Chapter 56: Sister-in-law?

Zhang Mingyang nodded, glanced back at Senior Brother Peng just as he was pulled away by Tian Wenyuan.

After Peng Dongli settled the bill, the three of them strolled along the main street, enjoying the last rays of the sunset before midnight, the early spring breeze brushing against their faces, all in all, a very pleasant experience.

“Old Peng, didn’t you say you were going to show us something later?” Tian Wenyuan asked.

Peng Dongli took out his phone, sent a text message, a faint smile playing at his lips. He turned to them and said, “Come on, let’s go wait.”

With that, he strode ahead on his own.

The two behind exchanged glances. “Junior Brother, did Old Peng just give a lecherous grin?”

Zhang Mingyang nodded. “I think so.”

“Old Peng, wait for us!”

...

At six o’clock in the evening, Peng Dongli had already led the two of them wandering the streets of Xiping for over an hour before finally stopping in front of a hospital.

“Xiping City Central Hospital?”

“Old Peng, what are we doing here?” Tian Wenyuan was baffled. None of them had any health issues—so why the hospital?

“To see your sister-in-law.”

“Sister-in-law?” Tian Wenyuan froze, then shouted, “Old Peng, you’re married?”

Seeing Tian Wenyuan’s look of shock, Peng Dongli replied quite naturally, “I’m in my thirties, of course I’m married.”

“No, but… you never mentioned it before?”

Peng Dongli shrugged. “We’ve only known each other a few days, and besides, you never asked.”

With that, he walked in by himself.

“Well, look at you, Old Peng.” The other two followed him in.

The moment they entered the hospital, a cacophony of noise filled their ears. The first-floor lobby was packed with people. Several registration desks, though unattended, still had queues stretching dozens of meters.

Peng Dongli navigated through the throng, pulling his companions with him to the elevator on the right. They squeezed in, and he pressed the button for the fifteenth floor, leaning back with visible excitement.

Tian Wenyuan, ever observant, noticed Peng Dongli’s expression. He sidled up to him and whispered, “Old Peng, you haven’t been married long, have you?”

Peng Dongli seemed surprised. “How could you tell?”

Tian Wenyuan grinned. “I may not be married myself, but I can still recognize the look of a newlywed reunion.”

“Well, well! Who knew you were such an expert on romance? I only wonder why you’re still single then.”

“Get lost,” Tian Wenyuan retorted, giving him a playful kick. “You know, there’s that old saying: ‘absence makes the heart grow fonder.’ Your expression just now—my junior and I both saw it.”

“So, how long have you two been married?”

Without thinking, Peng Dongli replied, “A hundred and fifteen days.”

“There you go. A hundred and fifteen days. Subtract the half month you spent at the base, and you’ve actually been together only about three months. You two met through a matchmaking event, didn’t you? And you haven’t known each other for a year yet.”

“How do you know all that?” Peng Dongli asked, startled, as the elevator doors opened on the fifteenth floor and the three stepped out.

Listening to Tian Wenyuan’s analysis, Peng Dongli almost began to suspect he was standing next to a fortune-teller.

Tian Wenyuan continued with a smug look, “It’s clear you lack experience in romance. You two haven’t known each other a year, one works at the hospital, the other in a research institute—both jobs keep you so busy you can barely spend time at home together. Of course you’d have that look on your face just now.”

As he listened to Tian Wenyuan’s deductions, Peng Dongli kept an eye on the signs overhead. When he saw the sign for Gynecology Ward Two, he finally stopped.

“We’re here.”

Zhang Mingyang looked at the sign. “Senior Brother Peng, your wife is an OB-GYN?”

Peng Dongli nodded and motioned for them to sit on the bench nearby.

Once seated, his excitement was plain to see. “I met Xiao Jia at a matchmaking event. You know how it is these days—getting married after thirty is the trend, and so many people don’t even want to get married. My mom forced me to go.”

“At first, I didn’t want to go. I figured living alone was fine—one person, one mouth, no worries.”

“And then you changed your mind?” Tian Wenyuan teased.

Peng Dongli nodded sheepishly. “Every matchmaking event has photos of the participants, right? That night, I went through them without much interest, until I got to the last set—when I saw Xiao Jia’s picture, I don’t know what came over me. I was instantly captivated.”

“You were captivated? I bet it was her figure that caught your eye!” Tian Wenyuan joked.

“Get out of here,” Peng Dongli laughed, giving him a light kick.

“So what happened next?” Zhang Mingyang pressed.

“The next day at noon, I went to the matchmaking event with her photo in hand, searching for her everywhere. But I couldn’t find her. I asked the staff and they said Xiao Jia hadn’t arrived yet. So I waited at the door until seven in the evening—the event was long over by then—before she finally showed up.”

“I remember sitting by the entrance as she came running in. Our eyes met, and she spoke first. That was how we met. A month later, we started dating. Half a year after that, we got married. And here we are.”

“Wow, that’s quite a story!” Tian Wenyuan exclaimed.

“She’s coming.”

A clear female voice interrupted their conversation. All three looked up. A tall woman in a white coat, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, was standing before them.

Tian Wenyuan was stunned for a moment, then sprang up and in a flash was at her side, grasping her right hand. “Old Peng is two years older than me, so I’ll call you ‘sister-in-law.’”

His movements were so swift and fluid that the other two hadn’t even registered what was happening.

It wasn’t until Peng Dongli saw Tian Wenyuan holding his wife’s hand that he leaped up, pried Tian’s hand away, and took her hand himself.

“Xiao Jia, let me introduce you.”

He pointed to Tian Wenyuan. “Tian Wenyuan, our company’s representative.”

Then to Zhang Mingyang. “Zhang Mingyang, researcher at our partner institute.”

Finally, he wrapped an arm around his wife. “Jia Siqi, my wife.”

Zhang Mingyang quickly and carefully shook hands with Jia Siqi. “Hello, sister-in-law.”

“Hello,” she replied.

Having been pulled aside, Tian Wenyuan returned and shook Jia Siqi’s hand again, this time more formally.

With the introductions done, Peng Dongli led his wife aside and the two began chatting quietly, leaving Zhang Mingyang and Tian Wenyuan to sit back down and watch the couple’s affectionate display.

“See that, Junior Brother? Never get married—it’s nothing but constant sticky sweetness every day.”