1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 648 Beautiful women have always had tragic fates!
Xinghualou, a time-honored brand in Shanghai, is located on Fuzhou Road. It originally served Cantonese cuisine, but over the past century, it has adapted to the local market and become a favorite among Shanghai residents.

In particular, the Cantonese-style mooncakes produced by Xinghualou have become their signature product.

The restaurant that Li Changhe booked was located here.

After parking the car, Li Changhe went to the private room he had reserved. The private rooms at Xinghualou were very popular, and Li Changhe had reserved them under the name of his Hong Kong-funded company.

Not long after, Mr. and Mrs. Gong arrived at the entrance of Xinghualou on two bicycles, with Mr. Gong carrying Gong Xue.

"Hello, are you Comrade Gong Xue?"

Gong Xue is now a well-known movie star, so she was recognized as soon as she entered Xinghualou.

Then, a group of customers shopping in the lobby on the first floor looked over curiously, and then many people gathered around.

Upon seeing this, the manager hurriedly came up.

For them, entertaining celebrities is nothing new. Xinghualou, once a signature restaurant in Shanghai, was frequented by many important figures.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Comrade Gong Xue is here to have a meal with us. We are happy to see Comrade Gong Xue, but please do not crowd around her or disturb our comrade's meal. Thank you for your cooperation."

The manager shouted loudly to those around him, then looked at Gong Xue.

"Comrade Gong Xue, did you make a reservation for this trip?"

"It's pre-ordered."

Gong Xue told the manager the name of the private room that Li Changhe had booked. Upon hearing this, the manager felt a chill run down his spine.

He roughly knew which companies had booked the private rooms at Xinghualou, and if he remembered correctly, the one Gong Xue mentioned was booked by a Hong Kong-funded company.

"Then please come with me!"

No matter is too small when it comes to foreign affairs, so the manager immediately perked up and received the guest with utmost care.

The manager then led Gong Xue and her family to a private room, where they went in.

Inside the private room, Li Changhe was already waiting.

"Hello, Uncle! Hello, Aunt!"

"Uncle, I only ordered a few of their signature dishes. I don't know what else you like to eat. Could you please order a few more?"

Li Changhe then said with a smile.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Gong appeared aggressive at first, they inexplicably felt a sense of oppression from Li Changhe's aura when they faced him.

Although the other person was just standing there in an ordinary way, there was an inexplicable sense of aloofness and superiority, even though the other person had a smile on their face and an approachable attitude.

"Forget it, there are only a few of us, we can't eat much anyway, no need to order!"

Mr. Gong shook his head and said calmly.

"He who eats another's food is bound to do so; if he enjoys the meal now, it will be difficult to bring up many things later."

"It's alright, Dad, I'll have some!"

Gong Xue then took the initiative to speak, knowing that her parents were probably embarrassed because of their pride, so she took the menu.

"It's just you who's greedy!"

Gong's mother said something to her daughter in a bad mood.

Afterwards, Gong Xue ordered a few more dishes, which was enough for the four of them.

After all, these days, people don't care about extravagance and waste; everyone is very frugal.

"Uncle and Aunt, please have a seat!"

After the four people sat down, the atmosphere became a little awkward for a moment.

Normally, Li Changhe could control the situation, but in this situation, he felt that if he took the initiative to speak, it would seem a bit arrogant.

Therefore, he wanted to wait for Mr. and Mrs. Gong to speak first.

"Little Li, is it okay for me to call you that?"

Sensing that the atmosphere was not harmonious, Mr. Gong, as the head of the family, spoke first.

"Of course, no problem. You can call me whatever you like, Uncle!"

Li Changhe naturally adopted the correct posture at this point.

“We know about your relationship with Xiaoxue. To be honest, Xiaoxue’s mother and I don’t approve of it.”

"Our family might not be considered a scholarly family, but we are a respectable one. We would never do something like this."

“I know that you have taken care of all our children, including our eldest son and his family, but when we get back, we will have our eldest son and his wife resign from their jobs at the foreign company. Don’t worry about that.”

At this moment, Mr. Gong said with a firm expression.

Gong Xue, who was sitting next to Li Changhe, subconsciously wanted to speak up in defense, but Li Changhe pulled her hand and stopped her.

"Uncle and Aunt, I think we should eat first. After we eat, we can have a frank discussion about whatever you're thinking, okay?"

Now that Mr. Gong has spoken, Li Changhe naturally has a strategy to deal with it, but he's not in a hurry to say it.

