Volume One, Chapter 10: The Matter of Marriage
Page (1/3)
Ye Tian followed behind Li Qingcheng and soon left the banquet hall.
Beyond the banquet hall was a long corridor, with private rooms lining both sides.
These were also reception rooms arranged by the Li family.
The reception rooms were considered part of the banquet hall’s supporting facilities. Their furnishings were generally similar to those of private dining rooms, and they could be used as such as well.
The lighting here was somewhat dimmer.
There were hardly any people passing through the corridor. It was much like the backstage of a theater; almost everyone who came and went was a member of the Li family.
The only exceptions were important guests who required private reception by the Li family.
Compared with the lively, bustling banquet hall, the reception area was considerably quieter.
Along the corridor, guards stood at every few steps, keeping watch in all directions.
They were all private security personnel of the Li family.
Every one of them was broad-shouldered and burly. Regardless of how capable they actually were, they certainly looked impressive and intimidating.
Naturally, no random outsiders could possibly sneak into a place like this.
Li Qingcheng lifted the hem of her long dress as she walked. The star-speckled gown continued to trail across the carpet.
Ye Tian followed behind her at an unhurried pace, looking straight ahead.
Compared with the breathtaking beauty before him, Ye Tian was actually more concerned about the food in the banquet hall.
He still had not eaten his fill.
After all, he had spent three years living on prison food.
The meals in prison could not exactly be called abusive, but they were practically devoid of any oil or fat.
Ye Tian had barely eaten meat at all during those three years.
After finally getting out of prison, he had come straight to the Li family’s launch event for the Beauty-Preserving Pills.
Dish after dish of meat had been laid out on the tables, and he had found it rather difficult to restrain himself.
As the saying went, food came before desire.
Without food and warmth, who would have the inclination for lust?
Ye Tian’s mind was elsewhere.
He was still savoring the pig’s trotter he had eaten earlier.
Had the trotter truly been that delicious, or had his stomach simply been starved of grease for too long?
“We’re here.”
Li Qingcheng suddenly stopped.
In front of her stood the door to the reception room.
She stood before it, clutching her skirt, and cast Ye Tian a malicious sidelong glance.
At least, that was how it appeared to Ye Tian.
“Who are you taking me to meet?”
Ye Tian coughed twice and secretly wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth.
His mind was finally beginning to catch up.
Li Qingcheng lowered her head slightly and said softly, “My father wants to meet you.”
She seemed somewhat shy.
Ahem. No, it had to be malicious intent.
Ye Tian immediately picked up on several highly sensitive implications.
They were already at the stage of meeting the parents?
Was this about discussing marriage?
So soon?
He had only just gotten out of prison, and it had not even been a full day!
Could it be that Li Cheng had not been joking with him?
Was the Li family really planning to marry Li Qingcheng to him?
What the hell…
Ye Tian could not help looking Li Qingcheng up and down a few more times.
Well…
It seemed he would not be losing out either.
Page (2/3)
After all, a peerless beauty like Li Qingcheng would be outstanding among women in any setting.
Her character was quite good, too.
At the very least, she was not greedy for petty advantages.
She had principles, more or less.
So she was worthy of him.
Ye Tian relaxed slightly.
Still, this was all happening rather hastily.
One had to understand that he was the heir to the Dragon Emperor Medical Canon.
What ordinary woman could possibly catch his eye?
His standards for examining and choosing a partner were far from simple.
He certainly would not enter into a relationship so hastily.
Ye Tian shrugged.
He would calm down first.
“Please.”
Li Qingcheng put away her girlish demeanor and pushed open the door to the reception room.
The two private bodyguards standing outside did not so much as glance sideways, as though they had not seen the pair at all.
Inside the reception room, the lighting should not have been dimmer than that of the banquet hall.
Yet most of the lamps had not been turned on.
An old man was seated on a sofa in one corner.
He was not particularly old, and he looked quite spirited.
He was probably Li Qingcheng’s father.
And Li Cheng’s father as well.
