Fiancé!
Song Shiyu and Jiang An watched the whole process of the girl subduing the snow leopard from the third-floor balcony.
The surveillance in Imperial Garden uses top-of-the-line equipment, with high-definition images and clear audio, making it easy to hear their conversation.
Jiang An covered his mouth to stop himself from gasping, his small eyes sneakily glancing at his own master.
Since when did his master have a fiancée?
"Buzz—"
At the same time, a phone vibrating broke the silence.
Song Shiyu looked at the caller ID on his phone screen, raised his eyebrows, and answered the video call.
"Darling! Look! Your dad and I have already arrived in Hawaii~"
Mrs. Song said as she turned the camera towards the sea.
"Oh right, I forgot to tell you before we left, your Aunt Cheng's daughter, Youyou, Chi Youyou! She's going to study in the Imperial City for university. I calculated the time and she should be there now. It's the marriage arrangement you had when you were little! You must take good care of her, alright, you were at that time..."
Chi Youyou?
Song Shiyu no longer listened to his mom's rambling and hung up the phone directly.
Could his mom be any more deliberate?
Had dinner together just yesterday, and now they're already in Hawaii?
He let out a cold laugh, his gaze returning to the tablet, and gradually a sticky little rice ball image came to mind, not even able to walk steadily.
The interest that had just been stirred up suddenly vanished without a trace.
*
"Zaozao, this is so... luxurious!"
Chi Youyou looked at the lavishly decorated living room, so astonished that her mouth almost wouldn't close.
She knew city people were rich, but she didn't know they were this rich!
Seeing her expression, Chi Zaozao rolled her eyes, "What a bumpkin."
"But I still like the garden at the entrance better, it's super suitable for planting my newly developed batch of potatoes~"
Potatoes?
The maid, who was just bringing tea, almost didn't hold the tray steady upon hearing her remark.
After all, she was a wild girl from the mountains, still thinking about planting potatoes; those are famous plants flown in from all over the world, worth more than both of them put together and wouldn't even equal one flower bed.
"Miss Chi."
Upon hearing the butler's voice, the maid immediately collected herself and respectfully placed the teacups in front of the two, "Please enjoy your tea."
"Thank you."
Chi Youyou retracted her surprised gaze from the hills, returning to her previous well-behaved demeanor, "Uncle Zhang."
"Miss Chi, apologies, the young master hasn't finished his work yet. Please rest in the living room with the young master and join us for dinner later."
Hmm~ Waiting here for dinner?
"No need to trouble, Uncle Zhang. Since the host is busy, we won't disturb further; we've just arrived in the Imperial City and still have many things to handle."
She immediately understood that he simply couldn't be bothered with them, so she politely declined.
Now she seemed to understand what the guard had said earlier.
First, girls often come to find him;
Second, he consistently keeps people at a distance, even to the point of driving them away!
Hmph.
She'll come back later and must break off the engagement.
"Well... having dinner before leaving isn't too late either..."
Uncle Zhang hesitated for a moment, then persuaded again.
It's so hard; the madam instructed him to give the young master and Miss Chi a chance to spend time together, but the young master clearly doesn't want to meet.
"Thank you for your kindness, Uncle Zhang. I have to report to school tomorrow; once the school matters are settled, we'll visit again."
She certainly wasn't going to warm up to his cold attitude.
Even though Chi Youyou hadn't been to the city before, she understood these social graces.
Work unfinished? Waiting to have dinner together?
Ha, it's just an excuse not to meet them.
"Oh right, these are some local specialties my mother asked me to bring over; they aren't anything expensive, just some vegetables we grew ourselves."
"That's very considerate. I'll accept these on behalf of the young master. Since Miss Chi insists on leaving, I won't stop you. I'll arrange for someone to take you back."
"No, no, thank you, Uncle Zhang. We can manage on our own."
Chi Youyou said, pulling Chi Zaozao along, not pausing for a moment.
This was her last bit of stubbornness!
As she left, she even made a point to greet the guard; the guard watched the one big and one small figure, letting out a sigh of relief, quickly noting down: his master's fiancée!
Luckily, he hadn't gone too far in his actions earlier, or else he'd be out of a job!
"Hmph, what fiancé, I couldn't care less about seeing him~"
Once Chi Youyou stepped out of the big iron gate, she let out all her pent-up frustration, kicking leaves while muttering under her breath.
"Youyou, how do we get around now?"
Chi Zaozao, appearing completely unfazed, asked in a sweet, milky voice.
"Let me see."
After venting, Chi Youyou took out another piece of paper from her pocket, frowning as she looked, "Why does this place seem so familiar?"