"My family asked me to come pick you up and specifically instructed me to be formal on our first meeting, so I borrowed a helicopter fleet for the occasion. Not many, so make do with it."
Guan Xuxu silently stared at the large fleet that almost blocked the entire villa entrance, speechless.
You call this... making do?
Then she saw Jiang Huai wave his hand to the people behind him and suddenly signal, "Call them."
"Miss!" The uniformed pilots behind him spoke in unison, their voices synchronized like a military command. "Welcome home, Miss!"
Guan Xuxu: ...
What is this inexplicable secondhand embarrassment?
Perhaps because she had been neglected by her family for so long, Guan Xuxu wasn't good at handling such enthusiastic scenes. She opened her mouth and barely managed to say to Jiang Huai, "Let's go. Let's go."
Hurry up and leave.
Didn't you see the villa security running over?
Jiang Huai smiled and watched her reaction, then suddenly seemed to think of something. His beautiful peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly as he scanned her from head to toe before asking,
"By the way, why are you here alone?"
At this time, there couldn't be any other reason for her to be standing alone at the villa entrance, could there?
Guan Xuxu pursed her lips, not wanting to tell him that she had been kicked out by the Guan family. She was thinking of making up an excuse when she suddenly heard another voice.
It was a cold, almost hoarse male voice, subdued, pleasant, yet somewhat impatient,
"Aren't you leaving yet?"
Guan Xuxu followed the voice and saw that there was someone else in the helicopter.
Just one glance, and she was almost blinded.
Inside the helicopter, the man had his long legs slightly bent. From her angle, she could only see half of his body, hidden in the shadow of the door.
His wrist was casually resting on the handrail of the aircraft, his posture elegant yet composed. Even the creases on his suit seemed to carry an inexplicable charm.
But what really almost blinded Guan Xuxu was the golden light that seemed to emanate from the man.
Since she was young, Guan Xuxu had been able to see things that ordinary people couldn't—many different colors represented different people's fortunes, and golden was a color she'd only seen on those who had contributed greatly to the nation.
But the golden light before her was almost blinding.
Did this man steal the country's fortune?
As soon as Jiang Huai heard the man speak, he didn't ask further, quickly smiling and replying,
"Okay, we're leaving now."
He pushed Guan Xuxu's shoulder and walked her towards the man. He deliberately lowered his voice and murmured, "Tsk, the Big Demon King really has no patience."
Then Guan Xuxu was led right to the "Big Demon King" and shoved into the seat next to him.
At such a close distance, the golden light was even more dazzling.
Struggling to bear the overwhelming brightness, Guan Xuxu finally got a good look at his appearance.
Like his cold, sharp voice, his features were chiseled, angular, and strikingly handsome, with a hint of cold hardness to his beauty. His thin lips carried a cold, restrained temperature, like ice and snow descending from a frozen mountain, drowned in his deep, dark eyes.
As though sensing her intense gaze, the man slightly tilted his head and gave her a glance. In that moment, it felt like he gathered all her curiosity and emotions into his eyes.
Guan Xuxu was curious about the golden light surrounding him, but worried he might think she was a fool. After some thought, she asked,
"Are you also my brother?"
Her question made Jiang Huai, who had been sitting across from her, laugh aloud. The man beside her shot him a cold glance before silently returning to his brooding silence.
"No."
And nothing more was said.
Luckily, there was still Jiang Huai in the plane.
"This is Chu Beihe, not your brother. Your brother is only me," Jiang Huai explained.
Guan Xuxu found the name somewhat familiar but couldn't quite place where she'd heard it.
Well, two of the four big families in Haishi were the Chu and Jiang families.
Was it a coincidence?
Jiang Huai continued explaining, "I came to pick you up, and he's just hitching a ride."
Guan Xuxu understood and was about to nod, when she noticed that the man, who had already shifted his gaze, suddenly shot Jiang Huai a cold glance. His thin lips parted, and he spoke coldly,
"You're using my helicopter fleet."
He, as the head of the Chu family, certainly didn't need to "hitch" a ride from someone else.
Jiang Huai, however, didn't seem to care. He casually shrugged, "It couldn't be helped. My company's fleet is all out. The only person I know who provides a private helicopter fleet is you."
Chu Beihe was the type of person who demanded even his subordinates wear matching socks.
Not to mention his helicopters, where even the footrests had to be identical.
As the three of them were talking, a sleek black helicopter slowly started up, escorting the luxurious helicopter in the middle, leaving just as grandly as it arrived.
As the helicopter fleet rumbled away, several security guards, who had been watching from a distance, exchanged glances and started discussing.
"Was that the eldest daughter of the Guan family who was just picked up by the helicopter?"
"It's her. I heard the day before yesterday that she's not the biological daughter of the Guan family. They kicked her out, and I heard her real parents are from the mountains."
"From the mountains? Look at this scene, she doesn't look like someone from the mountains. Maybe her biological parents are big shots."
"Hah, if that's true, the Guan family must be regretting it big time."
Although the security office had strict rules, they couldn't help gossiping about the rich residents in the villa district. Just as they were talking, one of them hurriedly closed his mouth and turned to bow respectfully toward the car gate.
Better not talk about people in broad daylight—there goes the Guan family car.
Inside the car, Bai Shuqin and Guan Ruirui sat in the back seat, not even glancing at the security guards who were bowing respectfully to them. As high-status residents, they had never regarded these lower-class security guards.
"This time, the final list for the city representative has been decided, but it hasn't been officially submitted yet. Mom heard that the one responsible for submitting the final list is someone from Jianghai Group."
Bai Shuqin spoke to Guan Ruirui with a smile on her face, "Coincidentally, your dad talked to Jianghai Group about a collaboration the day before yesterday. We'll directly use our connection with them."
Guan Ruirui was somewhat excited, "Jianghai Group? That's one of the four major families! Dad really managed to get a collaboration with them, that's impressive!"
Bai Shuqin's expression was filled with pride, though she still tried to sound casual,
"Of course, it's Jiang's family. Many people have begged them for cooperation and couldn't even get a word back. But they came to your dad on their own, which shows our position in Haishi. In the future, more people will come to us for cooperation."
Guan Ruirui couldn't hide her excitement, thinking that with the Jiang family's cooperation, their family would soon join the ranks of Haishi's top elite.
In the future, she'd be able to choose a much higher-status fiancé.
Sure enough, after Guan Xuxu left, the Guan family began to have good luck!
"Great," Guan Ruirui said, then, with a hint of pretended modesty, asked, "So, are we going directly to Jianghai Group's headquarters for help?"
"We're not going to the headquarters," Bai Shuqin replied. "We're going straight to the Jiang family."