CH 53

Jiang Chen was a little surprised when he received He Qianmin’s invitation.

“Visit your home?”

“Yeah.” He Qianmin’s voice was a little excited: “I told them that my ranking in this final exam was improved because of your tutoring, so they all really want to meet you and thank you in person.”

Jiang Chen said with a slight smile, “No need, it’s between you and me that I help you with tutoring. Don’t involve Uncle and Aunt He. Express my apologies to them for me, and just say that I have something else going on.”

He Qianmin was silent for a few seconds before letting out a light “en”.

Jiang Chen asked, “How many pages have you reached in the test booklet I gave you earlier?”

“One-fifth.” He Qianmin’s tone visibly dropped: “There are a few questions that I don’t quite understand.”

Jiang Chen: “Which questions?”

He Qianmin pursed his lips, got up and walked to the desk. He opened to the marked pages of the question booklet, and read the questions out loud.

After listening, Jiang Chen said, “The solutions to these questions all require the use of formulas and algorithms that are not yet taught in high school. If you are interested, you can find me some time and I’ll  teach you.”

He Qianmin’s voice jumped a little more in an instant: “Big Brother, you have time?”

Hearing his happy voice, Jiang Chen also curved his lips upwards: “Some things happened during this period, but now I’m free, if you want to find me, you can find me anytime.”

“I’ll go find you now!” He Qianmin said as he turned around and walked towards the door. Halfway there, he returned to the desk to get the test book and pen, and said as he walked, “Let’s go to the hot pot restaurant we often go to, it just happens that I want to eat hot pot.”

Jiang Chen thought for a while and said, “Find a coffee shop first, if you’re hungry tonight, I’ll take you to eat hot pot.”

“It’s a deal!”

Yang Yun was talking to the housekeeper auntie at home, when she saw He Qianmin running downstairs like the wind. She went to the door, stopped him and said, “Qianmin, where are you going in such a hurry?”

“I’m going out for a while, and I won’t be home for dinner tonight.” He Qianmin hurriedly left without looking back.

He had already run away before the door was even fully closed. Yang Yun said helplessly, “This kid.” She raised her eyes and saw He Qianyu coming out of the piano room, and a smile appeared on her face: “How was your piano practice?”

He Qianyu only saw He Qianmin’s passing figure. She craned her head to look at the direction he left, and asked curiously, “Mom, where did Second Brother go?”

“Bringing a book with him, don’t know where he went off to.” Yang Yun touched her daughter’s little head: “Do you want to take a break, the water Mom prepared for you——”

Thinking of something, He Qianyu’s eyes lit up suddenly, and she interrupted Yang Yun: “I want to go out too! Mom, please drop me off!”

“Where are you going?”

“Follow Second Brother!” He Qianyu took Yang Yun’s hand and walked out the door: “He must have gone to look for Brother Jiang Chen. Mom, why don’t you take me there? I want to go.”

“Okay, okay.” Yang Yun had no choice but to leave a word to the auntie before saying, “Mom will drop you off.”

…….

He Qianmin was riding a bicycle, humming a tune in a good mood, and when he was about to reach the cafe, he saw Jiang Chen waiting at the door. He immediately stepped on the brake, stood up and waved to him with a bright smile: “Big Brother!”

Jiang Chen turned his head, and couldn’t help but also laugh and wave his hand.

In an off-road vehicle by the side of the road, a young man in the back seat was leaning against the window. He made a noise: “Eh? Isn’t that Jiang Chen and the second child of the He family! They know each other?”

“Jiang Chen?” Li Nanfeng had a deep impression of this name, and quickly recalled the information related to the name from his mind. Turning his eyes, he looked at Shi Fengyue in the front driver’s seat, and joked, “You stopped the car again for your patient’s son?”

“What patient?” Mo Xi turned his head, “My nephew’s patient?”

Li Nanfeng pointed at himself and raised his eyebrows: “Otherwise you think it’s my patient?”

Mo Xi kept asking: “Who? What’s his name? Where?”

Li Nanfeng raised his chin and gestured to the coffee shop outside the window: “There, the one who just entered, Jiang Chen.”

Mo Xi suddenly realized: No wonder Feng Yue said that he knew Jiang Chen earlier than me, so that’s the case.”

Li Nanfeng: “You know him very well?”

