Chapter Eighty-one: Shang Lian'er

  After class at noon, Ouyang Yun was about to leave with his lecture notes when Fan Wei rushed up and stopped him, telling him that he must arrive at the Tianhe Teahouse before 11 o'clock. If he's late, someone might lose their life.

  Ouyang Yun and Jiang Shuren had agreed to go see Song Zheyuan together, and Jiang was already waiting for him in the car. He saw Fan Wei being mysterious and impatiently asked: "What's going on? I'm busy now and don't have time to play jokes with you!"

  Fan Wei patted his chest and said it was absolutely no joke, a matter of life and death, and then refused to say anything else.

  Ouyang Yun heard him say it was serious, and had no choice. After getting on the car, they didn't go to Nanyuan, but instead drove directly to Tianhe Teahouse. Jiang Shuren was puzzled, asking for the reason, he told the truth, Jiang Shuren felt that since it concerned human life, it was a big deal, so he agreed to go to the teahouse first.

  Ouyang Yun rushed to the teahouse in a hurry, and as soon as he turned onto the street where the teahouse was located, he saw a large crowd of people gathered at the entrance. Everyone was looking up at the second floor with their necks stretched out, seemingly watching something. He parked his car at the edge of the crowd, got out, and looked up to see a 16- or 17-year-old girl standing on a table by the window on the second floor, making gestures as if she were about to jump down. Behind her stood several people, including an old man with a white beard who was shaking and trying to persuade her. Downstairs, several people were holding up a bed sheet, staring anxiously at the girl. Ouyang Yun was taken aback for a moment before he seemed to understand what was happening - this young girl apparently wanted to take her own life. He then felt puzzled and thought to himself: Is this really what Fan Wei meant by "human life"? But what does this have to do with me?!

  Jiang Shuren was standing beside him and saw this scene, hurriedly calling out: "Not good, the little girl wants to take her own life!"

  Ouyang Yunzheng was hesitating whether to squeeze into the teahouse when a little girl suddenly ran up to him, fell to her knees in front of him and tearfully said: "Master, you've finally come! Please hurry and save my young mistress!"

  Ouyang Yun was shocked and stared blankly, hastily reaching out to support her, asking in confusion: "What's with the 'Gūjiā' (son-in-law)? Who are you? And whose Miss is she? I don't know any of you?"

  The little girl heard him say this, struggled to get up, and stared with her small eyes: "What does Master Gao mean? You have taken down my young lady's birth eight characters, how can you say that you don't know my young lady?"

  Jiang Shuren listened to the conversation on one side, and he still thought that Ouyang Yun was a foreign returnee who didn't understand domestic customs. He said: "Ouyang, did you accept someone's birth date? If so, it's equivalent to agreeing to this marriage! Ah——"

  Ouyang Yun cried and laughed, saying: "Mr. Jiang, I don't even know who they are, how can I possibly accept their birthdate eight characters? What's going on here? Ah, I'm all confused!"

  The onlookers had already understood why the young girl wanted to take her own life, and they had previously scolded Ou Yang Yun, the heartless man. Now that they knew he was the one, they immediately surrounded him, with some shouting: "Now it's good, the main culprit is here, let him hurry up and persuade Miss Shang." Some women started to comment: "Miss Shang is such a beautiful and clever girl, whoever marries her must have accumulated eight lifetimes of good fortune. This young man is really ungrateful!" The people upstairs heard the shouting from downstairs, and the old man with white beard immediately shouted: "Son-in-law, you quickly come up and explain things clearly to Lian'er! If anything happens to Lian'er, I'll fight with you to the death, even if it means sacrificing my old life!"

  It's not the first time Ouyang Yun has heard of strange and bizarre things since he was old enough to understand, but this kind of strange thing is still the first time he has heard of it. What's even more deadly is that it actually happened to himself, which makes him feel like crying without tears.

