My Clingy Fiancée Is Forcing Me to Marry Her Again - Chapter 27.1

“So that’s what it is—then I feel relieved.”

Guan Xiaoyu looked visibly relieved; just moments ago, she had appeared anxious and worried.

Li Fangge felt a mix of amusement and frustration. In the past, a debt of one or two hundred million wouldn’t have been a huge deal for her.

However, things were different now. For ‘her,’ who had been thrown out by her parents and had no opportunity to earn money, this debt was very tricky. The creditor had stated that if the money wasn’t repaid by the end of August, they would take drastic measures.

“What else did you think it was?”

“My dad just happened to call me at this critical moment, so I thought he was trying to break us up again.”

“Regarding the check last time,” Li Fangge said with a touch of self-mockery, “strictly speaking, it wasn’t harassment. I can understand the starting point of his actions; it was for your own good—”

“Enough!” Guan Xiaoyu interrupted Li Fangge. “Sister Li, do you really think my dad was doing it for my own good?!”

Li Fangge was startled by the delicate, flushed-faced woman before her. Snapping back to reality, she realized she had touched a nerve.

She wanted to explain something, but no words came out.

Time and again, she had severely underestimated Guan Xiaoyu’s deep affection and her persistence.

“If my dad truly cared about my well-being, he wouldn’t force me to attend those boring banquets, and he wouldn’t—stop me from being with Sister Li.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Sister Li, I’ll only say this once: anything that hinders us from being together cannot be called doing something for my own good. So, whether it’s Sister Li or my parents, if you truly want what’s best for me, you should—respect me and let us be together!”

Guan Xiaoyu lowered her head. “Because I really don’t want to go through such a long separation from Sister Li again. Do you know how I spent the last five years?”

Li Fangge’s heart ached faintly upon hearing this. “—Is your life only about me?”

When stating the obvious while knowing the answer, the feelings of the two people are often remarkably aligned.

“If Sister Li still doesn’t understand, I’ll say it again: for me, life without Sister Li is colorless and meaningless every single day.”

Guan Xiaoyu had said this once before, when the scummy Alpha graduated.

At the time, the scummy Alpha had merely replied with an absent-minded “Oh.”

Looking back now, Li Fangge finally understood that the scummy Alpha hadn’t cared at all about Guan Xiaoyu’s deep affection.

More than their engagement, the scummy Alpha was preoccupied with her future career, which her parents opposed, and her long-delayed secondary gender differentiation.

It was evident that such a cold response must have utterly heartbroken Guan Xiaoyu at the time!

Unrequited affection causes the same level of pain for everyone.

How did she convince herself to persevere for so long?

Li Fangge thought to herself, if the time point of transmigrating into the book had been a few years earlier, back when they were in high school,

in response to Guan Xiaoyu’s brave self-confession back then—

“Sister Li is my sun.”

“Your graduation and the resulting separation was a nightmare for me; a life without Sister Li is colorless and meaningless every single day.”

Even if there had been no established romantic feelings between them yet, Li Fangge would definitely have given Guan Xiaoyu a much gentler response, never just a cold “Oh.”

Thinking this, Li Fangge’s gaze toward Guan Xiaoyu softened further. Perhaps not everyone understood that, regardless of the era or the world, deep affection is always one of the rarest commodities.

And the deep affection of the right person is even more priceless.

Originally, Guan Xiaoyu was supposed to follow the scummy Alpha to study at Lujing University in the Northern Kingdom.

Guan Zhao himself was very supportive of her decision.

But one month before her college entrance exam, the news that the scummy Alpha had differentiated into a low-grade Alpha broke, causing a national uproar.

The sensation was comparable to the fall of a superstar; though this particular ‘superstar’ had never fully matured, the public’s hopes for the S+ Alpha, a rarity seen only once in several centuries, were unprecedented.

The entire nation was thrown into turmoil, as if a shared beautiful dream had been shattered overnight.

All weddings, funerals, feasts, entertainment, and meetings were uniformly put on hold…

Guan Xiaoyu certainly wouldn’t give up following Li Fangge’s path because of this incident.

But ultimately, her college application was quietly changed by her family. She was forced to go to the Southern Kingdom, separating the two of them across vast distances for many years—

“I understand.”

Li Fangge replied calmly but without a hint of coldness.

Compared to Guan Xiaoyu’s excitement, her tone was very composed, so composed that it gave Guan Xiaoyu a feeling of being unfeeling.

“Thank you,” she added. Her pleasant voice was so clear, like the sound of a cool spring flowing into Guan Xiaoyu’s heart.

Though Li Fangge hadn’t fully reciprocated her feelings, she at least hadn’t rejected her again.

“Sister Li, I don’t want to hear thanks right now. What I want to hear is for you to tell me not to go to that boring banquet tonight.”

Guan Xiaoyu raised her head, desperately holding back tears. “I don’t want to cry, so, sister, please hurry and ask me to stay.”

