CH 71

When Tang San Yuan came downstairs, Yan Qin Ye was sitting on the sofa drinking tea with Tang Bo Te. His posture in pouring tea was very standard, as meticulous as he was as a person, his aura was cold and detached, but he was very respectful to Tang Bo Te.

In the past few years, although Yan Qin Ye and Tang Si Yuan had been in a nurturing relationship, they often came in and out of the Tang family, and although he seemed very unapproachable, he had a good relationship with the Tang family.

When Tang Bo Te found out that Tang Si Yuan had started keeping Yan Qin Ye in high school, he was so angry that he almost accomplished beating his child for the first time in his life.

It was a mess at that time and only when Yan Qin Ye stood in front of Tang Si Yuan did the furious Tang Bo Te stop. Even now, Tang Bo Te often reprimands Tang Si Yuan for trampling on other people’s children.

Tang Bo Te gets angry when he mentioned this, every time he saw Yan Qin Ye, he felt guilty and wished he could treat him as his own child.

Tang Si Yuan never took Tang Bo Te’s words seriously, his words always going into the left ear and coming out from the right, persisting in continuing his nurturing relationship with Yan Qin Ye in his own way.

When Tang San Yuan came downstairs, he greeted Yan Qin Ye briefly, then sat down next to him and had a few words with him.

Yan Qin Ye often came over and no one in the Tang family treated him as an outsider, everyone was very casual and there was often an illusion that he was already part of the Tang family.

It’s just a pity that Tang Si Yuan kept repeating that they were only in a nurturing relationship and told everyone not to think too much about it.

Yan Qin Ye looked at him and asked, “I’ve been watching the entertainment news recently and there’s a star called Cai Ke Ke who always uses you to fry news, do you want me to send him a lawyer’s letter to warn him?”

Tang San Yuan quickly waved his hand, “No need, I’ve already thought of a solution.”

Yan Qin Ye usually dealt with big cases, so how could he be willing to bother him with such a small matter?

Yan Qin Ye took a sip of tea and said: “If you need anything, you can contact me again.”

Tang San Yuan hurriedly nodded, “Okay.”

He couldn’t help but say to himself, “If it wasn’t for Tang Si Yuan, why would Yan Qin Ye be so kind to the Tang family, he sighed silently in his heart, stood up and went out to find Tang Si Yuan.

Tang Si Yuan was watering the flowers in the courtyard, humming leisurely and did not seem to think that there was anything unusual about Yan Qin Ye’s presence in the Tang family, as if everyone was used to his presence.

Tang San Yuan walked over to the flower garden, which the family had personally planted together. There is all kinds of flowers growing in it, the flowers blooming basically every season. The Tang family places great importance to it, upon returning home, as long as there is time, they will personally take care of this flowerbed.

Tang San Yuan walked over and picked up the watering can and together with Tang Si Yuan, watered the flowers, picking out the dried ones in the process.

As he watered, he casually asked: “Why don’t you go and keep Yan Qin Ye company?”

Tang Si Yuan gently skimmed his lips and said, “He and Big Dad are talking, either about politics or about a case, not only am I unable to intervene there, Big Dad will take the opportunity to reprimand me, so I won’t go there.”

Tang Bo Te always had to reprimand Yan Qin Ye and Tang Si Yuan a few times about their relationship whenever he saw them.

Tang San Yuan frowned slightly and couldn’t help but say, “With Yan Qin Ye’s current status, he’s still willing to continue his nurturing relationship with you?”

“Why wouldn’t he be willing?” Tang Si Yuan asked rhetorically without the slightest hesitation, not seeming to see any problem with this at all.

Tang San Yuan was silent for a moment and asked him, “But what is the difference between you being like this and a married partner?”

Tang Si Yuan stopped watering at his words, lowered his head in thought, and then said unconcernedly: “The difference is that I won’t give him children.”

Tang San Yuan was speechless for a moment, unable to understand the relationship between these two people. He took the watering can and turned around to water the flowerbed behind him, only to turn around and see Yan Qin Ye standing with a cold face not far behind them, obviously having heard the conversation they had just had.

Tang San Yuan opened his mouth and just wanted to remind Tang Si Yuan, when he saw Yan Qin Ye turn around and walk away without saying a word, his aura around him looked a few degrees colder than usual.

Tang San Yuan couldn’t help but shiver and he turned his head to look at Tang Si Yuan, who was still ignorant of all this, and silently sent him a look of self seeking more happiness1自求多福 (zì qiú duō fú): an idiom, means that one will get more happiness by turning to oneself than by turning to others..

