Chapter 30 SJC

The old master waved his hand and asked the young boy to bring tea. “Such a young child, yet so many questions?”

Shen Jinnian realized he’d just blurted out a whole string of things. He immediately felt embarrassed and ashamed.

He quickly offered the master a cup of tea in apology. “I was a bit rude just now. Please forgive me, sir.”

The baby tilted his head and learned on the spot, and also clasped a pair of small hands and bowed: "han~"

Please forgive Daddy, Grandpa!

“Haha, I just said you’re young, so there’s no need to bother with adult formalities. Just relax, treat this place like your own home.”

The old man picked up the glasses on the table and slowly put them on his nose. There was no disgust in his expression, as if he was just sighing casually.

He even showed concern and asked Shen Jinnian, “Have you two had lunch?”

Shen Jinnian shook his head. “Not yet. We left early this morning to get here.”

They had hired a car at dawn to come from the city. It had been a bumpy ride the entire morning.

Though they were starving to the point of dizziness, they’d decided to meet the master first—the child’s origins were far more important.

“That’s quite a long trip. Eat lunch first.” The old master reached for his cane and slowly pushed himself up, hunched over as he pointed toward the kitchen. “The boy has already prepared everything a while ago.”

Shen Jinnian followed the cane’s direction with his gaze.

The same young boy from earlier had already set up a folding dining table in the outer hall and even served the dishes with great care, arranging the bowls and chopsticks neatly.

Since they were here asking for a favor, Shen Jinnian didn’t feel right refusing.

He thanked the old man somewhat awkwardly, “Then we’ll trouble you, sir.”

The old man chuckled. “No need for all the fuss.”

Shen Jinnian, holding the child in one arm, helped the old master to his seat with the other. Then he stepped outside to find Gu Yan, who was squatting by the door of the courtyard weaving a flower crown out of clovers.

Shen Jinnian asked, “What are you doing?”

The man heard his voice and stood up, gently placing the crown on the baby’s head. He carefully adjusted the little flowers so they framed the child’s chubby face just right. The more he looked, the more cute the baby looked.

He asked Shen Jinnian with satisfaction, “Cute, right?”

The baby held his finger and giggled.

After three years of verbal sparring with Gu Yan, Shen Jinnian had developed a reflex to disagree with anything Gu Yan said. But this time, he had no grounds to argue.

After all, the cub in his arms carried half of his genes. Saying the baby wasn’t cute would be like slapping himself in the face.

So he just gave a light “Mm” as a response and quickly dodged the question. “The master asked you to join us for lunch.”

“Huh?” Gu Yan was just as surprised as Shen Jinnian had been. “You already got answers that fast?”

“No, we’re eating first.”

“Alright.” Gu Yan patted the dirt off his hands from weaving the crown. “Take the baby over first. I’ll grab something from the car.”

“Hurry. Don’t keep the master waiting.”

Shen Jinnian considered the message delivered and didn’t care what Gu Yan needed to retrieve.

He carried the child back to the old master’s outer hall. The moment he sat down, the young attendant came to make sure he was comfortable. Almost immediately after, Gu Yan strode in with his long legs.

The man had a relaxed smile and was polite as ever. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Shen Jinnian tilted his head slightly to see what Gu Yan had brought.

In one hand, Gu Yan carried the baby’s bottle and formula. In the other, he held a high-end box of premium liquor.

Shen Jinnian knew the general price range.

Just one bottle was worth half a month of Gu Yan’s part-time salary.

Gu Yan handed the wine to the old man. “We’ve disturbed your rest and even troubled you to prepare lunch for us. We truly feel bad about it. This is a small token that Jinnian brought specially—it’s not much, but it carries our sincerity.”

Once a gift crossed the threshold, there was no point refusing it.

The old gentleman turned to the boy beside him and said, “Thank you for the thought. Go on, eat.”

The young boy led Gu Yan to sit next to Shen Jinnian. The moment he sat down, a hand reached out under the table and tugged secretly at Gu Yan’s sleeve. Their shoulders touched.

