Chapter 1358: The Grumpy Old Man
Lu Zhou’s original plan, everything from the engagement to the wedding was going to be carried out in a low-key manner. Apart from the people they knew, it was best not to disturb anyone.
The two people were going to walk into the wedding venue quietly, exchange rings and vows in the name of love and under the blessings of their friends and relatives, then kiss each other and live a happy married life.
However, some parts of the plan went wrong; the news was leaked to the outside world.
The news of the engagement was almost like a hurricane. It spread through the entire campus at an incredible speed, then spread to the entire academic world.
Then, just like always…
He was on the trending page again.
Not only were his private messages and mentions stuck at 99+, but even his secret account was found and endlessly tagged by netizens.
Various anonymous and non-anonymous “insiders” all came out and began to tell stories from the first and third-person perspectives, gossiping about the story between the two.
The information-gathering ability of these fans was quite impressive. From the two people studying together in the library back in the day to studying abroad and attending the n.o.bel Prize dinner together, almost everything was dug up. There were even a bunch of false stories that were added.
Sometimes when Lu Zhou read too much gossip, he himself even couldn’t help but wonder whether those stories were true.
Driven by this gossip trend, the term “Professor Lu is single” soon appeared on the trending page, the popularity had even surpa.s.sed the Mars landing plan.
Before the relevant state departments began to control the spread, the number of discussions on Weibo alone had exceeded 80 million.
Faced with such a response from the public, Lu Zhou didn’t know what to say.
He didn’t want any of this to happen.
Even though he wanted to keep a low-profile, his fame did not allow him to do so.
However, although this gossip caused him a lot of headaches, one thing made him happy.
In Lu Zhou’s opinion, his fame alone was not enough for him to attract so many people’s attention to his engagement.
After all, he was not a celebrity; he was just a scholar who focused on his research career.
The reason things turned out this way…
Was probably because of the jealousy coming from his fans…
…
He could no longer stay on campus. When he ate at the cafeteria, he could hear the young students talking about him.
After some considerations, Lu Zhou temporarily moved his work location from Jin Ling University to the aeros.p.a.ce launch site.
It just so happened that the last launch mission was about to begin.
As the chief designer of the Mars landing plan, this was his focus of work during this period.
However, just before Lu Zhou moved his workplace, a person unexpectedly followed his footsteps to his office.
“You little… Lu Zhou! When did I agree to let you marry my daughter?”
The entire internet was enthusiastically gossiping, so it obviously didn’t escape the ears of the families involved.
Lu Zhou looked at the angry old man in front of him. His heart dropped to his stomach. He got up from his office chair and greeted him with a smile.
“Uncle Chen Baohua, come sit down, I’ll get you some tea.”
Regardless of career status, the father-in-law obviously had power over his daughter.
Lu Zhou was in the wrong here.
Lu Zhou walked to the side and poured some tea. Chen Baohua sat down on the sofa. His anger finally calmed down a bit. He was not as aggressive as when he first entered the door.
After all, he was a person who worked at a government agency, so he was relatively intelligent. Even though the two decided on such a big life-long event without him and made him feel irritated as a father, Lu Zhou’s polite att.i.tude satisfied him.
Of course, it was also probably because Lu Zhou’s status was quite different than most people.
He didn’t even realize that, when facing this world-renowned scholar, his confidence had dropped much more than he had imagined.
Two cups of tea were brought to the table.
Lu Zhou sat on the opposite sofa. He looked at the old man drinking tea and spoke.
“Um… Uncle Chen Baohua, there is something I have to apologize to you.”
“Oh, so you want to apologize to me?” Chen Baohua smiled and said, “So you two still remember me? Getting engaged without even telling us, that’s a bit unreasonable.”
“You’re mistaken, we wanted to come over to see you, it’s just that we didn’t have enough time.” Lu Zhou sighed and explained sincerely, “The engagement… was only a private agreement between her and me. It wasn’t a formal procedure. I don’t know how, but it was overheard by someone, then it started to spread.”
After hearing these words, Chen Baohua, who was originally calm, suddenly became angry.
“What is that supposed to mean? You’re saying the engagement isn’t official? You were lying to my little girl?”
“I wasn’t—”
“Listen here, don’t think that just because you’re an academician you can do whatever you want. I… am her father! If you dare to disappoint my daughter, we’re going to have a problem!”
“Of course, of course, let me explain the reason to you.” Lu Zhou looked at Uncle Chen Baohua and said, “What I mean is, we decided on the engagement in private. After preparing the formal engagement procedures in Jinling, then we were going to go to Beijing together to explain the situation to you in person at your home. But, no one expected the news to spread so quickly.”
After listening to Lu Zhou’s explanation, Chen Baohua finally realized that the matter was not what he had imagined. He had misunderstood the situation. An awkward expression appeared on his face.
In fact, as a father, he was quite liberal.
Regardless of the choice his daughter made regarding marriage and family, he would support her decision. The only thing he worried about was that she was being cheated or bullied by someone.
Generally speaking, he was quite satisfied with this son-in-law.
After snorting proudly, Chen Baohua put on a serious expression and nodded reluctantly.
“Well, okay…”
Lu Zhou was dumbfounded, he looked at the grumpy old man and spoke.
“So does that mean… you agree?”
“Of course I agree! Why wouldn’t I agree?” Chen Baohua said proudly as he stared at Lu Zhou who was sitting across the sofa, “But if you want to have your fun and leave, I’ll tell you now that is not going to happen.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
What?
At first, he thought the old man was opposed to the marriage, but it turned out the old man was easily convinced.
Now it seemed like they didn’t have to elope.
Lu Zhou sighed in relief. He reached out and picked up the teacup. He sipped some tea to moisturize his dry throat.
However, Chen Baohua, who was sitting across from the sofa, suddenly coughed and spoke.
“So, when are you guys going to have kids?”
Lu Zhou almost spat out the tea he had just drunk. He put down the teacup with a dry cough, raised his arm, and wiped the corner of his mouth before speaking.
“This… Still depends on Yushan. Marriage is something between two people, it is hard for me to make a decision alone. However, I think that having children right after marriage is a bit too soon. Maybe after a month or two—”
“You can’t let her decide!” Chen Baohua interrupted Lu Zhou and said immediately, “When this marriage is official, have a child as soon as possible! I want to hold my grandson within a year, that’s not an outrageous request, is it?”
Lu Zhou looked at Chen Baohua. He was dumbfounded.
This was ridiculous.
One second ago, the old man asked him fiercely why he stole his daughter without saying anything, and the next, he started to urge them to have a child.
This turn of events really caught him off guard.
Besides, having a child wasn’t that simple.
Lu Zhou didn’t know how to respond to this strange request.
Seeing how Lu Zhou didn’t object yet, Chen Baohua thought Lu Zhou had finally listened to his advice. He nodded with approval and stood up from the sofa.
“Well, that’s that. I won’t disturb your work any longer.
“By the way, don’t tell Yushan what happened today, just act like nothing happened. When your work here is over, come to Beijing with her. Her mother wants to see you. She’s been pestering me for a long time.”
“Okay…”
Even though he doubted whether his acting skills could fool Chen Yushan, under Chen Baohua’s trusting gaze, Lu Zhou decided that he would try his best…