FID – Chapter 462

  Chapter 462: Personally Picked Up

  Liu Yusheng perked up her ears to listen to the whole conversation over at the men’s table, and then gave her brother a thumbs up under the table.

  Liu Zhixia happened to see it. He raised his glass and took a sip, blocking the smile on his lips.

  In the first round of confrontation, their old Liu family won beautifully.

  ”Hahaha! Good! I didn’t expect Mister Lou to have such aspirations, I admire it! Here, I invited you all to my home today because we all belong to the same family name. The entire Liu family is celebrating for Mister Liu. We would also like to take this opportunity to make friends with your family! If Elder Brother Liu doesn’t mind, I’ll drink to that!”

  Grandpa Liu raised his glass, waved his hand and laughed. “If I can befriend the Liu family, the richest clan in the world, how can my old family dislike it? Once we go out later, I can go with those old fogeys in the village and boast that I have eaten and drunk at the same table as Patriarch Liu. I bet their eyes will turn red from envy!”

  Grandpa Liu meant to say that he only intended to take today’s affairs as a topic for conversation when chatting with his old pals to amuse them.

  Liu Huai laughed and drank the wine in one go with the raging anger in his chest on the verge of bursting out.

  This bunch of ignorant elderlies! He didn’t know if the grandpa was stupid or pretending to be stupid. Nothing was turning in the direction he was leading!

  After three rounds of wine and sitting down again, Liu Huai decided not to go on beating around the bush and cut straight to the chase, “Elder Brother Liu is an aborigine in Xinghua Village, right? I heard that your ancestors have lived in the village since the beginning and have stayed there for several generations.”

  ”Yes. I was born and raised in Xinghua Village, and I’ve been an authentic farmer since my ancestors were born. I wasn’t born with the riches and honor as Patriarch Liu.”

  ”You flatter me. I’ve also relied on the shade of my ancestors. When I saw you today, Elder Brother Liu, I felt a sense of closeness. Your frankness and cheerfulness in the conversation are as comfortable as getting along with my own brother. Perhaps several generations and up, our two Liu households might have been one family.”

  All the Liu family members’ hearts missed a beat.

  Here it comes.

  The fox was beginning to show his tail.

  ”This old man dares not to boast. Patriarch Liu’s ancestors have been in business, while my ancestors farmed lands for generations. Although our two families with long reaching mountains and rivers of gap are both surnamed Liu, it’s just a coincidence. If Patriarch Liu’s word were to spread outside, my old family would probably be laughed at. We’d be the laughingstock not only for lack of knowledge regarding our limitations but also for presuming to climb the world’s richest clan. That would be provoking gossip about us in vain.”

  ”How can that stir gossip? Those who gossip are jealous.” Liu Huai smiled. “I’m not bragging about the status of the Liu family in the capital. We’re also counted as one among the top families. Many people can’t catch our attention even if they want to cling to us. I only think highly of Elder Brother’s wonderful family style, and that’s how I got the idea to make friends with you.”

  Matriarch Liu seconded, “Your family style is indeed remarkable. The children you taught are all dragons and phoenixes among people. Unlike our family, each and everyone of them is a headache.”

  Liu Yusheng smiled. “That’s going too far, Madam. I’ve heard that the women in the Liu family are the objects of many powerful children’s marriages. There are also those who have run for the Beauty General Election. Women who can compete in the draft must be one in a million. Madam’s words are too modest.”

  When Matriarch Liu heard Liu Yusheng mention the few girls of the family who participated in the draft, her smile deepened a few points, and satisfaction surfaced in her eyes. “Speaking of the draft, it’s merely a secondary screening. It’s only after the general election in a few days can we see the true picture. If they can catch the fancy of a high-ranking nobleman, they’re naturally outstanding. If not, it only means that they’re inferior to other people.”

  ”No one is inferior to others. If someone is indeed inferior, it’s not because the lady isn’t good enough, but that others are too superb. Be at ease. Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, look on the bright side, ah.” Grandma Liu smiled, just short of patting Matriarch Liu’s hand to comfort her.

  Her candidness was too suffocating.

  After the meal, the two heads of the Liu family continued to raise new topics, but were repeatedly swatted dead by the grandparents of the Liu family. By the end of the banquet, they broke up and failed to get the results they wanted.

  Intimidate? They weren’t intimidated.

  Take control? They were even more difficult to control.

  Sound them out? They were as slippery as loaches, and they never uttered anything they wanted to hear.

  Liu Yusheng and Liu Zhixia, who had originally decided to save the scene at any time, had no chance to come on stage from beginning to end.

  They, the youngsters, were truly a failure for having failed to see through that their grandparents were tough to handle.

  They left the Liu residence when the evening lights were lit. The silver and white crescent moon was hanging in the corner of the dark blue sky, dotted with several sparse stars.

  At the entrance of the Liu Mansion, in addition to the carriage that Elder Liu and others rode over earlier, there was an additional one parked close by.

  Luxurious, but not eye-catching.

  Quiet and serene. Realizing that someone came out of the Liu Mansion’s door, the person inside drew the curtain aside when he heard movement.

  A tall, slender figure then unhurriedly stepped out of the carriage.

  Liu Yusheng’s teary eyes lit up almost immediately, and the corners of her lips rippled uncontrollably.

  He said he would pick them up, and he really came.

  He never went back on his word to them.

  Even if the place was the capital’s Liu Mansion, his opponent’s residence.

  Grandpa Liu and Liu Huai, who sent them out, and all the women of the Liu clan also caught sight of him.

  Grandpa Liu laughed gayly.

  Liu Huai’s group was shocked.

  The man traversed the short distance amidst the dim lights and pale starlight.

  Dressed in a dark purple robe, his handsome visage was akin to a cast. His narrow and slender eyes, deep waves without waves, pure and unsoiled. A gentleman as polished as jade, but with an oppressive aura.

  He was obviously alone, but he gave off the impression that behind him hid thousands upon thousands of troops.

  Confident, noble, proud, elegant.

  It made people avert their eyes and dared not look straight at him.

  It also made some people unable to tear their eyes away.

  ”Feng Qingbai!” Liu Yusheng gently greeted him.

  The man’s eyes were locked on her from the start, and he heard her soft call even if it was covered by the noise around him.

  He directed a shallow smile toward her, with gentleness gracing his cold eyebrows. “Shengsheng, I’ve come to pick you up.”

  After that, he addressed Grandpa Liu and the others, “Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Liu, Aunt Liu, get in the carriage.”

  Only then did Liu Huai and the rest of the crowd react. They quickly bowed their heads in respect. “These subjects greet Your Highness!”

  ”Don’t bow.” Feng Qingbai nodded and walked forward to personally help Grandpa Liu and Grandma Liu onto the carriage. He waited until the carriage started moving before he turned to take Liu Yusheng’s hand, leading her towards his own carriage.

  As for the forgotten people behind him, he did not care.

  The two carriages left one after the other.

  Liu Huai looked at the direction where the carriage disappeared, and the agitation in his heart and eyes worsened.

  ”Master, did the King of Nanling address the two old grandparents of the Liu family, grandpa and grandma?” Matriarch Liu was incredulous.

  What kind of person was the King of Nanling?

  He personally called them grandparents, so there was no question that the two elderlies from the smelly countryside occupied a weight in his heart!

  When the family was entertaining them, Matriarch Liu and the clan were smiling on the surface. However, who didn’t disdain those country bumpkins deep inside? Even though a County Lady and a Number One Scholar came out of their family, they couldn’t change their origin.