My girlfriend is from the future!

In the small tavern on the hillside, you can see the endless sea when sitting by the window. When a guest pushes the door, the sound of wind chimes will be heard. If you sit in the tavern and daydream for a long time, at first glance it sounds like the occasional playful echo of the quiet sea.

"Hua~Ring-Ring——"

He Tianran pushed the door open and walked in. It was noon and there were many empty seats in the pub. However, there were a few female customers standing in front of the dessert cabinet next to the bar, chatting and laughing with the boss while choosing snacks.

Seeing that he had arrived early and planning to face Cao Aiqing alone later, He Tianran looked around the store in an attempt to find a relatively private place. However, his eyes met with a middle-aged man sitting in the corner by the window, and he was startled.

The middle-aged man was well-mannered and about fifty years old. He was taking pictures of the dessert packaging on the table with his mobile phone. When he accidentally saw He Tianran coming, his face immediately became serious and he looked at him silently.

Under the gaze of this kind, He Tianran lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and humbly walked over to stand opposite the man, saying modestly:
"Cao...Uncle Cao."

The elegant man sitting opposite was Cao Aiqing's father, Cao Fengyao.

"When did you arrive?"

"…Not long ago, maybe half an hour ago."

"sit."

He Tianran sat down obediently. Cao Aiqing had been working on Nanzhi Island for more than half a month. Her boyfriend, who was busy with work, had not come to see her, but her parents, who were already in Hong Kong, had taken some time off to travel to the island, so he had plenty of time to visit his daughter. In addition, Cao Aiqing had shared a family photo on WeChat Moments yesterday, so He Tianran was not surprised to meet his father-in-law, but just a little flustered.

"Have you met Ai Qing at the guesthouse?"

It seemed that Cao Fengyao was already very familiar with He Tianran, his future son-in-law. There was no unnecessary politeness in his tone and he went straight to the point.

"I have seen them, but they are in a meeting and it seems that it will take some time for them to disperse..."

The "writer" personality is calm and steady in doing things. Apart from the flexible moral bottom line and the constant lies, his way of dealing with people and observing people's words and expressions is indeed the closest to the main personality. In some aspects, it is even better than the main personality.

He glanced at the dessert box on the table and continued:
"Her colleague told me that Ai Qing likes to come here for afternoon tea and snacks. I came here early because I thought it might be difficult to buy snacks because there would be a lot of people on weekends. I didn't expect Uncle Cao to get there first. It seems that as a boyfriend, I am really not as good as you as a father."

After these words came out, the wrinkles on Cao Fengyao's stern face relaxed a little, but verbally, the future father-in-law still said very strictly:

"Since you know Ai Qing likes to eat these, why didn't you bring them from the city?"

He Tianran smiled slightly, "I brought something else for her, because I think the fresher the food, the better."

After saying that, he called the waiter. The wine list in the tavern was together with the food. It was very diverse and had everything. After taking a quick look, he ordered a pot of hot tea.

The old man nodded. He Tianran thought he would ask about some gossips that had been circulating between him and Wen Liang in the past two days, but Cao Fengyao just pondered for a moment, and waited until the tea was served before he slowly said:

"When I was young, I followed my teachers and classmates to visit ancient architectural sites all over the country. I would be away for half a year at a time. Although I spent most of the time dealing with inanimate objects, I didn't find it tiring because I liked it. It's just... I'm sorry for your Aunt Yang. After we established our relationship, we only saw each other a few times a year. It wasn't as hard as when you and Ai Qing were in a foreign country."

He Tianran understood what Father Cao meant, and politely filled his tea cup, pretending to smile with empathy, and said:
"Auntie didn't complain?"

"Did Ai Qing blame you?"

Cao Fengyao asked back with a smile, He Tianran nodded ashamedly, and then corrected himself:

"There was no verbal complaint, because I kept saying that I had work and couldn't come to the island to see her. After several times, she simply stopped replying to my messages."

"Your aunt was more radical. When we finally met, her first words were to tease me, saying that after not contacting me for such a long time, she almost thought that those people buried underground were me."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

He Tianran was indeed amused by this somewhat "ghostly" joke.

Cao Fengyao talked about the past because his daughter had complained to her parents on the island about He Tianran's constant excuses about work recently. However, Cao's father was different from He Panshan's overbearing and authoritarian style. He was much more open-minded in communication, and the future father-in-law and son-in-law even had some resonance based on some of the same experiences.

The old man didn't ask He Tianran to reduce his work and spend more time with his daughter, nor did he give any other instructions. He just sipped his tea naturally and looked at the other person's kind and indifferent expression. This made He Tianran start to reflect on himself:
"Uncle, I do have some things to deal with recently. I don't mean to ignore Ai Qing. Wait a moment..."

"Save these words for Ai Qing. It doesn't make much sense for you to tell me. This is a matter between the two of you. And some of my questions need Ai Qing to be present with you. It will only make sense if I ask them. As for you and me now..."

He put down his teacup and said seriously:
"Naturally, uncle probably understands where your career is at now. You are twenty-five or twenty-six years old and you have everything you have now, not just because your last name is 'He'. The achievements you have made are beyond the reach of ordinary people, but this has also made you shoulder the double pressure from family and career. I understand your feelings. In fact, to put it in a more mundane way, instead of taking two days to coax Ai Qing to feel better, it would be more practical to use this time to decide where to invest."

"uncle……"

He Tianran was stunned by Cao Fengyao's praise. He really didn't expect that he would be the one being comforted in this matter. But then he thought again, if it was not a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship, but simply from the perspective of a man to a man, this kind of thing where work affects the mood of the other half is really easy to understand between homosexuals.

