Drip! Drip! Drip!
After Yu Mengzhi finished speaking, the large living room fell silent, with only the sound of the wall clock ticking, and astonished gazes fell upon her.
Even Yu Wendong, who had been feigning death, looked at his daughter.
After a moment, he shifted his gaze.
Old Master Yu did not speak immediately. The longer the silence, the more the Yu family members felt a suffocating pressure.
Clearly.
The Old Master was displeased.
Yu Mengzhi, under immense pressure, bit her red lips and remained silent.
Finally.
After a full two minutes of silence, Yu Lingxiao spoke, "Girl, in your opinion, is Young Master Qin inferior to Chen Jinzhao you mentioned?"
Yu Mengzhi naturally did not think so. Qin Fengwu's excellence was evident to all.
How could Chen Jinzhao, a mere security guard, be compared to a young master of the Qin family?
Neither Qin Fengwu nor Chen Jinzhao was someone Yu Mengzhi liked. Now, bringing up Chen Jinzhao was merely a shield.
"It's not..." Yu Mengzhi shook her head.
"I just feel I don't deserve Qin Fengwu. Besides, I don't like him."
"A forced melon is not sweet."
"Mengzhi, this is where you are wrong. It is Young Master Qin who fancies you now, and this is an opportunity for our Yu family. You should understand how much help the Qin family can bring to the Yu family. With this marriage, the Yu family can prosper for another hundred years and ascend to the ranks of true noble families," said Yu Mengzhi's eldest uncle, Yu Botao, earnestly. He also advised Yu Mengzhi not to be capricious, as it could easily anger Qin Fengwu.
The Qin family was not to be trifled with.
Old Master Yu Lingxiao had three sons: the eldest son Yu Botao, the second son Yu Zhengzhi, and the third son Yu Wendong.
Among these three sons, Yu Botao was the most capable, holding significant power within the group and widely considered to be the next patriarch of the Yu family after the Old Master's retirement.
The second son, Yu Zhengzhi, was still full of ambition and controlled several key sectors of the Yu family's business empire.
The least favored was the third son, Yu Wendong. In the eyes of outsiders, Yu Wendong was timid and fearful, lacking grand ambitions, and had always remained on the fringes of the Yu family's business empire.
He was also ironically nicknamed the "idle prince" of the Yu family by outsiders.
What was peculiar was that Yu Wendong's only daughter possessed a sharpness that even he lacked, along with remarkable ability and talent.
If not for her gender, Yu Mengzhi might have received direct training from Yu Lingxiao.
Although Yu Botao's tone was seemingly gentle, he was in fact subtly criticizing Yu Mengzhi for not considering the bigger picture and ruining the Yu family's good fortune.
Yu Zhengzhi also chimed in, "Yes, big brother is right."
"This is a matter of great importance, and you, young girl Mengzhi, cannot be reckless. As for your boyfriend, you should break up with him as soon as possible, and it's best if Young Master Qin doesn't find out. Otherwise, I fear it will bring you trouble."
The two expressed their stances, and many people turned to look at Yu Wendong, wanting to see what the idle prince would say.
Yu Wendong was in a dilemma.
Especially since the Old Master kept glancing at him, he could only steel himself and say, "In my opinion, we are long past the era of arranged marriages. Parental decree and matchmaker's words are outdated. The Old Master himself once told us to forge ahead boldly on our chosen path, and never look back until we hit a wall."
Yu Lingxiao was slightly moved.
These were indeed words he had spoken himself, from the time he resigned and started his own small company. Later, he relied on these words to expand the group to a terrifying scale in a short period.
To negate these words would be to negate the very foundation of the Yu family.
Yu Zhengzhi and Yu Botao were about to retort, but Yu Zhengzhi, sitting opposite them, gave them a look and they immediately realized their mistake and fell silent.
"Good, good, good. I didn't expect you to remember my words." Yu Lingxiao's words, whether praise or criticism, made Yu Wendong tremble.
Yu Mengzhi also looked at her father in surprise.
For so many years, her father had neglected her, and she had thought Yu Wendong would, like her other uncles, urge her to marry Qin Fengwu.
Unexpectedly...
This was the outcome.
Yu Lingxiao looked at Yu Mengzhi and said calmly, "As your father said, if you've decided on something, then go for it. You certainly wouldn't be willing to marry into the Qin family, no matter what, and it would go against your wishes. Only when you willingly marry Qin Fengwu will you bear fruitful results."
"By the way."
"Next Sunday, bring your boyfriend home to meet me. I'll vet him for you."
Yu Mengzhi's face showed difficulty.
"What?" Yu Lingxiao said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"If you are serious about marriage, are you afraid I will eat him?"
Yu Mengzhi had no other choice but to agree.
Her situation was precarious, and she vaguely guessed what the Old Master intended, which was precisely why she dreaded the family gathering next Sunday.
There was no other family gossip to discuss, and after this matter was settled, the Old Master left.
Yu Botao and Yu Zhengzhi were in the same car, analyzing the deeper meaning of Yu Lingxiao's actions. "Is our Old Master losing his mind? How can he indulge Yu Mengzhi's willfulness like this?"
"Big brother, stop!" Yu Zhengzhi said.
"Do you really think our Old Master has lost his mind?"
Yu Botao looked at his brother with confusion.
Yu Zhengzhi narrowed his eyes. The Old Master always acted this way. He would allow Yu Mengzhi to face unseen and intangible resistance in various fields, making her retreat willingly.
Then, she would willingly marry Qin Fengwu.
Finally, Yu Lingxiao would gain a reputation for being understanding and not being an authoritarian.
At the villa.
Yu Mengzhi felt a sense of relief, as if she had escaped from danger. She was about to say a few words to her father when Yu Wendong returned to his room, hands behind his back.
This made Yu Mengzhi sigh involuntarily.
Since childhood, she had never felt fatherly love and felt like a stranger to her father.
"Why is he treating me like this?" Yu Mengzhi wondered.
The next morning.
Chen Jinzhao arrived at the building for work. As he walked, his colleagues looked at him strangely, leaving him puzzled.
It was the same in the office.
Facing their odd gazes, Chen Jinzhao chuckled, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
Old Mo walked up and patted Chen Jinzhao's shoulder. "Xiao Chen, you're something else!"
Chen Jinzhao was even more confused.
"Still pretending?
"How long do you plan to keep it from me? Everyone knows about you and President Yu now. I knew there had to be a reason for your promotion and salary increase. So you've become President Yu's boyfriend." Old Mo's words made Chen Jinzhao's body tremble. How did this news spread through the company?
He instinctively wanted to find Yu Mengzhi for an explanation.
Just then.
Liu Wenyiao walked into the office, looking displeased. He kept staring at Chen Jinzhao.
Chen Jinzhao recalled what Yu Mengzhi had asked him to do previously, and that this Liu Wenyiao might be involved. Before Chen Jinzhao could speak, Liu Wenyiao walked up to him, tilted his chin, and said sarcastically.
"Xiao Chen, a happy person is in good spirits. This saying really applies to you. Yesterday you looked sickly, and today you're so full of life."
"President Su wants you to go to her office. She has something to instruct you."