Swear to the Heavens
Zhenxiu knew that everyone cared about her but it did not take away from the fact that she was still an outsider.
Yang Chen saw her expression and sighed. Was it a bad idea to have Zhenxiu stay in Zhonghai? Would it have been better for her to have stayed in Korea with her real family? he thought.
Just as Yang Chen was deep in thought, Li Dun grumbled to no one in particular. “That’s a lot of roses. If only I can buy some for Xin’er.”
Everyone knew whom he was referring to. They thought it was funny seeing how Li Dun kept failing in courting Tang Wan’s little sister.
Yang Jieyu asked curiously, “Young Master Li, why can’t you afford a bouquet of roses?”
Li Dun cursed out loud. “It’s all because of the florist. Roses are getting so expensive these days! It used to be a few yuan for one rose but now it costs more than a hundred in Beijing! It’s still the same rose isn’t it?”
“You can’t blame the florist. It’s probably because of the limited supply so they have to set the price according to availability. I heard that a lot of the florists have stopped bringing in roses since only the wealthy will buy them. Besides, roses aren’t the only flower that proclaims love,” said Yuan Hewei.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s hard to preserve roses, if not we could have earned lots of money. Maple Group owns a few flower fields but the soil here isn’t as good as those from Holland and Thailand,” Tang Wan said.
She instinctively thought about making money on matters like this.
Tang Tang blinked at looked Yuan Ye. “Is it that expensive? Brother Yuan, how much did you get them for?”
Yuan Ye scratched his head bashfully. “Well, it isn’t cheap. It’s 120 yuan for one. The florist said that roses are very popular nowadays and they’re running low on stock. But it’s not like I’m buying flowers on a daily basis.”
“It’s ok, I’ll have my mom pay you back since you did so well!” Tang Tang giggled.
Tang Wan pinched her ears and chided, “You’re not even married, and you’re already thinking of using my money for your fiancé. Are you asking for it?”
Everyone laughed and even Yang Lie who was silent throughout the whole exchange smiled.
An hour later, the maids started to serve food and the lunch party was officially beginning.
The atmosphere was always lively because of Li Dun. He seemed to be able to talk about anything to anyone. Sometimes he even shared some dirty jokes to everyone’s amus.e.m.e.nt. It was difficult to imagine that this was the sole heir to the Li clan.
Time pa.s.sed quickly. As everyone had wrapped up lunch, Yang Lie stood up and approached Hui Lin. He took out a small white leather box from his pocket. “Hui’er, I’ll be out for a mission so I won’t be there for your concert. I got this for you as a present so please take it.”
Hui Lin frowned. “It’s okay, I don’t need it.”
The present was obviously a piece of jewelry. She naturally didn’t want it since they weren’t close at all.
Everyone immediately stopped talking.
Li Dun giggled. “Yang Lie, you suck. Looks like you’re the same as me. Old Yang is much better at getting women—”
Yang Chen stuffed a piece of cake into his mouth to shut him up.
“Don’t push it.” Yang Chen warned him.
Yang Lie gave Yang Chen a side-eye and sneered. “Hui’er, I don’t understand why you wouldn’t accept me. We’ve known each other since young and I’ve liked you for years. When you rejected me in the past, I could only a.s.sume that it was because we were too young. But there is no reason for you to reject me now. So tell me, why have you rejected me?”
Hui Lin pouted. “I don’t like you, that’s all. There’s no need for a reason.”
Lin Ruoxi couldn’t bear to watch Yang Lie being so aggressive so she interrupted them. At this point, she wasn’t bothered to be careful around Guo Xuehua anymore. “You can’t force someone to date you so give up on Hui Lin and don’t bother her anymore.”
Guo Xuehua sighed, “Lie’er, your sister-in-law is right. Hui Lin doesn’t like you, so forget about it. You guys are still young and Hui Lin’s career is just taking off. Perhaps it isn’t such a good idea for her to date right now.”
Yang Lie’s eyes glinted. “I don’t think so.”
He said that and looked at Yang Chen. “I bet there’s already someone she likes judging by the fact that she rejected me so quickly.”
Everyone could tell who he meant.
Hui Lin liked Yang Chen?! This was shocking news.
After all, Yang Chen was Hui Lin’s brother-in-law and Lin Ruoxi cared a lot for her. If Hui Lin really liked Yang Chen, that wouldn’t end well.
What could be worse than your sister falling for your husband?
Hui Lin blushed and shook her head. “No! Don’t listen to him, Sister! I… I don’t! There’s no one I like! I just don’t want to accept this guy!”
Hui Lin wasn’t good at talking. She couldn’t think of a different way around it.
Lin Ruoxi looked at her with a complex gaze, slightly frightened by the thought. She turned back to look at Yang Chen who had been remaining silent.
“Alright, ignore his words, Hui Lin. Don’t take it seriously.” Yang Chen frowned. “I don’t want to shed blood here but if you’re really looking forward to visit h.e.l.l, I don’t mind giving you a hand. Don’t think that I won’t do it just because Mom is here.”
“Yang Chen!” Guo Xuehua exclaimed. “How could you say that? He’s your brother!”
Yang Jieyu tried to soothe his anger. “What’s going on? Why are you talking about killing suddenly, weren’t things going well? Don’t act rashly.”
On the other hand, Li Dun looked excited as though he found something interesting to watch.
Yang Chen didn’t reply but his face was stern and cold. It was one of those rare moments where he wasn’t joking around.
Yuan Ye was getting worried. He kept pus.h.i.+ng his father to make him stop them.
Yuan Hewei couldn’t do anything either. Who was he to b.u.t.t in? Even though he was their uncle, he didn’t dare to involve himself in the fight between the two heirs to the Yang clan. The only reason the Yuan clan was the strongest in Zhonghai was because of the Yang clan.
His wife, Yang Jieyu, treated him as her equal out of respect and he didn’t dare to ruin it.
Yang Chen was obviously stronger than Yang Lie but that didn’t mean Yang Chen would become the head of the clan. It all depended upon Yang Pojun’s decision.
Yang Lie snickered and open the leather box to show the item inside.
It was a pair of rings made out of platinum!
They weren’t as valuable as diamond rings but they were still expensive nonetheless.
“Hui’er, I picked these out myself so if you aren’t willing to wear it, at least tell me why,” Yang Lie said earnestly.
Hui Lin looked down helplessly. It was too hard for her to lie because of her kind personality.
Swoos.h.!.+
Someone threw a wine gla.s.s right towards the jewelry box on Yang Lie’s hand!
Crank!
Yang Lie blocked the gla.s.s with his hands and it shattered on the ground!
Yang Chen’s eyes were filled with murderous intent. “Are you going to leave now or are you going to make me throw you out?”
The air around felt chilly. They could tell it was coming from Yang Chen!
Yang Lie was unaffected. He even smirked and said, “Don’t rush it, I can leave as you wish but I need to confirm something.”
Having said so, he bent down to face Hui Lin and asked, “Hui’er, I won’t force you anymore if you swear to the heavens in front of everyone that you don’t like Yang Chen…”
Yang Lie’s voice rang clearly into everyone’s ears as they held their breath, waiting for Hui Lin’s response.