Pretending To Be A Boss

Li Zheng, accompanied by a team of guards, took Li Xiaoyu to the place where Li Wanye was.

The Li family's estate was very large. Even though it accommodated many people related to Tang Xian, it still seemed spacious.

Only after walking through a long corridor with the style of a 16th-century Italian church could one catch a glimpse of a house hidden beyond the garden.

That was where Li Wanye usually worked.

When Li Zheng reached the yard outside the house, he stopped and, seeing Li Xiaoyu also sizing him up, wanted to say something.

With just a glance, Li Zheng felt a moment of bewilderment, unconsciously sensing that his sister seemed very distant from him.

"What is it, staring at me like that?" Li Xiaoyu said.

"Did you remember everything I warned you about?" Li Zheng said.

"I remembered, yeah. Don't worry about me. As for yourself, you should be more careful in the future."

"Me? I may have some acquaintance with Tang Xian, but our father can see through it all. He knows I can handle things clearly and keep a safe distance. It's you he's worried about, afraid that you still have feelings for that boy."

Li Xiaoyu shook her head and said:

"I'm talking about other aspects. You'll have to shoulder the heavy responsibilities. You also need to be more subtle in your thinking."

"An irrelevant answer. Alright, go inside," Li Zheng waved his hand.

Li Xiaoyu said no more, nodded, and walked into the house.

...

...

Li Wanye's study room had a piece of calligraphy hanging in it, a sight seldom seen these days.

It wasn't some Zen master's profound inscription, just a simple and familiar proverb.

"Family harmony brings prosperity to everything."

Beneath this calligraphy, he looked over the various messages that had come in those days.

Li Xiaoyu sat quietly opposite him.

"Not speaking? Being locked up these past few days, you must have a lot of pent-up grievances, right?" Li Wanye closed the document in his hands and looked at Li Xiaoyu with a smile.

When Li Xiaoyu saw Li Wanye stop his work, she said:

"I was waiting for you to finish your business."

"Do you know what I was busy with?"

"My marriage."

"Yes, the Song Family has offered the Li family an opportunity to unlock the eighth layer, but what they want in exchange is not my precious daughter, but rather to end that marriage contract. Indeed, it's troublesome."

Li Wanye continued:

"Song Que is a good child, just a bit naive. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. When he comes of age, he will understand how things are. It's just a pity."

"I don't like him."

"We're looking for someone else, after all. What about the Zhong Family's boy? That boy is a bit lazy, but other than that, he's not bad."

"Dad, I don't want to get married. If I must marry, then it can only be to Tang Xian."

Li Xiaoyu's tone was very calm, without any hint of agitation, as if she were simply reporting work to Li Wanye.

Li Wanye still remained smiling.

"Actually, life is life, and feelings are feelings. Look at those on the second floor who are matchmaking; once they are together, they often go further than those in love marriages."

Picking up a file casually, Li Wanye flipped through it and continued:

"There are many things in this world that are just like that, where liking alone isn't enough."

"But if you don't like it, it's certain you can't."

Li Xiaoyu's sudden statement seemed normal to Li Wanye.

"That's not wrong. At least for the first thirty years of one's life, it should be correct. I don't wish for you to live too maturely too early."

Li Wanye's words were heartfelt.

The older people get, the more they tend to favor what's suitable over what they like on the scales of choice.

His daughter was still young. Whether she liked Tang Xian, Song Que, or even silently rejected several marriage proposals from young men, Li Wanye was willing to let go.

But Tang Xian was no longer just Tang Xian, and some issues had become serious.

"He is a creature from the mine zone; he doesn't belong to this world. He has lurked in the Human World for so many years, and his purpose and intentions are unknown. If a lie could deceive you for a lifetime and fool everyone in the world, then that would be another matter."

Li Wanye looked straight at Li Xiaoyu and said:

"But he hasn't achieved that. Listen to your father and forget him early."

"A creature from the mine zone?" Li Xiaoyu asked calmly.

"Yes, the content on the Stele has been guiding us. Without these steles, without the technology inside the Pyramid, we would have starved to death long ago. Tang Xian and that little girl were deemed aliens by the Pyramid, which is evident to all."

Li Xiaoyu's reaction remained calm as she shook her head and stated:

"Tang Xian is just Tang Xian; he's not some demon child from Eden. Maybe most of the Stele's inscriptions are true, but at least the judgment about Tang Xian is false."

Li Wanye did not get angry.

The opinions of father and daughter were completely opposite, yet both were very amicable.

Expressing one's determination and confidence sometimes doesn't need to be hysterical; being calm and composed can be more resolute.

Li Wanye found that Li Xiaoyu was very much like himself.

"If it weren't for that little girl who became a fox, I might believe you. Have you ever thought about the disaster a calamity-level creature could bring within the Pyramid fortress?" Li Wanye said.

"I have. Tang Xian did something wrong there. But this doesn't mean he is an enemy of humanity. Since creatures from the mine zone can become human, then they must have human traits. Perhaps what Tang Xian is doing is a bit too ahead of its time, but isn't he making the creatures from the mine zone feel a sense of affinity towards the Human World? Towards humans?"

Li Xiaoyu was unwavering and ignored everything Li Zheng had told her.