The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 384 - 373: A Whole Bunch of Relatives and Friends

Chapter 384: Chapter 373: A Whole Bunch of Relatives and Friends

Shen Manman felt too shy to personally give Father Lu the leather jacket she bought for him.

It was the perfect time for Lu Jingqiu to introduce Shen Manman to her father.

But just as she went down, Aunt Gao arrived with Gao Qing and his wife.

"Qingqing."

"Qiuqiu."

"When did you come back?"

"Just got back two days ago. I knew you had a celebration today, so I chose this day to visit. Don’t be mad at me, okay?"

"Of course not, the kids are in the living room. Go have a look," Lu Jingqiu said. Soon after, Gao Qing pulled Ma Song off to see the children.

Lu Jingqiu also hurriedly greeted Aunt Gao.

Many guests arrived that morning.

Even Aunt Cuihua showed up.

While chatting in the living room, Aunt Cuihua brought up Xu Li’s situation again with Aunt Liu and Aunt Gao.

After her marriage, Xu Li and her husband enjoyed a period of sweetness, but since the wedding, she managed to lose face completely. There was nothing the parents could do.

This year, she went back to her husband’s hometown for Lunar New Year. Unaccustomed to everything there, she even got criticized by her mother-in-law.

The very first visit home, they asked Xu Li to do housework, which of course she didn’t want to. In the end, her husband’s sister visited her parental home, scolded Xu Li a few times.

In the end, neither would give in, and they got into a fight.

Xu Li didn’t even finish celebrating the New Year before she came back.

She was so angry she swore she’d never go back to her husband’s hometown again.

Aunt Cuihua was both angry and sympathetic as she said, "It serves her right. She wouldn’t listen back then and insisted on marrying him. Now she’s found herself in a tough spot."

Seeing that Lu Jingqiu hadn’t come down, Shen Manman followed her down and sat beside her, listening to the gossip without finding it too outrageous.

In comparison to her own bizarre relatives, this was nothing unusual.

Gao Qing also didn’t want to listen, pulling Lu Jingqiu aside and saying, "Qiuqiu, you’ve had a baby, but it doesn’t seem like your figure has changed at all."

"It has, my belly fat hasn’t gone down yet. Honestly, I’m worried."

"What’s there to worry about? Jiang Nanzhou isn’t picking on you, is he?"

"He wouldn’t dare."

"Haha."

"How long are you staying this visit?"

"Not many days. Ma Song wants to take me to see the scenery. We’re planning to visit Yangcheng City. I’ve never been before."

"Oh, be careful on the road. It’s pretty chaotic out there now."

"Yep. I will be."

Lu Jingqiu had wanted to ask Gao Qing if she was pregnant yet. Seemingly, that’s what married women talk about. But at that moment, Wu Zhengran arrived.

To avoid any suspicion, Gao Qing and Ma Song moved to sit on the side.

Lu Jingqiu went out to greet Wu Zhengran. Aware that a woman in her postpartum period should avoid cold air and knowing Gao Qing was inside, he quickly said, "You go back in. Here in West City, I can take care of myself pretty well. You don’t need to worry about me."

Lu Jingqiu said with a laugh, "That’s impossible. You’re a guest in my home. Would you like to go in and see the baby?"

Wu Zhengran hesitated before replying, "I’ve had a cold these past few days; I’d hate to spread it to the baby. I’ll come by some other time when I’m better." Taking out a red envelope from his pocket, he handed it to Lu Jingqiu, "This is for the baby. Don’t you embezzle it."

Lu Jingqiu held the red envelope and giggled, "He’s my son. It’s only natural for me to embezzle from him."

Wu Zhengran’s mood, which hadn’t been great, was instantly lightened by her joke.

Jiang Nanzhou had some idea about the situation between Wu Zhengran and Gao Qing, so he wrapped an arm around Wu Zhengran’s shoulder and seated him at the table with Second Cousin Shang Ze.

Father, at midday, you’ll be sitting with Uncle Gao, Uncle Shen, Brother-in-law, Professor Shi, and others at one table.

At Dad’s table, Uncle Liang and Liang Zhuo were present, as was Director Zhao from the Housing Bureau.

It turned out Liang Zhuo and He Tongzhang knew each other; they were middle school classmates. Now one attends police college and the other university.

The two sat together cracking sunflower seeds without ever standing up, chatting about who knows what.

Nowadays, Liang Zhuo dared to tease her, mentioning how his mother is eagerly arranging blind dates for him.

