Long Huijuan had reserved an entire café for the occasion. Dozens of men in black suits stood guard around the perimeter, ensuring no outsiders could enter.
Inside the café, there were only Long Fei and Long Huijuan.
"Little Fei Fei, where have you been these past few years? Your aunt and everyone else have been so worried about you."
"Heh." Long Fei let out a cold laugh.
Hearing those words from his aunt's mouth felt utterly ironic to Long Fei. Aside from his three older sisters, he believed that only his aunt was genuinely worried about him. As for the rest of the family caring about him—he could only scoff.
When his parents had died in that accident, the only ones who handled their funeral arrangements—besides his aunt—were his eldest sisters. No one else had stepped forward (his maternal grandparents had passed away one after another when Long Fei was still young).
His paternal grandparents hadn't even offered any condolences. His two uncles had only coveted the assets his parents had left behind for him and his sisters, even scheming to seize the inheritance that rightfully belonged to them.
Hearing her nephew's cold laugh, Long Huijuan understood his attitude. When her third brother and sister-in-law had passed away, the things her other brothers had done had indeed chilled the hearts of her nieces and nephew.
"Little Fei Fei, take this. It's just a small token from your aunt. This is an anonymous bank card—you can use it at any bank internationally." Long Huijuan pulled out a gold-colored bank card and slid it across the table toward Long Fei.
Long Fei had initially wanted to refuse, but he thought about how his company, though showing some progress, still needed substantial funds for further development.
"Thank you, Aunt." Long Fei pocketed the gold bank card.
"Um..." Long Huijuan hesitated, wanting to say something but holding back.
"Aunt, if there's something you want to say, just say it."
"Well, it's like this. Your grandfather has arranged a marriage for you."
Long Fei's eyes narrowed, flames of anger flickering within them.
"What does that old man mean by this?" Long Fei's tone was laced with fury.
"The marriage your grandfather arranged for you is an alliance with the young lady of the Shu Family—the eldest daughter of the Shu Family, Shu Qianxue. He's arranged for you to marry into the Shu Family as a live-in son-in-law."
Long Fei clenched his fists tightly. Long Dingkun was treating him like a pawn. It seemed the Long Family had a massive cooperation project with the Shu Family, and to ensure mutual trust, Long Dingkun had decided to sacrifice his grandson, Long Fei, sending him to the Shu Family as a hostage.
Long Fei stood up and said to his aunt, "Pass a message to that dead old man for me. Tell him I'm not his pawn—and that I will make him regret it." Without looking back, Long Fei left the café.
Long Huijuan sighed. She knew her father's arrangement was indeed excessive—making such a decision unilaterally without any discussion.
As soon as Long Fei stepped out of the café, he heard Li Xiucheng's miserable screams in the distance, accompanied by a woman's angry scolding.
"Li Xiucheng, stop right there!"
Long Fei looked in the direction of the voice and saw Li Xiucheng being chased by a young woman of striking beauty.
The young woman had an oval face and sweet features, but her expression was one of fury as she pursued Li Xiucheng. Long Fei recognized her—she was Lin Yuehua.
She was Li Xiucheng's fiancée. Lin Yuehua also came from a prominent family; the two families had arranged a childhood engagement.
Though Lin Yuehua was a year younger than they were, she had grown up as a childhood playmate alongside them. Long Fei knew that Lin Yuehua had liked Li Xiucheng since she was little, always considering him her man and hating any other women getting close to him.
However, Li Xiucheng had always treated Lin Yuehua like a little sister.
Li Xiucheng spotted Long Fei just in time and quickly ran behind him.
Long Fei extended one hand, blocking Lin Yuehua's path and bringing her to a stop.
Lin Yuehua looked closely and realized it was Long Fei.
"Oh, it's you, Long Fei. Long time no see." A pleasant voice came from Lin Yuehua's lips.
"Indeed, it's been a while. We haven't seen each other in about three years. What brings you here?"
