Chapter 137: Elegant and Refined - Bonus Chapter Dedicated to Mu Qinyao

It was thirty million. I picked it up, took a look at it, and then placed it back in front of him.

He smiled. "What, Miss Yi is not satisfied?"

I shook my head, letting my chaotic thoughts settle before I spoke. "Grandfather, I don't know why you want to stop me from being with Luo Ange. Yes, I am a girl from a humble background. Yes, our families are not socially matched. But can love ever be measured by such things?"

He smiled. "You certainly have a sharp tongue. A twenty-year-old girl talking to an old man like me about love. Let me ask you this: the Luo family's internal relations are deeply intertwined. That brat is at loggerheads with Shu Aiqing, leaving him in a very passive position within the Luo family. What do you have to help him?"

I paused for a moment and said, "I don't think he will be all that passive. He is fully capable of handling those matters. It's just that since Miss Shu has already married into the Luo family, we are all family now; there's no need to completely burn bridges. Luo Ange and I share the same view—we don't look for trouble, but we aren't afraid of it either. Anyway, no matter what he does, I will stand behind him and support him. That's all I know how to do. I won't let him face mountains of daggers and seas of fire all alone. If he eats meat, I'll eat meat with him; if he's so poor he has to drink the northwest wind—"

He looked at me. "And what then? You'll drink the northwest wind too?"

I took a deep breath and shook my head. "I have sound hands and feet. If that day ever truly comes, I can earn money to support him. But I believe that day will never come. The man I, Yi Lanshan, have fallen for would never bear to let me suffer. Besides, has Grandfather ever considered this?"

I glanced at his check and said indifferently, "If I were only after money, I could easily ask Luo Ange for it. Given our current relationship, let alone thirty million, even if I asked him for his entire net worth, he would willingly and eagerly hand it over to me."

He probably hadn't expected me to be so sharp-tongued, and let out a cold snort. "Young lady, on what grounds do you say that?"

I stood up. "On the grounds that I am willing to stand here and be humiliated by you a second time for his sake."

He was actually startled. After a few seconds, he asked me, "Have you ever thought about the stakes involved here? Why do we want him to enter a marriage alliance with the Yuan family? It is the only way to keep Shu Aiqing in check—you have no idea how formidable that woman is. But if you stay with that brat, not only can you not help him, you will become a weakness others can use to leverage against him. What we need is someone who can assist him, not his Achilles' heel."

Even though massive waves were churning in my heart, and even though I had already understood the stakes when Shu Aiqing first sought me out, hearing it once again from Commander Guan's lips still shocked me.

Seeing my hesitation, he smiled. "Young lady, my opinion of you has changed somewhat. But I still advise you, leave him."

I shook my head once more. "No. Unless he doesn't want me, I will never leave him even if it kills me."

He sighed. "Why must you be so stubbornly unrepentant?"

"Grandfather, why must you calculate his love and marriage like a business deal? Why do you assume I will become his vulnerability? Are our true love and lifelong companionship truly worthless?"

By the time I uttered the last sentence, my voice was laced with tears. Daring not look at the old man before me any longer, I turned around and walked out.

Suddenly, I stopped blaming him. As a grandfather, he was merely worried about his own grandson.

The moment I was enveloped in an embrace, I finally couldn't hold back my tears anymore. I was truly terrified; there were simply too many things I was afraid of.

Inside Starbucks, Guan Erchen leaned against Chimu like a spoiled beauty, while he affectionately twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and played with it. The way they flaunted their affection made it seem as though the entire world outside did not exist for them.

Although I still didn't fully understand the entanglements of love and hatred between these two, knowing that she had chosen to walk away alone to Lijiang for his sake, and knowing that she had quietly waited for him for two years, still left me deeply moved.

Especially now, seeing them reconciled as before, I felt even more strongly that if one truly loved someone, what did waiting even matter?

Just like Luo Ange and me—meeting each other in this vast sea of humanity was already an immense blessing from the heavens. Even if we were to drift apart, having truly loved each other once was still far better than never having known each other at all.

I walked in. Guan Erchen was still lazily leaning against Chimu, looking even more charming and pretty as she raised her eyes to look at me. "Where's the brat?"

"At the hospital."

She smiled. "It's a miracle he was willing to let you out."

However, upon catching sight of A Mu and A Yun trailing behind me, she let out an "ao" sound and shot me a look of profound sympathy.

I nodded and shifted the topic, asking where we were going for dinner.

Almost simultaneously, both of us thought of Lichun.

As we stepped out of Starbucks, Guan Erchen glanced at the two men standing a mere meter away from us and lowered her voice to ask me, "Are they just going to follow you around like this all the time?"

Seeing me nod, she looked thoughtful. "It's the first time the brat has ever been this anxious over someone. Seeing you by his side, we can all finally rest easy. My second brother, ever since he heard about what happened with you two, has been clamoring to meet you."

I offered no reply. Having constantly run into members of the Guan family over the past couple of days, I wanted a breather.

Perhaps my hesitation caught Chimu's attention; he stepped forward and asked in a low voice, "Are you scared?"