“I’m not very familiar with him.” Mo Xi said, “I’ve only met once. I was called by my alma mater to help mobilize for the high school senior college entrance examination. My former math teacher, old Fu, asked me to chat with him.”

Li Nanfeng looked back and forth between Jiang Chen and He Qianmin who walked into the coffee shop, and said thoughtfully, “This Jiang Chen is not simple.”

“What’s not simple?”

Li Nanfeng: “The second son of He Yanfeng is notoriously bad-tempered, and he has a bad relationship with his brother He Qianjian, even our generation has heard of it, and I haven’t even heard him call He Qianyang brother a few times. Jiang Chen could have him call him brother so willingly, do you think he is simple?”

“Also…..”

“Also what?”

The corner of Li Nanfeng’s mouth curled slightly upwards, gesturing out: “It’s also not an easy feat for our Dr. Shi to pay so much attention to someone.”

Hearing this, a lightbulb flashed in Mo Xi’s mind, and he turned to look at Shi Fengyue in the front seat.

Shi Fengyue had one hand on the steering wheel, while propping his chin with the other and looking out of the window thoughtfully. Noticing the gaze of the two behind him, he half raised his eyes, his long and thick eyelashes catching the light slightly, and said in a mild tone: “Yes?”

Mo Xi shrank his neck, pressed his back against the seat, and shook his head: “It’s nothing.”

Li Nanfeng put his hand on the back of Shi Fengyue’s seat, leaned forward and said with a smile: “Every time you see that child, you have to take a few more glances, why don’t you just go say hello. Anyway, we didn’t have lunch, how about going to that cafe?”

Shi Fengyue glanced at him: “Aren’t you in a rush for a meeting?”

“No hurry.” Li Nanfeng said: “The things made by those small technology companies are not as good as the ones you made for me before. It’s all the same if I ask my assistant to attend the meeting on my behalf. I also just happened to be hungry and it would be nice to go for a meal. I’m super curious about how the second child of the He family got along with Jiang Chen, and why he calls him brother.”

Mo Xi: “You’re so gossipy.”

Li Nanfeng was not ashamed at all: “What’s wrong with gossip? Gossip is human nature, you don’t gossip? You don’t want to know why your nephew pays so much attention to a——”

Shi Fengyue opened the door: “Shut up, get out of the car.”

……

Jiang Chen took a sip of coffee, and continued: “This question uses Pascal’s theorem, to prove the collinearity of three intersections among six points on a circle…..”

Seeing Jiang Chen write down the last step on the draft paper, He Qianmin raised his eyebrows and said, “I understand.”

Jiang Chen dug out a few similar question types, marked it for him, and said, “If you can do these few questions, basically there will be no problems with this part.”

He Qianmin nodded: “Big Brother, I found that you seem to understand everything.”

Jiang Chen turned his head and saw the closeness and admiration in his eyes. He couldn’t help chuckling, rubbed his head and said, “There are many things I don’t understand, and you will find out slowly in the future.”

The bright floor-to-ceiling windows let in all the light, and as the two teenagers looked at each other and smiled, the lively rays of sunlight jumped on the ends of their hair. The similar profiles, one still childish and the other gentle, seemed to be a testament to the growth of a child to a young man.

Yang Yun’s footsteps stopped, her heart seemed to be gently rubbed by something, it was neither painful nor itchy, but there were many inexplicable emotions, which seemed at the same time full and empty, and she couldn’t help but clutch her chest.

Seeing Jiang Chen and He Qianmin, He Qianyu broke away from Yang Yun’s hand and ran over impatiently.

“Big Brother!”

The sudden sound startled He Qianmin who was concentrating on answering the questions. He jumped back and looked at the newcomer while sticking next to Jiang Chen. After seeing that it was He Qianyu, he flicked her forehead to vent his anger: “Why are you here?”

“I’m here to find you!” He Qianyu glanced at Jiang Chen after speaking, and asked a little shyly, “Brother Jiang Chen, do you still remember me?”

Jiang Chen smiled, and said gently, “I remember, your name is He Qianyu.” Although he was a little surprised at He Qianyu’s sudden appearance, it was hard to be irritated even if startled when faced with such a delicate and soft girl.

He Qianyu raised her head suddenly, her eyes lighting up: “You still remember me!”

“Is it strange to remember you?” He Qianmin clicked his tongue, waved his hand like shooing a chicken: “Go, go, I am studying, don’t disturb me here.”

