After My Flash Marriage with the Movie Queen - Chapter 107 ETRA 3

To be fair, it wasn’t that Zhao Xunyin had never asked about Shi Nanbei’s family after they got married. It was just that Nanbei’s answers had always been extremely vague—“My parents are alive and well, and the family gets along.”

That line could apply to almost any family except hers.

Before attending the Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner, Zhao Xunyin had actually spent quite some time mentally preparing herself. You’d think that after becoming a Best Actress—having been through countless major events—she would be unfazed. But following her wife home for New Year’s as a newlywed? This was genuinely her first time in life.

The moment the private room door opened, Zhao Xunyin followed Shi Nanbei inside. A crowd of thirty to forty people—men, women, young, old—looked toward the door simultaneously. In one corner, there were even two dogs of different sizes and a cat.

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

For some reason, she found the scene strangely eerie.

Shi Nanbei, however, looked perfectly calm. She led Zhao straight to the main seat to greet her grandmother.

“Grandma.”

Zhao Xunyin also bowed politely. Compared to the attitude she had toward Nanbei, the grandmother’s reaction to Zhao was completely different. The moment she saw Zhao, she stood up immediately, took her hand, and proudly announced to the nosy crowd:

“Come, let me introduce you all. This is my granddaughter-in-law, Zhao Xunyin. She and Nanbei got married in the middle of this year. From now on, she’s part of our big family.”

Even though she felt nervous, Zhao Xunyin lived up to her title of Best Actress—her expression remained serene and composed.

“Good evening, everyone. I’m Nanbei’s wife, Zhao Xunyin.”

Shi Nanbei stepped to her side, gently taking her hand and giving her a reassuring look.

Zhao smiled softly. That one smile immediately set the whole crowd buzzing. Rumor had it that not many people in the family actually knew Nanbei had gotten married. Some used the internet, but none were heavy users. So, in truth, very few realized she was married at all.

This was exactly why the grandmother chose to formally introduce Zhao during the New Year’s Eve dinner. The old lady was traditional. Since the couple never held a wedding banquet and never made an official announcement to the family, getting married without informing anyone felt improper to her.

Grandma Shi was the absolute authority in this huge clan. So, once she made the introduction, anyone who had ever watched TV recognized Zhao immediately—the movie star.

The Shi family were ordinary people. It was their first time seeing a big-screen celebrity up close. The older members behaved decently, quietly whispering to the people next to them instead of rushing up like fans.

But a few younger kids—bolder ones—ran straight up to Zhao and Nanbei, craning their necks to look at her. One little girl with two braids and the clearest eyes asked crisply:

“You’re really pretty! Are you a movie star?”

Maybe Zhao really was getting older, because her maternal instincts flared instantly. She bent down and answered gently:

“Thank you for the compliment. I am an actress, but ‘movie star’ might be too much.”

Then she pulled a small gift box from her tote bag and handed it to the girl.

“A New Year’s present for you.”

The little girl, polite despite the longing in her eyes, shook her head.

“Mommy said I can’t take gifts from other people.”

For some reason, seeing her so serious and adorable made Zhao suddenly think of Shi Nanbei as a child. They parted ways when Nanbei was barely three years old, would she have looked like this at seven?

With that thought, Zhao unexpectedly found herself looking forward to having a child with Nanbei someday.

“But I’m not ‘other people.’ This is a meeting gift from Auntie. You can accept it,” Zhao coaxed.

She truly believed nothing was wrong with what she said. But the moment she finished, Nanbei suddenly shifted. She bent down as well and said to the little girl:

“Shi Xiaobai, why aren’t you greeting her properly?”

So, the little girl was named Shi Xiaobai.

Huh, the name felt oddly casual?

Shi Xiaobai clearly idolized Nanbei. Her eyes lit up immediately, and she called out sweetly:

“Hello, Little Grandma.”

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Little Grandma?

Shi Nanbei calmly patted Xiaobai’s head.

“Good girl. This is my wife. What should you call her?”

Shi Xiaobai turned to Zhao and chirped:

“Hello, Big Grandma.”

Zhao Xunyin: “?”

Big Grandma?

Grandma?

She had barely accepted calling herself “Auntie” to this kid—and now her generation had suddenly been promoted all the way up to grandma!

Zhao Xunyin was on the verge of losing her mind.

“Hello,” she forced out a smile. She had a thousand questions, but clearly now wasn’t the time.

She handed over the gift, then turned to speak to Nanbei—only to lift her head and realize four or five more kids were suddenly standing in front of her.

The youngest was about four.

The oldest looked fifteen or sixteen.

They bowed in perfect unison and chorused:

“Hello, Big Grandma! Happy New Year, Big Grandma.”

Zhao Xunyin’s expression froze instantly.

Having a seven-year-old call her “grandma” was already traumatic.

