Chapter 2610: The Clever One

Ye Chen arrived at the hotel, and Su Shoudao and He Yingxiu had already finished their bow to heaven and earth.

The newlyweds rested briefly in the room, while most others had moved to the sky garden, beginning preparations for the upcoming wedding.

Ye Chen disliked crowds, so he came directly to the sky garden, where Ito Nanako, along with Su Zhiyu and Su Ruoli, happened to be as well.

Since the number of guests was not large and outsiders were not allowed into the sky garden, the atmosphere here was not noisy or lively.

Through the joint efforts of Su Ruoli and Ito Nanako, the entire wedding venue exuded solemnity blended with deep warmth; the floral arrangements personally prepared by Nanako added an extra touch of nobility and elegance.

Today, Ito Nanako had deliberately worn a formal kimono; seeing Ye Chen arrive, she quickened her steps with small, hurried strides, ran up to him, and happily said: "Ye Chen-kun, you're here!"

Ye Chen nodded and smiled, gazing at the flowers filling the entire banquet hall, and couldn't help but ask with a touch of concern: "Are all these flowers prepared by you? Must have taken you quite a while, right?"

Ito Nanako smiled and said: "I arranged them myself, but I still had quite a few servants helping me; they handled the sorting and trimming of the flower stems, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to manage it all alone."

At this moment, Su Zhiyu and Su Ruoli both came before Ye Chen. Seeing Ye Chen chatting intimately with Ito Nanako, Su Zhiyu could also tell that Ye Chen's gaze toward Nanako differed from how he looked at other women, and she couldn't help feeling a pang of jealousy in her heart.

Unlike Su Ruoli, who grew up as an illegitimate daughter and later joined the Su family as Su Shoudao's bodyguard after adulthood, thus lacking the aristocratic pride inherent in daughters of great clans,

Su Zhiyu, though usually not spoiled or arrogant, had been cherished in the Su family palm since childhood; though her proud bones were not overt, they permeated her entire being, so she too couldn't help feeling jealous, wondering why Ito Nanako could receive Ye Chen's special regard—she was the Ito family's eldest daughter, her own background was no inferior, and even the Su family's strength far surpassed that of the Ito household; who wasn't raised in luxury and fine clothes from childhood as a young lady of noble standing?

But Su Ruoli beside her was different: even though she was now an eight-star martial artist, and aside from Ye Chen, she was the strongest person present at the wedding venue, she had no trace of arrogance; on the contrary, the more so, the more she felt Ye Chen treated her too well, that she owed him too great a debt to repay, so in Ye Chen's presence, she remained forever the little maiden who obeyed his every command and was willing to draw her sword and mount her horse for him.

Approaching Ye Chen, Su Zhiyu respectfully called out: "Mr. Ye, hello."

Beside her, Su Ruoli also softly said: "Mr. Ye, hello!"

Ye Chen nodded slightly, and Su Ruoli then quietly asked him: "Mr. Ye, aren't you supposed to be the wedding officiant today? Why aren't you wearing a suit?"

Ye Chen glanced at his casual attire, smiled, and said: "When I went out, I didn't want to arouse suspicion from my future in-laws, so I didn't wear a suit, but I brought one with me—I'll change into it shortly before the ceremony begins."

At this moment, Song Wanting, dressed in formal attire, hurried over; seeing Ye Chen already there, she quickened her steps forward and respectfully said: "Master Ye, you have arrived."

Ye Chen gave a slight nod, smiled, and said: "Wanting, I heard you've put in a lot of effort for this wedding—thank you for your hard work!"

Song Wanting quickly replied: "Master Ye, you're too kind; these are merely what I ought to do."

Ye Chen asked her: "How is the old gentleman lately?"

"Quite well," Song Wanting answered: "Grandfather has been constantly mentioning you lately, saying he'd like to invite you to his home for a small gathering, but fears it might interfere with your important affairs."

Ye Chen smiled: "When you return, tell the old gentleman that if I have the time, I will certainly pay him a visit."

Song Wanting's heart leapt with joy, her eyes flashing with excited light, and without hesitation she nodded and said: "Very well, Master Ye—I'll go back and tell Grandfather right away; he will surely be overjoyed!"

A girl ran over and said to Su Ruoli: "Miss Ruoli, Teacher Feng would like to ask you—has the wedding officiant arrived? If so, he'd like to confirm the procedure together with you and the officiant."

"He has already arrived," Su Ruoli replied, nodding slightly, then looked at Ye Chen and asked: "Mr. Ye, would you be willing to accompany me to see Teacher Feng? He is the host I invited from Yanjing to officiate my parents' wedding as a guest master of ceremonies."

Ye Chen readily said: "Fine, let's go see him."

Su Ruoli breathed a sigh of relief, then hurriedly asked the girl: "Where is Teacher Feng now?"

The girl replied: "Teacher Feng is in the resting room at the back."

"Good," Su Ruoli said, nodding, then told Ye Chen: "Mr. Ye, let's go over there!"

Ye Chen followed Su Ruoli through the banquet hall of the sky garden to the resting room behind it.

She knocked on the door, and from inside came the voice of a middle-aged man: "Please come in!"

Su Ruoli pushed the door open and saw a dignified middle-aged man, holding a manuscript and reciting it with focused concentration.

This middle-aged man was the renowned news host Feng Zidong, highly renowned throughout China.

Upon seeing him, Ye Chen immediately recognized him; although Ye Chen rarely watched television, he still frequently followed the nation's largest news program, so naturally he knew this top-tier host.

