“Heh heh,” Grandfather Qi laughed in disdain. “Who else could it be? Your grandmother must have been showing off just now.”
“What’s wrong with that? I’m going to have a granddaughter-in-law soon! Why can’t I be happy? By the time my great grandkid is born, I’ll be showing him off on the one hand, and Youxuan on the other, every day!” Grandmother Qi had a smug look on her face. “I wonder if there’s any other old lady as impressive as me! Having grandkids isn’t a rarity, but great grandkids!”
Grandfather Qi let out a ‘hmph,’ and said to Song Yu, “Let’s see when your parents will be available for a meal. We have to follow the marriage traditions. We can have a simple engagement ceremony first, where we only invite family members. When it was Chengyue’s marriage, we did the same thing. It’s all fair and square.”
“Your parents are already familiar with the Qi family. It’s more for the two families to reminisce about the past than to get to know each other. We will then discuss the wedding in detail.”
Song Yu nodded.
Qi Zhongliang hesitated a little before speaking, “Dad, I’ve told Chengzhi before—there’s no need for a grand wedding. Just like the engagement ceremony, it will be enough to invite the family and have a simple ceremony. We can book small event space at Dynasty. There’s no need to make it a big thing.”
Grandfather Qi frowned. He carried a stern expression and glanced coldly at Qi Zhongliang before turning to Qi Chengzhi. “What do you mean?”
Qi Chengzhi’s expression remained neutral. He spoke flatly, “I’ve told dad before. I disagree with his suggestion. There’s nothing shameful about Song Yu or my wedding. Why should the eldest grandson of the Qi family have an undercover wedding? Song Yu, too, deserves something grand so that everyone would know officially—that she’s my wife.”
“You—” The color on Qi Zhongliang’s face faded away. He carried a look of disdain as if Qi Chengzhi had become the son that he detested the most versus when he used to be his pride. “Why can’t you consider the Qi family? You can’t just think about yourself!”
“Enough!” Grandfather Qi halted the ensuing argument and responded frigidly, “There’s indeed no need to have a lavish wedding ceremony, but there’s no need to keep it undercover as well. If you want to marry her, do it the right way.”
“I didn’t give my blessing to Chengzhi and Song Yu before. However, now that they’re getting married, we should do it under the sun. Otherwise, people would think the Qi family is in the wrong,” Grandfather Qi spoke unhurriedly.
“That’s right!” Grandmother Qi was an impetuous person. Not able to wait till Grandfather Qi was done, she continued, “We live our own lives! Why should we be bothered by what others think? They’re not related to us—can they dictate our lives or our beliefs? If not, why do we care? Do you want to make your daughter-in-law feel wronged for those people? Qi Zhongliang, is that the way I brought you up?”
“Since I’m starting with this, I will get straight into the matter. I’ve always taught you about equality. You shouldn’t be proud and look down on others. Everyone is equal—we all have our fair share of problems in living. You have your problems, and others have theirs. You’re luckier because you were born in the Qi family. Who are you to look down on others, or to judge and be picky?” Grandmother Qi’s face was veiled with a thin layer of ice.
“You should feel thankful to your dad and me for being able to look down on people today. If we didn’t give birth to you, or if you weren’t born in this family, who would’ve paid you any respect? Life comes in a full circle—the same could happen to you the next day. Stop sitting on a high horse!”
“Both Zhongxun and you, have you not learned any lesson from Chengze’s incident? You’re repeating the same mistake. You’re an adult now, when will you understand these simple principles that even kids could grasp? Have you ever heard any complaints from the kindergarten about Youxuan where he belittles others? Are you no better than a five-year-old kid?”
“Let me tell you, stop bringing up Song Yu and Chengji’s engagement and how it would bring shame to the Qi family. Song Yu is my granddaughter-in-law, and her parents had taken great care in raising her. Now, their precious daughter is marrying into our family and becoming our daughter-in-law. What right do you have to wrong her?”
