Chapter 692 - 396: Spring and Summer of Universal Revival

Li Qiyuan truly had no idea how to get through this meal. Not only did he fail to persuade the three girls to break up with his son, but he ended up accepting their toasts as their future father-in-law... This... this seems like it’s unavoidable that he will soon be meeting the parents of these three girls one by one...

Married couples are fate from a previous life, whether good or bad, if it’s not meant to be, they wouldn’t be together.

Children are debts from a former life, debts to be collected or repaid, and those with debts will come.

It’s all fate!

Li Qiyuan felt melancholic, drinking to drown his sorrows only led to more sorrow. He and Li Peifeng finished off the beer Xu Manning had bought. After the meal, Old Li had a long talk with his son alone in the bedroom.

During this time, the three girls didn’t leave, knowing that what the father and son talked about would certainly concern them. After tidying up the dishes, they quietly went to the door to try and eavesdrop...

"What are they talking about?"

"I can’t hear clearly!"

"Seems like it’s about love?"

"About life... Wow, uncle is really drunk."

Li Qiyuan indeed drank too much, chatting about all sorts of random topics with his son, while Li Peifeng humored him.

The father and son took on topics like life, love, and marriage, debating for an hour before Li Qiyuan realized he couldn’t win, then, after a two-second silence, he said disinterestedly, "Everyone must be responsible for their own choices, for the joy of that moment, and for the boundless regret and sadness that follows. It might take minutes or days to make a decision, but it takes years, even a lifetime, to bear the consequences... Four wives, four responsibilities, not just to them but also to their families. Can you imagine the burden?"

You can’t imagine the joy of having four wives either, simply unimaginable!

Li Peifeng patiently explained, "That’s exactly the point, this is a stroke of genius. Creating happiness and enduring hardship require the same ability, and I am ready for it."

"Your mom and I aren’t ready for this yet, and perhaps we never will be."

Li Qiyuan sighed, "I miss your mom, I want to go home..."

Li Peifeng offered a placating smile, "Tomorrow after meeting Xu Manning’s parents, you can go back. I’ve already booked your ticket, it’s for the afternoon. Please help your son out one more... a few more times."

Li Qiyuan stared blankly and helplessly at the ceiling, slowly exhaling a breath of alcohol. It resembled Zhuge Liang’s expression in his final moments in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, pained yet desolate, as if saying; Oh Heaven, why have you treated me so?!

Old Li didn’t vocalize it, but Li Peifeng heard this line and offered comfort again, painting a big picture, saying that when he has money, he’ll definitely have more in the future. It’s just that, Dad, you need to deal with the parents of a few future daughters-in-law a bit now, put in a little mental effort, but after that, you and Mom can just wait to enjoy life. Good days are just ahead!!

"You’re going to be the death of me with all this filial piety, what’s ahead for me?!"

Li Qiyuan truly couldn’t take it anymore, glanced at the door, lowered his voice and asked, "Don’t you have another girlfriend? What about her?"

"Oh her, she’s very career-oriented... no need to worry for now."

"You better not let me worry about her."

"No, you have to care! If you don’t care about me, won’t you care about your future daughters-in-law?"

Li Peifeng appealed sincerely, "You’ve already promised Manning, you definitely have to meet her parents, and since you’re going to Manning’s house, you can’t leave out Wenyue and Tianxuan, right? They just toasted you, and now if you back out... doesn’t seem right!"

Li Qiyuan was silent for a while, then rasped, "I’ll go to see Manning tomorrow. When I get back to Ningyuan, I’ll find an opportunity to visit Wenyue’s parents too. Even going to Tianxuan’s house is fine, I can go... but let me be clear, when I go, it’s just a casual meeting with these families, only chit-chat, nothing substantial."

"I won’t discuss your marriages with their parents, and even if they bring it up, I won’t entertain it. Instead, I’ll adopt a stance of parents not interfering, you’re still young, you should develop naturally. Do you understand what I mean?"

Li Peifeng vaguely understood. His father’s approach likely stemmed from thinking relationships with those girls wouldn’t last long, aiming to delay until they naturally broke up. The second, and most crucial reason, was to pave the way for Li Peifeng’s marriage with Zhao Qingge.

If Li Peifeng’s marriage dates with these three — Huang, Wu, and Xu — were set a year or two in advance, or even engaged, then once the news of his marriage to Zhao Qingge came out after he graduated, or should it hit the news, and the parents of the three girls got wind, it’d be a real mess...

"In the future, if the news really gets out, you can only tell these girls to inform their parents that you broke up long ago, even if you haven’t, you still need them to say you have. That way, everyone has a fallback, even if you later wish to marry one of them, although it may be a bit awkward, and their parents might have strong objections, as long as the girls themselves agree, there’s not much more to say."

"Conversely, if we as parents have already set the wedding dates and negotiated the dowry, yet they see you marrying someone else ahead of time... you’ll be completely done for, and I won’t have the face to ever meet them again!"

Li Peifeng admired, "Your foresight is remarkable, and postponing their marriages is only logical, because they haven’t even married me yet."

Wu Wenyue and Xu Manning still have a while before graduation. They aren’t like Li Peifeng who applied for early graduation. Wu Wenyue is in the second semester of her second year of graduate school, needing more than a year to graduate, while Xu Manning, being in the first year, needs more than two years.