But a fifteen-year-old too?

She suddenly felt fifty or sixty years old.

This was not the warm family reunion she imagined.

At this moment, her usually oblivious wife finally sensed her confusion and helpfully explained:

“Our branch of the family has a relatively high seniority. These are my grandnieces and grandnephews. From left to right, they’re Shi Xiaobei, Shi Xiaolan, Shi Xiaoqing, Shi Xiaodian, and Shi Xiaochen.”

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Let’s put the whole seniority issue aside for a moment. I just want to ask: does your family really have to name people this casually?

Going by the way you all address each other, you’ve practically got red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple covered—why not just complete the whole color spectrum while you’re at it?

But no matter how many questions she had, she could only swallow them for now. Forcing a smile, she handed out meeting gifts to the several new “grandnephews” and “grandnieces” she had inexplicably acquired.

Barely finished dealing with the little brats, Zhao Xunyin hadn’t even caught her breath before she was dragged along by Shi Nanbei to meet the rest of the Shi family, starting with the elders.

Inside the private room, aside from Shi Nanbei’s grandmother, there were two other older folks—an elderly man and woman who looked to be in their seventies or eighties.

Carrying the gifts, Zhao Xunyin followed Shi Nanbei over, thinking she could finally act like the junior for once. But then Shi Nanbei stopped before the two elders, bent slightly, and greeted them as “Big Brother” and “Sister-in-law.”

Zhao Xunyin’s face went green: “…”

You’re calling a man and woman in their seventies ‘Big Brother’ and ‘Sister-in-law’?

Honestly, Zhao Xunyin’s mouth refused to form the words.

Seeing her discomfort, the old man chuckled kindly.

“Don’t mind it, niece-in-law. Our ancestor and little sister’s grandfather were biological brothers—thirty-eight years apart. When Second Grandfather was born, I was already two. So, the seniority ended up like this.”

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Zhao Xunyin: “?”

How can two biological brothers be thirty-eight years apart?

Can they even still be called biological brothers at that point?

Shi Nanbei lowered her voice:

“To put it simply, my great-grandmother had my great-uncle when she was fifteen, and then had my grandfather at fifty-three.”

Even someone as experienced as Zhao Xunyin had never seen such chaotic family structure: “…”

Just how early did your great-grandmother get married back then? A child at fifteen? And another at over fifty?

Zhao Xunyin was in shock.

But shocked or not, she still had to finish the introductions.

After greeting the “cousin” and “cousin-in-law,” she moved on to meet the “juniors” who were actually around her own parents’ age. One after another, she heard them call her “Aunt-in-law,” “Great-Aunt,” and occasionally even “Great-Grandmother.”

Zhao Xunyin began to panic internally: “…”

Please stop calling me that. I swear every time you say it, I lose three years of my life.

And that still wasn’t the worst of it.

The worst was when a man in his thirties led over two dogs—one big, one small—and an extremely overweight orange cat. He looked at Zhao Xunyin and said:

“Da Hui, Zhaocai, Xizi, come greet Great-Grandmother.”

Zhao Xunyin’s soul nearly left her body. She had never felt time pass so painfully slowly: “…”

How did I become the great-grandmother of your pets?

Shi Nanbei explained from the side,

“He’s not romantically inclined toward primates. Those are his eldest son, second daughter, and youngest daughter.”

Zhao Xunyin looked utterly lost: “?”

“What do you mean he’s not romantically inclined toward primates?” she asked.

“Simply put, he has zero romantic interest in humans.”

Judging from Shi Nanbei’s completely calm and understanding tone, Zhao Xunyin truly didn’t know what to say anymore: “…”

Isn’t your family environment a little too open-minded?

Homosexual, childfree, non-marriage, asexual, various niche orientations and identities, your family practically has the full set.

Zhao Xunyin was starting to crack.

After finally getting through the endless introductions, her nearly-fainting brain suddenly snapped back to a very important point: she still hadn’t met Shi Nanbei’s parents.

“Where are your mom and dad?”

Dinner had already begun, and after a few rounds of drinks, Zhao Xunyin finally found a chance to ask quietly.

She’d been nervous for two whole days about meeting her in-laws—so why hadn’t they appeared at all?

Shi Nanbei’s expression was oddly numb.

“Usually, they never come to gatherings like this. Honestly, if it wasn’t because of you, I wouldn’t be here either.”

“Why?” Zhao Xunyin didn’t understand.

Yes, the Shi family members were a bit eccentric, but overall, everyone was friendly, respectful, and surprisingly considerate. In a society as chaotic as today’s, such a harmonious big family was rare.

Shi Nanbei turned to her seriously.

“Because the seniority gap is too massive. When people address them like this, they feel like it shortens their lifespan.”

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

She was starting to understand why Shi Nanbei’s parents rarely lived in Chengdu.