Iris, Jin Liwei and the others were no longer surprised by René Alejandro's presence at their gatherings. Whenever Wei Lan and Randy came, the Spaniard would almost always accompany them. Everyone was also aware that for some reason, he and Lu Zihao just couldn't get along no matter how much Yu Mo tried to mediate things between them.
Ever since the tense staring standoff between the two men during the Christmas gathering when they almost brawled before others fortunately stepped forward to break them up before anything disastrous happened, René Alejandro had become more mindful of his behaviour. He apologized to everyone and admitted that he had been rude. He even tried to extend a hand to Lu Zihao and "make up" with him, but the latter only snorted at his "fake" apology.
Lu Zihao continued to treat René Alejandro with hostility but the Spaniard only let everything pass with a "helpless" smile and kept on "enduring" the other man's obvious antagonism towards him.
Due to this ongoing instances, Yu Mo and most of the others began to grow sympathetic of the Spaniard. Yu Mo had been especially putting in time and effort into befriending René Alejandro. The two were now considered friends and would even hang out together.
In this way, René Alejandro was successful in fixing the bad impression he left during the Christmas party. Except for Lu Zihao, nobody was openly opposing his regular presence.
The celebratory party this time was very casual and relaxed. It only lasted for a few hours and ended after an early dinner. Everyone was conscious of the two pregnant women, Iris and Long Jinjing, and didn't want to tire them out too much. It was also a Monday, so for most of them, they still had work tomorrow.
Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing stayed in the mansion with Grandpa Lu. Although the newly engaged couple preferred to spend their time alone together at Long Jinjing's place, they still made it a point to stay at Dragon Palace on a regular basis, typically during the weekends.
Grandpa Lu was delighted. He initially decided to stay at Dragon Palace in order to personally keep an eye on Iris' pregnancy. Now that there was another great-grandbaby on the way from his own blood grandson, that punk Lu Zihao, he was beyond thrilled. He could bask in excitement while waiting for his precious great-grandbabies to be born.
If possible, the old man would've preferred to stay with Lu Zihao and Long Jinjing but the couple liked to stay at the girl's place. Long Jinjing's place was just too small to fit a big personality like him. Besides, Grandpa Lu knew that his grandson would never allow him to intrude on the newly engaged couple's alone time. Bah! Stinky boy!
He could only satisfy himself with seeing the couple during the weekends. Compared to that stinky pinheaded blood grandson of his, Iris and Jin Liwei were certainly more accommodating of him. It was such a blast personally watching Iris' small belly grow each day.
After the party, Grandpa Lu ignored his two grandsons' obvious reluctance and dragged the two pinheads for a good drink. Their women, Iris and Long Jinjing, already headed to their own respective bedrooms to rest for the night.
"This is the life, ah!" Grandpa Lu sighed in great satisfaction after chugging all the beer from his glass.
Lu Zihao poured more beer into the old man's glass while Jin Liwei could only sigh with a helpless expression on his handsome face.
"Grandpa, don't drink too much," he could only say.
The old man waved a dismissive hand. "Bah! Liwei my boy, why are you being such a killjoy, huh? Tell me, I want to know!"
"You have to take care of your health and live a long life so that you can still watch your great-grandchildren grow."
Jin Liwei's words were super effective in making the stubborn old man pause in the midst of downing his refilled beer glass before eventually declaring that it would be his last glass for tonight.
"Hmph! This old man knows my limit! These old bones of mine will surely live a little longer to play with my precious great-grandbabies! Ah, I can't wait until Xiulan my girl and Jinjing my girl to give birth!"
Grandpa Lu raised his glass and urged his two grandsons to follow suit. They did and the three clinked their glasses before drinking their respective beer.
"Your beloved grandpa is glad that you two blockheads have finally decided to settle down and are now even starting your own families. For so many years, this old man had been so worried that I'll never be able to last long enough in this world before meeting and enjoying my precious great-grandbabies from you. I always thank the heavens for giving both of you Xiulan and Jinjing. Those sisters are the greatest blessings to you two blockheads."
"En." Jin Liwei had a soft smile as he agreed.
Lu Zihao remained silent but he didn't deny the old man's words either.
Grandpa Lu looked at his two grandsons who had now both become expecting fathers before shifting a melancholic gaze at the winter night sky outside the French windows.
"It feels like it was only yesterday when the two of you were just small stinky boys hugging my knees and calling me Grandpa so that I can toss you in the air." He sighed but there was a nostalgic smile on his face.
Nobody replied to him but he wasn't really expecting any response. He continued reminiscing about his grandsons' past as children.
Finally, he emptied his glass and set it down on the table. Lu Zihao moved to refill it but he stopped him. Grandpa Lu leaned back on his chair and looked at Jin Liwei and Lu Zihao with his sharp eyes.
Jin Liwei unconsciously straightened his posture while Lu Zihao raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in atmosphere.
"Now how about somebody tell me more about my two talking great-grandcatbabies? Your beloved grandpa has been staying here with you for so long yet nobody tells me anything about Soy Sauce and Sausage! Everyone in the mansion knows about them except for me! Do you all treat this old man as an outsider? Tell me, I want to know!"
