Chapter 161: Waiting Here
"Grandma, do you remember that last time you asked me to find a girl to get the key to the rental house?"
Fang Shuxin owns quite a number of houses. When Lu Yunque mentioned this, she couldn't recall immediately.
However, she had only asked Lu Yunque once to help her retrieve the rental key, so could it be…
"You aren't talking about that young girl, Yun, are you?"
She had met Yun Zijin several times. From the brief contacts, she felt this girl was both kind and down-to-earth.
Now her grandson has his eyes on this Yun girl? Fang Shuxin eyed Lu Yunque with mild suspicion. Her grandson didn't seem like the type to fall in love at first sight.
"Yes, I met Zijin once before I went to get the key from her."
That initial meeting took place when Yun Zijin outbid him for a piece of land in the western suburbs at an auction.
"You met before? How could you two have any connection?"
Since she held a good impression of Yun, Fang Shuxin had looked further into the girl's background. From that, she learned a bit about Yun Zijin's circumstances.
Given Yun's social circle, there seemed little chance she'd cross paths with Lu Yunque. But before Fang Shuxin asked him to pick up her key, these two happened to bump into each other again! The old lady grew curious.
"At an auction," Lu Yunque said simply.
(He omitted how Yun Zijin had snatched the land he wanted.)
"An auction? That's intriguing."
Fang Shuxin found it odd.
"From what I know, Yun was born in an orphanage."
Her tone implied that Yun Zijin had come from modest means, and was unlikely to be invited to an upscale auction.
"That's true, but some unexpected things happened. Grandma, you weren't in the Imperial Capital at the time, so you might not be aware."
Inwardly, Lu Yunque felt the sequence of events around Yun Zijin was almost unbelievable.
"What happened? Tell me in detail!"
After all, Yun was among the few young women the old lady appreciated. Previously, she'd even considered setting Yun up with Lu Yunque. If anyone had bullied Yun while Fang Shuxin was away, she wanted to stand up for the girl.
"That's not the point. If you really want to know, I'll fill you in later."
But his goal today wasn't to gossip with his grandmother.
"That is the point! Stop hedging—tell me!"
Everyone likes good gossip, especially regarding someone dear to them.
Lu Yunque sighed inwardly. He couldn't dodge any longer.
"Do you know the Xia family? Specifically, Xia Zhengguang, the one from the Xia Group."
Fang Shuxin wasn't fully sure, so Lu patiently gave more details. After mulling over the name, she at last remembered which Xia family it was and motioned for him to continue.
Once Lu started, he briefly described the entanglement between Yun Zijin and the "real vs. fake daughter of the Xia family," plus the conflicts between Yun and the Xia household.
From Lu Yunque's viewpoint, Yun was innocent and had been wronged, whereas the Xia family looked petty and unreasonable.
"Unbelievable! Yun was right not to acknowledge them. They treat the adopted daughter better than their own flesh and blood?
Even if Yun never grew up in the Xia household, she's still biologically related. How shameless!"
Fang Shuxin was furious.
"No! I need to find Yun a proper backer. The Xia family is simply… simply—"
She ran out of words to describe them, and her indignation only grew.
Observing Fang Shuxin so upset, Lu Yunque got an idea. Indeed, if Yun needed protection, the right "backer" might be sitting right in front of him…
**"I think I should adopt Yun as my granddaughter. That way, she'll be a part of the Huo family.
Though the Huo family isn't one of the four major families, the Xia family surely doesn't come close to us!"**
The more she thought about it, the more perfect the plan seemed. Even though she was essentially retired, she was older than most. Adopting a goddaughter was simple. She doubted the Huo or Fang families would object.
However, hearing the old lady propose adopting Yun as a granddaughter set off alarms in Lu Yunque's head. That wasn't what he wanted at all!
"Grandma, that might be too big a step. Aren't you worried my cousins will get jealous?"
Many young folk existed in both the Huo and Fang families. If Grandma made Yun her goddaughter, it'd be a massive spectacle.
"Then you tell me what you intend to do, huh?"
If they wanted to support Yun legitimately, they needed a clear relationship.
"Didn't you mention before that you wanted me and Zijin to meet, maybe see if we could become closer?"
At last, Lu Yunque revealed his true purpose.
Fang Shuxin eyed him with half-closed eyes:
"I see… so you've been waiting for me here, Little Skylark. I think we might need to rename you Little Fox instead."
Lu had hinted strongly—too strongly for an old hand like Fang to miss.
"Does Yun know of your plan?"
After all, the old lady suspected her little grandson had fallen for Yun. She also knew Yun was focused on her studies and part-time jobs, rarely caring about such personal matters. She might not be interested in any relationships, including with Lu.
"I've hinted, but I never said we'd truly go on a blind date."
Before, Fang Shuxin had wanted to nudge them. Neither seemed interested, so it ended. Now, Lu wanted to push it forward again.
Even if they couldn't directly become a couple, at least he'd have a valid reason to see Yun. If anyone else tried to approach her, he could have them line up. He had to be first in line!
"Hmph! I tried to arrange that earlier but you never cooperated. Now you want my help? What do I get out of it?"
The old lady certainly wouldn't make it that easy.
"Grandma~"
Lu seldom acted spoiled, but for the sake of his future bride, he could sacrifice some dignity. And after all, it was his grandma.
Fang Shuxin got goosebumps: She rarely saw her grandson so cutesy.
"Okay, okay, let me think about it."
She had tried once before and it didn't work. Bringing it up again might risk rejection from Yun. If the girl didn't want to come, she couldn't be forced.
Yet the old lady's agreement sufficed for Lu. He believed that if they acted together, Grandma had a thousand ways to "trick" Yun into showing up. Then Lu could create more opportunities to move things forward.
A real man isn't afraid to risk some embarrassment chasing love.
What's that about his "image?" Not worth mentioning.
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