016
Xu Jing personally brought Lu Huai’an over to offer birthday greetings, yet such an incident occurred at the banquet. Before leaving, he naturally wanted the Lu family to give a formal stance.
Otherwise, the Xu family would become a pushover that anyone could manipulate.
More importantly, he also felt deeply for Lu Huai’an, a child who had been well-behaved since childhood, wondering why things had to go so wrong in the realm of marriage.
He wanted to maintain the Xu family’s dignity in front of others, yet he didn’t want to be harsh, so he lowered his voice and told him: “An’an, don’t be afraid. Just share what’s on your mind.”
Looking at Xu Jing, Lu Huai’an’s eyes were already red.
After feeling aggrieved for a good while, he finally spoke: “Little Uncle, I will listen to whatever you say.”
His voice was as fine as a thread, making him look utterly pitiful.
Xu Jing instantly felt even more strongly that Lu Huai’an had suffered a grave injustice. His heartache transformed into a sharp gaze directed at Lu Zhitao as he asked in an icy voice: “I’m not asking anyone else today. I’m only asking you, Lu Zhitao, are you willing to become engaged to An’an or not?”
Lu Zhitao immediately wore a bitter expression.
He felt profoundly as though he were standing on the edge of a cliff, where taking a step in any direction meant plunging into an abyss. He stiffened and blurted out: “I’m not willing! Even your own biological nephew isn’t willing to marry him, so why should I!”
Xu Jing was practically laughed into anger; it had been a long time since he had seen such a brazen kid who didn’t know the immensity of heaven and earth. He sternly rebuked: “Is that your answer? You’re not willing? Then as for today’s betrothal, we might as well call it off. Our Xu family isn’t worthy of marrying into yours!”
Lu Zhitao shouted: “Right! That’s exactly what I mean!”
“Zhitao, what kind of foolish nonsense are you uttering?” Lu Zhitao’s mother, Ms. Li Zhenzhu, strode forward, nearly breathless with anger at this unfilial son: “Have you truly been bewitched by that vixen to the point of losing your senses? Even if you really like him that much, you still have to put Huai’an first!”
“As an elder, what kind of remark is that?” Xu Jing demanded angrily: “You’re planning to bully our Xu family even before the engagement?”
In an instant, the scene erupted into utter chaos.
Amidst the all-around condemnation, Lu Zhitao remained unwavering. He still refused to recant, shouting loudly to draw everyone’s attention: “I didn’t! And neither did Wen Tian!”
Ms. Li Zhenzhu cried out in alarm: “Zhitao!”
Lu Zhitao wailed: “Mom! I know you’re doing this for me, wanting me to tie myself to the Xu family so I can compete with Big Brother for the property in the future! But why won’t you think about it! You and Dad can’t compare to my eldest uncle, so wouldn’t me failing to compare to Big Brother just be a matter of a son inheriting his father’s legacy!”
“I’m truly not cut out for that kind of work. I only scored forty-something points on my elementary school math tests! Bringing in a national college entrance examination top scorer to tutor me isn’t going to work either!”
Lu Zhitao’s thunderous display of unfilial devotion stunned a vast crowd of onlookers.
He Xingluo quietly wondered: “Then how on earth did he get into college?”
Over there, Lu Zhitao was still wailing: “When I was little, I’d rather our family had no money at all than have eighteen private tutors staring at me without a single blind spot!”
“I never even had a chance at early puppy love!”
So emotional, how fascinating. So missing out on early puppy love was the real point, wasn’t it?
The entire room: “”
“Enough.” The old master, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke up. He said to Lu Huai’an: “Good child, you’ve been wronged today. My family discipline is lax, and I’ve let you become the butt of a joke.”
Living up to his reputation as someone capable of managing the entire Xu family, Lu Huai’an neither took up the remark nor put on airs. Instead, he lowered his tone and replied: “We have troubled Elder Lu to worry on behalf of us juniors.”
Lu Zhitao was still muttering underneath: “Who’s a ‘we’ with you!”
Of course, the old master ignored him and turned to Xu Jing, saying: “As for the marriage between our two families, we still need to discuss it at length. It’s not appropriate for us elders to meddle too much in the affairs of the juniors; let them spend time together on their own. If things work out in the future, announcing it then will be a joyous occasion, and even if they don’t, they’ll at least have made another friend.”
