In fact, Zhang Qiuhuai didn't know Gu Xiyan's true thoughts.
Gu Xiyan stepping in front of Mu Jinyu wasn't really about protecting Mu Jinyu.
On the contrary, she was actually protecting Zhang Qiuhuai.
After all, in her perception, Mu Jinyu was a war king who had returned from overseas, with a character that seemed wildly defiant and fierce. She feared that he might lash out over a trifling matter. If the situation escalated, it would be a mess to deal with.
Although Gu Xiyan didn't have a good impression of Zhang Qiuhuai, in fact quite the opposite, she still felt it wasn't worth ruining her grandfather's birthday feast because of this guy, no matter what.
Otherwise, Gu Xiyan would have been more than happy to let Mu Jinyu take this guy down a peg.
Zhang Qiuhuai was unaware of Gu Xiyan's thoughts. If he knew, he might feel moved by the first part but would be choking with rage over the second half.
Mu Jinyu stood behind Gu Xiyan, watching Zhang Qiuhuai's changing facial expressions, and with a slight curl of his lips, he lazily said, "Yanyan, don't worry, this guy wouldn't dare do anything to me."
Being embraced by Mu Jinyu around her slender waist, Gu Xiyan immediately got goosebumps.
'Linglong has misled me!'
Gu Xiyan felt like crying without tears. How could Mu Jinyu, this person, be as honest as Yu Linglong had described? He started trouble as soon as he arrived at the banquet hall, touching and embracing her.
Gu Xiyan was so furious she wanted to spit blood, but with Zhang Qiuhuai right in front of her and a crowd of relatives behind her, she couldn't just slap away Mu Jinyu's wandering hands and so had to endure the discomfort and let him do as he wished.
Zhang Qiuhuai, watching Mu Jinyu's blatant flirtation with Gu Xiyan, felt his heart bleeding. Afterwards, his eyes filled with murderous intent as he angrily said, "Is that all you can do, hide behind a woman?"
"How is it?" Mu Jinyu replied with a faint smile, "It's Yanyan who doesn't want you to get hurt, so she's stopping me from sending you to the morgue!"
"Ha?!" Zhang Qiuhuai replied with a laugh tinged with extreme anger, "What an arrogant claim!"
Having said that, he couldn't bother to pay any more attention to such an arrogant fool like Mu Jinyu.
Zhang Qiuhuai, seeing the slightly stiff and unnatural expression on Gu Xiyan's face, suppressed his anger and earnestly said, "Xiao Yan, I know there are some misunderstandings between us, but even if you are looking for a boyfriend, it doesn't have to be someone like him who's all talk, does it?"
"Such an arrogant person will only cause you trouble every day. How can I let go if you're with him?"
Zhang Qiuhuai's tone was sincere, with deep emotions as he tried to persuade her.
"Yeah, Xiao Yan, look how devoted Qiuhuai is to you. Seeing you messing around with that sleazy guy, he didn't lose his temper but held back his anger to reason with you nicely, showing how much he likes you. You should reconsider."
"What's there to reconsider? This guy is so arrogant; he's bound to bring trouble sooner or later. Xiao Yan, you should kick him to the curb as soon as you can!"
"Right, not heeding the old's advice leads to immediate loss. I was as naive as you once, Xiao Yan, and nearly lost everything to a lousy guy's deception. Don't follow in my footsteps."
"..."
Following Zhang Qiuhuai's remarks, Gu Xiyan's aunts began to persuasively chatter again.
Mu Jinyu, unconcerned by everyone's disparagement, continued unabashedly showing affection to Gu Xiyan, keeping his hand around hers, not very well-behaved, and provoking Zhang Qiuhuai's jealousy.
Gu Xiyan, listening to their words, her expression growing darker, could no longer hold back and took the opportunity to shake off Mu Jinyu's greasy hand. She sneered, "Arrogant? Making trouble all day? Sleazy? Sorry, it seems I just forgot to introduce my boyfriend's identity to you all..."
As she spoke, Gu Xiyan deliberately paused her speech, then looked up and swept a glance over the crowd before continuing faintly, "My boyfriend, Lin Feng, is a super soldier king who has just returned from overseas. He was originally a special agent of the Dragon Group in Huaxia, who, due to a loss of control over his emotions in a mission, accidentally killed a provoking foreign special forces soldier and had to leave the Dragon Group..."
"After leaving the Dragon Group, he went to Africa and defeated the hired soldier dubbed 'Underworld King' by the criminal underworld, thus rising to fame. In a short period of six months, he founded his own half of River City in Africa, and the underworld started calling him 'God of Killing'..."
"Three years later, tired of the life where everyone flattered him, he fell in love with me at first sight and thus quickly decided to give up his wealth and return to Huaxia to live with me, while also reclaiming everything he once lost!"
Gu Xiyan introduced Mu Jinyu's identity as a soldier king without taking a breath, her pretty face full of pride and disdain.
She seemed to be silently declaring her own keen eye for talent, while you all are blind not to see the true worth of a gem...
In truth, although Gu Xiyan put on a very proud face, she actually felt very embarrassed inside, as these introductions were indeed a bit too over the top.
But that was how the information about Lin Feng, provided by her best friend, had described him.