“Do you think they raised and educated Song Yu for her to suffer from injustice in our family? Just for her to have a wedding behind closed doors? What privilege does our family have to justify such actions? You’re not the one who brought her up! Who are you to neglect her rights?”
“You said that it’s a disgrace for the two of them to date? It’s a disgrace for me to have sons like you!” Grandmother Qi was so angry that she became flustered.
Qi Zhongxun was perplexed. Qi Zhongliang was the person who had sprouted those words, why was he scolded?
“Mom, it’s the big brother’s opinion. Why did you get me involved?” Qi Zhongxun mumbled.
“Hmph! Do you think I don’t know what opinion you hold? You’re just waiting to see your brother make a fool out of himself!” Grandmother Qi exclaimed.
Qi Chengyue glanced at Song Yu and said, “Congratulations.”
Song Yu looked at her with surprise. She did not expect her to congratulate her. While she did not seem delighted, she did not oppose it strongly, unlike the last time.
Song Yu nodded. “Thank you.”
“Why isn’t Jian Yi here?” When Grandmother Qi stepped in, she was still thrilled about the news, and hence she did not notice that Jian Yi was not around. Qi Zhongliang’s statement acted as a distraction to that too.
“He has a business appointment tonight. He will come and pick me up when it’s over,” Qi Chengyue explained.
…
…
“Song Yu is no match for Qi Chengzhi! Why should I give up?” Yu Keyao slammed the chopsticks on the table.
“Do you not understand? Qi Chengzhi had paid a visit to me personally in the office, for the elders in the Yu family to govern your behavior and stop being a disgrace! He’s marrying Song Yu soon, and he wants you to stop dreaming!” Yu Zixiu had to suppress his desire to hurl the dishes on Yu Keyao’s stubborn face.
“He already made it clear, why do you still hang on to it? The reason why we arranged a blind date for you and Qi Chengzhi was to establish a good relationship with the Qi family, and not for him to hate you or to make the Qi family our foul. How can we be on the good side of the Qi family if Qi Chengzhi detests you now?” Yu Zixiu spoke raucously.
“I’ve told you the last time to befriend Song Yu. You refused to because you thought you could beat Song Yu, and you wanted us to give you a chance. Fine, you had it, but what happened? Qi Chengzhi and I had a fall out, in my face! Why should I bear this shame for you?”
“You’ve offended Song Yu. In the future, even if we want to amend this, the Song family might not accept it. Not only did you not bring us closer to the Qi family, but you’ve also burned the bridges for us. Now, you still remain stubborn!” Yu Zixiu’s face sunk. “Even if you don’t care about your image, please do take the Yu family into consideration.”
“Big brother, it’s too much! Keyao is your niece, why are you leaning toward an outsider? It’s not Keyao’s fault to not have laid a good foundation with the Song family. Don’t forget; you’re the first person to draw a line with the Song family when they went bankrupt. You didn’t lend a helping hand, not even to your sister. What right do you have to be talking about how Keyao has ruined the Yu family?”
“It’s all Song Yu’s fault. For a woman who can hook up with both the brothers of the Qi family, Keyao is no competition to her in terms of craftiness. First, the engagement with Chengji and now the engagement with Chengzhi. Big brother, before you speak about the Yu family, can’t you take Keyao’s happiness into consideration? Is it wrong for her to like Qi Chengzhi? What’s wrong about that? All is fair in love and war.”
“She didn’t bring harm to anyone, nor did she play any underhanded tricks. She’s just behaving like a normal girl, who chases after the man she likes. I don’t think she did anything wrong.” Liang Lihua’s voice was harsh and cold.
As a mother, she had to defend Yu Keyao under Yu Zixiu’s harsh criticisms.
Liang Lihua stood up, “Why should Keyao sacrifice herself for the benefit of the family? What can she gain? The only one who benefits is you! Don’t treat all of us as idiots. You know deep down why you’re criticizing Keyao. Don’t you think it’s too selfish?”