He was already fed up with it. Yang Linghua had gotten married; he had no idea where she had gone to, fearful that he might be related; his mother kept a sharp eye on him.

He Tongzhang was even more exasperated, saying that as long as he went back on Sunday, Aunt Wei would nag him about changing his major, and they should both be venting about their own mothers.

Aside from family and friends from home, Lu Jingqiu also invited a few neighbors, including the auntie who helped her look for a house.

Aunt knew that these young people all liked to have fun.

So she prepared a table full of dishes and set it up for them in the small living room upstairs.

Niannian, Qingqing, Manman, along with Yiyi and Xiao Hua.

Niannian said, "I bet Xinyue is at home grumbling about not being able to come. She was just saying the other day that she hoped to enjoy Xiao Cheng’s postpartum celebration. Didn’t expect you guys to move it up."

Lu Jingqiu said, "How did I forget about that, wait here." She then went downstairs to have a word with her aunt.

As a result, Aunt had Yiyi and Xiao Hua pick out some postpartum-friendly dishes to send over to Xinyue’s place.

When Yiyi and Xiao Hua returned, they said Xinyue’s eyes nearly popped out at the sight of a table full of food.

She kept asking them whether it was lively here, saying she would have come over if her mother hadn’t held her back.

Everyone enjoyed the celebratory meal immensely.

Lu Jingqiu took the opportunity to introduce everyone to each other.

Niannian and Gao Qing were already acquainted.

Shen Man was meeting them for the first time today.

Niannian said, "Back when I rented her place, she ended up wanting to rent yours, and now you’re renting her place again, isn’t this like a closed loop economy?"

"Haha, Sister Niannian’s description is spot on, indeed, our fate is all about renting to each other."

Gao Qing, seeing how many friends Lu Jingqiu now had around her, pulled Lu Jingqiu aside and said, "Qiuqiu, you’re so lucky to have more and more friends now. Unlike me, having moved so far away, I don’t have a single close friend nearby."

"Friends are made through interaction; you’ll make friends there, too. What’s up? Don’t want to go back? Will you miss your Ma Song?"

Gao Qing couldn’t help laughing, "Get out of here."

"Tsk, it seems like you two have a pretty good relationship. Have you thought about having a child?"

Gao Qing shook her head, "We dancers, we only have those few years of youth to capitalize on, maintaining our figure is of utmost importance. I plan to wait until after graduation, when my job is stable, before thinking about it."

"As long as he has no objections. How is your mother-in-law?" Lu Jingqiu asked, then remembering her previous conversation with Aunt Gao, she quickly inquired.

"Well, it’s just so-so, she probably doesn’t think highly of me, but I’m not one to be bullied easily. My family has a good background, so they can’t look down on me."

Even though Gao Qing said this, Lu Jingqiu could still sense that she must have felt wronged by her in-laws.

She silently patted Gao Qing’s back, comforting her.

The group stayed until the gathering outside dispersed, only then did they stand up to leave.

As they were leaving, Aunt Zhang handed out prepared red eggs, two for each person.

The aunt and the grandmother also came to help out.

Overall, the child’s postpartum celebration was quite satisfying.

Since it was held at their own home, there was a need to clean up.

In the end, Niannian, Wei Jincheng, Shang Ze, the second cousin, and even Wu Zhengran stayed to help.

As did Liang Zhuo and He Tongzhang, who were purely avoiding their parents.

They stayed to help move chairs around.

Upon seeing their Hua Hua, He Tongzhang said to Sister Xiao Qiu, "Where’s your other one?"

"Given to my classmate, why?"

"Does it breed well? Yours is pretty."

"Er, I don’t know about that. You can ask him." Pointing to Shang Ze, who was busy working, she said, "I gave it to his family."

"Alright." He Tongzhang finished speaking and ran off to Shang Ze’s side.

Liang Zhuo said disdainfully, "It’s just a cat, what’s there to see. But I like this way of addressing you, Sister Xiao Qiu. I’ll call you that from now on."

Lu Jingqiu glared at him annoyed, "Call me that, won’t it damage your public security image?"

"What’s the harm? Public security officers have family and friends too. Sister Xiao Qiu, if there’s anything you need help with on the streets, just say the word."

"Nothing for now, by the way, how’s your matchmaking going?"

"Pfft, don’t get me started. If you’re going to talk about that, I’m out of here."

Lu Jingqiu quickly laughed, "No, no, keep at it, we need you here, hehe."