At this moment, Su Ruoli respectfully said to Feng Zidong: "Uncle Feng, this is Mr. Ye, the wedding officiant for my parents."

After speaking, she turned to Ye Chen and said: "Mr. Ye, this is Feng Zidong, also my adoptive uncle; he grew up in the He household since childhood and is my maternal grandfather's adopted son."

Ye Chen had seen Feng Zidong on television before, but never expected that upon seeing him in person, he would discover that Feng Zidong was also a martial artist.

However, his cultivation had only reached the entry-level one-star stage.

At this moment, Feng Zidong also looked up at Ye Chen, and for a moment he was stunned, instinctively murmuring: "So similar… really too similar… young man, did Ruoli just say your surname is Ye?"

Ye Chen furrowed his brow slightly, yet still nodded calmly and said: "That's correct—I am surnamed Ye."

Feng Zidong, somewhat excited, asked him: "Young man, what is your relationship with Ye Changying?!"

Ye Chen's heart startled, and at the same time he became alert, asking: "Mr. Feng, do you know my father?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Zidong became even more agitated, blurting out: "You are truly the son of Senior Ye Changying! They said you had gone missing, but I never imagined you were still alive!"

Ye Chen nodded and asked him: "May I ask, Mr. Feng, what is your relationship with my father?"

Feng Zidong blurted out: "Thirty-two years ago, when I was fourteen and went to study in the United States, I was your father's junior schoolmate."

Ye Chen was greatly surprised: "So you and my father are alumni?"

"More than just alumni!" Feng Zidong exclaimed excitedly: "I was the youngest in that year's cohort, and your father took great care of me back then."

As he spoke, he asked Ye Chen: "Since you are able to attend today the wedding of Ruoli's parents, you must have already returned to the Ye family, right?"

Ye Chen knew that the man before him was certainly a clever one, so he did not conceal anything, nodding and saying: "I have returned, but the outside world basically still does not know."

Feng Zidong nodded, relieved, and said: "I have never been able to understand why the Su family, seemingly allied with the Wanlong Hall, defeated the Ye family, yet shortly afterward changed its patriarch—this does not align with the common traits and foundational logic of those stern, old patriarchs of great clans. Seeing you today, and knowing you are also the wedding officiant, I think I now roughly understand what happened!"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh: "Senior Ye Changying was truly a dragon among men back then; now it seems his son is equally extraordinary!"

Ye Chen clasped his hands in return: "You flatter me!"

As he spoke, Ye Chen curiously asked the question on his mind: "Mr. Feng, you went abroad to study at fourteen—your studies must have been extremely arduous, yet I see you still have the foundation of a martial artist; could it be that you also trained in martial arts as a child?"

Feng Zidong raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked him: "Are you also a martial artist?"

Ye Chen thought for a moment and said: "I suppose so!"

Feng Zidong couldn't help but sigh: "I never imagined that Senior Ye Changying's son, missing for so many years, would actually have become a martial artist!"

After saying that, he smiled faintly and said: "I was very young when my parents forced me to study martial arts; later, after being adopted by Ruoli's maternal grandfather, I instead chose academics and gave up martial training."

Ye Chen asked, puzzled: "Martial artists have always single-mindedly pursued the Dao, even willing to sacrifice everything for martial arts—so why did you, for the sake of academics, give up martial arts? Such a choice is rare."

Feng Zidong gave a self-mocking smile: "My parents, and everyone I encountered in my youth, constantly told me in my ears that martial arts reign supreme, and that one may die upon hearing the Dao in the morning—so I, too, was deeply influenced by them, and from childhood I vowed to become a martial arts master, even making a vow in my youth that I would enter the Dark Realm in my lifetime..."

Speaking of this, Feng Zidong sighed, then continued: "But I never expected that, in my parents' eyes, martial arts mattered far more than I did—so, when I was six, they sent me to live with the He family in order to seek a breakthrough, and from then on, I vanished without a trace for forty years."

Uncle He originally wanted to teach me martial arts, but because I could not forgive my parents for abandoning me, I resolved not to become like them, so I gave up martial arts and chose to study hard instead.

Ye Chen asked in confusion: "Mr. Feng, my father studied business abroad back then, and since you also got into business school, why did you become a host?"

Feng Zidong said: "I did indeed study business abroad, majoring in economics, and up until twenty years ago, I was still working in finance-related jobs in the United States. Twenty years ago, I quit my job, returned, and applied for the position of financial analyst on the TV station's financial channel. Later, I gradually became the host of the financial program, and eventually went to Comprehensive Channel One to become a news host."

Ye Chen couldn't help but say: "Your career shift seems a bit too large."

Feng Zidong sighed: "Because I accidentally learned some things back then, I decided to do everything possible to become a host, hoping that if my parents are still alive, they could see me on TV, read my name, and hear my voice, so they might suddenly appear before me and recognize me..."

Ye Chen couldn't help but ask: "Did they appear?"

Feng Zidong hesitated for a moment, then said seriously: "Mr. Ye, about this matter, we can talk after the wedding ends, in a safe place, slowly."

Ye Chen realized he might have some hidden circumstances, so he said: "Mr. Feng, this place is already very safe."

Feng Zidong shook his head, smiled, and said: "I trust you, and I trust Ruo Rou, but outsiders, to me, are not completely trustworthy. I want to talk to you about something that must be heard only by someone completely trustworthy. Even if there is only a one-in-ten-thousand chance of being untrustworthy, I will not say a single word."