"You ignorant, suicidal wretch—of all people, how could you dare offend Mr. Qin?"
Zhou Zilong violently yanked the blade from his nephew's neck, kicked the corpse over with one foot, and then bowed respectfully to Qin Yanyan once more. "Mr. Qin, I have executed this beast with my own hands for offending you. What do you think?"
He finished with a sycophantic, ingratiating smile plastered across his face.
"Oh, I'm quite satisfied."
Qin Yanyan nodded. After all, it was Zhou Kun who had offended him; now that Zhou Kun was dead, the rest of them could naturally be spared.
"Wait for my instructions. From now on, you will all take my orders!"
With those words, Qin Yanyan swaggered away. Having demonstrated his methods today, if Zhou Zilong didn't want to die, he wouldn't dare step out of line; he would obediently do as he was told like a dog. Even if the man refused to obey, it would be no trouble for Qin Yanyan to simply wipe them all out.
Upon returning home, Qin Yanyan found that his family had already fallen asleep. He therefore sought out a quiet place to cultivate until three in the morning before heading into his room to sleep.
"Xiaoyuan, get up quickly."
Before he knew how much time had passed, Qin Yanyan, still resting in his room, was shaken awake by his mother. He opened his eyes to find that it was already daylight and his mother was standing right beside the bed.
Today, his mother was dressed in a well-tailored outfit and had even permed her hair. It was impossible to tell what she was getting ready for.
"Mom, are you going on a blind date?"
Qin Yanyan asked with curiosity. In his memory, his mother rarely dressed up, and he had no idea what had gotten into her today.
"You foolish boy, have a death wish?"
Liu Lan gave Qin Yanyan a direct whack on the head, then grabbed his hand without further explanation and hauled him out of bed.
"Hurry up and come with me to meet someone in a moment!"
After that came washing his face and brushing his teeth, and under his mother's coercion, Qin Yanyan was forced into a newly bought suit with hair gel applied to his hair, making him look all dressed up.
"Old Mom, who on earth are we going to see?"
Sitting in a taxi halfway there, Qin Yanyan curiously asked his mother, but she only smiled without answering, saying he would find out soon enough.An hour later, the taxi pulled up in front of a Western restaurant called Deli, and Liu Lan pulled Qin Yanyan straight inside.
It was Sunday, and the restaurant was packed; every table was occupied.
"Over here!"
Suddenly, a woman at a nearby table stood up and waved at Liu Lan. Liu Lan hurriedly pulled Qin Yanyan over and sat down at their table.
Once seated, Qin Yanyan could see clearly that besides this woman, there was also a young girl; they appeared to be mother and daughter.
After taking a closer look, Qin Yanyan recognized them. These two women were his former neighbors, Auntie Su and her daughter, Jiang Xiaoyu.
Between the ages of three and eight, Qin Yanyan had lived next door to Auntie Su’s family. Back then, he and Jiang Xiaoyu had been the best of friends, often going down to the river together to catch fish and shrimp. Those had been truly happy times.
More importantly, Qin Yanyan and Jiang Xiaoyu had been betrothed as children. Because Jiang Xiaoyu’s father, Jiang He, and Qin Yanyan’s father were not only neighbors but also very close friends, they had drunkenly arranged a marriage for the two children, agreeing that they should marry once they turned twenty.
However, the Jiang family later moved away for work, and the matter was forgotten. It had been many years since Qin Yanyan had seen Jiang Xiaoyu, so he was quite curious to see her family today.
"Hehe, is this Little Yan? I can't believe how tall you've grown after all these years. You’ve become such a handsome young man."
Seeing Qin Yanyan, Auntie Su smiled at him, then gave a meaningful look to her daughter, Jiang Xiaoyu, who was currently sipping milk tea through a straw.
Jiang Xiaoyu hurriedly looked up and extended her hand toward Qin Yanyan. "Hello, Qin Yanyan. It's been a long time."
Her voice was slightly husky and very alluring.
"Hello, Xiaoyu! Long time no see."Qin Yanyan smiled and shook hands with Jiang Xiaoyu, noting that her hand felt exceptionally soft.
