Chapter 4: The Male Lead of the Broken Engagement Story

Xie Ting’an kept his eyes closed, recalling historical figures who wanted to control the world, lying even more flatly. The interface of Task Two lingered in his mind, occasionally flashing the target location. Xie Ting’an gradually came back to his senses and discovered the highlight.

The Gu family is about to have a good event?

Can the Gu family still have a good event now?

Xie Ting’an opened his eyes, touched his chest, and confirmed it wasn’t this good event. Supporting his body to the mirror, Xie Ting’an saw the number on top of his head increase from 28 to 36.

If he remembered correctly, the boy who was knocked out the day before yesterday had a health value of just over forty.

Xie Ting’an contacted his life assistant, and after two hours of medical examination, he sat in the waiting area of a private hospital. During the gap while waiting for the medical report, his gaze swept over the numbers and colors above everyone’s heads.

Unlike what he saw in the clubhouse yesterday, most of the numbers above people’s heads in the hospital were below sixty, and the fonts were colorful.

Watching the people coming and going in front of him, Xie Ting’an focused for a long time and even managed to summarize some patterns.

People with yellow numbers above their heads generally went to internal medicine, red to surgery, blue to oncology, purple to psychiatry, and the orange he saw the night before was for infectious diseases. Pink was influenced by medication, and occasionally, a few with colorful numbers were pregnant.

“Mr. Xie, your medical report.” Assistant Xiao Qin came out with the report and immediately saw his boss talking to an old lady.

“You young man, what did you just say?” The old lady, hard of hearing, leaned closer to the well-dressed man in front of her.

“Ma’am, the internal medicine clinic is not here. Let me take you to the second floor.” Xie Ting’an raised his voice, patiently watching the old lady holding a registration slip, who had already circled here three times.

“How do you know where I’m going?” The old lady frowned, staring at the person in front of her with strong vigilance.

“You wouldn’t be a medical scammer, would you? I’m not going with you!”

“I’m here for a medical check-up, I won’t take you to another hospital.”

Xie Ting’an smiled lightly and glanced at the assistant beside him, taking the report from his hand, “Xiao Qin, thank you for your hard work.”

Assistant Qin understood, coaxing and supporting the old lady to the elevator. Xie Ting’an flipped through a few pages of his medical report. There were no major issues, but a bunch of minor ones, fortunately, none were fatal.

The light green number above his head should symbolize sub-health. According to Xie Ting’an’s observation, as long as there’s a hint of green, whether dark or light, there’s still room for improvement in health value.

The elevator door opened, and the assistant, after escorting the old lady, quickly came over. Just as he was about to discuss medical advice with the boss, he saw that the boss had already finished reading the medical report, his expression relaxed.

“Xiao Qin, contact Manager Liu and have her bring the bodyguard team to meet me.”

“Body, bodyguard?” Assistant Qin instinctively looked around, seeing a large group of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.

“Not here.”

Xie Ting’an closed his eyes, looking at the radar in his mind that constantly flashed the task location.

In the winter of Rong City, the air was filled with dry coldness. In the urban village, every household had already poked open the coal stove covered with half-wet coal ash overnight, and the coal smoke lingered in the courtyard, drifting upwards in a blue wisp.

Next to the urban village, in a dilapidated park, stood an old Western-style house. Once used by children as a haunted house, it was now inhabited. Most of the floorboards were rotten, with a pit at every step, almost all the window glass was broken, and thick smoke was billowing in the courtyard.

A girl in a black down jacket stood outside the courtyard of the old Western-style house, almost brought to tears by the smoke. She covered her nose with one hand and tightly held her phone with the other, aiming the phone’s camera through the cracked gate at the people inside the courtyard.

A gust of wind dispersed most of the smoke, and the courtyard was filled with coughing. A boy with a cold demeanor was about to stuff wood into a small coal stove when an angry middle-aged man snatched it away and stomped on it in frustration.

A middle-aged man who had never easily shed tears had his eyes reddened by the smoke, and the dozen or so burly thugs behind him were all coughing from the smoke.

“Gu Mingchen, do you even know how to start a fire? If you don’t want to break off the engagement, just say so. What’s with the smoke to choke people!”

“Mr. Sun, don’t be angry.” The old butler, wearing a thick gray cotton coat and a thick mask, came out of the old Western-style house, leisurely putting his hands into his sleeves.

