Chapter 469 Yan Siming’s Loss
Ever since Gong Tianhao and Xiao Lingyu got engaged, the two families had decided on an auspicious date. It was October 18th on the Chinese Calendar. It was an auspicious day.
After they got engaged, the two families began to prepare for the wedding.
The Gong family had given Xiao Lingyu a betrothal gift of 3.6 million. This news spread through the village. Every family with a daughter was filled with envy. At the same time, the other villagers were extremely envious of Xiao Zhengyang and his wife. They were too lucky. They had a promising daughter, and their daughter had married a rich man.
Of course, Xiao Lingyu was born with a good background. She graduated from a famous university and was beautiful. Naturally, there would be outstanding men who would pursue her and marry her.
If they wanted their daughter to be married off with an astronomical betrothal gift, they could only raise their daughter to be as outstanding as Xiao Lingyu.
However, the preference for sons was still quite serious in the rural area. They were not many families that would send their daughters to school. Daughters were to be married off, so there was no point in spending so much money on them. It would only benefit their in-law.
Therefore, most daughters were told to work instead of study. Because of this, many girls, who wanted to study, suffered. When these families saw other daughters earn big money at big companies and marry rich husbands, they would come back to blame their own daughters for not being good students.
They said that equality was important. But it would take some time before that concept was really implemented.
However, when some villagers heard that Xiao Zhengyang had received 3.6 million in betrothal gifts from Xiao Lingyu’s marriage, their minds changed. If they raised their daughters well, they could fetch expensive betrothal gifts too.
The Gong Family and the Xiao Family lived less than two hundred meters apart. Some of the traditional procedures on the wedding day could be canceled, but neither of the families did. It was important to follow traditions.
The Xiao Family believed Xiao Lingyu’s happiness was the most important. However, the traditions still had to be followed.
Of course, the traditions nowadays had become much simpler than before.
The two families decided to hold one shared banquet. Two banquets would be a waste of money and energy. Most importantly, it would be taxing on the bride. It would not be wise for her to get tired. The two families discussed and decided to have a shared banquet.
The villagers were quite happy. Previously, many of them discussed whether they should attend the banquet organized by the Gong Family. The Gong Family didn’t attend the villagers’ banquets, but it was true that they had helped them a lot. Plus, they had to provide gifts if they attended the Gong Family’s banquet.
The villagers were concerned about money. In the past, they were very poor, and they used to be very wise with money. They had to give gifts when attending a banquet.
However, the Gong Family had only arrived at Taoyuan Village for a short period of time. Other than Xiao Lingye’s graduation banquet, they hadn’t participated in other banquets. Therefore, the Gong Family had never given the villagers any gifts. However, now that they were holding a wedding banquet, some villagers became quite calculative. The gift-giving should go back and forth and not one way.
So when they heard the two families would only hold one banquet, many people secretly heaved a sigh of relief.
That was good. They only needed to attend the banquet once and not twice.
The Gong and Xiao families did not pay any attention to the thoughts of these villagers. They didn’t really care.
In the Yan Group’s office, Yan Siming, who had just received Xiao Lingyu’s wedding invitation, looked through the names written on it. His eyes which were filled with electricity widened, and he furrowed his brows in disbelief.
Then, his eyes turned red.
He never thought that Gong Tianhao and Xiao Lingyu would get together so quickly. How long had it been? Two months? They were already getting married.
Yan Siming had no idea that the two had already married. They were only holding the wedding party as a formality. If he knew, his heart would hurt even more.
Yan Siming glanced at the invitation and then picked up his phone. His fingers touched the screen and swiped a few times. His fingers pointed at a contact. He wanted to press it, but he hesitated. Perhaps it was the undetermined nervousness and fear in his heart.
Xiao Lingyu was the first woman he liked. He had thought of marrying her, but his family blocked him every time. Before he could convince his family, he had already received the news of her marriage. It came too suddenly. It dealt him a heavy blow. He was lost in his own thoughts for a long time. In the end, Yan Siming did not press the button. Instead, he stood up, picked up his coat that was hanging on the hanger, and left the office.
Just as he was about to leave the office, Secretary Wang held the document and said anxiously, “Chairman, there’s a large meeting at ten o’clock. You need to attend it.” So, where are you going now?
Yan Siming said without turning his head, “You and Vice-President Guan will attend it on my behalf.”
With that, he took large strides and left.
Secretary Wang looked at Yan Siming as he disappeared around the corner. Secretary Wang sighed and went to look for Vice President Guan.
Yan Siming reached the underground parking lot and drove away. It shook the guards posted at the parking lot.
“Is that the chairman?”
“Of course. That’s the chairman’s car. The person driving inside must be the chairman.”
