Lin Zheng smiled back at w.a.n.g Luo Hai and accepted their greeting. He let them sit and looked at both Yao Ying and Yao Ling.
"Is this your new son and daughter-in-law?" Lin Zheng asked bluntly.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai laughed, "Yes, they are. Yao Ying and Yao Ling."
"Hmph! How come old fox like you have the luck to meet such a talented couple?" Lin Zheng said in a serious voice.
Yao Ying and Yao Ling stiffened. This man"s voice held a certain dangerous feeling and it made them secretly sweating. What would happen if someone offended this man? Yao Ying and Yao Ling couldn"t read his emotions at all – whether he approved them or disliked them.
w.a.n.g Luo Hai just laughed at Lin Zheng, "Stop it! Don"t joke with such a serious face! You will scare the children!"
Yao Ying and Yao Ling looked at each other. Was General Lin joking? How could someone joke with such a serious voice and tone? The general"s face looked so solemn and composed. Since when people joking with a straight face like that?
Yao Ying whispered to her, "Do you remember? Why I laughed when you smile like a white lotus? You look like him."
Yao Ling pinched Yao Ying"s hand and glared. He really had the gut to tease and annoy her. Hmph! Yao Ying knew he already annoyed Yao Ling enough, so he just laughed inwardly. To the two old men though, their whispering looked like a sweet couple.
"Don"t mind him! He usually has facial paralysis. He always makes a joke with his boring face." w.a.n.g Luo Hai joked around.
Yao Ling scolded Yao Ying inside her mind. Did he think I also had facial paralysis? Hmph! She glared at Yao Ying. Yao Ying seemed to understand what"s inside her mind and his mouth slightly curled up. His wife was fun to tease.
"Er… may I ask a question?" Yao Ling asked carefully.
"Sure." Lin Zheng answered.
"Where do you know each other? Usually, military and merchant are rarely in contact, right?"
w.a.n.g Luo Hai didn"t mind explaining to them. "Ah… that"s true. We met way back then and we grew up together. We accidentally met…"
Lin Zheng put in his thought, "The worst day of my life."
"We both followed a beautiful little girl in a trance…"
"Stupid! She"s my childhood friend. You"re the one who followed her." Lin Zheng scolded w.a.n.g Luo Hai.
But, w.a.n.g Luo Hai kept talking, "I b.u.mped into him and this big burly guy…"
"Tsk – better than you. Skinny like a girl."
"Ha! But you got jealous of me, right? When the little girl looked at me, you punched me," w.a.n.g Luo Hai scowled. He could still remember the pain back then. What Lin Zheng said was true. He was skinny and just because the little girl smiled at him back, the wild boy punched him on the nose.
"Served you right!" Lin Zheng"s mouth slightly twitched. The end of his lips was slightly curling up, probably remembering the past. Indeed… he could still remember the taste of punching this annoying guy.
"Can you just shut up? I can"t even finish our fated meeting story!" w.a.n.g Luo Hai complained.
"Don"t say it in a disgusting way!" Lin Zheng scowled. "You followed me around, remember? You said you want to learn martial art after that one punch. What a weirdo! A weirdo back then and now still a weirdo."
Yao Ying and Yao Ling felt these two old men so amusing. Both of them had different personalities, but it seemed like their differences could compliment each other well. Their banter was a bit funny too. w.a.n.g Luo Hai was full of emotions and Lin Zheng whom face was as cold as ice with a void of emotions. Somehow they were like the sun and the moon.
In the end, they didn"t have the full story. The two old men kept fighting with words and it deviated from her question, but they knew for sure that these two old men were childhood friends.
Yao Ling asked curiously, "So… who got the little girl? Is it Mother? I heard she"s your childhood sweetheart, Father?"
How funny would that be if that were true? It meant the skinny boy back then was the champion of their love rivalry.
When both men heard her question, their banter stopped and the room became silent. Yao Ling was bewildered. Did she say something wrong?
"Neither got her. It"s not your mother," w.a.n.g Luo Hai answered her. He still smiled, but his smile was forced – different from before.
Yao Ling felt that she touched a taboo topic. She still felt curious though. Who was that little girl? Something must have happened because she saw a flash of sadness on both old men"s expressions.