The restaurant Qi Ruixi booked was a Chinese restaurant in the city center.
By the time Xu Tingyu was on her way there, Qi Ruixi had already arrived and had been sending her voice messages.
"Sister - in - law, you don't know how hard I've had it abroad. The food I ate every day was so bad that even dogs wouldn't touch it!"
"Now that I'm finally back in my dear motherland, I have to make up for all the food I missed over the years. Sister - in - law, you have to accompany me for all of it."
"Hehe, sister - in - law, I really miss you. Why aren't you here yet?"
"No no no, I'm not that impatient. Take your time on the road. Don't rush. It's too dangerous."
...
After Xu Tingyu parked her car, she walked towards the private room while clicking on the voice messages one by one, unable to help the corners of her mouth turning up.
When she finally reached the private room and just pushed open the door, Qi Ruixi jumped out from inside and hugged Xu Tingyu tightly.
"Sister - in - law, my most beloved, most beautiful and sweet - smelling sister - in - law."
Qi Ruixi resembled Qi Shifeng. She was extremely beautiful with the typical appearance of a cool and elegant woman, yet her personality was that of a cute and affectionate girl.
She gave Xu Tingyu an exaggerated big hug and kissed her on the cheek.
Xu Tingyu was holding flowers and gifts in her hands. She could only hold them up helplessly so as not to be crushed.
"Xixi, welcome back to China. This is a welcome - back gift, and the other one is a graduation gift from big brother that he asked me to give you."
After they were seated, Xu Tingyu placed the gifts in front of her.
Qi Ruixi had really grown up in a privileged environment and had seen all kinds of good things.
But due to her good upbringing, she still showed her liking after opening the gift boxes.
"Sister - in - law, you're really good at choosing. I like it so much. My big brother's taste is just so - so. He just casually bought a new style to fool me."
"No, he did put in a little thought. I attended a new - product show of this brand last month and posted about it in my circle."
The necklace Qi Ye gave her was also from the same series as the one Xu Tingyu gave, but the pendant was in the shape of a small sun.
Xu Tingyu didn't think much of it. She thought Qi Ye was just afraid they would mind if their necklaces were the same.
But after Qi Ruixi knew that the one Xu Tingyu received had a moon pattern, her expression suddenly became a bit strange.
"I heard that the design inspiration for the moon pendant comes from 'The night sky is beautiful tonight'."
"The night sky is beautiful tonight" is the Japanese writer Soseki Natsume's interpretation of "I love you", a subtle and hazy confession.
After hearing this, Xu Tingyu's complexion also changed slightly.
But before she could say anything, Qi Ruixi shook her head.
"However, my brother surely doesn't know this. He's been studying in the US. How could he understand such subtle expressions? So he must have just seen my post in the circle and bought it casually."
"My two brothers are both extremely straight - laced men. They're boring and have no sense of romance. When I see my big brother, I'll surely give him a good scolding."
Seeing that Qi Ruixi didn't seem to be just saying this to smooth things over but really thought so, Xu Tingyu immediately felt relieved.
"Yes, big brother just wanted to give you a graduation gift. I'm just getting lucky with you."
Qi Ruixi nodded and didn't think much of it. Then she started to pour out all her grievances to Xu Tingyu.
After complaining a lot, she suddenly said, "I'm going to start working at Qishi next week. Second brother actually arranged for me to do odd jobs in the brand department. I don't want to do odd jobs!"
"Sister - in - law, can you put in a good word for me with second brother? Can't he just give me a cushy job? One where I just get paid without doing much work."
"Okay, sister - in - law. Please, okay? Okay?"
She clasped her hands together, with a look of expectation and pleading on her face. She looked extremely cute.
Xu Tingyu couldn't bear to refuse at all.
But she also knew that she had no influence with Qi Shifeng, so she could only answer vaguely, "I'll try."
During the meal, Qi Ruixi was extremely busy. Her mouth had to eat and talk non - stop at the same time.
After the meal, she even exclaimed how tired she was.
"But it's so nice to have a meal with sister - in - law. So sister - in - law, can I stay at your place tonight?"
For such a cute request, Xu Tingyu of course wouldn't refuse.
After paying the bill, Qi Ruixi kept holding on to Xu Tingyu's arm and wouldn't let go.
It was already very late when the two of them got home.
Xu Tingyu was walking in front. Just as she passed through the garden, she suddenly heard a voice, "Stop."
The voice was deep, like the wind passing through the vast stars.
She stopped in her tracks and turned to look.
She only saw Qi Shifeng sitting on the swing in the garden. The silvery moonlight fell on him, making him look cold and aloof.
The large clusters of shrubby mallows were blooming brightly in the moonlight, making the man behind the flowers look even more languid and extremely handsome.
The thin night breeze blew, making the flower branches sway and confusing Xu Tingyu's heart.
She didn't know what to say or how to say it. She just looked at him from afar across the clusters of flowers.
Qi Shifeng didn't say anything else either. He just sat there casually, looking a bit like his former self.
Just then, Qi Ruixi finished answering a call and quickly caught up. She hugged Xu Tingyu's arm again and started to act coquettishly.
"Sister - in - law, can I sleep with you tonight? I still have so many things to tell you."
She had just shaken Xu Tingyu's arm a few times when she was pulled away.
She looked up and saw it was Qi Shifeng. Immediately, she became obedient.
She was no longer like the girl who had been complaining in the restaurant just now. Instead, she was like a naughty student who had seen the dean and immediately stood up straight.
"You come back to the country but don't go home. What are you doing here?"
Qi Shifeng frowned and looked at his sister's hand that was still clinging to Xu Tingyu's arm.
Qi Ruixi felt as if her hand was on fire and immediately let go.
But her mouth was still stubborn, "This is my home too. I want to be close to my sister - in - law."
She was the youngest child in the family. Everyone spoiled her, and she had been fearless since childhood.
But in the past two years, she had been a bit afraid of Qi Shifeng.
In her words, "My second brother is like a fierce beast now. I even suspect he could bite my head off in one mouthful."
"Say it again."
Qi Shifeng frowned even tighter. Be close to his wife? What did that mean?
Qi Ruixi was extremely afraid when he spoke like this. Immediately, she became extremely submissive.
"Brother, my most handsome brother. I'm homeless now. Please be kind enough to take me in for a few days."
It turned out that half a month ago, she had a fight with Liu Ning.
The fight started because Liu Ning said she had found a good family for her and ordered her to end her trip immediately and come back for a blind date.
Of course, she disagreed. The two had a big fight and blocked each other's accounts.
"Brother, sister - in - law, tell me. In this day and age, why are they still doing this arranged - marriage thing?"
"She has to control what university I go to and what major I study. That's okay. But now she even has to control who I like."
"I know she loves me, but I'm fed up. I'll never compromise on this."
"Don't I even have the right to marry the person I truly like?"
Qi Ruixi was a bit excited. She waved her hands around as she protested and didn't notice that her words had changed the expressions of the two people.