As Yang Zhen'er's good friend, Tang Baona was a little embarrassed and took the initiative to say, "At that time, Zhen'er had just gotten her driver's license and wasn't very skilled yet..."
The second uncle smiled and nodded, then continued, "In short, you saved Old Master Zhang's grandson. The Zhang family wants to be indebted to you, but they don't want to be indebted to you. So, that's why our company got that big order a while ago. It's all thanks to Nana." He had gone to great lengths to find out the details of the abduction of the Zhang family's two grandsons because of that big order from the neighboring province.
Tang Baona said modestly in a low voice, "We just happened to be there." Her second uncle had actually promised her a large share of the profits from that business deal.
Her maternal grandfather, Mr. Feng, nodded with a smile and said, "No matter what, it's a good thing. Doing good deeds and receiving good rewards is a good outcome."
At this moment, Tang Baona's eldest cousin, who was also the eldest daughter of her maternal uncle's family, suddenly said, "I heard there were four of you together that day? Besides you, Yang Zhen'er, and that tall girl from the Xia family, who was the other one again?"
Tang Baona glanced at her older sister and said, "She's a friend."
"I heard it's a man?" my older cousin asked, still looking on with curiosity (and a bit of gossip).
At this moment, Tang Baona's older sister, Tang Baoting, said, "That person is a friend of my classmate. My classmate and I were originally going to go together that day, but something came up and we couldn't go, so we had to let him go with Nana and the others."
The fact that she asked her classmate Wang Han to introduce Tang Baona to a blind date was unknown to anyone in their family other than their own small family of four.
Tang Baoting knew very well that if her cousin and aunt found out about this, they would definitely keep asking endless questions, and her younger sister disliked dealing with that kind of situation the most.
"Oh? So we're the same age? What do you do for a living?" my older cousin asked again.
"He's a programmer," Tang Baoting said. Wang Han and Chang Bin had naturally informed her about Xiang Kun's situation first.
My cousin's husband suddenly interjected, "Which company is it? Maybe I've checked them out recently; these IT companies are all short of money right now."
The Tang sisters did not respond to their cousin-in-law immediately; they simply smiled and remained silent, as they were well aware of his mannerisms and habits.
Sure enough, my cousin's husband quickly shifted his attention and said to my second uncle, "Second Uncle, there are still some small IT companies worth investing in, like in the AR field. I visited a company there the other day..."
The Tang sisters exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
"Did you just call a ride-hailing service?" Tang Baoting leaned closer to her sister and whispered, "Where's your own car? I don't think I've seen you drive it in a long time."
"They're all in the parking garage. Anyway, Zhen'er and I live together, so I usually hitch a ride with her. Sometimes she drives mine too. Sis, do you want to drive that car?"
"I'm driving my own car just fine. What about you? Don't you drive yourself?"
"You know I don't like driving, and the less I drive now, the less I like it."
Tang Baoting said meaningfully, "Actually, it's not just driving; it's the same with many things. The less you do them, the less you understand them, the less you're used to them, and the more afraid you are to do them."
Tang Baona naturally knew that her sister was talking about dating or something, but she pretended not to understand and did not respond.
Tang Baoting looked up and saw that the other relatives were chatting and no one was paying attention to them, so she simply asked directly, "Did the person Chang Bin introduced go to Lao Xia's for dinner today?"
Tang Baona nodded, "Yes." But she didn't explain that Xiang Kun had cooked dinner that night, and that the group had originally planned to celebrate Xiang Kun's birthday in advance.
"Um, do you and that person... meet often?" She had actually tried to subtly inquire about Tang Baona and Xiang Kun's interactions a few times before, but she had only received vague answers. However, the vague answers themselves were enough to tell a lot.
"Not very often, maybe once or twice a week, and it's always with Zhen'er and Lao Xia. I know what you want to ask, we're just ordinary friends now," Tang Baona replied directly.
In fact, she had seriously thought about her feelings for Xiang Kun, but the result was that she really didn't have those feelings, no attraction, or the idea of spending her life with him.
However, when they usually hang out together, Xiang Kun is a very interesting person, and he always has some impressive "skills," whether it's playing cards, archery, or cooking, and he also seems to have a more insightful perspective than Lao Xia.
Although they met through a blind date, she actually preferred to be friends with Xiang Kun. If Xiang Kun were to confess his feelings to her now, or express a strong desire to pursue her, she would be in a difficult position.
Fortunately, Xiang Kun has never expressed any similar intentions, nor has he made any cross-border or ambiguous statements. It seems that he treats it as a very simple friendship, without any deliberate effort, and it is very natural.
This made her feel relieved and even gratified, as she felt that she shared the same thoughts as Xiang Kun.
"You didn't feel anything?" Tang Baoting asked.
"Yes." Tang Baona nodded.
Seeing her sister's response, Tang Baoting said, "Yeah, I actually also think that Chang Bin and you aren't a good match. And... it seems like he hasn't found a new job yet, has he? Although our parents are much more open-minded than our uncles and don't care so much about family background or origin, they still need to be able to provide for your current standard of living..."
Compared to their two uncles, Tang's father was indeed a rather unconventional and eccentric figure. After making a fortune in business in his early years, he used it all to buy real estate. After the real estate appreciated significantly, he simply took over all the businesses and became a landlord.
He usually spends his days traveling with his wife, and he adopts a laissez-faire attitude towards his two daughters, taking things as they come, not comparing or competing with them, and being quite Zen-like. Even his requirements for his son-in-law are very simple: good character and that his daughters like him.
"She has some ideas now, maybe she'll start her own business, so she hasn't looked for a job yet. She's definitely not a lazy person, there's no doubt about that," Tang Baona said. She didn't want her friend to be seen as a lazy person in her sister's eyes.
"Start a business?" Tang Baoting couldn't help but frown. "Don't get involved."
"Don't worry, we always split the bill when we go out together. He's not the type to be calculating in this regard."
Tang Baoting thought for a moment and nodded, "Yes, that's true. People introduced by Wang Han and Chang Bin, putting aside everything else, should be of good character."
Tang Baona didn't say anything more. After a while, she went to sit on the swing chair next to the yard under the pretext of looking after her cousins who were playing together, and looked at her phone and browsed Weibo.
Her fingers were scrolling when she suddenly stopped, then quickly scrolled back a few times, stopped on a picture, opened it, and looked at the familiar bald head, the bow bag she had just personally given away that day, and the caption on the Weibo post. Tang Baona was stunned.
She quickly found more photoshopped images on this trending topic. Looking at Xiang Kun's back, which had been "ravaged" and "tortured" in various ways, and the various distorted images, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Then she found a few of the most heavily modified pictures and sent them to Xiang Kun's WeChat.
There was also a Weibo link that sparked the trending topic "#Lone Bald Man#".
Whether it was the short-haired girl who initially took the photo and posted it online with text, or Tang Baona who saw the picture and learned the bald man's identity, or the millions of other netizens who saw the picture online, participated in the discussion, forwarded it, or even posted the picture for secondary dissemination, they all felt that this was just a coincidence.
Only Xiang Kun, after seeing the unedited original photo, remembered some information he had previously overlooked.