Chapter 087: Heroes Are Not Judged by Their Origins
“You’re not laughing at me, are you? I don’t know who you are, do I?”
“I know, I know, but it’s necessary to please you,” Ella said with a smile. “I wonder if I could have the honor of a dance with Mr. Chen Ran?”
This girl, who looked a bit like Lia, made Chen Ran lose his composure for a moment. He suddenly remembered what he had said to Lia, that their meeting should not have been in the jungle of a survival game, but at a grand ball, dancing a dance. Such an encounter would have been perfect, but now…
“Um, I don’t know how to dance…” Chen Ran said honestly.
“It’s okay, we can dance slowly. It’s easy to learn,” Ella said, shaking her head indifferently. “I don’t want to dance with any other strangers tonight. It’s very tiring to refuse. For my cousin’s sake, just humor me.”
“Um, alright… Just don’t laugh at me later…”
Chen Ran bowed, extended his hand like the other men, and Ella smiled, curtsied, and took his hand. The two of them walked onto the dance floor together.
Chen Ran followed suit and put his right hand on Ella’s soft, slender waist, but his movements were a bit stiff.
“Relax. You have to put your whole heart into whatever you do, even if it’s the first time,” Ella said, patting Chen Ran’s hand and placing it in the optimal position. She slightly separated her fingers, which made Chen Ran’s movements a little more natural. Then, their other hands clasped, and they finally started to move with the music of the dance floor.
Perhaps taking into account that it was Chen Ran’s first time dancing, Ella’s movements were very precise. As they danced, she explained the details of the steps. Even though Chen Ran was a beginner, he learned quickly under her guidance and soon got the hang of the basic steps.
At this, he finally understood why the girl Dongfang liked Ella so much. Not only because she was beautiful, but also because she was very good at teaching. She could easily read every movement of a person’s body.
The basic steps were very simple. It was only after there were no more problems that they truly began to enjoy the pleasure of dancing.
Facing Ella, this beautiful, elf-like woman, exuded a unique charm. Her blue-gray eyes sparkled, making one’s heart pound.
“The person who has danced with you before must be very lucky. You are a very good dance partner,” Chen Ran praised sincerely.
“Thank you for your praise, but you’re wrong about that,” Ella said with a playful shrug of her shoulders. Her sexy collarbones were infinitely charming. “In fact, I rarely dance with other people. Usually, when I have to attend a ball, I just drag my cousin along, and we dance for the whole night. He gets a headache from it, and it prevents him from talking to other beautiful women. He always resentfully warns me that he’ll sell me off.”
“Uh…” Chen Ran was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t expected this. He smiled and said, “By the way, I haven’t thanked you yet for taking the time to teach that little girl Dongfang. With your guidance, she has really become much more sensible.”
“It’s nothing. She’s a cute girl, and also very much like a little boy. I like her very much. I’m just doing what I like. You don’t have to be so polite.”
At such a close distance, Chen Ran could smell the light, unforgettable fragrance on Ella. If it weren’t for his previous two relationships, he would have easily fallen for the girl in front of him. Although, there was nothing wrong with it now either.
Chen Ran wanted to say something, but he couldn’t think of a suitable topic. Ella naturally didn’t take the initiative to speak either, letting the ambiguous feeling continue. They just followed the rhythm of the dance, focusing their energy on how to dance this dance well.
In another corner of the ballroom, looking at Chen Ran and Ella’s intimate appearance, a jealous gaze was cast in their direction.
“Brother, look at that guy. Didn’t he just get rich overnight by stepping in dog shit? So many flies are swarming around him. How is that guy worthy of dancing with Miss Ella?”
Bies raised his eyebrows and looked at his thoughtless younger brother beside him, a hint of displeasure between his brows. “That’s enough, Billy. Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough? It’s his own ability that he’s standing out. Just don’t cause me any trouble. Think about what you’ve been doing all these years.”
“Hmph, at least I’m better than that nouveau riche. Our family has a history of over a hundred years.”
“Foundation?” Bies couldn’t help but sneer. “Let’s not even talk about whether that guy has the backing of the Holy Church. Take the War Emperor Sakay of the northern Austro-Hungarian Empire, for example. What was he when he was young? Just the young son of a small tribal chief. He later rose to power by killing his incompetent older brother and was able to unite all the tribes with a sweeping force, annexing all the small and medium-sized countries except for Turin and Ikadan, and becoming the number one great nation. How many years did that take him? And how did the peak-stage Austro-Hungarian War Emperor kill the Tulip Marshal, who was known as the number one in the empire at the time, in a one-on-one battle? And then he even forced the two superpowers, the Turin Empire and Ikadan, to join forces to deal with him. What foundation did he rely on?”
“Don’t tell me he can be compared to the Austro-Hungarian War Emperor?” Billy still looked unconvinced.
“I’m warning you, don’t do anything stupid in the future. I’m only telling you this because we’re brothers. I’ll be leaving Xilan City sooner or later and won’t have time to manage the family’s affairs. I have no objection to you inheriting most of the property, but if you’re still so superficial and brainless, I’ll have my father divide the family’s assets among others, to prevent it from being ruined in your hands,” Bies said, completely ignoring the suppressed dissatisfaction in his brother’s eyes. “If you still want to inherit the family business, then do something that will put people at ease. And that woman named Kadeshan, you can tell her to leave. No matter how good she is in bed, it’s fine to play with a woman of such loose morals, but there’s no need to keep her in the family and ruin our reputation.”
Perhaps Bies’s words held a lot of weight in the family. Although Billy was angry, he still didn’t dare to refute. His gaze couldn’t help but turn to Ella again.
“And,” seeing his brother’s expression, Bies warned again, “what’s not yours, you can’t fight for.”
“I!…” Billy looked at his brother, whom he had always admired, with resentment. After he had spoken so mercilessly, he finally ran off without saying a word.
After a busy night, it seemed that in just one day, Chen Ran’s fame had spread like wildfire throughout Xilan City. Everyone knew that there was such a divine person in the church.
When Chen Ran went to his most familiar purchasing firm, the owner of the most high-end magic equipment shop in the city personally came out to talk to him and directly gave him a membership, allowing him to buy materials at a 20% discount in the future. This 20% discount would save Chen Ran a lot of money in his future purchasing plans. Although, he was not short on money now.
Chen Ran bought quite a lot of things this time. Even with the 20% discount, he still spent tens of thousands of gold coins in one go. He had many things to do next, such as making the new scabbard for Light’s Defiance that he had promised, and he also planned to make a set of fine-grade (blue) shamanistic magic items for Dongfang, as well as a set of equipment for himself to enhance the power of his light magic. Now that he had the means, it was time to upgrade his slingshot to a bird gun.
