A Few People Living in Harmony

I don't know how much time had passed.

In the banquet hall.

"Sis, brother-in-law, why did you take so long to come back?"

"I was so bored!"

Leng Ling'er held a plate of fried skewers, munching while complaining, "So many strangers kept coming over to chat with me. I barely had time to eat."

Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu had indeed returned.

However, both tacitly avoided mentioning what had happened outside.

Hearing Leng Ling'er's words, Gu Yan glanced at Leng Qingqiu before clearing his throat, "Your sister and I had some matters to attend to earlier."

"What matters?" Gu Yingying chimed in.

Leng Qingqiu's expression turned slightly awkward.

Gu Yan shot her a look, "Don’t ask too much, kid. You wouldn’t understand."

"Huh?!"

"Come on, I’m already a grown-up, okay?!" Gu Yingying puffed her cheeks in protest.

Just then—

"Oh, right, Gu Yan, there’s a little girl who’s been looking for you."

"It’s the same one who jumped on you earlier."

"Look, she’s over there."

Leng Ling'er suddenly remembered, pointing in a direction with her skewer stick.

Gu Yan paused, then followed the direction of the stick.

There,

Lin Yinyin sat alone on a small chair, sulking as she licked her lollipop.

Every now and then, she’d glance toward Gu Yan, only to hurriedly avert her gaze whenever their eyes met.

"Oh, that’s not a little girl. That’s my boss."

Gu Yan chuckled lightly and was about to walk over when—

Leng Qingqiu stopped him, her voice gentle, "I’ll go with you."

?

Wait… is this appropriate?

Gu Yan hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Alright."

Leng Qingqiu was the Night King, but she could conceal her aura.

Though Lin Yinyin was the perfect Anti-Demon Weapon, her body wreathed in silver qi,

given her level of strength, she shouldn’t be able to detect Leng Qingqiu’s abnormality.

Lin Yinyin was in a foul mood.

A strange, inexplicable foul mood.

She had been thrilled when Gu Yan invited her here.

But seeing him with another woman made her inexplicably unhappy.

"Stupid little Gu Yan…"

She licked her lollipop—mm, so sweet.

But I still won’t forgive you!

"Boss, why are you pouting like a grilled rice cake?"

Gu Yan walked over and plopped down beside Lin Yinyin.

Lin Yinyin had sensed Gu Yan’s presence long ago, and she was naturally happy.

But when she noticed the unfamiliar woman beside him,

she closed her eyes and turned away, "Hmph!"

"Boss, what’s wrong? Who upset you?"

"Tell me, and I’ll teach them a lesson."

Gu Yan coaxed her like a child.

But Lin Yinyin remained sulky.

Seeing this,

Leng Qingqiu reached out, stopping Gu Yan from saying more. She had already sensed something.

Lin Yinyin’s life essence was pure white—

a sign that her mind and personality were still immature.

Her body was enveloped in silver qi, specialized for combating demonic entities.

A pitiable artificial weapon.

Leng Qingqiu sighed inwardly. She leaned in and whispered a few words to Lin Yinyin.

Within seconds,

Lin Yinyin’s expression shifted from sullen to gradually cheerful.

Eventually,

she even beamed at Leng Qingqiu, "Really?! Sister Qingqiu, you’re the best!"

"Mhm."

Leng Qingqiu patted Lin Yinyin’s head, "Be good, Yinyin, or Gu Yan might ignore you."

"Okay!"

??

Gu Yan stared in disbelief as Leng Qingqiu effortlessly won Lin Yinyin over in just a few words.

Wait, what?

He tugged Leng Qingqiu’s sleeve, whispering, "How did you do that??"

Leng Qingqiu smiled mysteriously, then turned to Lin Yinyin, "Yinyin, go play with Ling'er and the others."

"Okay!"

Lin Yinyin skipped off cheerfully toward Leng Ling'er and the rest.

Sun Shi, a member of the inspection team, followed.

But before leaving, he cast a meaningful glance at Gu Yan and Leng Qingqiu—

especially Leng Qingqiu.

