zhao Hongyu and Zhao Guang since they have been so nice to me,” Hao Ren thought to himself.

  He had never seen himself liking a shrewish little girl like this. His Otaku nature would make him more likely fall for cuter and sweeter girls.

  “Zi’s objection is not a real objection. So, you won’t have an issue if Zi is ok with it?” Zhao Guang said.

  His words gave out a strong sense of stateliness, and Zhao Yanzi shut her mouth even though she wanted to say something.

  “We certainly won’t interfere if they both agree to it,” Hao Zhonghua answered after some consideration. He had examined Zhao Yanzi closely and didn’t find any shortcomings. Plus, he was aware of how much Grandma liked her.

  He decided to go along with their plan as he had no clue what their intentions were.

  “So, that’s a yes,” Zhao Guang said.

  “It’s a yes, but Zi is only…” Hao Zhonghua was confused.

  “As long as you are ok with it, we can discuss the rest of it later,” Zhao Guang said.

  Hao Zhonghua looked at his wife for her opinion, and Yue Yang looked at Zhao Yanzi’s pretty doll face from across the table and nodded to her husband.

  She was indeed a great scientist; her logical thinking calmed her down immediately; other moms would have panicked in such a situation.

  “It all depends on the kids. Yue Yang and I won’t interfere if they wish to develop their relationship in the future,” Hao Zhonghua stated his opinion upfront.

  Having said that, he still felt a bit weird since Zhao Guang’s daughter was only in middle school. There was no need to be in such a rush even if they really liked Hao Ren.

  “That’s a relief,” Zhao Hongyu smiled and raised her glass of sprite. “Cheers!”

  Zhao Yanzi, who was still standing, realized that her opinion had been completely ignored by her parents as if it didn’t matter at all.

  However, she didn’t want to throw a tantrum in front of Grandma. It was killing her to swallow it back.

  “Zi, Grandma adores you so much!” Grandma took her little hand and said cheerfully.

  Zhao Yanzi felt wronged, but she couldn’t cry out a single tear. Her right to speak was absolutely taken away by her parents as they “sold her out” without even giving her a chance to fight back.

  “This is hegemonism! I need to fight back! Fight back!” she thought.

  However, her passion was immediately suppressed as soon as she noticed Zhao Guang’s razor-sharp stare.

  Ah…But her dad had the final say in the family and was the Dragon King. Hao Ren’s family was very democratic, and he could make his own decisions. On the other hand, even though Zhao Yanzi was the princess, she could only act tough outside of her family.

  “Cheers…” Yue Yang raised her glass and said to Zhao Hongyu.

  She thought her son was too nerdy to ever find a girlfriend, but a daughter-in-law has presented herself now.

  She found herself liking Zhao Yanzi for some unknown reason; maybe it was because she had always liked girls but never gave birth to one, or maybe Zhao Hongyu’s straightforward and warm personality left a good impression on her mind.

  As long as Grandma was happy about it, Zhao Yanzi’s young age shouldn’t be a problem for this “baby marriage” since they could wait. Zhao Yanzi’s family seemed like a really nice family after all.

  The agreement had been tentatively reached with their toast.

  Hao Zhonghua suddenly remembered his red pocket, so he took it out and put it into Zhao Yanzi’s hand, “Uncle forgot to bring gifts for this first meeting. Take this little red pocket as a gift.”

  Even though he called it a little red pocket, there was actually 8,000 yuan inside as a thank you gesture for the good care Zhao Hongyu’s family provided Grandma.

  The two families naturally became closer due to their special bond.

  “No way… There is no way I am marrying him…” Zhao Yanzi mumbled secretively while holding a tantrum inside.

  The lunch brought the two families together; Hao Ren’s family wanted to express their gratitude whereas Zhao Yanzi’s family intended to get a commitment.

  Although Hao Zhonghua and Yue Yang agreed to the baby marriage verbally, they did not take it very seriously. To them, it was like a silly joke which could be either serious or not. It would be good if Zhao Yanzi were to become their daughter-in-law in the future, but it would be ok too if it didn’t work out in the long run.

  After Hao Zhonghua paid the bill after lunch, the two families went through the hallways to the lobby.

  “Come over at seven o’clock in the morning tomorr
ow, and I’ll take you to the Dragon Palace,” Zhao Guang walked over to Hao Ren and whispered into his ears.Baby marriage is a Chinese term that is similar to an arranged marriage. The only difference was that in a baby marriage, the arrangement was done at birth. However, in some cases, it is also used interchangeably with an arranged marriage.

  82 She Really Liked Zi

  “Dragon Palace?” Hao Ren was a bit surprised.

  Zhao Guang nodded with a smile. After he and Zhao Hongyu have met Hao Ren’s parents, the remaining doubts were gone, and it was time to bring Hao Ren to deal with more complicated things.

  This group of people said goodbye to each other outside of the restaurant. Even though Zhao Hongyu mentioned having Zhao Yanzi as Grandma’s granddaughter-in-law and it was quite a shocker, the atmosphere during lunch was still very harmonious and pleasant.

  Because of Grandma, the two families already trusted each other, and both thought that the other family was a great family.

  Yue Yang patted Zhao Yanzi’s head to say goodbye to her. Even though this little girl was her daughter-in-law in name, Yue Yang wasn’t in a hurry to invite her over. It was only her first-time meeting Zhao Yanzi, and there would be other chances in the future to get to know her better.

  Hao Ren helped Grandma to get in the car while Hao Zhonghua went to the driver’s seat, and Zhao Yanzi’s family also got into their vehicle. They waved at each other and went separate ways.

  On the way back, Grandma sat in the back seat, and she was happier than someone who had won one million yuan when she thought of the cute Zi becoming her granddaughter-in-law.

  The car headed to their house near the sea. On the way back, Hao Zhonghua’s cell phone rang about five to six times, and those calls were all about work. In the end, he turned off the phone so that no one could reach him.

  To make Grandma happy, he took the whole day off from work to spend it with his family.

  He finally woke up from the punishment today; even though his science career was booming, he couldn’t neglect his family either.