Chapter 2, Section 002: A Wedding for Good Luck

In which family does a blind date require the woman to meet the man's elders first?

What a mama's boy! Ye Baoling had absolutely no interest in him.

"I don't want to see it."

In the original world, in order to have a better life, Ye Baoling did nothing but work and never thought about dating or getting married.

Now that she's transmigrated into this scripted world, her grandfather is one of the wealthiest men in Hong Kong. If she wants to make a lot of money, she can just ask her grandfather for help; there's no need for her to get married for money.

Seeing her granddaughter's resolute attitude, Grandma Gu did not force her: "Then I will refuse her."

The old lady got up, walked to the window, picked up the phone, and prepared to call Grandma Tan.

Before I could even make the call, I heard the sound of a car downstairs and looked out.

Ye Baoling, who had followed, also looked outside and saw a classic Rolls-Royce parked at the entrance, with a license plate consisting of only the number "3".

The car owned by the man you're on a blind date with?

Grandma Gu, who had poor eyesight, could see clearly: "Isn't this the car of the third son of the Ye family?"

Is this the third branch of the Ye family?

That was the powerful backer of the male protagonist in the original book.

Ye Baoling's grandfather was the third-generation head of the eldest branch of the Ye family, making her a true fifth-generation rich heiress.

Ye Qingtang, the great-grandfather of the Ye family, came to Hong Kong alone at the end of the 19th century and made his first fortune by selling herbal tea made from his own secret recipe.

Afterwards, Ye Qingtang opened more than ten herbal tea shops, bought Su Man Jewelry, the largest gold and jewelry store in the port city, established the 999 gold standard, monopolized the gold business in the port city, and became a wealthy man in the area.

Ye Qingtang had three sons.

The eldest son, Ye Baoling's great-grandfather, was born to the first wife and was responsible for managing the family business.

The second and third children were born to a concubine.

The second son became a doctor, while the third son became the most famous Chinese barrister since the city opened to foreign trade.

After Ye Qingtang passed away, the three brothers divided the family property and lived separately.

The eldest son's family received 80% of the ancestral property, while the second and third sons' families each received 10%.

In other words, the eldest branch of the Ye family, where Ye Baoling's grandfather lived, was the largest holder of the Ye family's ancestral property.

The second son later opened a private hospital, and most of his descendants, besides being doctors, are cultural workers.

The third son, a shrewd lawyer, married the illegitimate daughter of the president of the British Chamber of Commerce. He used his connections to open the first private bank for Chinese businessmen. Crucially, his children and grandchildren were all quite capable. Based on the private bank, they opened a multinational industrial company.

Unlike the conservative approach of the eldest son's family, the third son's family has always been more ambitious, and their business has grown even larger.

*

Ye Baoling accompanied her grandmother downstairs to the living room to meet the guests.

The guests were the current matriarch of the Ye family's third branch, Madam Guan, and her eldest daughter-in-law.

Grandma Guan looked Ye Baoling up and down and asked with a smile, "This must be Baoling from our eldest son's family, right? By that logic, you should call me Fifth Aunt."

"Hello, Fifth Aunt."

"It's been almost ten years since I last saw her. I never expected her to grow up to be so graceful and beautiful. Her features are very similar to her mother's." Old Madam Guan's eyes were full of admiration.

Grandma Gu said modestly, "What's the use of being good-looking? She stays at home with my old lady every day and has never seen the world."

After chatting in the living room for a while, seeing that Old Madam Guan hesitated slightly when speaking, Old Madam Gu tactfully invited them to the small tea room to continue their conversation.

After hearing their purpose, Grandma Gu was quite shocked: "I'm afraid this won't work, will it?"

It turns out that Ye Huaizhang, the eldest grandson of the third wife, was kidnapped a month ago while negotiating business in South Africa. After the third wife paid a huge ransom, the kidnappers disappeared. Ye Huaizhang never returned and there has been no news of him since.

Grandma Guan cried at home for a month. She used to be very rational and never believed in ghosts or gods. The old lady, who considered herself a cultured person, suddenly remembered that when her mixed-race mother-in-law was alive, whenever she encountered a problem that she could not solve, she would go to Sanlongtang to find Granny Tong for divination and rituals. After that, things would usually go smoothly. For this reason, she went to worship Granny Tong.

Granny Tong told them to find a girl whose birth chart matched Ye Huaizhang's for a marriage to bring him good luck. She said that as long as they followed her instructions, the young master would surely return safely.

