Chapter 337: Dating – 2
Li Nanli concluded, “That makes us a couple, so what you’ve been doing is considered breaking up a pair of star-crossed lovers, understand? Your behavior is essentially the same as those vicious mothers-in-law in the dramas that you always watch with your mom.”
Fu Zhi was dumbfounded.
‘Me? Breaking up a pair of star-crossed lovers?’
Fu Zhi blinked her eyes in confusion. Her eyes were clear and bright, and her pupils were black. There was a curious look on her face as she stared at her nephew.
Li Nanli cleared his throat, adjusted his emotions, and said, “I saw a lot of love letters on your desk.”
Even though the boys at Fu Zhi’s school were immature and, to put it bluntly, as clueless and useless as Lu Yumo, they were younger. They had more time to spend with Fu Zhi, and they were more skilled in keeping a girl happy.
As a result, although it was very unlikely, they still posed a threat to him.
Fu Zhi frowned and said, her voice thick with annoyance, “Yeah. And I don’t even have a place to put my textbooks anymore.”
Li Nanli said, “If you date me, I can take care of all this for you, and no one will give you love letters in the future.”
Fu Zhi thought for a while but still shook her head. She felt that it was not worth it, and by the way, she was able to fend for herself, so she did not see any need for his help at all. Thus, she said, “I can challenge 10 people at the same time, and I can crush Lu Yumo’s skull with one hand. I can protect myself very well, so why must I start a relationship with you?”
“So you don’t want to learn? What’s the use of always doing research? You don’t even know what it is like to be in love with someone. Besides, haven’t all young people your age fallen in love a few times?” Li Nanli pressed on. “If you’re not familiar with love, why don’t you learn?”
Fu Zhi was stunned. “But... But the people at the research inst.i.tute told me that I can’t date a man...”
Besides, she still had to plant flowers and herbs to find a way to cure her second brother. She also needed to take part in the college entrance examination so that Xu Wei would be proud of her. She had so many things to do, so wouldn’t it be very exhausting if she dated a man right now?
“Zhizhi, you must not listen to them. You were already behind everyone the moment you were born, so you have to work extra hard to catch up with the rest. Besides, if you date me, all of the a.s.sets under my name will be yours, and I will be yours as well. I’m hardworking, I can promise you a bright future, and I will give you every freedom that you need. You’ll certainly make a profit, so why not?”
Fu Zhi was stumped.
She began to waver. Just like Li Nanli had said, it was a risk-free investment, and she could very well become rich overnight.
It sounded like a good deal...
Li Nanli looked at her. He knew that she just needed a small push, so he added, “The government has given you the chance to come out of the research inst.i.tute so you will learn how to be a human. You’ve learned about kinship, so don’t you think you should study the love between men and women as well? That’s how you will be better than others in every way and live up to those genes in you, don’t you think so?”
Fu Zhi nodded. Well, it was true that she was still in the process of learning.
Thus, she replied emotionlessly, “Alright then. Let’s date.”
‘I can date him for a while, and after I’ve mastered the love between a man and a woman, I will break up with him!’
*
The next evening, in the Chu Residence in the capital...
When Gu Yan arrived at the Chu Residence, she was subjected to a round of exams like the rest of the partic.i.p.ants.
The Chu Family was more of an old-fashioned family, and their disciples were only obsessed with academic research. However, the partic.i.p.ants that came with Gu Yan were different.
Gu Yan knew her own position very well. A partic.i.p.ant that had betrayed her own country was no different from a street rat.
After one round of examination, there were only five partic.i.p.ants left to proceed to the second round. The a.s.sessment was about perfumery, which Gu Yan was the best at.
Other than Chu Hao and Chu He, there was also a teenager sitting next to Chu Hao in the examination hall. He was wearing a facial mask, so no one could see his face properly.
The fact that Chu Hao and Chu He were here indicated that they would select one or two promising partic.i.p.ants to become their disciples.
It was a rare opportunity. After all, the Chu Family was an elite medical family, and anyone who could learn from Chu Hao would definitely have a bright future ahead of them.
Gu Yan’s first choice was Chu Hao. She wanted to take advantage of his influence to get a place in the medical field.
After roughly 30 minutes, they all got up from their chairs and went to check on the partic.i.p.ants’ results.
When Chu Hao pa.s.sed by a girl, he stopped and nodded in a.s.sent. “Not bad. How many years have you studied perfumery?”
The girl replied truthfully, “12 years.”
Chu Hao asked the young man beside him to jot down the girl’s name before continuing to walk. When he pa.s.sed by Gu Yan, he just looked ahead without sparing her a single glance. Then, he heard a noise, as if something had fallen down behind him.
He frowned and turned his head around. He saw that Gu Yan’s cauldron had dropped to the ground, and the air was filled with the smell of a fragrance. Just as he was about to reprimand Gu Yan for her carelessness, he accidentally saw the invitation on the ground, and his eyes widened in shock.
“What is this?” He quickly went forward and picked the invitation up from the ground. After he ascertained that the invitation was the one he had sent to “Addiction”, he was filled with so much excitement that he grabbed Gu Yan’s hand and said, “You... Did you not say you were not free to come? Why...”
The young man standing beside him also lifted his head to look at Gu Yan. His eyes were gla.s.sy, but there was a light radiating in them.
Gu Yan had not expected that Chu Hao would react so intensely to an invitation. She licked her lips and said, “M... Master, after some consideration, I concluded this is a very rare opportunity, so I decided to come and learn from you.”
Chu He had noticed the commotion as well. His heart had been straining with anger because he hadn’t seen Fu Zhi.
As soon as Gu Yan addressed him as master, both Chu Hao and the young man were stunned.
Chu Hao immediately withdrew his hand and began studying Gu Yan from head to toe.
Chu Hao was the head of the Chu Family, not some silly goose. Even though he looked gentle on the outside, he was actually a heavy-handed person. Otherwise, how was he going to manage a large family?
He had never seen “Addiction” before, but he knew her temperament very well.
He had gone through her WeChat Moments, and other than a few unfinished songs, the thing that had impressed him the most was that both of them were mutual friends of Sun Sanzhen.
She was not friendly with Sun Sanzhen. She kept reprimanding him for his incompetence. How could a person like her willingly become his disciple?
Chu Hao did not think so.
Chu He came up to her from behind and tasted the incense created by Gu Yan. Then, he commented, “Pretty good. It’s very similar to how we create our incense, but you should leave it on the fire for a while longer... Overall, you’re doing great considering your age, and you have a lot of potential.”
After saying that, he turned to Chu Hao and said, “I like this kid. You always have high expectations for your disciples, so I figure you won’t accept another disciple just to have her, right?”
“Nope. I’ll leave the rest to you guys. I have something else to attend to right now.” Chu Hao handed the invitation to the young man beside him. Then, he looked at Gu Yan. Since he could not be sure about her relationship with “Addiction”, he was going to ask Fu Zhi to confirm it.
*
At the Li Mansion in the capital...
Fu Zhi collected the flowers that Xu Wei had sent to her. She had the letter of recommendation written by Chu He and only needed to partic.i.p.ate in the last pill-making session, so she did not have to rush to the Chu Family.