“If Keyao can chase Song Yu away, the benefit to the Yu family is much greater than to be in the good books of the Song family. If you go begging for a favor from the Song family, Yu Qianying will reject you out of her character.” Liang Lihua sneered, “Song Yu has the same cunning personality as Yu Qianying. If she does marry into the Qi family, with power, do you think she will let you reap any rewards?”
“In my opinion, instead of blaming Keyao and thinking of ways to get in the good books of the Song family, it’s more realistic to get rid of Song Yu from Chengzhi’s side and make him come to his senses. That’s what you should focus on.”
She would never bow down or apologize to Yu Qianying!
Liang Lihua pulled Yu Keyao up and left.
Yu Zixiu slammed the chopsticks and shouted at Yu Zidong, “Are they your wife and daughter? Where are their manners?”
Yu Zidong ground his teeth. “I will help straighten this out. When the Song family was still booming, Lihua had been under the shadow of Qianying for too long. She felt wronged, and subsequently, with the incident of Song Yu and Qi Chengzhi, she felt that she’s suffering from injustice, and thus the reactions.”
“In reality, you can’t blame Keyao on this. Big brother, she’s your niece, and your words were too harsh. Keyao knew Qi Chengzhi first, and Song Yu bumped into them during the blind date. I think Song Yu intentionally snatched Qi Chengzhi away as a revenge to our family. Do you think, for a woman so vengeful, our peace treaty would work?”
Yu Zixiu was in deep thought. He said nothing.
…
…
Jian Yi went to the Qi family’s old mansion to pick up Chengyue at night. When he arrived, he saw Qi Chengzhi’s Range Rover leaving.
Then, Qi Chengzhi had not started the engine yet. When he saw Jian Yi come out from the Cayenne, he did not come down and greet him, but instead, he drove past Jian Yi.
Qi Chengyue saw it at the door and laughed, “Eh, you almost met.”
Jian Yi’s expression was gloomy, and Qi Chengyue ignored him.
She got on the car with smiles. When Jian Yi started the car, she then broke the news in a delightful, relaxed manner, “It’s such a shame you weren’t here today. Big brother brought Song Yu back and announced their marriage.”
Jian Yi looked ahead and said nothing. He did not react but merely held the steering wheel tighter. He loosened his grip subsequently.
Qi Chengyue pretended she did not see that and continued leisurely, “Now I understand why big brother insists on bringing Song Yu to Paris. He had the proposal all planned out. Isn’t a proposal in Paris romantic?”
She turned to look at Jian Yi. Seeing his cold and handsome side profile, she seemed even happier. She hooked on his arm that was dangling off the steering wheel and leaned on his shoulder. “You missed the two-carat pink diamond on Song Yu’s ring finger today. It’s so beautiful, and the color was so dreamy.”
“For an average person, putting the pink diamond aside, a high-quality and sizable diamond is good enough. Big brother had put much thought into it. I wonder how much effort he had to put in to find such a delicate ring. It must have taken a long time as it’s impossible to find that in a short few months. It meant that he has been preparing for this way ahead of time.”
Qi Chengyue frowned. “However, he has only dated Song Yu for a few months, not even half a year has gone by! Could it be that he had planned this out even before he started dating Song Yu, that he knew he wanted to marry her before they even started dating? How unbelievable.”
Qi Chengyue shook off her imagination. It was too unrealistic.
“I admire Song Yu, for being able to be in love with a man like my big brother, who puts in a lot of effort into her.” Her voice was full of envy. “A man like my big brother is likely every woman’s ideal partner, a prince charming that women would crave, but impossible to attain.”
“To be in love with a caring, attractive, and capable man like that, it’s something all women will be envious of! At the very least, that’s how I feel.” Qi Chengyue could feel Jian Yi’s muscle tensing. She did not care, and instead, she kept going.
