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**
"Cuter than an old codger like you? That's for damn sure!"
Given the relationship between Xiao Lin and Nalan Jie, there was absolutely no need for him to be polite.
"Tch, just keep envying me. Don't think I don't know you've always wanted a daughter."
As his best friend, Nalan Jie naturally knew this about him.
"Hmph, I have three grandsons!" Xiao Lin countered, refusing to back down.
Aren't three grandsons better than your single granddaughter?
"I have a granddaughter," Nalan Jie replied, remaining perfectly calm.
"All three of my grandsons will be outstanding in the future!" Xiao Lin said with righteous confidence.
"I have a granddaughter."
"All three of my grandsons are dragons among men!"
"I have a granddaughter."
"All three of my grandsons have the potential to become a Dou Di!"
Getting desperate, Xiao Lin started bragging shamelessly.
In response, Nalan Jie merely gave him a sideways glance and calmly repeated those same four words.
"I have a granddaughter."
Fine, fine, fine!
Just you wait!
Sooner or later, I will let one of the pigs from my family plow that fine cabbage you are raising!
Xiao Lin sulked, completely losing the desire to speak.
In the original timeline, Xiao Yan was also a total slave to his daughter, and in this regard, Xiao Lin was not one to be outdone either. Whether it was a granddaughter or a daughter, they were all like cozy, warm jackets.
As long as they didn't let the wind leak through, they were all great.
The brief verbal sparring between Xiao Lin and Nalan Jie left Nalan Su standing awkwardly on the side. On this front, Xiao Lin had actually never forgotten his roots. No matter how strong his current power had become, he never put on any airs in front of these friends from his early days.
Don't look at how the current Xiao Lin often ran off to the Central Plains under the pretext of "seclusion." Every single time he "emerged from seclusion," he would always make sure to visit Nalan Jie, Mu Chen, and the others.
It was like that last time, and it was exactly the same this time!
Although he didn't spend every waking moment with Nalan Jie like he did before awakening his past-life memories, the friendship between the two of them hadn't deteriorated because of any of that.
In Xiao Lin's heart, Nalan Jie was still his best friend!
After the two of them bickered for a while, because of Xiao Lin's arrival, Nalan Jie, who had been cradling his granddaughter, finally handed her over to his son, Nalan Su, who was standing nearby.
"Father, Uncle Xiao, I'll leave the two of you to chat. I won't disturb you anymore. It's about time Yanran was handed over to her mother for nursing," Nalan Su said to the two men after taking his daughter from his father's arms.
"Mm, go on," Nalan Jie waved his hand at his son, and Xiao Lin nodded in agreement as well.
Truth be told, Xiao Lin's feelings toward the rest of the Nalan Clan had always been rather indifferent. Even toward Nalan Jie's son, Nalan Su, it was exactly the same!
After all, in the original story, when it came to the matter of breaking the marriage engagement, the rest of the Nalan Clan either supported it or tacitly allowed it, with Nalan Jie being the sole exception.
Although such things hadn't happened in this life yet, it was genuinely difficult for Xiao Lin to harbor much goodwill toward them. In the Nalan Clan, only Nalan Jie was someone Xiao Lin actually valued.
That was all!
As for Nalan Yanran.
To be fair, her choice to break the engagement wasn't actually wrong.
For a girl who was just born, or perhaps not even born yet, to be told directly that her entire future had already been bound to someone—it was only natural that the vast majority of people would be unwilling to accept it.
It was just that some would choose to submit, while others would choose to resist. If this were placed in the era of Xiao Lin's previous life, easily eighty to ninety percent of women would definitely choose the latter.
Therefore, on this particular matter, Nalan Yanran's choice had never been wrong!
However, what was wrong was the method she chose to break the engagement!
Nalan Yanran possessed a fierce and unyielding personality, so her choosing to break the engagement was essentially completely predictable.
But her decision to bring along the people from the Yun Lan Sect and make a massive, public scene out of breaking the engagement at the Xiao Clan's doorstep was absolutely, unequivocally wrong!
