"Hello, Aunt Hong." Qing Yue embarrassedly greeted, baffled at the unexpected warmth of the other.
She hadn't even seen the woman once in the past five years, so where did the deep love and affection come from? Was she going through a phase?
"Little Qing Qing, you met your Aunt Hong. Aren't you going to meet your Aunt Si?"
"Why just Aunt Si? Aunt Mei is here as well."
"Your Aunt Gu..."
"Let Aunt Rui see..."
What's going on? Why are these Aunts more enthusiastic today than my previous birthdays?
Is the 18th birthday really that special?
Suddenly surrounded by a flock of fawning and over-affectionate aunts, Qing Yue felt her head spin from the mixture of perfumes and noisy chatter.
"Alright, alright. Stop crowding the kid, will you? Qing Qing, come to Uncle Wei. Otherwise, your Aunts will suffocate you to death." At this time, the gruff voice of a laughing middle-aged man resounded from the far end of the hall.
Li Chen froze on hearing his daughter's faint call. His heart thumped in excitement and his frosty expression melted a smudge. Looking at Qing Yue, he gently nodded. "You've already met your Aunts and Uncles. Why don't you meet your cousins now?" He stepped to the side and went to sit with his brothers. Qing Yue looked at her Dad's side profile and smiled. It felt familiar, good to call him Dad. "Qing Qing, what took you so long? Come, let's go to the Sitting Room and chat." Yan Su grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the sitting room. The other ignored cousins exchanged glances and followed. "Hold on, we're coming!" "Brother Heng, Brother Mu, I'll come along as well." Yei Yi saw her targets and stood. Bowing to Uncle Wang and the others, she elegantly walked out of the Main Hall before chasing after the two men. Qing Yue, Li Wei, and Yan Su sat on the same couch as Yan Bi and the Li cousins sat on a separate
"Xiao Yi, don't mind Li Mu's attitude. He is usually like this." Li Heng said. "Brother Heng, don't worry. I don't mind Brother Wu's behavior." Yei Yi smiled brightly, but her eyes still swirled with tears of grievance that made Li Heng feel guilty. He had failed to remember her too... "Look, just look at her! We all know Brother Mu isn't the extrovert type, and yet, she still tried to rope him into her melodrama. She's using him as a bridge to rope in Brother Heng!" "Yan Su, can we not talk about Yei Yi's affairs? What did you get me for my birthday?" "Qing Qing, I know you're trying to change the topic, but please be careful around her." Yan Su dejectedly leaned back on the couch, helpless and clueless on how to alert her cousin to the danger roaming around her. No matter what she said or how she said it, Qing Yue failed to see what she saw... "Mistress, Master sent me to inform you breakfast is served. Your presence is requi
One by one, the aunts, uncles, and cousins turned to Li Chen with shock, disbelief, and astonishment on their faces. "En...en..engaged? Already engaged?" Aunt Hong stammered. "Bother-in-law, when did Qing Qing get engaged? How come we never heard anything about this?" Aunt Si, similarly stunned and pale-faced, added. "Sister-in-law, Yue'er's marriage was fixed on the day she was born. Her fiancé is the only son of my best friend, Great Commander Long Hongwu, Long Tian..." "Gr...Great Commander's son...Long Hongwu's only son...? Long Tian?" The aunts and uncles were shocked speechless. "Qing Qing is engaged to Long Tian!? The Great Commander's only son, Long Tian!? Ahhh!" Yan Su jumped out of her seat and screamed in thrill. Her comical look, wide-eyed and panting like she'd run a mile, made Qing Yue inadvertently chuckle behind her hand. But no one on the table missed the melodious note. All eyes swiveled to the chuckling Qing
Yei Yi's heart shuddered from the chilly gaze and inadvertently trembling, she slinked back in her chair. This Li Qing Yue scared her. Because she looked nothing like the good-natured, easy to manipulate Li Qing Yue that she'd come to know... Yan Su was observing the reaction of everyone in the room when she saw the brief clash between the two girls. For a brief moment, her eyes widen in shock and astonishment, but an instant later, a smug smirk formed on her lips as her eyes disdainfully skimmed over Yei Yi's slumped figure. This Yei Yi is always speaking in Qing Yue's matter as if she is Li Qing Yue. It's just great now! She wanted to speak in a matter unrelated to her and decide for Qing Qing like she always does. However, Qing Qing displayed her power and silenced her with a single glare, hahaha... This is how Li Chen's only daughter, Li Qing Yue should be. Silent as a mouse, fierce as a wolf, skinning the prey without shedding a drop of b