……

In the blink of an eye, the day to go to Gu’s house was approaching. Tang San Yuan felt that he could not go empty-handed. After all, it was the first meeting so he should pay some attention to it, but he thought about it right and left and he could not think of any good gift to give to Gu An’s grandfather, so he had to run to ask Yuan Qiu for his opinion.

Yuan Qiu and Tang Bo Te were researching where to travel next, one of them was reading a travel magazine in his hand and talking from time to time.

Tang San Yuan moved over and sat down next to Yuan Qiu and asked, “Daddy, what do you think would be a good gift to give to our elders if we need to visit them?”

Yuan Qiu put down the travel magazine in his hand, thought seriously and said, “Give tea leaves ba, it just so happens that your Big Dad has recently got a new batch of good tea leaves, you can give some away.”

Tang San Yuan’s eyes lit up, Tang Bo Te always liked to drink tea, his former subordinates were now working all over the world knew his love of tea and always helped him to select some good tea leaves to send over, so Tang Bo Te’s tea leaves must be better than the ones bought from outside.

Tang San Yuan looked at Tang Bo Te and asked, “Is that okay, Big Dad? If I take the tea and give it away, do you have enough tea to drink?”

When his own son needed it, Tang Bo Te was naturally willing to give it, and immediately waved his hand readily, “Take it, I still have plenty of tea leaves, I can’t drink it all.”

Tang San Yuan smiled happily and thanked him in a sweet voice, “Thank you, Daddy and Big Dad.”

Tang Bo Te lovingly stroked his son’s head and asked in a warm voice, “Which elder are you giving it to ah?”

Tang San Yuan said unconcernedly, “For Gu An’s grandfather, I’m going to visit him at his home tomorrow.”

“……” Tang Bo Te’s movements froze and his face instantly turned miserable.

This is all about meeting the parents?

Is that still far from marriage?

Tang San Yuan didn’t notice that Tang Bo Te’s face changed and changed, and finally turned vegetable-coloured. He stood up happily, although he had already decided that a more formal gift would be tea, but these gifts were after all taken out of the house and were not sincere enough, he felt that he should go and pick out another gift himself, which would be a bit more sincere.

He said goodbye to the two fathers, took the car keys and walked out.

Tang Bo Te looked at his back and leaned onto Yuan Qiu’s shoulder, “Wu wu wu……”

Yuan Qiu slapped his face and said without mercy, “Think positive, cabbages will always be arched.”

“But your heart will hurt when you get arched ah!” Tang Bo Te was aggrieved.

Yuan Qiu: “You’re already a mature father, you need to be strong.”

Tang Bo Te: “……” No, I’m going to be childish for the rest of my life when it comes to this whole fatherhood thing.

……

Tang San Yuan wore a mask and a hat and carefully circled inside an art gallery open for sale to the public, finally standing in front of a white porcelain artwork in the shape of a rabbit, which was very beautiful with a snowy white body and glowed warmly in the light.

Tang San Yuan wanted to buy it and give it to Grandpa Gu, but he felt that it was not a good idea to give this to him, that he should choose a more formal artwork.

He was torn for a while and couldn’t help but send a message to Gu An, “Do you think I should choose a gift for Grandpa Gu that I like, or should I choose something with more commemorative significance?”

Gu An replied quickly, “You don’t need to buy a gift, just go and have a simple meal with grandpa.”

Tang San Yuan insisted, “I want to give, you help me choose.”

Gu An paused for a moment and did not persuade further, only replying, “Just choose something you like, if you truly like it, I believe grandpa will like it too.”

Tang San Yuan immediately replied with the word ‘ok’ and then bought the rabbit without hesitation. He felt that Gu An was right, he didn’t know much about Grandpa Gu’s preferences at the moment, since he couldn’t choose something that Grandpa Gu liked, he would choose something that he liked. This was a piece of his heart, he believed that Grandpa Gu would feel his heart. In the future, when he knows Grandpa Gu’s preferences, he will send Grandpa Gu something he likes.

……Tang San Yuan hastened to stop this thought, he and Gu An were just frying CP, it was not certain whether he would see Grandpa Gu again in the future. After all, he and Gu An were cheating Grandpa Gu, and when Grandpa Gu knew the truth, he would be very disappointed and angry, right?

Tang San Yuan stroked the white porcelain rabbit in his hand, not knowing why, he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the thought of it.