So she had no choice but to introduce him to everyone this way.
Mu Jinyu stood behind Gu Xiyan, looking down at his hands in bewilderment.
He thought to himself, it turns out I once conquered a great territory in Africa with my bare hands?
Putting aside what Gu Xiyan and Mu Jinyu were thinking for the moment, after hearing Gu Xiyan's grand introduction of Mu Jinyu, her aunts were utterly dumbfounded.
'Is he really that amazing?!'
That was what they thought.
They had looked down on Mu Jinyu before because they thought his young and unfamiliar face meant he was just an ordinary person. They had never seen him in River City's high society before.
Therefore, they regarded Mu Jinyu as a nobody, not worth their attention, always talking about how good Zhang Qiuhuai was and how worthless Mu Jinyu was...
But now, they weren't sure if what Gu Xiyan said was true.
Still, they felt Gu Xiyan probably wouldn't lie to them, so with mixed feelings of belief and skepticism, they looked at Mu Jinyu without any contempt.
Zhang Qiuhuai felt the same, but he directly expressed his doubt, "Is it really that amazing? I find it hard to believe."
Gu Xiyan said, "Then I'll make you give up hope!"
Having said that, she lowered her head to rummage through her bag and took out a Nokia phone and a walnut. Then she quickly walked to the table, first tapped the walnut lightly against the table, and said, "This walnut isn't bad, do you want to check it yourself?"
"No need," Zhang Qiuhuai replied somewhat confused, not understanding what Gu Xiyan was planning to do.
"Watch closely," Gu Xiyan said as she raised the Nokia, then ferociously started hammering the walnut with it.
After a few hits, the walnut was successfully smashed by the Nokia in Gu Xiyan's hand.
After smashing the walnut, Gu Xiyan raised the Nokia in her hand and said, "Did everyone see clearly? The Nokia that smashed the walnut is of excellent quality, it's definitely not fake or a knock-off..."
"Hmm..." Zhang Qiuhuai let out a grunt, vaguely guessing what Gu Xiyan was preparing to do next.
Gu Xiyan glanced at Zhang Qiuhuai, snorted disdainfully, and then holding the Nokia, she quickly walked towards a puzzled Mu Jinyu, "Come on, crush the Nokia to pieces for them to see, let them see just how fierce the War King is!"
With an expectant look in her eyes, Gu Xiyan handed the Nokia to him.
"???"
Mu Jinyu looked at Gu Xiyan with a puzzled expression on his face.
Then, without giving it much thought, he leaned in close to Gu Xiyan and whispered, "What the devil? You want me to crush a Nokia with my hand?"
"Can't you do it?" Gu Xiyan, surprised, looked at Mu Jinyu.
"What man could say he can't!" Mu Jinyu glared at her, then in a lowered voice said, "It's just, you didn't mention this step before, did you?"
"How dare you!" Gu Xiyan also glared back fiercely, barely containing her anger, "Did I allow you to caress and grope me?"
Mu Jinyu gave a sheepish smile, stammered, "Wasn't that to prove our relationship..."
"Exactly," Gu Xiyan said with a radiant smile, "And now I'm also asking you to prove your strength, otherwise on what basis do you deserve my one hundred thousand yuan reward?!"
"You do have a point."
In the end, Mu Jinyu still reached out and took the Nokia.
It wasn't that he really couldn't crush the Nokia, he was not only a Divine Doctor, but his martial arts skills were pretty impressive too.
Initially reluctant, he just felt there was no need, but now that Gu Xiyan was insisting, why not just squeeze it.
Seeing Mu Jinyu take the Nokia with a sulky expression, Gu Xiyan couldn't help but curl her lips into a smug smile.
Let this guy dare not to follow the rules, to be so handsy with her!
Indeed, Gu Xiyan was intentionally making Mu Jinyu put on a show, to crush the Nokia with his bare hands.
She thought that as the War King, he should be able to crush the Nokia, although it might be a bit difficult.
This was also a lesson for him, who dared to overstep his boundaries with her?
However, while it was intentional to set Mu Jinyu up, Gu Xiyan was quite looking forward to the performance of crushing the Nokia with his bare hands.
So, she watched Mu Jinyu with shining eyes, full of anticipation for his performance.
Zhang Qiuhuai stood behind them, watching the close interaction between Mu Jinyu and Gu Xiyan, and jealousy churned within him like a fiery surge of acid.
"Come on, show me how you crush a Nokia with your bare hands? I really want to see if you, the Dragon Group's King of Soldiers, are as incredible as Xiao Yan says!"
Zhang Qiuhuai approached slowly, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Mu Jinyu and shouted.
"Alright then."
With the Nokia in hand, Mu Jinyu looked up at Zhang Qiuhuai after hearing the challenge, and then gently closed his fingers around it.
"Bang!"
With a muffled noise, followed by an explosion, the Nokia in Mu Jinyu's hand was crushed as easily as tofu.
A wisp of blue smoke rose from Mu Jinyu's hand, a testament to his ferocity.
Zhang Qiuhuai's eyes were vacant, disbelieving what he just witnessed, his heart clenched tightly.
And the previously noisy birthday hall fell into an instant silence.