“This is pretty funny.” Yin Yue shook her head as she laughed out loud. “To think that there would actually be such a coincidence.”
“I agree, it really is unexpected that what was supposed to be a joke ended up being true in the end.” Xie Feng nodded with a forced smile.
Yin Yue looked at Xie Feng with a strange smile and shook her head, “No, I wasn’t talking about that. There’s such a big coincidence wrapped up in this whole thing that I wonder if it’s right to keep calling it a coincidence.”
The trio looked at each other in confusion before Gu Qianxue asked in a cute tone, “Then what coincidence were you talking about earlier?”
“About that-”
“Qianxue.”
Just as Yin Yue was feigning a mysterious tone of voice and the four of them were having a great time, a male voice interrupted in between and stopped the conversation.
“Em?” Xie Feng did not turn around but had already recognized the tone of voice. However, what bothered him the most was the way this newcomer referred to Gu Qianxue. As if the newcomer and Gu Qianxue were very close, close enough to put aside formalities and forget each other’s surnames.
However, as Xie Feng frowned and felt annoyed, a gentle hand slid under the table and lightly caressed his own. Looking beside him, he saw Gu Qianxue ‘looking’ in his direction with a small smile. Even without exchanging words, Xie Feng understood what she meant and finally fell silent without saying anything. For now, he would let Gu Qianxue handle the situation.
Xie Feng, Xie Yao, and Yin Yue, looked at the newcomer in different ways, waiting to see how events would unfold.
In reality, not just one person had arrived. It was several people. Nangong Lei, two young men about 24 years old, a middle-aged woman and a middle-aged man. Xie Feng did not recognize the two young men and although the woman’s face was familiar to him from somewhere, he could not remember it temporarily. But what surprised Xie Feng a little was the arrival of the middle-aged man… Nangong Wentian! The current patriarch of the Nangong Family!
In addition, Xie Feng could also see Gu Pojun and Fang Yanran, Gu Qianxue’s parents, slowly approaching the place as well.
Gu Qianxue’s sweet smile disappeared when she stood up and an obviously forced smile out of politeness replaced it.
“Nangong Lei, do you need anything?” She asked lightly.
“I wonder how you’ve been?” Nangong Lei had a gentlemanly smile on his face. He, who in himself was handsome, coupled with his warm attitude and status, was capable of romancing practically any woman he set his mind to.
“Well, I’ve never looked better in all my life. Thanks for asking.”
However, clearly his normal means would not work on Gu Qianxue as she casually responded. Yet, unconsciously or perhaps on purpose, Gu Qianxue turned her face in Xie Feng’s direction for a second as she said her first sentence.
How could Nangong Lei not understand such an obvious suggestion? However, his face did not change in the slightest at Gu Qianxue’s ‘involuntary’ action.
“It makes me very happy to hear that.” Nangong Lei sighed in relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. “You know something? Ever since you were little I always wondered why the gods had to be so cruel to you? Why did they have to take away your right to see the sunlight? However, maybe they wanted you to be really happy by seeing through people’s hearts instead of seeing everyone’s false appearances.”
Listening to Nangong Lei’s speech, which clearly aimed to touch people’s emotions, caused many to nod and silently praise his choice of words.
“Yes, I also think the same as you.” Gu Qianxue also nodded and her smile became more natural as she said, “Although I can’t see people’s physique, I seem to have a special gift that allows me to see people’s souls. For example, in this hall, a person’s soul attracts me so much that I can’t help but want to get attached to him as much as possible.”
With so many important people surrounding a single table, it was completely impossible not to attract attention. Not only were two of China’s top five leaders there but also their two successors, Mu Wuying and Mu Yin of the Mu Family had also quietly approached the place. Less than a minute had passed but even Yao Xiyu; the patriarch of the Yao Family, Yang Jie; the patriarch of the Yang Family, and Mu Xue; the matriarch of the Mu Family, also began to slowly approach.
