My Clingy Fiancée Is Forcing Me to Marry Her Again - Chapter 29.2

“Oh my god, it really is the legendary her! What a shame. If she hadn’t failed her differentiation, the Tidal Empress of centuries ago would have looked like this—”

“Fate is cruel. The world can never produce a second Tide…”

Li Fangge paid no attention to the gossip. She turned sideways and woodenly said to the chief traffic police officer, “Thank you for your hard work.”

Without waiting for the officer’s reply, she turned and walked away. Compared to the sudden appearance of Zheng Lier, nothing else qualified as a problem.

The traffic police captain’s face turned as red as a ripe tomato because Li Fangge had spoken directly to him. He stared blankly after her, murmuring something inaudible.

Everyone presents automatically made way for her, as if bidding farewell to a queen. Li Fangge walked out of the aisle, and just as she looked up, a taxi smoothly pulled up in front of her, like a pre-arranged chauffeur. Mechanically, she opened the car door, leaving a peerless, graceful silhouette for the people who were still watching.

“May I ask, where are you going?” The taxi driver was incredibly polite, as if he were a well-trained royal chauffeur.

Li Fangge softly gave her cousin’s address and then lowered her head, her eyes once again meeting the name on the business card in her hand. A sudden premonition shot through her: she and Zheng Lier would meet again very soon.

Guan Xiaoyu and her entourage arrived at Lujing Royal Hospital close to noon. After spending the entire day with Guan Xiaorong, Tang Qiwu sent a car to the hospital to pick her up in the evening.

“Hmph! Who is more important—your grandmother or me?” Guan Xiaorong closed her eyes unhappily.

In the eyes of the public, she was the unattainable ‘rich flower of the world’ (symbol of wealth and luxury), the object of everyone’s envy. Everyone knew she had the backing of a national-treasure-level artist mother and immensely powerful capital. Since her debut, her career could only be described as soaring.

Only Guan Xiaoyu knew that her cousin, while a ‘rich flower,’ was also a drama queen and a trouble magnet.

Take this injury, for example. The film crew generally advised actors not to meet with fans during filming. Yet, Guan Xiaorong insisted on sneaking out to attend a fan event to uphold her ‘doting-on-fans’ persona. Due to inadequate security, an over-excited fan grabbed her, causing her to fall from the stage and sustain a cerebral hemorrhage. Although not extremely serious, she needed to be hospitalized for observation. The incident, as expected, trended on the hot search; the film crew’s progress was also severely impacted by her willfulness.

“Cousin, if you really have to compare, then…” Guan Xiaoyu would not lie. “My grandmother is more important, after all, she—”

“Get out!” Guan Xiaorong pointed to the door. Wearing a head bandage, she looked pathetic and disheveled. “My mom is afraid of causing a commotion and won’t come. My dad and Sister Yan… Hmph! They came and left so quickly they might as well not have come at all. I was hoping I could count on you—Ayu, doesn’t your conscience hurt? Last month you said I was your best sister and friend, and now you’re telling me your grandmother is more important than me!”

“Cousin Rong, you shouldn’t talk so much—” Guan Xiaoyu felt a little guilty after being lectured. She looked at Guan Xiaorong’s manager, Yang Yilan. “Sister Yilan, I’ll leave Cousin Rong in your capable hands.” Her voice was soft and sweet; no one could bear to refuse her, except for Guan Xiaorong.

“So you’re still leaving!” she suddenly opened her eyes.

“I have important matters to see my grandmother about.”

“Ha! Is it more important than my injury?”

“Cousin Rong, if you absolutely have to compare—”

“I know, I know,” Guan Xiaorong couldn’t accept the fact and immediately interrupted her. “Go!”

“I’ll come back tonight.”

After Guan Xiaoyu spoke, she smiled apologetically at Yang Yilan, who was standing nearby. Yang Yilan knew what she was going to say and preempted her, “I’m here, don’t worry.”

She escorted Guan Xiaoyu out of the VIP room, where two women in their forties were waiting for her.

