Chapter 80: On the Day of the Birthday Banquet

Chapter 80: The Day of the Birthday Banquet

Before he knew it, it was Jian Ye’s birthday.

If someone hadn’t reminded him, Jian Ye would have completely forgotten that today was his birthday.

In his original world, his birthday had also been on this day, but he never celebrated it. Used to being alone, he never saw the point in celebrating.

But now was different. He had his own family and many people who cared about him.

A whole week earlier, Old Mr. Jian had called him, saying he wanted to host a birthday banquet for him.

Jian Ye’s first instinct was to say no—he wasn’t into big birthday parties, and there wasn’t much to talk about with the Jian family relatives anyway.

But Old Mr. Jian kept begging him to come, expressing regret for having neglected him in the past. Seeing how earnest his grandfather was, Jian Ye couldn’t harden his heart completely and eventually agreed.

The moment Jian Ye agreed, Old Mr. Jian lit up and immediately instructed the butler to prepare the guest list.

He wanted every big-name family to know that he had a well-behaved and capable grandson.

Previously, Jian Ye had gone viral for saving someone and was even awarded an official commendation for bravery. Old Mr. Jian saved every related news article on his phone, bragging about it to anyone who’d listen.

Even longtime family friends were shocked—they had all heard rumors about what the youngest grandson of the Jian family was like.

Wasn’t he just some spoiled brat? How could he be so impressive, even saving lives?

If they’d known sooner that Jian Ye would gain Old Mr. Jian’s favor like this, they should have rushed to arrange a marriage alliance with the Jian family.

Rumor had it that since marrying Third Young Master Yi, Jian Ye’s marriage wasn’t particularly happy.

No one could trace where the gossip started, but every family seemed to have heard the same version.

They could only shake their heads in private.

The Yi family ruled Yunjing’s high society. A marriage like that was just business—what did personal happiness matter compared to family interests?

……

Right now, Jian Ye was getting dolled up by stylists.

He was kinda pissed—Yi Siyu had said earlier that he had some important company matters to attend to and would arrive late.

What the hell was more important than his husband’s birthday?

Only after Yi Siyu swore up and down he’d be there did Jian Ye reluctantly drop the matter.

Well, fine. After all, he was the man who worked hard to support the family—prioritizing his career wasn’t a bad thing. Jian Ye could handle the Jian family crowd on his own.

He figured some idiots would try to stir up drama later. If Yi Siyu were present, he might not be able to deal with them as freely.

With Yi Siyu running late, it was the perfect opportunity to return to the old mansion and harvest some Green Tea Points.

“Damn, Young Master, you look fire in this fit!” the stylist hired by the Jian family gushed.

Jian Ye brushed off the praise with a half-smile. “Thanks for your hard work.”

“Not at all, not at all! Young Master has such great natural features—it’s effortless to style you. You barely need any makeup at all. Just changing into this outfit brings out your refined aura.”

The stylist was laying it on thick. While Jian Ye remained unfazed, Old Mr. Jian, standing nearby, was absolutely delighted.

"Our Jian Ye takes after his parents' best traits, so it's only natural he's good-looking. Not to mention, he even resembles me when I was young," Old Mr. Jian said affectionately to Jian Ye with a smile. "Back in my youth, I was quite the heartthrob in town, you know."

Jian Ye: "..." This old man is kinda full of himself.

Jian Ye was dressed in a white suit with his bangs lightly styled with gel, revealing part of his smooth forehead. He looked even more handsome, looking less boyish than usual.

As of today, he was finally 19 in this world.

Speaking of age, Jian Ye had indeed married young—but to someone he loved, so he didn’t mind.

"Sir, the Mo family has arrived," the butler approached Old Mr. Jian and announced respectfully.

"So soon?" Old Mr. Jian was surprised, then turned to Jian Ye. "Grandpa will go greet the guests first. When it's time, I’ll have someone call for you. Rest for now."

"Okay, Grandpa," Jian Ye nodded obediently, playing the obedient grandson.

Once Old Mr. Jian left, Jian Ye wasted no time grabbing his phone to play games.

His roommates knew it was his birthday today, and the group was grouped up in-game on voice chat.

"Since your family is celebrating with you today, we’ll stay out of your way. Once you’re back at school, we’ll take you out for a proper meal, how about that?" Li Xiangchi suggested.

Jian Ye chuckled while controlling his in-game character. "I’ll follow your lead, Chi-ge. But… since it’s my birthday, shouldn’t I be the one treating you all to a feast?"

Liu Mingchang chimed in, "Just take it as our way of showing we care. We’re all from regular families and didn’t get you anything expensive, Jian Ye—don’t think less of it."

"I wouldn’t. I’ll love whatever you give me," Jian Ye replied. Having grown up ordinary himself, he understood their sentiments perfectly.

Being friends with a young master from a wealthy family, they might not say it, but there was undoubtedly some pressure. To outsiders, such unequal social standing couldn’t foster genuine friendship.

Jian Ye did his best to make them feel at ease—playing games together, gifting each other skins, engaging in the small exchanges typical among ordinary friends. He would never look down on their gifts just because he was wealthy.

His roommates also knew Jian Ye well—he was a little brother they all wanted to spoil, a young master without any airs.

"So, what did your husband get you?" Zheng Yan suddenly interjected bluntly.

Jian Ye fell silent.

Yan-ge was blunt as ever…

"He hasn’t given you anything yet?" Zheng Yan guessed immediately, then tried to console him. "He’ll probably give it to you after the birthday banquet. Don’t worry."

Who was worried? Whether Yi Siyu gave him a gift or not, it didn’t matter—it’s not like he needed anything now anyway.

