Chapter 76: Practicing Martial Arts (1)

  My face turned bright red, but I didn't know how to explain it, so I just stood there stupidly, staring at the people in the room.

  Nangong Qianlan said to me at this time: "Let's go up and rest, we can talk about anything tomorrow."

  I was unable to extricate myself, and upon hearing this, I wanted to say something good, but Nan Gong Jun hastily said: "Xiao Rang and the others are still helping you prepare your rooms, let's go up later. Jin Cang, when did you...you two get together? Is..."

  Nangong Jun's face turned bright red as he said half a sentence, but his wife Kong Lin continued, "You guys be honest with us, when did you start dating?"

  I glanced at the six people in the house, then turned my head to look at Nan Gong Qian Lan who was still holding onto me. I was about to confess when I heard Nan Gong Qian Lan say: "We've been together for a long time, it's just that I haven't told you guys yet. Today is the official announcement... Tomorrow after we wake up, I'll take Jin Cang to meet our clan leader and also visit all of your uncles. As for my grandfather and uncle, I think you guys will notify them, if it's convenient, just ask them to come over for a meal, let everyone get acquainted."

  I forced a smile, feeling that things were getting more and more out of my control. Just as I was about to explain, Nangong Qianlan pulled me with force, and I had no choice but to follow her upstairs.

  I didn't know why Nan Gong Qian Lan was acting like this, nor did I understand why she was in such a hurry to pull me upstairs. But after seeing her anxious face, I felt her distress and didn't say anything else, following her directly into her room.

  Xiao Ruan and Xiao Li were quick, and in just a moment, the bed was already made. The two of them were busy rearranging the room when they saw me and Nan Gong Qianlan come up, and they said in unison: "We're almost ready, please wait a bit, miss and young master."

  I laughed even more bitterly and didn't say a word. Then Nangong Qianlan spoke up: "You can leave now, we'll handle the rest ourselves."

  Xiao Ruan and Xiao Li left, leaving only me and Nan Gong Qian Lan in the room. It was then that Nan Gong Qian Lan released my hand, lowering her voice to say: "We have to pretend to be a real couple, otherwise the family won't agree to teach you martial arts."

  I was surprised, but still found it a bit strange: "Then you didn't have to cheat your parents too? What if they misunderstood?"

  Nangong Qianlan calmly said: "What's there to misunderstand? I'm going to marry you anyway, it's just a matter of sooner or later."

  I sighed and said: "We are modern people, how can we still follow the old way to decide our own marriage? You..."

  Nangong Qianlan's eyes turned cold, and she said in an icy tone: "Do you want to back out? Let me tell you, if you dare to back out, I...I'll immediately tell everyone that you're a promiscuous scoundrel..."

  I let out a soft sigh, interrupting her: "We don't have any relationship between us, and I just held your hand for a moment, it's not that serious, is it?"

  Nangong Qianlan, however, ignored me and went straight to bed without even changing out of her clothes or taking off her shoes.

  I was stunned for a moment and saw that there was still a single sofa in the room, so I sat down on the sofa, preparing to make do with it for the night.

  Nangong Qianlan whispered: "If you don't want others to find out that we are a fake couple, then hurry up and go to bed."

  I was taken aback and asked her in a low voice, "Will there be anyone else checking the room? How...how is this possible?"

  Nangong Qianlan is ignoring me, seemingly asleep, her breathing gradually becoming even and long. I take a glance around the room, not seeming to find anything out of the ordinary, but thinking about what Nangong Qianlan said earlier, I can only walk over, stand by the bed, and don't know what to do.

  I thought carefully and secretly thought: We are just pretending to be husband and wife, wearing clothes and sleeping in the same bed, there shouldn't be any problem... So I sat down on the edge of the bed with caution and lay down beside Nan Gong Qian Lan.

  It's true, I really haven't slept in the same bed with a girl before, so when I lay down, my whole body tensed up and I completely lost all sleepiness.

  At this moment, I heard a very light footsteps coming from outside the door, and I became even more tense, thinking that Nan Gong Qian Lan said that the person who was checking the room had really come. I pretended to be asleep, slowing down my breathing.

  The footsteps outside the door stopped for a moment, as if they were really listening to the movements. I suddenly became tense again, not knowing whether this person would come in next.

