Chapter 208 - 208 The Situation of the Ling Family
Upon seeing Ling Haijun leave with a group of people, Yang Qingyin pulled Luo Ziling back to their private room.
The dishes had already been served, covering the entire table.
But Yang Qingyin had lost her appetite, and Luo Ziling didn’t start eating right away either.
“Do you know them?” Once seated, Luo Ziling hurriedly asked.
“I know one or two of them,” nodded Yang Qingyin, “The one leading them is called Ling Haijun, a prodigal son of no small reputation in academic circles.”
“What kind of person is Ling Haijun?” Luo Ziling asked another question.
Yang Qingyin looked earnestly at Luo Ziling for a moment, and ultimately couldn’t bring herself to refuse his inquiry, but after thinking for a bit, she first countered with a question, “Have you heard of some of the famous families in Yanjing?”
Luo Ziling shook his head, “I don’t know, aside from some things at school, I’m oblivious to everything else.”
“How did you get into a conflict with them?” Yang Qingyin asked again.
“I had a conflict with them last time when I went to a party with some classmates,” Luo Ziling said with a wry smile, recounting the incident that had happened at his Aunt Lin Lin’s opening party to Yang Qingyin.
After summarizing the events, he added with a bitter smile, “Lin Lin’s aunt mentioned that this Mr. Ling comes from an impressive background, and is not someone we can afford to provoke. These people really hold grudges, they wanted to start a fight as soon as they saw me.”
“So that’s how it is,” Yang Qingyin contemplated for a while before deciding to inform Luo Ziling about some things, “Alright, since you’ve had conflicts with them, I believe you would still have unpleasant encounters if you meet again. I’ll tell you about this person.”
“Okay, I’m all ears,” he said.
“In Yanjing, there’s a very famous family, the Ling Family. The current Family Head of the Ling Family is called Ling Mingrui. If you’ve watched TV news, you should know who he is, right? Even if you don’t watch television, you should still frequently see news related to him.”
“Ling Mingrui?” Luo Ziling couldn’t help but tremble. He knew of this towering figure, someone all Huaxia people admired, frequently appearing on TV news, “I know of him.”
Yang Qingyin lowered her voice and continued, “He has a brother named Ling Qirui, who is the highest administrative official of a province in the Northeast. Ling Haijun is Ling Qirui’s grandson.”
“So that’s their identity, no wonder they’re so arrogant,” Luo Ziling couldn’t help but comment, and quickly asked, “Doesn’t the Ling Family have a woman named Ling Ruonan?”
“You actually know about Ling Ruonan?” Yang Qingyin was greatly surprised, “You don’t know the Ling Family, but know Ling Ruonan?”
“I found out by chance,” Luo Ziling didn’t know how to explain to Yang Qingyin, and had no choice but to bring up Ouyang Feifei, “Ouyang Feifei mentioned her once. After the incident last time, when I went to her for information, she said she was in a meeting with Ling Ruonan from the Northern Group.”
“Ling Ruonan was previously known as the First Princess of Yanjing, the most beautiful woman,” Yang Qingyin spoke with a complex expression, “You’re right, Ling Ruonan is also from the Ling Family, her father is Ling Mingrui. She was once the First Princess of Yanjing, and in the eyes of many people, she is still the First Princess, the true princess.”
Hearing Yang Qingyin’s words, Luo Ziling didn’t know how to describe the shock in his heart.
His mother, Ling Ruonan, turned out to have such an identity. That old man, Ling Mingrui, often seen on TV and in the news, was actually his maternal grandfather.
Overwhelmed by shock, Luo Ziling sat there stunned, and the piece of lobster meat he was holding inadvertently dropped onto the plate.
The sound of the shrimp falling onto the plate and the splashing soup instantly brought him back to sense, and he laughed awkwardly, “I was a bit shocked by you.”
Yang Qingyin certainly noticed Luo Ziling’s astonishment, and felt a bit puzzled, but his explanation dissipated most of her doubt.
“Hehe, before, Ling Ruonan was Yanjing’s Number One Beauty and the princess with the highest status. Today, she’s still a princess, but she’s older, and the aura of the Number One Beauty has faded a bit. Everyone now considers your ex-fiancée, Ouyang Feifei, as the Number One Beauty,” Yang Qingyin said with a teasing smile, “You actually called off the engagement with Yanjing’s Number One Beauty, aren’t you being a bit excessive?”
“Isn’t it a lot of people who say you’re Yanjing’s Number One Beauty? They describe you and Ouyang Feifei as the Yanjing Beauties,” Luo Ziling, although still feeling very complicated, couldn’t help but tease her when he heard Yang Qingyin mentioning Ouyang Feifei, “Are you deliberately saying she’s the Number One Beauty because you want to indirectly praise yourself?”
Luo Ziling’s words instantly made Yang Qingyin’s face turn red, and she retorted with a mix of bashfulness and annoyance, “I would never be as vain as you. Hmph, I know for sure you regret it, that you probably hadn’t seen what Ouyang Feifei looked like when you broke off the engagement, right? If you had seen how beautiful she was, I don’t believe you would have had the resolve to break it off.”
“When I went to break off the engagement, I ran into Ouyang Huihui at the entrance of the neighborhood. Before I proposed breaking it off, I already knew she was very beautiful,” Luo Ziling said a bit shyly, “I did struggle with it, thinking she’s so beautiful and her family is so wealthy. I thought if I didn’t go to break off the engagement, but instead went to propose, then…”
Luo Ziling was too embarrassed to continue.
“You regret it, don’t you?”
“No,” Luo Ziling shook his head, “Actually, I’m quite relieved.”
“Relieved about what?”
“Never mind, let’s not talk about it. Speaking ill of people behind their backs isn’t good,” said Luo Ziling, unwilling to say more and quickly changed the topic, “By the way, is the Ling Family considered the most influential family in Yanjing?”
“I guess so, but there are several other families whose influence is about the same,” Yang Qingyin casually replied.
“Including your Yang Family?”
Yang Qingyin paused, unsure how to answer.
“If your Yang Family didn’t have that much influence, you wouldn’t speak to someone like Ling Haijun with that tone,” Luo Ziling said with a sly smile.
Yang Qingyin laughed it off, casually arranging her hair on her forehead, “I’ll tell you more about it some other time.”
After a pause, she asked softly, “Are you scared?”
“Scared of what?”
Yang Qingyin smiled without a word, and picked up a piece of lobster meat to feed Luo Ziling, “Why aren’t you eating today? Is it not tasty?”
Luo Ziling accepted the piece of lobster meat Yang Qingyin held out, swallowing it down, then asked with a smile, “I’m wondering, aren’t you the real First Princess of Yanjing now?”
“Stop teasing me, I’m not a princess, I’m just a student.”
Seeing Yang Qingyin’s shy and flirtatious demeanor, Luo Ziling couldn’t help the tenderness that arose in his heart, but curiosity quickly replaced it, and he asked softly, “Can you tell me about Ling Ruonan?”
“Why?” Yang Qingyin was greatly surprised.