He Ran was openly distracted, but at this moment there were still people who were blind enough to think they could comfort Young Master He. There was a new family that had recently made a fortune in the hotel industry in Jiangcheng and have had conflicts with the Gou family as a result. She approached, champagne glass in hand, and touched the flute to He Ran’s glass without warning.

Hearing the soft ‘ding’ sound, Young Master He withdrew his gaze from Gou An expressionlessly and cast his gaze on the person standing in front of him——

He Ran knew about the daughter of the Xu family because Gou An used to keep whispering about her in his ear, ‘That gossipy woman from the Xu family is copying me again, buying the same shoes and bags. Is she crazy?’ He didn’t even remember her name, but he knew that this person and Gou An were born to be incompatible.

She was one of those waiting to see Gou An make a fool of herself tonight.

Xu Ke was shaking the champagne in the glass, smiling, her head tilted as she looked at He Ran. 

“She’s so proud, but I don’t know what she’s so proud of. She’s wearing a dress that’s not even haute couture, shoes that only cost a few thousands of yuan, and what’s that tacky thing around her neck? Oh my god, isn’t that green centerpiece stone obviously fake? Just a necklace she bought at a small shop for twenty yuan.”

Jiang Zaiye tsk’d and leaned in to Zhou Yan’s ear, saying, “I really dislike people who talk nonsense.”

The sound was neither too loud nor too low, just enough for Xu Ke to hear. Her face turned bad and she was about to explode. She turned her head and met the upturned corners of the Jiang family’s young master’s lips.

Those on this ship that must be tolerated at all costs, besides the ones with the surname He, the only other ones were those with the surname Jiang.

She could only pretend to be deaf and turned away in anger. At this moment, she saw He Ran’s indifferent expression as he looked back at her. “That’s VE co-branded high-end jewelry. It’s a model that hasn’t been made public. It’s normal that you haven’t seen it.”

“…” Xu Ke opened her mouth, “How do you know—”

“My family gave it to her.” He Ran frowned, simply because he only found out about this later and felt unhappy about being completely excluded. “What do you think?”

Xu Ke closed her mouth in embarrassment.

The other second-generation rich kids who originally wanted to laugh at Gou An and were listening to this gossip also looked at each other in confusion.

He Ran tugged at the collar of his shirt in annoyance and glanced at the people around him. His cold eyes made those who were not interested in watching the fun shut up and turned away regretfully, muttering things like “VE Haute Couture.” 

“Why the hell did they give it to her?” 

“I said her outfit didn’t look that cheap, it’s all your fault for talking nonsense”…

The young master of the He family was speechless: What has Gou An been doing all this time? Why did she make a lot of enemies for herself for no reason?

At this moment, there was a new commotion on the side of the ship.

It was Gou Xun who appeared with his female companion for tonight.

“Hello.”

Jiang Zaiye, perhaps afraid there was not enough chaos in the world, nudged He Ran with his elbow.

“Here comes your bowl.”

… … translated by Maela @ whitemoonlighttranslations.com

There were people standing in groups of three or four on the boat. Some of them had not yet rushed back to their rooms to change into formal attire for the dinner party, so it was not surprising to see some of them wearing casual clothes.

Lu Wan was one of them.

The girl wore a big sun hat, a white dress, and canvas shoes. When she raised her head slightly, her unadorned face was revealed.

Her palm-sized face was unusually white, half hidden in the shadow of her hat brim. When she turned to talk to Gou Xun, she seemed to be amused by something the boy said. When she smiled, sweetness flowed from her eyebrows…

Only then could you see that her facial features were incredibly delicate, the standard face of everyone’s dream first love.

Lu Wan’s arrival attracted a lot of people’s attention. Those who had originally cast their astonished eyes on Gou An now looked at this girl with the same eyes, a girl that no one knew but could attract everyone’s attention just by smiling.

He Ran glanced at Lu Wan and found that the smiling face that once moved his heart could not stir up any waves anymore…

Without hesitation, he looked back at Gou An, who had been ‘ignored’ by everyone.