In a voice only the two of them could hear, Shen Jinnian whispered, “Why did you bring a gift? When did you even buy it?”

“Bought it downstairs at the hotel,” Gu Yan replied, clinking glasses with the old man as if nothing had happened. Then he continued quietly, “If you’re asking someone for a favor, you have to show sincerity.”

“I brought cash. Isn’t that sincere enough?”

Shen Jinnian patted his own pocket. The fabric stretched tightly, clearly stuffed with a thick wad of cash.

Sincerity, indeed.

Gu Yan had no choice but to switch tactics. “...It’s the thought that counts.”

Shen Jinnian had been drinking and having fun since he was a child and had no social experience. He reflected for two seconds after hearing what Gu Yan said.

Then he blinked his big, clear eyes and argued, “But didn’t the gentleman just say there’s no need for formalities?”

It was only then that Gu Yan realized—Shen Jinnian was a clueless little fool, spoiled thoroughly by his family.

He couldn’t even catch 60% of the polite talk adults used in these situations.

Rather than explaining further, Gu Yan just said calmly, “I’ll handle it. I’ll speak on your behalf.”

Shen Jinnian: “.”

Shen Jinnian: “…Then thanks.”

As soon as the words left his mouth—

The old man suddenly laughed heartily, interrupting the constant whispering between the two people.

Only then did Shen Jinnian realize he’d practically leaned his whole body against Gu Yan just to whisper. Meeting the old gentleman’s gaze, he instantly sat up straight with his flushed ears. 

The old man, slightly tipsy from the wine, chuckled. “You two… dating?”

Shen Jinnian felt like he was electrocuted when he heard this, his scalp tingled and his whole body stiffened: "No!"

“I’m single!” he blurted out, and in a moment of panic, added quickly, “I even planned to ask you to read my fortune about future love today!”

Gu Yan's eyes suddenly shifted to Shen Jinnian, looking at him with burning eyes.

The old man suddenly became interested. As he got older, he liked to study the happy events of the younger generation.

With great curiosity, he asked, “Oh? Then what’s your birth date?”

Without hesitation, Shen Jinnian replied, “August 20, 2003.”

When the old man said he’d read the fortune, he meant it.

He immediately set down his chopsticks and stared into the air over his palm, falling into deep thought. His lips moved as he murmured to himself, looking cryptic and profound.

The three people at the table all put down their chopsticks at the same time. No one dared to eat or speak, even their breathing grew quieter—afraid of disturbing the man’s train of thought.

Only the little one in Shen Jinnian’s arms kept drinking noisily from his milk bottle.

In the pin-drop silence of the room, it stood out starkly.

Just as Shen Jinnian was debating whether to take away the glaringly obvious bottle—

The old gentleman suddenly lowered his hand.

Pointing at Shen Jinnian with deep meaning, he said slowly, “Your destined match…”

Gu Yan's hand holding the chopsticks suddenly clenched into a fist, and cold sweat oozed out of his palm. He was more nervous than anyone else, and even afraid that his violent heartbeat would be discovered by Shen Jinnian.

The old man took another sip of wine and was drunk.

“Your destined one… is in the direction of…”  

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T/N: I have mirrored the Patreon membership on ko-fi too! Same price, same posts, just 2 different platforms~ My friend told me she preferred ko-fi so I thought, I might as well start something there too. It was pretty idle anyway. 

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Holaaa~ (≧◡≦) ♡

Today’s chapter is UP! ✨

I hope no one minds, but I just had to imagine what Shen Jinnian and Gu Yan would look like with little baby Gu… so I played around with some AI art, and omg— the result was just too adorable not to share!! (｡♥‿♥｡)

Hope it brings a smile to your face too~ ♡

P.S. You can read up to Chapter 39 on Patreon today and stay ahead by 9 whole chapters! (๑>◡<๑) ⸜♡⸝ 

Click here to view the image: CLICK~ 

I used Imgur because the quality was being compressed on blogger.