  Nangong Qianlan suddenly flipped over and hugged me, mumbling in her mouth: "Hold on tight..."

  The footsteps outside the door suddenly sounded again and gradually went far away.

  Nangong Qianlan finally loosened her grip on my arm and whispered, "Don't think nonsense, go to sleep."

  I forced a smile and didn't dare to look at her. Just now when she hugged me, I smelled a very pleasant virgin body fragrance, and also felt the warmth that came from her body, it was impossible not to think about it. So I quickly turned over and got up, rushed to sit down on the sofa, afraid that she would discover the abnormality on my body.

  Nangong Qianlan seems to really not know what's wrong with me and actually asks: "What's wrong with you?"

  I let out a wry smile and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep.

  Nangong Qianlan also got out of bed and walked over, stretching out her hand to touch my forehead, muttering: "It's a bit hot, are you running a fever?"

  "I'm fine, just a bit hot," I said hastily. "You sleep, I'll...I'll just sit here for a while."

  Nangong Qianlan's gaze changed slowly as she looked at me, and finally gritted her teeth, saying with a hateful tone: "You won't be... Hmph, you can sit there slowly, I'm going to sleep. And don't come onto the bed, remember that."

  I nodded, with a mouthful of bitterness.

  I almost stayed up all night, and when dawn broke, my eyes were extremely dry and felt very uncomfortable.

  Nangong Qianlan woke up very early and lay in bed staring at me, as if I was a monster. I forced a smile and said, "Are you awake?"

  Nangong Qianlan said coldly: "You didn't dare sleep. You..."

  I hastily made a gesture, signaling her to keep it down: "Sleep for a while longer, I won't disturb you."

  Nangong Qianlan's face still didn't show any expression, but she sat up and said: "I'll take you to wash your face, do it yourself, don't wait for Xiaoran and the others to serve us."

  I quickly got up and followed Nan Gong Qian Lan downstairs to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth, preparing to start a new day of life.

  When we came into the living room after washing our faces, Xiao Ruan and Xiao Li were already busy in the living room. Seeing us, they immediately said: "Good morning, miss, good morning, sir."

  I quickly nodded and smiled: "You're up early too, must be hard work."

  Nangong Qianlan just nodded slightly and didn't say a word.

  At this time, four people came over one after another. They were the four people we met last night who never spoke to us, Nan Gong Qian Lan's family members. I wanted to greet them, but didn't know how to address them, so I could only look at Nan Gong Qian Lan.

  "They are all my father's bodyguards and usually follow him around."

  I finally understood the background of these four people, and secretly thought to myself: "So they're bodyguards. That's why they didn't say a word, they didn't want to disturb the conversation between the masters. It seems that Nan Gong Qian Lan's father is not an ordinary person, having personal bodyguards following him, he must also be an important figure." I quickly said to them: "Hello."

  Among those four people, an older one smiled and said: "Good uncle."

  I felt embarrassed being called "gū yé" (son-in-law), so I just nodded and stopped talking.

  After a while, the four bodyguards stood up together. Following their line of sight, I saw Nan Gong Jun and his wife Kong Lin Er coming down from upstairs.

  I also stood up and smiled: "Good morning, uncle and aunt."

  Kong Lin'er glanced at Nan Gong Qian Lan and smiled: "Why did you get up so early? Sleep a bit more, we got back late yesterday."

  Nangong Qianlan said, "I couldn't sleep."

  Kong Lin immediately said: "What's wrong? Is the bed uncomfortable? I'll let Xiao Rang change it to a new one right away..."

  Nangong Qianlan shook her head: "No. Mom, I wanted to invite Grandpa and Uncle over for dinner, have you notified them?"

  Kong Lin'er smiled and said, "I've already called. Your grandfather and uncle said they'll be here in half an hour. They miss you so much and have been wanting to visit you at the army for a long time. Now that you're back, with your boyfriend, they naturally want to hurry over and see you and Jin Cang."

  Nangong Qianlan nodded, looked at me and said: "My grandfather is a master of martial arts. If you want to learn martial arts, when you meet my grandfather later, you'd better accompany the old man for a few drinks..."