"Waiter, two more clay pot rice meals, please!"
With new customers arriving, Aunt Su called out to the waiter for more rice.
After shaking hands with Qin Yanyan, Jiang Xiaoyu seemed distant, perhaps due to the many years apart. She stopped talking to him, sat down, and began playing with her phone.
With nothing better to do, Qin Yanyan lit a cigarette and quietly observed Jiang Xiaoyu, his childhood sweetheart sitting across from him.
After all these years, Jiang Xiaoyu had blossomed from a little girl into a graceful young woman. She wore a sleek black bob, exquisite makeup, and sparkling ear studs. Dressed in a pink Chanel tweed dress set, she wore a delicate Michael Kors women's watch on her fair wrist. It appeared she was doing quite well for herself.
Perhaps noticing his gaze, Jiang Xiaoyu looked up and met his eyes. Her face flushed slightly, though she said nothing.
Through the conversation between his mother and Aunt Su, Qin Yanyan had roughly pieced everything together.
It turned out that when Aunt Su's family left years ago, Jiang Xiaoyu's father, Jiang He, had gone away to do business. Over the years, Jiang He's business had flourished to the point where he had become the "Jewelry King" of Jiangbei Province, boasting tens of billions in assets and a spot on the Huaran Rich List.
Although Jiang He owned properties across Huaxia, Chuzhou was still his hometown. This year, he had spent a fortune on a luxury mansion in Chuzhou, returning with his wife and daughter to settle down. He had also enrolled his daughter at Chuzhou University, where Jiang Xiaoyu was now a junior majoring in management.
Aunt Su had always maintained a good relationship with Qin Yanyan's mother—they had been close sisters back in the day. Once she finished getting settled in Chuzhou, Aunt Su had invited Liu Lan out for a catch-up.
"Oh, Sumei," Liu Lan said, using Aunt Su's full name, "your family has done so well, and your husband is so successful—much better than my old man. But tell me, is that arrangement we talked about back then, between your Xiaoyu and our Xiaoyan, still on the table?"
Hearing this, Liu Lan offered some initial praise before steering the conversation toward an old agreement made between Qin Yanyan's father and Jiang He: the arranged childhood betrothal between Qin Yanyan and Jiang Xiaoyu.
"Well, that depends on Xiaoyu's wishes," Aunt Su replied with a smile, turning her gaze to Jiang Xiaoyu, who was sitting beside her playing on her phone. "After all, Xiaoyu is a grown woman now and has the right to choose her own romance, isn't that right, Xiaoyu?"
Hearing her mother's words, Jiang Xiaoyu looked somewhat impatient.
"Mom, I'm still young, I don't want to talk about things like this."
Noticing Jiang Xiaoyu's annoyance, Liu Lan hastily intervened. "Haha, the child is just shy. Why don't we step outside and let Xiaoyan and Xiaoyu chat alone?"
Knowing that Jiang Xiaoyu's father was a jewelry tycoon while Liu Lan's husband—Qin Yanyan's father—was merely an ordinary small-business owner, the gap between their families was vast. Liu Lan felt they were marrying far above their station, and she was terrified that Jiang Xiaoyu, her prospective daughter-in-law, would get angry and call off the match entirely.
Soon, Aunt Su and Liu Lan left the room, leaving only Qin Yanyan and Jiang Xiaoyu at the table.
The air fell silent. Feeling awkward, Jiang Xiaoyu finally put down her phone and looked at Qin Yanyan.
"Haha, Xiaoyu, it's been years. You've grown up to be so much prettier."
As the man, Qin Yanyan ultimately broke the ice.
"Uh, you're quite handsome too, Qin Yanyan," Jiang Xiaoyu said, resting her chin in her hand as she looked at him. "I heard from someone that you stopped studying. What are you doing these days?"
"I'm not doing anything, just hanging out," Qin Yanyan replied.
After all, Qin Yanyan was a cultivator now; he could hardly tell Jiang Xiaoyu that he was practicing immortality.