Chapter 114: Profile of the Blind Date

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: Profile of the Blind Date

The lights in the villa’s living room were bright. The elderly man stared at his two beautiful, silent granddaughters with a stern gaze.

But while both were silent, the older granddaughter, Jiang Jingshi, looked like she was enjoying the show. The younger one, however, was just like her grandfather, her face taut as she stared at the coffee table, lost in thought.

Like grandfather, like granddaughter.

The assistant, Fang Meng, brought a tray of tea over and placed it before them. "Grandfather, have some tea."

Her grandfather grunted in acknowledgment, said, "Thank you," and picked up his cup, blowing on the steaming hot tea.

He even made some polite small talk. "It’s been a while, Meng. How has high school been, attending with Qianqian? Are you having any trouble with your studies or daily life?"

’As if that would ever be a problem,’ Fang Meng thought. "No, Grandfather. Everything is great."

"Good. If anything comes up, just tell me. I’ll have someone take care of it right away."

Fang Meng then served tea to Jiang Jingshi and Jiang Qian. Jiang Jingshi gave Fang Meng a meaningful smile, which made Fang Meng feel a little helpless.

Jiang Qian, on the other hand, said nothing and didn’t touch her tea.

Only after Fang Meng had taken a seat to the side did Jiang Qian abruptly answer, "I didn’t meet him."

The old man was just about to take a sip when he heard this. He glanced at his younger granddaughter. "You didn’t meet him? Why not?"

"Because I wasn’t interested."

"What?" He set down his teacup.

Jiang Jingshi chuckled. She knew her grandfather’s temper. Even though the Jiang Family was now large and prosperous, her grandfather’s authority within the family was still immense. After all, he was the one who had earned their first fortune.

"Grandfather, Qianqian just started high school. She has a lot of schoolwork to deal with. Besides, school only started a month ago. She probably just didn’t have time to meet some boy from a childhood betrothal."

Her grandfather picked up his teacup again.

But then Jiang Qian said:

"That’s not it, Sis. I’m not busy because of my studies. I mean, I have been busy lately, but that’s not the reason. The main thing is, Grandfather wasn’t here yet, so why should I have to take the initiative to meet someone ahead of time? I think it’s good enough that I didn’t refuse to meet him outright."

Jiang Jingshi blinked a couple of times as she looked at her younger sister. ’Actually... what she said makes a lot of sense,’ she thought.

Who would bother with a childhood betrothal if their grandfather wasn’t pushing them? Only someone who genuinely liked the other person or actually wanted to be in a relationship would go.

The old man’s hand, holding the teacup, froze. But he also knew that girls these days weren’t like they used to be.

In the past, whether man or woman, everyone would rush to go on a blind date arranged by the family. Now, none of them were in any hurry.

He let out a long breath. "Forget it. I can understand why you didn’t meet him beforehand, whatever your reason. I know times have changed. Even with a childhood betrothal, it’s not a guarantee that the two of you will get married."

He added a reminder, "But I would never set my own granddaughter up for failure. My old comrade showed me a photo of the boy, and I personally investigated his background from childhood to now. Although his family isn’t as well-off as ours at the moment, the boy himself is exceptionally talented. I think he has a limitless future. He’s a promising young man."

Her grandfather, still wanting to take that first sip of tea, asked, "Even if you didn’t meet him, you must have at least looked at the file on him, Qianqian, right? You should know about him. I sent it to you a month ago."

"I didn’t," Jiang Qian answered honestly.

Her grandfather turned to look at her again.

Jiang Jingshi interjected, "Grandfather, why don’t you drink your tea first? It must be tiring, going back and forth like this."

Her grandfather slammed the cup down on the table. "How can I drink anything? I’m not talking about that, Qianqian, how could you not even look at the file I sent you?!"

Jiang Qian stated, full of conviction, "I figured I’d just look at it when we met."

"But you didn’t meet him!"

