"The family sent me to pick you up. They specifically told me that our first meeting should be solemn, so I temporarily mobilized a helicopter fleet. There aren't many of them, so you'll just have to make do."
Guan Xuxu looked at the dense mass of personnel that almost blocked the entire entrance of the villa area and fell silent.
You call this... making do?
She saw Jiang Huai wave a hand at the people behind him. Suddenly, he gestured, "Address her."
"Miss!" The pilots behind him, all in uniform, spoke in unison. Their voices were as synchronized as military slogans. "Respectfully welcoming Miss back home!"
Guan Xuxu: "..."
What was with this sudden surge of cringing, chuuni shame? Perhaps because she had been treated coldly by the Guan family since she was a child, Guan Xuxu was not good at dealing with such enthusiastic scenes. She opened her mouth, only managing to squeeze out a single sentence to Jiang Huai. "Let's... let's just go."
Hurry up and leave.
Couldn't he see the villa security guards running over?
Jiang Huai looked at her reaction with a beaming smile. Suddenly, as if thinking of something, his beautiful peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly. He looked her up and down before asking, "By the way, why are you here alone?"
Appearing alone at the villa entrance at this hour she couldn't have just stepped out to buy soy sauce, could she?
Guan Xuxu pursed her lips. She didn't want to admit that the Guan family had kicked her out early. Just as she was thinking of a way to gloss over it, another voice suddenly rang out.
It was a cold male voice, sounding as clear and raspy as a cold spring. It was restrained and pleasant, yet tinged with a hint of impatience.
"Are we leaving yet?" Guan Xuxu followed the sound and realized there was someone else on the lead helicopter.
With just one glance, she was nearly blinded.
Inside the cabin, a man sat with his long legs slightly bent. From her angle, she could only see half of his body hidden in the shadows of the door.
His wrist rested casually on the handrail. His posture was elegant and steady, and even the creases on his suit seemed to possess a mysterious attraction.
But compared to all that, what truly blinded Guan Xuxu was the golden light radiating from the man's entire body.
Since she was a child, her eyes had been able to see things ordinary people couldn't. The colors representing a person's luck were varied, but she had only ever seen gold on people who had made great contributions to the nation.
But looking at this golden light, it was almost bright enough to sear one's eyes.
Did this man steal the National Fortune or something?
The moment Jiang Huai heard the man speak, he didn't care to ask any more questions. He hurriedly responded with a smile, "Going, we're going right now."
As he spoke, he pushed Guan Xuxu by the shoulder toward the helicopter, muttering in a low voice, "Tsk, the Great Demon King has no patience."
Then, Guan Xuxu was brought before this "Great Demon King." She was tucked into the seat next to him.
Seeing it from such a close distance, the golden light was even more intense.
Braving the power that threatened to blind her, Guan Xuxu finally glimpsed the man's true appearance.
Much like his cold and sharp voice, his features looked as though they had been carved with a chisel. They were well-defined, possessing a cold, hard beauty amidst his handsome looks. His thin lips held a chilly temperature, like snow descending from a frozen mountain, and his eyes were deep, drowning in an abyss of black.
As if sensing her intense gaze, the man turned his head slightly. With just one look, he seemed to capture all of her scrutiny and emotions in his eyes. Guan Xuxu was very curious about the golden light on him, but she was worried he would think she was a fool. After a thought, she asked him, "Are you also my brother?"
This one sentence caused Jiang Huai, who had just sat down opposite them, to burst into laughter. The man beside her only gave Jiang Huai a cold sideways glance before silently withdrawing his deep gaze.
"No."
He said nothing more.
Fortunately, Jiang Huai was also in the cabin.
"This is Chu Beihe. He's not your brother. You only have one brother, and that's me."
Guan Xuxu found the name strangely familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.
Still, among the Four Great Families of Haishi, two were the Chu family and the Jiang family.
