evening.
After returning from the company, Song Mingyuan changed into casual clothes at home and then went to Zhao Zeheng's house across the street.
Once everyone had arrived, Ruan Zheng prepared to start cooking and instructed Zhao Zeheng to prepare the bowls and chopsticks.
Song Yunshen had spent the afternoon playing with Yingying and was completely exhausted. He leaned back on the sofa to rest.
Children seem to have inexhaustible energy. Yingying was still lively and energetic, climbing onto the sofa every now and then, sitting on Song Yunshen's lap, and clamoring to ride a little horse.
"I don't want to ride anymore, okay? Let's do it next time?" Song Yunshen pleaded, hugging Yingying. "My back can't take it."
"You're so young, how come you already have a bad back?" Zhao Zeheng had just finished preparing the bowls and chopsticks, walked over and teased with a grin.
"If you're so capable, then come and try," Song Yunshen said irritably. "You should take care of your own daughter."
"No way!" Zhao Zeheng immediately changed his expression and said with a forced smile, "You have nothing to do during summer vacation, come and play with Yingying more often. I need to sleep during the day, and your aunt has to tutor students, so we don't have much time."
"I'm very busy during summer vacation too, okay?" Song Yunshen his eyes. "I definitely have to go to tutoring classes at school in the morning, and I also have a private tutor in the afternoon."
"Oh? You even hired a tutor?" Zhao Zeheng raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "What kind of tutoring? English?"
"Yes."
Where did you find the teacher?
"He found her at school," Song Mingyuan interjected, taking a sip of tea. "The top student in the second year of high school, a pretty girl."
"Oh ho!" Zhao Zeheng perked up immediately upon hearing this, leaning closer with a gossipy look on his face and nudging Song Yunshen's shoulder with a grin. "Something's up, kid?"
"Daddy, what's going on?" Yingying asked curiously from Song Yunshen's arms.
"You might have a sister-in-law soon," Zhao Zeheng chuckled. " Yingying, do you know what 'sister-in-law' means?"
"I don't know." Yingying shook her head in confusion.
"She's your brother's wife."
"Oh! Brother's going to have a wife!" Yingying suddenly realized, then her little mouth puckered, tears welled up in her eyes, and she burst into tears, wailing, "I want to be Brother's wife too! Waaaaah! Doesn't Brother want me anymore?"
Song Yunshen was startled. Seeing Yingying burst into tears, he immediately glared at Zhao Zeheng and said, "That's what you call talking nonsense! Stop crying, stop crying, Yingying, don't cry. Your brother hasn't even found a wife yet. Your father is just making things up."
Zhao Zeheng's face darkened even more, and he quickly hugged Yingying into his arms. " Yingying, don't cry, Daddy was wrong. Your brother doesn't have a wife yet. Besides, you'll definitely find a better husband in the future, a million times better than your brother."
Heh... Song Yunshen sneered upon hearing this. You think you're looking for aliens? A thousand times more?
You should be grateful if you can find a man who's even 80% as good as him.
"I want my brother! I want my brother!" Yingying, who had calmed down, burst into even louder tears upon hearing this. "I want my brother to let me ride his pony, not anyone else!"
Song Yunshen Shen was initially quite happy, after all, children speak without thinking, which only proved that Yingying really liked him.
But upon hearing the end, he was immediately speechless.
So, Yingying wants to be his wife just so he can ride ponies for the rest of his life?
That's going too far!
After finally managing to soothe his daughter, Zhao Zeheng was exhausted and covered in sweat.
At this moment, Ruan Zheng had already prepared a table of food and invited everyone to sit down.
"What just happened?" Ruan Zheng asked Zhao Zeheng as she helped Yingying into the baby seat. "Why was Yingying crying so hard?"
"It's my fault, it's my fault." Song Yunshen looked ashamed. "It's all because I'm too charming. Yingying insisted on becoming my wife."
"Get out of my way," Zhao Zeheng spat. "His skin is thicker than a city wall."
"Heh." Song Yunshen glanced at his uncle. "If it weren't for my thick skin, would you have been able to marry such a beautiful, virtuous, capable, gentle, and strong woman like my aunt?"
"Alright, alright, let's eat." Ruan Zheng covered her mouth and chuckled, pleased with the compliment. She proactively placed a piece of pork rib on Song Yunshen. "I made braised pork ribs especially for you. Try it and see how it tastes."
Song Yunshen handed over the bowl, took a big gulp, and immediately let out a blissful "Mmm~" before giving Ruan Zheng a thumbs up. "As expected of Auntie's cooking, it's amazing! I feel like my tongue is melting."
"Don't overdo it," Zhao Zeheng clicked his tongue. "Your exaggerated acting is too awkward."
"You eat yours, what are you talking about?" Ruan Zheng glanced at Zhao Zeheng and sneered, "If you don't like it, then don't eat it."
"Cough... How could it not taste good? My wife's cooking is definitely the best in the world," Zhao Zeheng quickly tried to salvage the situation.
"Toned down your exaggerated acting." Song Yunshen rubbed the goosebumps on his arm and shook his head with a look of disgust. "Uncle, your ability to change your expression is truly unparalleled."
"Roll!"
Although Zhao Zeheng is over thirty, he still has a youthful mindset and can tease and joke with his nephew.
Song Mingyuan, standing to the side, was much more composed, barely speaking throughout, only occasionally chiming in with a few words.
Only after Song Yunshen started eating seriously and the noise at the table subsided did Song Mingyuan ask Zhao Zeheng, "How's your short drama studio going?"
"Oh, this?" Zhao Zeheng smiled casually. "It's just starting out. It's just a few friends and we're partners. We haven't hired anyone yet."
"Over the past few months, we've basically got the process running smoothly, established several key channels, and are able to connect with several platforms and companies for content submissions."
"Now all of our partners' drafts are approved. The next step is to prepare the training process and see if we can recruit some new people to write them."
"We provide a standardized collaboration process, letting them follow our path. If they can succeed, then it's time to make big money."
Song Mingyuan wasn't very knowledgeable in this area, but after hearing the gist of it, he nodded and said, "In short, be careful; you still need to be cautious when it comes to investments."
"Yes, I know." Zhao Zeheng nodded. "The money I invested comes from the royalties I earn writing short dramas. I keep all the royalties from my online novels in my savings; I won't touch them."
After the two finished discussing this matter, Ruan Zheng, who had just finished feeding Yingying, looked over and discussed it with Song Mingyuan:
"Brother-in-law, there's something I want to ask you."
"You say."
"Does your brother know anyone in the education sector?" Ruan Zheng asked. "I remember we talked about it around Chinese New Year."
"It seems so, he has a friend who works there." Song Mingyuan recalled for a moment, "What's wrong?"
"Well, Yingying's going to kindergarten in the second half of the year, right?" Ruan Zheng said thoughtfully. "I was thinking of hiring a preschool teacher for her during the summer vacation to teach her some Chinese, math, and English in advance, so she can build a foundation."