Chapter 378: Extra (2)

Li Xiu shot Li Xiangrui a sidelong glance, a brow cocked. A faint smile played on his lips as he addressed his precious son. "Still got your baby fat, huh? And you already want to compete with your dad? I think you should wait until your feathers have fully grown in!"

"Mom! Mommy! Look, Dad’s just bullying your precious son! Go get him!" Li Xiangrui whined, shaking Zhou Lian’s arm. He shot his father, Li Xiu, a look that was half-pout, half-challenge, his voice still holding a boyish pitch as he tried to get his mother on his side.

Patting Li Xiangrui’s hand, Zhou Lian said with a gentle smile, "Yanyan, you *are* more handsome than your father. You just haven’t fully grown into your looks yet. When you do, you’ll definitely be an absolute heartthrob!"

This wasn’t just Zhou Lian placating Li Xiangrui. To be fair, Li Xiu was undeniably handsome, but it was his disposition that was truly one in a million. He could be gentle or domineering. When he smiled, it was like the warmth of spring as flowers bloomed. When he didn’t, his aura was intimidating. Most people overlooked his actual appearance, finding themselves captivated by his sheer presence instead.

But Li Xiangrui’s features had inherited the best of both his parents. At thirteen or fourteen, he already had the air of a figure from a classic poem—a handsome youth on a spring outing, apricot blossoms swirling around him, the very picture of romantic grace. Since childhood, Li Xiangrui had studied the Four Books, the Five Classics, and the Six Arts of a gentleman, then entered the modern, exam-oriented school system at age five or six. This gave him the bones of a classical gentleman, as gentle and refined as jade, combined with the spirited, modern air of his schoolmates. In another two years, he would truly be that dashing young man from the poems: dressed in thin spring robes, leaning on his horse by a bridge while all the ladies in the pavilion waved their red sleeves for him.

Giving his son a displeased glance, Li Xiu wasn’t so childish as to actually argue about who was better looking. He smoothed his expression, gave his son a meaningful look, and asked, "Are there a lot of young ladies your age?"

"Heh, it’s not like you don’t know, Dad! But really, do I look that stupid? Every single one of them tries to sweet-talk me like I’m some clueless little kid!" Li Xiangrui gave a scornful laugh, looking at his parents with an exasperated sigh.

Shaking his head, Li Xiu said softly, "It’s not that they really see you as a child to be coddled. It’s that the benefits involved are significant enough for them to conveniently ignore your intelligence. But surely you can handle a minor scene like this, right?"

"It’s not that. It’s just that today is my sister’s coming-of-age ceremony, and I don’t want to make things ugly," Li Xiangrui said with a scoff. He glanced at the worried look on Zhou Lian’s face and quickly pasted a smile back on. "Mom, don’t worry about me. This is all small potatoes; I can handle it. I was just taking the chance to whine to you and Dad a little!"

"Bao’er, don’t worry." Li Xiu looked at Zhou Lian’s worried expression and explained gently, "Yanyan has been clever since he was a child, and he’s studied a wide variety of things. He just saw you and wanted to play the spoiled child for a moment. Such a big boy, and he’s not even embarrassed!" But inwardly, he was glowing with pride. ’Across the entire Capital City, you’d be hard-pressed to find more than a handful of young masters or ladies his age who could compare to my son!’

Seeing the pride in Li Xiu’s eyes and then Li Xiangrui’s nonchalant act, Zhou Lian smiled and shook her head. ’This father and son...’ she thought fondly. She said gently, "Alright, let’s head in. It’s about time, and Nuonuo should be ready."

The father-son pair, Li Xiu and Li Xiangrui, exchanged a look, reaching a wordless understanding. Li Xiangrui gently took Zhou Lian’s arm. "Mom, I’ll go with you to see my sister. Dad, you can go greet the guests first. By the way, Dad, a lot of unmarried young men came today!"

’As if his sister is someone these commoners can even think about coveting,’ he thought. ’In Dad’s heart, Mom is number one, and Sis is number two. She’s his precious little girl, the flower he has so carefully nurtured. Now that someone dares to have designs on his flower... we’ll see if they can get past him first!’

Seeing her son’s wicked grin, Zhou Lian gave him a helpless look. "Rein it in a little. Not that I don’t feel like losing my temper too, but if anyone gets too out of line, we can always deal with them... privately."

Her own daughter had only just come of age, and already so many vultures were circling. It would be a wonder if Zhou Lian were happy about it. People who were familiar with her knew Zhou Lian as a gentle and kind person, but only those who truly understood her knew that as long as you didn’t provoke her husband, son, or daughter, everything else was on the table.

Opening the door, she saw Li Xianglin sitting at her vanity, completely ready. Zhou Lian’s eyes grew slightly misty. Her daughter stood before her, tall and graceful, as beautiful as a newly bloomed plum blossom. It reminded her of her past life, when her daughter had just started college and she and her son were discussing taking her away. She had been just as beautiful then, with the same proud, aloof air.

Her waist-length hair was simply tied back in a half-updo, but on her head sat an exquisite and opulent tiara, one Li Xiu had personally designed and commissioned. She wore a white, embroidered, modern-style Hanfu, complemented by a full set of pink diamond jewelry—a coming-of-age gift Li Xiu had specifically acquired at auction for his precious daughter.

When Li Xianglin saw her mother and brother enter the room, the blank look on her face instantly melted into a gentle smile. "Mom, Yanyan, you’re here," she said in her usual cool, clear voice. "Where’s Dad?"

"The guests arrived early, and there are a lot of them, so your father went to greet them," Zhou Lian said, shaking her head with a smile. "Nuonuo, you don’t need to think about anything tonight. Just enjoy your coming-of-age party. Mom and Dad have everything else handled." ’This daughter of mine,’ she thought, ’she’ll never stop being such a worrier!’

Li Xiangrui went over and took his sister’s hand, pulling her up to stand. He walked around her twice, his face beaming. "You look so beautiful, Sis! The most beautiful in the whole world!"

Gently patting the hand Li Xiangrui was holding, Li Xianglin looked to Zhou Lian and asked, "Mom, does it look nice? Isn’t it a little too extravagant?"

"You look beautiful. It’s not too extravagant at all. Your father originally wanted to set his largest diamond in the tiara, but I stopped him because I was afraid it would be too ostentatious. He did, however, have it designed so it can be taken apart to become a necklace, which you can wear when you get married," Zhou Lian said nonchalantly, gently adjusting the tiara on Li Xianglin’s head.

’Her precious daughter looked beautiful no matter how she dressed. As for worldly possessions, whether she liked them or not, it was fine to let her do as she pleased.’ Zhou Lian herself wasn’t very interested in sparkling diamonds; she had always preferred things like jade and jadeite. Seeing other people with such things, Li Xiu had spared no expense to acquire many valuable diamonds, but luckily, his daughter quite liked them. That one large diamond, for example, was something Li Xiu had obtained as a coming-of-age gift for his daughter, with the intention of setting it in her tiara.

But sometimes, one still had to be a little discreet. Besides, Li Xianglin wasn’t the type to enjoy being the center of attention, which is why Zhou Lian had stopped Li Xiu. That said, the set of pink diamonds Li Xianglin was currently wearing was worth a king’s ransom. From the tiara to the necklace, earrings, bracelet, anklet, and ring, the entire suite was made of five-carat pink diamonds set in platinum. Back when they had it commissioned, someone had even offered a sky-high price to buy just one of the diamonds.