Chapter 50

Xu Qingran asked him, "How many uncles do you have?"

"I don't know. A lot, I guess. I only know a few of them and my youngest uncle."

Clearly, the Xu Family had come forward mainly to address the rumors about Shen Tingyu and Xu Qingran that had been making such a fuss lately.

During the interview, Shen Tianyi's second uncle answered the host's question in a serious, solemn tone. "That's right. The eldest young master of the Xu Family of Xu Construction in Silver Dragon Camp did indeed match with one of the children in our Shen Family at 99% soul compatibility."

"However, his match isn't Tingyu. It's my youngest nephew, Shen Tianyi."

The second uncle had a stern face. He remained composed throughout the interview, without a hint of a smile. "We originally intended to wait until Tianyi was older and had developed some affection for Mr. Xu before making the announcement."

"However, the pressure of public opinion has been too great lately. After consulting with the empire's Soulmate System department, we decided to let everyone know today. As for the engagement and wedding, we'll certainly wait until Tianyi is old enough to marry before making plans..."

The Shen Family's response today was bound to spark heated discussion across major online platforms.

When Xu Qingran logged back onto the Star's Edge Forum, the hottest forum in the country, the front page was once again flooded with related posts. He clicked in for a look and saw that everyone was shocked and crying over the news. The people of Golden Wing in particular simply couldn't accept his arrival.

Silver Dragon Camp, meanwhile, was watching the drama for laughs, enthusiastically seeing him off.

The old post speculating that his match was Boss Chen had also been bumped back up. The commenter who had said the gossip involved a major family was flooded with replies saying that he had been the real subject of the gossip, and people were calling on those who had made bets back then to come fulfill their promises.

In the hottest new post, Xu Qingran also came across some amusing comments.

[Floor 7888: So does this mean everything Xu Qingran said on that livestream was a lie?]

[Floor 9127: It must be! Thank goodness, sob... the admiral hasn't been sullied after all!]

[Floor 12651: Young Master Xu must have said it on purpose to upset us. Compared to today's official announcement, I actually feel a little relieved.]

[Floor 27779: Xu Qingran: Under the same roof, I can do whatever I want to your dream guy. There are some things you don't need a perfect soul match to do, you know ^_^.]

After posting a reply on his main account under his real name, Xu Qingran left the thread, satisfied.

Then he spotted that strange post on the front page again, the one saying Shen Tingyu couldn't get it up. He didn't know when it had been bumped back up.

He thought for a moment, took a photo with his phone, and sent it to the person he had just added last night.

He asked quite sincerely: [[Image]]

[Admiral, is this true?]

A few minutes later, a new message popped up.

[Shen Tingyu: ?]

Satisfied, Xu Qingran put down his phone and continued browsing the forum on his tablet. Suddenly, he came across another discussion post that had attracted some attention.

Title: Second Young Master Xu's school admission banquet is next week! Starting a thread now, and I'll livestream the grand banquet so you guys can see what a wealthy family's party looks like!

Chapter 22: Youngest Auntie

Xu Qingran opened the post.

The Xu Family was clearly very proud that Xu Qing'an had secured a place at the medical school, and planned to host a banquet for their guests at the seven-star Royal Silver Dragon Hotel in the Andromeda Galaxy. It was set for next Saturday. The guests included relatives from every branch of the Xu Family, all of Xu Qing'an's classmates from his year in secondary school, and schoolmates he was close to.

In short, more than half the school had been invited, including the teachers.

It was quite a grand affair, and the Xu Family had repeatedly brought it up to show off during interviews recently, so quite a few people were following it.

Someone also asked: Will the Xu Family's eldest young master be there too?

Xu Qingran tapped the line lightly with his finger.

He hadn't received an invitation, let alone any notice from the Xu Family. If he hadn't happened to see this post, he would almost have forgotten about it.

Since the Xu Family hadn't invited him, he hadn't been interested in attending anyway. But then he recalled the undeserved abuse he and the original owner had inexplicably taken when he first transmigrated, and narrowed his eyes in displeasure.

I've already taken the blame. If I don't actually stir up some trouble and make those rumors true, I don't think I'll feel quite right.

Sensing his thoughts, the system immediately sounded the alarm. "Dear host, what are you planning to do now?!"

Xu Qingran answered carelessly, "What could I do? I'm just going to join the fun and offer my congratulations. Don't think so badly of me."

The system thought there was no way it would believe its host.

And who had he learned that last sentence from? Why did it sound so familiar?!

Xu Qingran lounged lazily against the sofa, legs elegantly crossed, and continued lurking on the forum. The netizens' wildly different reactions to the news and to his own response kept him in a good mood all afternoon.

The Shen Family's announcement would undoubtedly make waves among the major families as well. Some business partnerships among the upper class might even have to be reconsidered to bring the Xu Family in. For now, however, they could only hold back and wait and see. Everything still depended on the Shen Family's final stance.

Although the Xu Family was wealthy, it paled somewhat in comparison to a great family like the Shens, which had centuries of history, influence in both politics and business, and even an imperial title. So over the past few days, Father Xu had, for once, been less disdainful when mentioning Xu Qingran, and had even started making excuses for his bad reputation of his own accord.

Xu Qingran knew nothing about any of this, and even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

Of course, when it came to this matter, some were happy and others were worried.

The Xu Family was naturally pleased, given the benefits involved. After all, merchants saw no distinction between factions. But Xu Qing'an, who had been waiting to laugh at Xu Qingran, was rather upset.

"Second Young Master Xu, you came to me back then and assured me with absolute confidence that you'd give me a great gift. I was all prepared, and I'd even planned to share the fun with my friends. And yet—was today's news what you promised me?"

In a bar in the Celestial God System's joint administrative zone for the two camps, Boss Chen sat in a corner partitioned off by a beaded curtain, looking dismissively at the young man standing before him. He sprawled across the long seat with his arms spread out, his short, crossed legs swaying slightly. The thick gold chain around his neck glittered in the light overhead.