By doing this, her own face was certainly preserved, but what about the face of the Xiao Clan? It was possible that she was still too young and immature at that time, which led to her making that kind of choice.
However, being young and immature was by no means a valid excuse for her to grind the Xiao Clan's dignity into the dirt. In truth, based on Xiao Yan's own personality, he would probably be someone who disliked arranged marriages as well.
In the original timeline, even if Nalan Yanran hadn't come to break the engagement, given Xiao Yan's circumstances back then, he likely would have felt too embarrassed to bring up the matter himself.
The Xiao Clan wouldn't have brought it up either!
Both sides could have simply chosen to tacitly pretend the marriage contract didn't exist.
That was one way to handle it.
However, considering that Nalan Yanran couldn't be certain about the character of the Xiao Clan's members, it was also understandable why she didn't choose that route. But would it really have killed her to come to the Xiao Clan privately to discuss dissolving the engagement?
Given Xiao Zhan's character, combined with the long-standing relationship between the two clans, Xiao Zhan was definitely not an unreasonable man. Even if he felt uncomfortable inside, he probably wouldn't have said much and would have expressed his understanding.
Xiao Yan would have objected even less!
That way, everyone could have parted ways amicably.
This was actually the path that suited Nalan Yanran best, and it was a method that could have preserved the dignity of both clans simultaneously. Unfortunately, while Nalan Yanran's choice was right, her execution was entirely wrong.
Regarding this point, the original Xiao Yan had actually mentioned it himself. He didn't hate the fact that Nalan Yanran came to dissolve the engagement back then; what he hated was the manner in which she chose to do it!
Xiao Lin completely agreed with this sentiment.
Therefore, in this lifetime, before this event actually took place, Xiao Lin maintained a wait-and-see attitude toward Nalan Yanran. Because he had seen Nalan Yanran today, who was just a little over a year old, all of these various thoughts had come rushing into Xiao Lin's mind.
"As for this matter, we'll just have to see how it plays out," Xiao Lin thought silently to himself.
At this moment, in the small pavilion within the Nalan Clan's garden, only the two best friends, Xiao Lin and Nalan Jie, sat opposite each other. While Xiao Lin was lost in thought, Nalan Jie brewed a cup of tea for him.
"What are you thinking about?"
After pouring the tea, Nalan Jie glanced at Xiao Lin and asked.
"Nothing much, just thinking about how to plow that fine cabbage of yours," Xiao Lin said with absolute confidence after taking a small sip of his tea.
Hearing this, Nalan Jie was stunned at first, but he quickly reacted to what Xiao Lin meant by plowing his family's cabbage.
This instantly caused him to glare and huff, his beard twitching in anger!
"Well aren't you something, Old Xiao! We barely just met, and you're already plotting against my granddaughter?"
Nalan Jie's face was completely covered in a cursing, indignant expression.
"Didn't you practically deliver yourself to my doorstep, begging me to plot against her?"
Xiao Lin looked at Nalan Jie with a half-smile as he spoke.
"Uh—"
Seeing this, Nalan Jie was momentarily at a loss for words.
As his best friend, how could Xiao Lin fail to see right through Nalan Jie's petty little thoughts? Never mind the little schemes Nalan Jie displayed right on the surface; even if he had taken a few dumps today, Xiao Lin would probably know exactly how many!
From the moment he stepped into the Nalan Clan estate to the moment Nalan Jie insisted on showing him his granddaughter, the motive was simply way too obvious, alright!
It was a temptation, a naked, shameless temptation!
"Did I really make it that obvious?"
After a long silence, Nalan Jie asked in an uncertain tone.
It seemed that Nalan Jie was completely oblivious to just how terrible his own acting skills were!
"It's practically written all over your face. If I still couldn't tell, wouldn't that make me just as stupid as you?"
Xiao Lin teased him without showing the slightest bit of mercy.
**
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