Guan Erchen raised an eyebrow. "What is there to be scared of? Let me tell you, in our family, the only one who obeys the old stubborn mule unconditionally is Guan Erfeng. Guan Ersong, the brat's mother Guan Erya, and myself have always stood firmly against the old stubborn mule. But the old stubborn mule happens to be henpecked, obeying the Empress Dowager almost without question. Aside from the old stubborn mule, the rest of us are on your side."

Hearing her call Commander Guan "the old stubborn mule" and Madam Guan "the Empress Dowager," I couldn't help laughing.

She embellished her stories with plenty of details about how they constantly opposed Commander Guan, and finally took it upon herself to call Guan Ersong, arranging to meet him at Lichun tonight.

The first floor was the cosmetics section, and the counter where Guan Erchen had paused sold a brand called Erya.

In fact, back when Luo Ange's mother was still alive, this brand was already quite famous. After her passing, the brand faded into obscurity. It was only recently, after Luo Ange acquired a certain vintage European skincare brand, that Erya re-entered the public eye.

I had once looked it up online; it wasn't a top-tier global brand, and could even be considered niche. Yet, many A-list celebrities and makeup artists strongly recommended it, and a currently trending girl group even endorsed it for free.

As Guan Erchen tested the newest shade of lipstick, she asked me, "Did you know? Growing up, my favorite thing to do was linger in my sister's studio, waiting for her to smear all sorts of strange skincare products on my face. I still remember she once told me that when I got married, not only would she personally design my jewelry, but she would also provide my cosmetics for the rest of my life."

The rims of her eyes turned slightly red. Chimu raised a hand to pat her shoulder, and she grasped his hand in return, offering a faint smile.

"I was rebellious from a young age—not only going against the old stubborn mule and the Empress Dowager, but fighting the entire world. Yet, I listened to her above everyone else. If she told me to study hard, I studied hard; if she told me to go abroad, I went abroad... Because I wanted to become someone as exceptional as she was, with my own jewelry and cosmetics brands, and marry a man who cherished me just as deeply as the one who cherished her. But... I didn't even get to see her one last time. I was abroad back then, and they kept it from me completely. By the time I rushed back, all I had left to see was her gravestone..."

She buried her face in Chimu's chest, sobbing so hard she couldn't get the words out.

So there was such a story behind it all. Even Guan Erchen couldn't get past this hurdle; one could only imagine what Luo Ange and Xiaoxi must have been like at the time.

Guan Erchen cried so hard her makeup was ruined. Chimu patted her back tenderly, his tone full of doting indulgence: "Didn't we agree never to bring it up again? Why are you bringing it up again?"

She choked back a sob, "I just feel so sorry for my sister. If it weren't for Luo Mingze and Shu Aiqing..."

"Alright, alright, Lanshan is still here. Stop talking."

The large screen in the shopping mall was playing an advertisement for Ningxiang Jewelry, endorsed by Yuan Shengxiao. Dressed in a well-fitted qipao and adorned with a set of emerald jewelry, she walked forward with infinite grace, exuding the exotic charm of a socialite from 1930s Shanghai.

In the next shot, she transformed into a delicate water town maiden holding an oil-paper umbrella, strolling through a rainy alley as if going to a secret tryst with her lover.

To be honest, she was truly beautiful—combining both Eastern and Western aesthetics, she carried it off effortlessly.

Guan Erchen glanced at it with a hint of disdain in her voice, "Such cheap goods have the nerve to be put on display. Compared to what my sister designed back then, they're miles behind."

I smiled and took her hand. "Let's go look at cosmetics. Whatever you like, I'll buy it for you."

She rolled her eyes at me playfully. "This mall belongs to the brat. Forget about me wanting cosmetics; even if I wanted the entire mall, he'd give it to me. I'm just feeling indignant on your behalf, and on my sister's."

I smiled knowingly. "She and Luo Ange only decided to get engaged after we broke up. If anyone was in the wrong, I was the one who intruded."

She gave me a light poke on the forehead. "Yi Lanshan, is your brain cell balance running low? How dare you say something like that?"

She picked up a tube of lipstick and pointed to the logo on the bottom for me to see—it was a tiny camellia flower.

Back when Luo Ange had given it to me, I hadn't looked at it closely. Now, looking at it properly, his mother must have loved camellias too.

No wonder the greenhouse in his villa was filled entirely with snow towers.

"Lanshan, do you know? The first time I saw you, I was reminded of my sister for no reason at all. The brat said your favorite flower is the snow tower, and my sister's was too. I suppose this must be the arrangement of fate."

I smiled with a sense of release, hoping against hope that this truly was an arrangement orchestrated by the heavens.

Shopping with Guan Erchen was genuinely delightful. She spared no effort in telling me all sorts of things about Luo Ange's family. Even though we had only known each other for a few short days, we acted like best friends—so much so that even Chimu grew jealous.

When we arrived at Lichun, Guan Ersong and his wife had already arrived. He was the director of customs, and when Luo Ange brought me to meet his family that day, he had been present as well.

As soon as we walked in, Guan Ersong had me sit right beside him, sizing me up intently as if I were some antique he had just spent a fortune acquiring at an auction. I was genuinely afraid he might hang me on the wall the next second.

"Ah, the moment my sister-in-law told me about what happened that day, I took a liking to you. A girl who dares to stand up to that old stubborn mule must be an exceptionally, wonderfully good person."