  I hastily shook my head: "My drinking capacity is not good..."

  Nangong Qianlan gave me a white eye and said: "Who said let you drink wine? It's tea. My grandfather is a master of the way of tea, he loves drinking tea."

  I smiled: "Drinking tea is still okay for me. Although I'm not proficient in the art of tea, I've been drinking it for many years."

  Nangong Qianlan ignored me and said to her mother: "Mom, does our family still have medicine for clearing internal heat?"

  Kong Lin'er was taken aback and asked with concern: "What's wrong? Do you have a fever?"

  Nangong Qianlan's face turned red as she said in a low voice, "Don't ask, if there are any, just bring some over to me."

  Kong Lin furrowed her brow and said: "Silly girl, this medicine can't be taken casually, especially for newlyweds. Taking medicine randomly will harm the child..."

  "Nangong Qianlan hastily said: 'Mom, what are you talking about? I... Ah, forget it, I'll go buy it myself.'"

  Kong Lin's daughter went and anxiously said: "You child, why don't you listen to mom's words? Medicine can't be taken randomly..."

  Nangong Qianlan hastily went upstairs, fearing that her mother would continue to speak. Kong Lin'er was worried about Nangong Qianlan and followed her upstairs.

  Nan Gong Jun also looked at me with a worried face and said with some seriousness: "Jin Cang, you should advise Qian Lan that medicine can't be taken casually, otherwise it's very bad for the child."

  I forced a wry smile and said, "I will, don't worry."

  Nan Gong Jun then felt a bit more at ease and said to me, "You want to learn martial arts? Then you must find Qian Lan's grandfather and great-grandfather, they are both masters of it. I used to dislike learning kung fu, but now that I'm older, I regret not learning it earlier. You're still young, seize the time, and you should be able to achieve something."

  I smiled and said: "It's just that I don't know if Qianlan's grandfather and uncle will teach me. I heard from Qianlan that the Nan Gong family's martial arts are not passed on to outsiders."

  Nan Gong Jun nodded: "There is such a thing. But you are now Qian Lan's boyfriend and also a member of the Nan Gong family. I'll help you ask Qian Lan's grandfather later, maybe he will agree to teach you."

  "I said gratefully: 'Then thank you so much...'"

  Nan Gong Jun smiled and said, "From now on, we're all one family, no need to be so polite. By the way, I also know why you've come back this time. You can rest assured that you can stay here without anyone disturbing you." As he spoke, a fierce killing aura suddenly rose from his body, and his entire demeanor changed, becoming very majestic, just like someone in a high position, with an air of majesty surrounding him. He said coldly, "Hmph, whoever dares to lay a hand on my daughter and son-in-law will have to apologize to you in front of me sooner or later. Otherwise, I'll directly eliminate them and see how they can still harm people?"

  I stood in awe, although I had long suspected that Nan Gong Jun was not an ordinary person, but I didn't expect the momentum he showed to be so strong, it's simply unprecedented in my life.

  On the side, Xiao Ruan and Xiao Li looked at Nan Gong Jun with the same admiration as I did. But then Nan Gong Jun suddenly smiled, and the killing intent dissipated instantly, everything returned to normal. I heard Nan Gong Jun say: "Don't worry about it, I'll go talk to your leader personally, I'm sure they will give me a satisfactory answer."

  "I quickly said: 'Then thank you so much, I was worried that they would continue to pursue us and leave us with no way out!'"

  Nangong Jun said, "Although Qianlan is my daughter, not many people know about it. I originally wanted to cultivate her ability to live independently, so I didn't allow her to tell others about my identity. Now it seems that I was wrong in the past and caused Qianlan a lot of suffering. However, from now on, no matter who it is, if they dare to bully my daughter again, I will not let them off."

  My heart went "thud" and I thought to myself, "I'm in cahoots with your daughter to deceive you, I wonder if that counts as taking advantage of her? Otherwise, I..." I didn't dare think any further and hastily said, "Don't worry, I'll do my best to protect Qianlan."

  Nan Gong Jun smiled: "I'm watching you. Jin Cang, my daughter is very willful, you have to be more accommodating to her. I won't ask about your private life, but there's one thing you must remember."

