Chapter 245: Chapter 225: Heart Stirred

"Shaolian is defying me. If he hadn’t deliberately hidden things, would I be this completely in the dark?" Gu Shaojun frowned. "I thought he was keeping an eye on her, which put my mind at ease. Who knew the little brat had such ill intentions!"

Wei Zhenqing looked at him, amused. "Don’t forget, Xiao Man was originally the ’little sister’ Shaolian found on the street. But you came along later and quietly swooped in, inexplicably becoming her fiancé... Anyone in his shoes would be upset. He’s allowed to be a little moody. Just cut him some slack!"

"What do you mean, ’quietly’? Or ’inexplicably’?" Gu Shaojun said, his expression completely composed. "I was the one who chose to meet under the great banyan tree that day, and Xiao Man happened to end up there. She had missed her bus and had nowhere to go. If Shaolian hadn’t approached her, she would have still been sitting there, waiting for me! And all of you saw it—from the very first moment, she only trusted me! Besides, you, Shaozheng, and Shaolian watched with your own eyes what Xiao Man tied around my neck. Such a valuable item... If it wasn’t a token of her love, what kind of girl would just part with it?"

Wei Zhenqing: ...

’But she said it wasn’t a love token back then, and you even said you didn’t want it. You only wore it reluctantly. Now you’re completely changing your tune!’

"During your physical, you didn’t have anything on you. Did you lose her token of affection?!"

Gu Shaojun lowered his gaze. "I’ve committed it to my heart. I lost it on the battlefield; she’ll forgive me!"

"What kind of luck do you have? You randomly meet a girl and end up with this deep, fated connection! She gives you a love token without knowing you at all, and after all these twists and turns, she somehow becomes your actual fiancée! It’s unbelievable. When I finally meet her, I’ll have to ask her what that was all about. But you... look at the mess you’ve made. You went and broke off the engagement so bravely and decisively!"

Wei Zhenqing looked at Gu Shaojun, his smile full of schadenfreude.

Gu Shaojun was dejected as well. He turned his head to face the mountains and sighed. This only made Wei Zhenqing more delighted. "Well, now! Is our great Young Master Gu actually sighing? So sorrowful, so lovesick. Does that little slip of a girl even understand? It seems she’s nothing like your old flame, Xuanxuan."

"What do you mean by that?" Gu Shaojun’s eyes turned cold.

"My point is, Xuanxuan was more mature. She had her romantic awakening early and knew how to seize every chance to stick close to her fiancé. Your Little Manman, on the other hand, still seems so innocent and naive. She throws a Jade Token at you, adamantly denies it’s a token of affection, and then runs away without a second thought for you! You write her letters and send her things, and how many times has she replied? Once? Twice? And she even shared an envelope with Shaolian... The girl has absolutely no idea what love is!"

Gu Shaojun remained silent. ’It was precisely because she’s so young and innocent that I decided to stake my claim early. I wanted to clear away all the obstacles between us while she was still too naive to understand. Who could have known that a bizarre twist of fate would lead to this?’

’She probably only got close to me on a whim, but I was the one whose heart was truly moved. To fall for someone for the first time at twenty... no one would believe it, and I wouldn’t even know how to begin to explain it!’

’Even Wei Zhenqing assumes I was forced to accept that "token of affection" and that’s the only reason I’m hung up on Xiao Man.’

Tempered by the baptism of war, Gu Shaojun had come to many realizations, and his resolve had only strengthened: he wanted a wonderful romance, and he wanted the lovely girl his heart had chosen!

’The girl his heart desired was still so young, so inexperienced and naive about the ways of the world. He wanted to protect her, to influence her, to make it so that her heart, her eyes, and her very soul would belong only to him!’

That was why he had been so desperate to annul his engagement to the Tang family. The sooner, the better—it would be a win-win for the young girl, for himself, and even for Xuanxuan!

The only guilt he felt was toward the young girl. As the eldest grandson, he’d had to accept the burden of a marriage alliance, and even an annulment could cast a shadow over her. He felt no remorse toward the Tang family or Xuanxuan. It had always been a political marriage; if it succeeded, both sides would benefit, and if it failed, they would simply part ways. The elders’ idea of using a loveless marriage to strengthen family ties was something he could never agree with, but as the eldest grandson, he’d had to obey. If he had never met his little girl, he wouldn’t have minded playing the part of a dutiful descendant. But now that he had met her, and it wasn’t too late, he refused to be bound by those shackles!

’But he never, ever imagined fate would deal him such a devastating blow... Switched at birth? How could something like that actually happen? This is going to be the death of me!’

Seeing Gu Shaojun walk straight ahead with a grim, silent expression, Wei Zhenqing knew his destination was clear: the battalion office. He was in a rush to make a call.

He couldn’t help but laugh. "I did try to arrange things like you wanted, but whether or not he’ll cooperate is another story! Shaolian’s no rookie anymore; he’s slick now. If he can avoid you once, he can manage it again. He suddenly got an assignment and took off, so he’s not there waiting for you. You’re too far away to do anything about it! But... the little girl has a phone number. Your old pal here had to pull a lot of strings to get it. Shaolian wouldn’t give it up, but luckily, I’m resourceful. I have my connections... Hey, hey, what’s with that look? Just wait till you call home; we’ll see how smug you are then! I’m warning you, your grandfather has been stewing. He’s just waiting to take aim at you! I made a call on your behalf earlier, and he nearly blew my head off! And your father..."

"First, tell me how you got the little girl’s phone number. What connections?" Gu Shaojun stopped and took a few steps back, his handsome eyes as cold as winter stars, fixed on Wei Zhenqing’s face.

Wei Zhenqing was at a loss for words. ’We’re both from reconnaissance. As long as the mission is accomplished, who cares about the methods used?’

"As long as it wasn’t through any shady means!"

"I need to know who she’s around these days."

"Ha! As if you knew anything about the people around her before."

"Through Shaolian, she’s bound to have met his comrades. For you to get her number so quickly, your ’connection’ must be one of the people around Shaolian!"

Wei Zhenqing scoffed. "Fine, I’ll talk. Remember that person I bumped into at the field hospital last time? The one I exchanged a few extra words with?"

Gu Shaojun thought for a moment and nodded. "I saw him in Wancheng. Yang had him and Shaolian drive Xiao Man home."

"That’s him, Xiao Zhao. I know where he is now. Since that brat Shaolian wasn’t cooperating, I casually gave Xiao Zhao a call for a chat. You know, ask about his injury, see how he’s doing otherwise... and it was an unexpected stroke of luck! Did you know he’s dating a girl?"

Gu Shaojun: ...

’What does that have to do with me?’

"Xiao Zhao’s girlfriend is from the same village as Xiao Man! When Xiao Man left for school in the county town, she asked his girlfriend to look after the elders in her family. She calls the girlfriend in the village every other day to check in, and if something comes up, the girlfriend calls Xiao Man at her school..."

Gu Shaojun turned and left before Wei Zhenqing could finish. Wei Zhenqing wasn’t usually a man of many words, but once you got him going, he was like an open floodgate. Gu Shaojun didn’t have time to listen to him ramble; he had to make a phone call.

The thought of hearing his little girl’s voice soon made Gu Shaojun wish his shoes would sprout wheels. Wei Zhenqing, trailing behind, blinked once and Gu Shaojun’s figure had already vanished. He couldn’t help but shake his head with a wry smile. ’Showing off like that in broad daylight. Everyone knows about the Gu family’s secret techniques; there’s no way I could ever catch up, not even on horseback.’

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