  That little girl named Lian'er, looks like she's really good-looking, but judging from her appearance, she can't be more than 17 years old! And he can definitely say that it was his first time meeting her, so where did this "brother-in-law" come from? Was someone deliberately setting him up? But what's the purpose of doing so? Or did they mistake her for someone else?

  He frowned and thought hard, the onlookers had done a good deed, pulling this heartless scoundrel directly downstairs. Then a kind-hearted person said to Lian'er: "Miss Lian'er, your fiancé is here, please come down from the table first. I think there must be some misunderstanding between you two."

  Lotus looked at Ouyang Yun with a resolute expression, her pale face flushing with two red clouds. She lightly bit her lips and asked: "Ouyang Yun, don't you want to marry me?"

  Ouyang Yun had been holding onto the hope that she was mistaken about him, but when she called out his name, he knew it couldn't be a simple misunderstanding. He gritted his teeth and said, "Miss, are you mistaken? We should be meeting for the first time, right?"

  Lian'er's face suddenly turned pale, then blushed bright red. She said: "You're seeing me for the first time, but I've seen you several times already." After finishing speaking, she lowered her head, then suddenly raised it: "I only ask you, are you willing or not to marry me? If you're not willing, why did you accept my birthdate and hour? Are you looking down on Shang Lian'er?"

  Ouyang Yun's foot slipped and she almost fell, bitter smile: "When did I ever ask for your birth date? Miss Shang, you absolutely got it wrong."

  Shang Lian'er hadn't even spoken up yet, when the white-bearded old man shouted: "Ouyang youngster, Zhao Meipo personally took Lian'er's eight characters from my hands and said with her own mouth that you had already accepted them. How? Are you trying to go back on your word now? Hmph, do you think that just because Shang Langjin has washed his hands of the matter, he won't kill anyone anymore?!

  Among the onlookers, many had heard of Shang Lang's notorious name. Only now did they realize that Shang Lian'er's father was indeed Shang Lang. Recalling some of his past deeds, many people began to back away, preparing to flee this place of trouble.

  Who is Shang Lang? The former leader of the Three Harmony Society who dominated Beiping! It's said that he killed people like flies and enjoyed eating human hearts. There was a rumor that when this old fellow was 47 years old, he had a precious daughter and from then on, he washed his hands in a golden basin and retired from the jianghu. It seems that this rumor is true.

  As soon as Ou Yang Yun mentioned Zhao's matchmaker, he had an impression and only then did he realize that the merchant girl in her mouth was not referring to a merchant's daughter, but rather the daughter of a family with the surname Shang. He quickly said: "Mr. Shang, you have wronged me, Zhao's matchmaker has indeed come to find me, but I considered my young age and my parents' absence, so I didn't accept the thousand gold coins for her birthdate and eight characters - I think, you must have been deceived by Zhao's matchmaker."

  "Huh?!" The merchant wolf was stunned, his face turning pale and white by turns. He thought to himself that if things went on like this, he would lose face big time today. No way, this matter couldn't just be dropped like this. He had to get a grip on the situation and find out what happened to Lian'er's birthdate. As for Zhao the matchmaker, humph! It seemed she was going to have to die! Just as he was thinking this, his daughter called out: "Cui'er, go fetch Zhao the matchmaker. I want her to confront Ouyang Yun face-to-face."

  Cui'er was the little girl who knelt down in front of Ouyang Yun, and upon hearing the sound, she immediately rushed over, catching Shang Lang off guard. He wanted to make some arrangements, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, he couldn't do anything, thinking that he could only wait for Zhao Meipo to arrive and use his eyes to hint at her to be sensible!

  At this point, Ouyang Yun finally understood the ins and outs of the matter. Although he couldn't avoid feeling embarrassed, at least for now he had cleared himself of suspicion of being a "heartless scoundrel". He said to Shang Lian'er: "Miss Shang, you're so young, with a beautiful life ahead of you - why would you think of doing something like this? Come down first!"

