Chapter 460 - 319: Engagement?
Chapter 460 - 319: Engagement?
"Thrust, tap, flick, chop, slash, hang!"
On January 2, 2122, at eleven in the morning, the sun shone brightly.
In the entrance garden of Building 4, Anping Imperial Scenic Area, Ningyuan City, a tall and burly middle-aged man dressed in black training clothes held a sword, moving lightly and smoothly to the center of the garden. He effortlessly executed various impressive and fierce sword moves, naming each one while explaining their techniques to a young man and woman standing in the corner of the garden.
"Cloud, pierce, stroke, carry, wrist flower... This wrist flower is the focus, it’s particularly beautiful when performed. Yueyue, take a good look, you’ll definitely be able to use it in your videos later."
"Okay."
The young man and woman standing nearby were, of course, Wu Wenyue and Li Peifeng. The former also held a long sword in her hand, silently mimicking the man’s movements.
The middle-aged man performing swordplay in the garden’s center was none other than Wu Wenyue’s father, Wu Ankang.
A National First-Class Martial Artist (Level One Athlete), he once won a sixth-place medal in a national martial arts championship, and was later specially recruited into the military based on this achievement. After retiring, he was assigned to the Ningyuan City Sports Bureau, where he now serves as deputy director.
Today, he was teaching his daughter swordsmanship routines, having started the lesson in the morning; it was Wu Wenyue’s initiative after she returned home.
She wanted to pick up the martial arts routines she had practiced since she was young. During this winter break, she planned to learn weaponry and boxing from her father, not for self-defense, but to produce better-looking martial arts videos in the future.
Wu Ankang naturally had no reason to refuse, whether it was to support his daughter’s career or to take this opportunity to mend the father-daughter relationship, which had become somewhat distant as she studied away from home. Old Wu had to teach her.
So, on the morning of the second day after Wu Wenyue returned home, he and Wu Wenyue began practicing in the garden. Even her boyfriend’s visit mid-session didn’t stop Wu Ankang from turning the meeting place, the living room, into a garden dojo to continue teaching his daughter martial arts.
After all, lunch would be a while later. He could use this particular scene to subtly warn the young man, letting him know about the martial spirit of the Wu family.
If Li Peifeng ever dared to commit domestic violence against Wu Wenyue or have an affair, he’d first have to consider whether Wu Ankang’s sword was sharp enough.
"Shua~shua~shua~"
With these thoughts, Wu Ankang’s eyes sharpened, and he continued moving, leaping, and running agilely in the small space. He jumped up occasionally to perform a split, sweeping away fallen leaves and twigs in the courtyard, his actions crisp and fast as ever.
His long sword danced in his hand like a seamless veil, controlled with the same precision as an arm and finger, each sword move tenacious and flexible, flashing with cold light. His body technique, swordplay, and footwork merged into one, elegant and unrestrained, demonstrating what it means to have a sword as nimble as a flying dragon...
"Amazing! Uncle, you’re incredible!"
Li Peifeng applauded respectfully, then whispered to Wu Wenyue, "What does your dad mean by this? I brought so many gifts and still got a show of force?! I’ve known him since he was younger, and our families have dined together before. We’re all so familiar, no need for these formalities, right?!"
"..."
Wu Wenyue didn’t reply, but a glint of coldness flashed in her eyes as she turned to look at Li Peifeng beside her, and the sword in her hand instinctively pointed towards him.
"What are you doing?"
Li Peifeng trembled all over, frowning and speaking in a low voice, "Learn martial arts properly from Uncle, don’t point the sword at me!"
"Weren’t you arrogant in last night’s shared dream?"
Wu Wenyue’s expression was calm, but her tone was eerie: "Forcing me to help you pin down Huang Tianxuan while Manning helped hold down Zhao Qingge... Weren’t you powerful then? Why are you deflated now? Scared just by seeing my dad practice swordplay? Do you even count as a person?"
"Keep your voice down." Li Peifeng feigned calmness, unable to hide his guilt. Reflecting on last night’s shared dream, he knew he’d been a bit reckless.
If this happened in reality, it would be deemed ignoring a woman’s consent, using violence, threats, harm, or other means to force a victim... a crime.
But after all, it was in a dream, where notions of crime didn’t apply. Moreover, Li Peifeng felt it was hard to say the four of them truly resisted him. Logically, if they had united against him, he wouldn’t have succeeded.
Even if they didn’t counter, one or two could have escaped on the spot, so how did Li Peifeng manage a one against four? In their subconscious, they weren’t as unwilling, considering everyone had experience from previous shared dreams, where the same situations recurred, and they ultimately didn’t resist and even enjoyed the process.
"Sister Yue, I advise you not to mention last night’s dream."
Li Peifeng whispered, "Even if you want to talk about it, don’t do it in front of me, learn from the other three, acting like it didn’t happen is better, or it’ll be too awkward."
"You..."
Wu Wenyue’s expression changed, intending to speak but ultimately held back, remaining silent.
Why didn’t the other three mention this shared dream?
Because this time, Li Peifeng completely transformed into a human stud, besides that one thing, he did nothing else, in a dream already chaotic, he made time even more confusing.
Everyone’s memory of the shared dream was left with a kind of hazy color.
All the scenes seemed to be on the bed, the bed was yellow, the light was yellow, people were yellow...
A spring dream of ten years in one night, what a limitless affair.
In this situation, how could they casually bring up this shared dream?