His phone rang, interrupting his thoughts at the right time, he took out his phone and glanced at it, it was Gu An sending another message over, “I’ll drive to pick you up tomorrow morning, send me the address when you have time.”

Tang San Yuan’s mood instantly improved, he replied with the word “ok”, and sent him his home address in passing.

……

The next morning, Tang San Yuan woke up in good spirits, cleaned up and took his things downstairs. The clothes he wore were neat and clean, his cheeks were white and bright, his mouth wore a pleasant smile, even his steps downstairs were light.

Tang Bo Te’s eyes hurt as he looked at him, and after withdrawing his gaze, he clutched the tea in his hand tightly and did not let go.

Yuan Qiu glared at him helplessly and lowered his voice, “Hurry up and take out the tea.”

“Not giving, just not giving!” Tang Bo Te clutched the tea leaves in his hand and refused to let go. That Gu An not only wanted to arch his family’s cabbage, but he even wanted to snatch his tea leaves away too! He now wanted to take back his previous words, he didn’t want to give even a single tea leaf.

Yuan Qiu stepped forward, snatched the tea leaves out of his arms and turned to hand them to Tang San Yuan, “Quickly go ba, don’t let Gu An wait for you.”

Tang San Yuan took a look at the miserable Tang Bo Te and hesitantly asked: “Is Big Dad okay?”

Yuan Qiu waved his hand, “He’s fine, don’t care about him.”

The housekeeper walked in and said, “There’s a young master surnamed Gu outside who wants to come in, he says he’s a friend of the third young master, should we invite him in?”

“Gu An?” Tang San Yuan was delighted and said quickly, “Let him in quickly.”

Tang Bo Te had a dark face, but did not raise his voice to object, after all, his son-in-law would have to come to the door sooner or later, and he could not be stopped.

Ai!

Gu An was wearing a straight suit with an upright posture and a calm, handsome face. When he walked in, he first smiled at Tang San Yuan and then came over to greet Tang Bo Te and Yuan Qiu, holding two gift boxes in his hands, not sure what was in them.

After Tang San Yuan waited for them to do their greetings, Tang San Yuan walked over to him and asked with a smile on his brow, “Why are you here so early?”

“I wanted to see you earlier.” Gu An ruffled a strand of his broken hair that was blocking his eyes and replied in a gentle voice, the affection between the movements unmistakable.

As he watched, Tang Bo Te couldn’t help but hmph softly and mutter in a small voice: “Flowery words.”

Yuan Qiu twisted his ear and lowered his voice, “When you were courting me back then, you were even more flowery than that.”

At the mention of the love affair back then, Tang Bo Te could not help but smile, his face also softened. Looking at Gu An’s eyes, there was instantly more appreciation, the young man is very much his style back then, not bad.

But his smile didn’t last long, he immediately curbed it, his future son-in-law’s first visit, he had to maintain his authority.

Gu An handed the gifts in his hand to Tang Bo Te and Yuan Qiu respectively and said respectfully, “This is a gift from junior to the two uncles, I hope you like it.”

“En……” Tang Bert responded indifferently, and with unhurried movements, he took the gift box and opened it.

There is a set of exquisite and beautiful purple sand teapot inside the gift box, Tang Bo Te could not help but brighten up, this set of purple sand teapot he had long desired, but unfortunately, Yuan Qiu disliked that he had too many teapots and had never allowed him to buy it.

Now that his heart is in front of him, he could not wait to brew a pot of tea and try it out, but he held back his eagerness and coughed, pretending to be calm as he put the gift box away, “Not bad.”

The gift that Gu An gave to Yuan Qiu was a painting and Yuan Qiu smiled when he looked at it. It was painted by the artist that he liked, it was hard to find, and he never thought that Gu An could buy it.

Tang Bo Te raised his head and glanced at Gu An. It looks like he had come prepared and had already inquired about their preferences.

But……this intention was quite sincere, and it seems like he should be serious about his silly son.

He stood up, raised his chin towards Gu An, and walked in the direction of the study, “Come with me.”

Gu An’s face was calm and collected, and he nodded respectfully before lifting his steps to follow him over.

Tang San Yuan also wanted to follow but after taking only a step, he was pulled by Yuan Qiu who smiled and said: “Come over and help me hang the painting.”

Tang San Yuan had to agree but he was still a bit worried about Gu An and couldn’t help but glance in the direction of the study.

Seeing how uncomfortable he looked, Yuan Qiu couldn’t help but smile and pat his hand, saying comfortingly, “It’s alright, your Big Dad has a sense of propriety.”

