Chapter 123: Dignity and Arrogance (3)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Ling Tao sat in his seat, looking timid and uncomfortable. The Lings used to have a big family business, but Ling Tao turned out to be a mediocre businessman who was barely keeping everything afloat. Thanks to their close relationship to the Guan Family, the past a few years things had been looking up. As a result of that, Ling Tao had always been submissive in front of Guan Jianlin and Ling Qi. He was already nervous whenever he spoke to Guan Jianlin, facing Ruan Zeyan alone, Ling Tao was terrified, especially after he saw Ruan Zeyan frown at him.

“Mr. Ruan. What brought you here today?”

Realizing that he was scaring his future father-in-law, Ruan Zeyan relaxed his brows and spoke in a soft voice. “Uncle, please don’t be nervous. I’m very sorry that I just showed up at your house without notice. It’s just that you have not answered the question I asked last night. Therefore, I brought a few gifts with me today, and hope that you will give me an answer.”

“What question?” Ling Tao was so nervous that he was drawing a blank.

Ruan Zeyan smiled, thinking that it was a nice smile. To Ling Tao, that smile was terrifying as if it was announcing his death.

“My question to you last night at the reception – will you give me your permission to marry your daughter?” Ruan Zeyan’s voice was deep and sexy. Suddenly, he remembered something and glanced at Qu Wan who was sitting next to Ling Tao, “I mean your biological daughter, Ling Tianya.”

Ruan Zeyan placed a strong emphasis on the word “biological”. Qu Wan’s face turned red as she remembered the humiliation she and her daughter had endured the previous night when they thought Ruan Zeyan wanted to marry Ling Yuqing. Not only did they make giant fools of themselves, Ling Yuqing even got slapped on the face by Ling Qi.

Qu Wan’s face was twitching, but she kept herself quiet. What could she say at that point? Ruan Zeyan had said Ling Tao’s daughter, and Ling Tianya was indeed Ling Tao’s daughter. Probably in Ruan Zeyan’s eyes, a step daughter like Ling Yuqing did not even count as Ling Tao’s daughter.

Qu Wan’s heart was filled with detest. She couldn’t hate Ling Tao and didn’t dare to hate Ruan Zeyan. Ultimately her hatred was targeted at Ling Tianya.

Ling Tao was perplexed by the question. Ruan Zeyan had carried Ling Tianya straight out of the party last night, and he came back today to ask the father’s permission?

At that moment, Madam Ling became impatient and asked, “What about Meiyi? What is Meiyi going to do?”

“Miss Guan?” Ruan Zeyan smiled lightly, “What does Miss Guan have to do with me?”

When Madam Ling heard that, she almost choked. “She certainly has something to do with you! You two were promised to each other as kids, and your parents really like her too, don’t they?”

“You said it there. It’s my parents who like her, not me.” Ruan Zeyan said in a detached tone. Madam Ling looked like she swallowed her own tongue.

Ling Tao sensed that Ruan Zeyan was not joking around, so he asked, “Mr. Ruan, if you don’t mind me asking, how did you and Yaya start? How come we had no idea about it?”

“How did they start? Ling Tianya must have seduced him!” Madam Ling blurted. She couldn’t contain her rage.

Ling Tao was scared to death by what had been said. If Madam Ling was accusing Ling Tianya of seducing Ruan Zeyan in his face, she was accusing him too.

As expected, Ruan Zeyan’s face turned dark.

Ling Tao started to panic while Madam Ling realized how impropriate her words were and looked embarrassed too.

“Ling Tianya and I started six years ago.”

Ruan Zeyan opened his mouth and Ling Tao’s panic turned into him being startled. “Six years ago? Didn’t they just meet each other?”

“Six years ago, was when I first saw Ling Tianya, an apprentice at a coffee shop. I didn’t know that a barista girl would turn out to be the princess from the Ling Family. I admire your way of educating your daughter, Uncle, teaching Ling Tianya to be independent from a young age.”

Ruan Zeyan said those words in a calm voice, but in Ling Tao’s ears, they sounded more like an accusation. Ling Tao felt like his face was on fire.