Early today, after everyone woke up, Li Qiyuan and Yu Huizhi went home to make breakfast, as the other three tacitly pretended they didn’t dream, waking naturally, creating a harmonious atmosphere that puzzled the couple.
Only Wu Wenyue, straightforward and unable to keep secrets, couldn’t help but voice it out in anger...
"Come on, Yueyue, practice a set for me to see."
Wu Ankang slightly frowned, calling Wu Wenyue over to practice. She responded and awkwardly began to train.
You could tell she knew a bit, but not much. Wu Wenyue had systematically learned martial arts routines from Wu Ankang when she was young; she had a foundation but had become rusty. Compared to her father, she was like bronze versus a king.
"First practice your footwork. Put the sword down!"
"Right, get the footwork down first. This swordplay is quite simple. In one week, you’ll more or less be able to perform it with style."
Wu Ankang gave a few pointers and then walked over to Li Peifeng’s side, watching his daughter’s stance with a gentle look in his eyes, seemingly lost in reminiscence. When he taught Yueyue martial arts, it was ten years ago. Back then, his daughter was in her lush teenage years. Ten years have flashed by, and his daughter has grown into a young woman, bringing her boyfriend to meet him...
"Uncle, you still have the same vigor as back then!"
Li Peifeng laughed and said, "Your swordplay just reminded me of a poem: ’Drunken, slashing through the long whales, leaning on the heavenly sword, laughing amidst the tempestuous waves, steadying the riverboat.’ So cool, so very cool!"
Wu Ankang’s eyes recaptured clarity, chuckling, "Come on, don’t give me that flattery. I have something serious to ask you."
"Go ahead."
Wu Ankang lowered his voice, "You’ve already slept with my daughter, haven’t you?"
A father bringing up such a topic always made Li Peifeng feel a bit guilty. He hesitated and nodded, thinking it wasn’t just about sleeping together—last night, even in dreams, they hadn’t left the bed, even if Wu Wenyue wasn’t sleeping in the same bed as him!
"Good, as long as you admit it."
Wu Ankang sighed with a complicated expression, "So when do you plan on getting married?"
Li Peifeng glanced at the sword still in his hand, calmly replying, "We haven’t discussed that yet, because we haven’t graduated yet. We’re not sure where we’ll develop our future, so we’re not in a hurry to get married."
"Exactly, marriage can wait until after graduation, but I think you two could consider getting engaged first."
"Engaged?"
"Yes, just invite some close friends and relatives, have both sets of parents sit together, have a meal at a hotel—no need for gifts. You toast together, and if you want to do a ceremony, do one; if you find it bothersome, you can skip it."
"...I’ll go back and discuss it with my parents."
Wu Ankang nodded, "You should discuss it. It’s just a suggestion. In a few days, I’ll talk to your parents, and both families can sit together for a meal and have a good discussion."
Li Peifeng’s gaze drifted, not responding, estimating that Old Li and Old Yu would help him dodge it.
"Ka-da~"
At this moment, the balcony door opened, and a middle-aged woman with long hair tied up and an apron around her waist beckoned, "Come inside, it’s time to eat."
Gao Xiuhua, Wu Wenyue’s mother, spoke up, and the three immediately went inside to plan for the meal.
The dishes were incredibly sumptuous—not just fish and meat, but a big pot full of oysters, prawns, and scallops.
Wu Ankang even took out the Moutai that Li Peifeng gifted him, saying he wanted a sip. Initially, Peifeng didn’t want to drink, but Wu Ankang wouldn’t let him refuse. He personally poured him a glass of liquor, stating that Wu Wenyue would take him home later, leaving him no choice but to drink.
Gao Lihua beamed, "Xiaofeng, try this braised tiger prawn while it’s hot. Yueyue, peel one for him."
Do I owe him?
Wu Wenyue gritted her teeth, initially not wanting to bother, but hesitated and peeled one, placing it in Li Peifeng’s bowl.
"Here, have a drink."
One side offered food, while Wu Ankang raised a glass for Li Peifeng to drink.
Wu Wenyue’s parents were absolutely welcoming to Li Peifeng, showing no awkwardness. The warmth and favor expressed overwhelmed Mr. Li with surprise.
In the hearts of Gao Xiuhua and Wu Ankang, though there was a bit of anguish and sadness over their lush cabbage being ultimately picked by a pig, they also felt fortunate about their daughter’s good judgment and luck.
Because Li Peifeng made good money writing novels, the Li-Yu couple had already flaunted this to Wu Ankang countless times, until his ears couldn’t bear it anymore.
The future son-in-law had financial stability, was a college classmate with their daughter, and the Li family was well-known to them. Their daughter didn’t have any worries about marrying far away, both families were well-matched... It really couldn’t be better, huh, where else would they find such a good son-in-law?
Moreover, the daughter’s relationship with him seemed deep. To support Wu Wenyue, Li Peifeng even took out half a million to help her start a short video business, which had already achieved significant success, earning hundreds of thousands a month. It was practically a perfect match!
So, getting married and having kids quickly would prevent Li Peifeng from running away, leaving their daughter unable to find such a suitable boyfriend in the future!
The couple had identical thoughts and found Li Peifeng perfectly agreeable, deeming him a dream son-in-law.
Thus, during the meal, Wu Ankang again raised the topic of engagement and asked for his daughter’s opinion.
"I just talked to Xiaofeng about this. He agreed. Yueyue, what do you think?"
Li Peifeng thought, when did I agree? He then turned to Wu Wenyue to hear what she might say, and to his surprise, Wu Wenyue simply shook her head.
"Not interested."
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