But to say Jian Ye didn’t care at all would be a lie.

Even his roommates had prepared heartfelt gifts. If Yi Siyu, as his partner, showed up empty-handed, that’d be pretty lame.

Jian Ye wasn’t expecting anything fancy, but a gift was one thing—showing up mattered more.

The fact that Yi Siyu chose to pull overtime on his birthday, of all days, had already earned a hundred eye-rolls from Jian Ye.

Still, he wasn’t about to trash-talk Yi Siyu in front of his roommates. Maybe something really came up that couldn’t be delayed.

Jian Ye was the bigger person—he refused to be that petty.

"Game time. Ugh, later I have to go downstairs and deal with a bunch of strangers—it’s exhausting just thinking about it. Need to grab some downtime now while I can."

Jian Ye had no intention of mentioning Yi Siyu, so he shifted the topic.

After a few rounds of play, someone knocked on the door.

Jian Ye told his roommates through voice chat, "Someone's at the door—I need to go. See you all in the game later. Peace."

He exited the game, set down his phone, and went to answer the door.

A male servant stood there. Since Jian Ye rarely came back to the old mansion after getting married, he barely recognized any of the staff.

"What is it?" Jian Ye asked.

"The master wants you to pick up an item from the storeroom in the east courtyard," the attendant informed him.

"What kind of item?"

"I'm not clear on the details. I was only instructed to pass along the message—there's a box on the iron shelf in the storeroom that needs to be brought over. It might be... birthday-related things?"

"Oh, I don’t remember where that is. Can you show me?" Jian Ye feigned innocence.

The attendant nodded. "Please follow me, young master."

As soon as they left the room, Jian Ye followed behind the attendant. After walking just a short distance, he caught sight of someone trailing them from the corner of his eye.

Jian Ye scoffed inwardly. The birthday banquet hadn't even begun yet, and someone was already trying to cause trouble.

It seemed his growing influence within the Jian family had become a threat to certain lowlifes...

"Jian Ye: I'd wager my last bag of chips, this idiotic scheme stinks of my idiot cousin."

"System 748: Host, what's your move?"

"Jian Ye: Oh, I'm playing right along. If he insists on causing a scene at my birthday party, I won’t mind turning it into one hell of a circus."

The words the attendant had spoken earlier were suspicious as hell. Today was his birthday, and the old master had already told him he simply needed to show up like a display piece—no tasks assigned.

Yet this person claimed the old master wanted him to retrieve something from the storeroom? Impossible.

Jian Ye had watched enough palace dramas to know that places like storerooms, woodsheds, or secluded corners basically screamed “ambush zone” in drama logic.

This was modern society governed by law, so at worst, they might lock him in a dark room—nothing extreme like murder.

Their acting was painfully bad, and he had to pretend ignorance just to humor their terrible performance. So incredibly draining.

After navigating several corridors, the attendant stopped before a solitary room at the end of a hallway. "We’re here, young master."

Jian Ye frowned. "Here? This place looks completely abandoned. What could possibly be in there worth retrieving?"

His apparent lack of suspicion throughout the walk had actually unsettled the attendant. Had the young master already figured out the trick?

Only now, seeing Jian Ye’s wary reaction, did the attendant relax slightly.

Sticking to the rehearsed line, the attendant replied, "I don’t know—you’ll have to check for yourself."

Before entering, Jian Ye had assumed it was just a regular storage room filled with junk. But the moment he stepped inside and saw its unusual layout, he realized—it was a freezer.

Wealthy people really do casually own freezers. A freezer can store fresh food, refrigerated items, and frozen goods.

The cold storage was only about five or six square meters—a small one. The shelves inside were empty and covered in a layer of dust, clearly an abandoned storage room.

This scenario really needed him to play along before things could proceed.

Just as he expected, the moment he stepped inside, the door was shut behind him.

There were no windows in the cold storage, plunging him into darkness. All the switches seemed to be installed outside, and there were no special devices inside.

Did these people really think that just because he didn’t have his phone, he couldn’t contact the outside world, he thought?

After the last incident where he lost contact, Yi Siyu had specially gotten him a high-tech watch.

On the surface, it looked like a Patek Philippe, but it actually had smartwatch capabilities, including a built-in locator.

But he didn’t want to end the script so quickly.

Every good plot needs some twists.

He could already guess that the mastermind behind this wanted him to miss the birthday banquet. Whoever it was, if they had even a high school diploma, they wouldn’t use such an amateur move.

【Jian Ye. Er Tong, help me exchange for the "Invisible Heat Pack" from the shop.】

【System 748. Got it, Host. This item only costs 50 Green Tea Coins, but… what do you plan to do with it?】

【Jian Ye. Naturally, to spice up this little drama. Er Tong, do me a favor—press the switch on the electrical control box outside. I know you can do it.】

【System 748. Whoa—how'd you know about that, Host?】

【Jian Ye. Once, I fell asleep and forgot to turn off the lights. Yi Siyu wasn’t home that day, but the lights still turned off. Who else could it have been but you? Back then, I guessed that you could control certain things within a certain range. When I lost consciousness in the water, wasn’t it you who moved my body closer to the shore?】

【System 748. After Host leveled up, my psychic abilities did become stronger than before. I can manipulate objects within a one-meter radius of you with my data streams. But… are you really sure you want to do this?】

【Jian Ye. Yes. And next, I’m going to teach you how to turn 50 Green Tea Coins into 5,000.】

【System 748. [shocked face]】

【Author’s Note】

Jian Xiaogou. Playing vulnerable? That's my specialty. (*smirks*)

Yi Siyu. Where should I hide this pup? (*busy at work*)