Chapter 557 - 480: Revised
Chapter 557: Chapter 480: Revised
Xiao Man knew Wei Zhenling liked to joke around. His personality was much warmer and more cheerful than Gu Shaojun’s. In her past life, whenever Gu Shaozheng went to see his older brother, he would always drag Wei Zhenling along, probably because Wei Zhenling’s presence could shield him from some of his brother’s cold, stern aura.
Xiao Man smiled at Wei Zhenling and said, "I haven’t seen you in so long. Did you also go abroad for advanced training with Shaojun?"
Wei Zhenling threw up his hands, a look of mock bitterness on his face. "I’m not like Brother Shaojun with his peerless Martial Arts. I haven’t earned enough merits, I’m not a war hero, and my family background isn’t good enough... Basically, I can’t compare to him in any way. So, Brother Shaojun got to go abroad while I had to stay in some obscure military academy in the country. Now he can return to the unit, but I’m still stuck languishing there... I’m so worried, I don’t know what to do!"
Xiao Man blinked. ’That can’t be right,’ she thought. ’Wei Zhenling has always been Gu Shaojun’s partner and deputy. After that battle, he was honored as a hero too.’
Gu Shaojun glanced coolly at Wei Zhenling, who was playing innocent, and pulled Xiao Man closer. "Don’t believe his nonsense. He was on the list to go abroad, but he was clumsy. He made a small mistake on the front lines, a simple slip-up that got him injured, so he was replaced."
Wei Zhenling glared at Gu Shaojun, furious that he would choose his girl over his bro to such an extent, exposing such a painful and embarrassing incident.
Xiao Man quickly tried to smooth things over, comforting him, "Oh, so that’s what happened. It’s okay, those United States military academies are all hype anyway. They just have famous names. Our domestic military academies are just as good. When Brother Wei graduates, your skill level will probably be about the same as Brother Shaojun’s."
Wei Zhenling cracked a grin. Although he knew that domestic military academies couldn’t be compared to the famous ones abroad just yet, he loved hearing Xiao Man say it. He couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows and smile smugly at Gu Shaojun.
Gu Shaojun ignored him and patted Xiao Man’s shoulder. "Just call him by his name, you don’t need to call him Brother Wei. He’s much younger than me."
"Hey! We were born in the same year, we’re only a few months apart!" Wei Zhenling protested.
"Younger by one day is still younger, let alone a few months. From now on, when you see her, you’d better respectfully call her ’sister-in-law’!"
"At least get engaged first!"
"It seems you’re getting too comfortable in Beijing. Perhaps you don’t want to go back to the South."
"You... you can’t just bully people like that!"
Nestled under Gu Shaojun’s arm, Xiao Man smiled as she watched the two of them bicker. The three of them walked toward the front hall; the banquet was probably about to begin.
On the same day, the Bai Family also held a farewell banquet for their eldest grandson. However, they held it at a hotel. It was on the same scale as the Gu family’s, with only a few friends and relatives invited, enough to fill just three or four tables.
His grandson would soon be transferred from the southern border, but Old Master Bai still had to put on a show to make it seem as though the transfer was not out of the ordinary.
The Gongsun Family was among those invited, and the one who attended was Gongsun Ruxue’s cousin, Gongsun Ruyin. The Gongsun Family did not want to offend the Bai Family at the moment. Although they hadn’t explicitly named the Bai Family as the instigator when they apologized to the Gu family, everyone in the Gu family was sharp; it wouldn’t take them long to figure out the hidden meaning in the Gongsun Clan Leader’s words. The Gu family’s eldest grandson seemed like a formidable person. The Gongsuns could only hope that when the Gu and Bai Families started fighting, they would forget all about the Gongsun Family. In any case, the Gongsun Clan had already paid a heavy price for the mistake Gongsun Hanshan made back then, which at least served to make amends with the Gu family.
As for the Bai Family, they probably couldn’t turn on the Gongsun Family just yet either. Old Master Bai was obsessed with Cultivation and achieving longevity, as if possessed. One couldn’t produce elixirs until their cultivation reached a certain level. At least until the Bai family members reached the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, they would still need the Gongsun Clan’s assistance.
