He Said He'd Missed Me So Much the Moment He Came Back

Long Aotian really hadn't come to help Xiao Fan this time. Just as he'd said, he wanted to meet the eldest young master of the Lin Family. Long Aotian looked down on Xiao Fan's old methods: always hitting on women and resorting to underhanded tactics.

He was different. He hit on men—no, he simply got to know the young masters of the various families and sought out opportunities to work with them, so Dragon Gate could expand across every province and city.

His approach was more respectable than Xiao Fan's, but there was one problem: that expression of his seemed to be a Dragon Gate trademark.

"Hello. To be honest, I don't think much of Dragon Gate. So, Mr. Long, you understand."

He'd only just arrived, and he was already smiling at me so lasciviously. He definitely wasn't a good person. Back, back, back!

"Heh. Mr. Lin, under my leadership, Dragon Gate will surely make you see us in a new light. I came by this time just to say hello. I hope we can work with Lin Corporation Group in the future."

Long Aotian held on to that incredibly difficult smile, his face full of confidence.

Lin Ao wondered if Long Aotian was planning to take Xiao Fan down. Infighting within Dragon Gate? Now that would be a stroke of luck.

Still, this guy probably couldn't beat Xiao Fan. They'd never met before, so he was probably just another stepping stone for Xiao Fan.

Poor kid. He probably wouldn't even know what hit him when the time came.

Long Aoren saw that Lin Ao wasn't answering. Instead, he was looking at him with sympathy, which left Aoren utterly confused. That distinctive smile was getting harder and harder to maintain; his face was practically twitching.

What was going on? After all that I'd said, he could at least reply with a couple of polite words.

"Lin Ao! You're here?"

A clear, ethereal voice rang out, coming to Long Aotian's rescue. He seized the chance to turn away and work the muscles in his face. Any later, and they really would have cramped up.

"What are you doing here? Did they invite you to perform?"

Lin Ao turned to look. It was Xia Qiange. Had the Qin Family invited her to perform at their birthday banquet? He hadn't heard anything about that.

"What are you talking about? Qin Yun, the eldest daughter of the Qin Family, is my best friend. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to come?"

Xia Qiange didn't make any overly intimate gestures toward Lin Ao, given how many people were here.

Just then, Gu Wanqing noticed something unusual happening over by Lin Ao. She excused herself from a few friends and walked over.

"Lin Ao~ Are these two your friends? Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Gu Wanqing came to Lin Ao's side, hooked her arm through his, and looked at Xia Qiange and Long Aoren.

She'd noticed the [Destiny Path has been left] notification.

Lin Ao shivered. Xia Qiange also narrowed her eyes, smiling as she looked at Lin Ao and Gu Wanqing.

She'd seen the notification that had appeared over Gu Wanqing, too.

"Oh, right. This is Xia Qiange, a friend I met a while back. And this is..."

Lin Ao was just about to introduce Long Aotian, who immediately put on that devilishly charming smile again. But Gu Wanqing cut him off before he could finish.

"Oh, I see~ The national goddess, Xia Qiange. A pleasure to meet you, Miss Xia~ You're even prettier in person than you are on camera. How did you meet my fiancé?"

Though Gu Wanqing's voice was gentle, anyone could sense the murderous intent lurking beneath it.

Lin Ao noticed that something was off about Gu Wanqing, while Long Aotian's smile was on the verge of making his face cramp again.

Damn it! I knew women would cause trouble. First she interrupted my conversation with Mr. Lin, and now she cuts him off while he's introducing me.

"Heh~ You must be Miss Gu Wanqing, right? I borrowed Lin Ao's place for a shoot once. Then I noticed how handsome and well-built he was, so I invited him to play the male lead in my music video! I didn't expect him to actually say yes~ That's how we met~ Have you seen it, Miss Gu? I was hoping to work with Mr. Lin on my next music video, too. I had no idea he was so popular with my fans~"

Just as Xia Qiange said, her fans had all agreed that Lin Ao was good-looking. They'd declared that they were shipping Xia Qiange and Lin Ao, and that he should be the only man to appear in her future music videos.

Lin Ao looked at the foxlike eyes of Xia Qiange—Xia Qingge—and the corner of his mouth twitched. Great. Gu Wanqing really hadn't seen that music video.

