Chapter 281: Support (2/2)
Gu Bing’er was rather quiet. She said nothing after declaring that the Gu family would support them, but she had been listening intently to the conversation.
No emotions could be discerned from her face. Her hands were crossed above her chest, but her fists were not tightened nor were her muscles tense—there was nothing to hint that she was uncomfortable or in disarray about what Xue Wei would do with the academy.
It was at this point that Xue Wei realized, that amongst Yuan Bailong and Gu Bing’er, Gu Bing’er was the superior one. She was calm no matter what situation she encountered, her face would never betray her emotions, and her ability to keep her thoughts hidden was impressive.
“Fortunately, she is our ally,” Xue Wei muttered to himself, as he took a respectful glance at Gu Bing’er.
“Big Brother, Big Brother!” a childish voice suddenly sounded in the room. as a small child came running towards Xue Wei on unsteady legs, her arms spread wide and gesturing to be carried.
Xue Wei smiled gently and bent down to carry her without a second thought, his face suddenly softening to a warm and doting expression.
Seeing the change in expression, Yuan Bailong’s eyebrows rose dramatically in shock. He scrutinized the small girl that was now adorned in a beautiful purple dress, her hair was tied on top of her head in a bun, but a few stray hairs had fallen down to frame her face.
She seemed to be about five-years-old—not very mature, but she was adorable, and it was impossible to not take a liking to her almost instantly. She seemed so gentle that Yuan Bailong could not help but smile at her, but Luoluo did not return the favor; instead, she stuck out her tongue and grimaced at him.
“Luoluo, be nice,” Xue Wei lovingly scolded. Although he was scolding her, his voice was tender and gentle. “Yuan Bailong is our comrade, our ally. We cannot be rude to him,” he finished, and Luoluo tentatively nodded her head while glancing at the other man.
Gu Bing’er’s brows were furrowed when she saw that Xue Wei suddenly had a child in his custody, a child she had not seen before. She had noticed the child earlier when she entered the room, but she had not realized that she had such close ties to Xue Wei.
Another thing that made Gu Bing’er rather wary was the fact that, although she could see Luoluo right in front of her, she could not sense her. If she did not look at her directly, then she would be incapable of sensing her presence. Was this really normal for a five-year-old child?
After looking deeply at Luoluo, Gu Bing’er turned her gaze towards Bai Tianyi. He was another one that caused her some confusion. She had heard about his feat of reaching the ninth floor on the Soul Tower, so his strength was simply outrageous for a ten-year-old child. Was he also in possession of some secrets?
Gu Bing’er felt that the more she was with Xue Wei, the less she understood him and his friends. They were like a bottomless abyss of mystery that constantly spewed out new and exciting things for them to observe.
Although she was very curious about all the mysteries that were present around Xue Wei, she did not try to pry into his business. She understood that, as long as they were partners, then it was better to not know so that no one could judge their limits.
In fact, the Gu family had been much like the Yuan family, originally. They had not wanted to enter into the fight between Xue Wei and the Baili family; it was only under Gu Bing’er’s continued persistence that they finally saw the benefits of working with Xue Wei.
Unfortunately, Yuan Bailong was not as diligent as Gu Bing’er, and he had not been capable of fully convincing his family of the benefits. Although they had agreed to stand by Xue Wei, they had done so hesitantly and were only willing to step forward if it became the entire Baili family that went against Xue Wei.
“I need to figure out a way to make them motivated to step up before it gets too bad,” Gu Bing’er muttered to herself as she looked around in the room. Xue Wei was busy fussing over the child. Bai Tianyi was observing the child being fussed over with a rather hostile expression. Hei Gou and Lin Xiao were joking with one another, and Yuan Bailong was harboring a rather entertaining expression on his face as he observed the previously hell-bent Xue Wei become an overprotective parent.
Yuan Bailong—that was where the solution lay! Gu Bing’er smirked as she realized that he could become a rather useful chess piece in the current war against the Baili family—even, later on, he could prove to be very useful to her.
“Bailong,” she called out, stumping Yuan Bailong with the way she called him. He turned around and looked at her, his eyes filled with puzzlement.
“I have an idea,” Gu Bing’er said with a quiet voice as Yuan Bailong appeared next to her, her eyes glistening with a cheekiness that caused Yuan Bailong to fill with worry.
“An idea for what?” he asked hesitantly, wondering if he really wanted to know what she was talking about.
“Well, our families are not united right now. We are allies, but nothing more than that. Why don’t we connect our families completely?” She gently clasped her hands together.
“Connect them?” Yuan Bailong responded, not understanding what she meant. Connecting families was not something that was done easily, as the two families found it difficult to trust one another.
Usually, the most common way of merging families would be through marriage, but the Yuan family had many sons, and who would be the heir was still undecided. They did not have many females either; for some reason, most of their children were sons.
The Gu family was in a similar situation. They only had one young miss—Gu Bing’er, and she was not in the running to be the heir of the family. Only sons could become the new head of the family.