In less than half a day, I had come across two and a half celestial maidens.
Lin Yiyi hadn't fully matured yet, so she only counted as half.
Lin Shihan glanced over at Wang Hao with the corner of her eye and asked, "Yiyi, who is that person? Do you know him?"
Lin Yiyi looked in the direction her sister was indicating, shook her head, and replied, "I don't know him, the weird uncle from the plane!"
Sadness flickered across Lin Shihan's brow as she nodded and said, "Yiyi, get on the bus, let's go home!"
No sooner had they got on the bus than Lin Yiyi, full of curiosity, asked, "Sis, I heard Dad found you a brother-in-law, is he handsome?"
A tinge of melancholy flashed in Lin Shihan's clear eyes as she casually replied, "I don't know; I haven't met him yet. He's one of the soldiers under Dad's command, named Wang Hao."
Lin Yiyi's eyes sparkled with excitement as she said, "Wang Hao, what a rustic name. Sis, when will you bring him out for a walk?"
"Pfft, Yiyi, you think your future brother-in-law is a dog or something, to be 'walked' around?" Mo Ran, a cold beauty, couldn't help but laugh upon hearing Lin Yiyi's words.
"What future brother-in-law? It's not even settled yet. It's just a blind date arranged by Dad because he thinks the guy is decent!" Despite saying this, Lin Shihan's tone was filled with wistfulness.
Clearly, she was quite averse to this blind date.
Mo Ran, hearing the worry in Lin Shihan's voice, offered a comforting smile and said, "Shihan, if your uncle likes him, then he can't be all that bad!"
Lin Yiyi also blinked and chimed in, "Yeah, cousin is right, he must be a hundred times, no, ten thousand times better than that weird uncle from the plane!"
...
"Achoo!"
Standing by the road, waiting for the bus, Wang Hao suddenly let out a huge sneeze.
He rubbed the tip of his nose and muttered to himself, "Damn, who's thinking about me so intensely right after getting off the plane?"
After waiting five minutes, the airport shuttle bus sped towards him.
The driver was a twenty-three or twenty-four-year-old woman with twin ponytails, an innocent appearance, seeming just like the girl next door.
The female driver glanced at Wang Hao and called out briskly, "What are you dazing for? Either swipe your card, drop coins, or get lost!"
"Eh, are all female drivers so full of character?" Wang Hao, far from being offended by her rebuke, merely chuckled in response.
He then fumbled in his pocket for a full half minute before lazily pulling out two coins.
Alas, when you're penniless, you're unwelcome everywhere!
After boarding with his coins, Wang Hao, out of professional habit, subconsciously observed each passenger on the bus with peripheral vision.
Very quickly, his gaze settled on two girls.
Both girls were in their youthful prime, dressed in sky-blue pleated skirts, oozing purity.
One of them, with long hair cascading over her shoulders, was absorbed in a hardcover edition of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."
Long eyelashes, light eye shadow, and those big watery eyes were brimming with vivacity.
At that moment, one of the girls caught someone peeking at her and glared fiercely at Wang Hao.
Wang Hao, shameless as he was, not only did he not feel any embarrassment upon being glared at by a beautiful girl, but he actually met her gaze head-on with an innocuous smile.
"Pervert!" She tightened her skirt and huffed indignantly, and then ignored Wang Hao to continue reading.
Left feeling rather foolish, Wang Hao begrudgingly withdrew his gaze.
"A perfect ten for the body, another perfect score for the face; guessing a 36B, a slight flaw, deserving a nine..."
All of a sudden, the long-haired girl seemed to uncover some secret, gently nudging her friend's elbow, and whispered, "Xiaoxi, look, our Huaxia culture is indeed profound and extensive!"
The girl called Xiaoxi blinked in confusion and looked at her friend, asking, "Huan Xi, what do you mean by profound and extensive?"
The long-haired girl pointed to her book and spoke with a dimpled smile, "For example, the wisdom in naming; look at the Three Kingdoms era, Liu Bei had two sons, one Liu Feng, one Liu Shan, when combined it means 'imperial consecration,' which implies he had imperial ambitions!"
"Sun Jian also had two sons, one Sun Ce, the other Sun Quan. Together they stand for 'strategy and power.' This shows the Sun family was good at scheming and strategizing!"
The friend, Xiaoxi, nodded as if comprehending, feeling there was some sense to it.
Amused, Wang Hao leaned in and asked, "Hey, that's really something. So, what about old Cao's family—Cao Cao, Cao Ren, Cao Zhen, Cao Shuang... What does this say about the Cao family's talents?"
The long-haired girl, being rather naive, blurted out the response without thinking.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted it, her pretty face blushing red.
