In the living room, the old man was chatting with the hostess from that day, sounding quite spirited and laughing now and then.
When they heard Du Heng and An Chunhui enter, both the old man and the hostess politely stood up.
However, from their expressions, it was clear the hostess stood up merely out of courtesy.
The old man, however, stood up with a clear hint of wanting to show off his improvement.
Du Heng saw clearly that the old man could indeed stand, but not very stably; he was swaying slightly. But the old man, trying to act strong, slapped away the hostess's outstretched hand meant to support him and remained standing there, wobbling.
After An Chunhui exchanged somewhat formal pleasantries with the old man and the hostess, they began to chat, a little awkwardly.
For Du Heng, they weren't familiar with each other, and the considerable status gap between them meant there was little to discuss, leading to a slight awkwardness.
