Chapter 15 The Domineering CEO
Yan Chen reflected on himself. Could it be that he really went too far?
But it had only been less than a week since the two of them got together... no, for Qingran, their relationship had lasted for more than a week.
Qingran knew what the man was thinking; he simply felt that moving things too fast was abrupt and disrespectful to him.
He carefully savored the complex emotions rising in his heart, then peeled a piece of orange candy and put it in his mouth.
The candy is hard candy, which melts in the mouth with a sweet citrus aroma.
Qingran rolled the candy around on her tongue, as if she could taste the refreshing scent of the man after his bath.
The complex emotions in my heart gradually became clear.
Qingran realized that he liked this restraint. The more restrained and patient a man was, the more interested he became in seeing what the man would look like when he lost control.
I both love and hate it; it's truly a dilemma.
The two people at the table were lost in thought, their superior looks and outstanding demeanor making them stand out among the guests.
In a secluded spot on the edge of the dam, Zhou Tingting, dressed in a floral red dress, would occasionally steal glances at the two people's location.
She was about sixteen or seventeen years old, in high school. She was slender and pretty. She was originally assigned to collect wedding gifts at the door, but her mother took the gift list and examined it carefully. The girl looked worried.
"Have you calculated how much money you received?" Yu Xiuhong asked, beaming as she looked at the strings of numbers on the gift list.
Zhou Tingting said no.
Yu Xiuhong gave her daughter a disdainful look: "Aren't you stupid? Don't you know how to do math when no one's around? You're supposed to be in high school, and your brain isn't even as sharp as your mother's."
Zhou Tingting, who kept her head down and didn't respond, secretly pouted. Fine, fine, she's the dumbest one in the family of four.
At this moment, Yu Xiuhong remembered: "By the way, have you seen Zhou Qingran? How much did he give as a gift?"
She couldn't let the cold shoulder from last time go to waste. Her Jianming was Zhou Qingran's nephew, so as his uncle, he had to give her a thousand or eight hundred as a token of his appreciation.
Upon hearing this, the little girl's heart skipped a beat, and she stammered for a long time before being unable to answer.
"I'm asking you a question, are you deaf?" Yu Xiuhong glared at her.
Seeing that she couldn't hide it any longer, Zhou Tingting struggled to say in a low voice, "...I didn't go."
"What?" Yu Xiuhong didn't hear clearly and pinched her daughter's arm impatiently: "Speak louder, you're as slow as a mosquito!"
"Ouch, stop pinching me, it hurts so much," Zhou Tingting said unhappily, pulling her mother away a little before quietly saying, "Uncle Qingran didn't give a gift."
Her mother said that the person who was even better looking than a celebrity was her uncle, Qingrantang, and Zhou Tingting assured herself that she was not mistaken.
The other person brought a friend, who nodded and greeted her when they saw her!
Then he walked right past her and went straight inside.
"What—" Yu Xiuhong almost cried out, but Zhou Tingting interrupted her in time: "Mom, why are you in such a hurry? Tell Dad or Grandpa and let them handle it!"
Whether they ask for the money or tacitly refuse to give it to them at that time is none of their business.
The more Zhou Tingting read, the clearer she became about how outrageous the things her elders had done to her great-grandfather's family. In any case, she didn't want to appear in front of Uncle Qingran, as she was in the wrong.
She won't go herself, and she won't let her mother go either. It wasn't her mother's decision in the first place, so why should her mother be involved?
Yu Xiuhong thought about it and realized that Zhou Qingran had given her a hard time when she sent out invitations last time.
"Okay, when you get to your grandfather later, if he... then you do this..."
After discussing how to deal with the situation, the mother and daughter went together to find Zhou Sizhu, who was happily bragging to two older men.
Zhou Tingting hid behind a pillar, while Yu Xiuhong went up alone and whispered to her father-in-law what had happened.
The old man's expression darkened upon hearing this, and he said impatiently, "Where is he? Go and remind him to make up for it."
"Mom, my sister-in-law said she has something urgent to tell you, come with me quickly!" Zhou Tingting darted out and dragged her mother away, the two figures quickly disappearing into the crowded throng.