“You are the young master’s future father-in-law. How could the young master intentionally drive you away?”

“Who is the father-in-law of this useless person!” Mr. Sun was so angry he almost jumped on the spot. “Unless I’m dead, I will never let him into my Sun family!”

The smoke became less choking, and the girl switched hands to film, pulling her sleeves out to warm her frozen fingertips.

On the screen, the tall boy said nothing, holding a pair of tongs with a piece of coal, seemingly not hearing the middle-aged man’s insulting words, focusing on the small smoking iron stove in the courtyard.

The girl was all too familiar with this kind of small iron stove. It could be carried outside when starting a fire, and once it stopped smoking, it could be brought inside to roast potatoes and sweet potatoes.

The girl quietly took out a handful of sunflower seeds from her pocket, staring at the scene on her phone. Suddenly, she heard footsteps approaching from behind. Thinking it was a neighbor from the urban village coming to watch the commotion, she didn’t turn her head and handed over half a handful of sunflower seeds.

The noise behind her paused for a moment, and someone took off their black leather gloves, accepting the half handful of sunflower seeds.

“Thank you.”

The voice behind her was steady and gentle. The girl waved her hand, kindly making some space, signaling the person to come closer and watch together.

“This grandfather and grandson are really unlucky,” the girl whispered. “Before, there wasn’t even a complete window here, no water, no electricity. They finally managed to tidy up and live for a couple of days, and now troublemakers have come.”

“What are these people here for?” The person behind her spoke softly, cracking open a sunflower seed and putting the kernel in his mouth.

“I don’t know. The last group came to seize the house.” The girl frowned, recalling what she had seen.

“Those people were really something, seeing that his grandson wasn’t around, they even laid hands on the old man.”

“Is that so.” Xie Ting’an raised an eyebrow, glancing at the old Western-style house in front of him.

If the location was correct, this should be the house Gu Qiu’s father gave to the old butler as a token of gratitude for saving his life.

Now, considering the age of this old Western-style house, it’s about eighty years old. Those who know about this and still come to cause trouble are likely relatives from the Gu family’s collateral branches.

“This time seems different from last time.” The girl suddenly noticed something, zooming in on the image on her phone. She saw Mr. Sun take out two items from his briefcase, a roll of red marriage certificate, and a document underneath.

“Gu Mingchen, listen carefully, no matter what tricks you pull!” Mr. Sun’s voice was loud, and even through the courtyard wall, Xie Ting’an could hear it clearly.

“This marriage with our Sun family, today you will break it off whether you want to or not!”

As soon as the words fell, outside the door, Xie Ting’an instantly realized what the system’s description of “Gu family is about to have a good event” was all about.

As the protagonist of the broken engagement story, Gu Mingchen, just after coming of age, was arranged by his parents to have a marriage. The other party’s surname was Sun, and it was said that the two young people had known each other since childhood, growing up together. However, the Sun family was in another province, and although they also ran a business, their family background was not as good as the Gu family’s. Considering the child’s excellence, Gu Qiu thought it over and agreed to the engagement.

After the Gu family incident, the Sun family, seeing the Gu family’s decline, immediately wanted to dissolve the engagement. In the book, the old butler tried to reason with them, but the marriage couldn’t be continued. Instead, due to his old age and overworking himself for this matter, he suddenly couldn’t get up one day, was sent to the hospital, and passed away.

Even with a death, the Sun family was relentless, using various threats and pressures. Gu Mingchen suffered a lot because of this, and finally insisted on meeting his fiancée. After getting a definite answer from her, Gu Mingchen tore up the marriage certificate in public and signed the contract to dissolve the engagement. He then fell seriously ill, almost dying in the snowy night of Rong City.

According to the book’s plot, this seemed to be one of the reasons why Gu Mingchen became so promiscuous later on.

And the system, coming from more than a year later, detected that the Gu family and the Sun family had a marriage contract, and the two families were still together, determining that the Gu family was about to have a good event, requiring Xie Ting’an to go and disrupt it. In reality, this marriage wouldn’t happen even if Xie Ting’an didn’t come.

“Mr. Sun, although I’m just a butler, I know that this marriage was something you actively sought at the time.”

The old butler’s voice came from the courtyard, trying to control the situation.