He Qianyu glared at him, then turned to make an oath: “Brother Jiang Chen, can I stay here with you? I’m very good, I promise I won’t disturb you.”

“No.” He Qianmin said: “We are studying here, what are you doing here for? And don’t you have to practice the piano in the afternoon? Go back to practicing the piano quickly.”

He Qianyu: “I’m done practicing.”

“Then go back and practice dancing.” He Qianmin looked disgusted: “Anyway, don’t disturb my study here.”

He Qianyu puffed up her face: “I won’t talk, so I won’t bother you.”

He Qianmin crossed his arms and said, “You’ve been blaring like a small trumpet all day long, how can I believe that you won’t disturb my study, and you ran out alone, does Mom know, why are you——”

He Qianyu stepped on He Qianmin’s foot, interrupted his words, and made him hiss in pain:

“He Qianyu, you’re looking for a beating!”

“Meanie!”

Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel in the coffee shop, Jiang Chen felt a little headache and a little bit at a loss. He had no younger siblings when he was growing up, and he rarely had disputes with others, so he lacked experience in dealing with such situations.

However, at this time, if he didn’t try to stop the fight, no one would be able to stop it.

Jiang Chen called out, “Qian Min…..”

He Qianmin turned his head and interrupted his unfinished sentence: “Big Brother, don’t worry, I will drive her away immediately.”

“I’ll make a phone call and ask Uncle Wang to pick you up. You can sit here for a while…..”

Seeing Jiang Chen who was sitting on the side with a helpless expression, He Qianyu inhaled, and her eyes suddenly turned red. She squatted down on the ground, buried her face in her arms and choked up.

He Qianmin’s voice stopped abruptly, and he froze in place.

Jiang Chen patted He Qianmin’s head: “Look at what you did.”

“I…..” He Qianmin stood up and walked to He Qianyu’s side, at a loss: “Okay, I won’t drive you away, so stop crying.”

Jiang Chen also came over, squatted beside He Qianyu, and said in a gentle voice, “Qian Yu, I’m sorry, Qian Min didn’t mean it, can I apologize to you for him?”

Unexpectedly, upon hearing Jiang Chen’s words, He Qianyu’s sob turned from choking to full out crying.

Jiang Chen’s outstretched hand froze, and he and He Qianmin looked at each other in blank dismay.

The coffee shop was very quiet, and the movement here quickly attracted the attention of other people. Seeing two boys surrounding a little girl at a loss, they all looked over curiously.

“Don’t cry.” He Qianmin grabbed He Qianyu’s arm, helpless and at a loss: “What do you want, can’t we just listen to you? As long as you don’t cry, I will do whatever you say.”

He Qianyu shook off his hand, buried her head and continued to sob.

He Qianmin asked Jiang Chen for help: “Big Brother, what should we do…”

Jiang Chen also had no idea, “I don’t know either.”

“She ignores me.” He Qianmin whispered into Jiang Chen’s ear, “Big Brother, why don’t you coax her.”

Jiang Chen hesitated. He and He Qianyu had only met once before, and he had never coaxed little girls before. Speaking at this time might only add fuel to the flames.

“I…..”

As soon as he started talking, the little girl threw herself into his arms. The little girl hugged his neck with soft arms, buried her head in his chest and sobbed quietly. Jiang Chen froze, and opened his arms, trying his best not to touch the little girl. But he couldn’t help but become softhearted when he heard her crying.

Jiang Chen’s hand hanging in the air slightly bent, and he patted the little girl’s back lightly, whispering: “Don’t cry.”

He Qianyu buried her head even closer, cries mixing with the occasional hiccups, appearing very pitiful indeed.

“We’re not trying to drive you away.” Jiang Chen tried his best to use the softest voice: “Qian Min was just worried that it’s not safe for you to come out alone. He didn’t mean to get angry with you. Forgive him, okay?”

He Qianyu raised her head, her red nose making her look pitiful and cute. She first looked at He Qianmin who was looking guilty, then blinked her wet eyes and said: “I didn’t come out alone, I…..”

“That’s right, the younger sister needs to be coaxed when she cries.” An uncle at the next table smiled and interjected: “You two are her brothers, right? At first glance, you look like three siblings. As expected, the eldest brother knows how to take care of the younger sister. You kiddo have to learn from your big brother.”

The lady next to him handed over a tissue: “Use this to wipe your younger sister’s tears.”