"What's going on, Four Pillars?" Zhou Erniu and Zhou Sanshui asked.
Everyone present was an outsider, and Zhou Sizhu didn't hide anything: "It's all because of Zhou Qingran. Yu Xiuhong said he didn't give any gift money."
“That won’t do. A monetary gift represents a blessing. It’s not about the money, but about not ruining the good intentions,” an old man said, shaking his head with disapproval.
Another old man nodded and said, "That makes sense. Marriage is a joyous occasion, and we can't let the auspiciousness be ruined. We have to make him make up for it."
So, just as Qingran was talking to Yan Chen about having lunch and going to look at houses, she was greeted by the trio of old men who were trying to set things right.
A group of elderly men, around seventy years old, with gray hair and heavy steps, yet exuding a commanding presence, came forward and immediately said:
"Young people these days are so inconsiderate. They don't even know to greet their elders when they arrive at a place."
The gossip aunt next door quietly slowed down.
Qing Ran didn't even look up, and Yan Chen, seeing that he ignored her, pretended not to hear.
"Zhou Qingran".
Zhou Zhu didn't know anything about tact when facing Qing Ran. Although he kept his voice down, he directly stated his purpose: "Your sister-in-law said you didn't give a gift. Go and make up for it quickly."
Qingran then raised her eyes, asking in confusion, "Gift money? Didn't I already give it?"
"Give it to her?" Zhou Sizhu looked suspicious. Could it be that Yu Xiuhong lied to him and actually pocketed the money herself?
“Yes,” Qingran nodded, a subtle smile playing on her lips, “Didn’t I give you all the money from my adoptive father’s funeral?”
As she spoke, her gaze swept over the other two: "Or did your two good brothers not share with you?"
"fart!"
"Zhou Qingran!"
"Shut up!"
One stone stirs up a thousand waves. The words of Qing Ran enraged three old men, half of whom were already buried in the ground, with Zhou Sizhu being the most furious.
Zhou Sizhu pointed at Qingran, trembling with anger. Today was supposed to be the day of his only grandson's joyous celebration, but Zhou Qingran had to bring up a funeral. Wasn't that just bringing bad luck to their family?
He swung his cane at you, yelling, "You think I can't teach you a lesson?!"
Yan Chen's face turned cold as he stood up and grabbed the stick.
"Hey, hey, hey, let's talk this out. Don't fight on such a joyous occasion!" The aunties nearby quickly came over to mediate.
The guests around all heard the commotion and looked over, especially those playing cards, who were trying to watch the excitement while keeping an eye on their cards, their eyes were extremely busy.
After Zhou Erniu noticed this, he gave his younger brother a wink: "Don't make a big fuss."
Zhou Sizhu, unable to swing his cane out or retract it, angrily shouted, "This bastard deliberately caused trouble, and I'm in the right even if word gets out!"
"Watch your words!" Yan Chen frowned in disgust and easily pulled away the cane.
Hybrid.
Qingran smiled knowingly.
He didn't give a wedding gift originally just because he disliked the character of Zhou Dagen's three younger brothers; he didn't intend to ruin someone else's wedding.
But someone just had to make him angry.
Seeing the old man being steadily supported, he said understandingly, "Then let everyone help you judge the matter."
The people around were startled by the commotion and stood up in a circle, but Qingran remained calm and composed, lifting her eyelids as if she were at ease.
"If things get out of hand, I'll just skip this meal. You dare to cancel the wedding?"
"You!" Zhou Sizhu was so angry that his vision blurred.
However, Zhou Qingran hit his sore spot: their painstakingly planned wedding couldn't be ruined by this bastard.
But he couldn't swallow his anger at letting Zhou Sizhu off the hook.
He stammered and couldn't speak, so the people trying to break up the fight pulled him away while continuing to persuade him.
"Alright, alright, everyone, let's all keep quiet."
"Brother Zhou, young people are a bit blunt. Why are you getting angry and taking it seriously? Relax and don't worry about it."
"Exactly, think about the wedding, think about your Jianming."
