Chapter 3402: Ritual Feeling Cannot Be Lacking

In the early morning, Ye Chen drove an unassuming business car out of the Ye family residence toward the airport.

Gu Qiuyi was taking a private jet back, so the outside world was unaware of her itinerary.

At dawn, the plane landed at the airport, and Ye Chen waited outside the VIP lounge until several black-clad, well-trained male and female escorts escorted a young woman wearing a baseball cap and a mask, who walked briskly toward him.

Ye Chen rolled down the passenger window, and Gu Qiuyi spotted him immediately, quickly taking a few steps forward to run toward him.

Though she was tightly wrapped, only her large eyes were visible, yet Ye Chen could still see her joy and excitement from her eyebrows and eyes.

A female bodyguard of the Gu family hurried forward and first opened the passenger door.

Gu Qiuyi immediately got in, happily looking at Ye Chen and sweetly saying, "Ye Chen gege, how long have you been here?"

Ye Chen smiled faintly: "I just arrived a moment ago."

Gu Qiuyi quickly closed the car door and window, then said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen gege, let's go straight home—my parents are waiting for us at home."

Ye Chen asked her: "Did Uncle Gu and Aunt Lin wake up this early?"

Gu Qiuyi laughed: "Normally we don't get up this early, but the key is that today we two are going back!"

"Understood."

Ye Chen nodded, drove away from the airport, and headed toward the Gu residence.

At that time, the sun had just risen halfway, traffic in Yanjing was smooth, and the two reached the Gu family estate's gate in less than forty minutes.

Gu Yanzhong and Lin Wanqiu personally came out to greet them; when Ye Chen parked the car steadily and got out together with Gu Qiuyi, the couple was overjoyed.

Gu Yanzhong had not seen Ye Chen and Gu Qiuyi for some time, and during this period his daughter had been abroad, which he had greatly missed.

Now seeing the two return together, he felt as if his daughter had married and returned to her parents' home with her husband.

He secretly thought, if the two truly marry in the future and can often come back to visit him and his wife, this feeling would indeed be quite exciting.

Because of yesterday's conversation with his grandfather, Ye Chen felt somewhat nervous and somewhat ashamed upon seeing the couple.

He walked forward unnaturally and greeted them: "Uncle Gu, Aunt Lin."

Gu Yanzhong had long regarded Ye Chen as his own son, patted his shoulder, and said with relief: "I and your Aunt Lin have been mentioning you these past few days, wondering when you'd come to our home—I didn't expect it to happen so soon."

Lin Wanqiu, while affectionately stroking Gu Qiuyi's face, said to Ye Chen: "Chen'er, you don't know—your Uncle Gu mentions you every day, even more often than he mentions Nannan."

Gu Yanzhong laughed: "Nannan is performing abroad, so I mainly worry about her a bit more, but I'm not worried—yet Chen'er constantly contends with those wicked people, openly and secretly, facing constant danger. As an elder, I naturally worry and fret."

He took Ye Chen's arm, smiling: "Come, Chen'er, let's go inside and talk—I have many things I want to ask you."

Ye Chen felt nervous in his heart, but could only steel himself and follow him inside.

After entering, Gu Yanzhong invited him to sit on the sofa; the Gu family living room sofa was arranged in three sections, with Gu Yanzhong and Ye Chen sitting on one side, and Lin Wanqiu and Gu Qiuyi on the other.

Gu Yanzhong looked at Ye Chen and asked with concern: "Chen'er, how has your situation been lately?"

Ye Chen knew he was referring to the Poqing Association, so he replied: "Overall, there's still continuous progress—just recently we dismantled one of their bases in Africa."

"Good!" Gu Yanzhong exclaimed excitedly: "As long as we keep nibbling away at them, even if they're strong, they'll eventually be caught up to, even surpassed, by you!"

Ye Chen sighed: "From now on, it probably won't be that easy—this time in Africa, I discovered they're executing an internal blood-replacement plan, preparing to scatter the death warriors under their control and their families, using them as hostages to force loyalty to the Poqing Association. In the future, trying to persuade their bases to surrender en masse will likely be impossible—unless we launch a massive slaughter. But those death warriors are indeed pitiful; even if their hands are stained with innocent blood, their families and children are innocent."

Upon hearing this, Gu Yanzhong couldn't help but sigh: "If we can't persuade them to surrender nor exterminate them completely, then the future will likely be even more troublesome."

Ye Chen nodded: "Indeed, so after this, I've begun adjusting my strategy—temporarily halting proactive attacks, instead relying on AI models to deploy surveillance worldwide, gathering more clues before deciding on action."

Gu Yanzhong nodded, reflecting that his original intention to have Gu Qiuyi bear Ye Chen's heirs stemmed from concern that Ye Chen's path of revenge would be too long.

Given Ye Chen's nature, if the Poqing Association isn't eliminated, he won't have the energy to attend to romantic matters—thus, the three-year agreement he once made with Ye Chen would become meaningless.

When the three-year agreement was first made, neither he nor Ye Chen knew the hidden truths and inner workings of the Poqing Association; at that time, he thought giving Ye Chen three years to resolve his unhealthy marital relationship with Xiao Churan would allow Ye Chen, after resolving that, to marry his daughter as the heir of the Ye family.

Only after learning of the Poqing Association's existence did he realize behind it lay not only a deep blood feud but also such a massive threat; knowing he lacked the ability to help Ye Chen eradicate the Poqing Association, he ceased mentioning the three-year agreement.

He planned to wait until Ye Chen peacefully eradicated the Poqing Association, then renegotiate a date with him.

But the road ahead is ultimately perilous; knowing his own limitations and fearing Ye Chen might meet with misfortune, he conceived the idea of having his daughter bear Ye Chen's children first.

At first, he felt that as a father, having such a thought was truly inappropriate.

Yet when he tentatively discussed it with his wife, he was surprised to find she wholeheartedly supported it.

The Gu family's current standing is inseparable from Ye Changying's past support.

Gu Yanzhong's survival to this day is even more inseparable from Ye Chen's Rejuvenation Pill prolonging his life.

Their daughter Gu Qiuyi has also been devoted to Ye Chen for many years, never once regretting it.

Lin Wanqiu also felt it was time for the Gu family to take the initiative and step forward.

The couple immediately agreed, and Gu Yanzhong entrusted the task of persuading their daughter to his wife Lin Wanqiu.

Lin Wanqiu then made a video call to Gu Qiuyi; when she subtly mentioned Gu Yanzhong's fear that Ye Chen might encounter misfortune in the future, cutting off the bloodline of Ye Changying and An Chengxi, Gu Qiuyi almost without hesitation said: "It just so happens I'm about to retire from the entertainment circle—if Ye Chen gege is willing, I can first give him a child; if Ye Chen gege is unwilling to have physical intimacy with me, I'd even accept IVF!"

Lin Wanqiu hadn't expected her daughter to be so casual about this matter.

She knew her daughter had not dated in years, had preserved herself like jade for Ye Chen, and though over twenty, remained pure—thus she firmly rejected the proposal, saying to Gu Qiuyi: "You are pure—how could you do IVF? Chen'er might temporarily not be able to give you a legitimate status and a proper wedding ceremony, but as a man, the ceremony he should give you is definitely not something that can be lacking!"