"I've already said it, be more worldly. This is the reality of life. There's no need for you to get hung up on Ai Qing's momentary emotions...

My daughter is too idealistic when it comes to some emotional matters. I can say that this is because of her mother and I's spoiling her, or because we have educated her by setting an example since she was young. We don't think this is her shortcoming, because we both believe that children who can live out their own poetic selves in real life are the happiest. Even if her material conditions in the future are ordinary, at least as a girl, she is spiritually rich.

But... when it comes to love, it's ultimately a matter between two people. What her mother and I are concerned about is that Ai Qing can live a good life on her own, but if she meets the other half of her life, will it still be smooth sailing...

After all, a girl can be a little more poetic, but a boy still needs to be down-to-earth..."

As he spoke, he sighed helplessly and smiled bitterly, "Alas, but I know my daughter's temperament very well. If you are too down-to-earth, she probably won't look down on you. I thought it would be difficult for her to marry someone with this kind of personality. After all, to a large extent, this is a conflict of ideas between the two of you. But I never thought that you knew each other in high school, and you are in such a neutral position that you can jump up and grab her erratic line, and you can also lead her away safely, so this can be regarded as... a kind of luck between you two."

These are some of the words Cao Fengyao could say when he met He Tianran alone.

There was no blame in his words, but more of empathy and concern for his daughter. He Tianran was a little panicked for a moment. He couldn't tell whether it was because Cao Aiqing's current career development was inseparable from him, the eldest son of the He family, or whether it was because his relationship with Ai Qing had stood the test of time, allowing this old father to be so open-hearted to him...

Maybe it's both, but no matter which one it is, it means that his relationship with Cao Aiqing will not be hindered by any family, and will even receive the blessings and care of his parents. This kind of emotional state, which is just one step away from breaking through a layer of window paper to discuss the major events of life, makes the "writer" personality who has just taken over the control of the body, a man who is not good at coordinating family relationships, a soul that has long been accustomed to hiding his true feelings and only knows how to pretend, feel a kind of...

Panic.

Because he had never felt these things before, nor had he ever dealt with these things before.

"It's no wonder Ai Qing is so outstanding now that she has a father like you."

He Tianran murmured something inspired, and Cao Fengyao took it as flattery from a junior, but he enjoyed it very much. After that, the two of them drank tea and chatted about daily trivialities. More than half an hour had passed without them noticing. Just as Cao Fengyao was saying that this trip to Nanzhi Island was secondary to seeing his daughter, and the real business was with her mother, the wind chimes at the door rang again. Speak of Cao Cao, here comes Cao Cao.

Cao Aiqing, dressed in elegant clothes, appeared in the tavern arm in arm with her mother Yang Chengbi.

The appearance of the two people towards each other was like a fresh sea breeze. The daughter and mother were 70% similar, and even more like a pair of lotus flowers. The only difference was that the former's face still retained the coldness of a girl, while the latter had a touch of kindness that was brewed over the years.

Cao Fengyao smiled and waved, and the mother and daughter walked over slowly. He Tianran's breathing became a little stagnant. When they got closer, Cao Aiqing seemed to pull her mother shyly for a moment, but Yang Chengbi took away her hand that was holding his as if she didn't notice it, and left her daughter and sat down next to her lover naturally.

Seeing this, He Tianran followed suit and moved in to make room.

Cao Aiqing stood there, glared at him, and did not move.

"She likes to sit by the window so she can get some sunshine."

Yang Chengbi on the opposite side reminded with a smile.

He Tianran stood up upon hearing this and quickly made way for the other person. Cao Aiqing then snorted angrily and sat down inside.

The family sat down again, and Cao Fengyao called the boss to order some desserts, snacks and drinks. Seeing the young couple opposite him sitting in silence, he turned his head and inadvertently met his wife's gaze and they smiled at each other.

He first said to his wife:
"You woke up really early. It's already noon. Did Ai Qing call you?"

The wife waved her hand and took the teapot to pour tea:
"No, when I went downstairs, the child was laughing foolishly while holding a Hermès bag given by someone."

"Ahem~!"

Someone coughed softly.

Cao Fengyao turned his head and asked the girl casually, "Did your teacher give you any work to do after the meeting?"

"I've given you half a day off. I can't keep you waiting for me."

Cao Aiqing had a calm expression on his face. Although they had a lot of free time on the island, most of the time was spent in group activities, which required them to do some in-depth environmental surveys. The places they were going to were very clear, so they were not really here for tourism.

"Don't you have a rest on the weekend?"

"Ha~"

He Tianran added a sentence, but Cao Aiqing smiled and ignored him.

Fortunately, Cao's father and mother did not let this true son-in-law be too embarrassed. Yang Chengbi pretended to ask his lover:

"What were you talking about just now? I was glad to see you guys chatting when I came here."

Cao Fengyao took a sip of tea and said, "Ah, some work matters."

"No personal talk?"

"If Xiao He and I have any private matters to discuss, he can just tell Ai Qing no."

Yang Chengbi glanced at He Tianran and asked Cao Fengyao:

"Did Xiao He tell you that he collaborated with the actress in his company a few days ago and sang a song on the Bund? It was pretty good. I saw several girls in Ai Qing's design team singing the song on repeat."

Cao Fengyao's hand holding the teacup hovered in the air, looking at Yang Chengbi, pretending to be puzzled, but actually tapping:
"Ah? I don't know yet. Is this a personal matter or...work?"

"Work, work, work, uncle and aunt, work, we can talk about it, we can talk about it, we can definitely talk about it!"

Well, He Tianran thought that Father Cao wasn't that gossipy, but it turns out that he knows everything, and he really wants to wait until Ai Qing is with him before he really starts to make trouble... (End of this chapter)