My Sexy CEO Wife

Chapter 569 - 566 Prelude to a Falling Out

"Gao Fei, I'm really happy today," Bai Mudan said, gazing at the distant scenery with a slight smile. "Thank you for accompanying me on this outing."

"Miss, you are too polite," Gao Fei said with a smile. "It is my honor to accompany you on this outing."

"Don't call me 'Miss'."

"Ah? Then what should I call you?"

"Call me Mudan."

"...That doesn't seem appropriate..."

"What's inappropriate about it! If I tell you to call me that, just call me that! Do it quickly, call me!"

"...Mudan... Miss..."

"Drop the 'Miss' part."

"...Mudan..."

"Is it so hard to call someone by their name? Forget it, I'll let you off for today, but I'll deal with you properly another time."

The two of them continued to play until dusk before they returned to the City Lord's Mansion.

"How long are you planning to stay this time?" Bai Mudan asked Gao Fei, looking into his eyes and speaking softly.

"Uh, maybe a few days."

"A few days?"

"I haven't really decided yet..."

"Then stay for a month."

"Ah?"

"What are you 'ah-ing' for! It's settled then! I'm going to take a bath. I'll come to find you tomorrow."

Bai Mudan walked away with her hands behind her back, taking small steps and humming a tune.

"What are women best at? They're best at exhausting men!" Gao Fei sighed deeply, looking up at the sky.

...

In the following days, Bai Mudan kept clinging to Gao Fei. They went boating in the lake today, paid a visit to the temple to offer incense tomorrow, and the day after went to a friend's estate to have fun... Every day was filled with activities; Bai Mudan was happy, but Gao Fei was absolutely exhausted. Several times, Gao Fei told Bai Mudan that he was very tired and wanted to rest for a couple of days, but Bai Mudan absolutely refused to agree.

That evening.

Bai Daqing suddenly visited the place where Gao Fei was staying. It was the first time Bai Daqing had come over these days.

"City Lord Bai, what brings you here? Please have a seat, and I'll make you some tea!" Gao Fei invited Bai Daqing to sit down, then brewed him a steaming cup of tea.

"How have you been these past few days? Enjoying yourself?" Bai Daqing asked with a smile, looking at Gao Fei.

"Oh, it's been fine."

"What do you think of my daughter?"

"Ah?"

"I'm asking you, what do you think of my daughter?"

"My thoughts? I..."

"Speak the truth, it's okay if you're wrong," Bai Daqing encouraged Gao Fei with a reassuring look.

"Miss Bai is beautiful, well-read, clever and intelligent, truly a rare gem of a woman," Gao Fei said, choosing the most complimentary words.

"Is that your honest opinion?"

"Ah! Absolutely, it's the truth!"

"So you think highly of my daughter?"

"Uh, yes..."

"Well, in that case, I'll betroth Mudan to you," Bai Daqing suddenly said something that shocked Gao Fei immensely.

"Ah!" Gao Fei was greatly startled, suddenly standing up: "City Lord, this sort of matter shouldn't be joked about recklessly."

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"City Lord..."

"Just tell me plainly, are you willing to marry my daughter or not?"

"I..."

"What? You're unwilling?" Bai Daqing's smile slowly faded, his eyebrows slowly furrowed, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes. What do you mean by that? Do you look down on my daughter?

"No, it's not that I'm unwilling..." Gao Fei hastened to wave his hand.

"So you are saying you're willing." Bai Daqing's expression softened slightly.

"No, I..."

"What on earth do you mean! Speak clearly! If you are willing, say you're willing; if you're not willing, then say you're not!"

"I…" Gao Fei felt so frustrated inside. What sort of situation was this? Gao Fei knew very clearly that if he couldn't get through this ordeal today, his relationship with Bai Daqing would sour, perhaps even turning to enmity. He was very reluctant to see the relationship he had managed to build up be destroyed so easily.

But he had no feelings for Bai Mudan. At most, he treated Bai Mudan as a good friend. He could swear to heaven that he harbored no designs on Bai Mudan whatsoever.

What should he do?

Accept or refuse?

Gao Fei was stumped.

"Speak." Bai Daqing slapped the table: "Say what you're really thinking."

After a moment of silence, Gao Fei spoke: "City Lord, there is something I have been hiding from you..."

"What is it?" Bai Daqing's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"I am already married."

"Oh?"

"I have several wives."

"..."

"If you insist on marrying your young lady to me, then she can only be my concubine." Gao Fei had thought it through, and this was the most ideal response. He didn't believe that Bai Daqing would really be willing to let his daughter be a concubine.

Sure enough, upon hearing Gao Fei's response, Bai Daqing's countenance immediately changed: "Concubine? To let my daughter be a concubine? You dare to propose such a thing!" Bai Daqing was a city lord, a man of noble status. How could his daughter become someone's concubine? That was absolutely unacceptable!

Gao Fei shrugged his shoulders and said with a helpless tone: "Then there's nothing I can do."

"Gao Fei." Bai Daqing stared straight at Gao Fei, his tone unpleasant: "Don't tell me you fabricated this lie just to reject me?"

"It's not a lie, it's the truth! I really have married, and not just to one wife."

"Where are they? How come I have never seen them?"

"They live in the countryside. Recently, I have been planning to bring them over to enjoy a better life."

"Fine, I'll take your word for it for now." Bai Daqing slowly exhaled a deep breath: "I'll give in one more step. You divorce all your wives, and then I'll marry my daughter to you."

"That won't do." Gao Fei shook his head vigorously without a second thought: "That's absolutely out of the question. How could I do such a heartless thing? City Lord, if I really divorced my wives, would you feel at ease marrying your young lady to me? Wouldn't you be afraid that I would mistreat her later on?"

"The opportunity was given to you, but you didn't cherish it." Bai Daqing pushed back his chair and stood up: "Gao Fei, I am very disappointed in you." With that, Bai Daqing left huffily. To have stooped to personally asking for his daughter's hand in marriage and to be rejected — one can imagine how he felt.

"City Lord..." By the time Gao Fei gave chase, Bai Daqing had already disappeared: "Sigh!" Gao Fei sighed heavily: "The backer that I finally found, just gone like that."

Although he had angered Bai Daqing, Gao Fei had no regrets. He had his own principles, and no matter who it was, they couldn't cross his boundaries.

In plain terms, it was because Gao Fei had no feelings for Bai Mudan, which was why he made all sorts of excuses to decline. If it had been Shangguan Yunyue... he would have agreed long ago.

Theoretically speaking, Bai Mudan had the looks, the status — a perfect, upper-class beauty. Gao Fei should have liked her, right? But the problem was... Gao Fei really felt nothing for Bai Mudan, and he truly couldn't bring himself to marry a woman he didn't love.

Some might say that Gao Fei was too squeamish, too prideful to even consider the daughter of the city lord, as if he had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

Indeed, it was as if Gao Fei's head had been kicked by a donkey, resulting in a set of thoughts, temperament, and character that stood out from the norm! The flattering term for it would be "having personality," the harsher opinion "being stubborn," but no matter what, how Gao Fei chose to live was his own business, and others had no right to judge.