Mr. Zhao, Mrs. Zhao, and Zhao Hui all came down.
Mr. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao were surprisingly reserved when they saw Chen Xiao.
"Chen... Chen..."
"Chen Xiao!" Seeing her parents stutter, unsure what to call him, Zhao Xiangjun chimed in, letting them know they could just use his name.
Chen Xiao quickly added, "Hello, sir, ma’am! I’m Chen Xiao. You can just call me by my name, or Xiao Chen is fine too!"
Chen Xiao wasn’t exceptionally tall, but at 178 cm, he wasn’t short either—just a little above average.
With his refined and handsome features, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao took an instant liking to him.
But seeing the sheer amount of gifts in the trunk and the frunk, they chided him gently, "You’re just visiting, why on earth did you bring so much?"
"He must think we’re running a convenience store and he’s here to restock the shelves!" Zhao Xiangjun snarked from the side.
"Don’t be rude," Mr. Zhao said, shooting his daughter a glare.
He didn’t realize the two of them were used to bickering like this at home. They could turn the most trivial thing into a full-blown debate.
While Chen Xiao and Zhao Xiangjun considered it just playful banter, her parents worried that he would think their daughter was tactless.
Looking at the pile of gifts, Mr. and Mrs. Zhao instructed Zhao Hui to carry the heaviest boxes of liquor, while they picked up the next heaviest ones themselves.
Chen Xiao couldn’t possibly let the older couple carry the heavy items and quickly tried to stop them.
But Mr. and Mrs. Zhao wouldn’t let him take the boxes from them, so he had no choice but to grab the remaining weighty items.
Mrs. Zhao then added, "You stay put. You can’t possibly carry that. Let Xiangjun get it!"
Chen Xiao was speechless. ’I’m a grown man, nearly 1.8 meters tall. How is it that in their eyes, I’m not even as strong as Zhao Xiangjun?’
Zhao Xiangjun rolled her eyes, then went and picked up the heaviest of the remaining boxes.
She didn’t seem to mind. She never let Chen Xiao do any heavy lifting at home anyway. As she put it, growing up in the countryside meant she’d done all kinds of hard labor—she could even carry a 60-jin bag of rice.
In the end, the only thing left for Chen Xiao to carry was his box of bird’s nest—the lightest one of all.
He resignedly picked it up and followed the "main convoy."
Mr. and Mrs. Zhao had both grown up doing farm work. They were strong and moved briskly, easily keeping pace with Zhao Hui.
Zhao Xiangjun subconsciously waited for Chen Xiao, but Chen Xiao really wasn’t walking very fast.
It was a bit awkward.
As they approached the elevator for their building, they ran into Xiangjun’s uncle. He had been on his way over to their place and, upon seeing the mountain of boxes, immediately knew Xiangjun must have brought her boyfriend home.
He hurried forward. "Xiangjun, let me help!"
At the same time, his eyes flicked over to Mr. and Mrs. Zhao, who were each carrying two cases of Maotai liquor.
Holy moly! The uncle was stunned. That was four cases of Maotai right there. Then he glanced at the two boxes Zhao Hui was carrying—two more cases, this time of Venerable Emperor cigarettes.
He was still mentally calculating the cost of it all when he heard his niece snap at him, "What are you gaping at? We’re almost at the elevator, what is there for you to take?"
"Don’t you see Chen Xiao is still carrying a box? Go take it from him, it’s heavy!"
As if waking from a dream, the uncle scurried past Zhao Xiangjun to take the box from Chen Xiao.
Chen Xiao couldn’t fend off his enthusiasm and had to hand it over. The entire case of bird’s nest didn’t even weigh 10 jin, and he had no idea why they all thought he was incapable of carrying it.
The Zhao Family lived on the 10th floor. Chen Xiao squeezed into the crowded elevator, standing awkwardly.
The equipment in this old relocation building was aging. The elevator buttons were broken, with wires exposed.
Once they were inside and had exchanged another round of pleasantries, Chen Xiao made a point of looking for Zhao Xiangjun’s grandmother.
Just as Zhao Xiangjun had described, she was 85 years old with a full head of dark hair and a perfectly straight back. You could tell she must have been a great beauty in her youth.
After giving Chen Xiao a kindly nod of greeting, the grandmother continued to size him up.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xiangjun put down her things and immediately ran to her grandmother’s side. She helped her sit, then took the old woman’s hand and pressed it against her own cheek again and again, her eyes growing a little misty.
It had been a while since she’d last seen her grandmother.
Chen Xiao, on the other hand, was being enthusiastically entertained by the Zhao Family. He felt a bit flustered, having no experience with this kind of situation.
He stole a glance at Zhao Xiangjun and saw that she had let go of her grandmother’s arm. Now she was gently pinching the loose skin on the back of her grandmother’s hand, pulling it up and letting it go.
Chen Xiao’s facial muscles twitched. This seemingly silly act was probably just a playful antic she shared with her grandmother.
An elderly person’s skin is quite loose, so a gentle tug like that wouldn’t be painful.
Zhao Xiangjun had mentioned once that she had loved playing with her grandmother like this ever since she was a little girl.
Zhao Xiangjun’s sister-in-law, Wang Yan, served the tea. After a smiling greeting to Chen Xiao, she joined Mrs. Zhao in the kitchen to help out.
Mr. Zhao, Zhao Hui, and her uncle stayed to chat with Chen Xiao.
This was quite possibly the most awkward conversation Chen Xiao had ever been a part of. No one knew what to say; they had absolutely nothing in common.
Talking about work was out. The Zhao Family might not have known the full extent of Chen Xiao’s success, but even the tip of the iceberg they’d glimpsed was beyond their comprehension.
So there was nothing to discuss on that front, and it wasn’t like they could offer him any career advice.
They were reduced to asking about his parents’ health, but that conversation died after a few sentences.
This was where the uncle’s importance became clear. Sometimes, you need a goofy character to break the ice and liven things up.
"Xiao Chen," the uncle began, "I’ve watched Xiangjun grow up. Of all my nieces and nephews, I dote on her the most. So, I think I’ve earned a say in her affairs!"
Chen Xiao just listened with an amused smile. ’Knowing Zhao Xiangjun,’ he thought, ’she’s the only one who has a say in her affairs.’
But he wouldn’t call the uncle out. He’d just play along with this little performance.
Zhao Hui, however, was terrified. His uncle had a habit of speaking without thinking. ’What if he says something that angers President Chen?’
He was about to cut his uncle off, but the fast-talker had already launched into his questions.
"So, Xiao Chen, what do you do for a living?"
"Sales."
The uncle froze. He glanced back at the cases of Maotai and Venerable Emperor. ’A salesman can be this generous? My own son’s in sales, and he won’t even buy me a case of cheap Erguotou when he visits.’
"Oh, sales! Well, that’s about the same as my boy, then!"
Zhao Hui nearly fainted. ’Similar? How are they similar at all? One of them can’t even scrape together a few hundred yuan, while the other spent over a billion to buy a shopping plaza for his girlfriend!’
Chen Xiao could only offer an awkward chuckle. He couldn’t agree, but he also couldn’t reveal how much more successful he was than the man’s son. Openly embarrassing him would be a bad look, especially since they were family.
"So, Xiao Chen, what are the annual sales for the company you work for?"
Chen Xiao thought for a moment. "This year, it should exceed 300 million."
The reason he was so confident about this year’s 300 million figure was that he personally was responsible for closing nearly 300 million in orders.
The uncle nodded. "Oh, in that case, your company’s a bit worse off than my son’s. His boss does 500 million in sales a year!"