If I choke, I won't be able to eat.

Therefore, it's more appropriate to eat first and then talk.

However, Li Changhe couldn't say this beforehand; he had to wait for the old couple to speak first before he could speak.

"Yes, Dad and Mom, let's eat first, and then we can talk. I've never been to Xinghualou before."

Gong Xue, now quite clever, smiled and said to her parents.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Gong were upset to see their daughter like this, they couldn't completely sever her dignity.

Putting aside other things, the Gong family owed Li Changhe a lot of favors in the past.

Furthermore, Li Changhe's attitude was quite good when he entered the door. As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face, and the couple could not be completely cold and heartless.

Soon, several dishes were served, each one a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate.

Although Mr. and Mrs. Gong had something on their minds, they were quite satisfied with the meal. After all, they were just ordinary people with relatively low salaries, and they hadn't been to a place like Xinghualou for over ten years.

When he saw that he had almost finished eating, Li Changhe put down his chopsticks.

Seeing this, Gong's parents also looked up and stared at him, wanting to see what kind of ivory this boy could spit out.

“Uncle and Aunt, you are both highly educated and should be knowledgeable about history. You should know the saying, ‘Beautiful women have always had tragic fates.’”

"Of course, I'm not cursing Xiaoxue. What I mean is simple: a beautiful face, born into an ordinary family, is often a disaster for a woman."

"Going back to the old Shanghai, you two must have heard a lot about the fates of many beautiful farm girls back then, and know what happened to them."

"To put it simply, it's a new era now, there aren't those thugs anymore, but what about other things? Xiaoxue was stuck in the cultural troupe before, why were other female soldiers able to be transferred away for filming, but she couldn't? Was it because her acting skills were exceptionally good?"

"No, it's because some people think she's a rare commodity, and keeping her there would be very useful for their careers!"

"And even if we return to Shanghai, do you two think that what happened to the Liu family last time will be an isolated incident?"

"She's not an ordinary person anymore. She's become a nationally known figure thanks to her movies. Can you two guarantee that among the millions of people in Shanghai, no one else will try to take advantage of her?"

"Can she really live out her life peacefully and happily under your protection?"

"Uncle and Aunt, I admit I'm not a gentleman, and what happened between Xiaoxue and me doesn't conform to your moral standards, but at least we both love each other."

"Moreover, I can protect her for a lifetime of peace and happiness, so that she doesn't have to struggle for a living, is protected from the storms of life, and is not afraid of the various conspiracies and schemes in the dark."

"What do you two think?" Li Changhe asked Gong's parents sincerely.

After hearing this, Mr. and Mrs. Gong fell silent.

They didn't expect Li Changhe to talk to them about this, and they were also surprised by Gong Xue's previous experiences.

Previously, when she was in the General Political Department's Cultural Troupe, they always thought that their daughter was not being released because she performed too well. They never thought that their daughter was a bargaining chip for someone else's advancement.

Furthermore, as Li Changhe said, if Gong Xue really returns to Shanghai and encounters those messy things again, are they capable of protecting her?

The answer is actually quite clear: No!

They were just ordinary people, with no powerful connections.

Previously, they only wanted Gong Xue to live a peaceful and uneventful life, but now Li Changhe has revealed the stark reality to them.

Since ancient times, beautiful women have often had tragic fates; they couldn't protect this daughter!
The couple wanted to refute it, but they couldn't find a rebuttal.

Seeing this, Li Changhe knew that he had given enough reasons and it was time to give him a way out.

“Uncle and Aunt, I know my situation is difficult for you, but I can assure you that Xiaoxue’s relationship with me is not the traditional kind of subservient relationship.”

“My identity overseas is real and is listed in the family genealogy, so we will get married, register our marriage, and hold a wedding. She will marry into my family and will be my wife in the legal sense.”

"I can assure you both of you of this."

Li Changhe then spoke seriously.

Mr. and Mrs. Gong remained silent.

To be honest, if Gong Xue could really find a son-in-law like Li Changhe, they would be extremely satisfied.

"If this were ancient times, wouldn't that mean you'd be having two families, with one principal wife in each family?"

Gong's father was quite knowledgeable; he knew that similar practices existed in ancient times.

"That was an operation by one family under the Qing Dynasty law. Strictly speaking, I am actually two people. My overseas identity has little to do with my domestic identity."

Li Changhe said softly.