The words that Gu Qianxue said surprised many people as some murmurs were raised in the crowd. Even a fool could tell that Gu Qianxue, the princess of the Gu Family, one of the most beautiful women in all of China and the dream woman of who knows how many men, was practically confessing her feelings for a person inside the hall.
Suddenly, some young men couldn’t help but get excited. How nice it would be if the soul Gu Qianxue was talking about was that of one of them!
“Oh?” Nangong Lei was also surprised and with a confident smile remarked, “I guess that person is me, isn’t it?”
“You?” Gu Qianxue asked again, as if to be sure she had heard correctly. But seeing Nangong Lei nod, she shook her head with a grimace on her face. “What makes you think that?”
Nangong Lei’s face didn’t change in the slightest when he explained, “Of course, because I’m your fiancé.”
“What?”
“Fiancé?”
“Hey, did you know anything about this?”
“I didn’t know anything…”
“To think that the next leader of the Nangong family and the next leader of the Gu family were actually engaged.”
“I think they make a good pair…. Although the age difference makes me feel a little uncomfortable.”
Several people in the crowd began to mutter under their breath, but with so many of them, a small commotion was created. Although some were surprised, most did not feel that Gu Qianxue and Nangong Lei’s engagement was something strange; after all, engagements between two powerful families happened all too often.
By uniting two powerful families by engagement, the strength of both families was explosively raised to new heights through the alliance formed by the union of two members. The same had happened with the Yao Family and the Nangong Family in the past; through the union of the sister of the current patriarch of the Yao Family and the patriarch of the Nangong Family, the two families were practically united after the birth of Nangong Chen and Nangong Lei.
Xie Feng’s face became ugly… Extremely ugly. He was ready to burst out when Gu Qianxue’s calm voice stopped him.
“Fiancé? You?” Gu Qianxue looked confused for a moment before exclaiming, “Oh! Now I remember! You mean that engagement our families decided on when I wasn’t even born yet? Nangong Lei, you are also a grown man and I think you know perfectly well my thoughts about you after what happened in the virtual world.”
Nangong Lei’s face changed for the first time, but before the situation becomes awkward, his father’s voice broke the silence, “Little Gu, even though I don’t know what happened in the virtual world, don’t let a small event affect your relationship with my son.”
Nangong Wentian’s voice was powerful and traveled to everyone’s ears like lightning in the middle of the night.
“You may not remember since you were too little back then, but your relationship with Lei’er was really good in those days.”
Gu Qianxue turned her face in Nangong Wentian’s direction and bowed slightly as she greeted him politely, “Uncle Nangong, I hope you have been good. As for whether my relationship was ever close to your eldest son or not, let me doubt it. To be honest, in the past I had to act weak for fear of many things that I think everyone here will understand what I mean…”
Gu Qianxue’s voice traveled between each person and finally, almost in a whisper, she uttered, “But now, it is no longer necessary…. It is no longer necessary for me to pretend or act in a way that I really am not. Because I finally found the love of my life and the man who can protect me…. And I am sorry to inform Uncle Nangong, but that person is not your son Nangong Lei.”
Gu Qianxue’s confession was like an atomic bomb among the crowd. However, just as people began to murmur, a loud voice silenced them all.
“Nonsense!” Nangong Wentian roared furiously. “Child, do you know what you are saying? Your nonsense words could cause a bigger problem than you think!”
How could Nangong Wentian not be furious? After all, Gu Qianxue’s words were like a slap to his face, to the face of his entire family, and to the face of his son! It was naturally impossible for someone as power-accustomed, arrogant, and proud as Nangong Wentian to tolerate such humiliation.
Gu Pojun, knowing that his daughter’s words were perhaps a bit too harsh and said at the wrong time, tried to calm things down: “Okay, okay…. Let’s try to calm down a little. This is a birthday banquet after all, how about we talk about this when we’re all in a quieter place?”
Yao Xiyu quickly nodded and remarked, “I think we’d better leave this conversation for later. This is a somewhat delicate and very private matter. Also, gentlemen, I think we’d better remember that there are people here who should not see certain things.”