What seems like a simple requirement is actually very difficult to implement.

The old woman calculated Ye Huaizhang's fate and determined that he needed a girl whose birth chart was entirely Yang with no Yin elements to lead him home and ensure his safety.

After searching the entire city, they found only Ye Baoling, a candidate whose age and birth chart were both suitable.

Hearing that it wouldn't work, Old Madam Guan sighed and said, "That's why I didn't discuss it with the eldest branch of the Ye family. I know they are very conservative and believe that people with the same surname and clan cannot marry. What is a matter of life and death for us may not be so for them."

Grandma Gu: "It's quite common for cousins ​​to get married, but it's rare for people from the same clan to get married."

“By blood, cousins ​​are definitely closer. In Hong Kong, it’s common for cousins ​​to marry, and nobody objects, right? Bao Ling and our Huai Zhang are already fifth-generation descendants of a collateral branch, and they don’t even share the same great-great-grandmother. From a medical and legal perspective, there’s absolutely no problem.” Old Madam Guan, an old intellectual, tried to persuade Old Madam Gu. “I was thinking, could we go through a ceremony first, have them get married, and then when Huai Zhang comes back, if they get along, then everyone will be happy and live happily ever after. If they really can’t get along, then I won’t stop them from divorcing. I’m very open-minded about this. We’re willing to give any compensation.”

The implication is that they are willing to spend money for the sake of appearances.

Grandma Gu shook her head: "Grandma Guan, this is not a matter of money. I can't make the decision about Bao Ling's marriage. We still need to ask her grandfather and her father."

Old Madam Guan knew that the eldest son's family would definitely object, so she wanted to do it first and then inform them later.

"Baoling, what do you think?" Old Madam Guan looked at Ye Baoling, placing her hopes on the young girl. "Whatever you need, as long as we have it, we are willing to give it to you with both hands."

Houses, cars, savings, and jewelry are not problems.

Before they came, they had already done their research and found out that after the Gu family went bankrupt, the whole family was having a very difficult time.

When they came in, they saw that the doorway was simple, the furniture was old, and there were five or six children, all dressed very simply. The children were holding the chocolates that the children had given them, and they started chattering and arguing about something as soon as they went upstairs.

It's not hard to see that this family is indeed struggling financially.

Grandma Guan looked at Ye Baoling with great anticipation. The little girl must like pretty clothes and beautiful jewelry. The eldest son's family probably didn't care much about her, otherwise they wouldn't have let her live in this kind of environment.

If Ye Baoling agrees to the marriage, she and her maternal grandmother's family will have a better life.

But Old Madam Guan couldn't speak too bluntly; everyone cares about saving face.

If I only touch on the point, I don't know if the little girl will understand.

Having been through the harsh realities of society, how could Ye Baoling not understand the implied meaning?

Upon meeting her, she immediately felt the overly concerned gaze of Old Madam Guan. However, she never expected that her blind date would be Ye Huaizhang, the eldest grandson of the third branch of the Ye family.

The script only portrays the third family as background, without any detailed description of their situation, and it's unclear whether Ye Huaizhang lives or dies in the end.

However, he went missing a month after being kidnapped, so it's safe to assume he has met with some kind of accident.

The odds are against us.

In other words, if she agrees, there will be no groom at the wedding, so it makes no difference whether she gets married or not.

She won't suffer any losses; in fact, she'll get the benefits she wants.

Thinking of this, Ye Baoling smiled slightly and said, "What I want, Aunt Wu may not be willing to give."

Grandma Guan and her daughter-in-law exchanged a glance. If the other party agreed, it meant there was hope.

"Feel free to ask."

Grandma Gu was afraid that her granddaughter would actually agree, so she quickly stopped her, saying, "Baoling, marriage is a serious matter and cannot be taken lightly."

But it was too late to stop Ye Baoling from making her demands: "I want that ugly jade pendant from your third branch of the family."

Upon hearing this, Old Madam Guan seemed not to understand, "What do you want?"

"The ugly jade pendant in the hands of your third son's family."

"Why?"

Why? Because it's her mission.

On the day Ye Baoling entered the script, she received a mission: to collect all the ugly jade pendants from the three branches of the Ye family within a year, or face 360 ​​ways to die.

She was furious when she saw the assignment.

She knew nothing about what the ugly king's jade pendant looked like or what its purpose was.

The original script for "The Treasure Appraisal Genius" didn't have any ugly Wang Jue, but she did make a suggestion. She felt the story was too loose and suggested adding a treasure hunt storyline for the male and female leads to connect the plot threads.

