He Wenjie's hotel suite lease was about to expire. He originally planned to renew it for another month and wait until Yang Tao resigned before checking out, but Yang Tao firmly refused. After putting her luggage into the car, He Wenjie drove home while Yang Tao stayed behind to handle the check-out procedures. Before parting ways, Yang Tao said, "Tomorrow is my sister and brother-in-law's wedding anniversary, and I have the day off. Why don't you come over to my mom's place for dinner with me?"
"What does our mom like? I should get some gifts ready in advance."
"You don't need to prepare anything. I'm just letting you know so you don't make other plans."
"Understood. I have nothing going on tomorrow. Nothing is more important than my mother-in-law."
Of course, He Wenjie wasn't foolish enough to show up empty-handed. He made a trip to the shopping mall and bought Xue Sumei a jade bracelet worth over 50,000 yuan, a designer handbag for Yang Tao's sister Su Qing worth over 20,000 yuan, and selected a belt for his brother-in-law Duan Xifeng just over 10,000 yuan.
After choosing the gifts, He Wenjie was about to leave when a sudden thought crossed his mind. He turned around and walked back into a jewelry store. Since everyone else had a gift, how could he leave Yang Tao out? He browsed around, but ultimately gave up on the idea of buying her a necklace for one simple reason: his taste was too poor, and he had no idea which one to choose. In the end, he bought Yang Tao a watch worth over 300,000 yuan. Watches didn't rely on subjective styling; anyone who knew their stuff could tell its value at a single glance.
The next day, the two of them arrived very early at Xue Sumei's place. Having received word beforehand, Xue Sumei warmly welcomed them inside. "Wenjie is here! Come right in. I always said I had an eye for you, young man, but I never expected you to win over my Taozi so quickly."
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
"Auntie, it was mainly thanks to your encouragement that I found the courage to confess. You deserve the most credit."
"I love how this boy talks! Sit down, sit down. Your sister and brother-in-law will be here soon. I've already got most of the dishes prepped, so once everyone is here, we can eat right away."
At a cue from He Wenjie's glance, Yang Tao took out the bracelet he had bought yesterday. "Mom, when Wenjie heard we were coming over for dinner today, he went out of his way to buy this gift for you. See if you like it."
Upon seeing it, Xue Sumei was naturally overjoyed, but she scolded playfully, "Why did you spend money on something like this, you child? And you, Taozi, why didn't you stop him?"
"Mom, I told him not to buy it, but he went to the store and picked it out himself. By the time I finished work, he'd already bought everything. Not just for you—my sister and brother-in-law got gifts too, and he even bought me a watch. Look at this."
With that, she extended her wrist toward Xue Sumei. Although Xue Sumei didn't know much about luxury watches, she still had a basic eye for quality. The bracelet given to her should be worth tens of thousands, and her own daughter's gift naturally had to outvalue hers. Besides, a watch of this caliber couldn't possibly be cheap. She figured Duan Xifeng was a corporate executive and definitely knew his stuff, so she'd have him take a look in a moment.
While they were chatting, Su Qing and Duan Xifeng arrived. Upon seeing He Wenjie, Duan Xifeng froze for a second before greeting him warmly. "Brother, we really do have a connection. I never expected Yang Tao's partner to be you. Looks like we're truly family now!"
"Indeed, what a coincidence! When I first came to Beijing, the only people I knew were Taozi and Qī Xīng, and now it turns out we're brothers-in-law."
The women looked at them in confusion and asked how they knew each other. Duan Xifeng recounted the story of the two of them having hot pot together. He Wenjie chimed in, "Oh, right. That day I asked Taozi to accompany me to buy furniture, and she mentioned she was going on a blind date. That date must have been Guo Ran, right?"
"Ah, well, that's on me! If I'd known you two were interested in each other, I wouldn't have set that up. My fault, my fault! I'll have to drink a couple extra rounds with you later."
"Not at all, it's all fate. Another day we should get Qī Xīng and Guo Ran together for a get-together."
"Deal, I'll arrange it."
Yang Tao chimed in from the side, "Speaking of that Guo Ran, he drove me crazy! He's the reason my car got towed. But let's not talk about him. Sis, to celebrate your and brother-in-law's anniversary, Wenjie bought you a bag. Have a look—I have one too, we've got matching ones."
As she spoke, Yang Tao took out the handbag. Su Qing took a look and said, "Oh, a designer label! This must cost over 20,000 yuan. Thank you so much, Wenjie. You shouldn't have spent so much."
"Brother-in-law, this is yours."
"I've got one too? Wow, this belt isn't cheap! I saw it last time, but I couldn't bring myself to buy it."
Xue Sumei added, "Wenjie even bought Taozi a watch. Show it to your sister and brother-in-law."
Yang Tao proudly showed off the watch to everyone. Xue Sumei asked, "Xifeng, you know a bit about watches, right?"
"Auntie, I don't know much about women's watches, but I understand men's watches a little. Last time I saw the watch Wenjie was wearing, it was worth over 300,000 yuan. I'd guess the one on Taozi's wrist is right around that price."
"What? So expensive? I thought it was just worth tens of thousands! I'm not wearing it anymore, what if I bump it at work and break my own heart?"
"What's there to hurt your heart over? You buy them to wear them. Besides, these things aren't that fragile; you won't easily scratch it up."
Xue Sumei hadn't expected the watch to be so costly either. "Taozi, be careful when you wear it. Don't be as scatterbrained as you usually are."
"It's fine, Auntie. Just like Wenjie said, watches aren't easily damaged. You guys rest for a bit, I'll go make dinner."
Everyone offered to help, but Duan Xifeng refused to let anyone pitch in. He told the women to stay and chat with He Wenjie, and walked into the kitchen by himself to cook.
Before long, the dishes were ready. The group sat down at the table, eating and chatting. Xue Sumei asked, "Wenjie, have you found a suitable location for your fitness club yet?"
Duan Xifeng chimed in, "Ah, that's my fault, Auntie. Wenjie mentioned this to me when we had dinner before, asking me to help keep an ear out. But things have been so busy at the company lately that it completely slipped my mind. I'll have someone look into suitable locations right away."
"No worries at all, brother-in-law, there's no rush. I've been scouting around in my spare time too. Your work at the company comes first."
Xue Sumei argued, "How can you not be in a rush? The sooner you find a place, the sooner you can open for business."
"Auntie, opening a fitness club isn't really about making money for me. The money I make from stock trading is already enough for my daily expenses."
Yang Tao backed him up from the side, "Mom, stop worrying. We know what we're doing."
Seeing this, Xue Sumei didn't say much more. Suddenly remembering something, Duan Xifeng said, "Right, Wenjie, I just thought of a location that should meet your requirements, though the rent might be a bit high. If you have time, the two of us can set a date to go take a look."
"Great, let's coordinate our schedules later."
"No need to wait for later. After we finish eating, the two of you can go check it out and see if it's a fit. What if you like it and someone else snaps it up first?"
"Auntie, we've both been drinking today. We should leave it for another day."
"Have Taozi drive. Just happen to let Xiaoqing, Taozi, and me tag along to check it out."
"All right, Auntie. Look how impatient you are! We'll go right after we finish eating."