Jiang Chen thanked her and took it. But before he gave the tissue to He Qianyu, he heard the sound of high heels tapping on the wooden floor:

“Qian Yu!”

The three squatting youngsters raised their heads at the same time, looking up at Yang Yun who had already walked up to them.

Just before Yang Yun was about to come in, she received a call from home. Seeing that her daughter had found her son, she was reassured and went out. She didn’t expect to see her little daughter crying when she came back.

Yang Yun asked He Qianmin: “What’s wrong?”

He Qianmin looked away, and said lowly, “She cried after we had a quarrel.”

Jiang Chen wiped He Qianyu’s tears, and said softly, “Let’s get up.”

He Qianyu rubbed her eyes in embarrassment, let go of Jiang Chen and stood up. She pouted and said, “Second Brother bullied me just now, but I have already forgiven him.”

“Oh, you.” Yang Yun breathed a sigh of relief, tapped the tip of He Qianyu’s nose and said, “Aren’t you ashamed to still cry outside at such an age?”

He Qianyu threw herself into Yang Yun’s arms: “Mom…..”

Yang Yun was reassured, and then properly looked at the young man in front of her. Seeing his bright appearance and clear eyes, she couldn’t help but feel joy and fondness in her heart, and she smiled gently: “Qian Yu has a little temper, I hope she didn’t bother you guys.”

Jiang Chen was also scrutinizing the woman in front of him who was most likely to be his biological mother. His eyes flicked over her gentle smiling eyes and the two deep dimples at the corners of her mouth. He lowered his eyes and smiled, “She’s a good girl. We didn’t take good care of her just now.”

The smile in Yang Yun’s eyes deepened: “Are you here to study? Would you like Auntie to take Qian Yu to sit on the other side? After you are finished, Auntie will take you to dinner together.”

Jiang Chen declined with a smile: “No need, today Qian Min just wants to ask me a few questions, and the lesson is almost finished.”

“Mom, Brother Jiang Chen just said that he would let me play with them.”

Seeing her daughter’s eager little look, Yang Yun couldn’t help laughing: “Okay, Mom won’t bother you anymore, Mom will sit over there, and I’ll take you to dinner together after you’re done.”

Jiang Chen’s eyelashes flickered, and was about to speak when he was interrupted.

“Jiang Chen!”

Standing two meters away, Mo Xi waved his hand and said with a smile, “I didn’t expect to meet you here, what a coincidence.”

Jiang Chen glanced over the two people behind him, and nodded slightly: “Senior Mo.”

“You should be on summer vacation too.” Mo Xi walked this way and said, “It’s rare to meet, let’s sit together.” When he got closer, he seemed to see He Qianmin beside Jiang Chen, and said in surprise: “He Qianmin? you are here too?”

He Qianmin called out expressionlessly: “Brother Mo, Brother Shi, Brother Feng.”

Mo Xi nodded, looked at Yang Yun and He Qianyu, “Hello, Aunt Yang.”

Although Yang Yun didn’t have much of an impression of Mo Xi, she knew Shi Fengyue and Li Nanfeng. It was just because her three children were not in the same age group as them, and they rarely played together, so they didn’t see each other much and were not familiar with each other.

She nodded with a slight smile: “Hello.”

Shi Fengyue nodded lightly: “Hello.”

Li Nanfeng smiled widely: “It’s been a long time, Aunt Yang. The last time I saw you was three years ago. I didn’t expect that after three years, you are still as young as ever.”

“You kiddo, you have such a sweet mouth.” Yang Yun smiled, turned to Jiang Chen and said, “Auntie won’t bother you, I will pick you up for dinner later.”

Li Nanfeng was very surprised, he glanced at Jiang Chen, then turned to Yang Yun: “Aunt Yang, who is this?”

Yang Yun smiled and said, “This is Qian Min’s friend, Jiang Chen.”

“Oh.” Li Nanfeng’s eyes swept over the faces of the four people in front of him, and said with a smile: “Since it is Qian Min’s friend and also Mo Xi’s junior, then it is also my friend. There are exactly six seats here. Shall we sit together?”

He Qianmin half-smiled and said: “It’s not convenient, I’m here to make up lessons, you might disturb us if you’re here.”

Li Nanfeng: “How could I disturb you? The three of us are top academics. You can ask any question you want. I promise to teach you faster than Jiang Chen alone. How about it?”