His name seemed to be…
Li Dingguo.
After thinking for a moment, Ye Tian recalled it.
Li Cheng had mentioned him before.
Li Dingguo had already risen to his feet.
“Come, my nephew Ye. Sit over here.”
Li Dingguo’s tone was warm and amiable.
His face was also wreathed in smiles.
As an elder, he was being exceptionally polite toward Ye Tian.
“Uncle Li, good to see you.”
Ye Tian naturally had no reason to put on airs.
He was generally quite courteous toward his elders, especially the elders of his friends.
The two of them soon took their seats.
Li Qingcheng, however, sat on the smaller sofa beside them.
It was obvious that the main figures in this reception room were Li Dingguo and Ye Tian.
No matter what status Li Qingcheng held in the eyes of outsiders, no matter how favored she was by heaven or how many admirers followed her around…
In this reception room, she was merely an accompaniment.
Ye Tian smiled faintly.
It seemed that in accordance with the Li family’s rules, the parents had the final say in matters of marriage.
Li Qingcheng herself appeared to have little right to speak.
Keeping his expression neutral, Ye Tian exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Dingguo.
“My nephew Ye, you only got out of prison today?”
“Yes.”
“Have you had enough rest?”
“I’m all right.”
“Three years is not a long time, but the world can change considerably in that period. Have you managed to readjust, my nephew Ye?”
Page (3/3)
“I’m doing fine.”
…
Naturally, there was no shortage of meaningless small talk.
Fortunately, Li Dingguo soon got to the point.
“You have not married yet, have you, my nephew Ye?”
“Mm. I’m single.”
Knowing that the real subject was about to begin, Ye Tian straightened up slightly.
“Excellent, excellent…”
Li Dingguo’s face immediately lit up with delight.
After arranging his words for a moment, he continued, “As it happens, my precious daughter is single as well…”
“Oh?”
Ye Tian remained impassive.
Li Dingguo pretended to sigh in distress. “Alas, Qingcheng’s marriage has actually been quite a headache for us elders…”
Ye Tian merely responded with another “Oh.”
Li Dingguo had no choice but to continue. “The main issue is not whether the families are well matched. It is whether Qingcheng herself likes the man. After all, her mother and I are fairly open-minded parents. We hope she can find her own happiness rather than become a sacrifice to some arranged marriage…”
“Mm-hmm…”
Ye Tian could only offer meaningless replies.
At last, Li Dingguo dropped all pretense.
“What do you think of my daughter, my nephew Ye?”
“She’s beautiful. Beautiful to a positively inhuman degree.”
Ye Tian was speaking honestly.
The adjective was simply not the most appropriate one.
Li Qingcheng, sitting nearby, had already blushed crimson with embarrassment.
Even so, she remained silent.
Li Dingguo, however, was beaming from ear to ear.
He naturally knew just how stunning his daughter was.
It would not be an exaggeration to call her one of the most beautiful women in the entire country.
So he also knew that Ye Tian was telling the absolute truth.
What an honest young man.
Li Dingguo no longer intended to waste time.
He went straight to the heart of the matter.
“We have discussed it within the family, and everyone feels that the man best suited to my daughter should be you, my nephew Ye…”
Ahem…
Ye Tian nearly choked on his own saliva.
They really were being direct.
Unfortunately…
Ye Tian had already been married once.
Naturally, he would not make a decision about a partner so easily.
After considering it for a moment, he slowly replied, “For now, I have no plans to get married.”
Li Dingguo’s expression froze.
He felt as though he had been insulted.
Li Qingcheng, however, was not surprised.
Li Cheng had previously told her about Ye Tian’s circumstances.
So she knew that Ye Tian had only recently divorced.
Someone who had just gone through a divorce would inevitably still have some emotional baggage. It was impossible for him to enter a second marriage so quickly.
Therefore, she could understand his state of mind.
She immediately spoke up to break the awkward silence.
“It’s time. The launch event is about to begin.”
“Prepare yourselves. Get ready to go onstage.”