Chapter 708: Chapter 708

He Jinxia couldn’t help but ask, "Mom! What day is it today? Why are you cooking so much food?"

From outside the kitchen, a wave of sound came through, seemingly Mrs. He’s response mixed with the voices of others, as if a TV drama was playing. He Jinxia shouted, "I didn’t hear you!"

After that, He Jinxia didn’t hear Mrs. He’s voice again. Instead, the voices coming from the living room grew louder.

He Jinxia then suddenly realized that there were guests at home. Just as she thought to go out and take a look, Mrs. He walked in, beaming with joy, "What are you shouting for, everyone heard your yelling."

Seeing her , He Jinxia grew even more curious, "Mom, who are the guests at home?"

Finally, Mrs. He couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her, exasperatedly saying, "Don’t you know? Today is your engagement party!"

The atmosphere suddenly turned silent, the air filled with an awkward scent, and a few leaves seemed to swirl past before her eyes, as if three crows flew overhead...

He Jinxia was petrified for a moment before she came back to her senses and stuttered, "My, my engagement party... How come I didn’t know about it?"

Mrs. He rolled her eyes at her again and pushed her towards the door, "Knowing that you’re busy with shooting and have gone crazy, you promised two months ago right in front of Xiao Sheng that there would be an engagement party in July, and you’ve forgotten it yourself!

Xiao Sheng, fearing you’d break your promise, eagerly handed me the recording."

"I was thinking, the two of you have been together for a while, our families know each other, and you’re both good-looking. It’s better to settle things early. Otherwise, when those butterflies flutter over, you both wouldn’t know how to explain yourselves.

After all, girlfriends can be callously dumped, but once engaged, a fiancée clearly shows an intent to marry, and some of those butterflies will retreat knowing the difficulty. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ n0velfire.net

With that in mind, I thought it better to lock things down sooner. Isn’t that a kind of commitment for both of you?

Since you said there would be an engagement party in July, I also couldn’t break my word. The two families get together for a meal, exchange engagement tokens, and we parents don’t fuss over showy events.

As for you two young stars, busy with work and can’t attract too much attention, it’s better to keep it low-key.

So, since you were on holiday recently, I talked with Aunt Rui, and she helped to see if they could visit us these days. Just talked about it yesterday, and today their whole family hustled over."

Mrs. He took her hand and earnestly spoke a bunch, concluding, "The in-laws have arrived, so hurry out and entertain them!"

He Jinxia had a look of wanting to cry without tears, "Mom, how could you not tell me about such a big event in advance?"

Mrs. He raised an eyebrow, "Even if I told you in advance, what would it change? You’d still drive me crazy."

—Mom hit the nail on the head!

He Jinxia’s heart was racing like a startled deer, thumping away incessantly.

Standing at the kitchen entrance, she halted, torn over whether to step out or not. She was completely conflicted.

Then, Mrs. He’s voice faintly reached her ears, "Speaking of which, you never mentioned all those butterflies around Sheng Yan to me either.

If it weren’t for Sheng Yan telling me this time that those women were making you very angry, but because you weren’t engaged, they all thought he was deceiving them. That’s when I learned he’s so popular.

Ah, Sheng Yan has it tough too. It’s better to define the relationship sooner to speak of it openly. In case the paparazzi caught you and blew it up one day, netizens wouldn’t say you’re afraid of the light. Besides—"

Mrs. He paused mid-sentence and smiled, "Getting engaged first, you can get married whenever you want, just hold a banquet later. Even if a child comes, they won’t be nameless."

He Jinxia’s body stiffened, a baby?

She slowly turned her head, her voice rigid, "Mom, Sheng Yan and I are—"

Mrs. He waved her hand dismissively, "Alright, alright, no need to explain. Hurry out to greet the in-laws. They are here especially to see you, and it wouldn’t do for you, the main concern, not to show up. Go quickly, I can handle serving the rest of the dishes!"

——We took precautions.

That thought drifted silently through her mind as He Jinxia choked on her words and swallowed them back down, stepping out of the kitchen with mixed feelings.

At the door, Sheng Yan, Aunt Rui, and Mr. Sheng sat at the dining table with a certain seriousness in the air, speaking very little.

Sheng Yan’s grandparents had long succumbed to illness and passed away when he was young.

For a century, the Sheng Family had been martyrs and military personnel, with the men destined to be soldiers and the women to be military doctors.

In Mr. Sheng’s generation, his aptitude for science led him away from the perils of military service to the safety of research. When it came to Sheng Yan’s generation, he chose to forsake it all to go into business.

Luckily, he proved to be successful. Owing to his work, Mr. Sheng kept a distance from the intrigues of the Imperial City elite, and the Shengs were known for their low profile.

But, low profile or not, their influence could not be underestimated. The connections fostered by his grandparents were still active, which was precisely why the Bai Family, where Bai Bing came from, sought an alliance through marriage with the Sheng Family.

Over the past 50 years, the Bai Family had risen rapidly, leveraging Old Master Bai’s achievements to become one of the prominent families in Imperial City. Although they had reached a similar level, they lacked the deep foundations of the other noble families.

What they had acquired was as unstable as duckweed, easily replaceable at any time, which is why they were looking to marry into an established family. Sheng Yan, being close in age to Bai Bing, was the ideal choice.

In previous years, when the Shengs still lived in the military compound, Sheng Yan’s family often endured the persistent disturbances from the Bai Family.

As the saying goes, one does not strike the smiling face. Even though they knew what the Bai Family intended, with nothing explicitly mentioned, it wasn’t right for them to bluntly say that their son had no interest in their daughter. So they simply moved out of the compound to enjoy a few years of peace.

But in the blink of an eye, their own son now had a fiancée and would soon discuss marriage. Sheng Zhaozhong felt melancholic and intentionally turned to look at Sheng Yan.

It seemed as if it was just yesterday that he became like a tiny rice dumpling, clinging to his leg and calling him "Daddy".

He Jinxia walked over, her gaze occasionally floating towards Sheng Yan, hoping he would say something.

But today, Sheng Yan seemed to have made up his mind to remain silent, his head slightly bowed, not even glancing at He Jinxia.

He Jinxia shot him an imperceptible glare and took the initiative to speak, "Uncle Sheng, Aunt Rui."

She broke the silence upon her arrival, and Aunt Rui responded with a smile, "Still calling me Aunt Rui? You should start calling me ’Mom’ now!"

He Jinxia’s face immediately flushed with a hint of red, stammering, unsure of what to say.

Now, they were only engaged, not yet married. Would it be inappropriate to call her ’Mom’ so soon?

Sheng Yan looked up at her and suddenly said, "It is about time to start calling her ’Mom’."

He Jinxia glared at him, and Sheng Yan winked back at her with a smile.

Mr. Sheng and Aunt Rui exchanged a smile upon seeing the two of them playfully bickering; everything was understood without words.