After leaving the company, Lu Baiyi rushed home and finally met Xu Gui and the others at the entrance of the residential area.
Lu Baiyuan had been sound asleep the whole way, and even when Uncle Wang carried her out of the car, she wasn't woken up. Lu Baiyi glanced at her and came over to thank Xu Gui.
"...Thank you so much for today," he said, then seemed puzzled, "I don't know what's wrong with Yuanyuan today. She clearly knows you're working, but she still insists on coming with you. She's never been this willful before. Maybe it's because she really likes you too much?"
Hearing this, Xu Gui thought to herself: She might really like me a little, but her main purpose in clinging to me today is to meet her "fated one" behind your back, her brother's.
However, Xu Gui didn't say this aloud. After all, she had already promised Lu Baiyuan that this was a secret among them, and no one could tell anyone else.
Lu Boyi was unaware of the "inside story" behind this matter. As the host, who lived in the same neighborhood, he proactively took on the responsibility of introducing the area to Xu Gui and his group.
As for the sleeping Lu Baiyuan, Lu Boyi had Uncle Wang carry her home, while he himself led Xu Gui and the others to the Hu family's house.
The Hu family had also been contacted through Fu Xia, but it wasn't Fu Xia who approached them; rather, they proactively sought out Fu Xia, asking her to help them connect with Xu Gui. It seemed they were looking for Xu Gui regarding their child's romantic prospects.
The reason for the "seemingly" is that the Hu family didn't elaborate, and their explanation over the phone was extremely vague.
They arrived at the Hu family's house without incident. The Hu family members, seeing Xu Gui and her group, were somewhat surprised and said, "Miss Xu, you've arrived! Why didn't you call us? We could have met you at the door."
Hearing this, Xu Gui replied, "It's alright, I just ran into my friend at the door, and he brought us in."
"A friend?" The Hu family members were surprised and turned to look at the friend Xu Gui mentioned, and then…
"Mr. Lu?" The Hu family members exclaimed in surprise, their expressions of astonishment and uncertainty clearly indicating that they knew Lu Baiyi and the Lu family.
Lu Baiyi politely greeted the Hu family, but since the main focus today was Xu Gui, the Hu family, although surprised that Xu Gui knew Lu Baiyi, didn't say much, simply leading them to sit down in the living room.
After a brief chat, the Hu family explained their purpose.
The Hu family had originally sought out Xu Gui for their eldest grandson, their eldest son, Hu Kangliang, the current head of the Hu family. As for what problems their grandson had…
"He's thirty-seven years old now, but he still refuses to get married!" Grandpa Hu said with a bitter face.
Of course, not wanting to marry at this age might simply be a staunch advocate of singlehood, but Hu Kangliang's biggest problem was…
"We haven't seen him get close to any girls!" Hu Kangliang's mother continued, her voice tense. "A normal man at this age is like a tiger, even if he doesn't want to get married, he should at least have some close female friends, right?"
Hu's mother's words were startling. "But there aren't any women like that around Kangliang. All the women he's close to are men!"
"So, you mean…" Xu Gui asked tentatively.
Hu's mother looked around, leaned closer to Xu Gui, and whispered, "I just wanted you to help me figure out if my son has any strange habits? For example, is he actually gay?"
Xu Gui looked at her in surprise.
Mrs. Hu gave an awkward laugh and explained, "Well, all these years, I haven't seen him get close to any girls..."
Xu Gui pondered.
Mrs. Hu continued, "I know, you only know these things by looking at the person in question, that's called reading faces! Right? So don't worry, I specifically didn't let my son go to work today. He's upstairs in his study right now, and I've already sent someone to call him. He'll be down soon!"
Xu Gui originally wanted to say that it wasn't necessary to go to so much trouble, but hearing Mrs. Hu's words, she remained silent.
Not long after, Hu Kangliang was called down by the family's servants.
He looked a bit older than Lu Baiyi, but the two had completely different temperaments. Lu Baiyi was handsome and exuded a refined, noble air, while Hu Kangliang... Xu Gui watched him approach, and only one thought popped into her mind:
What a huge double door!
Indeed, Hu Kangliang was extremely tall and muscular. He was nearly 1.9 meters tall, with broad shoulders and bulging muscles that couldn't be hidden under his T-shirt, exuding a powerful masculine aura and radiating hormones. Undoubtedly,
such a strong man possessed a strong attraction for women.
