Chapter 59

Chapter 59: The Shattered Her

Li Zhao Yang stiffly turned his head to look at Du Yu Xi, trying to rescue his brother’s childhood engagement that was hanging by a thread.

“It’s not what you think. He just… just that Auntie Xie likes Qian Xi more. No, that’s not it. It’s not that she likes Qian Xi…”

For the first time, Li Zhao Yang realized how clumsy he was with words. He clearly wanted to say something good for Xie Jing Yao, but the more he talked, the darker he made it sound.

Of course, what he did not know right now was that someone else was secretly dragging him down too.

[Mm, mm, mm, you can really see that Auntie Xie likes Li Qian Xi. The way she stands to the side looking at Li Qian Xi is almost stringy and gooey, that is totally the look of someone staring at her future daughter-in-law.]

Thinking of the information she had read in the investigation, where Madam Xie was described as being as close as a sister to Su Ying Rong, Du Yu Xi pressed her lips together and said nothing.

[Speaking of that, it is one thing if Madam Xie does not know. But how is it that Mr. Xie is still like this too… Sigh, it really is true that good words cannot persuade a doomed ghost. The heroine’s halo is too strong. All he can do is wear that green hat nice and tight.]

Du Yu Xi’s face suddenly went cold. She remembered what Zhang Ran Qi had said about him at the hospital before, and it really had not wronged him at all.

“No need to explain any of this to me. I am just a regular guest, I am not interested in the host family’s romantic scandals.”

After she said that, Du Yu Xi turned her head to look at Du An Rao and said gently: “You must be hungry, right? We rushed here and did not eat much. Let’s go downstairs and find a seat. I will go get you something to eat.”

Du An Rao really was a little hungry, and she did not want to keep watching Li Qian Xi act sweet and clever in front of the elders. She nodded at once.

When he saw Du Yu Xi’s attitude, Li Zhao Yang’s little heart could not help skipping a beat.

He thought about how he had not even had time to leave a good impression in front of these future “ancestors”. Right then he no longer dared to help Xie Jing Yao say another good word.

Better my friend die than I do. Bro, if you cannot handle it yourself, do not blame me for not helping you. I really did my best!

The two women were going downstairs. Li Zhao Yang could not stop them, so he could only personally send them down.

But this banquet was hosted by the Li family, and as a member of the host family, he was the center of attention wherever he walked.

That clearly did not match what the two wanted for tonight, so as soon as they reached the first floor, the two sisters immediately shooed him away without any suspense at all.

Li Zhao Yang: “…”

He was crying inside, feeling wronged!!!

This was the first time Du An Rao had attended a formal banquet, so Du Yu Xi watched her the whole time, afraid she would not be used to something.

After they went downstairs and found a corner where she could settle Du An Rao properly, Du Yu Xi turned to get her some little snacks to fill her stomach.

Left alone, Du An Rao felt very bored. She propped her chin up with one hand and started to lower her head and count the tiny flowers on the tablecloth. Halfway through counting, she suddenly remembered the scene she had just seen upstairs…

[One green hat, two green hats, three green hats…]

The three Du family members who had just slipped in through the Li family’s front gate, plus Xi Jing Yue who had arrived late because of work, all went: “Pfft…”

The people who had come in with Xi Jing Yue saw him suddenly laughing so strangely and looked at him like they had just seen a ghost.

“President Xi, what are you…”

“I saw someone I know. Sorry, I will leave you for a moment.”

Du An Rao still did not know that someone was about to enter the battlefield. After counting flowers for a while, she went back to having nothing to do. She was just thinking about whether to go look for her fourth sister when a quarrel suddenly sounded not far away.

“Didn’t I tell you not to come out? Walking around dressed like this, people who do not know any better will think our Gong family raised a shabby beggar who never has enough to eat or wear. It is so embarrassing.”

[Gong family? That Gong family that takes advantage of anyone even a little younger than them and insists people call them ‘Old Gong’?]

The Du family members were quietly edging closer to Du An Rao’s side: “…” Gong? What gong? What husband? We do not approve!

Xi Jing Yue, who was only a few steps away from Du An Rao: “…”

Was he really that old? Sometimes he really could not keep up with young people’s way of talking.

At first, hearing how harsh the man sounded, Du An Rao thought the person being scolded must be dressed very sloppily. But when the little cat craned her neck to peek out, she found that the girl being scolded was only dressed a bit simple.

A white shirt, a black jacket, plus a matching black short skirt. She only had very light makeup on. She did not look like she was attending a banquet, more like she had come from work.

But to call that a beggar…

Du An Rao lowered her head and looked at her own outfit, feeling like she had been insulted as well.

The girl being scolded did not get angry. She pushed up the heavy black-framed glasses on her nose and said calmly: “Mom told me to keep an eye on you.”

Gong Hao Ming did not buy it at all. “You are dragging Mom out to press me down? Mom told you to watch me, but did Mom tell you to dress like this for a banquet?”

“The banquet is not important. I just got off work. I did not have time to change.”

This line made Du An Rao feel deep respect.

[She really did come here in her work clothes, amazing! But these two have the same mom, so they are brother and sister? How can a brother be this annoying? In our house he would get beaten to death!]

The Du family members: “…”

It would not go that far, it would not go that far.

“Then go straight home. Just seeing you annoys me.”

The dislike and impatience in Gong Hao Ming’s tone was totally uncovered. The person he was cursing at right to her face did not care at all. She only repeated the same line in a flat, mechanical voice.

“Mom told me to keep an eye on you.”

The gang of bad friends around Gong Hao Ming started to hype him up too.

“Hahaha, Hao Ming, you are already this old and your mom still sends someone to keep an eye on you. Is she afraid you will cause trouble outside?”

“Exactly. People who do not know would think you have not even been weaned, hahaha…”

Their laughter made Gong Hao Ming’s anger shoot up even more, and his words grew harsher.

“If Mom told you to go die, why don’t you go die? I am already an adult. Do I need you to watch me in everything? What are you? Do you really think that just because you entered the company, you are recognized as one of the Gong family? Even if you climb higher and do better, you are just a dog of our family. What right does a dog have to control me?”

“Because I am your sister.”

“Gong Jin Yuan!”

When she heard that shout, Du An Rao froze. Her look at the two people not far away also changed.

[Gong Jin Yuan? So this is that Gong family that raises children like poison bugs. Then this foul-mouthed boy has to be that little piece of trash who only squeezed into the final round thanks to his sister’s protection, Li Qian Xi’s lapdog number three, Gong Hao Ming?]

The Du family, who had already moved close to Du An Rao and were hiding themselves carefully, all straightened with interest. This was… juicy gossip!

Speaking of the Gong family, they were a very strange flower even among the upper-class families of City J. Old Master Gong, who was also Gong Hao Ming’s grandfather, had married nine wives one after another and had forty-nine children. Of course, this shocking number included both legitimate and illegitimate children.

Du An Rao looked at the isolated yet self-contained Gong Jin Yuan in the distance with deep sympathy.

If you summed up this sister’s family in one line, it would be:

[A cowardly dad, a crazy mom, a spoiled brother, and a shattered her.]

The Du family members: “Pfft???”

Xi Jing Yue had heard some rumors about the Gong family before. Now, hearing this summary from Du An Rao, he subconsciously glanced at the quarreling siblings in the corner, his brows knitting tightly.