Free Web NovelChapter 342: Chapter 341: The In-laws Come to Claim Kin
"Captain, you’re a badass! You’re trending!"
Yangcheng, Taoist Research Institute, security booth.
A young security guard held up his phone, teasing the security captain. "At the foot of East Mountain, in the parking lot, lives Emperor Bao’an, a Red Dust Immortal who defied death for nine lives, all just to wait for Emperor Ye to come back and pay his parking fee!"
"Scram, scram, scram!" Emperor Bao’an—no, the security captain—waved the young guard away.
But the young guard sidled up to him anyway. "Did Mr. Gu take you out for hot pot?"
A smile spread across the security captain’s face. He nodded, basking in the reflected glory. "After we got the plane down, Mr. Gu took me and Taoist Qingyuan to Mountain City for some hot pot."
"The hot pot in Mountain City is amazing, but man, is it spicy!" The captain s-macked his lips, seemingly reliving the taste.
Envy filled the young guard’s eyes.
They were all in on the secret. In their eyes, Gu Zhao was practically an Immortal. Just getting to meet and talk with him was an honor, let alone sharing a meal.
Eating a meal with Gu Zhao was the kind of thing you could brag about for ages to colleagues who knew the truth.
But the young guard quickly moved on to something that made him even more curious. "So what was the deal with that plane? Captain, you gotta tell me."
"Yeah, yeah, tell us!" The voices of the guard at the side gate and a janitor from the courtyard crackled through the walkie-talkie. "And what was it like flying with Mr. Gu? Was it Cloud Stepping or Sword Control?"
The security captain was bursting with pride. "However Immortals fly in novels, that’s how I flew!"
"Whoa!"
"Awesome!"
"The situation with the plane was pretty dire. We arrived just as the cabin door was about to come off completely, but Mr. Gu must have enveloped the entire aircraft with his True Qi."
The captain gave a brief explanation, then said, "Back to work for now. I’ll treat you all to dinner after our shifts change tonight, and I’ll tell you all about it!"
"Alright!"
「...」
That afternoon, after the airplane incident was resolved, Taoist Qingyuan headed back to Zhenwu Mountain to chat with some old friends. Gu Zhao dropped the security captain off at the Taoist Research Institute, and the Yangcheng Folk Orchestra’s New Year’s concert officially began.
"That one’s Xiao Ya."
In the audience, Li Man pointed to Xiao Ya, who was dressed in traditional Hanfu and playing the guzheng, and said to Gu Qi beside her, "She’s from a scholarly family in Yandu. I heard her grandfather is a famous master calligrapher, her father is a writer, and her mother is a musician."
"Jeez," Gu Qi s-macked his lips. "A true family of scholars. We’re just small-time merchants. You think she’d even look our way?"
Li Man pursed her lips. "Don’t forget what your son can do. Right now, she’s the one who’s fallen for our boy. She’s chasing him, you get it? We’re not the ones with the headache; her parents are."
"It’s way too early to be talking about in-laws," Gu Qi retorted, then asked, "What about the other one?"
"The other one is Jiang Shishi. And her figure is just... wow."
Even Li Man sounded a little envious when she spoke of Jiang Shishi. "She’s cheerful and a good girl, too. Oh, isn’t that her coming on now?"
On stage, a performance of *Fishing Boat Song at Dusk* concluded. Xiao Ya and the other musicians left the stage, and the group for the next piece, *Farewell My Concubine*, came on. Among them was Jiang Shishi with her pipa.
"That poor girl. Her parents aren’t divorced, but they live separate lives," Li Man said with pity. "It’s really something that she can stay so optimistic and cheerful despite all that."
And just as Li Man and Gu Qi were discussing Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi in the audience, their respective secret Guardians met up in the concert hall lobby.
"Fancy seeing you here."
"Coincidence my ass. If we hadn’t run into them last time while tailing Mr. Gu’s mother, the office wouldn’t even know they’d already met."
The other Guardian protested, "But Mr. Gu was with them! God knows if they flew out of there. We were just staking out the area; we never saw them leave!"
"If they did fly out, does that mean Mr. Gu has already told them the truth?"
"Well, we’ve already reported that possibility. It’s up to the higher-ups to decide if they want to confirm it with Mr. Gu."
"The higher-ups have already cleared it with Mr. Gu. We’re to protect them covertly without interfering in their normal lives. And of course, no monitoring their communications or other private information."
"They’re all wearing Golden Gang Bracelets. Their defensive capabilities are even better than ours. We just need to act as backup, which makes this a lot easier than our previous protection details."
"Honestly, I think it’d be normal for Mr. Gu to tell them the truth. A lot of people know already, and it would help them be more wary of anyone with ulterior motives."
"I’d rather no one with ulterior motives noticed them at all."
Just then, applause echoed through the concert hall. The folk music performance had ended.
The two male-female pairs of Guardians split up. One team followed Li Man and Gu Qi as they left the auditorium, while the other went to wait near the performers’ exit.
Gu Zhao was waiting at the entrance of the concert hall and spotted his parents as soon as they came out. Li Man and Gu Qi, of course, saw their son too and walked over with big smiles.
Li Man winked and teased, "How did you know we were here at the concert?"
Gu Zhao sighed. "I didn’t."
Gu Qi shot Gu Zhao a look, raising his eyebrows, and started to lead Li Man away. "Bring them home when you have time. Your mother and I are leaving."
Li Man actually wanted to stay, since she’d really taken a liking to both girls. But she figured it would be awkward to be a third wheel, so she held back. "When you bring them home, remember to tell us in advance so we can prepare red envelopes."
An idea struck Gu Zhao. He said to Gu Qi, "We can skip the red envelopes. Dad, how about you make an instrument for each of them?"
Gu Qi understood immediately. "A guzheng and a pipa made from Purple Sandalwood?"
"Is that possible?" Gu Zhao asked.
"I make furniture, not musical instruments!" Gu Qi grumbled, but then his tone shifted. "But I know the owners of a few instrument shops. I can find a way."
"I’ll leave it to you then, Dad," Gu Zhao said with a smile.
"It’s nothing!" Gu Qi waved his hand dismissively. Seeing the performers starting to stream out behind them, he pulled Li Man along. "But if we’re making instruments, it’s going to take some time."
Li Man sounded a little disappointed. "So they can’t come over for the New Year?"
Gu Zhao didn’t answer, simply waving as he watched his parents leave.
Once his parents had driven slowly out of the parking lot in their new, latest-model AITO, Gu Zhao saw Xiao Ya and Jiang Shishi emerge from the performers’ exit.
"Hubby! Hungry! Feed me!" Jiang Shishi cried, running to Gu Zhao’s side.
Xiao Ya pressed her lips together and said nothing, but a faint rumble from her stomach gave her away.
Gu Zhao wasn’t surprised. Whether it’s music or dance, performers need to fuel up before a show, but they can’t eat too much. After such a strenuous performance, it was only natural to be hungry.
So, with a grand wave of his hand, Gu Zhao declared, "Let’s go! I’ll feed you till you’re full!"