  I looked at Nan Gong Jun and asked carefully: "What words?"

  "Nangong Jun stared into my eyes and said, 'I don't care what your future will be like, at least during the time you're with Qianlan, I - won't let you bully her. Do you understand?'"

  I was startled, because when Nangong Jun said this sentence, the killing intent and majesty of a high-ranking person reappeared in his eyes. I stuttered: "I... I will..."

  Nangong Jun smiled contentedly: "That's good. Do you play chess?"

  His topic changed too quickly, I was stunned for a moment before "ah"ing: "What chess are you talking about?"

  "Nangong Jun smiled and said: 'Xiangqi, Weiqi, Junqi, no matter what type of chess it is, can you play one?'"

  I nodded and said: "I will play chess."

  Nan Gong Jun nodded: "That's easy to handle. Qian Lan's grandfather is a chess puzzle, you ask him to teach you kung fu, we'll start with chess."

  It suddenly dawned on me that it was actually to ask Grandfather Nan Gong to teach me martial arts, so he asked me this. I thought it was Nan Gong Jun, Lan's father, who liked playing chess himself.

  Nangong Jun thought for a moment and then said: "Then what other types of cards can you play? Whether it's poker or mahjong."

  I'm a bit embarrassed because I only know how to play "Fight the Landlord" in poker, nothing else: "I... can only play Fight the Landlord."

  Nan Gong Jun furrowed his brow and said, "You don't even know how to play mahjong? It seems like it's going to be tough for you. Alright, later when Qian Lan's grandfather comes, you'll accompany us in playing mahjong. Don't worry if you don't know how, let Qian Lan sit next to you and teach you. Do you understand what I mean?"

  I couldn't help but frown and say: "Is this also for the sake of asking Qianlan's grandfather to teach me martial arts? Both elderly people like playing mahjong?"

  Nangong Jun smiled and said, "That's not it. Qianlan's grandfather likes to play chess and is well-versed in all types of chess. Qianlan's uncle thinks that playing chess is too tiring and prefers to play cards or mahjong instead. However, he never plays fighting landlord, saying it's boring and easy to quarrel. So, I'll have you accompany Qianlan's grandfather to play chess, and then accompany Qianlan's uncle to play mahjong. Try to make the two elders happy, and then we can take advantage of the situation and ask them to teach you martial arts."

  I hesitated and said: "Let both elderly people come to teach me? Wouldn't that be a bit greedy, maybe it would make the two elderly people feel uncomfortable."

  Nan Gong Jun smiled and said: "You don't have to worry about this, as long as you are sincere in wanting to learn martial arts, I guarantee that you will be satisfied."

  I had no choice but to nod in agreement with Nangong Jun's request and actively prepare to accompany Nangong Qianlan's grandfather and uncle to play chess and cards.

  At this time, Nangong Qianlan and Kong Lin'er came downstairs again. The mother-daughter duo's smile made it unclear what they had just said upstairs.

  I stood up to give a seat to Nan Gong Qian Lan's mother, but Nan Gong Qian Lan said: "Come with me to get the chess pieces, my grandfather will be here soon."

  I was taken aback and said: "Haven't had breakfast yet, no rush."

  No sooner had I finished speaking than someone at the door burst out laughing and said, "What's wrong? I've come to play chess with you. We can skip breakfast for now and eat after we've played three games."

  I followed the sound and looked over, only to see an old man with white hair standing at the door, looking at me with a smile on his face.

  Nangong Qianlan whispered to me, "This is my grandfather, Nangong Quan. He's 74 years old this year. You have to give in to him later, at most you can only win one game out of three, best if you lose all."

  I nodded slightly and took a few steps forward, smiling: "You must be Qianlan's grandfather? My name is Jin Cang, nice to meet you, Grandfather."

  The old man burst out laughing and said: "You're my grandson-in-law, huh! Hmm, not bad, not bad, you know your manners. Do you play Go? For real or just pretending? I don't play with people who aren't on my level!"

  I smiled: "I'll just play with you for a bit, consider it as entertaining you."

  The old man hummed and laughed: "You're a humble young fellow. Alright, let's go kill a few rounds now?"

  I saw Nan Gong Quan being so impatient, I could only nod in agreement and followed him upstairs.