“You should still go. I need time to sort out the debt situation.”

Guan Xiaoyu wanted to stay, but Li Fangge knew she had to leave.

As for the debt, Li Fangge actually didn’t need to ‘sort’ anything out; the IOU was clear, the amount was explicit, and the repayment date was obvious.

She wasn’t anxious about it because she was sure that her main mission in transmigrating into the book was not this. Her focus was on matters related to increasing her Life Value, and she believed that as long as the Life Value increased, the debt would certainly be resolved easily.

“Sister Li, can I help you think of a solution?”

Li Fangge smiled. “Why aren’t you just directly helping this time?”

Guan Xiaoyu was already struggling with her own issues, yet her love for ‘Li Fangge’ seemed to be etched into her DNA.

Her current approach was so indirect, unlike her usual straightforward style.

“I don’t want to be rejected by you again; most importantly, I believe you can handle your own affairs.”

“You really trust me.”

“Sister Li, wait for my news.”

“Are you referring to the boring banquet?” Li Fangge deliberately misinterpreted her, disliking the suddenly heavy atmosphere.

“Sister Li clearly knows what I’m talking about.”

“I’ll walk you out.”…

The banquet was held at a manor on Egret Mountain.

This manor had been purchased by the family of the Egret Island Cruise Group from a descendant of a declining royal family.

The centuries-old castle had been renovated and was now beginning to radiate new vitality.

This banquet was specially hosted by the Cruise Group’s chairman for his daughter, Jiang Xiyun—it could also be described as her personal matchmaking banquet. All those invited were single descendants from Lujing’s powerful and affluent families.

Those with low genetic grades like Li Fangge were not on the invitation list.

S-grade Alphas like Guan Xiaoyan, who was young, promising, and unmarried, were naturally the key targets for the invitation.

Jiang Xiyun was a B-grade Omega, with a medium genetic status, but given her family wealth, many people still flocked to her.

Of course, those people did not include Guan Xiaoyan.

Jiang Xiyun’s father intended to find her a partner of at least A-grade or higher, so the invited Alphas tonight was all at least A-grade in genetic level.

High-grade Omegas like Guan Xiaoyu were originally not on the invitation list.

In the afternoon, Guan Zhao heard from Guan Xiaoyan that Zheng Lier would also be attending this banquet.

Upon hearing this news, he immediately made Guan Xiaoyan call Guan Xiaoyu, asking her to trick her by saying she needed a companion to go with.

When the call was made, Guan Xiaoyu mercilessly exposed her lie. “Sis, I don’t believe you’d be short of a companion!”

“I’m begging you.”

Guan Xiaoyu instantly understood that this must be her father’s idea again.

Her sister was always obedient to their father; the decisive, invincible career woman in public was, unbeknownst to many, merely her father’s puppet.

Although she couldn’t guess the exact intricacies, why should she attend Jiang Xiyun’s grand matchmaking banquet? Wouldn’t that just invite resentment?

Guan Zhao didn’t care about any of that.

The news that the chairman of Lujing Bank was sending his third daughter, Zheng Lier, to the Lujing branch to take over had already spread, and today, it was confirmed. That wasn’t the most important part; the most crucial thing was that she was an S-grade Alpha.

How could Guan Zhao let such an opportunity slip by?

Even though Guan Xiaoyan explained that Zheng Lier was her university classmate and that she could introduce them later if needed,

Guan Zhao was afraid that Zheng Lier would be snatched up by another Omega tonight. He insisted that Guan Xiaoyan bring Guan Xiaoyu along,

which led to the plea, “I’m begging you,” on the phone.

Guan Xiaoyu hung up on her sister and immediately called her father, having a furious argument with him.

“I’m not going! I’d rather die than go!”

“You won’t die. You will definitely go.”

Guan Xiaoyu was so angry she nearly fell backward and slammed the phone down on her father.

On her way back to the tea room, her sister sent a message: “Help your sister this once.”

Even when asking for a favor, Guan Xiaoyan was a woman of few words, unwilling to say even a single extra word.

Guan Xiaoyu felt that her sister was practically a person from a planet where disobeying one’s father once meant death. Though she didn’t reply to the message, she eventually softened…

A very private banquet.

In the brightly lit castle hall, elegantly dressed young people with refined manners toasted each other. Everyone was chatting and laughing under the dazzling lights. Here, there was only dashing handsomeness and stunning beauty; only graceful demeanor and gentle refinement; only cheerful laughter and romance—

The Guan Xiaoyu sisters tried to be as low-key as possible.

Of course, Guan Xiaoyan didn’t care about this; it was Guan Xiaoyu who wanted to be low-key. Firstly, she didn’t want to steal Jiang Xiyun’s thunder;

secondly, she didn’t want people pointing fingers and gossiping about her engagement with Li Fangge.