Liu Jingru's reaction was as good as a confession.
Cai Wenli, being an experienced woman, could clearly see her daughter's thoughts. She hadn't expected her accidental probing to yield such results.
Seeing her daughter like this, she was definitely developing feelings for Xia Lin's brother.
Otherwise, why would she blush every time Xia Lin's brother was mentioned?
Liu Jingru was as transparent as unclad before Cai Wenli, with nothing to hide.
She just didn't know what Xia Lin's brother looked like or what his character was like.
But Cai Wenli could guess from Xia Lin that his appearance and character must be excellent; they were a match made in heaven!
Cai Wenli impatiently continued to press: "Lin'er, what does your brother do for a living?"
"My brother is a university professor." Xia Lin wasn't lying.
Xia Feng was indeed a legitimate university professor, specializing in Chinese medicine.
"A university professor is great, educated, good." Cai Wenli nodded repeatedly, as if Xia Feng were already her son-in-law.
But then again, teachers and doctors held quite high social status, making it easy to find girlfriends.
Now that Xia Lin said her brother was a university professor, Cai Wenli became even more interested.
"Mom, what are you talking about? Go help Dad cook in the kitchen." Liu Jingru stood up and pulled her mother towards the kitchen. Otherwise, with her mother's loose tongue, who knew what she might say.
Xia Lin glanced at Liu Jingru, deep in thought. She wasn't foolish; she had noticed Liu Jingru's behavior.
Liu Jingru followed her into the kitchen and came out a few minutes later. She didn't know what Cai Wenli was muttering about inside, but it was more than likely related to Xia Feng.
"Lin'er, sorry to make you witness this. My mom is just like this. Every Chinese New Year she comes home, she nags me like this. Don't you find it annoying?" Liu Jingru confided in Xia Lin.
"They are naturally beautiful, so why worry about not finding boyfriends?"
"If they wanted to, the line of suitors would stretch from Shanghai to West Lake. (Bragging is not illegal, right?)"
"Auntie is just concerned about you." Xia Lin's expression dimmed slightly as she spoke.
If Xia Feng hadn't returned this year, she would have been alone.
After her parents passed away, she had no family around.
She didn't know if she had any other relatives. Ever since she could remember, she didn't recall having any.
Having lived alone for many years, it was quite remarkable that she could maintain her pure heart.
After all, no one is perfect. Ultimately, Xia Lin wasn't her brother. Before Xia Feng returned, she was just a very ordinary person.
Therefore, Xia Lin was very grateful to Liu Jingru, and their relationship was quite good because Liu Jingru had helped her immensely.
Seeing Xia Lin's saddened expression, Liu Jingru knew she had said the wrong thing.
She understood Xia Lin's situation very well. Every New Year, Liu Jingru would invite Xia Lin to come home with her for the holiday, but Xia Lin always refused.
This was because Xia Lin didn't want to disturb another family's reunion by her presence.
During her studies, she preferred to stay alone in the dormitory. After graduation, she preferred to stay alone in her rented apartment, chatting with fans and playing games.
Sometimes, when one is lonely for too long, they don't want to bother others with their lives.
Since Xia Feng returned, all of this had changed.
Xia Lin finally realized how much her brother cared about her.
Along the way, Xia Lin had cried, laughed, and envied.
But all of that was over.
"Lin'er, I'm sorry," Liu Jingru walked over and apologized, holding Xia Lin's hand.
"Jingru, what are you saying? I'm doing great now, as you can see. My brother is back, and everything is better now." Xia Lin suddenly broke into a smile.
"Yes, everything is better now."
The two held hands tightly, a moment where silence spoke louder than words.
Xia Lin went to Liu Jingru's house for dinner, while Xia Feng and his group ate at the hotel.
Jack Ma, fearing that Xia Feng wouldn't be accustomed to the hotel's food, had gotten up early with Pony Ma and Lei Ming to buy ingredients, intending to cook in the hotel's kitchen himself.
Since they had nothing else to do, they focused on providing good logistical support for Xia Feng.
In reality, Xia Feng wasn't too picky about food; he could eat anything. Of course, being able to eat food cooked by Jack Ma was quite comforting.
While Xia Feng was indifferent, it didn't mean Jack Ma and the others didn't care.
The hotel kitchen was commandeered by Jack Ma today. Old Wang had no objections and even asked the hotel to issue a notice stating that lunch would not be served today.
Jack Ma sat on the stove in the back kitchen, with his legs crossed, holding a handful of melon seeds and cracking them, having obtained them from somewhere.
"Pony, hurry up, don't delay Young Master Xia's dining time." Jack Ma urged while cracking seeds.
Pony Ma really wanted to curse him. "With so many people here, why are you only calling me to wash?"
"Can I handle it all by myself?"
Actually, stir-frying wasn't tiring; the assistants were the ones who were worn out. This job was even more troublesome than stir-frying.
"Just now, Lei Ming and Old Wang were here, and you deliberately sent them away."
Yet, Pony Ma couldn't vent his anger and silently washed the vegetables.
Pony Ma truly never imagined that he would one day be so humiliated under Jack Ma's apron.
"I'm talking to you, why aren't you responding? If you can't handle a little pressure, how can you be my competitor? Fortunately, I never considered you a competitor." Jack Ma threw the melon seed shells into the trash, clapped his hands, and continued.
"My company's market value is higher than yours," Pony Ma retorted without looking back.
"Oh, so you can hear me," Jack Ma said with a smile.
"My company's market value is higher than yours." Pony Ma repeated.
"Can you please say something else?" Jack Ma cursed.
"Your company's market value is not as high as mine."
"Say something else?"
"Small problem."
"I've changed it this time, haven't I?"
Jack Ma:.....
"This is just temporary. Once my chip research is complete, I'll crush you in minutes."
Jack Ma had nothing to refute this with, as the market value of Tencent Group was indeed higher than Alibaba's.
"Then my company's market value is still higher than yours," Pony Ma blurted out uncontrollably.
"Get lost," Jack Ma said angrily.
"Are you angry?" Pony Ma finally turned around, looking at Jack Ma with a smile and asking.
Seeing that Jack Ma wasn't responding, Pony Ma burst into laughter. "You actually get angry with me? I'll bring this up every day from now on to annoy you."
"Haha... do you think I'll get angry?" Jack Ma's words sounded a bit forced.
"I've been hurt by online dating, worked in the countryside, jumped off the Yalu River for love, but I've never seen you force a smile like this."
Pony Ma was in a good mood today and even hummed a song he'd adapted. To be honest, it rhymed quite well.
Seeing his smug expression, Jack Ma felt like kicking him from behind.
After countless confrontations, Pony Ma had finally achieved his first victory.
................
(Tomorrow is the weekend, so the planned shopping trip for clothes is canceled. The weather is getting colder, so don't catch a cold. There will be an extra update tomorrow.)