629. Pre-Wedding Daily Life
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Up until now, Lin Nan’s personality remained introverted and passive.
But after spending a while away from the campus, she had gotten used to chatting with people like talking to people and ghosts alike. Whether it was job interviews or mingling with new colleagues, she wouldn’t get tense anymore.
However, this also meant she hadn’t made any new friends.
People in the real world aren’t as naive as students, especially since Lin Nan is quite pretty. Most men who approached her had ulterior motives, while women… even though her personality had fully embraced femininity, her interests still leaned toward typical male topics, making her struggle to connect with regular girls.
She simply had no interest in celebrities, TV dramas, or cosmetics. Give her military discussions, the cosmos, or international relations—these topics she barely understood but found somewhat intriguing—any day over a chat about fashion.
So even after spending a decent amount of time at that training institution, when it came time to write wedding invitations, she didn’t bother considering her colleagues.
Early the next morning, Lin Nan got out of bed.
Having a spacious apartment of over a hundred square meters shared by just two people felt a bit empty, so she had assigned the second-floor guest room to Cola, while one of the downstairs bedrooms became a parrot room and the other was turned into a game room by Chen Yao.
While Chen Yao usually gamed in the living room, if he was alone, he preferred the dedicated game room, which was gradually getting outfitted with VR setups and steering wheels among other gaming hardware.
Currently, Lin Nan was out of work, so she’d have to play the role of a housewife for a while.
But waking up at six a.m. still felt a tad too early for her. Back when she was employed, she woke at eight and left by eight-thirty without a hitch.
By the time she got home, it was already seven. She immediately started preparing breakfast to avoid Chen Yao having to eat greasy stuff like fried dough every morning.
Even though Chen Yao was upstairs in the master bedroom, the noise she made upon returning woke him up anyway.
He shuffled downstairs in his short sleeves and shorts, yawning like a sleepy bear, only to see Lin Nan, who was struggling with a large bag of groceries in front of the fridge.
“Why are you up so early?”
“Didn’t we agree that until I find work, I’d handle all the meals?” Lin Nan lifted her head to look at Chen Yao. “Go back to sleep, it’s only seven.”
“Forget it, I can’t fall back asleep.”
Chen Yao, in his slippers, ambled into the kitchen and plopped himself down on a chair in the dining area, resting his chin in hand and watching Lin Nan, who donned an apron and busied herself in the kitchen.
Although they weren’t married yet, their relationship seemed no different from that of a couple.
Once, Lin Nan, dressed sharply in a little suit, managed a classroom full of students with a serious face and a ponytail. Now, in her comfy home wear, she exuded a charm that hinted at her domestic prowess.
Through the kitchen’s glass door, Chen Yao watched her with goofy affection.
The kitchen used to be open-plan, but after complaints from his mother and aunt about the smoke, they opted for a closed design during renovations. Lin Nan agreed; open kitchens weren’t exactly suited for Chinese cooking.
“What do you feel like eating?” she called out.
“How about some lean meat porridge?”
“I just bought some shrimp; how about shrimp and lean meat porridge?” Lin Nan said as she pulled out a piece of pork tenderloin to shred on the cutting board.
Chen Yao nodded in agreement.
Over the years, Lin Nan had grown more and more beautiful while Chen Yao had only slimmed down a bit, with no significant change in his looks at all.
With the ingredients simmering in the pot, Lin Nan dashed out of the kitchen to grab a stack of invitations she’d written the night before.
Worried about Chen Yao’s poor memory, she laid the invitations before him and reminded, “You need to confirm their addresses today. Send them to everyone who wants to come, but don’t force anyone who doesn’t.”
“Got it.” Chen Yao fished out Xiong Da’s invitation and slid it to the top.
“Remember to ensure they bring a decent gift—not under five hundred. No lowballers allowed,” Lin Nan joked.
Chen Yao caught the humor in her voice, replying, “Well, for Xiong Da, I’ll be sure to request several thousand! We should cash in on our wedding; when he gets married, we won’t show up.”
“Why does Xiong Da need money to marry a cardboard cutout?”
With the porridge bubbling away, Lin Nan was in no rush to return to the kitchen. Instead, she sat down, wiped her wet fingers on a paper towel, and asked, “So what’s Liu Xuefei been up to these days?”
“Playing housewife for your uncle,” Chen Yao replied, propping his foot up. “They’re close to tying the knot, and your grandfather’s been pushing for you to get married too.”
Lin Nan thought Liu Xuefei was actually going to become a makeup artist.
“Heard she’s even starting to prepare for pregnancy.”
“Ah?” Lin Nan jumped, shocked. “So soon? They’re not even married yet!”
She glanced at Chen Yao to find him grinning teasingly, her face immediately flushed as she shot him an eye-roll.
Chen Yao only encouraged her eye-rolls further, responding, “Isn’t it pretty normal to be pregnant before marriage now? Besides, your grandfather’s health isn’t the best.”
Mentioning that put a damper on Lin Nan’s mood.
Not because she feared her grandfather might kick the bucket, but because he had taken to using his health as an excuse to nudge Lin Nan to hurry up and have kids…
She couldn’t shake the suspicion that her grandfather was just play-acting for sympathy.
