Chapter 527 - 288: The Richest Man is Nothing Special (Part 3)

When the door with the keypad lock swung open, he was utterly dumbfounded.

"Hello, sir!"

A group of stunningly beautiful girls, looking like celestial maidens, rose in unison and bowed respectfully to greet him.

"Uh... Hello."

Qi Zhizhong recalled Zhu Min’s words and suddenly had a suspicion about who these girls were.

"Dad, Happy New Year!"

Qi Sheng walked over with a grin, taking the load of fruits and snacks from his father’s hands.

"Wipe that smirk off your face. These girls are..."

Qi Zhizhong didn’t finish his sentence, but Qi Sheng knew exactly what he meant.

"Heh, they’re all your future daughters-in-law. Happy now?"

Qi Sheng’s smug look made Qi Zhizhong instinctively reach for his belt.

HUFF...

Qi Zhizhong took a few deep breaths and forced a smile.

"Please, don’t be so formal. Make yourselves at home. I’m just going to go change."

Qi Zhizhong shot Qi Sheng a glare, then took off his shoes and headed for the bedroom.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to change into slippers.

Who could have expected Qi Sheng to bring so many girlfriends home? They simply didn’t have enough pairs of slippers for everyone.

"Grandpa, Happy New Year."

Just as Qi Zhizhong reached the bedroom door, he suddenly heard a sweet, child-like voice coming from the living room sofa.

’Who’s this?’

Qi Zhizhong was dumbfounded.

He stared at the little girl on the sofa, who was blinking her large, sparkling eyes.

They shone with curiosity as she stared right at him.

The shape of her little nose and mouth bore a slight resemblance to the prospective daughter-in-law sitting beside her.

She was dressed in a child-sized, pink and white Hanfu, her hair woven into several braids.

They were arranged on her head like a bow.

Red silk ribbons were woven into her hair, trailing down on either side of her shoulders.

Her bangs were cut neatly across her forehead, dark and glossy.

It framed her chubby, baby-like face, making her skin look fair and soft.

She looked just like a cherubic little princess from ancient times.

She was so adorable it made you want to pinch her cheeks.

Qi Zhizhong walked over with a chuckle, not quite sure if this was the result of his good-for-nothing son’s escapades.

’Otherwise, why would she call me Grandpa?’

"Hello there."

Qi Zhizhong crouched down and asked with a smile, "What’s your name?"

"My name is Tang Guo, but you can call me Guoguo, Grandpa."

Tang Guo replied in a clear, bright voice.

"Oh, I see. Hello, Guoguo."

Qi Zhizhong breathed a sigh of relief, though he felt a slight pang of regret.

If Tang Guo’s surname had been Qi, he might have grumbled a bit about his son, but he would have been overjoyed.

But from the looks of it, his son was playing stepfather.

’But say what you will, the boy certainly has good taste.’

Although Liu Rong was dressed plainly, her mature, womanly charm made her stand out among the group of girls.

"Grandpa has to talk to Grandma about something. I’ll come out and play with you in a bit."

Qi Zhizhong smiled and gently pinched Tang Guo’s cheek, explaining in a soft voice.

"Okay, Grandpa. You go ahead and get busy."

Tang Guo replied obediently, not at all clingy.

Perhaps it was because she grew up in a single-parent home.

Tang Guo was more mature than other children her age.

Besides, she knew she wasn’t Qi Sheng’s biological child.

So, faced with this "Grandpa," she couldn’t help but feel a little shy.

’Such a good girl.’

Qi Zhizhong was instantly won over by Tang Guo’s cuteness, his gaze growing even more gentle.

When he returned to the bedroom, he found Zhu Min staring into space with a worried frown.

"Honey, what’s the situation out there?"

Qi Zhizhong walked over and patted Zhu Min’s shoulder.

"Are the red envelopes ready?"

Zhu Min snapped out of her daze and held out her hand to Qi Zhizhong.

"I counted. There are only ten girls out there. Do we really need twenty-five red envelopes?"

Qi Zhizhong asked quizzically as he took the red envelopes out of his bag.

"Heh. Some of your daughters-in-law are arriving later."

"I prepared these red envelopes based on the headcount. The one with ten thousand yuan is for Guoguo."

Zhu Min divided the red envelopes into three piles.

She handed the ten envelopes for their daughters-in-law to Qi Zhizhong, keeping the large one for Tang Guo for herself.

"Let’s go. If we stay in the room, the girls will think we have a problem with them."

With that, Zhu Min pulled the door open and stepped out.

"Auntie."

Tan Hua and the other girls quickly stood up, all of them clearly a bit nervous.

Tan Hua was no exception.

Although she had fully expected today’s scene, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy.

’But since I’ve chosen Qi Sheng, I have to accept this reality.’

’Nothing in this world is ever perfect.’

"Please, everyone sit down. Don’t be so formal, just make yourselves at home."

Zhu Min waved dismissively with a smile and walked over to the sofa.

Liu Rong quickly picked up Tang Guo to make room for her.

"Guoguo, this red envelope is from Grandma. Think of it as a first-meeting gift. When you get home, have your mommy buy you something tasty."

Zhu Min handed the thick red envelope to Tang Guo and gently ruffled the little girl’s hair.

"Thank you, Grandma."

Tang Guo’s eyes curved into little crescents as she gave her a sweet thank you.

"Auntie, this is..."

Liu Rong looked at the thickness of the red envelope—it had to be around ten thousand yuan—and hesitated.

"Please accept it. It’s just a small token from her grandpa and me."

"Since Guoguo thinks of us as her grandparents, we won’t treat her like a stranger."

When Zhu Min had questioned Qi Sheng earlier, she had learned the reason for Liu Rong’s divorce, which made her feel for the young woman.

"Thank you, Auntie."

The rims of Liu Rong’s eyes grew red. She understood the kindness behind Zhu Min’s gesture.

"These red envelopes are first-meeting gifts from your uncle and me. Everyone gets one, and no one is allowed to refuse!"

Zhu Min patted Liu Rong’s hand and began distributing the red envelopes to the group of prospective daughters-in-law.

"Thank you, Uncle and Auntie."

Seeing this long-awaited first-meeting gift, Liu Rong and the other girls accepted them.

Although ten thousand yuan was a trivial amount to them, the significance of these red envelopes was something else entirely.