Wang Hao chuckled, waved to them, and said, "Beauties, this is my stop. Hope to see you again if fate allows!"
The two girls watched Wang Hao walk away, exchanging glances without saying a word.
A moment later, the long-haired girl, cheeks still flushed, squeezed out two words through clenched teeth: "Pervert!"
After getting off the bus, Wang Hao headed straight for the address given by his old leader, Qingcheng International Group.
However, before he even reached the company entrance, he witnessed quite a spectacular scene.
999 bright red roses were laid out on the ground, forming a heart shape, with red candles embedded within, spelling out the words "Shihan, I Love You."
A young man around twenty-four or twenty-five years old, dressed in a black tailcoat and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, was proposing to a beautiful girl, leaning against a white Lamborghini.
A large crowd had gathered around, their faces exuding envy as they watched the scene unfold, especially those gold-digging, starry-eyed girls who were practically drooling.
Seeing this, Wang Hao couldn't help but furrow his brows.
Shihan, why does that name sound so familiar?
With that thought, he casually took out a somewhat wrinkled old photo from his pocket.
The photo featured a girl around three or four years old, clutching a balloon and smiling at the camera, with two dimples barely visible, looking exceptionally adorable.
In the bottom right corner of the photo was a line of neatly written small characters: 1997, 09, 30, For the third birthday of Lin Shihan:
After looking at the photo, Wang Hao once again turned his gaze toward the heart-shaped rose arrangement.
"Eh, isn't that the little loli and the aloof beauty I ran into at the airport, and that fairy..."
The bespectacled man was half-kneeling in front of the fairy, holding a sky-blue rose, his face full of sincere confession.
However, it seemed the fairy wasn't too impressed with him, her expression cold as ice, and her clear eyes even showed a hint of disgust.
"I'm my goodness, isn't that fairy Lin Shihan, the eldest daughter of my old boss?" With that realization, Wang Hao's eyes began to shine.
Who would have thought that the old boss, with a face like a pig's kidney, could have a daughter as beautiful as a fairy.
"Shihan, ever since I first saw you, I have deeply fallen in love with you. Your smile is like a stream of clear spring, flowing with pure affection, washing over the sweetness in my heart, stirring the nirvana of my love. Loving you is my greatest privilege, an everlasting vow."
"Shihan, will you be my girlfriend?"
Hearing this cheesy love declaration, Wang Hao felt goosebumps all over the floor.
"Damn, that's really disgusting. How dare he propose to my fiancée right in front of me, does he think I, Wang Hao, am made of mud?"
Thinking this, Wang Hao wanted to rush over and throw a punch at him.
However, he quickly realized that doing so might not be appropriate.
After all, this was China, not the Middle East, resolving problems with violence would likely backfire.
Just as Wang Hao was in a dilemma, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of a bicycle repair stand not far away.
In front of the stand was an old, decrepit Red Flag brand bicycle, with a sign hanging on it that was written in crooked letters: For Sale!
Seeing this, Wang Hao came up with a plan.
"Old man, how much for this bicycle?"
The old man glanced up at Wang Hao and waggled two fingers in front of him.
Wang Hao rummaged through his pocket and pulled out a crumpled little red ticket, tossing it over.
"Old man, here's the money, no need for change!"
Having said that, without waiting for the old man to react, he jumped onto the bicycle and pedaled furiously towards the scene.
"Excuse me, could you please move aside, my brakes aren't very good..."
The bespectacled man was still basking in the romance of his own proposal, eagerly awaiting Lin Shihan's nod so he could sweep her off her feet. Therefore, he didn't notice Wang Hao, this dumbfounded guy.
By the time he saw Wang Hao riding the dilapidated Red Flag bicycle rushing towards him, it was too late.
"Clang!"
Aside from the brakes not working, everything else clattered as the bicycle rolled over the vivid roses, heading straight for the bespectacled man.
The bespectacled man, who had never encountered such an accident before, appeared helpless, backpedaling in panic.
One of his bodyguards yelled out, "Young master, spread your legs, spread your legs..."
The bespectacled man, upon hearing his bodyguard's shout, instinctively spread his legs.
In that instant, the bicycle wheel went right through the bespectacled man's crotch, perfectly aligned.
"Ah!"
The bespectacled man let out a scream comparable to the slaughter of a pig, half-squatting on the ground.
A few bodyguards were so shocked they froze, then quickly crowded around: "Young master, young master, are you alright?"
Wang Hao grinned, showing an innocuous smile, and said, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, my brakes aren't very good..."
"Are you blind, or what? Can't you see such a big living person?"
The bodyguards were furious, raising their big fists like casserole pots, ready to make Wang Hao acquainted with them...