Chapter 45

Chapter 45

During dinner, Lin Yiyuan, as usual, kept serving Ning Yuyi food, and in passing, mentioned an upcoming fashion week.

"Will Ning Ning attend?" Lin Yiyuan asked her eldest son, Xie Yinan.

Xie Yinan, who was well-acquainted with Ning Yuyi's recent schedule, shook his head.

"Only five celebrities from our country were invited. However, Ah Zhou will be attending," said Xie Yezhou.

Lin Yiyuan displayed a fleeting look of disappointment.

"Mom, try this." Ning Yuyi picked a strawberry cupcake and placed it in front of Lin Yiyuan.

"Then Ning Ning can join me." Lin Yiyuan suddenly proposed, "Your father never enjoys these events with me. If Ning Ning doesn't have a schedule then, maybe he can accompany his mother?"

Ning Yuyi chewed on the black pearls in his mouth and nodded in agreement.

Xie Yinan, however, looked slightly concerned, "Mom, be careful not to be photographed then. Ning Ning already has a lot of detractors."

"You should come along too. It's about time our whole family took a trip together," Lin Yiyuan turned to Xie Yinan, "Will you be busy during that time?"

"Let's go together." We haven't gone out as a family before. Xie Yinan knew this was one of Lin Yiyuan's wishes and decided to indulge her.

Lin Yiyuan cheerfully began planning the trip.

Setting aside their chat, Ning Yuyi discreetly turned to look at Fan Zhongchuan and pointed at a crystal dessert in front of him.

Fan Zhongchuan caught Ning Yuyi's gesture and, with a raised eyebrow, took a bite.

The taste was delightfully soft and aromatic, without being overly sweet.

Ning Yuyi winked at him.

Tastes good, doesn't it?

Just as Ning Yuyi was about to recommend a few other tasty desserts to Fan Zhongchuan, he felt his hand being held.

Looking up, he met Fan Zhongchuan's amused gaze.

Their parents sat opposite them, with their elder brother beside.

Yet, the two secretly held hands under the table.

Ning Yuyi blushed but tightened his grip.

Xie Yezhou had been uninvolved in his parents' conversation, focusing on his unique diet meal.

But upon noticing his younger brother blushing and the subsequent exchange of affectionate glances,

Xie Yezhou thought, "What's with this sudden public display of affection?"

Having eaten a lot, Ning Yuyi soon stood up and went for a stroll in the garden with Fan Zhongchuan.

After Ning Yuyi and Fan Zhongchuan left, Lin Yiyuan put down her phone and tugged at Xie Yezhou's sleeve.

"Are they together?"

"Hmm, perhaps." Xie Yezhou pushed his plate aside, losing his appetite.

"Speak properly," Lin Yiyuan tried to catch a glimpse of her youngest son through the window. "Ning Ning now reminds me of when your father and I first got together."

Xie Lou patted her hand, "The younger generation will have their own fortunes. Don't worry too much."

"I'm not worried," Lin Yiyuan lowered her gaze, "It's just... my son, whom I've just found, seems to be 'taken away'. Can't I be a little upset about it?"

"..." Xie Lou was also irritated.

However, he couldn't show it, because it seemed that his youngest son truly liked Fan Zhongchuan.

"Go with them," Xie Yinan seemed to be the most carefree among them.

He could see that Ning Yuyi was happiest and most relaxed when he was with Fan Zhongchuan.

……

There was a swing and a small slide in the Xie family's courtyard.

Ning Yuyi sat on the swing, with Fan Zhongchuan pushing it from behind.

As autumn approached, the leaves on the tree tops began to turn slightly yellow.

When a stronger breeze passed by, it would blow down some translucent yellow leaves, making them flutter to the ground.

The wind blew Ning Yuyi's hair, revealing his fair forehead.

"Would it be strange if I still call you 'bro' now?" Ning Yuyi suddenly pondered about what to call his boyfriend, "And I noticed, every time I call you 'bro', my elder brothers look displeased."

At that, Ning Yuyi chuckled.

"Call me whatever you like," Fan Zhongchuan bent over to fix Ning Yuyi's windblown hair, "After eating so much, you should walk around. Sitting on the swing doesn't help digestion."

"Mmm, I don't want to," Ning Yuyi was not keen on walking.

Fan Zhongchuan took Ning Yuyi's hand, intertwining their fingers, "You ate a lot tonight. You won't sleep well if you don't walk."

Ning Yuyi relented.

They walked around the courtyard twice and then sat with Lin Yiyue for a while. They didn't drive back to Qing'an until the moon was high.

"If the sun doesn't rise, neither do I, for I'm the sun's darling," Ning Yuyi hummed an off-tune melody as he piped whipped cream onto his oolong tea, garnishing it with a mint leaf and a straw at the end.