“But Gu An and I are just frying CP, we’re not really together, did daddy misunderstand?” Tang San Yuan looked at the direction of the study with some urgency.

“……” Yuan Qiu looked at the painting in his hand, he felt that his son was the one who had misunderstood something.

Not to mention the set of purple sand teapots that Gu An gave to Tang Bert, just this painting in his hand was already worth a lot of money. What’s more, these two items were not commodities that could be bought freely on the street, if Gu An hadn’t been prepared, it would have been impossible to buy them so quickly.

Yuan Qiu silently glanced at his son and decided that when he had time, he would buy his son a few more sets of books on relationships to look at.

……

When Gu An and Tang Bo Te came out of the study, Tang Bo Te was finally in a better mood, his face was not as serious as before. He seemed to be quite satisfied with Gu An and he waved his hand to let the two of them visit the Gu family quickly, don’t go too late, then he himself couldn’t wait to run off to make tea.

Yuan Qiu added several valuable things to Tang San Yuan’s gift. He had previously thought that Tang San Yuan was simply visiting the old man, but now he saw that the Gu family should be taking this meeting very seriously, and only Tang San Yuan was still ignorant and thought it was an act.

After Tang San Yuan and Gu An got into the car, he couldn’t help but ask, “What did Big Dad say to you?”

“Uncle told me to take good care of you.” Gu An leaned over and buckled his seatbelt.

“What did you say?”

Gu An moved for a moment and raised his eyes to look at him, “I said I would take good care of you for the rest of my life.”

The two of them locked eyes, Tang San Yuan’s cheeks reddened slightly and he unnaturally looked his head out of the window, “Next time my Big Dad looks for you, just be honest, we have to fry CP but there’s no need to lie to the family.” He was worried about what inconvenience it might cause Gu An.

Gu An fastened his seatbelt, smiled noncommittally and returned to his seat to start the car.

The two of them joked and laughed all the way, and time passed so quickly that Tang San Yuan felt that he had already arrived at Gu’s house in just a blink of an eye.

Tang San Yuan saw that the villa he entered was very large and looked solemn and luxurious, like a historic castle, and the guards at the entrance were very strict.

Gu An drove the car all the way inside and the housekeeper opened the door respectfully and smiled at Tang San Yuan: “Welcome Young Master Tang.”

Tang San Yuan nodded to him and could not help but survey the ancient castle, becoming a little curious about the identity of Gu An’s grandfather, but he only took a glance before politely withdrawing his gaze and not looking any further.

Gu An parked the car and led him inside together. The ancient castle was gorgeously decorated, with opulence everywhere, but revealed a point of solemnity, and there was a painting hanging in the hall opposite the door, on which was a family portrait.

Gu An saw Tang San Yuan staring at the painting and was silent for a moment, “This painting was painted by my mother’s own hand back then.”

Tang San Yuan nodded gently, his eyes still fell on the painting, in the middle of which sat an old man, whose eyebrows were creased, but whose spirit was crane-like, and whose eyes were steadfast and strict.

Although this old man has gradually disappeared from people’s attention over the years due to his retirement, even Tang Bo Te is full of respect for him because of his great contribution to the Empire.

Tang San Yuan did not expect him to be Gu An’s grandfather so he was a little nervous for a moment, but his eyes were gradually drawn to the child in the painting. The child had similar eyebrows and eyes to Gu An, but he still looked very young, only a few years old, and was being held in the arms by Grandpa Gu. The little face with baby fat has already begun to look handsome and it should be Gu An as a child.

Tang San Yuan’s eyes lingered on little Gu An’s face for a moment before shifting his gaze to look at the man and woman in the painting. They should be Gu An’s parents, the man looks gentle and elegant, the woman looks gentle and kind, both should be easy-going people.

Tang San Yuan couldn’t help but ask Gu An, “Are your parents here today too?” He didn’t have any gifts for them and couldn’t help but feel a little nervous, hesitating in his mind whether he should quickly go out and buy some more gifts and come back.

When he heard his question, the housekeeper’s expression froze and he glanced nervously at Gu An, tensing his eyebrows and holding his breath as he stood with his eyes downcast.

Gu An’s face did not change much, only his eyes dimmed a little, and his voice was flat as he said, “My parents have passed away many years ago.”

Tang San Yuan froze for a moment, and quickly turned his head to look at him to apologise, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know……”

Gu An shook his head and said in a warm voice, “It doesn’t matter, my parents have passed away many years ago, I was basically raised by my grandfather.”