Chapter 1696 — The Live-In Son-in-Law

"You are the eldest young lady of the Sun family now. Why tire yourself out like this?" Wei Zhao said. "How has the company been lately? Oh, that reminds me — Wu Chengtian has a company that is barely limping along. Would you like to take it over? Everything is ready-made; the only thing missing is a manager."

"Eldest young lady... ha ha ha..." Sun Jingyan's laughter carried a bitter, sour edge, and then she shifted the subject. "Wu Chengtian's company? I would not mind taking it, but would he be willing?"

"Him? The whole point of running that company was to show off in front of you and catch your attention, wasn't it? Now that he's my underling, he's given up on that idea, so the company has naturally fallen into neglect," Wei Zhao said. "Anyway, it was money spent by those two fools Xiao Wangba and Xiao Wangdao of the Xiao family. Wu Chengtian doesn't care about it."

"That works out perfectly, then." When Sun Jingyan heard that Wu Chengtian had become Wei Zhao's underling, a flicker of astonishment crossed her eyes. "By the way, I meant to ask you last time — how did Wu Chengtian come to accept you as his leader? It can't be simply because you're stronger than him, could it..."

After all, Wu Chengtian was the eldest young master of the Wu family. Even if he had been crippled by someone, there was no need for him to acknowledge a lone cultivator like Wei Zhao as his leader, was there? And it seemed he had acknowledged Wei Zhao before he was crippled; the reason he was crippled appeared to be that he had been protecting Wei Zhao's woman.

Sun Jingyan found the whole affair rather puzzling. Wu Chengtian might look a little foolish, but he was also an extremely arrogant and conceited man. Unless Wei Zhao possessed something that made him utterly convinced, he could not possibly have humbled himself to become an underling — much less risk being beaten into disability to protect Wei Zhao's woman.

"There were other reasons too. I did him a favor," Wei Zhao said, and he was not lying to Sun Jingyan. He truly had helped Wu Chengtian with a breakthrough.

Familiar as he was with Sun Jingyan, Wei Zhao still kept his guard up. Their relationship, at least for now, had not yet reached the point where they could say anything to each other.

"So that's how it is..." Sun Jingyan did not press further, because she had something more important to discuss with Wei Zhao; Wu Chengtian's affairs were not really her concern. "You... could you pretend to be my boyfriend one more time?"

"Haven't I been pretending all along?" Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile.

"Then... could you come home with me?" Sun Jingyan asked.

"What!?" Wei Zhao's eyes went wide, and he nearly jumped out of his seat. "Home? With you?"

"Wu Chengtian is crippled now, and my grandfather used that as an excuse to call off the engagement with the Wu family, but he still wants me to marry a young man from one of the great families. So I told him I already have a boyfriend, and that he is a cultivator too, a fine expert of the Profound Rank!" Sun Jingyan briefly recounted her conversation with her grandfather to Wei Zhao. "So... Grandfather wants to meet you, and he wants you to be a live-in son-in-law..."

"Pfft..." Wei Zhao sprayed out a mouthful of tea. Going home with Sun Jingyan was headache enough, and now he had to be a live-in son-in-law too? Was there some mistake?

"Uh... I know this must put you in a difficult position, but I really have no other choice... I'm being forced into this. It's all fake anyway, so just put up with it for a while!" Sun Jingyan looked at Wei Zhao pitifully.

"I don't believe that expression of yours. You're always fooling people." Wei Zhao wiped his mouth. "Ever since the first time I met you, you've been fooling me."

"All right, I'll be honest. It will indeed bring you some trouble, but I truly have no other way..." Sun Jingyan gave a bitter smile, and a rather desolate look appeared on her face. "In the Sun family, I am actually an outsider — a person of a different surname. Although I later took the Sun name, I never truly became part of the Sun family... Grandfather pitied my background and treated me well when I was little, but that made me a thorn in the side of my uncle's family! The eldest son and his legitimate heirs received less of Grandfather's affection than I, an outsider, did. So they wanted me married off long ago, treating me as a tool to bring profit to the family!"

Wei Zhao had a rough understanding of Sun Jingyan's background. Seeing her reveal her true feelings now, he could not help but feel moved. "Your lot in life is pitiable, but there's no need to put on an act in front of me, because I treat you as a friend!"

"Yes, and actually I wasn't putting on an act..." Sun Jingyan said. "It's just that sometimes it has become a habit. But I can promise you that everything I've said to you today is true, with no fooling around in it."

"Heh heh, and then, they wanted to marry you to Wu Chengtian? And now they want you to marry some other young man from a great family, so that's why you came to me as a shield?" Wei Zhao asked.

"That's exactly it..." Sun Jingyan nodded.

"But have you considered that this is not a long-term solution? What if the act falls apart? I can't be at your beck and call all the time," Wei Zhao said. "Besides, a live-in son-in-law... even if it's fake, how am I supposed to bear the shame?"

"Whether it's a live-in son-in-law or not, I don't think that matters..." Sun Jingyan said. "As long as you can get Grandfather to acknowledge you and accept you, that will be enough."

"Accept me... that's what I'm afraid of. Once he accepts me, the fake might turn real..." Wei Zhao was thinking further ahead, because he was now already a fine expert of the Earth Rank. If he truly displayed his strength before the Sun family patriarch, then even without becoming a live-in son-in-law, the old man would probably be willing. But the key problem now was that between Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan, everything was in fact fake — not real!

"You're quite confident, aren't you?" Sun Jingyan smiled, then suddenly remembered something very important. "By the way, Grandfather's health doesn't seem to be very good. Could you take a look at him?"

"I can, but after I do, I'm afraid he'll be even more convinced. What then? Have you thought about that?" Wei Zhao asked.

"What comes after... we'll deal with that when we get there. If all else fails, I'll just marry you!" Sun Jingyan said with a smile.

"You're fooling me again," Wei Zhao said.

"No, I mean it sincerely!" Sun Jingyan said. "At least, compared with those young men from great families I don't even know, I'm more familiar with you. Marrying you is better than marrying them!"

"Then what about Tang Yun and Feng Xiaoxiao?" Wei Zhao countered.

"I'll be the senior wife, and they can be the junior ones?" Sun Jingyan said. "No matter what, I am the eldest young lady of the Sun family. You can't expect me to be the junior one, can you?"

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