By the time Guan Xiaoyu was taken to Tang Qiwu’s residence, the sky was already dark. Tang Qiwu was the widow of an Air Force general and had once been a senior general herself. After her husband’s accident, she retired. Now approaching seventy, she was still very fit and full of energy, projecting an aura of aloof authority.

Since it was dinner time, Guan Xiaoyu was taken directly to the dining room. Seeing Tang Qiwu, she happily skipped over, hugging the old woman like a monkey. “Grandma, I missed you so much!” she whispered close to Tang Qiwu’s ear, her voice as melodious as a gentle warbler.

“Would you miss me if your Cousin Rong hadn’t injured her brain?” Tang Qiwu unceremoniously pushed Guan Xiaoyu away. “Go wash your hands quickly. And, a serious warning: don’t lean this close to me again.”

“No, I won’t, I want to lean this close. Let me hug you a little longer, Grandma.” No matter how much her grandmother complained, Guan Xiaoyu didn’t let go, affectionately rubbing her cheek against the back of her grandmother’s head.

“Let go of me, the food is going to get cold.”

“There’s clearly a heat pad on the table.”

After another long hug, Guan Xiaoyu finally stood up. She washed her hands and returned, walking to the chair pulled out for her by the maid. Feeling too far from her grandmother, she shifted her chair closer before sitting down.

“I’m not used to people getting this close to me.”

“Grandma had better get used to it. I like being this close to Grandma.” Guan Xiaoyu said with a cheeky smile, completely ignoring Tang Qiwu’s eye roll.

“Eat.”

“Grandma, I—”

“No talking while eating!”

Guan Xiaoyu knew her grandmother had many rules, especially at the dinner table. She instantly became very obedient. Besides, she hadn’t eaten much all day, and seeing a table full of her favorite dishes, she was hungry.

After silently finishing dinner, Guan Xiaoyu accompanied Tang Qiwu for a post-meal, health-conscious hundred-step walk in the garden. Although Lujing was in the north, its inland location made August nights much muggier than in the coastal city of Ludu.

“You clingy vine? Why do you always have to hold my arm? Don’t you think I’m hot?” Tang Qiwu said, making a move to shake off her granddaughter.

Guan Xiaoyu quickly clung tighter, resting her head gently on her grandmother’s shoulder. “Yes, please call me the clingy vine Xiaoyu.”

“Smart mouth!” Tang Qiwu made a few more perfunctory attempts to shake her off, then gave up the struggle against the persistent little thing.

“Grandma, don’t you get lonely living in such a big house by yourself?”

“If I say I’m lonely, will you come and live with me?”

“My life’s work hasn’t even started yet. Even if I wanted to, you wouldn’t allow it, right?”

“I would allow it.”

“…Grandma, can’t you just let me have my way for once!”

“No. On the battlefield, everyone fends for themselves.”

“Grandma, you could totally live with my little uncle.”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t like my mother, and you don’t like my little uncle. Do you like anyone, Grandma?”

“Your grandfather.”

“But he—” He had passed away a long time ago. Guan Xiaoyu quickly stopped herself.

“He’s still alive, in my heart.”

“I’m not used to such a sentimental grandmother.”

“Alright, now let’s talk about your life’s work. What a disappointment—”

“Grandma, I’ve made a major breakthrough! Now, Sister Li is not so resistant to our engagement anymore.”

“Is your goal just to get her to marry you?”

“And, we’ve already slept together—”

“What was the result?”

“…No result.”

“Before, it was just Chen Beizhe, and now Zheng Lier has appeared out of nowhere. Your marriage is getting more exciting.”

“Grandma, didn’t you say you really like Sister Li? Why?”

“Intuition. If you like her, try harder.”

“Then tell me, how did you manage to open up Grandpa’s heart back then?”

“I told you, use your brain.”

“…” A wave of melancholy suddenly washed over Guan Xiaoyu.

She released her right hand from Tang Qiwu’s arm, looked up at the pitch-black night sky, and Li Fangge’s distinct features surfaced in her mind. Just thinking about her made her dark, bright eyes palpitate.

“Tell me,” Tang Qiwu stopped walking and looked back at her granddaughter with a loving expression. “On the day you met Li Fangge again, what was her specific reaction when she smelled your pheromones?”