Putting it that way meant the engagement was not being canceled.
Before Xu Jing could react, Lu Zhitao’s father jumped out first: “Elder master, look how well-matched these two are! It’s no big deal for a man to have stray thoughts before marriage; once they’re married, he’ll grow sensible!”
Ms. Li Zhenzhu also chimed in hastily: “Exactly, exactly! If Huai’an doesn’t like his current hooligan appearance, he can just take him along to the Xu family to be disciplined!”
Hah, it seemed they were determined to win this no matter what.
Naturally unwilling, Lu Zhitao moved to speak again.
Seeing the scene threatening to liven up once more, the old master shot a withering glare that instantly silenced the family of three.
“Does the old master seem very satisfied with this marriage match too?” He Xingluo speculated: “Is that why he had you come along to represent the Lu family’s stance and steady the Xu family?”
Lu Zhanbei calmly replied: “Grandfather is getting older, his heart has softened.”
“Do your second uncle and second aunt really think that having Lu Zhitao marry Lu Huai’an will make the Xu family wholeheartedly help Lu Zhitao?” He Xingluo was very puzzled: “Even if the next generation of the Xu family is incompetent, resources should still tilt toward biological kin, right?”
Lu Zhanbei’s gaze swept lightly past Xu Jing, and after a brief pause, he said: “Not necessarily.”
Young Master, that single second of silence you gave was dripping with sarcasm. He Xingluo sighed: “As expected, wealthy family dog-blood drama is much more engaging. Everyone is just a part of the play.”
Lu Zhanbei: “”
He Xingluo noticed that when Lu Huai’an took his leave alongside Xu Jing, the glance he cast toward Lu Zhitao as he passed by was no better than looking at a stray dog on the street.
In the original plot, there wasn’t much description of Lu Huai’an, but now it seemed he wasn’t as weak and easily bullied as his setting suggested.
What a tangled web of fate!
Looking at Lu Zhitao now, He Xingluo even felt a bit of sympathy; it carried the stark contrast of a melee weapon clashing against firearms.
He Xingluo asked: “So is this matter just ending like this?”
Lu Zhanbei looked toward Lu Zhitao without uttering a word, though the implication was crystal clear.
Lu Zhitao: “!!!”
What was he even doing this for?! He hadn’t managed to pursue his goddess, the engagement hadn’t been canceled, and in the end, was he going to get beaten up too? He truly was miserable.
Lu Zhanbei said nothing further, standing up to bid farewell to the old master before preparing to leave.
Naturally, He Xingluo left with him. It seemed Young Master Lu didn’t care in the least about Lu Zhitao and his family of three. Was this what wealthy family dynamics were like?
Quite novel.
What was even more novel was that Lu Zhanbei would offer Wen Tian a financial support contract just to make Lu Zhitao obediently accept the marriage alliance with the Xu family. How much of that decision was actually for Lu Zhitao’s sake remained up for debate.
That man really was stubborn to a fault.
He Xingluo glanced at Lu Zhanbei, finding it somewhat hard to imagine that scenario, especially since his young master refused to even acknowledge that Wen Tian wasn’t setting up a honey trap.
Upon leaving the old residence, Lu Zhanbei seemed somewhat annoyed.
Thinking about the family feud still raging inside, He Xingluo understood a little. Just as Lu Zhanbei had said, Elder Lu had grown soft-hearted.
Instead of making a prompt and decisive decision to cancel the engagement, he allowed the Lu family’s second branch and Ms. Li Zhenzhu to forcefully preserve it.
If handled well, fine; if handled poorly, the fallout would likely end up on Lu Zhanbei’s plate.
The next second.
Wailing loudly, Lu Zhitao came scrambling and sobbing to wrap his arms around Lu Zhanbei’s thighs: “Big Brother, you have to save me! I’m your own biological younger brother, you can’t just ignore me!”
“Mom and Dad canceled all my credit cards and even emptied out my pockets before I left the house. They said if I can’t survive on my own, I can go beg for food at the Xu family, but I don’t want to go!”
“Brother, can you take me in?”
Heaven knows where this person had suddenly popped out from, but he had forcefully squeezed his way into the car anyway.
Inside the car, lingering fear still gripped him. Lu Zhitao twiddled his fingers and said with a hint of grievance: “The person I like is out of reach, and my newly modified sports car is gone. I am such a failure.”