Therefore, the ugly king Jue is likely a new element added by the screenwriter based on her suggestion.

She is guilty.

She shouldn't have given that piece of crap advice in the first place!

Who would have thought that I would dig my own grave?

Ye Baoling was determined to seize this opportunity that had come knocking on her door.

"You may not know, but my parents' divorce has something to do with the Ugly King Jade. I won't go into details. I want to get the Ugly King Jade to give to my mother and fulfill her wish." In order to downplay her strong desire to get the Ugly King Jade, Ye Baoling could only add conditions to cover it up: "In addition to the Ugly King Jade, I also want your family heirloom jade bracelet and at least 500 grams of gold."

That makes much more sense.

Old Madam Guan was quite troubled: "Gold is easy to obtain, but could you convert the Ugly King's Jade Pendant and the family heirloom jade bracelet into cash...?"

Judging from the old lady's expression, she would definitely be willing to give hundreds of thousands, or even millions.

Ye Baoling certainly wanted to exchange it for money, but her life was more important, and she needed to complete her mission, so she could only say against her will, "I don't want money."

He is a filial and persistent child. Although Grandma Guan admires him, she also has a headache. "This is not easy to handle."

Ye Huaizhang's mother, Yang Pinxian, hadn't said a word. Seeing her mother-in-law's predicament, she quickly whispered to Ye Baoling, "The family heirloom jade bracelet of the third son's family is with me. If you are willing to become my daughter-in-law, I will naturally give you the jade bracelet. There is no problem with that."

So the problem still lies with the ugly king's jade pendant.

Grandma Guan truthfully said, "The Ugly King Jade is a family heirloom; all three branches of the family have one. To be honest, it's not a top-quality jade; it's not worth much money. Your grandfather should know that very well. Its significance outweighs its monetary value. It's not that I'm unwilling to give it to you, but... when Grandpa Huaizhang was alive, he passed our third branch's Ugly King Jade to Huaizhang. We don't know where Huaizhang will keep it. How about this, we replace it with a more precious, top-grade jadeite? What do you think?"

Ye Baoling used a feigned retreat to advance: "Then I can only forget about it. I'm also afraid that if Grandpa and Dad find out, they'll break my legs."

Old Madam Guan paused.

"We can't just give up like this." Yang Pinxian's eyes were red, and she was unwilling to give up even if there was only a sliver of hope: "Mom, why don't we go back and look for it first? Maybe we can find it?"

Although Old Madam Guan was old, she was quick-witted. She already had an idea, and she wanted a definite answer.

"Baoling, will you agree to this marriage if we find Ugly King Jue?"

Grandma Gu gently tugged at Ye Baoling's sleeve, signaling her not to agree so readily.

A fake marriage could accomplish one-third of the task, with the only cost being a wedding ceremony and no groom. It was like a windfall, and Ye Baoling couldn't possibly give it up.

But she couldn't just agree to it.

As members of society, we still need to say the right things.

"Fifth Aunt, no matter what, we are family. Since you have come to me for help and are so sincere, I am certainly willing to help my own family. However, I have a condition: it must be clear that this is a sham marriage, not a real one. I will help you complete the ceremony, that's all."

Grandma Guan said excitedly, "No problem. Holding a ceremony should be fine."

"Then I agree to this marriage." Ye Baoling almost reached out her hand to say, "It's a pleasure doing business with you."

"Thank you, Baoling. It's a deal then." The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were very happy.

They didn't have time to stay any longer, so they got up, said goodbye, and went home to find Ugly King Jue.

After the guests left, Grandma Gu was very dissatisfied with her granddaughter's unauthorized decision: "How could you just agree to it like that?"

"It's fake, it's not a real wedding, just a ceremony."

Grandma Gu sighed, "You still remember the time your mother was falsely accused of having an affair with Wang Jue? Alas, your mother was foolish back then; she was forced to agree to the divorce."

More than ten years have passed since this incident.

Ye Baoling comforted her grandmother, "If I can get a pound of gold, I'll exchange it for Hong Kong dollars and let my sisters eat meat every day."

These words immediately made Grandma Gu laugh.

I laughed and then felt sad. How did their family end up like this?

Even if she doesn't admit it, in other people's eyes, the Gu family has long been a fallen family.

well!

Ring ring ring ring...

The phone rang.

After answering the phone, Ping covered the receiver and whispered to Ye Baoling, "Miss, it's your father on the phone."

A note from the author:

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