Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Gong Jie let loose a chuckle and carried the boy from his back to sit on his lap. Little Yichen continued to ignore him. With his arms folded across his chest indignantly, he refused to look at his uncle.

The man decided to tease his nephew. He perked the boy’s cherubic cheek with his lips, but the action rendered no effect on the boy. He squeezed the kid’s small hand carefully and asked with a slight frown, “Is my little nephew angry with me?”

“Uncle, you’re so petty! You didn’t even prepare a red packet for me, so why should I bother with you?” grumbled the lad matter-of-factly.

Just then, the Yun sisters came downstairs after touring the villa. They were chit-chatting away until they reached the hall and saw Gong Jie sitting with the older lad at the table. The siblings’ faces, especially Yun Qingmiao, turned ashen almost instantly!

The older sister’s face was especially terrible-looking as she vividly remembered how this man had splashed wine on her without mercy at her cousin’s engagement party! At that time, she had tried getting close to him but was given such a humiliating experience after she touched his sleeve accidentally. This had left an indelible fear in her.

Hence, when she saw him again, she retracted her shoulders in fear subconsciously and dared not approach the table. Instead, she went to hide in the living room.

Her younger sister, meanwhile, gracefully walked up to the table and sat next to her mother.

“Mom—”

“Keep quiet! Mind your manners and don’t chatter!” warned her mother immediately.

The younger daughter obeyed her instruction and kept mum subsequently.

Meanwhile, the man was still trying to cheer up his nephew. Alas, the latter was too upset to bother with the former.

In the end, the adult had no choice but to take out a small, exquisite gift box from his pocket. Actually, the man had already prepared special gifts for his two nephews. He had ditched giving out red packets in favor of giving them more novel presents this year. Originally, he planned to pass these gifts after midnight when the day crossed into a new year, but since his nephew was looking terribly unhappy, he decided to present the gift now!

Little Yichen was still sulking when he noticed the man behind him shifted and looked away. The next instant, a small box appeared before his eyes in his uncle’s palm!

“Here. This is your new-year present!” cajoled his uncle lovingly.

Cocking a brow, the boy looked at the man in mild surprise.

“New-year present?!”

“Yes, red packets are passé!” Gong Jie hooked his lips into a smile. “I prepared this especially for you; I think you’ll like it!”

The boy’s eyes sparkled somewhat upon hearing that. Feeling curious, he took the present from his uncle’s hand and seemed as if he could not wait to open the box. He swept his gaze obliquely at his uncle, who was looking at him with a sly smile. The boy cleared his throat and tried to appear nonchalant. “What kind of a present is this?”

“Why don’t you open it to see? You’ll know soon enough!”

Nodding in agreement, the lad opened the box gently and, under everyone’s watchful eyes, took out an extravagant key from inside the box.

The key had a vintage design, where a mini grand yacht was carved on the antique key tag. Its intricate patterns hinted that this was handmade.

The shape of the key was also particularly unique. It was shaped according to a bird’s-eye view of the yacht, its back marked with some glittering English alphabets which spelled ‘Star Cruise’.

The reason one could use the description ‘glittering’ on these words was that every alphabet was inlaid with beautifully carved diamonds!