Chapter 14: Already Engaged
Li Chen froze on hearing his daughter's faint call.
His heart thumped in excitement and his frosty expression melted a smudge. Looking at Qing Yue, he gently nodded.
"You've already met your Aunts and Uncles. Why don't you meet your cousins now?" He stepped to the side and went to sit with his brothers.
Qing Yue looked at her Dad's side profile and smiled.
It felt familiar, good to call him Dad.
"Qing Qing, what took you so long? Come, lets go to the Sitting Room and chat." Yan Su grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the sitting room.
The other ignored cousins exchanged glances and followed.
"Hold on, we're coming!"
"Brother Heng, Brother Mu, I'll come along as well." Yei Yi saw her targets and stood. Bowing to Uncle Wang and the others, she elegantly walked out of the Main Hall before chasing after the two men.
Qing Yue, Li Wei, and Yan Su sat on the same couch as Yan Bi and the Li cousins sat on a separate couch.
"Sister Yue, happy birthday." Li Wei took out a small package and nervously handed it to Qing Yue.
"Wow, Sister Wei, I think this is the first time you've ever given me a gift, right?" Qing Yue smiled and took the package.
"Of course, it's the first time. Because she wants something from you this time." Yan Su sneered disdainfully.
"Yan Su, what is your problem? Whether I do this for favors or not, why do you care?"
"Girls, relax. No need to argue. Li Wei, tell me. What do you want?" Qing Yue was very sensitive to noise. The moment the two cousins began arguing, she stepped up to put a stop to it before the matter got out of hand.
They would argue to their hearts' content, but at the end of the day, she'll be the one suffering.
"That...Sister Yue, I heard you have the exclusive invitation card to YueTian's promotion sale launch. Hmph! Can I have one?" At the end of her words, even Li Wei felt a little embarrassed at her bluntness. But what could she do? It wasn't easy to get an exclusive invitation to YueTian's promotion sales...
"It's fine, Li Wei. I'll give you one when I receive them."
"Ahhh! I'm getting an invitation card to YueTian's promotion event. Sister Qing, you're great!" Li Wei screeched in joy and hugged Qing Yue.
"Haha...Sister Wei, there's no need to be so formal. Things like exclusive Invitation cards are difficult to obtain only for people like us. But for Qing Qing, all she has to do is stand and smile, and others would flock to her side. The name Li Qing Yue alone is enough to garner invitation cards to the most exclusive of events." At this moment, Yei Yi entered the Sitting Hall.
Hands smoothing out her dress, Yei Yi softly smiled at Li Wei and glided across the hall to sit beside Li Heng and Li Mu.
"This Yei Yi...why are you friends with her, Qing Qing? No matter how I look at it, the two of you aren't the type to mix."
"We aren't the type to mix? What do you mean Yan Su?" Qing Yue couldn't help but smile helplessly at the girl. This wasn't the first time Yan Su had said something like this. In fact, she'd said it so many times that Qing Yue had stopped listening to her.
Yan Su conspiratorially bent down and whispered in her ear.
"You know what I mean, Qing Qing. If Li Wei is an opportunist, then this Yei Yi is a greedy, bottomless pit. You can satisfy an opportunist, but you cannot satisfy a bottomless pit. Just now, her words sounded jarring. The way she spoke and excused Li Wei as if she were you...Aye, just be careful around her."
Qing Yue frowned and glanced in Yei Yi's direction. The girl looked as she always did; pretty and prime, outgoing and assertive. Nothing like the greedy pit Yan Su described her to be.
"Yan Su, I think you're misunderstanding Yei Yi. She's nothing like you say. Maybe you should try to get to know her?"
"Qing Qing, I want you to be careful because I care for you. But don't try to make me befriend that hypocrite!"
"Brother Heng, Brother Wu, I haven't seen in a while. How have you been?" Yei Yi looked at the two handsome young men and delicately smiled.
Good looking, refined with noble auras, and from a wealthy family. Even though they weren't as wealthy as Li Chen, at least they were part of the Li Family.
And if everything worked out well, then...
Yei Yi's delicate smile widened, her eyes and entire face practically glowing from the light she radiated.
"You are...?" Li Heng confusedly looked at the delicate girl sitting across from them. Long black hair and shining dark eyes with delicate nose and lips. The girl was pretty enough to arouse any young man's heart. If Li Heng hadn't seen Qing Yue's subdued beauty, he would've fallen for the girl's charming smile.
"Brother Heng, I can't believe you don't recognize me...I am Yei Yi. We meet at Qing Yue's birthday every year." He doesn't remember me as well? Yei Yi felt her heart plunge to the bottom of her stomach.
She had been working on pleasing the relatives from the Li Family for years. But from the look of things, all her efforts were meaningless. Because none of the Li members remembered her after leaving the Li Mansion.
"Brother Heng...you really don't remember me?" Her eyes pooled with tears not necessarily fake, as she aggrievedly looked at the young man.
"Ah...that...the Li family is too large to remember every relative. Sorry, Xiao Yi, I didn't mean to forget you." Li Heng apologetically said, his heart aching on seeing her eyes fill up.
"Hmph! Brother Wu, don't tell me you don't remember me as well?" Li Mu was snacking on pastries when he heard his name. He confusedly looked up and blinked.