His mind raced with thoughts.

The Leng Family… the Leng Family’s eldest daughter.

The sole survivor of that massacre back then…

Sun Shi shook his head, dismissing the speculation.

The Leng Family’s influence was a shadow of its former self.

Even if they had some connection to the Night King in the past,

now that Leng Qingqiu had blinded herself, she was no longer a threat.

Once they were gone,

Leng Qingqiu finally answered Gu Yan’s question.

"I told her, ‘I’m Gu Yan’s fiancée, and you’re his boss.’"

"Fiancée and boss are separate roles. You don’t need to feel distant or uneasy because of these relationships."

"If you like Gu Yan, you can continue liking him as his boss, while I like him as his fiancée. We won’t interfere with each other."

"And I also promised to introduce my sister to you as a friend, so you won’t be bored."

Leng Qingqiu grinned.

Gu Yan’s lips twitched, "What do you mean ‘like him as his boss’? Qingqiu, you’re basically encouraging workplace harassment."

"Oh? Don’t tell me you dislike it?"

"Of course not! I just want to be harassed by you alone—in an OL outfit!"

"?! Scram!"

Leng Qingqiu’s face flushed red.

This jerk! Couldn’t he stop slipping in these outrageous remarks that made her want to curse?!

She was the Night King, for heaven’s sake!

At that moment—

[Other Me, you sensed the power within that person earlier, didn’t you?]

Little Cold’s voice suddenly echoed in her mind.

Outwardly, Leng Qingqiu remained composed, responding internally,

"Of course. But I’m warning you, Little Cold—I won’t harm anyone close to Gu Yan."

[Heh. If you took that power, it would benefit both you and her.]

Leng Qingqiu didn’t fully grasp her meaning but retorted sharply,

"Shut up, Little Cold! I won’t do such a thing!"

[You won’t, but others might. Take the cauldron, for example—]

The moment she mentioned it, Leng Qingqiu scoffed internally,

"Pfft, Little Cold, you really don’t understand Gu Yan at all."

"Gu Yan has no schemes or cunning—he’s utterly guileless. How could you even think he’d do something like that?"

True, aside from occasionally being a bit… perverted,

Gu Yan had no real flaws.

[...You’ll regret this.]

Little Cold submerged into silence.

There was no reasoning with her other self anymore.

She was beyond persuasion.

And…

Strangely,

even though her heightened perception should have satisfied her,

for some reason, the interaction between Gu Yan and her other self earlier left her inexplicably… frustrated.

Huh? Frustrated? Since when did she even have such emotions?

Little Cold fell into deep thought.

Then—

Click, click, click!

The lights dimmed, and melodious music filled the venue.

The crowd paused,

then quickly adjusted their appearances.

The next moment—

A host stepped onto the stage, his posture upright and his attire impeccable, exuding a natural, professional charm.

With a smile, he adjusted the microphone and tapped it lightly, producing a few crisp thud-thud sounds.

As the test tones echoed, the murmurs and chatter in the venue gradually quieted, and all eyes turned back to the stage.

The host’s voice was clear and magnetic as he began his opening remarks.

"Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, good evening."

"Welcome to the annual Gu Family gala. We deeply appreciate your presence despite your busy schedules."

"Tonight, we gather not only to celebrate the achievements of the past year but also to embrace new opportunities and challenges ahead."

"......"

"......"

After these brief introductory words, the host raised his voice enthusiastically:

"Now, let’s give a warm round of applause for the founders of tonight’s banquet—Grandmother Gu and Old Master Gu!"

His tone brimmed with reverence.

Clap-clap-clap—!!

Amid thunderous applause, Grandmother Gu and Old Master Gu ascended the stage.

The banquet officially commenced.

Meanwhile, Gu Yan spotted a familiar face—

A young maid in an evening gown, standing below the stage, her gaze darting as if searching for something.

Noticing this, Gu Yan glanced at Gu Zihua, whose expression had darkened not far away.

A faint smirk curled at the corner of his lips.

The show was about to begin.