The practice of "multiple lineages" was actually a rule established by the Qing Dynasty. It allowed families with multiple branches to have multiple male descendants if they had only one male descendant. This effectively broke the ancient tradition of monogamy.

Previously, marriage laws in Hong Kong Island were based on the Qing Dynasty law, and this rule existed until it was abolished more than ten years ago.

Hearing this, Gong's mother was speechless. "You told me to refuse Li Changhe, and now you're discussing the continuation of the family line with him?"
"Xiaoxue, why don't you go downstairs with your mom and take a stroll? It's almost the Mid-Autumn Festival, and I see they've started selling mooncakes on the first floor. Why don't you buy some mooncakes and qingtuan (sweet rice dumplings) and then we can visit some relatives later."

"I'll stay here and have a private talk with Changhe!"

At this moment, Mr. Gong calmly said.

Mrs. Gong wanted to say something more, but seeing Mr. Gong's serious expression, she stopped talking.

Even when out in public, one still needs to maintain the dignity of the head of the family.

Upon hearing her father's words, Gong Xue looked at Li Changhe with concern, and Li Changhe smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

In his view, the matter was basically settled, and Gong's father was about to have a serious talk with him.

Sure enough, when Gong Xue and her mother bought a large bag of pastries and came upstairs, they saw Gong's father, who had already packed the food.

"Let's go home!"

Gong's mother was filled with doubt. Was she really going home so soon?

Gong Xue looked at Li Changhe with surprise and doubt, only to see Li Changhe nod with a smile, which put Gong Xue at ease.

After leaving the house, they followed Mr. Gong downstairs, and the three of them went outside.

"What exactly did you say to him?"

As soon as she pushed the bicycle onto the bike, Gong's mother couldn't help but ask.

Mr. Gong calmly replied, "Let's talk about it when we get home!"

Afterwards, the family of three returned home, and Gong's mother asked impatiently, "Can you talk now?"

"Xiaoxue, you should go back inside first!"

"Dad, I see we're out of soy sauce. I'll go out and buy some while it's still early!"

It's summer now, and it doesn't get dark until around 8 pm. It's not even 7 pm yet, and it's still bright outside.

After saying that, without waiting for her parents' reply, Gong Xue turned and slipped out.

When did we run out of soy sauce?

"Xiaoxue, you..."

"Let her go, she's definitely gone to find Li Changhe!"

At this moment, Gong's father suddenly spoke up.

"What? Old Gong, what do you mean?"

At this moment, Gong's mother turned her head and glared angrily at her husband.

Mr. Gong sat there silently for a moment, then sighed.

"I agree to Li Changhe's suggestion. Let the two of them be together!"

"Are you crazy?"

At this moment, Gong's mother asked in a trembling voice.

Mr. Gong shook his head: "I'm not crazy. I think there's something he said that's very true."

"Beautiful women have always had tragic fates. Let's not talk about those trivial matters or those low-probability events."

"I'll just ask you one question: If the policies change again in two years, and the rural relocation program comes back again, do you think Xiaoxue and Xiaoying will be able to handle it?"

Upon hearing Mr. Gong's words, Mrs. Gong's initially angry mood immediately calmed down.

Yes, we've only had a few years of peaceful life, how can we so easily forget what we experienced in previous years?
"That can't be, right?"

After calming down, Gong's mother asked hesitantly.

Mr. Gong calmly asked, "Do you dare to bet?"

"Who can guarantee something like this?"

"Actually, when Li Changhe said that to me today, I thought of it. Although this is morally wrong, if we encounter such setbacks again, at least Xiaoxue will have gone abroad and become a foreigner."

"Even if all else fails, we have foreign exchange; we can always escape first, right?"

Upon hearing this, Gong's mother also fell silent. They had only been back for two years, and there were some things they really didn't want to experience again.

"Besides, Xiaoxue likes him herself. Even if you forcefully stop her, do you think you can stop her? With Li Changhe's abilities, it wouldn't be difficult for him to take Xiaoxue away from Shanghai and go overseas."

"We can't protect her, and we can't stop her either!"

"Anyway, she chose this path herself, and whether it's good or bad, she'll have to bear the consequences herself!"

Mr. Gong spoke softly to Mrs. Gong.

At this moment, Gong's mother did not speak, but then sighed deeply.

On the other side, Gong Xue had just stepped out of the alley when she saw a black car parked not far away, and she quickly walked over.

(End of this chapter)