Lu Baiyi glanced at him and subconsciously looked towards Xu Gui, whereupon he saw Xu Gui's eyes shining, her gaze fixed intently on Mr. Hu.
Lu Baiyi: "..."
He scrutinized Hu Kangliang from head to toe, thinking with a mix of criticism and envy: This guy isn't all that great, too tall! Too muscular! Too fierce-looking.
In short: flaws everywhere, no redeeming qualities.
No one knew what Lu Baiyi was thinking; after all, who would have thought that this seemingly upright young man was harboring such thoughts?
At that moment, Hu Kangliang approached, and under his mother's introduction, he gave Xu Gui a strange look.
"Hello, I'm Hu Kangliang..."
"Hello."
After exchanging greetings, they sat down. Hu Kangliang said with a headache, "Mom, I don't want to get married. It's just my personal wish, nothing else. You asked this Miss Xu to come..."
He hesitated, then sighed.
Hu's mother said matter-of-factly, "Who told you not to tell me why you don't want to get married? Then I'll have to figure it out myself."
Hu Kangliang's lips twitched slightly: "Does not getting married necessarily have to have a reason?"
"Don't you want one?" Hu's mother retorted, then, seeing Hu Kangliang's speechless expression, she turned to Xu Gui and said, "Master Xu, please take a look at my son's face. Is he gay?"
Hu Kangliang: ? ? !!
Hu Kangliang stared wide-eyed at his mother, exclaiming, "Mom, what are you saying?"
Hu's mother rolled her eyes at him and said reasonably, "You're a young man, you don't smoke or gamble, but you don't have a girlfriend. Besides being gay, is there any other reason?"
"What? Liangliang, are you gay?" The one who screamed was Hu's grandfather.
"Liangliang, this isn't right! You're our only son. If you go and play around with men, won't our family line end?" Grandma Hu cried, her voice filled with sorrow. "If it were a few decades earlier, we could have raised a page for you, but in this day and age, it's not a good time to play around with men."
Looking at this family—some crying, some angry, and some glaring—Hu Kangliang's expression was somewhat speechless.
"Who said I'm gay?" he said. "Not getting married makes you gay? What kind of logic is that?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Hu pressed on, "Then tell me, why don't you want to get married? Back in high school, before you were even an adult, you were already dating a girl. How come you're not interested in girls now that you're older?"
"You wouldn't still be thinking about that girl you dated back then, would you?" Mrs. Hu said, suddenly looking at Hu Kangliang suspiciously, and exclaimed in surprise, "That can't be! Your father's womanizing ways couldn't possibly have raised a stubborn, lovestruck fool, could they?"
Hu Kangliang's eyes darted around, and he said somewhat awkwardly, "Please don't guess. It's all nonsense. I'm simply not interested in marriage."
Looking at the expression on his face, Mrs. Hu had only one thought: something was fishy.
She simply turned to Xu Guilai and asked, "Master Xu, what do you see in my son's face? Do you know why he won't get married?"
Xu Guilai glanced at Hu Kangliang sitting there and said, "Actually, you've already given the answer to why your son won't get married."
Hu's mother, who had only said it casually, was stunned for a few seconds before several question marks slowly appeared on her forehead.
...
"No!"
Hu Kangliang quickly denied, glancing at Xu Gui, and said, "My not getting married has nothing to do with anyone else. I simply don't want to get married! I enjoy my single life and don't want anyone else to interfere in my life, that's all."
Hu's mother murmured, "...It's been almost twenty years, and you're still thinking about your childhood sweetheart?"
Hu Kangliang: "I said, my not getting married has nothing to do with her."
"My God, how could your father's genes produce such a devoted child like you? It must be a genetic mutation, right?" Hu's mother continued to murmur in surprise.
"..." Hu Kangliang looked exhausted. He explained again, "Mom, my not getting married really has nothing to do with anyone else. Don't overthink it."
His mother grabbed his hand and sighed, "Son, the reason I told you to break up with that girl before was because you were both too young. You weren't even adults then, and I was afraid it was just a momentary impulse!"
Not to mention, back then, it was high school, the most crucial age for college entrance exams. What parent's first reaction to their child dating in high school would probably be to advise them to break up?
But things are different when children grow up.
His mother said earnestly, "If you really like that girl, go for it. Now you're both grown up, and your parents won't stop you anymore!"
Hearing this, Hu Kangliang's expression faltered for a moment, then he smiled bitterly and said, "It's impossible for me and her."
Hearing this, his mother's first thought was: So, it really is because of this first love that her son isn't getting married!
