After greeting Wen Songyan, Fu Shinian had Wen Han escort him to the side hall for tea, reasoning that the young should be with the young. Seeing that his grandmother and Mr. and Mrs. Wen were hitting it off in conversation, Fu Shinian did not refuse and followed Wen Han to the side hall.
In the side hall, Wen Han asked Fu Shinian what kind of tea he preferred. Fu Shinian stood aside, watching Wen Han:
"Su Mu and I had so disagreents a few days ago—I didn’t expect you to co across it and lend a hand to resolve the situation. I should say thank you."
Wen Han paused montarily in the act of preparing tea, then stood up straight and looked at Fu Shinian:
"Mr. Fu speaks too seriously. At that ti, I thought I was rely helping Shaoyuan’s tutor, not realizing that she was also Mrs. Fu. If I had known of Su Mu’s other identity, I wouldn’t have intervened and spared you the embarrassnt."
Fu Shinian gave a slight smile and took a seat in a chair beside him:
"Although we are not in the sa circle, now that Su Mu is Shaoyuan’s tutor, we have an added connection. Since you are a few years my senior, let’s not adhere to formalities and call ’Mr. Fu’ as others do, otherwise I’d have to start calling you ’Commander Wen’."
Wen Han responded with a faint smile, seemingly in agreent, and continued with his tea-making. Fu Shinian watched his movents, and after a few seconds, looked out the window.
Finally, in December, Shen City welcod its first snowfall of 2015.
Before the dinner began, Fu Shinian and Wen Han returned to the living room. Fu Shinian and Ji Qingluan seed to know each other as well, exchanging a cursory nod as a greeting.
When Auntie Li ca to announce that the food was ready, Wen Songyan acknowledged her and got up to help the old mada to her feet. She, however, with a beaming smile, took out a plump wallet from her pocket and pressed it into Wen Shaoyuan’s embrace:
"Shaoyuan stayed at my place for a short ti, so I don’t really know what he likes. I didn’t bother to guess and chose to give him a red envelope instead. He can buy whatever his heart desires. I wish Shaoyuan a happy birthday and health and safety."
Wen Shaoyuan looked sowhat bewildered at his grandparents. He knew birthdays were about receiving gifts, but he’d never received such a large red envelope apart from during the New Year. His reason told him it wasn’t right, but he worried that refusing it might hurt his grandmother’s feelings, so he sought help from his grandparents.
Zhou Yaxian and Wen Songyan exchanged glances and gave him a subtle nod. Only then did he happily accept:
"Thank you, Old Mada Fu."
Once she began, everyone started to present their own gifts. Fu Shinian gave a set of LEGO toys, Ji Qingluan gave a learning robot, and while Zhou Yaxian and Wen Songyan did not bring out any physical gifts, they made Shaoyuan a promise—to spend more ti with him in the days to co. This promise caused Shaoyuan to secretly tear up.
But the atmosphere of a birthday shouldn’t be marred by sentintality. Shaoyuan quickly adjusted his emotions and hugged his grandparents tightly, planting a kiss to show his joy. Then he turned mischievously towards Wen Han:
"Dad, where’s your gift?"
Wen Han smiled slightly and turned to get the present. Eagerly tearing off the wrapping, Wen Shaoyuan’s excitent grew as he freed the gift from its beautiful paper and, seeing what it was, hugged Wen Han’s leg with joy:
"Dad, you’re the best, I knew you’d get another set."
Seeing the Avengers Alliance figurines, Su Mu felt she had not considered things thoroughly. She should have expected Wen Han to buy Wen Shaoyuan another set, but she had only taken into account what Shaoyuan liked, neglecting this aspect. Now, however, it was too late to say anything.
Now that everyone had given their gifts, it was Su Mu’s turn. Feeling sowhat embarrassed not to present hers, she handed it to Wen Shaoyuan and whispered softly:
"I feel you might not find it surprising."
Wen Shaoyuan blinked his eyes as he looked at Su Mu, and smiled faintly:
"No, whatever Sister Su gives , I’ll be happy."
Su Mu chuckled and said nothing more. Wen Shaoyuan went ahead and opened the gift, but when the gift was revealed in front of everyone, there was a mont of surprise. Then, all eyes slowly turned to Wen Han and Su Mu, especially Fu Shinian, whose deep gaze at Su Mu was unsettlingly intimidating.
The fact that two people had so coincidentally chosen the sa gift was unexpected to everyone, including Wen Han and Su Mu. At this mont, she could only smile:
"Shaoyuan once told he liked the Avengers Alliance figurines, and I couldn’t think of anything else at the ti, so I bought that set, not realizing that Wen Han would also give one."
Wen Shaoyuan spoke out:
"Sister Su, I really like it. Now I have 2 sets of Avengers Alliance figurines. But how did you and Dad co up with the sa idea? That’s quite a coincidence."
Wen Shaoyuan was happily occupied with his own joy, completely unaware that his remark had plunged the atmosphere into a subtly awkward state. Fortunately, Wen Songyan intervened in a tily manner:
"We invited you over rely to take the opportunity to thank you for your previous care for Shaoyuan, and we didn’t expect you to spend so much. On behalf of Shaoyuan, I thank everyone. Dinner is ready, shall we go?"
As the group moved towards the dining room, Su Mu lagged a step behind, and Fu Shinian didn’t budge. As she passed by him to head to the dining room, his voice carried over to her slowly:
"A tutor maintaining such harmony with a child’s father, what do you think the Wen family would think?"
Su Mu looked up at him:
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I want to say, Mrs. Fu is smart enough to know, isn’t she?"
With that, he walked away towards the dining room, not offering Su Mu a chance to explain.
But what else could she say?
A coincidence? Fu Shinian wouldn’t believe it.
The atmosphere around the dinner table was lively because of the presence of little Wen Shaoyuan, and the matter of the gifts seed to turn a new page. But Su Mu knew that between her and Fu Shinian, it was far from over. Wen Songyan had been accompanying Old Mada Fu all this ti and hadn’t had much chance to talk with Fu Shinian. Now sitting together, a casual conversation was inevitable:
"I’ve always heard from others how well Shinian has been running the company, standing out among his peers. He’s worth learning from, truly a credit to Old Mada Fu, and it’s amazing that soone your age has married so soon. And Mrs. Fu, to have beco Shaoyuan’s tutor, what a fateful connection."
Fu Shinian smiled faintly:
"Uncle Wen, you flatter too much, I am just a businessman. The good developnt these past few years has been nothing but good fortune, not comparable to Wen Han’s contribution in the military, serving the motherland—that is the true glory."
Wen Han spoke with a light smile:
"You’re being too modest, there’s truth to my serving the country, but the economic benefits Fu Corporation brings to the nation are also significant. Without taxpayers like you, how could we soldiers serve without any worries?"
Reviews
All reviews (0)