As the precious treasure of her mom and dad, Gou An had no habit of hiding her private money, so when she got home she confessed that Young Uncle He, their next-door neighbor, had given her a necklace that was very valuable but that in theory were made of various scraps.

Because she was afraid that her righteous parents would ask her to return the necklace, she emphasized three times: the little whale with the crown was really so cute, she liked it very, very much.

Jiang Yuan held the necklace and gently praised He Jinxing’s aesthetic taste. She also reminded her daughter, “Let’s not even talk about how hard it is to find imperial green jade of this quality. Just this conch pearl alone is so round and smooth. I’m afraid it would cost at least six figures to find it. It’s not just scraps, is it?”

In contrast, Gou Yu was less calm. No matter how dumb he was, he should have realized by now that He Jinxing’s recent behavior was a bit strange…

Right now, Gou Yu was very much afraid that sooner or later the head of Hejin would ask to take over the vacant position in the He family’s marriage contract with the Gou family.

………………… Alright, stop this joke now! Who wants to listen to He Jinxing calling them ‘Dad’!

Gou Yu’s scalp tingled.

He immediately dragged Gou An to the house to find out what was going on under the pretext of ‘expressing gratitude’. Gou An was dragged there unwillingly, but they did not expect that it was Old Master He who came forward to resolve everything in the end.

“I asked for this to be given to An’an.”

Grandpa He said, “He Ran’s matter has wronged our An’an so much. Isn’t it right for Grandpa to give her a necklace as an apology to her?”

Gou An raised her eyelids and quickly glanced at He Jinxing who was sitting next to Old Master He, pouring tea for him. The man’s face remained calm and composed, and he did not seem to feel guilty at all.

This reason was indeed quite convincing.

Gou Yu’s aggressive approach instantly turned awkward. He and He Jinxing exchanged blank stares. He Jinxing gave him a tolerant smile, “What’s wrong? What are you imagining?”

Gou Yu: “…”

At this moment, the calmness on Mr. He’s face successfully made Gou Yu even more speechless. He seriously considered whether he was being overly sensitive and was unjustly judging others by his own mean standards.

In any case, everyone was here, so they just discussed something else that evening—

He Yuan—the young master of the He family, son of He Jinxing’s elder brother, that was to say, He Ran’s second uncle—was coming back from the United States and would attend the coming-of-age ceremony next week. As a kid who was sent abroad in elementary school, he has basically no friends in China. 

Of course, the He family didn’t have a girl of the right age to accompany this little brother for the opening dance.

Gou An has hardly heard anyone mention this person before. The He family seemed to always focus on He Ran when cultivating the younger generation.

This kid named He Yuan was of mixed race; his mother was Spanish. He was not very tall, about 1.74 meters, with slightly curly hair. His features were not very clear in the photo…

Still, he shouldn’t look too bad.

She heard that he has been studying very well abroad and was proficient in equestrianism and racing. He participated in many competitions and won awards.

He Yuan was on the same level as He Ran in terms of seniority. When he was pushed in front of Gou An at this time, it seemed unnecessary to even say what Old Master He was thinking.

… How did that phrase go?

If a woman was doing well, her boyfriend was about to take the college entrance examination¹.

“Are they going to perform the opening dance as they meet for the first time?” Gou Yu was still a little hesitant about this junior he has never met before.

“It’s just the opening dance.” He Jinxing put down the teapot and looked at Gou Yu with a half-smile. “What are you using your imagination for?”

“Gou Xun has also reached adulthood this year,” Gou Yu gently reminded. “The opening dance is usually accompanied by a jiejie at home—”

He Jinxing chuckled at the right time.

Gou Yu looked annoyed to death.

After a moment of sulking, he added dryly, “Although An’an probably wouldn’t want to do this dance with her crappy brother…. Well, since she really likes this necklace, we’ll lend her to your He family temporarily.”

It was too late for Gou An to kick her father’s leg to make him shut up. He Jinxing had already heard everything he said.

The man turned his head and looked at her directly for the first time since Gou An entered the room. He smiled and asked, “Do you like it?”

Gou An nodded reluctantly.

He Jinxing sounded relieved, “That’s good.”

As if he had actually worried before that she wouldn’t like it.

Apart from this, no other emotions could be heard from him.

Now it was Gou An’s turn to almost suspect that the necklace was really just an apology gift—if it was, then why did this person go around in circles this afternoon and refuse to just say so directly?

It was simply baffling.

“Then it’s settled. An’an will do us the honor of accompanying my good-for-nothing grandson in the opening dance,” said Old Master He cheerfully. “An’an, is that alright?”

Gou An reflexively turned her head to look at He Jinxing.

The man’s face showed no emotion at all. He had already withdrawn his gaze from her and just sat there, flipping through his phone…

His aura seemed as steady as a rock, as if he had known about He Yuan’s affairs for a long time.

After looking for a few seconds, Gou An suddenly came to her senses. She didn’t know why she was looking at him. She withdrew her gaze in what she thought was a very casual manner.

But there was a cat that insisted on coming out and annoying people.

[Jiaojiao: They’re introducing you to someone. What did you think He Jinxing would do?]

Gou An: …

Gou An: It’s none of your business. Which well-behaved little cat would have so many matters to think about?

[Jiao Jiao: ……]

In the end, Gou An heard herself answer calmly.

“Sure, Grandpa.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

Jiangcheng’s coming-of-age ceremony was scheduled for mid-October.

According to the planning committee, even a coastal city like Jiangcheng should have welcomed the slightly cool autumn weather by this time—but maybe because the date was not chosen well or what, but the high temperature weather suddenly came back and took center stage.

The sudden high temperature of over 30 degrees for several consecutive days has made people complain bitterly.

It was sunny when the day for the coming-of-age ceremony arrived, with the cries of seagulls flying over the sparkling sea. As the ferry whistled, Gou An wrapped her sun-protective clothing slightly tighter around herself, smoothed down her long hair that had been messed up by the sea breeze, and followed her parents obediently, waiting to board the ship.

Gou Xun’s whereabouts were unknown, but as usual practice, the invitation letters had been sent directly to the schools by the relevant association and then forwarded to these young ladies and gentlemen by the school. It could be presumed that Gou Xun’s invitation was not forgotten—

Even though his relationship with his family had been so bad recently that he was almost kicked out of the house.

Generally speaking, among the Gou family, the only one who seemed to be in a good mood right now was a certain stupid cat who was already dead and, therefore, heartless.

[Jiaojiao: Meow! I see the sea again!]

The cat was now extremely happy.

[Jiaojiao: Look! Jiaojiao is the little kitty who got to see the ocean for the second time! So when will the owner take Jiaojiao on a plane? ☆W☆!]

Ignoring the stupid, little cat who was probably now invulnerable after becoming a system, Gou An raised her head, squinted her eyes slightly and looked at the behemoth in front of her. She swallowed silently, still feeling scared.

Then the stupid cat immediately discovered something was wrong.

[Jiaojiao: Oh, you’re not nervous, are you?]

[Jiaojiao: Oh my god, if you just hold back and don’t give He Jinxing any drugs, I promise that no disaster will befall you on the ship this time!]

[Jiaoaiao: Don’t be afraid!]

Gou An: …

Gou An: Can I sew your cat mouth shut?

[Jiao Jiao: No! Meow!]

From the Day the Engagement was Broken translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

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FOOTNOTE:

1. This means a successful woman will marry a younger man. ↩︎