Then, Mrs. Hu's eyes widened as she realized what Hu Kangliang had said. She instinctively said, "How could you two not be
together?" She then guessed, "Could it be that he doesn't like you? That can't be! You're so great—young, successful, strong, and good-looking. How could you two not be together?"
It wasn't that Mrs. Hu was praising her own son; Hu Kangliang was indeed outstanding. He graduated from a prestigious university, now managed the family company, was wealthy, handsome, had a great physique, and no bad habits.
From every perspective, Hu Kangliang was a very suitable marriage partner.
"How do you know if you don't try?" Mrs. Hu said anxiously, encouraging her son. "Even if that girl is already married, as the saying goes, there's no wall that can't be broken up. If you try hard enough, she might divorce her husband and be with you."
Hu Kangliang's lips twitched slightly, and he said with some difficulty, "…Mom, don't talk about such immoral things so confidently. She's married and has children; she probably doesn't even remember me. What would I do if I went and interfered?"
Mrs. Hu looked at him resentfully, somewhat confused, and said, "Your father and I aren't very moral people. How did we raise such a morally upright person like you?"
Then Mrs. Hu added, "You even know that she's married and has children. It seems that all these years, you really have kept her in your heart."
Hu Kangliang felt a pang of pain in his heart.
Mrs. Hu was bewildered. Her husband, Hu Kangliang's father, was a notorious womanizer. Married for many years, he had countless affairs and illegitimate children, and she had gone from initial anger to numbness.
However, it was precisely because of his philandering and ruthlessness that she was able to focus on her career, doubling the size of the Hu family business. She herself was also shrewd in business, some of her methods bordering on unscrupulous.
But now, their son—a womanizer and a businesswoman—was a devoted and morally upright man.
Mrs. Hu concluded, "...It's definitely a genetic mutation!"
Hu Kangliang's lips twitched slightly, then his expression darkened. He said, "Anyway, don't worry about this. I know what I'm doing."
Mrs. Hu sighed.
Xu Gui looked around and realized that if things continued this way, she wouldn't have the opportunity to showcase her abilities since she had been invited today. Therefore, she chose to speak up at the opportune moment.
"What if that young lady isn't happy right now and is preparing for a divorce?" She looked at Hu Kangliang. "You wouldn't want to pursue her mother again?"
Hu Kangliang was taken aback, while his mother was overjoyed.
"That child is getting a divorce?" she pressed—this should have been a sad thing, but Hu's mother couldn't feel sad at all; on the contrary, her face was beaming with joy.
"That would be wonderful!" Hu's mother said happily, "After she gets divorced, both of them will be single, isn't that a match made in heaven, a marriage bestowed by the heavens?"
"Oh, right, it seems the other party has a child? I wonder if it's a boy or a girl. Then our family can get a grandson or granddaughter for free, wouldn't that be great!"
Hu's mother was beaming, already dreaming of the day she could breastfeed without pain.
Hu Kangliang, initially stunned by Xu Gui's words, snapped back to reality upon hearing his mother's reply. A sense of helplessness washed over him, and he said with a bitter smile, "Mom, please don't think about it. It's truly impossible for her and me."
Hu's mother frowned and scolded, "You said before that she had a family and children, and that it was impossible for you two, but now that she's getting a divorce, how can it be impossible again? You clearly still like her very much."
Hu Kangliang pursed his lips, only saying, "In short, it's impossible for her and me!"
Hu's mother clutched her chest in anger.
Just then, Xu Gui suddenly said, "I know, Mr. Hu, you feel that she's your own sister, so it's impossible for you two to be together. It's immoral and unacceptable to society. So all these years, you've only secretly observed her and haven't interfered in her life."
Xu Gui's words caused a room to fall silent. The Hu family members were dumbfounded, shocked, while Hu Kangliang was simply surprised.
He was surprised that Xu Gui knew about this.
In response, Xu Gui calmly stated, "As I said, I am a diviner. A diviner is naturally omniscient and omnipotent." Moreover, his calculations are flawless.
At that moment, under the awe-inspiring gazes of the Hu family, Xu Gui remained calm on the surface, but inwardly she was incredibly proud—yes, she was that amazing!
"...So, you've always said that she and you couldn't be together because she's your younger sister?" Hu's mother suddenly looked at Hu Kangliang. "Is she also your father's illegitimate daughter from his affairs?"
Hearing this, Hu Kangliang gave a bitter smile, his expression somber.