"Exactly. So since we didn’t meet, what was there to look at? I’ll look at it before we meet."

Her grandfather: "..."

Jiang Jingshi: "...That actually makes sense."

Speechless, her grandfather looked over at Fang Meng. "Meng, did you look at it?"

Fang Meng let out a startled "ah." "I didn’t. Since Qianqian hadn’t looked at it, I never opened it either."

"Then go print out a copy right now. We’ll look at it now."

"Oh, okay. One moment, Grandfather." Fang Meng got up and headed to the study.

The grandfather, meanwhile, continued speaking to his two granddaughters.

"Anyway, I came here this time specifically for this betrothal. I’ve already spoken with my old comrade. Qianqian will meet the boy. Whether you two hit it off or not, you’ll at least meet once to see if there’s any chemistry. That’s not too much to ask, is it, Qianqian?"

Jiang Qian said coldly, "Just meeting isn’t too much to ask."

Her grandfather finally let out a sigh of relief. He slowly took that first sip of tea. It was wonderfully sweet.

In the study, Fang Meng opened a computer, found the file Grandfather had emailed, and began printing it.

The printer began WHIRRING, spitting out page after page of a personal history file.

Fang Meng marveled at how long the file was. ’Is he from a wealthy family too? A normal person wouldn’t have a file this thick,’ she thought.

She randomly picked up a page to look at it.

She saw that it read: "Second Grade: First in town for math, first in town for Chinese, named a Model Student. Third Grade: First in town for math, first in town for English, first in town for Chinese, first in town for moral education..."

The file listed in great detail all of his test results, big and small, along with various honors and awards.

Fang Meng was amazed when she saw it. ’This guy is incredible. He’s gotten perfect scores his whole life?’ She remembered something. ’Grandfather said he goes to the same high school as us. Do we really have a guy this brilliant at our school?’

She found the first page, which had the most detailed information, including a color photo, his name, and his place of birth.

As she held it in her hand, she muttered to herself before her eyes landed on the name:

"As far as I know, the most brilliant guy at our high school is Lin Zhengran, the one Qianqian has been paying so much attention to lately. And I remember looking up Lin Zhengran’s grades before... I think he’s always been num—"

She stopped mid-word.

Her eyes, fixed on the name and photo on the file, widened in shock. For a moment, she didn’t know what to make of this incredibly small world.

The file showed that the person Jiang Qian was betrothed to was named...

Fang Meng gasped. "Lin Zhengran?!"

The WHIRRING of the printer stopped. Fang Meng rubbed her eyes, making sure she wasn’t seeing things.

’What a coincidence!’

’But... isn’t Lin Zhengran *my* betrothed?’

’How did he become Qianqian’s too?’

"Ah?! This is too ridiculous!"

She couldn’t hold back her cry of surprise, and it was overheard by Jiang Jingshi, who happened to be coming over to get a sneak peek.

She pushed open the study door. "Meng, what was that ’ah’ about? Is the file not printed yet?"

Fang Meng forced herself to snap out of it. Glancing at the name on the photo, she gave a weak chuckle, then replied to the elder young miss in a serious tone, "It’s printed. It’s just... a little outrageous."

Jiang Jingshi was puzzled. "Outrageous? How so?" She glanced at the multiple pages of the personal profile on the printer. "There’s this much information?" Her curiosity was instantly piqued. "Quick, let me see! I want to see what Qianqian’s future husband looks like."

"Here you go."

Jiang Jingshi took the personal file and read it carefully, word by word. "The name of Qianqian’s betrothed is Lin Zhengran, hmm... Huh?"

She froze too, her beautiful, gentle eyes wide with disbelief as she looked up at Fang Meng.

"Lin Zhengran?" ’Little brother Zhengran...’

Fang Meng gave a very awkward laugh. "I didn’t expect such a coincidence either. Maybe Grandfather was right. Qianqian really should have looked at the file sooner..."