Was it a coincidence? She heard Jiang Huai explain further, "I came to pick you up today, and he's just hitching a ride."
Guan Xuxu understood and was about to nod when the man, who had already looked away, suddenly shot a glance at Jiang Huai. His thin lips parted as he spoke coldly.
"You are using my helicopter fleet."
As the head of the Chu Corporation, he had no need to hitch a ride from anyone.
Jiang Huai was unfazed, simply spreading his hands. "It couldn't be helped. The company's car fleet was all sent out. Among the people I know, you're the only one who would have a dedicated helicopter fleet for your own travel."
Chu Beihe was a high-end perfectionist with such extreme OCD that he required his subordinates' socks to be the same color and style.
Not to mention the helicopters under his name even the floor mats inside the cabins had to be identical.
While the three of them spoke, the jet-black helicopters slowly started up. They escorted the luxury helicopter in the center, departing in a grand procession just as they had arrived.
Until the fleet rumbled away, the security guards who had been watching the scene looked at each other and began to gossip.
"The one picked up by the helicopters just now wasn't that the eldest daughter of the Guan family?"
"It's her. I heard the day before yesterday that she wasn't the Guan family's biological child. Look at that, she's already been kicked out. I heard her biological parents are from the mountains."
"The mountains? Look at that display of power! Does that look like someone from the mountains? Who knows, maybe her biological parents are some kind of big shots."
"Ha! If that's really the case, won't President Guan regret this to death?"
Although the security office had strict regulations, the guards gossiped quite a bit about the wealthy residents of the villa area in private. As they spoke, one of them quickly shut his mouth,
turned toward the vehicle gate, and bowed respectfully. As the saying goes, don't speak of people during the day the Guan family's car had arrived.
Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui sat in the back seat, not even glancing at the security guards bowing to them. As noble owners, they never spared a glance for security guards at the bottom of the social ladder.
"Although the final list for the City Image Representative has been decided, it hasn't been officially submitted yet. I've looked into it the person in charge of submitting the final list is an executive from the Jianghai Group."
Bai Shuqin spoke to Guan Ruirui with a smile on her face. "It just so happens that your father negotiated a partnership with Jianghai Group the day before yesterday. We can use that connection directly."
Guan Ruirui was pleasantly surprised. "Jianghai Group? The one backed by the Jiang family, one of the Four Great Families? Dad actually got a partnership with them? That's amazing!"
Bai Shuqin was also full of pride when mentioning this, yet she insisted on maintaining an air of feigned indifference.
"That's exactly the Jiang family. Plenty of people show up with money begging for a partnership and don't even get a response, yet they were the ones who proactively sought out your father. This shows our family's status in Haishi. In the future, there will only be more people coming to us for partnerships."
Listening to this, excitement was visible on Guan Ruirui's face. Being able to partner with the Jiang family didn't that mean their family would soon join the circle of Haishi's top-tier wealthy elite?
Then, the social circle of the fiancés she could choose from in the future would be different as well.
As expected, as soon as Guan Xuxu left, their Guan family started getting lucky!
"That's wonderful." Guan Ruirui spoke with a hint of feigned modesty. "But if we ask them for help directly, will they refuse?"
Bai Shuqin was full of confidence. "They proactively came to us for a partnership. Since we're partners, isn't it only natural to help with such a small favor?"
She grabbed Guan Ruirui's hand. "Don't worry, Mom will definitely help you get the spot for the City Image Representative back! This concerns the image of our Haishi. That ungrateful brat wants to steal what's yours? She should see if she's even worthy!"
Guan Ruirui was extremely smug in her heart, feeling as though the City Image Representative position was already in her pocket. On the surface, however, she maintained a well-behaved and non-competitive demeanor.
After a pause, she asked, "So, are we going to the Jianghai Group headquarters now?"
"We're not going to the headquarters," Bai Shuqin said. "We're going directly to the Jiang family residence."
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