"Huh? Am I supposed to remember you?" Unlike his cousin, Li Mu wasn't the sort of gentleman that felt pained on seeing the opposite gender's tears. Faced with the wet eyes of Yei Yi, he only innocently blinked and focused back on his pastries.
"This..." Yei Yi felt stumped. How was she going to communicate with a brainless idiot?
"Xiao Yi, don't mind Li Mu's attitude. He is usually like this." Li Heng said.
"Brother Heng, don't worry. I don't mind Brother Wu's behavior." Yei Yi smiled brightly, but her eyes still swirled with tears of grievance that made Li Heng feel guilty.
He had failed to remember her too...
"Look, just look at her! We all know Brother Mu isn't the extrovert type, and yet, she still tried to rope him into her melodrama. She's using him as a bridge to rope in Brother Heng!"
"Yan Su, can we not talk about Yei Yi's affairs? What did you get me for my birthday?"
"Qing Qing, I know you're trying to change the topic, but please be careful around her." Yan Su dejectedly leaned back on the couch, helpless and clueless on how to alert her cousin to the danger roaming around her.
No matter what she said or how she said it, Qing Yue failed to see what she saw...
"Mistress, Master sent me to inform you breakfast is served. Your presence is required in the Dining Hall." A female servant in white appeared at the entrance and informed.
"Sister Chu, we'll be there." Qing Yue pushed out of her seat and Yan Su took her arm.
"Qing Qing, let's go." Li Wei took the other and the boys got up to follow them.
In the Dining Hall, Li Chen indifferently sat in the head seat. The other Li family members occupied the seats on his left and right.
When Aunt Hong saw the youngsters coming in, she immediately brought up the topic she'd wanted to talk about all day.
"Brother-in-law, Qing Qing isn't a kid anymore. You need to fix her marriage with a good household where she'll be treated like a princess."
"Yes, Brother-in-law. Qing Qing is at a marriageable age now. You should immediately fix her engagement with someone of status. If you ask me, the kids in our family aren't bad either." Aunt Mei added.
Qing Yue felt awkward when she heard the conversation, but still, she expressionlessly continued to her seat. If there was one thing she'd learned in this world that didn't contradict what she'd learned in her previous life, it was the act of impeccable performance and self-control.
She couldn't show her real feelings to anyone if she didn't want to be controlled.
Sister Chu stepped up and pulled Qing Yue's regular seat.
"Qing Qing, you're here." Aunt Hong smiled warmly at her and the Yan Su threw her a knowing glance before sitting beside her mom.
"Aunt Hong, we're here as well. How come you only noticed Qing Qing and not us?"
"Haha...Yan Su, what're you saying? Today is Qing Qing's special day, so of course, she'll receive more attention."
"That's right, Yan Su. When it's your 18th birthday, you'll receive the same treatment." Aunt Mei added.
Yan Bi sat next to his mom, his gaze briefly drifting to the silent Qing Yue before falling back on the table. There was nothing he could say in between the elders, but at that moment, he really wanted Qing Yue to stop behaving like a statue and take a stand for herself.
He didn't want her to be manipulated like a puppet between the aunts.
When Yei Yi saw everyone sit down and ignore her, she felt embarrassed and resentful. Even if she was a distant cousin, she was still a member of the Li Family.
But everyone ignored her existence as if she was a nobody.
With a lowered head, she took the last seat on the table and smiled stiffly.
Yei Yi, you have to endure...endure patiently until your time comes.
As the words drifted through her mind, her stiff smile softened and became more natural, brightening her pretty appearance.
"Everyone, sorry for the delay. Breakfast is ready." At this moment, Aunt Li came in pushing the trolley of foods and smiled at Yei Yi, causing her to flush red. Still, her composer didn't crumble, her smile didn't crack. Seemingly unbothered and at ease, she gently listened to the elders with a lowered head.
Only her clenched fists displayed her internal shame.
The breakfast ended in peace as everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Once Aunt Li cleared the table, Aunt Hong brought up the topic of Qing Yue's marriage again.
"Bother-in-law, our Heng'er isn't bad in both appearance and capability. Instead of sending our delicate Qing Qing to a stranger's house, why don't you match her with Heng'er? Truthfully, I've always loved Qing Qing like a daughter. If she comes to our house as a daughter-in-law, my long-buried wish will be fulfilled."
"If Heng'er isn't to Qing Qing's liking, then there's still Mu'er. He is about Qing Qing's age and the two will understand each other better. Brother-in-law, how about you consider Mu'er and Qing Qing?" Aunt Si looked at Qing Yue dotingly and warmly smiled at Li Chen.
Li Chen paused and looked up at his daughter.
Did Yue'er like Li Mu?
His cold gaze closely scrutinized her, but he couldn't find anything on her expression that could clue him in on his daughter's feelings.
Sighing helplessly, he turned his sight to the wolves intending to devour his flesh and blood.
He wasn't born yesterday and clearly knew the visit today was nothing more than an excuse to force an engagement.
"I'm afraid that won't be possible, Sisters-in-law. Yue'er is already engaged."
The words were like the drop of a bomb, instantly silencing the chattering group and filling the atmosphere with an unnatural tension.
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