Forced to Marry a Female Billionaire CEO

Hearing the middle-aged man's straightforward declaration, both Xu Ke and Tang Yingchang were slightly taken aback.

Is this Xie Jinhua's father?

Then, the same thought flashed through their minds simultaneously.

Did he come because we dealt with his son? First the junior, now the senior?

Xu Ke, not having immediately grasped the situation, could only extend his hand with a smile. "Hello, I'm Xu Ke."

Xie Jiancheng maintained his very gentle smile. After shaking hands lightly with Xu Ke, he said, "I'm sorry. My son is ignorant and has caused you trouble."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ke suddenly felt a sense of unease.

He actually came to apologize? Is he… serious? Surely he's being sarcastic, right?

"It's no problem!" Still unable to figure out the man's intentions, Xu Ke maintained an awkward yet polite smile.

"After my father returned home a few days ago, he asked me to come to the auction," Xie Jiancheng said, his tone full of sincerity. "He said that if possible, I should take a suitable opportunity to express our apologies to you. We hope you won't blame the Xie Family for our lack of discipline."

This time, Xu Ke started to believe that the other party had genuinely come to apologize. It wasn't because of Xie Jiancheng's attitude, but because he had mentioned Xie Hezheng. Just a few days ago, Xie Hezheng had punished Xie Jinhua by making him work as a hotel waiter, and even now, there were still rumors of Xie Jinhua helping out in the kitchen. Therefore, it seemed plausible that Xie Hezheng had instructed Xie Jiancheng to apologize after returning home.

But after accepting that the apology was genuine, Xu Ke's confusion only intensified.

The prestigious Xie Family, so quick to admit their mistakes and bow their heads… is this for real? Even if a major family knew they were wrong, they wouldn't stoop this low, would they?

"Not at all…" Though Xu Ke harbored doubts, he shook his head. "We're all young. It's normal for conflicts to happen. This has nothing to do with the Xie Family."

Though I really feel like dragging out his wife—Shan Lan's sister—and giving her a thrashing to avenge Qiu Mingli, I still need to maintain a thorough and friendly exchange for now.

But who would have known that when Xu Ke avoided the subject, Xie Jiancheng would bring it up himself?

"My wife, Shan Juan, who is Shan Lan's sister, caused harm to you and your teacher due to Shan Lan's wrongful actions," Xie Jiancheng said. "For this, I apologize on behalf of my wife!

"If there's anything you need, feel free to tell me. I hope I can make amends."

This time, Xu Ke was truly stunned. The Xie Family's attitude is simply unbelievable.

Tang Yingchang's eyes narrowed unconsciously. When things go against the norm, there must be something strange afoot! For the prominent Xie Family to be so humble… it's just too absurd.

Then, recalling his speculation from a few days ago, a sudden realization dawned on Tang Yingchang, and his eyes lit up. I bet the Xie Family found out Mister Xu's true identity. That must be why they're so eager to grovel and apologize!

"Uh, Mister Xie, I don't think we need to rush this. Let's talk it over slowly after the auction ends," Xu Ke said, not rejecting Xie Jiancheng's offer to make amends, but rather postponing it.

If the Xie Family intended to compensate him, he was definitely going to accept. However, his acceptance wasn't for himself but for Qiu Mingli. He still remembered that Xie Jinhua's uncle—Xie Jiancheng's younger brother—held a position at Tianhai University. If he could make Xie Jiancheng's brother compensate Qiu Mingli, that would be the outcome he most wished to see.

Because Tianhai University owed Qiu Mingli an apology.

"Good!" Xie Jiancheng nodded with a smile.

What Xu Ke didn't know was that when Xie Jiancheng first learned his son had been thrashed by Xu Ke at the Deyun Hotel, he had been furious and wanted to make Xu Ke pay an equal price. But as soon as he understood the whole story, he immediately ran off to give Xie Jinhua a severe scolding.

Unlike the long-retired Xie Hezheng, Xie Jiancheng was the current de facto Family Head of the Xie Family and had always been gathering information from various channels. The Northern Territory, Southern Territory, Jiangnan, Tianhai, Long Capital… news from all corners was within his scope of attention. Planning ahead was a basic quality every helmsman of a major family was expected to possess.

After Xu Ke defeated Qian Jun at the beginning of the month, his name had landed on Xie Jiancheng's desk. Xie Jiancheng had taken note of him at that time. A rising young genius was surely worth investing in and winning over. In Xie Jiancheng's view, Xu Ke seemed to be with the Wang Family for now. But he believed a genius like Xu Ke, who achieved fame at such a young age, was bound to be proud and ambitious. How could he remain under the Wang Family's banner forever? Eventually, Xu Ke was bound to strike out on his own. Therefore, a future Xu Ke—risen and independent—would certainly disrupt the current balance of the major powers.

Such a person was the most worthy of investment!

He had been looking for an opportunity to make contact with Xu Ke. Then, after the incident two days ago, he discovered that his own wife and son had gotten into such a huge conflict with him. Xie Jiancheng immediately erupted in a thunderous fury, summoning Shan Juan and Xie Jinhua home for a harsh dressing-down. He had finally found a new power with excellent potential and investment value, only for any chance of friendship to be ruined by his own wife and son.

How could he not be angry? How could he not curse them out?

But after the scolding, he had no intention of actually apologizing just because his wife and child had wronged Xu Ke. How humiliating would that be? After all, Xu Ke is just a genius with the potential to rise; he hasn't risen yet. At best, he's just a fledgling.

Therefore, Xie Jiancheng had planned to drop the idea of investing in Xu Ke and certainly wouldn't lower himself to apologize. As long as they stayed out of each other's way in the future, it would be fine.

However, he hadn't expected that while he planned to do nothing, Xie Hezheng would disagree. Xie Hezheng had summoned him to the villa and forcefully impressed upon him who Xu Ke really was and what kind of people stood behind him.

The moment Xie Jiancheng stepped out of his father's villa, his back was soaked with sweat. He hadn't realized that his wife and child had offended not a helpless infant, but a fully grown colossus.

Subsequently, he called Xie Jinhua out for another beating before coming to the auction to apologize to Xu Ke in person. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Originally, Xie Jiancheng had been quite worried that Xu Ke might dislike the Xie Family and refuse to speak with him. Now, although Xu Ke was politely distant, his attitude at least wasn't one of aversion, which made Xie Jiancheng breathe a huge sigh of relief.

As long as our relationship isn't damaged beyond repair, there's still hope.

After Xu Ke's conversation with Xie Jiancheng ended, the three of them sat in silence for a while.

At that moment, Bai Qian'er walked over and called out politely, "Uncle Jiancheng!"

"Isn't this Qian'er? Long time no see!" Xie Jiancheng looked up, a smile appearing on his face when he saw her.

Even though the Bai Family and the Xie Family were competitors, on the surface, they were still very "loving and affectionate" toward each other.