“Well, he even kept it a secret and broke it out all of a sudden in Paris, such a romantic place!” Qi Chengyue sighed. “It’s something I will keep on reminiscing for many years, even till I’m old. It’s a very precious memory.”
Qi Chengyue took a break and looked up at Jian Yi with a faint smile. “Isn’t it?”
Jian Yi took a glance at her and spoke coldly, “What do you want me to answer?”
“I want you to give up. Song Yu is getting married to my big brother. You can stop hoping.” Qi Chengyue replied in a frosty manner.
Jian Yi was still looking ahead. He said nothing.
He did not say a word all the way home. When he got back, he removed the necktie and walked toward the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Jian Yi locked the bathroom door and filled the bathtub with hot water. The gushing water from the tap fell on the tub and made a water splashing noise. It could muffle out all other sounds in the bathroom.
He took out a simple, outdated model of mobile phone and dialed Song Yu’s number.
Qi Chengzhi was showering. Song Yu saw the unknown number on the screen, frowned, and picked it up.
“Song Yu, it’s me.” It was Jian Yi’s gloomy voice on the other side.
“What’re you doing changing your number every day?!” Annoyed, Song Yu spoke sarcastically.
When she was about to hang up, she heard Jian Yi screaming, “Don’t hang up! I told you not to get married to Qi Chengzhi so soon!”
“Since when who I marry, or when I marry is a business of yours?” Song Yu was so angry, she laughed. Her fingers were trembling. She was mad at how full of himself Jian Yi was—to think that he had the right to dictate her life?
Trembling, she hung up, and before Jian Yi could call again, she blocked the number.
Jian Yi had been bothering her too much. She was sick of the sight of him and his voice.
“What’s wrong? You look pale.” Qi Chengzhi’s voice rang from the door.
Song Yu looked up and saw him coming out of the bathroom. He was wearing only gray cotton pants. He did not tie the strings at his waist yet, and hence the pants were hanging at his abdomen. Underneath were his chocolate-like abs and the Apollo’s belt.
Following Apollo’s belt and going down, one could see the black, curly hair at the top.
He did not dry himself completely, and hence, there were still water droplets on his chest and abs. Even though he was light-skinned, it did not hurt his manliness. His muscles were toned and lean, but not overly jacked, which could put people off.
Strength was manifesting all over his body.
He covered his head with a big towel. Water dripped from the tips on his hair onto his shoulder, his chest and his abdomen. It continued into the pants and blended into the small tuft of hair.
Song Yu swallowed hard. She could not resist the gorgeous beauty in front of her.
Qi Chengzhi looked at her, smiling faintly and taking in her lust. He dried his hair casually and tossed the towel aside. He sat next to her.
Naturally, he circled Song Yu with his arms. Hugging Song Yu, his thin, burning lips began kissing her eyelids and rubbing against her soft skin. “Why were you so angry?”
Song Yu inhaled the fragrance of shampoo from his body. His upper body remained naked. In his embrace, she leaned against his bare skin. The water droplets on his body wet her pajamas.
She always felt that he was warm. His body felt even warmer after he had a hot shower.
“Nothing much, it was a prank call. The person was nuts.” Song Yu pressed her forehead against his chest. She did not want Qi Chengzhi to get mad at Jian Yi, especially over such a small matter.
He tightened his grip on her waist and carried her up to sit on his lap.
This action made the pants go lower. He was revealing more of what was underneath.
Song Yu quickly looked up. She did not dare to look down, and she was all flustered.
Qi Chengzhi lowered his head and looked at her. He knew she was not telling the truth. He took an in-depth look at her but asked no further questions.
While Song Yu still had her heart at her mouth, not knowing whether she could keep it hidden from Qi Chengzhi, he began speaking, “Are father and mother-in-law free tomorrow? We can pay a visit to them. I want to ask for your hand officially.”
Song Yu could not resist and gathered the courage to look up at him. His expression was normal as if he indeed had let go of the question. She let out a sigh of relief.
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