Silence once again filled the hall as both Qiao Fenyi and her father waited for his response. It was clear that despite the good intentions he had already shown, both her father and grandfather were far too skeptical of seemingly perfect suitors because of Luo Jun.
However, this truly didn't matter to him. He simply looked Qiao Liang deep in the eyes and spoke in a simple but decisive manner.
"Senior, if you so desire, I can slowly prove to both you and Head Grand Elder Qiao Qinghe over time that I am far, far better than Luo Jun in both trustworthiness and capability… the two of you don't have to accept me so soon."
"In fact, I would understand if you were a little skeptical of me. After all, you just met me today. But what I would like to ask is that you give me a fair chance to win you over!"
Qiao Liang looked into his golden eyes and saw a deep sense of purpose and conviction—a will that would not bend or break in front of any enemy, and that would struggle with everything it had to obtain what it wanted in life.
A man that, even if he weren't pursuing his beloved daughter, he would most likely respect.
After a few seconds of thinking, he nodded his head.
"Alright… I'm glad that you aren't rushing things, and I appreciate you giving us time to think."
Huang Shi smiled as he felt Qiao Fenyi look up at him from the side, hints of a smile forming at the corner of her lips.
"However…"
A sudden pause appeared in the middle of the conversation as Qiao Liang turned completely serious, his eyes reflecting the change as he stared deeply into Huang Shi's.
"I hope that you and Fenyi don't cross that final step until we have made sure that you are truly the man you say you are, and that you won't abandon her and leave her by the wayside in the future. After all, for a man of your capability, I am quite sure that you won't be having just one woman in your life…"
Silence.
A strange and awkward silence suddenly appeared in the room. Even without turning his head, Huang Shi could feel Qiao Fenyi staring straight at him, boring holes into the side of his head.
"Now that I think about it, father is right… I wonder how many women young master Huang Shi plans to add to his harem? Three? Maybe four?"
He gulped inwardly, trying to force his nerves to calm down as he did his best to portray that he wasn't in any way unnerved by the words spoken by the father–daughter duo. Puffing up his chest, he spoke in a decisive manner.
"Don't worry, father-in-law! I won't do anything that's going to hurt your daughter! Now or in the future!"
Qiao Liang didn't say anything for a while. Eventually, he sighed, placing a hand on his forehead before speaking in a soft voice.
"Alright, child… I will trust you for now, even though you clearly tried to dodge that question."
Huang Shi used silence as his weapon regarding both the issue of having multiple women and crossing the final line with Qiao Fenyi.
Although if I play my cards right, I can probably cross that final line with Fenyi… it's probably better to be on the safe side and not do it yet, and instead make sure our relationship is already stable before making any moves.
After all, I don't want our relationship to be just a fleeting thing… she probably doesn't have very deep feelings for me yet, so rushing things will only make things harder in the future.
With these thoughts running through his head, he finally tried to change the topic now that he had received preliminary approval from Fenyi's father.
"Father-in-law! About your poison… I have a way to completely remove it within the next three days… that is, if you trust me."
Qiao Liang's eyes suddenly shook as his expression changed from calm to shock. He tried to stand up from his wheelchair and grab Huang Shi by the shoulders, but failed to do so and dropped back down into the chair because of his weak body.
"I-Is that true, child? But based on the strength of your cultivation base… I don't think it's possible for you to completely remove my poison, even if you use that golden light of yours at full strength for an entire month!"
Qiao Fenyi was also trembling as she gripped his arm tightly, anger clouding her features.
"Huang Shi! This is not the type of thing you should joke around about! Do you think that just because I've slowly started to accept you, you can just say whatever you want?!"
Despite her words, he could tell that a bit of hope had appeared within her heart, and she was merely masking it with anger to prevent herself from being disappointed.
Huang Shi didn't bother responding to either of them as he took out the item that had cost him another 10,000 scum points.
In the palm of his hand was a plain white pill. It didn't look special at all—it only carried a faint, mysterious aura and shone with a shiny light.
And yet, from the moment it appeared, the Purple Rose Poison inside both Qiao Fenyi and her father, Qiao Liang, suddenly began to shake, trying to escape into the deepest parts of their bodies as if it were terrified of the pill.
Qiao Liang's eyes narrowed into pinpricks, his expression shifting as he asked in an incredulous voice,
"Wha—what is that pill?! I haven't even taken it yet, but it feels like the poison inside my body is trying to flee in terror!"
Even Qiao Fenyi began to tremble as the poison inside her body reacted in the same way, though in an even more exaggerated manner. The poison within her was weaker, and she was much closer to the pill than her father.
"Huang Shi… w-where did you get that pill? Is that an antidote pill? But I've never seen one like that before!"