Chapter 147 - Grandpa Lu's Questioning Started
Grandpa Lu guided Zhen-Zhen to his study. He also asked their family head butler to bring them some snacks and drinks. Zhen-Zhen followed Grandpa Lu. Upon reaching his study, both of them sat down on the couch, facing each other.
She noticed the big self-portrait hang in the center wall of Grandpa Lu's Study. It was a beautiful woman in her mid-30's. She couldn't help but admire her beauty.
"Grandpa, she's beautiful." Zhen-Zhen blurted out suddenly.
Grandpa Lu followed her line of sight. She was looking at the self-portrait of his late wife, Cassandra.
"She's Tristan's grandma, my beloved wife, Cassandra. I gave her this gift during the 10th year anniversary of our wedding." Grandpa Lu's voice was very gentle whenever he would mention his wife.
Zhen-Zhen could only smile at his remarks. They stayed there and remained silent for a moment, just watching Grandma Cassandra's self-portrait.
After a while, Grandpa Lu cleared his throat to catch Zhen-Zhen's attention.
Cough! Cough!
"Lillie?"
"Yes, grandpa?"
"Do you mind if I will ask you some personal questions?" Grandpa Lu asked her while staring at her expectantly.
Zhen-Zhen's lips curled up into a smile before shaking her head. "You can ask me anything, grandpa."
Grandpa Lu bobbed his head with a smile.
"But first, can you promise me one thing?"
"Sure, grandpa, what is it? Just tell me."
"Whatever conversation we will have here, can you keep it as a secret. Just a secret between you and me. Don't tell other people, most especially Tristan, your husband. Can you promise me that?"
Zhen-Zhen fell silent after hearing that. She paused for a moment, thinking about what to do and what to reply to Grandpa Lu. He was anticipating her response.
After a few seconds, Zhen-Zhen finally responded to Grandpa Lu. "Uhm, Grandpa, I don't want to hide something from Tristan."
Grandpa Lu felt disappointed when he heard that. He even thought of bribing her to keep her silence and not inform Tristan but Zhen-Zhen was not yet done talking. Grandpa Lu was about to convince her when Zhen-Zhen continued speaking.
"But since this is grandpa's first request to me then I will fulfill it. This secret is between me and grandpa. I promise not to tell anyone about our conversation here, including Tristan." She stated with so much enthusiasm.
Grandpa Lu was dumbfounded by her last remarks. It seemed that he didn't need to convince her anymore since she was willing to do this because of him.
'She's really sweet and thoughtful. No wonder my grandson chose her. I remember Tristan telling me that she's different from others. Now I could somehow understand what he meant by saying that.' Grandpa Lu thought to himself as he watched Zhen-Zhen with amusement.
'Now, let's see how honest she will be once I start asking her a lot of questions.' A mischievous smile played across his face.
"Thank you, Lillie. I'll have your words." Grandpa Lu said, his eyes sparkled with delight.
Soon, Grandpa Lu started throwing her one question after another. He was observing her expressions and gestures while answering his every question.
"When and where did you meet my grandson?"
Zhen-Zhen looked down at her fingers. She seemed like she was counting days.
"Grandpa, I met Tristan last one and a half months ago at MT. Calypso. We saw each other in the waterfalls." Zhen-Zhen couldn't help but smile brightly as she remembered her first encounter with Tristan.
Grandpa Lu could see in her eyes that she was really happy when she met his grandson. As far as he could remember, that was also the time when Tristan took a leave of absence the week after he told him to choose between finding a wife or losing his CEO position.
Grandpa Lu gave her a followed up question. "After the two of you met in the mountain, did you continue seeing each other?"
Zhen-Zhen bobbed her head and said matter-of-factly, "Yes, Grandpa. We see each other every day after that."
Zhen-Zhen told him that because she was thinking that they see each other every day since she was already living with Tristan. Fortunately, Zhen-Zhen didn't elaborate more on her answer, or else, she would give Grandpa Lu another shocking news.
Grandpa Lu fell silent, rubbing his chin. This only meant that his grandson, Tristan kept on seeing her when he was still on his one-month vacation.
'Ahuh! So my grandson was busy wooing and courting Lillie during the time he was on leave. He was silent at those times. I didn't even know his whereabouts. He hid from the public very well when his scandal was at its peak. Then he surprised everyone when he brought Lillie with him during the engagement party and introduced her as his wife.'
Grandpa Lu suddenly burst out laughing. He couldn't help it.
'My grandson is also a sneaky fellow. No wonder he was not concerned nor bothered by his scandal. It turned out he was enjoying Lillie's company at those moments.' Grandpa Lu was commending Tristan.
"Grandpa, why are you laughing?" Zhen-Zhen asked him curiously, oblivious of what Grandpa Lu was thinking as of this moment.
Grandpa Lu stopped laughing and cleared his throat. He apologized for his sudden outburst of laughter.
"Sorry about that, Lillie. I just remembered something funny. Don't mind me."
Zhen-Zhen just gave him a faint smile, saying "It's alright, grandpa. No need to apologize. I'm so glad to see you laughing."
After that, Grandpa Lu continued asking her. This time, Grandpa Lu had become serious.
"Lillie, I'm just wondering. It has only been a month or more than a month that you knew my grandson. Why did you accept his proposal? Why did you marry him right away? I hope you will not regret your decision of marrying him." Grandpa Lu was testing her. This was one of the things he was really curious about.
Zhen-Zhen looked straight into Grandpa Lu's eyes before answering him.
"Because Tristan was the first person who treated me so well aside from my parents. He is a good man. He accepted me for who I am." Zhen-Zhen said to Grandpa Lu meaningfully.