The leader of the cultivation alliance has a crush on me.

As Song Ke was leaving, a man bumped into her, and she almost tripped and fell.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, are you alright?"

Song Ke winced and cried out in pain. Hearing the sound, she looked up and saw a tall, thin man. He wasn't just thin; he was unhealthily thin, with a blue-black tattoo on his neck.

Song Ke felt his gaze on her and felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

He frowned and shook his head: "It's nothing."

After saying that, she left. Standing in the elevator, she saw the tall, thin man enter Qin Huan's hospital room the moment the elevator doors closed.

Qin Huan's friend?

Song Ke was a little puzzled, as this person was not mentioned in the original plot.

Moreover, Qin Huan and that tall, thin man clearly weren't from the same circle.

That tall, thin man looked as if his body had been hollowed out from years of staying up late, smoking, and drinking.

Song Ke watched the elevator go up and went to check on Gu Qing's mother.

"You're Qingqing's friend? Please sit down."

Song Ke smiled and said, "Auntie, I heard you were hospitalized here. We happen to have a colleague here, so we came to visit you on our way."

"I'm Gu Qing's junior from the same university."

Mrs. Gu smiled and said, "Is that so?"

You look pretty good today.

Mrs. Gu touched her face: "She's much better lately. Qingqing is usually busy, and we don't chat much. She rarely tells me about her friends' work."

"Yes, Sister Gu Qing is quite impressive. She participated in a competition recently and even won an award."

Mrs. Gu's face showed the marks of time, but her complexion was rosy, and her smile was kind; she seemed like a gentle and easy-going person.

"She did tell me about this. She's been hardworking and sensible since she was little, and she's never caused me much worry."

Then she suddenly felt guilty: "To be honest, I'm the one who dragged her down. She had the opportunity to study abroad, but my hospitalization cost a lot of money, and I also had to stay here with her, which prevented her from doing what she wanted to do."

As Song Ke listened, her heart softened. The original plot had described the female lead as an independent and strong person, and Song Ke quite liked her.

"Auntie, please don't think like that. If Sister Gu Qing finds out, she'll be under so much pressure."

"Moreover, compared to other things, she would definitely prefer to stay with you and help you get better, after all, you are her most beloved mother."

Hearing Song Keke say this, Gu's mother couldn't help but smile: "You're quite good at comforting people."

"I'm so happy for Qingqing that she has a friend like you."

Song Ke smiled and said, "Sister Gu Qing is a very good person."

When Song Ke left, she had just gotten into her car downstairs when she saw the tall, thin man coming out of the main gate. He walked to the roadside, lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then, for some reason, suddenly kicked the tree next to him a few times in a fit of rage.

Song Ke looked puzzled but didn't pay much attention.

On Friday, the day of lunch, Song Ke sat at her desk playing on her phone after get off work and waited.

Sure enough, a short while later, Chu Tiancheng came out of his office, glanced over here, and Song Ke slowly got up and followed him.

Once inside the elevator, Song Ke jokingly remarked, "You were pretty punctual leaving get off work today."

Chu Tiancheng chuckled and glanced at her: "You want me to work overtime so you can eat this meal by yourself?"

"No, that's not true. It would be too awkward."

After saying that, she thought of the Chu family and asked, "You don't mean the whole Chu family is coming, do you?"

"Your cousin is a bit annoying."

Chu Tiancheng's cousin is named Zhou Chu. He is his aunt's son. His aunt returned to the Chu family after her divorce. Chu Tiancheng's other uncles and aunts all had daughters, so he is the only male heir in the Chu family.

"What did he do to you?"

"Oh, I ran into him once before. He was really creepy and told me to just break up with him, saying he would definitely treat me like royalty."

"Look at what he looks like, he's not even 1.8 meters tall, and he still dares to pursue me."

Chu Tiancheng's face darkened, and his tone turned cold: "When did this happen?"

When Song Ke heard him ask this, she remembered what happened at a banquet last time. She had complained to him about it, but he had been quite indifferent to her.

"It's been a while, I can't remember exactly," Song Ke said deliberately.

"Hey, you said your family members are all reliable and intelligent, so how come your aunt is such a love-struck person?"

“Zhou Chu is similar to his father. He probably feels that he can’t win the battle for the family property against you, so he also wants to become a ‘phoenix man’ (a man from a poor background who achieves success).

"Don't you feel disgusted seeing him all the time?"

Song Ke was telling the truth. Back then, when they heard that Aunt Chu Tiancheng was going to marry Zhou Chu's father, the Chu family strongly opposed it. If Aunt Chu Tiancheng hadn't threatened to run away from home, it wouldn't have happened at all.

As a result, less than two years into their marriage, they became the laughing stock of the entire wealthy family circle. Zhou Chu's father was using the Chu family's money to play around with other women. At first, he tried to hide it, but later he was caught red-handed, and then it came to light. He simply started playing around openly. I heard that this incident caused quite a stir in Aiyun City back then.

Of course, Song Ke said this based on the original storyline, when she was just born.

In the original plot, Zhou Chu's father continued to blackmail Chu Tiancheng's aunt with her private photos, and gradually made a lot of money. Later, for some unknown reason, he heard that she died from drunk driving, and that's when he was finally free.

Chu Tiancheng sighed: "Zhou Churen is not very good. We don't usually live together, so even if he's disgusting, he won't disgust me."

Speaking of this, Chu Tiancheng's expression was not good either. He still remembered when he was a few years old, his uncle tricked him into going out and almost kidnapped him. If he hadn't died later, he might have always had a grudge against Zhou Chu.

"Don't pay any attention to him later. You know, my grandfather has some patriarchal ideas. He was really angered by my aunt back then. I think if Zhou Chu hadn't been a boy, he probably would have kicked them out of the house for the sake of his reputation."

After getting out of the elevator and into the car, when they arrived at the hotel, there weren't many people there yet. The two of them simply sat there and played games. Song Yan was also there, along with a few of Chu Tiancheng's cousins. Some were married and some were not. They greeted each other but weren't very familiar with each other, and the original plot didn't describe them in any particular way.

By the time everyone had arrived, it was completely dark. There were more than twenty people at the large table. As soon as they sat down, Old Master Chu put on his airs as an elder.

"Old Song, we all know the purpose of this meal today. You see, Tiancheng and Keke are quite compatible, and they grew up together. Our two families also know each other very well. Today, I'm bringing this up. Don't you think it's time to have a proper engagement ceremony? Otherwise, there will always be some gossip, which would be unfair to Keke."

Grandpa Song smiled, becoming much more easygoing: "Old Chu, our two families have been friends for many years. I would naturally be at ease if Keke married into your Chu family. However, you see, times are different now. It's not like back then when parents could just make the decision. Now, it's all about free love. Our family unanimously respects Keke's opinion on this matter."

"Of course, we also respect Tiancheng's opinion." Old Master Song continued, "As you said, our two families have been friends for many years, so we certainly hope that it's a mutually agreeable and harmonious relationship, so as to avoid any trouble in the future that could damage our relationship. Don't you think so?"

Grandpa Chu nodded: "That makes sense."

Without beating around the bush, he looked directly at the two main characters of the day with a stern expression: "So what you mean is?"