Volume 2: Strolling with the Wind, Chapter 30: A Love Challenge

While Qin Nianran was sharing her thoughts with her grandfather, a family meeting was also taking place in Chu Fangshan’s villa.
“Tianyu, how do you think? The person Grandpa chose for you is quite good, right? As soon as you entered, you kept staring at that girl. Hehe, that Qin family girl is no ordinary person. Grandpa told you everything in detail about her when she first arrived. And it was you, silly boy, who noticed her first—otherwise, Grandpa and your mom wouldn’t have even realized it! What does this mean? It means you two are fated to be together! What are you planning to do…” Chu Fangshan was so enthusiastic, speaking nonstop, almost as if he were arranging a blind date for himself. Truly, he was like an old child—no doubt about it.
But his words were interrupted by Chu Tianyu, who said, “Grandpa, it’s getting late. I should go back to my room to sleep. Mom and Dad, you continue talking…” Without waiting for Chu Fangshan’s reply, he got up and prepared to leave the room.
Seeing Chu Tianyu about to leave, Chu Fangshan quickly asked, “Silly boy, you want to run off before finishing your talk? We’re discussing your future—for your own good. Hey, even if you’re leaving, at least tell us if you’ll go to the Bund with that girl from the Qin family tomorrow!”
By the time Chu Fangshan finished speaking, Chu Tianyu had already turned around and disappeared down the hallway. Yet, a clear and firm reply came from afar: “I will. Why not?”
Hearing his grandson’s answer, Chu Fangshan’s face lit up like a flower, and even Chu Minglei and his wife sitting nearby couldn’t help but laugh.
Chu Minglei chuckled, “This silly boy has really grown up into a man. Though he usually seems dull, he’s quite sharp when it comes to this. I wonder if our silly son will finally become sensible after marrying a wife! What was that saying again? Oh, right—A good woman can truly change a man’s life. Hehe, I wondered why Dad was rushing to arrange this for him. I thought there might have been some changes in Binjiang New City that would distract Fortune Industrial!”

Yixue, who was by his side, heard her husband’s words, especially the references to “men” and “this matter,” and couldn’t help but gently tap him, then took over the conversation with a smile: “Why speak like that about our son? It’s rare that he doesn’t object. How many kids these days would listen to their family’s arrangements? By then, there’ll be an elder son and a younger son—enough for you to deal with. After all, our Tianyu is still small and hasn’t gone through such things. No wonder he feels embarrassed talking with us.”

Seeing that it was his wife ‘rebuking’ him, Chu Minglei quickly changed the subject and said, “Well, but that girl from the Qin family is really nice. If Dad hadn’t made plans a few years ago, this arranged marriage for Tianyu might have fallen through long ago! But Dad, Minglei still doesn’t understand. Even if the marriage between Tianyu and that girl from the Qin family goes through, with her abilities, wouldn’t she just turn Tianyu upside down? Could Tianyu be happy then? Besides, we even considered accepting some kind of dowry in the future—really hard to understand. Not to mention Tianyu can’t compare to them. Even if it could, in today’s society, such a marriage wouldn’t hold much binding power. Their wealth remains theirs; they won’t just give it to us just because of the marriage, right?”

Upon hearing his son’s doubts, Chu Fangshan didn’t answer directly but sighed thoughtfully and said, “Sigh, life is unpredictable. A few years ago, I did intend to take over Fudu. But now, haha, looking at Tianyu’s achievements, that’s no longer important. The key is to find a good daughter-in-law who’s worthy of Tianyu. So our purpose in coming here is simply to discuss this marriage. Haha, I guess that old man Qin Muyun must be scratching his head, trying to figure out our intentions, huh…”

Speaking of Tianyu’s achievements, Chu Fangshan couldn’t help but think of the smooth progress of the Chu family in recent years, as well as those words in the family genealogy and the mention of “Qianfeng.” His grandson even considered it a burden and was reluctant to take it on for now. Compared to that, the trivial Fudu Industrial Company wasn’t a big deal at all. Moreover, according to Tianyu’s masters, extraordinary people must bear extraordinary responsibilities. It was better to plan ahead and prepare for Tianyu. If that girl from the Qin family supported them, with her skills and strength, although it couldn’t be guaranteed that the two would be perfect for each other and thrive together, it could at least reduce many worries for Tianyu, allowing it to focus on what it needed to do.

Chi Fangshan’s thoughts were of course well understood by his daughter-in-law Yi Xue. Only Chu Minglei remained puzzled, wondering why there were still such achievements in Tianyu. It seemed as if only that talented girl from the Qin family was worthy of it. He really didn’t understand where his father got the idea—just because Tianyu got into a second-rate university through his own efforts did that mean he had great potential? Tianyu was his son, and he was happy to see him progress from being a fool to where he is now, but that only proved Tianyu had reached an ordinary standard. Even with his status as the Chu family’s young master, his father insisted on finding such a daughter-in-law, which seemed rather mismatched…

…

Back in his room, Chu Tianyu didn’t leave early out of shyness but mainly because he already had his own plans regarding this matter and didn’t want to discuss it further with his grandparents. In fact, his curiosity about Qin Nianran outweighed any admiration. Although in the eyes of others, the eighteen-year-old Nianran was not only stunningly beautiful but also had a captivating presence, it was the confusion hidden beneath her deep gaze that attracted him. He could clearly sense that confusion—seemingly having seen through everything yet not knowing where to go—and her unpretentious demeanor, even the hint of aloofness, all seemed naturally harmonious as if it were innate.

Chu Tianyu didn’t know much about girls, but he wasn’t a fool when it came to matters of love between men and women. Especially after seeing Zhou Jie and his girlfriend Le Er’s intimate relationship, he had also felt envy and longing. But to hide his true abilities, he stayed low-key and pretended to be foolish, achieving “ordinariness” at the cost of losing popularity among women.

So, although the arranged meeting arranged by his grandfather was old-fashioned, Chu Tianyu had no objections—especially since the person he was meeting was someone who had left a deep impression on him since childhood. However, his attitude was limited to curiosity and a willingness to give it a try. At this point, he still didn’t have any real concept or imagination about love or marriage.

Regarding tomorrow’s date, Chu Tianyu had already made up his mind. There was no need to force anything; it was fine to keep things as they were. He would appear as an “ordinary” person with a prominent family background but average to low intelligence, going with the flow. No matter what happened, it would just be an experiment for him.

But thinking that she, a genius, would have to endure him, a fool, he wondered what she would feel. He remained calm and indifferent, but what about her?

Thinking of this, Chu Tianyu couldn’t help but smile slightly. A plan formed in his mind: “If she’s just a wealthy young lady with some talent and superpowers but lacks the corresponding character and integrity, while I remain ordinary, I’ll ask my grandfather to cancel the engagement after tomorrow—surely they’ll be glad to do so. But if she’s the kind of girl I can develop feelings for, I definitely won’t give up. Besides, she’s about to go to college. Hehe, as the books and the internet say, college life is wonderful—time for romance and love, and four years fly by in the blink of an eye. Hehe, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll also decide to approach her as my current ‘ordinary’ self, showing only my true qualities rather than those special ‘abilities’. As for whether she’ll truly fall for a ‘cute fool’ like me, that will be a test for her—and even for me. My master once said that ‘letting things take their natural course’ doesn’t mean doing nothing; it means acting in accordance with one’s heart and going with the flow. Well, I said I wanted to experience everything, right? I’ll treat this as a challenge—a challenge to make a ‘genius’ fall in love with a ‘fool’…”