To be honest, with Qi Du’s status, if he were to form a marriage alliance, the Lu family would definitely be marrying above their station.
In that case, a legitimate young master would naturally be better than an illegitimate son. After all, that would make the family clan’s interests more secure. An illegitimate son who had not been raised in the main house for a long time might develop some bad ideas and turn against them, which would be a disaster.
Besides, they were being matched with someone as outstanding as Qi Du. How could an illegitimate son’s status possibly be good enough? They should just marry those bald, greasy, big-bellied old men. In the end, they were only trading for the family clan’s interests anyway, so who they married did not matter.
But the moment Qi Du came in, he was drawn to 0617. The Lu family members were surprised, but their brows were also tightly furrowed.
One of the Lu family’s Little Young Masters had a rather spoiled temper and directly dumped juice all over 0617. “Sorry about that. You should hurry and go change and wash up. Don’t end up offending Mr. Qi later.”
0617: ???
What, seriously? Are you doing this on purpose?
He was both angry and amused, left speechless by such childish antics. His white shirt was soaked in a large patch, and mulberry juice was easy to stain in the first place. Once it got on there, it was extremely eye-catching.
Qi Du almost immediately furrowed his brows. He did not even have time to keep chatting with the people beside him and strode straight toward 0617.
“What happened?”
He was tall and handsome, and just standing there, he gave off a strong and imposing presence. Unlike everyone else, who looked at Qi Du with amazement, 0617 remained gentle and calm, his emotions extremely stable.
“It’s nothing. My clothes got dirty. Where’s the lounge?”
Qi Du frowned slightly, sweeping an unfriendly glance over the people around him. He reached out, grabbed 0617’s wrist, and personally led him downstairs.
The Lu family members exchanged looks.
Wasn’t this their first time meeting?
When did this illegitimate son, 0617, hook up with Qi Du?
Everyone was on edge. Listening to the familiar tone in the way the two of them spoke to each other, they seemed extremely close, nothing like people meeting for the first time. Qi Du’s first glance had not been a mistake at all. He had been heading straight for 0617.
The Qi family, on the other hand, seemed very calm. After all, who the family head liked was none of their business. Before he was even married, he had already brought a child back from outside to be his heir. What difference would it make if he married an illegitimate son?
0617 was still a little unaccustomed to being suddenly dragged away by Qi Du. Looking at the handsome man in front of him with sharp brows and bright eyes, he could not help thinking that this partner of his was rather protective of his own.
“I’m fine now. You can let go of me.”
Qi Du did not let go. Thinking that holding his wrist might hurt, he simply slid his hand down and took hold of 0617’s hand instead. “Why should I let go? Let everyone see that you’re mine, so those blind idiots won’t keep causing trouble for you.”
0617 did not catch on to his possessiveness. He tilted his head, feeling rather comforted. “You’re actually pretty nice~”
“You didn’t bring Little Treasure out with you today. Did you settle him down properly?”
Qi Du nodded. “It’s all settled. Don’t worry. Do I really look that unreliable as a dad?”
The two of them went into the lounge together. Qi Du gave the instructions himself, and a servant quickly brought over a clean, brand-new set of clothes.
After Qi Du handed them to 0617, he glanced at him a little awkwardly. “Do you need me to look away?”
Being looked at like that, 0617 also felt a little embarrassed. He nodded lightly. “Just turn around.”
At that moment, he was not thinking much about their relationship. After all, they were just working together as partners, and they were both men. There was no need to be so awkward.
0617 changed quickly. He was holding the dirty clothes and was unsure what to do with them when Qi Du snatched them away at once.
“I’ll take them to the servants. They’ll handle it. Don’t worry.”
0617 nodded. He lowered his head and straightened the hem at his waist. His body was not very old, so his frame was rather slim and delicate. The clothes Qi Du had brought were a little large, so he tucked in the waist before it looked more presentable.
When he looked up, he happened to meet Qi Du’s scrutinizing gaze resting on his waist. He could not help raising a hand and waving it. “What are you looking at? Let’s go…”
“You should settle this as soon as possible. I have a feeling the Lu family isn’t easy to deal with. If this drags on too long, I’m afraid something will go wrong.”
Qi Du nodded in agreement. With some reluctance in his gaze, he looked away from him. The two of them returned to the banquet hall and sat back down.
There was nothing to hide about this kind of marriage alliance blind date. Qi Du did not beat around the bush and directly asked the Lu family for him.
“The wedding date should be as soon as possible. Tell him the specific requirements, and after you work them out, report them to me.”
The Lu family members had completely not expected 0617 to be this favored by Qi Du. All the speeches they had prepared went unused, and the matter of the marriage alliance was settled just like that.
While they stood there with their mouths open in surprise, they also had no idea how to introduce anyone else to Qi Du again. After all, he had already chosen 0617, and judging from the way the two of them interacted, it felt very natural.
Qi Du was not only gentler and more attentive toward him, but his gaze was always on him. Anyone else simply could not catch his eye.
The blind date banquet ended very smoothly. When it was time to send 0617 off, Qi Du personally opened the car door for him.
His voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but loud enough for everyone around to hear. “Call me when you get home safely. If you don’t want to stay at the Lu family, I’ll come pick you up. Keep your phone on 24/7. If I send you a message, you must reply. If you don’t answer me within three minutes, I’ll come rushing over.”
0617 found it amusing. Not caring about the shocked expressions on everyone’s faces, he curved his lips softly. “Why are you so clingy?”
“Alright, alright, I got it. Bye-bye.”
Qi Du was still not reassured. “When I talk to you, listen properly. Remember everything, got it?”
0617 nodded. “Got it, got it. Go on and get busy.”
No one else knew that the two of them had a shared mission they were working toward. Hearing their back-and-forth conversation, they only felt that both of them were eager to get married, and that they seemed to have very good feelings for each other, very much like a loving couple.
The Lu family members wore smiles on their faces, but inside, they were extremely tense.
If Qi Du liked 0617 this much, and the Lu family had not treated him well over the years, then whether this illegitimate son would help the Lu family later was still hard to say.
If they accidentally offended Qi Du again, then they would be in real trouble.
Qi Du could not be bothered with what this family was thinking, but he was worried that 0617 might suffer grievances, so he had the two bodyguards under him escort him back together.
The Lu family members’ expressions immediately turned even uglier.
0617 also found it both funny and helpless, but Qi Du did things his own way, and outsiders could not control him. They could only let him do as he pleased.
That night, when he returned to the estate, Qi Du was in a pretty good mood. As soon as he walked in, he saw Xu Yangxia, that adorable Little Treasure, standing in the living room waiting for him, and his mood got even better.
He reached out and picked up the little male lead. “Little Treasure, how was it staying at home today? Are you getting used to it?”
Xu Yangxia nodded, his eyes bright. He took the initiative to reach out toward Qi Du and gently wrapped his arms around his neck.
“Auntie Wang came today. I was so happy~”
“Thank you, Uncle, for doing all this for me. You’re so, so good to Little Treasure…”
The little male lead was quite conscientious. As he spoke, he could not help getting emotional, and his eyes turned red. Qi Du hurriedly wiped his tears away. “Hey now, boys can’t keep crying all the time. As long as you’re happy, that’s enough.”
“If you’re happy, then your stepmother and I are happy too.”