She didn’t look over. To be precise, Miss Gou didn’t care who He Ran was looking at at the moment.

Gou An turned slightly sideways and looked at the bodyguard standing behind her like a door panel.

Even though the system cat was yelling in her ear at this moment, ‘Damn, He Ran’s favorability level has changed, do you want to take a look?’, her gaze still stayed on Ye Lang.

From the moment Lu Wan appeared, while everyone was amazed and were asking each other “Who is that?”, she turned directly to Ye Lang, who only took a glance at Lu Wan, then calmly looked away—

But one glance was enough to make Gou An feel upset.

She lifted her foot and nudged the bodyguard’s stiff calf with the tip of her sweet, bow-tied, high heels. “Hey.”

Ye Lang lowered his head and looked at her, meaning, What (insert some demon name here) do you want to do now?

Miss Gou narrowed her eyes slightly, revealing a devilish smile, and pointed in the direction of Lu Wan behind her. “The sun is a bit strong, go ask Lu Wan if she could lend me her sun hat.”

There wasn’t even a flicker of emotion on Ye Lang’s face.

Looking at Miss Gou in front of him, who was smiling at him sweetly and with completely bad intentions, he just thought calmly, Oh, it’s starting again.

She really couldn’t stay quiet for even three seconds.

… …

At this time, the two persons who were standing at the edge of upper deck, leaning on the railings of the ship and looking down at the deck below probably held the same thoughts as Ye Lang.

Behind them were the heads of the famous families in Jiangcheng, important people who had already changed into formal attire to discuss business or chat. However, the head of the He family, who was the owner of the cruise ship and was being watched by countless pairs of eyes eager to make friends, was taking a break from his busy schedule.

With a gentle face but exuding an aura that kept strangers away, He Jinxing lowered his head, keenly watching the fun of the younger generation below—

The whiskey in his glass swirled slightly, and when Miss Gou insisted that the bodyguard ask someone for their sun hat without any reason, the man chuckled with an ambiguous meaning.

Secretary Liu’s forehead was almost sweating. He could be excused for being nervous. It was because Young Master He had been hinting to him every day that Mr. He had a crush on his classmate—a girl named Lu Wan.

It was this girl with the innocent and pretty face who might soon be in trouble.

Although Secretary Liu felt that the idea that ‘the boss fell in love with Miss Lu’ seemed a bit outrageous from his own personal experience, he was also completely unsure of He Jinxing’s thoughts in this matter.

So he wiped the sweat off his face, feeling very troubled. After hesitating for a moment, he took the initiative to speak, “Mr. He, do you want to go down and stop it?”

“Hmm?” He Jinxing slowly withdrew his gaze from the lower deck and looked at Secretary Liu with some confusion. “Why?”

Secretary Liu: “…”

Why indeed?

Secretary Liu was at a loss when he heard the man who paid his salary slowly ask, “Say Miss Lu gives her sun hat to An’an. Will this ship sink like the Titanic?”

Secretary Liu: “…”

Secretary Liu: “No.”

After three seconds of dead silence.

Secretary Liu: “Okay, I’ll go downstairs to check on the progress of the dinner preparations.”

The diligent secretary turned around and said goodbye without hesitation before the smiling gaze of his boss.

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

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T/N: I have another ‘dump the nephew for the uncle’ story: Pearls and Jade Beside Me in the ’80s. It’s very different in tone from Gou An’s story but very well-written.

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Chapter 38.1 — Uncle Perky Butt
Chapter 38.2 — Uncle Perky Butt
Chapter 38.3 — Uncle Perky Butt
Chapter 39.1 — What Kind of Lousy Defense?
Chapter 39.2 — What Kind of Lousy Defense?
Chapter 39.3 — What Kind of Lousy Defense?
Chapter 40.1 — People in Jiangcheng are Just so Idle
Chapter 40.2 — People in Jiangcheng are Just so Idle
Chapter 40.3 — People in Jiangcheng are Just so Idle