Chapter 120: Chapter 120: The One Who Was Supposed to Marry Her Was...

Picking someone up?

Du Yushan was taken aback. He looked at his two sons, momentarily unsure which one Jiang Qingli had come to pick up.

The girl walked steadily toward the two brothers.

Yuan Shimo, who was standing on the outside, lowered his gaze and instinctively pulled his leg back to make way for her.

But a second later, the pair of canvas shoes in his line of sight stopped right in front of him.

Yuan Shimo’s breath hitched. He raised his eyes in surprise, looking at the girl standing before him.

"Are you hiding from me?" Jiang Qingli bent down to look at him. "You don’t want me to pick you up?"

She blinked, her long, curly lashes fluttering. Her bright almond eyes, wide with curiosity, made her look like a soft, white-furred kitten, utterly unaware of how adorable she was.

His heart seemed to beat a little faster. Yuan Shimo opened his mouth. "No..."

"Of course not!" Du Yushan’s voice suddenly cut in, interrupting Yuan Shimo.

He was afraid his tactless son would say something to anger her, so he forced a polite smile at Jiang Qingli and added, "Shimo was just talking about you to me. This kid isn’t very expressive, but he’s always thinking of you!"

He made it sound as if Yuan Shimo, despite his silent exterior, was deeply in love.

Jiang Qingli looked at Yuan Shimo’s expressionless face and found it hard to believe Du Yushan’s flamboyant claims.

"This son of mine just has this kind of personality, so please bear with him." Du Yushan put an arm around Yuan Shimo’s shoulders, secretly giving him a hard squeeze, then turned to tell a servant to prepare tea and snacks.

Jiang Qingli hadn’t planned on staying long and quickly tried to refuse, but Du Yushan insisted, ushering her into the living room.

A servant brought over tea and snacks, and Du Yushan washed his hands to prepare the tea.

Jiang Qingli sat in the main seat, feeling a little bored. She turned her head to look at Yuan Shimo, who was seated beside her.

The young man keenly felt her gaze. He pressed his lips together slightly and asked in a low voice, "Did you come alone, female master?"

"Of course not. I drove Qin Muye’s sports car here." Jiang Qingli leaned in closer, her eyes curving into a smile as she whispered, "Neither he nor Yi Nuo could catch me. Pretty cool, right?"

"Very cool." Yuan Shimo’s eyelashes trembled slightly. His gaze swept lightly over the smile on her face, and the corners of his lips curved upward.

Diagonally across from them, Yuan Shiyao’s thin lips were pressed into a tight line. The fingers of the hand at his side were clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

’From the moment she walked in, all of Jiang Qingli’s attention has been on my brother.’

He knew it was only natural, yet he couldn’t stop the irritation from rising within him.

-

Jiang Qingli finally understood why the two brothers from the Yuan Family weren’t very talkative.

’Their father is just too much of a chatterbox, isn’t he?’

Ever since she sat down, Du Yushan had been talking nonstop, mostly about things Jiang Qingli had little interest in.

However, she also realized that Du Yushan wasn’t talking so much because he cared about her; his main goal was to use her to get information about Jiang Youchen’s movements and cozy up to the Jiang Family.

When Du Yushan mentioned Jiang Youchen for the seventh time, Jiang Qingli announced that it was time for her to leave.

Du Yushan responded at once, "In that case, Shimo, you should go back with Miss Jiang."

After seeing them to the living room door, he added a final instruction to Yuan Shimo in a voice only they could hear: "Serve Miss Jiang well."

The young man’s back stiffened, but before he could react, Jiang Qingli grabbed his wrist and started pulling him away.

After they had taken a few steps, Yuan Shimo suddenly spoke. "Female master."

"What is it?" Jiang Qingli turned back, letting go of his wrist.

With his other hand, Yuan Shimo gripped the wrist she had just touched, his fingertips rubbing it gently. He said in a low voice, "I left a few books in the study. Female master... you can go on ahead. I’ll be right there."

He was being polite and considerate, as if afraid of causing her any trouble.

"I’ll go with you," said Jiang Qingli. "I came here to pick you up, after all."

As the two of them walked toward the study, Yuan Shimo glanced at the girl beside him several times, looking as if he wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words.

Jiang Qingli couldn’t take his staring anymore. "Don’t look at me like that. The reason I came to get you today is because I saw your pollution value fluctuating all over the place. I thought you might be in heat again, so I came to check on you."

At the time, she had been getting ready to race under Qin Muye’s guidance when she received the notification.

She had opened it to see Yuan Shimo’s pollution value suddenly jump from 30% to 60%, then drop to 40%. After several more twists and turns, it was fluctuating more wildly than the stock market.