He looked helplessly at Xia Qiange. The corner of her mouth curled into an inscrutable smile.

He turned guiltily toward Gu Wanqing and found her glaring at him murderously.

"Oh~ So that's how it was. I've been so busy lately that I haven't paid much attention to what my fiancé's been up to. I'll go watch it later."

As she kept her arm linked with Lin Ao's, Gu Wanqing secretly pinched him harder and harder.

Lin Ao broke out in a cold sweat. Long Aotian didn't dare say a word, either. He could tell the atmosphere was getting a little strange.

"Lin Ao~ Miss Gu~"

"Uncle Lin Ao~ Sister Gu~~"

Lin Ao's heart leaped. Again?

He hadn't even had a proper chance to talk things over with Liu Menghan about what happened that afternoon. Still, given that girl's personality, she probably wouldn't do anything too outrageous. Only then did Lin Ao relax a little.

Liu Menghan was walking slowly toward them, carrying Liu Nian.

Gu Wanqing's fingers seemed to dig in even harder.

"Lin Ao~ Why didn't you tell me you were coming when I was at your house this afternoon?"

Liu Menghan stopped beside Long Aotian. She didn't sit down, just stood there talking to Lin Ao.

Long Aotian felt like he didn't belong there at all. He gave an awkward cough and moved to the single-seat sofa nearby, sitting down quietly to make room.

Only then did Liu Menghan sit down with Liu Nian in her arms.

Xia Qiange was a little surprised. This woman and the little girl had the same kind of notification, too.

Were they all connected to Lin Ao? Then they all had memories of their past lives.

The women glanced at one another.

"..."

Lin Ao was sitting on pins and needles.

"It's been a while, Miss Gu~ It's all Lin Ao's fault for being gone so long. The moment he came back, he said he'd missed me so much."

"...home, Niannian. So I went over to see him today."

Liu Menghan acted perfectly natural after sitting down, but her words were another matter entirely.

Liu Nian silently marveled. Her aunt had finally leveled up.

Lin Ao sat stiffly, unable to get a word in. Liu Menghan, Liu Menghan, since when had this bunny learned to pause in the middle of a sentence like that?

The three women sized one another up. Sparks seemed to fly through the air.

Ever since Long Aotian had left that spot, he'd felt much more at ease.

He watched the show with narrowed eyes.

"Big brother, are you Uncle Lin Ao's friend?"

Long Aotian stared in astonishment at the little girl who had suddenly appeared beside him. Wasn't she the child that woman had been holding just now?

She was pretty cute.

"Heh~ My name's Long Aotian! I'm Dragon Gate's Special Envoy—no, I'm the man who's about to become its leader! What's your name, little girl?"

Long Aotian bragged a little to the innocent-looking Liu Nian, but then he figured a little girl probably wouldn't understand anyway.

"Hehehe, hello, Uncle Long~ My name's Liu Nian~ You sound even more impressive than Uncle Lin Ao."

Liu Nian's praise coaxed Long Aotian into wearing that trademark smile again.

"Auntie, Sister Gu, he said he's with Dragon Gate!"

Liu Nian turned and called out to Gu Wanqing and Liu Menghan.

Long Aotian was completely baffled. What was wrong with being from Dragon Gate?

But when he looked up, he found all three women staring at him with murderous intent.

"..."

By now, Liu Nian had already run into Lin Ao's arms, glaring fiercely at Long Aotian, too. Now there were four women.

Aotian was speechless. He felt awful. What was going on? Those women's glares were terrifying!

"Um... I... think..."

Long Aotian stiffly tried to explain that he hadn't come to oppose Lin Ao.

The master of ceremonies' voice rang out over the hall's speakers.

"The guest of honor has arrived~~~"

Everyone's attention was drawn over, and Aoren couldn't help secretly breathing a sigh of relief.

Qin Yun emerged slowly from within, dressed in an elegant red qipao, with the old master of the Qin Family on her arm.

Xiao Fan walked beside the old master, chatting and laughing with him.

"Tsk!"

Lin Ao watched the smile on Xiao Fan's face, then looked back at Long Aotian.

They really did come out of the same mold.

Long Aotian: "?"