Upon hearing the sound, Zhang Yang and Liu Qingqing both turned their heads to see where it had come from—and there they saw Zhang Mama and Zhang's father walking side by side toward them.

Zhang Yang’s furrowed brow tightened even further in an instant.

Liu Qingqing took a quick look and her heart skipped a beat.

But fortunately, the elderly couple from the Zhang family were dressed in formal attire.

This put Liu Qingqing slightly at ease.

After all, no matter how these two old folks viewed her, as long as they were still willing to wear formal clothes and could still keep Zhang Yang under control, there would still be room for maneuver in her own situation.

As for those sordid matters—those murky issues she couldn’t quite sort out—she was already powerless to change anything. All she could do was wait until after the wedding to slowly untangle them.

Thinking this way, Liu Qingqing felt much more at ease. To show goodwill toward the two elders and better win over the man by her side, she quickly adopted the proper attitude, forced a smile, and greeted the elderly Zhang couple who had already reached her, saying, “Dad, Mom, you’re here!”

However, times have changed.

Although the elderly Zhang couple were easygoing, they were also very principled.

When they accepted Liu Qingqing, she became Zhang Yang’s wife, the daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, and someone they could treat like their own beloved daughter.

Any minor flaws or slight lapses in decorum were nothing in their eyes.

If someone was as sensible and polite as she was, they would instantly become the apple of the couple’s eye—cherished, protected, and spoiled like a precious treasure.

But when the two no longer approved of each other, not only would those imperfections and shortcomings be magnified beyond measure, but even that ingratiating, submissive smile would be unintentionally blown up to an extreme.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a positive amplification—it would be a negative one.

Take this very moment: the smile Liu Qingqing forced onto her face to curry favor with the elderly couple now appeared to Zhang’s father and Zhang’s mother as obsequious and disgusting; even glancing at it once made them feel as though their eyes were dirty.

Before Zhang’s father could say a word, Zhang’s mother spoke rather bluntly: “No! Stop right there! Stop right there! We’re certainly not your Miss Liu’s parents, and these two old bones of ours can’t possibly be your parents either. For heaven’s sake, why don’t you just do us old folks—and the entire Zhang family—a little favor?”

Zhang’s mother’s voice wasn’t loud, but her words were far from pleasant, and her attitude was unmistakably firm.

Zhang Yang didn’t say a thing; he merely furrowed his brows even tighter, almost tying them into a knot.

Liu Qingqing, on the other hand, slumped her shoulders and put on her ever-practiced, masterful expression of grievance. She bit her lip, lowered her eyelids, temporarily suppressed all the anger in her heart, and refrained from striking out at the other party. Instead, she weakly looked at Zhang’s mother and Zhang’s father and said, “Mom, I… did I say something wrong? Or did I do something wrong? Today is my wedding day with Zhang Yang. Once the ceremony is over, we’ll be one family, so… so I boldly called you both ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ first. If you think that’s inappropriate, then I won’t change my tune—for now. We can talk about it again after the wedding.”

Liu Qingqing deliberately pretended as if she had no idea about what had happened earlier.

Even though everyone in both camps knew full well that the previous incident was probably common knowledge.

But as long as the elderly Zhang couple didn’t bring up the matter themselves, Liu Qingqing would never take the initiative to do so.

Because she had once heard someone say that when people interact, if they can’t be completely sincere, completely open, completely unreserved, and completely without regret, then they should leave themselves—and others—a little leeway, a margin for retreat.

End of Chapter 249: Counterattack 176