Chapter 1927: Chapter 958: Second Update
Yuan Tong tilted her head and snorted, "I’m accompanying my sister to the Lantern Festival, why can’t I be here!"
Gu Chengfeng’s gaze fell on Yuan Baolin’s face, and he politely greeted her, "Sister-in-law!"
Yuan Baolin smiled, "Chengfeng."
"Come down and greet people!" Gu Changqing said in a deep voice.
"Oh." Gu Chengfeng obediently jumped down from the window, cupped his hands and bowed to Yuan Baolin, "Sister-in-law."
Yuan Tong raised her chin and smiled somewhat proudly, "Hmph!"
Gu Chengfeng glanced at her and sneered, "I wasn’t even talking to you."
Gu Changqing exuded the full presence of a big brother, "How are you speaking?"
Gu Chengfeng pursed his lips.
Yuan Baolin tried to ease the situation, "Chengfeng, are you here to enjoy the lanterns too? Want to join us?"
"Uh... I..." Gu Chengfeng’s eyes flickered.
He wasn’t there for the Lantern Festival, he was there on a mission.
After being away from the Capital City for many days, upstarts were rising. If he didn’t make a few more moves, his position as the number one thief in Jianghu would be at risk.
Yuan Baolin noticed his hesitation and said straightforwardly, "If you have something to do, you can go ahead."
Gu Changqing looked at him coldly.
As if to say, it’s your sister-in-law’s first invitation to you, dare you refuse and see what happens.
He could pretend to be a fake couple with Yuan Baolin, but it was based on respect. He wouldn’t let Yuan Baolin suffer a cold shoulder.
What’s more... he was already at fault for breaking their agreement, so he couldn’t let her be wronged further.
The brothers reached an unspoken understanding. Gu Chengfeng instantly smiled, "I’m fine, I was just thinking, with Sister-in-law and Brother coming out with great difficulty, would I be a bother being here?"
Yuan Baolin laughed, "No, Tong’er is here too."
"Sister, I don’t want to..."
Yuan Tong’s words were cut off midway by a sharp look from Yuan Baolin that was like a flying dagger.
"Fine." She reluctantly complied.
The group of people moved forward.
Today’s Lantern Festival was bustling, with lantern sellers, opera performers, and street artists showing off acrobatics.
On an open space in front of a rice shop, a shirtless man held a sword in one hand and a wine jug in the other. He took a swig of wine with abandon and suddenly spit it into the air.
The unsuspecting crowd thought he was spitting wine, not knowing it was actually a long tongue of flame.
The crowd gasped in amazement.
Yuan Tong was also clapping excitedly.
Gu Chengfeng shook his head, childish.
If that girl were here, she would’ve already seen through the trick.
The four continued to wander the lantern festival, and during this time, a small incident occurred; the performer accidentally sprayed the flames onto a passerby.
The passerby fled in a panic, knocking over their stage, and the stage fell towards the crowd, about to hit Yuan Baolin. Gu Changqing quickly stepped forward, embracing Yuan Baolin, and using lightfoot skill, whisked her away to safety.
"Sister!" Almost at the same time, Yuan Tong also tried to save her sister, but the second stage also collapsed, and unfortunately, she stumbled and fell.
Gu Chengfeng frowned, stepped forward, and kicked the stage back.
He stood like a hero before Yuan Tong, his back to her. Yuan Tong stared at his silhouette, her heart suddenly pounding.
Gu Changqing placed Yuan Baolin safely on the street’s edge, "Wait here for me a moment."
Afterward, he went to the accident site.
The brothers busily saved people and put out the fire. By the time the soldiers rushed in, the chaos had mostly subsided.
Yuan Tong, visibly shaken, was taken home first by Gu Changqing and Yuan Baolin, while Gu Chengfeng stayed at the scene to assist with the investigation.
In the carriage, Yuan Tong leaned pale-faced against her sister’s shoulder, clearly still frightened from earlier.
The sisters had these personalities: Yuan Tong seemed loud and noisy, but was actually quite timid, while Yuan Baolin appeared quiet and calm, possessing great inner strength.
Yuan Baolin hugged her sister’s shoulder and comforted her, "I’ll tell mother when we get back, and you can sleep with her for the next two nights."
"Then father will blame me again." If she slept with her mother, her father would have to sleep in the study room.
Yuan Baolin chuckled, "Aren’t you too scared to sleep?"
"Who said I’m cowardly?" Yuan Tong huffed without much confidence and thought of something, then she hesitantly said, "Sister... I have something I want to ask you."