"I came to relax with your aunt. I didn't expect to run into Brother Xiucheng here."
Long Huijuan happened to walk out of the café at that moment.
"Little Cheng Cheng, how did you end up joining a mercenary group?" Long Huijuan asked, eyeing the emblem on the mercenary uniform Li Xiucheng was wearing.
"I'm following Brother Long now. Brother Long is my boss." Li Xiucheng pointed at Long Fei with a grin.
Both women looked shocked. Long Huijuan hadn't expected that her nephew, whom she hadn't seen in years, had become the boss of a mercenary group.
"Little Fei Fei, you actually started a mercenary company? Do you know how to fight? Do you know how to command and deploy troops?" Long Huijuan asked with a face full of worry.
"Aunt Long, don't..." Li Xiucheng saw the murderous look in Long Huijuan's eyes and quickly coughed dryly before continuing, "Sister Long, don't worry. Long Fei is way stronger than I am. No one can beat him when it comes to piloting mobile suits, and he's even started an arms manufacturing company with a lot of weapons that are..."
"Xiucheng!" Long Fei glared at Li Xiucheng, warning him not to say too much.
Li Xiucheng immediately clamped both hands over his mouth.
Long Huijuan thought for a moment and recalled that her nephew had been obsessed with military hardware since childhood. As a kid, he was always drawing mechas, warships, and tanks. The anime, novels, and manga he loved were all about mobile suits and wars. So, when he left home three years ago and started a company, it must have been to pursue his dream.
At that moment, Long Fei pulled a controller from his pocket and pressed a button. A nearby motorcycle automatically drove up to him.
Long Fei put on his helmet, turned to Li Xiucheng, and asked, "Are you staying here or coming back with me?"
"Of course I'm coming back."
Lin Yuehua had wanted to speak up and keep Li Xiucheng, but Long Huijuan gave her a look, and Lin Yuehua closed her mouth, watching as the two men rode off on their motorcycles.
At that point, a bodyguard approached and whispered something in Long Huijuan's ear.
Long Huijuan nodded, whispered a few instructions back to the bodyguard, and then took Lin Yuehua back to the hotel.
...
"Young Miss, this is the latest intelligence we've gathered on Young Master Long Fei."
Long Huijuan looked over the intelligence report handed to her by the bodyguard, resting her chin on her right hand as she said, "Little Fei Fei is quite impressive. In just a few short years, he's expanded his company to this scale."
A red-haired bodyguard reported to Long Huijuan: "Young Miss, we've just received word that Young Master Long Fei is currently resting on a frigate. The frigate belongs to his mercenary group and is docked for two days—partly for maintenance, but also to wait and see if any clients come forward with commissions."
Long Huijuan beckoned the red-haired bodyguard closer with a curl of her finger.
After whispering a few instructions in his ear, the red-haired bodyguard saluted her and left the room to carry them out.
"Young Miss, should we bring Young Master Long Fei back home by force?" a middle-aged bodyguard with black hair asked for instructions.
Long Huijuan shot a fierce glare at him, and the middle-aged bodyguard immediately lowered his head, not daring to meet her eyes.
"Uncle Qian Tong, you watched me grow up. You know better than anyone that I've always doted on Little Fei Fei the most. If we did that, he would hate me for the rest of his life."
"Yes, Miss." Qian Tong stepped back respectfully and stood to the side.
"All of you may leave. I'm tired and need to rest." Long Huijuan waved her hand, and the bodyguards exited the room.
Long Huijuan went to bed and rested.
...
Meanwhile, as Long Fei was resting in his quarters, he received a communication from the captain.
They had received a commission: escort the client to the Ganza Kingdom. Escort missions were ordinarily routine affairs.
The unusual aspect was the exceptionally high price offered—1 billion for a single trip. This made the captain suspect something fishy and hesitant to accept, so he reported directly to Long Fei for instructions.
Long Fei guessed who the client was and ordered the captain to accept the job.