As soon as she said this, the surroundings fell into a dead silence, as if even the air had frozen.

Lu Huaiyu’s eyebrows twitched violently.

He knew that Shen Zhijin was staring at him again. Even without looking up, he could still feel the extremely cold gaze, as if it was physically pressing down on him.

It was as if there was an unseen enchantment enveloping this small area. All the noise and bustle seemed to have been separated, leaving only a stifling silence.

Then, Lu Huaiyu slowly raised his eyes and said with a calm expression,”Teacher Shen, it seems that Ah Li is quite drunk.”

Shen Zhijin did not answer him.

That was because, at the moment, Shen Li was still half-leaning into Lu Huaiyu’s embrace and her eyes were completely trained on him.

“Lu Huaiyu.”

After a long while, Shen Zhijin finally spoke. His voice was exceptionally calm and clear.

He rarely directly called Lu Huaiyu by his full name. Now that he had said it, it was clear that there was no emotion in his voice. However, Lu Huaiyu could clearly feel that the temperature around him had suddenly dropped a lot.

Shen Zhijin looked at him and in a very flat voice, he said,”What did she just say? Did you hear it?”

Lu Huaiyu was speechless.

For a moment, his throat went dry. However, he then nodded, and with an especially serious expression on his face, he said,”Indeed, we can’t let Ah Li drink casually anymore. What do you think?”

Shen Zhijin merely looked at him without saying anything, as if he had not heard what he said at all.

The two of them seemed to have gotten caught in some kind of subtle confrontation.

It was actually not a big deal to say that she was drunk. It was true that Shen Li could not hold her liquor well, but today was special because Lin Fengmian’s concert had ended successfully. She had drunk two glasses because she was happy. It was a very normal thing.

It was also normal for someone to talk nonsense while they were drunk.

However…

The most important thing was that when Shen Li had asked that question, the tone of her voice had been extremely natural.

So what exactly was it that happened that made her turn to look at Lu Huaiyu after hearing the words “go home” when she was drunk? Why had she said that sentence so naturally?

Time seemed to pass very quickly, but also very slowly.

During this period of time, Shen Zhijin broke down Shen Li’s short sentence in his head and repeatedly considered the meaning of each word carefully.

No matter which way he thought of it, whichever way he arranged it, or which way he interpreted it, there seemed to be no other answer.

The hand that Lu Huaiyu was using to hold Shen Li also seemed to be burning hot. He did not know whether touching it or not touching it made him more guilty.

He really had not expected to hear Shen Li say such a thing.

Was his little girl worried that their road towards marriage was too smooth?!

Explain?

With the current situation, there seemed to be no way out. It seemed like he should give some kind of explanation.

However, Lu Huaiyu was sure that he would usually be able to talk his way out of a situation like this, but this was just–

A dead end.

Thus, he made a prompt decision and looked at Shen Li.

“Ah Li, in the future, when Teacher Shen and I are not around, you are not allowed to drink by yourself, do you understand?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the little girl in front of him blinked her eyes, as if she did not quite understand.

However, Shen Zhijin, who was standing not far away, sneered.

However, it was very slight. Very, very slight.

Lu Huaiyu stayed quiet.

“Tangtang.”

Shen Zhijin finally shifted his gaze away from Lu Huaiyu to look at Shen Li.

Compared to his usual gentleness, his voice now carried a slight unusual calmness.

Lu Huaiyu could hear it, but Shen Li did not.

She did not even react when he first called her.

Therefore, she completely ignored Shen Zhijin and continued to look at Lu Huaiyu.

When she saw that the man in front of her had not moved at all, she frowned slightly.

Why was he not moving?

Why was he not hugging her?

Wasn’t he going home?

Shen Zhijin had not expected her to not respond to him calling her and was about to call out again.

“Tang–”

He could not say the rest of his sentence.

That was because Shen Li had raised her arms and wrapped them around Lu Huaiyu’s neck, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck.

“Alright.”

She opened her mouth very consciously and obediently said, “Let’s go.”

…

Lu Huaiyu had known a long time ago that it would not be easy to make her his wife when he saw Yu Pingchuan dismembering the white steamed chicken in the kitchen.

However, he really had not expected it to be quite so difficult.

Dealing with Yu Pingchuan was okay, but he could barely even deal with Elder Mei. As for the members of the Gu family, he had already gone to Hong Kong City as her boyfriend before she had even met them.

All of these were not problems.

The most difficult one was Shen Zhijin.

After all, she was the only family he had in this world. She was also the apple of his eye after he had gone through eighteen years of loneliness and suffering.

Shen Zhijin really loved her to the core.

Now, however, Lu Huaiyu felt that this “pain” had been transferred to him.

Of course, it was purely “pain”.

Lu Huaiyu closed his eyes and pulled back his rationality.

He raised his head to look at Shen Zhijin again with a sincere expression on his face.

“Teacher Shen, I think Ah Li is too drunk. Why don’t I get someone to prepare some hangover soup first?”

Shen Zhijin did not look at him. Instead, he walked over to him.

To begin with, the distance between the two of them was already close so he was soon standing in front of him after walking around the small table.

Lu Huaiyu was still holding on to Shen Li while they were sitting on the sofa together. Shen Zhijin stood there, looking down at them.

“Tangtang.”

Shen Zhijin called out to her again. His voice was a little louder than before, and his tone had gotten a little deeper.

Anyone who was familiar with Shen Zhijin would know that he was in extreme danger if they heard this.

Of course, Lu Huaiyu could also sense this, even though he and Teacher Shen were not that close.

Shen Li vaguely heard the sound of someone calling out, and it seemed to be directed at her. Thus, she was stunned for a moment, but she still raised her head and looked in the direction of the voice.

A handsome and clean face was reflected in her eyes.

When his eyes met Shen Li’s stunned and confused gaze, Shen Zhijin’s heart instantly softened. Many of the emotions that had surged up earlier were covered up by heartache.

In the beginning, he had known about her because of Xu Yin.

He had heard her name many times from Xu Yin’s mouth, and later, he had read her thesis.

Before they had met, he had already known that she was a very outstanding person.

After seeing her, after spending a few months with her, he understood that this little girl was a very strong and independent character.

However, he had never seen this expression on her face before.

Even though she did not say anything, just looking at her made Shen Zhijin’s heart hurt as if it was being pulled by something.

He lowered his voice.

“Tangtang, come here.”

Shen Li’s mind was a mess. She looked at Shen Zhijin for a long time before finally letting go of Lu Huaiyu.

She held Shen Zhijin’s hand and smiled with her eyes curved.

“Dad.”

Shen Zhijin stroked her hair.

“Be a good girl. Let’s go home.”

Shen Li nodded. “Okay.”

Lu Huaiyu stood up, feeling slightly relieved.

“Teacher Shen, Ah Li, let me send you–”

“Tangtang.”

Shen Zhijin was not in a hurry to turn around and leave. Instead, he very casually asked a question.

He pointed at Lu Huaiyu, enunciating each word carefully.

“How many times have you drunk with him before?”