As a responsible female master, Jiang Qingli had resolutely come to the Yuan Family, despite Qin Muye’s constant muttering that "his pollution value is just a little high, it’s not like he’ll die."

After she finished explaining, Yuan Shimo just hummed in acknowledgment.

Jiang Qingli felt that his mood seemed to have soured a little.

’Is he unhappy at home?’

Jiang Qingli thought for a moment. "If you’re in a bad mood, I can give you a Spiritual Healing session tonight. Then I’ll go right back to my own room, I promise I won’t disturb you..."

The young man beside her faltered in his steps.

Jiang Qingli looked up, her gaze meeting his jade-green eyes.

His gaze felt tangible as it swept over her skin, inch by inch. It was gloomy and silent, holding an unreadable complexity.

With his back to the sun, his shadow enveloped the girl’s figure.

Maybe it was just the heat, but Jiang Qingli had the strange illusion that she was being caressed.

It was as if his shadow were embracing her, caressing her, pressing itself invasively against every inch of her skin, stealing a secret, deep kiss.

She blinked, feeling a little strange. A moment later, Yuan Shimo stopped walking. "We’re here."

Without realizing it, they had already reached the base of the building.

Yuan Shimo went upstairs to get his books.

As he left, that stifling, enveloping sensation disappeared.

The wait was a bit boring, so Jiang Qingli turned her head to observe the surrounding scenery.

If she had turned around at that moment, she would have gotten a fright.

As Yuan Shimo rounded the corner, his shadow lingered, casting a few reluctant glances in her direction before following its master, a beat too late.

There weren’t many books left in the study, just a few favorites. ’I hadn’t planned on staying at the Jiang Family’s home for too long, so I didn’t take them with me before.’

But now, Yuan Shimo thought, he was Jiang Qingli’s Beast Husband. He should stay at the Jiang Family’s home more often, stay by her side.

Only then would he be fulfilling his duty.

After retrieving his books, Yuan Shimo walked side by side with Jiang Qingli on the cobblestone path of the Yuan estate.

Half the day had already passed, but only now did he realize how unbelievably beautiful the weather was.

A gentle breeze swept by, carrying petals down from the flowering trees. Sunlight filtered through the branches, dazzling the eye.

Beneath their feet, the light stretched their shadows long, one trailing behind the other.

Yuan Shimo slowed his pace.

This time, his shadow overlapped with Jiang Qingli’s, as if they were locked in an intimate embrace.

-

「The Yuan Family Living Room」

Hearing the servant report that Jiang Qingli and Yuan Shimo had left together in the same car, Du Yushan breathed a sigh of relief.

’It seems Jiang Qingli is quite satisfied with Yuan Shimo.’

’In that case, I’ll have something to report to Jiang Youchen...’

Du Yushan dismissed the servant and sat down in the main seat, leisurely taking a sip of tea.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yuan Shiyao still standing stiffly. Du Yushan frowned and said, suppressing his impatience, "Stop worrying about your brother. It looks like Jiang Qingli treats him pretty well."

"Your brother’s Superpower might be weak, but he’s handsome and has learned so many skills. He’ll surely become more favored than the others soon."

"Your uncle and I both have good fertility genes. Maybe by the time Jiang Youchen gets back, Jiang Qingli will already be pregnant with your brother’s child. Then, you’ll be an uncle..."

"Father!"

Yuan Shiyao, as if unable to bear it any longer, raised his voice and cut him off.

The young man’s expression was darker and colder than ever before. He clenched his jaw, struggling to keep his composure. "What did you mean by what you just said?"

Du Yushan didn’t immediately understand. "What do you mean, what did I mean?"

"You said that if it weren’t for you, the person marrying Jiang Qingli would have been..." The young man stared intently at Du Yushan, not missing a single flicker of expression on his face. "Who was it? Don’t tell me Jiang Qingli and Yuan Shimo weren’t matched by the system? Was someone else supposed to marry her?"

"W-What are you talking about?! I was arguing with your brother, I was just saying things in the heat of the moment!"

Du Yushan slammed his teacup on the table, furious. "You’ve only been Secretary-General for a short while, and now you’re back here putting on airs with your own father?! Get your ass to training! And you’re not to go anywhere until your mother gets back!"

With that, he flicked his sleeves and stormed away.

But Yuan Shiyao knew perfectly well that this was just his father’s clumsy attempt to cover up his guilt.

A terrible suspicion surfaced in his mind, and his head began to buzz.

After a long while, Yuan Shiyao pinched the bridge of his nose and made a call. When it connected, he said, "Help me look something up."

"Look what up?"

"My genetic Match Value with Jiang Qingli."