"Master Ning, you have a call," the maid entered the kitchen.

"Okay, thank you," Ning Yuyi replied, sipping his homemade oolong cream tea, and moved to the living room.

The phone on the coffee table buzzed. Turning it over, Ning Yuyi saw that Lin Chijing was calling.

Ning Yuyi asked, "What's up?"

Lin Chijing replied, "Little cousin, are you up?"

Ning Yuyi responded, "Yes, I am."

Lin Chijing: "I'm on my way to your house to pick you up and take you to the set to check out the scenery setup."

Ning Yuyi, surprised by the promptness, asked: "Is it already set up?"

Lin Chijing: "Not all of it, but two scenes have been set up. I expect filming will begin early next month."

"Sounds good. Cousin, no need to pick me up, I'll drive over myself." Ning Yuyi's driving license had always been for show, and he hadn't touched the cars in his garage, which together were worth tens of millions.

"Alright, then pick me up on your way. I secretly returned to the country without telling my parents, so I can't use any of the cars at home." Lin Chijing shared his address with Ning Yuyi.

Ning Yuyi opened his rarely used garage and chose the car with the least amount of dust — a recent gift from Xie Yezhou. Rumor had it that Lin Yiyue bought three of the same model in different colors, one for each of them.

After successfully picking up Lin Chijing, the two began discussing how to get to the director's given address.

"Is it in this direction?" Ning Yuyi rotated his phone 360 degrees, finally settling on what he believed was the correct direction. "This should be north, right?"

"I think it's over here." Lin Chijing was equally unsure.

The dense buildings around confused the directionally challenged duo.

As the car started, the GPS voice continuously reported directional errors.

After trying every possible direction, Ning Yuyi finally found the correct route.

Returning to the right track, Ning Yuyi remarked on the ordeal, with Lin Chijing echoing from the passenger seat.

Unknown to them, their repeated attempts to find the correct direction had been recorded and uploaded online. Even the official traffic police account had liked the video.

Of course, Ning Yuyi only found out about this several days later. At the moment, he and Lin Chijing were admiring the real-life sets built by the crew.

"It's not a 100% match, but it's close, about 80%," Lin Chijing commented, snapping a few photos on his phone to further evaluate potential modifications later.

"The primary factor is the generous funding," said the director, coming over to greet them. "Fenghua contributed two hundred million, Fan's Group pitched in another two hundred million, and the Xie family added a hundred million."

The director's smile was so wide that his eyes were nearly closed.

"My dad also wanted to invest, but my uncle held him back," said Lin Chijing, leaning against a recently transplanted tree. "This tree must have cost a lot."

"Indeed, several hundred thousand," the director responded, "But more importantly, it was hard to find. We searched for a long time to find one like this."

"Had I known, I wouldn't have described it in such detail in the script," Lin Chijing lamented. He had spent nearly five hundred words describing this particular tree when writing.

A momentary joy of writing about a tree, a lasting regret of buying it.

After saying this, Lin Chijing turned to see Ning Yuyi, deep in thought, calculating something with his fingers.

"Thinking of investing?" Lin Chijing approached him.

"With such huge investments, are you sure it won't result in a loss?" Ning Yuyi pondered the potential revenue of the production.

"To the Xie and Fan families, this amount is negligible," Lin Chijing said, draping an arm over Ning Yuyi's shoulder. "Let me put it this way: When I was in college, my father gave me ten billion to practice investing."

"Of course, I lost it all."

Ning Yuyi covered his face in disbelief.

"I'm just not cut out for business, you know."

Neither am I.

Ning Yuyi silently thought.

Xie Yinan once gave Ning Yuyi a card filled with red envelopes from birthday gifts and New Year's presents. Every year, without fail, all the relatives would harmoniously deposit money into this card for the New Year and his birthday.

Not long after finding Ning Yuyi, Lin Yiyue had Xie Yezhou hand over this card to him.

After all this time, Ning Yuyi still had no idea how much was on that card.

Now, he was suddenly curious.

So, after dropping off Lin Chijing, Ning Yuyi went to the bank to check the account.

Upon presenting the card, bank staff courteously ushered him into the VIP room.

Walking out of the bank, Ning Yuyi felt utterly dazed.

His mind was flooded with the staggering amount of zeros at the end of his bank balance, and he returned home in a trance.

Thoughtfully, the bank also printed out his transaction history for the past few years. Every year, on the exact same days, large sums were deposited.

So now, he's... a billionaire?

My goodness, he'd inadvertently and confusedly become a billionaire.

Kicking off his slippers, Ning Yuyi tossed the bank statement aside, deciding to take a nap to process everything.

Author's note: I wish I could become rich too QAQ.