“At that time, you said that being able to marry into the Gu family was a blessing of three lifetimes, and you were very satisfied with the young master. Now that the young master’s parents are just temporarily missing, you bring people to break off the engagement. Isn’t that a bit too hasty?”

“Still calling him young master, coming to break off the engagement, is this a web drama?” The girl couldn’t help but whisper.

Xie Ting’an’s lips curved slightly, eating sunflower seeds without speaking.

“Old thing, don’t use polite words to fool people. Temporarily missing, they’ve been searched for months, the rescue team has returned, Gu Qiu and his wife are long gone!”

Mr. Sun was clearly out of patience with this matter, turning to Gu Mingchen, shaking the marriage certificate and contract in his hand, his words becoming harsher.

“My child has been unlucky for eight lifetimes to be involved with your Gu family! Gu Mingchen, if you have any sense of responsibility, tear up this marriage certificate and sign the contract to dissolve the engagement, so as not to drag others down!”

“Young master, he’s provoking you, you can’t sign.” The old man looked at Gu Mingchen, who was adding coal to the small stove, his expression serious. “I’ve already contacted your grandparents, just wait for them to come…”

“Old thing, you sure talk a lot. I know the situation of the Gu family. Even if the two old folks come, it won’t help. This marriage must be broken off, get out of my way!”

Mr. Sun interrupted the old butler, signaling to the thugs beside him. The thugs stepped forward, standing in front of Mr. Sun, ready to push the old butler.

Outside the door, both Xie Ting’an and the girl held their breath, nervously cracking sunflower seeds. They saw Gu Mingchen, who had been adding coal to the stove, not even turning his head, pulling the butler back a few steps to avoid the push. The warm tongs in his hand instantly lifted, pressing against the thug’s neck. His blue eyes lifted, cold and chilling, seemingly devoid of any emotion.

Meeting those cold eyes, Mr. Sun was momentarily stunned, then his face showed a hint of ferocity.

“Gu family boy, let me tell you clearly, because of this marriage, I’m now the laughingstock of the entire family. This marriage must be canceled. I brought so many people to Rong City today, even if I have to fight, I’ll make you agree!”

The thugs in the courtyard instantly surged forward, fierce and menacing, with faces full of flesh. The girl was startled, grabbing the person behind her.

“Should we call the police?”

Xie Ting’an quietly watched the screen on the girl’s phone, where two thugs turned their heads, looking towards the gate.

The person behind her didn’t speak. The girl instinctively turned around, only to find that the person standing behind her wasn’t the neighbor she had imagined.

It was a completely unfamiliar yet stunning face. The man stood tall, his black coat spotless, holding the half handful of sunflower seeds she had handed over, surrounded by a faint glow, as if he had just walked out of a painting.

“You, you…” The girl couldn’t help but stutter, her gaze sweeping over the man, noticing that behind him was a middle-aged woman in a jacket and a team of at least a dozen bodyguards.

Xie Ting’an raised a hand, lightly pressing his index finger to his lips, making a gesture for silence. The sound inside the courtyard suddenly rose a notch.

“Who’s outside!”

With a loud “bang,” the door was kicked open. The already dilapidated gate couldn’t withstand the force. With this kick, the entire door panel, along with the wall bricks, instantly fell outward.

[Low-level protective shield activated.]

A girl’s exclamation came from outside the door, dust rose, but surprisingly, the entire door panel didn’t hit the ground.

Everyone in the courtyard looked over, only to see something outside holding up the door panel. Then, several hands quickly grabbed the edges of the door panel, struggling to lift the entire panel and throw it aside.

With the heavy object moved away, the man standing outside appeared elegant, casually brushing off the wood chips and dust on his arm. The girl peeked out from behind the man, her eyes still carrying the aftershock of fright.

“Mr. Xie, are you okay?” Several bodyguards threw the door panel aside. Manager Liu roughly estimated the weight of the door and frame, her heart racing, almost not daring to recall how her boss had just raised his arm to block such a heavy object!

Having unexpectedly used a protective shield, Xie Ting’an lightly waved his hand, indicating it was no trouble.

The surroundings were somewhat quiet. The girl quietly tightened her grip on her phone, secretly comparing the thugs and the man’s bodyguards, finding that the thugs not only outnumbered them but also looked more robust.

“Eavesdropping here, tired of living?” Mr. Sun frowned, staring at the unexpected guests outside the door.