The aunties waved away the onlookers: "It's alright, everyone disperse. What's so interesting about family bickering? If you can't stand it, go watch the wedding performance. Pretty girls dancing are much better than this!"
Turning his back, he was astonished by Zhou Qingran's behavior. Goodness, she has quite the temper.
After the onlookers dispersed, the previous tranquility returned to Qingran and Yan Chen's surroundings.
Yan Chen sat down and wiped his hands that had been gripping the cane. After a moment, he said, "It's not wise to cause a scene at the wedding."
Qingran thought she had misheard, and after a couple of seconds looked at the man: "What's unwise about it?"
"First, we cannot be sure whether the other side will act impulsively after being blinded by anger."
"Secondly," the man paused, "the main characters of the wedding are innocent if they encounter such a thing on their wedding day."
Qingran seemed slow to react, and it took her a while to understand what the man was trying to say.
"Are you blaming me?" His tone was even a little uncertain, as if something that shouldn't have happened had actually happened.
Yan Chen explained, "It's not that I'm blaming you, but rather that I'm telling you what kind of impact your actions will have."
Qingran understood and nodded slowly: "So it really is my fault."
The man frowned as he realized his words had been misunderstood, but remained composed and emphasized, "This is not a blame."
"It's not blaming you, it's just that I feel I shouldn't have done that?" Qingran scoffed lightly, "If you really didn't blame me, you wouldn't have said that."
Yan Chen discovered that he and Qing Ran had significantly different perspectives on the issue.
The reminder was meant to encourage Qingran to think things through more carefully before acting in the future, as not every conflict can end peacefully like today. It was not meant to accuse Qingran of doing anything wrong.
The man softened his usually cold expression and said gently again, "These are two different things. I didn't mean that."
He wanted to explain it in more detail, but Qingran didn't give him the chance.
From Qingran's perspective, Yan Chen later told him that the main character of the wedding was innocent, which was just blaming him for wrongly hurting the innocent.
"Do you think Zhou Jianming is innocent?"
Yan Chen frowned, realizing that he had angered Qing Ran.
He said as gently as possible, "Zhou Jianming may not be innocent, but the bride did nothing wrong."
Qingran sneered.
Innocent? Standing at a wedding venue decorated with money from the funeral of the original owner's adoptive father, claiming innocence?
Qingran possesses the original owner's memories and is well aware of the messy things the three old men of the Zhou family did during the funeral.
The coffin, funeral clothes, prayer flags, and paper money were all made with the cheapest materials available. The three-day mourning period was reduced to one day, and the Taoist priests who were invited to chant sutras were treated perfunctorily.
The original owner was a taciturn person in front of these relatives who were considered elders. Seeing this, she didn't say anything, probably knowing that it would be useless to say anything.
He quietly paid for the replacement of all the funeral items. When it was the Taoist priest's turn, he had no choice but to pay more money to make sure the other party did a good job since he couldn't change things halfway through.
The Taoist priest sheepishly told the original owner that he was just an apprentice who hadn't completed his apprenticeship, and that the Zhou family had brought him here for a cheap price, and that he was just going to recite whatever he wanted.
Needless to say, the subsequent banquets were also done in a cost-effective manner.
Qingran always said that there was no causal relationship between the original body and him.
Despite the truth of the matter, it was difficult for him to completely sever ties with Zhou Qingran the moment he borrowed the original body to become Zhou Qingran.
Qingran could certainly explain why he did this, but he didn't want to.
"I'm not eating anymore." Feeling rather bored, she got up and walked out.
"[Host, are you angry?]" the system whispered in the sea of consciousness.
Qingran: [I'm not angry.]
Instead, he felt that if even he didn't stand by Zhou Qingran's side, how tragic would Zhou Qingran's life be?
"Qingran." Yan Chen followed after her.
The wedding was about to begin, and the guests were gradually taking their seats. There were hardly any people left on the street outside.
Qingran, who was taking a shortcut, walked through the golden rice fields. Yan Chen quickly stepped forward and grabbed his wrist: "Qingran."
He whispered, "Don't ignore me."
A note from the author:
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