  Shan Lian'er was stubborn, and resolutely shook her head: "No, if you don't promise to marry me today, I'll jump off the building and die - anyway, my face has already been completely lost!"

  Ouyang Yun's mouth opened wide with a loud "ah", thinking to herself, is this really possible? Nowadays' young girls are truly unreasonable, no better than the little misses of the 21st century! "What's the point of this? Marriage is one of life's most important events, how can it be taken lightly? We don't know each other well, you don't understand me at all. I have a terrible temper, if you marry me, you'll definitely suffer every day."

  "I don't care, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you! This life is not yours to marry!" Shang Lian'er said with a straight face and without batting an eyelid, uttering this shocking statement that would stun anyone at this time, looking at Ouyang Yun with a coquettish expression.

  Ouyang Yun's face turned red, Jiang Shuren's face turned red, and the aunties in the crowd also blushed. However, Shang Lang was delighted and thought to himself: My daughter is indeed worthy of me, her bold and fearless personality is just like mine!

  Ouyang Yun felt a great deal of anxiety, his eyes fixed on Jiang Shuren with a pleading gaze. Jiang Shuren's face was etched with a bitter smile as he shook his head, his expression one of helpless despair.

  Ouyang Yun, since becoming famous for penicillin, has been reported by newspapers in Beiping and Nanjing. According to the reporters' descriptions: Ouyang Yun is a Chinese overseas student, young and handsome, knowledgeable and talented, with a heart for his country, truly an extraordinary scientific genius. It's said he can also sing well, and after a newspaper published the lyrics of "My Chinese Heart", he became the dream lover of many lovesick girls. Among them, the female students at Yanda University were particularly enthusiastic, writing love letters and poems, some even gazing at him adoringly in class, almost to the point of throwing themselves into his arms - Ouyang Yun, despite being a new human of the 21st century, couldn't help but feel overwhelmed, and for a time considered fleeing.

  All of this was deliberately arranged by him and Gu Lianyun to promote Pan Ni, which seemed to be going well, but now Ouyang Yun knows that he has lost big time. There are many beautiful girls at Yan University, but unfortunately, Ouyang Yun is not a playboy, nor does he have the dream of being an emperor who favors all the beauties in the world. Among so many pink gazes, the only one that makes him feel anything is Pan Mei, and no one else. The girls at Yan University dare to write love letters and gaze longingly in class, but someone as straightforward and postmodern as Shang Lian'er is absolutely unique.

  Ouyang Yun was contemplating whether to leave immediately, when suddenly a gunshot rang out from not far away, followed by a car exploding, with flesh and blood flying everywhere, scaring everyone.

  This was a matter of life and death, the onlookers couldn't bear to watch the excitement anymore. Even Shang Lian'er was so frightened that she jumped down from the table. Shang Lang, being an old man, immediately rushed forward and tightly hugged her, saying: "Lian'er, you scared your old father to death!"

  Shang Lian'er still hadn't forgotten Ouyang Yun and said: "Dad, hurry up, take me to find Ouyang Yun, we mustn't let him get away!"

  The father and daughter rushed downstairs, but when they reached the bottom, they only saw a car shadow in the crowd. It was too late to chase after it. Shang Lian'er stomped her foot heavily and said: "What a pity! We were so close to success! Hmm, I don't know who is secretly sabotaging us, actually causing an explosion..."

  "Lotus girl, you really won't marry anyone else but that little brat?"

  "Hmm, my daughter won't marry anyone who isn't a hero! In Beijing, who can be more heroic than Ouyang Yun?!"

  Shang Lang only now knew the real reason why his daughter was marrying Ouyang Yun, and he couldn't help but furrow his brow, saying: "Is he even considered a hero? He doesn't dare to accept a woman who is sent to him!"

  "Dad, what are you talking about! A man like this is even harder to find, this is called being deeply in love."

  ……