"Third Brother, please excuse me as well. I still need to get some business matters taken care of." Li Fang stood up and Aunt Mei followed suit. The two bowed respectfully and Li Wei stood to leave with them. The gaze with which the girl looked at Qing Yue was complex, filled with complicated emotions that couldn't be named, before following behind her parents. "Brother-in-law, we'll take our leave as well. Mu'er still has to study for his college entrance exams. Qing Qing isn't going to college, right? Oh! Look at me. I forgot Qing Qing didn't attend public school. How would she go to college?" Aunt Si smiled apologetically as she looked at Qing Yue. "Qing Qing, Auntie didn't mean to mention the topic of school. You don't take it to heart." "Don't worry Aunt Si, I didn't take it to heart. I wish you a safe journey." Unaffected and Unbothered by the elder woman's subtle jab, Qing Yue sent them off with an amiable smile. "Hmph! Li Mu, Li Wang,
"You found out about Lu Jin's reality, right? Long Tian, I'll be honest. Every time I saw you hanging on to that girl's words, I felt disgusted and disappointed in you. I couldn't understand why you, who was always cold and suspicious, mistrustful of women, trusted her. Why you couldn't see through her deception was beyond my understanding. But later, I realized you liked her. And because you liked her, you ignored all the signs of her deception." Long Tian didn't speak, his cold silence causing Ouyang Gu to tremble in trepidation. His gaze went back and forth between the two men, the confusion in their depths slowly turning to enlightenment when he heard Fu Ji Ren's words. Lu Jin...was deceiving Long Tian? Huuuu... No wonder Fu Ji Ren never liked her. The man must've already sensed her bad intentions. Ouyang Gu looked at Fu Ji Ren in admiration, amazed at his keen insight. Unaware of his friend's fervent gaze, Fu Ji Ren continued his
"Ahhh! Why!? Why!?" Yei Yi smashed another vase of flowers, the broken shreds flying everywhere before crashing onto the already littered floor. But her anger, resentment, and bitterness didn't abate, the raging inferno devouring her heart in a flood of hatred. Yei Yi couldn't take it anymore. With another shriek of enraged cry, she swept everything on her dressing table to the ground. The bottles of perfumes and nail polish smashed and shattered, the various fumes and fragrances mixing and drifting in the room, filling the air with their pungent scent. Tired and drained, Yei Yi collapsed on her bed with tears swimming in her dark eyes. Why!? Why in the world did Li Qing Yue always get everything? Why did she always get the best of everything without even trying? She was obviously better than the reticent Li Qing Yue in everything. She was more educated, more outgoing, more assertive, and a lot smarter. So why did every
When Yei Yi arrived at the Ivy Club, she found Tang Fang drinking in a private room. Bang! She slammed her purse on the side table and casually sat across from him. "Tang Fang, you are really useless, aren't you? Only one Li Qing Yue and you're unable to win her heart?" Her eyes condescending roamed over his body, the disdain and scorn within their depths rising dark anger in his heart. Tang Fang clenched his fist and lowered his drink. "What happened now?" He was used to Yei Yi's temper tantrums. Whenever something happened at the Li Mansion, she would call and run over to vent at him. He was used to it, but that didn't mean he liked it. "What happened? Oh, nothing much, just that the goddess of your heart, Li Qing Yue, is getting engaged to Long Tian, the only son of Great Commander Long Hongwu." Twing! "What!?" Tang Fang's eyes widened in disbelief. Blood oozed from his clenched fist as shreds of glass from h