Chapter Forty-Three: Nolan Jia
Nottingham City, the Nolan family estate.
A girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen wore a pale green long dress, her delicate face soft and radiant.
Her lips were rosy and enticing, her fine, elegant nose slightly upturned, and her sparkling eyes resembled a clear, crystalline spring—pure, transparent, and captivating.
Yet, incongruous with her appearance, she was now holding a beer in one hand and devouring large chunks of skewered meat with the other.
One foot rested casually on a bench, displaying not a hint of a ladylike demeanor...
After eating and drinking her fill, she delicately flicked her tongue, licking away the grease from the corner of her mouth until it was spotless.
“Burp... I’m so full!”
Rubbing her round belly, the young girl stood up, intending to take a walk to help digestion.
She had taken only a few steps when a girl in a yellow brocade dress, light and fluttering like a butterfly, came running toward her.
“Oh… isn’t this Linglong, my little sister!”
“Sister Nolan!”
“I’m here! A rare guest, a rare guest indeed!”
“Sister Nolan, are you blaming me for not visiting you lately?”
“What do you think? You promised to come see me once every half-month, and now half a year has flown by. Where on earth have you been?”
“Grandfather said that since we girls will marry someday, we need to be good wives and teach our children. He wants me to study more things and practice musical instruments at home.”
“That can come later! We daughters of Huaguang…”
“We daughters of Huaguang should, before marriage, live a life like this—singing long laments in the wind, raindrops piercing banana leaves, carefree and at ease, drunkenly lying down enjoying barbecue.”
“Come on, sister will take you to visit some newly opened clothing shops of the Nolan family. You should really change those ascetic-style clothes you’re wearing!”
“Sister, there’s no rush to buy clothes. Have you forgotten what our Ye family does?”
“I came today to tell you something.”
“What is it?”
“I have a very powerful friend. He said you might face some trouble soon and asked me to warn you to go out less…”
“Haha… Your friend is a boy, isn’t he?”
“Eh… Sister, how did you know?”
“Did he also say to tell my master to send someone to protect me?”
“Uh-huh, sister, do you happen to have the ability to see the future too?”
“Silly girl, who in this world can see the future? You’ve been tricked!”
“Impossible! That friend has been so kind to me; he wouldn’t lie!”
“All right, all right… he’s the best! Then tell me, how did he predict that I would get into trouble? And how did he know you and I know each other?”
“He figured it out himself!”
“There are so many people he could have predicted for, but he chose me. Obviously, he has ill intentions!”
“Sister, you’re not who you think you are!” Feeling more wronged than if she herself had been misunderstood, Ye Linglong hurried to explain:
“He was entrusted by someone, that’s why he cares so much about you!”
“Entrusted by whom?”
“The Gu Chen you’re going to marry.”
“Eh… Why him?”
“Yes, him!”
“Did he say what his relationship with Gu Chen is? And where is Gu Chen now?”
At the mention of Gu Chen, Nolan Jia’s once playful smile immediately turned serious, followed by a trace of worry.
Many didn’t understand why she insisted on marrying a disfavored son of the Gu family, a waste of the clan.
Only she knew that without him, she would have long since ceased to exist in this world.
When she was nine, Nolan Jia was playful and headstrong, sneaking alone to a pond outside Nottingham City to fish.
Unexpectedly, the pond was home to a water monster over two meters tall, resembling a monkey.
The creature silently approached her, grabbed her leg, and tried to drag her underwater. She struggled desperately but, overwhelmed by its strength, was about to be submerged when—
“Let go of that girl!” a clear voice rang out.
A boy of average height and delicate features leapt into the pond.
He embraced her and unleashed his long-mocked “useless” martial soul, fiercely stabbing at the monster.
Unexpectedly, the weak young boy risked his life to save her and even pierced that gigantic creature with a single strike.
Nolan Jia was terrified. The boy carried her back to Nottingham City, telling her many jokes along the way to lighten her fear.
He brought her home and told her his name.
“My name is Gu Chen—‘Gu’ as in care, ‘Chen’ as in morning.”
His smile was pure, as pristine as the endless lake formed by melting snow atop the mountain.
He deeply captivated Nolan Jia, and from that moment, she silently vowed to marry him when she grew up.
They exchanged names and promised never to forget each other.
Later, she told his father, Nolan Qianshan, who sighed,
“Xiao Lan, this is fate destined by heaven! Your Uncle Gu has done our family a favor. I promised him that when we both have children, if they are all boys, they will be sworn brothers; if a boy and a girl, they will become in-laws.”
Since then, Nolan Jia’s heart could hold no one else. Though everyone else mocked him as a good-for-nothing, a stray dog, she—Nolan Jia—didn’t care.
As long as he cared for her and could move, it was enough.
Despite her breathtaking beauty that captivated all of Nottingham City, Nolan Jia possessed a determination stronger than any man’s.
Because she wanted to protect someone—a man whom everyone regarded as worthless, trash, a stray dog, but whom she treasured dearly.
“I don’t know. My friend said he doesn’t know either; he’s also looking for him,” Ye Linglong said, seeing Nolan Jia’s tense expression, somewhat helpless.
“He must know where he is. Take me to him; I want to ask him myself.”
“Well...” Ye Linglong hesitated.
Nolan Jia was too beautiful, like an otherworldly fairy descended from the heavens, enchanting every man who saw her.
And Gu Chen was, in her heart, like a prince on a white horse, a god descended to earth, incredibly handsome.
Ye Linglong hesitated, fearing that if the two met and fell for each other, she would suffer heartbreak to the point of breathlessness.
“What are you hesitating about? Afraid I’ll snatch your beloved lord away?” Nolan Jia smiled faintly, half-joking.
“Sister Nolan, you really know how to joke. I didn’t think that…”
Ye Linglong tried hard to hide her embarrassment, but her flushed cheeks betrayed her.
“Don’t worry, my heart already belongs to a man. Besides, I’m about to marry soon. Why would I compete with a little girl like you for a man?”
“Sister Nolan, you really intend to marry Gu Chen from the Gu family? Marriage concerns a woman’s lifelong happiness. Have you thought it through?”
“I have. I decided years ago. I, Nolan Jia, will marry only him—Gu Chen. No matter how outstanding other men are, I won’t even glance at them.”
“Alright, I’ll take you to meet him.”
Just then, a servant came to report.
“Miss, Master Dai has arrived.”
[First update today. Today is the first test day. Friends who like this book, please remember to bookmark it! Just add it to your bookshelf, thank you!]
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