After spending so much time together, it was impossible for her family not to notice that she had secrets. Even if Kong Shi and Old Lady An couldn’t guess, the astute Old Master An and the shrewd An Zisheng must have had their suspicions. Take the matter of her seclusion for example; once she entered the Ancient Space, she wouldn’t emerge for days on end, and the An Family couldn’t possibly naively believe that An Yiqing simply stayed in her bedroom all that time.
Yet, they asked nothing and said nothing, silently standing behind her in support. Such profound familial love touched An Yiqing deeply, filling her heart with immense gratitude.
"Grandma, where are Grandpa and the others?" She looked around the villa, noting the silence of the rooms.
As Old Lady An tidied up, she responded, "Your grandpa went out to chat with those old buddies of his. Your dad and your older and second brothers are all at work. Xiao Gu is out handling some business too. They’ll be back by this evening. Looking at the time, they should be arriving soon."
Old Lady An glanced at the antique grandfather clock in the corner of the living room, then, as if something suddenly dawned on her, she smacked her forehead with a palm.
"Oh, look at my memory! Niuniu, it’s such good timing that you came out. This Saturday we’ve arranged to meet with the Gu Family, and if you hadn’t come out, we would’ve had to postpone it!"
Her grandmother’s words made An Yiqing stare in surprise, and she promptly remembered the day set for the Gu and An Families to meet. Counting the days, today was Thursday, which meant that there was only one more day until the lifelong matter between her and Gu Yelin was to be discussed?!
The thought of ’engagement’ made An Yiqing feel as though a tiny kitten was tickling her heart, causing a flurry of anxious excitement. A delicate flush crept over her pretty face.
Standing to the side, Old Lady An watched her granddaughter, who was radiating happiness and sweetness, and nodded in satisfaction, "Niuniu, Xiao Gu is a good man. Grandma entrusting you to him is like closing my eyes with a hundred percent peace of mind."
"Grandma, what are you saying?" An Yiqing pouted, wrapping her arms around Old Lady An with a sweet voice, "Grandma, you’ll live to be a hundred years old! You have to watch Niuniu get engaged, see Niuniu get married, and you have to help Niuniu look after your little great-grandchildren!"
The girl’s playful and laughing words made Old Lady An’s face bloom with smiles, and with an affectionate rebuke, she gently tapped An Yiqing’s smooth forehead, saying with a smile, "You little girl, not knowing any shame, thinking about having babies for Xiao Gu before even getting married! Our Niuniu has really grown up!"
Old Lady An reached out her hands to carefully smooth the girl’s black hair, her eyes brimming with deep satisfaction and affection.
Looking at Old Lady An’s kind eyes and the wrinkle lines at the corners, An Yiqing’s nose tingled with emotion, and she nearly burst into tears.
Her family had missed out on nineteen precious years with her, and she would not allow them to miss another nineteen.
Meanwhile, in Yu City, the nearest city to Xuandu City, within the presidential suite on the top floor of the city’s largest five-star hotel, sat a man with a small mustache dressed in the black attire of Country Bai, composedly seated on a sofa. Standing in front of him was a bald man with a scar at the corner of his eye, none other than the head of the missing Canglang Sect, Tan Bing.
"Lord Tutian, what should our next step be?" Shame filled Tan Bing’s heart as he thought about the embarrassing escape from the past few days. His ambition had always been great, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to so much trouble to curry favor with the Country Bai Tutian Family after being released from prison on charges of rape. Controlling a martial faction was the dream of Tan Bing’s life, but why have Yu and Liang if there could only be one outstanding person? Facing An Yiqing and Gu Yelin, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
After fleeing Xuandu City, he and Tutian Xiaoquan had carefully analyzed the situation, concluding that the mysterious figure who had decimated the Canglang Sect could be none other than Gu Yelin.