He Qianmin was unmoved: “No thanks, I just want my brother to teach me, you can leave if you have nothing to do.”

Yang Yun patted He Qianmin, and He Qianmin curled his lips. He reached out to take the question book on the side, raised his chin and said: “This question, 30 seconds, you can sit down when you solve it.”

Li Nanfeng took a look at it, and immediately threw it to Shi Fengyue.

Shi Fengyue glanced over and gave the answer almost without thinking.

He Qianmin’s expression changed slightly, and Jiang Chen also raised his eyes in surprise.

“We can sit down, right?” Li Nanfeng said and sat down on the sofa on the other side.

He Qianmin pursed his lips in displeasure. Jiang Chen gently elbowed him, and he could only sit down reluctantly.

In an instant, the two sofas were full of people.

Seeing Yang Yun help He Qianyu straighten her clothes and was about to leave, Li Nanfeng asked, “Aunt Yang, won’t you sit with us?”

“No.” Yang Yun said with a smile: “You children play together, I won’t bother you.”

Li Nanfeng waved his hand: “Aunt Yang, walk slowly, see you next time.”

After Yang Yun left, He Qianmin immediately said: “You are not welcome here, hurry up and leave.”

Li Nanfeng raised his eyebrows: “He Xiao Er, I’m also your cousin’s friend after all, don’t be so unfriendly.”

He Qianmin’s face tensed. Jiang Chen pushed the hot chocolate in front of him, looked at Shi Fengyue at the same time and said, “Dr. Shi, what’s the name of the gentleman next to you, I didn’t have time to exchange names last time we met.”

Li Nanfeng smiled and said: “Hello, my name is Li Nanfeng, you can call me Brother Feng just like He Xiao Er.”

Jiang Chen pursed his lips and smiled slightly: “Mr. Li, hello, nice to meet you.”

Li Nanfeng smiled, turned his gaze to Shi Fengyue, and said meaningfully: “It’s a pleasure to meet you too.”

Shi Fengyue said lightly, “How is your father recovering?”

Jiang Chen smiled and said, “He’s recovering very well, but his legs hurt a little yesterday probably because he walked too fast and had emotional ups and downs. He’s planning to go to the hospital tomorrow.”

“No need, this situation is normal during the recovery period, just take more rest.”

“I see, thank you Dr. Shi.”

After hearing the conversation between the two, He Qianmin leaned close to Jiang Chen and asked in a low voice, “Big Brother, how do you know Shi Fengyue?”

“Dr. Shi is my dad’s chief surgeon.”

He Qianmin didn’t know the situation of the Jiang family, so he could only nod blankly when he heard the words, but the hostility in his eyes towards Shi Fengyue and the others lessened a lot.

“That’s right.” Li Nanfeng said: “He Qianyang’s birthday will be in a few days, I heard that the party will be held at your house?”

He Qianmin no longer opposed Shi Fengyue, but he didn’t have any good attitude towards Li Nanfeng. He said without expression: “My uncle is out for a meeting, and my aunt is not at home. He complains that there is no one at home to help with the preparations, so he came to my house.”

Li Nanfeng rubbed his chin: “Isn’t it more fun to have no elders at home? Besides, preparing for this kind of thing, you can just find a studio that specializes in party planning.”

“Who knows.” He Qianmin said: “You will attend too?”

“Yup.” Li Nanfeng turned his gaze to Jiang Chen’s face and said, “You are attending too, right?”

Jiang Chen: “I haven’t met He Qianyang, so it’s not appropriate to go to his birthday party.”

“What’s not appropriate?” Li Nanfeng said: “You and Qian Min are good friends, Qian Yu and Aunt Yang also know you, and we know you too, so we’re all friends with each other. Besides, that kid He Qianyang likes things to be lively, the more the merrier.”

He Qianmin actually wanted to introduce Jiang Chen to He Qianyang, but he also cared about Jiang Chen’s feelings: “My big brother doesn’t like too much noise.”

“I remember that He Qianyang’s major is psychology.” Shi Fengyue raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Chen: “Aren’t you interested in hypnosis? There should be many of his classmates at his birthday, you can go and see.”

Jiang Chen flatly refused: “No need, I’m interested in the matter itself, not hypnosis.”

“So you mean——” Shi Fengyue looked at him sideways, and said unhurriedly: “It is me you are interested in?”