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The look of calm, grace, and love vanished instantly. What replaced his expression then was something that wasn’t wrath, but a look that showed a silent storm brewing from afar. Luo Ziling could sense an unimaginable pressure pressing on him. He need not ask. He knew the old man was angry.

The old man was indeed angry.

This man had endured the toughest of conditions in the business world in China. Yet, he was angered by a statement delivered awkwardly by Luo Ziling.

The young lady was none other than his most beloved granddaughter. Her looks alone could dominate the entire country, the most beautiful in all of Yenching. Her brilliance in trade and business was unparalleled as she was slowly taking over the helms of the giant trade company that the Ouyang family owned. And yet, Luo Ziling declined the engagement.

His words felt like an invisible slap to his face. His message made Ouyang Lingyun feel like his face, his honor, was thrown to the ground.

He held back the storm in his heart. Coldly, he asked, “There must be a reason for you to call off the engagement.”

Luo Ziling’s face was dyed in vermillion red. Embarrassed, he lowered his head.

“My grandfather said, we are from a small, unknown, secluded village. It is unworthy of the great Ouyang family. And also… there are some that do not agree with this union.”

This last statement changed the weather that was Ouyang Lingyun’s heart. The storm of wrath was instantly removed.

“Additionally, I believe in this modern age, men and women alike have their own rights to find their own partners. I hope that the wife I will have, would be the woman with whom I will fall in love, the one person that I am willing to be with forever. Similarly, I hope that Miss Ouyang would find her own destined one and not be forced to be wedded to a stranger whom she has not met in so many years. I believe that Miss Ouyang too would not be willing to go through with this engagement.”

Everything was let out in one single breath. Now that it was out of his chest, he felt lighter.

Come to think of it, making a decision wasn’t that hard after all.

Ouyang Lingyun remained quiet but the immense pressure and the silent storm almost all faded.

Luo Ziling pressed on quickly.

“I hope that I can find my own happiness. And I wish that Miss Ouyang could do the same; to find a man she prefers. Grandfather said our two families will always be friends. I think you and I are like old friends despite meeting each other for the first time. You and my grandfather have known each other for so long and I hope that I would be permitted to come here… to drink tea with you from time to time.” He paused for a while as he remembered about a letter his grandfather gave. He withdrew it from his pocket and handed it over to the old man.

“This letter from my grandfather should have mentioned something.”

Ouyang Lingyun took the letter and opened it in front of Luo Ziling to read. After he was done, he returned to his graceful, calm self. He picked up his cup, finished the tea, and asked Luo Ziling, “Have you found someone special already?”

Luo Ziling instantly remembered the beautiful woman he had treated for several days. He shook his head in the end, saying, “No!”

“You must have already known that the Ouyang family has fortune. Feifei is my beloved granddaughter. She is beautiful and there are many that wish to ask for her hand in marriage. I have also allowed her to meddle with the family business. One might even say that she could be inheriting the entire business,” said Ouyang Lingyun. At that moment, there was a sense of pride floating to the surface.

“I believe that girls like Feifei are hard to come by. Do you still wish to call off the engagement?”

The Ouyang family was famous and influential in all of China. They could be said to be one of the oldest families there.

They had been conducting trades and businesses since the early Qing dynasty. After more than ten generations, they had established a powerful, devastating even, trade empire in China. They owned many Chinese-based brands and were involved in many sectors in the economy, in and out of the country even.

To describe them as the wealthiest in the country, with assets that could rival even the national reserves, wouldn’t be too far fetched.

The Ouyang family knew their ins and outs of the business world. Having the sharpest of judgments was but only natural.

The man responsible for the new world, the coming of the modern age, was the seventy-year-old sitting in front of Luo Ziling despite looking no older than fifty.

He had reached his prominence at an early age in the field of trade and had obtained his father’s blessings to get involved in the family’s business. In the end, he took over and pushed it further to its peak glory.

The granddaughter of Ouyang Lingyun, the same young lady that Luo Ziling was engaged to, Ouyang Feifei, was naturally talented. She was described as a prodigy in the world of trade and that was why she had been given the responsibility to take care of the family’s business from an early age. Anyone that could have her hand in marriage would be inheriting a gold mine, figuratively speaking. They would be part of a grand scale business and could live in luxury for the rest of their lives.

Luo Ziling was not expecting something so blatantly straightforward. Flaunting such materialistic possessions was meant to seduce him, yet it only made him uneasy.

He had spoken and there was no way to go back on his words. He bit down his pride and said, “Grandfather Ouyang, I understand what you said. Truly. But what you have is something I have no connection to. Miss Ouyang is beautiful. Her talent is unprecedented. This is her own doing. Truly a blessing to the Ouyang family. For someone as magnificent as her, all the more reason why she should find her own happiness and not be forced to accept a fate that two elder gentlemen had decided for her and have her future robbed from her without choice.”

When asking, and while listening to Luo Ziling’s answer, Ouyang Lingyun paid close attention to his face. He could see the conflict he had inside of him, and could understand what he was saying.

The anger he had was all gone. He knew where the problem lied and could not help but sigh quietly.

He understood why Luo Liansheng had made the decision to have Luo Ziling call off the engagement. Some out there did not agree to the union. And Ouyang Lingyun knew exactly who they were.

Those were the people that not even the Ouyang family dared to offend, could not afford to wrong. If they were against it, the marriage between Luo Ziling and Ouyang Feifei would never happen.

“Have you thought through this?” Ouyang Lingyun asked.

“Yes. I have,” Luo Ziling said whilst nodding his head hard with determination.

“In all honesty, there is no reason for you to rush to a decision now. Perhaps the two of you could spend some time together. After that, you can decide again, whether or not you want to call off the engagement.” Ouyang Lingyun smiled happily again. “You might even come to like her. And if you do, you might change your mind again.”

Just then, a breezing whirl of a car engine could be heard coming from outside the mansion. One also heard the voice of a woman.

Luo Ziling was portraying his calm, composed self. As he picked up his cup of tea, he heard the voice of the woman again. This time, the hand that was holding the handle of the cup shakes.

Could that be the woman he had always wanted to meet? The same woman he thought he should not meet? The one that he was too shy to meet? Had she returned home?