Old Master Situ replied indifferently, âEven if sheâs related to me by blood, weâre four generations apart. The paternity test wonât be very accurate, so I canât confirm which of my grandsons or sons she belongs to.
âPresident Gu, I know you care about her a lot, butâ¦â Old Master Situâs expression turned cold. âPlease donât interfere in the Situ familyâs matters. Whether sheâs a member of the Situ family or not is up to me. Whether sheâs qualified to be the heiress or not is also up to me. â
Gu Zheng was silent for a moment before he curled his lips. âOld Master, youâre right. I have no right to interfere in the Situ familyâs matters, but Xi Xi is my wife. Moreover, she doesnât know about her relationship with the Situ family. I hope the Situ family wonât hurt her and bring her over without any notice in the future.â
The butler frowned. âPresident Gu, regardless of whether Miss Qiao is of the Situ familyâs bloodline or not, we wonât hurt her. Youâre overthinking it.â
Gu Zhengâs eyes turned cold. âI donât much to say about the internal affairs of the Situ family. Everyone knows very well that you donât care about kinship at all. All you care about is the familyâs interests. If it werenât for your heaven-defying actions, your descendants wouldnât have been plagued by illness for generations.â
These words hit Old Master Situâs sore spot. If he had not been so heartless back then, his son would not have gotten such an illness.
Old Master Situ did not look too good and did not answer. The butler hurriedly went forward to explain, âPresident Gu, youâve misunderstood us. We were very polite to Miss Qiao and did not treat her harshly.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Gu Zhengâs expression softened a little. âOld Master, itâs better if this doesnât happen again.â
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Zheng nodded slightly at Old Master Situ before turning to leave.
The butler comforted him, saying, âOld Master, donât take President Guâs words to heart. Heâs just worried about Miss Qiao. He doesnât have any ill intentions. Moreover, you canât be blamed for those things.â
âHeâs indeed not an ordinary person. He actually knows the Situ familyâs secret. The reason heâs so angry is because heâs afraid that Iâll do the same thing to Xi Xi. Perhaps heâll try his best to minimize my contact with Xi Xi in the future.â
The butler looked sad. âSir doesnât blame youâ¦â The âsirâ he was talking about was Old Master Situâs son.
His words were only to comfort Old Master Situ. It was impossible to say that he did not blame the old master. Old Master Situâs son was seriously ill, while his grandson had been missing for many years. Now, they had to rely on him, a 100-year-old man, to support the Situ family.
Old Master Situ sighed helplessly. âForget it. Itâs pointless to regret anything now. I should just treat Xi Xi better.â
The butler said helplessly, âTang Ruge is just a clown. With Miss Qiaoâs strength and President Guâs protection, she definitely wonât lose out. You donât have to interfere in this matter. Moreover, Iâm afraid you donât know that Qingyuan Pavilion is under Miss Qiaoâs name.â
âI see! I was thinking too much. I thought that she would be bullied by that girl from the Tang family.â Old Master Situ finally relaxed.
On the other hand, Qiao Xi and Gu Zheng got into the car. Gu Zheng asked, âWhat did you two talk about before I came?â
Qiao Xi thought for a moment and replied truthfully, âNothing much. Tang Ruge has acknowledged Qi Zhong as her master and wants to show off in front of me.
âHence, Old Master Situ gave me a list of artists and asked me to choose one of them to be my master. He wants to hold a grand apprenticeship banquet for me. I donât think Old Master Situ has any ill intentions. He seems to be standing up for me.â
Even though Qiao Xi did not understand why the old man would do this, it was obvious that this was his intention. Perhaps he had deeper intentions, but Qiao Xi did not know about that.
Gu Zheng was not interested in Tang Ruge becoming someoneâs disciple. Instead, he asked, âIs there an artist you like on that list? Do you want to become someoneâs disciple?â
Qiao Xi shook her head. âThereâs no need for me to take anyone as my master anymore. Iâve been learning how to paint from my grandfather since I was young. My style is already very mature. If I take someone else as my master and learn another style, itâll be inappropriate. Moreover, my grandfather has gone missing. If he finds out that Iâve taken someone else as my master, heâll definitely be sad.
âWhat if Han Ye wants to take you in as his disciple?â Gu Zhengâs tone was indifferent. It seemed to be a casual sentence, but in reality, he was already starting to feel nervous. His heart was beating violently.
Qiao Xi thought for a moment and said, âItâs indeed very difficult to refuse Han Ye if he wants to take me in as his disciple, but Iâm afraid that even if I learn from him, it wonât change much.â