He Xingluo: “”
Wasn’t that car already sent back?
He Xingluo asked with a guilty conscience: “You didn’t call the police, did you?”
“No, too much trouble. I might as well just buy a new one.” Lu Zhitao said mindlessly: “Actually, I’m not even sure if it’s lost. I have so many cars I don’t remember where I parked them.”
He Xingluo attacked him expressionlessly: “But you’re broke now.”
Lu Zhitao: “”
He was so cruel.
Lu Zhitao zipped his mouth, wilting entirely. He Xingluo asked with curiosity: “Do you really like Wen Tian that much?”
Unexpectedly, this time Lu Zhitao didn’t immediately nod frantically.
He seemed to pause for a moment, then said in a tone that sounded as if it needed confirmation: “I suppose I really like him?”
He Xingluo pointed out ruthlessly: “Yet that night, you didn’t even recognize Wen Tian himself.”
Lu Zhitao: “”
The reason He Xingluo had arranged for all the waiters to wear masks was to prevent Wen Tian from being exposed to everyone, not so that Lu Zhitao wouldn’t recognize him either.
He Xingluo was simply curious: “How on earth did you mistake Foreman Wang for Wen Tian? The two of them have vastly different heights.”
Lu Zhitao: “.”
He became even more heartbroken.
Wailing anew, Lu Zhitao recalled painful memories: “Old Ge and the others said I have an ugliness fetish.”
He Xingluo: “”
If he ever found out this was a trap set by Wen Tian, what would he think?
“I don’t know why I like him this much either, but the moment I lay eyes on him my head spins, and the second he appears I can’t see anyone else!” Lu Zhitao thoroughly broke down, growing even more agitated as he spoke: “I actually went to the library just to run into Wen Tian! I hate reading books the most!”
“For him, I went against my very nature!”
“Isn’t that enough proof that I like Wen Tian? I like him so much.” Lu Zhitao thought about it and said: “It’s as if I were born to like him!”
Such a familiar-sounding sentiment.
Xia Xu hated Wen Tian, and Lu Zhitao liked Wen Tian—both of these were predefined settings within the plot. Upon seeing the character, they would naturally react accordingly.
Should all of this be attributed to character traits?
He Xingluo fell silent, attempting some persuasion: “Young Master Lu, continuing to love someone when your affection isn’t reciprocated is a bit impolite.”
Lu Zhitao whimpered: “Ying.”
He Xingluo experienced an instant stress response. What kind of sound was that, could an adult male easily make a sound like that?! He offered perfunctory comfort: “Although your romance is a bit of a forced imposition, your face-blindness makes up for it nicely.”
At least it wasn’t completely useless.
Lu Zhitao was utterly crushed, and a blow even harder for him to bear arrived when Lu Zhanbei simply dropped him off right by the roadside. The sentence echoing in his ears was: “Your car is in the underground parking garage.”
Lu Zhitao stood disheveled in the wind.
He was penniless, but he had a super sports car.
His older brother had dumped him, but returned his sports car.
Peeking out, He Xingluo watched Lu Zhitao’s figure grow increasingly blurred in the distance and sighed.
The next second.
He Xingluo asked with deep curiosity: “Will Lu Zhitao go to the Xu family to beg… for alms?”
Before Lu Zhanbei could answer, He Xingluo shook his head firmly: “No, absolutely not. Even if Lu Zhitao starved to death and wandered the city streets until dawn, he would never take a single bite of the Xu family’s food!”
“Am I right, Young Master?” He Xingluo turned his head.
“You overlooked a detail,” Lu Zhanbei stated: “Lu Huai’an does not carry the surname Xu.”
“…”
So rigorous, Young Master.
Putting that matter aside for the moment, He Xingluo poked the system in his mind and asked expectantly: “Has the system settlement finished? Does the main system finally realize there are more bugs in this world than actual plot points?”
The little system bounced slightly, displaying the settlement page.
“Upon detection, the romanceable protagonist Lu Zhanbei experienced a ‘subtle heartbeat’ shift in emotional fluctuation while triggering ‘Wen Tian’s resume plot’, and the romance track is racing in the correct direction~”
“Congratulations to host ‘He Xingluo’ for gaining +100 points value! Please continue to work hard!”
Tilting its head toward the host, the little system wondered: does that mean everything is normal after all?
He Xingluo: “… Huh?”