At present, the Bai Family could only turn to the Gongsun Clan for help in this world. They couldn’t find any other Great Cultivators. The Gu and Tang Families were now also practicing Cultivation, and they had resources and some level of cultivation themselves. Before, they might have lent a hand for Old Master Bai’s sake, but now that was absolutely impossible. The Gu family had already grown suspicious and wary of the Bai family; they were destined to become enemies. As for the Tang family, it was even less likely. Why did Tang Qingyun get divorced? It was all Bai Lihua’s doing, seducing another man’s wife and cuckolding him so thoroughly. The Tang Family probably wanted nothing more than to storm the Bai Mansion to kill them and burn it to the ground.
In truth, the Gongsun Family was also hoping the Bai Family would just collapse sooner rather than later. According to the wills passed down from their ancestors, the Bai bloodline had never been considered kind or upright. They only sought success in all things, regardless of how despicable or ruthless their methods were. The Gongsun Clan felt extremely unlucky to have gotten involved and entangled with such a family.
Gongsun Ruyin came to the banquet with a gift of two wooden boxes of elixirs, suitable for the early stages of Qi Refinement. Old Master Bai was very pleased. He calculated that he would let his eldest grandson take ten of the elixirs, leaving the rest at home. After all, many people in the family needed them. By the time his grandson used up those ten elixirs, he could be transferred back to the Northern Military Region.
Old Master Bai’s feelings were the same as the Gongsun Clan’s; he too was sick of them. He was disgusted that they didn’t even put up a fight and were so easily subdued by the Gu and Tang Families. They had gutlessly handed over such a large sum in compensation, and reportedly, some rare cultivation techniques, including the Invisibility Technique. The thought truly made Mr. Bai’s heart ache. But his real concern was whether the Gongsun Family could keep their mouths shut. After some questioning and investigation, and carefully observing the behavior of the Gu family—especially Mr. Gu—he knew the Gongsun Family had not, in fact, ratted them out. Only then did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Still, he verbally warned the Gongsun Family to make them understand that the Bai Family remained powerful and influential in Huaxia, not a force to be trifled with. The Gongsun Clan had already been exposed to the modern world. If they wanted to live in peace, they shouldn’t try to play any tricks or cause trouble for the Bai Family. Since they had all agreed to cooperate, they should see it through to the end. Do that, and everything would be negotiable.
The Bai family’s banquet, however, ended up being rather unpleasant. The reason was Bai Junfan. As the guest of honor, it was bad enough that he wasn’t there to entertain the guests, but he was still nowhere to be seen even when the banquet was about to start. Old Master Bai’s good mood was ruined. He couldn’t fly into a rage in public, so he just stared daggers at everyone, suppressing his anger to the point that he almost gave himself an internal injury. Bai Lihua had returned to his unit and wasn’t home, so Bai Qingyue had no choice but to stand by and bear the brunt of the old man’s fury. Outside, Doctor Jia and a few Bai family confidants helped entertain the guests, while Bai Junjie was too young to hold his own in such a situation.
Of course, Bai Junfan knew that his family and friends were holding a farewell banquet for him today. He was also very anxious and wasn’t intentionally late. He had just gone to say goodbye to Yang Liu’er, hoping for a farewell kiss and a chance to give her some parting words. However, he was provoked by Yang Liu’er’s cold words—things like "we’ve broken up," and "we’re nothing to each other." Her words left him dizzy, hurt, and angry. The two of them were tangled in an argument for ages, but he couldn’t get through to her. In the end, he had no other choice but to leave Yang Liu’er for the time being and hurry back to the hotel. At least he could still offer a few toasts to the guests.
By the time the banquet ended and the family returned to the Bai Mansion, Old Master Bai grabbed Bai Junfan for another lecture and a round of admonitions that lasted deep into the night. Bai Junfan wanted to go find Yang Liu’er to argue with her again, but it was impossible. Nowadays, Yang Liu’er was like a sly rabbit with three burrows: she could stay at the Lu Family’s house, her new courtyard home, or the company dormitory. On top of that, she had declared that she didn’t want Bai Junfan to find or disturb her, so she would even get a hotel room. She didn’t lack money, and with so many hotels in Beijing, where was he supposed to find her?