Huo Yuanchen waited downstairs for a while, and only got out of the car when he saw Lu Ke driving away.

He didn't let Wen Li come downstairs to pick him up, and went straight upstairs.

Wen Li pulled Hu Huifen to the balcony, briefly introduced the relationship between Lu Ke and her brother, and then pointed to the pile of birthday gifts and said, "Brother Lu Ke said that half of these were bought by my brother, and the other half were bought for grandma as my brother's friend. Mom, how are you going to explain this to my dad and grandma?"

Hu Huifen had just digested the news that her son was still alive and well abroad. It took her a long time to come back to her senses. She said half-doubtfully, "Did your brother really ask him to buy these things? Is your brother really okay? Then why didn't he come back? Did he know that your father was sick and almost died?"

Wen Li shook his head. "Brother probably doesn't know that Dad is sick. I only contacted Brother Lu Ke recently. At that time, Dad's condition had stabilized, so I didn't tell him about it. I was afraid that Brother would know about it while he was abroad and would be worried. From what Brother Lu Ke said, Brother seemed to be doing something very important and couldn't contact us for the time being."

Hu Huifen covered her chest and said, "What important things can he do when he is abroad? He hasn't contacted his family for several years . I wonder if his parents will worry about him? As a brother, he should be the pillar of the family at this age, but he just leaves all the household affairs to his sister. When he comes back, I will break his legs."

Although she said it with gritted teeth, Wen Li could hear the surprise and relief in her words.

Wen Li said, "Mom, don't be angry yet. The best news is that my brother is fine. We can talk about the rest after my brother comes back. Now we have to speak with one voice. I'm afraid that if we tell them that my brother is doing well abroad but can't come back, my dad and grandma won't be able to handle it."

Hu Huifen felt that her daughter was right. She was a healthy person, but she was so surprised and happy that her heart couldn't take it. Wen Yongjie and Grandma Wen were both recovering from illness, and their emotions were so up and down that they were afraid their bodies couldn't take it.

"Well, don't mention your brother for now. Just say that Lu Ke sent it specially because of their past friendship and knew it was your grandmother's birthday." Hu Huifen instructed Wen Li.

However, when Wen Li went out, Huo Yuanchen had already come in. Wen Yongjie took him in a familiar manner and introduced him to the relatives of the Wen family.

He pointed at the things Wen Li had just brought back and said to Grandma Wen, "I knew Yuanchen was very good. Look, these are all bought by Yuanchen for you. Wen Li just went downstairs to bring them up for him. Your grandson-in-law really cares about you."

Grandma Wen squinted her eyes, smiled kindly, held Huo Yuanchen's hand, and asked many questions.

Huo Yuanchen also answered politely and behaved very courteously.

But Wen Li still keenly noticed that he subconsciously shrank back when Grandma Wen's hand just touched his hand.

When talking to Grandma Wen, although he was polite, the sense of distance was obvious.

Outsiders may not know, but as a direct relative, she knows it very well. Grandma Wen has rarely spoken in the past year due to her illness.

She secretly asked Winnie, and the answer she got was that Grandma Winnie was in poor health and had to use effort to speak, which caused her throat to hurt.

Her grandmother would rather endure the physical pain and try her best to appear enthusiastic in front of Huo Yuanchen, for fear that Huo Yuanchen would misunderstand that the Wen family had something against him.

But what can you get in return?

Only Huo Yuanchen's disdain and slight impatience were evident.

Although he concealed it well, Wen Li was too familiar with him. The slightly pursed corners of his lips showed that he couldn't wait to end the greetings with Grandma Wen.

Wen Li suddenly felt sorry for his grandmother.

She walked over, took Huo Yuanchen's hand from Grandma Wen, held Grandma Wen's hand herself, and said with a smile, "Grandma, you can't be partial. I also bought you a gift, why didn't you praise me?"

When Grandma Wen saw her, she said nothing more, just nodded and smiled so hard that her teeth were showing.

Wen Li took the opportunity to hand her the cup of water, "Drink some water to moisten your throat."

She waited for Grandma Wen to drink the water, then turned back to the kitchen to help.

Huo Yuanchen hurriedly followed her and asked in a low voice, "Did you also invite Lu Ke?"

Wen Li paused and turned to look at him, "Did you just see it?"

Huo Yuanchen sneered, "I saw it. He is really generous to you. The gifts he gave you must be worth nearly ten thousand, right? Who would give so much to an ordinary friend?"

Wen Li asked him coldly, "You are not an ordinary friend, are you? What gift did you prepare for my grandma? I saw that you claimed those things that Brother Lu Ke prepared carefully."

After saying that, she went to the kitchen without caring about Huo Yuanchen's reaction.

There was no way Huo Yuanchen would chase her to the kitchen.

He found a corner where no one noticed him and sat there browsing on his phone.

A relative went to the bathroom and saw him when passing by. Knowing that he was Wen Li's boyfriend and also a great university professor in Wen Yongjie's words, he approached him and said, "Are university professors paid well now? My daughter is taking the teacher qualification exam recently. I heard people say that being a teacher is hard and the salary is not high. It is better to prepare for the postgraduate entrance examination and work in a large company after graduation, where the income is very substantial. You are well-informed, what do you think should be chosen?"

Huo Yuanchen looked up at the other person and said coldly, "I don't know."

People noticed his lack of enthusiasm and left in embarrassment.

It was almost twelve o'clock when he entered the door. Not long after, the birthday banquet began. Wen Yongjie and his uncle invited the relatives to take their seats. When most people were seated, they realized that Huo Yuanchen had not come.

Wen Yongjie asked Wen Li, "Where is Yuanchen?"

Wen Li said, "I didn't see him when I just came out of the kitchen."

Someone said, "I just saw him sitting on the balcony. Doesn't he know it's time to eat?"

Wen Yongjie asked Wen Li to call someone.

Wen Li reluctantly went to the balcony, and sure enough, she saw Huo Yuanchen there, making a call on his cell phone.

She immediately thought that the call was for An Wen, so she simply didn't go over. She stood in the room and shouted loudly, "Professor Huo, thank you for coming. It's time for dinner."

She left right after she shouted, not wanting to wait for Huo Yuanchen at all.

She returned to the dining table, and Wen Yongjie asked her, "Where's Yuanchen?"

Wen Li said, "He is so busy that he has no time to eat. Let's eat first, so that we don't have to sit and wait for him."

Wen Yongjie agreed and invited his relatives to eat and drink.

But he still felt sorry for Huo Yuanchen because he was too busy at work and couldn't even eat on time, so he insisted that Wen Li put a chicken leg in Huo Yuanchen's bowl.

Wen Li couldn't persuade him, so she took the food reluctantly. Then she ignored him and started eating.

There were many people eating, and the dishes looked quite messy. When Huo Yuanchen came over, all the dishes on the table had been touched. He had mysophobia, so he glanced at the table and thought that the saliva of so many people was all over the table, which was too unhygienic, so he didn't touch his chopsticks.