All the employees knew that their chairman was obsessed with cleanliness and did not want others to touch his car.
“The chairman drove so fast. Is he okay?” An employee said worriedly.
“He’ll be fine.” The other employee said, “Our chairman is as good as a racing car driver.” After that, the employees gossiped for a while and then went upstairs.
Two hours later, Yan Siming arrived at the entrance of Taoyuan Village. The car stopped.
Yan Siming leaned against the back of his chair and looked ahead.
In front of him was Taoyuan Village, Xiao Lingyu’s home.
However, the man, who was fully at ease on the business battlefield, felt fear.
For the first time in more than 20 years, he had fallen in love with a woman. It was also the first time he had truly put her in his heart and wanted to pursue her. However, she was about to be someone else’s bride. How sad was that?
What could he do? Could he question Xiao Lingyu? What right did he have?
At that moment, he and Xiao Lingyu were just friends. He was not her boyfriend or her husband. So what could he do?
Both the man and the woman were single. They could get married. Moreover, they were in love.
But his heart was in so much pain!
This was a heartache that he had never experienced before.
He felt sad. This sadness was like how he had lost something he treasured. He hadn’t even experienced love, but he had experienced the loss of love. It felt bad.
Yan Siming placed his hands on the steering wheel as the corners of his mouth revealed a faintly discernible bitter smile.
The woman he liked was about to get married, but he was not the groom.
Who could he blame? Gong Tianhao or his grandfather? But these were all excuses. The one at fault was himself.
He was domineering and decisive in the business world, but he became indecisive and hesitant in his relationships.
He also had to blame himself for being too confident. He thought that with his qualifications, as long as he wooed Xiao Lingyu slightly, Xiao Lingyu would obediently throw herself into his embrace.
But he forgot that Xiao Lingyu was not that kind of woman. He only felt the danger after his love rival appeared. But once he saw Xiao Lingyu’s pregnant stomach, he felt relieved. He did not think that Gong Tianhao would really marry a woman who was pregnant with an unknown child. That was because Gong Tianhao’s status and family background did not allow him to do so.
Even if Gong Tianhao pursued Xiao Lingyu, it might just be a temporary interest.
Someone with a strong personality like Xiao Lingyu would definitely not bow down to Gong Tianhao’s status and power.
Compared to Gong Tianhao, he felt that he had an advantage.
Yan Siming thought of something and narrowed his eyes in disbelief. He remembered something very important. Gong Tianhao’s grandfather’s attitude towards Xiao Lingyu was the opposite of his own grandfather’s.
Grandfather Gong seemed to like Xiao Lingyu very much and did not mind the child in Xiao Lingyu’s stomach at all. In fact, Old Master Gong helped Gong Tianhao to pursue Xiao Lingyu.
Yan Siming furrowed his brows tightly and had a deep suspicion in his heart.
No matter how open-minded Old Master Gong was, it was impossible for him to accept a child with an unknown father, right?
Could it be that the rumors in the capital were true? Was Gong Tianhao infertile?
Xiao Lingyu was the perfect excuse to cover up this truth. So the person the Gong Family really fancied was not Xiao Lingyu but the child in her stomach?
At the thought of this, Yan Siming became a little agitated, and his expression was a little angry.
‘No, they can’t use Xiao Lingyu like this.’
Yan Siming immediately started the car and drove into Taoyuan Village.
Very soon, the car arrived at Xiao Lingyu’s home.
The Xiao family was already bustling with activity.
The day after tomorrow was the day of Xiao Lingyu and Gong Tianhao’s wedding. The preparations were well underway. They needed to prepare some food ingredients for the big dishes at the banquet. They also needed people to help with the decoration and so on.
This was Yan Siming’s first time visiting a countryside banquet. When he saw the bustle in the courtyard, he was a little stunned.
The atmosphere was lively and peaceful.
It was different from a hotel banquet. The hotel had prepared everything. They only needed to have a good meal before leaving. As for how the dishes came about, the guests didn’t have to care at all.
Just as Yan Siming was standing at the entrance of the courtyard in a daze, Mother Xiao noticed him.
When mother Xiao saw Yan Siming, she was a little puzzled. She asked, “Siming, why are you here so early?”.
The wedding banquet was the day after tomorrow after all.
“Auntie,” Yan Siming called out and then smiled. “It’s so lively here.”
Mother Xiao smiled and explained, “This is how it is when we hold a banquet in the countryside. We have to prepare many things. Come, Siming, come in and sit!”
Yan Siming nodded and walked into the living room. He looked around and asked, “Auntie, where’s Lingyu?”
Mother Xiao smiled and said, “This child has gone to the reservoir with Gong Tianhao to watch others fish.”
Yan Siming, “…”