"Go ahead," Yuan Baolin replied.
Yuan Tong’s eyes flickered, "Isn’t brother-in-law’s younger brother also about to get married? I see he’s not that young anymore. I wonder what kind of girl he’ll marry and if they’ll get along well. After all, you’ll have her as a sister-in-law in the future."
Yuan Baolin smiled, "You’re so concerned about me?"
Yuan Tong declared without backing down, "You’re my sister after all."
...
After returning from the Yuan Family, as soon as she entered the new room, Yuan Baolin talked to Gu Changqing about Gu Chengfeng’s situation: "...Has Chengfeng’s marriage been settled?"
Gu Chengfeng is not young anymore. If it weren’t for his elder brother not marrying yet, Gu Chengfeng and Gu Chenglin would have been urged to marry long ago.
Now that he’s married, Gu Chengfeng’s marriage should indeed be prioritized.
Gu Changqing said, "I’ll ask mother about it another day."
Yuan Baolin asked, "What I mean is... Does he have someone he loves?"
"Someone he loves?" Gu Changqing frowned slightly, "I’ll go ask."
At night, Gu Chengfeng had just returned from a task, feeling quite pleased.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw his elder brother sitting like a deity in his room, and he jumped in shock, "Big Brother! What are you doing here? It’s so late, why aren’t you with big sister-in-law? What are you doing in my room!"
"I have important matters to ask you," Gu Changqing said.
Could it be they’ve caught him going out as a thief again?
Impossible, he’s been so cautious.
Suppressing his confusion, Gu Chengfeng walked calmly towards his elder brother, "Big Brother, what matter is so urgent you must come ask me in the middle of the night?"
Gu Changqing said, "It’s not urgent, it’s just that your sister-in-law wants to know, so I came."
Caring so much about sister-in-law?
Do you even know, big brother?
Gu Chengfeng chuckled, "Big Brother, you came just because sister-in-law asked? Are you really married to her for real?"
Gu Changqing’s expression darkened.
Gu Chengfeng realized he let something slip and hurriedly covered his big mouth with his hand.
"How did you know?" Gu Changqing asked coldly.
Kicking the iron plate, Gu Chengfeng, steeling himself, said, "I... I just... unintentionally... saw your... agreement letter... in your study room..."
Gu Changqing looked at him suspiciously, "I hid it so well..."
Gu Chengfeng mumbled indistinctly, "But I’m not the infamous thief Frost after all, no matter how hidden you keep it, I can still fish it out..."
Feeling the death glare from his elder brother, he shivered and said solemnly, "That’s not the main point! The main point is I will keep my mouth shut for you, big brother!"
Since it’s already a done deal, Gu Changqing couldn’t erase this memory, so he could only threaten, "If you dare reveal even half a word, I’ll break your legs."
Gu Chengfeng pursed his lips.
"With your meddling, I almost forgot the real matter." Gu Changqing, annoyed, rubbed his forehead, "Your sister-in-law wants to know if you have someone you love."
Gu Chengfeng sat on the chair beside his elder brother, "Why? Sister-in-law wants to arrange a marriage for me?"
Gu Changqing said, "You could say that, if you don’t mind—"
"I do mind!" Gu Chengfeng interrupted his brother.
Gu Chengfeng looked inexplicably at him, "What do you mind?"
There was a rare seriousness in Gu Chengfeng’s eyes, "Big Brother, for other things, I can listen to you and grandfather, but for this matter, I want to listen to myself."
Gu Chengfeng paused, his gaze falling on his serious face, "You have a girl you like? Which family is she from? Tell me, and the Marquis Residence will go propose to them, regardless of their family’s status. As long as you like her, grandfather and I won’t object."
Gu Chengfeng lowered his gaze and said softly, "Big Brother, I do have someone I like, but this feeling can never be spoken aloud."
"You..." Gu Changqing didn’t understand the situation. His second brother has someone he loves? Even as his elder brother, he hadn’t noticed a thing.
The main reason is he never saw his second brother entangled with any girl.
Never heard of it either.
"Which family is she from? Does she not like you, or does she already have a fiancé?" Gu Changqing asked.
"Big Brother, please don’t ask anymore." Gu Chengfeng lifted his head and smiled nonchalantly, "Anyway, I don’t need to inherit the family business. As for my marriage... let’s forget about it. Grandfather wants to have great-grandchildren; there’s big brother, Chenglin, Gu Yan, and Xiaobao, so many people to carry on the family line, just leave me out."
Let him spend the rest of his life protecting the girl he loves in his heart.