Chapter 40 Longevity Lock

Chapter 40 The Longevity Lock

Yan Anxuan truly felt his head was spinning. Why did everyone want to take Xiaobai away? He hadn't seen Xiaobai this sought-after before. He genuinely felt his pride was stung.

For him to blurt out something like "Xiaobai bears the Yan surname, not Bai" was quite out of character for his usual speaking style—it was somewhat offensive and clearly stemmed from a moment of desperation.

"His surname doesn't matter. Xiaobai is already an adult; it's not as if I want to adopt him. I'm simply saying that if the Yan family isn't willing to be his safe harbor, he can always come to me," Bai Gu stated.

"Uncle, you're overthinking it. Xiaobai will be very well cared for with the Yan family."

Yan Anxuan made his stance clear, directly rejecting Bai Gu's suggestion. He wanted to eliminate any possibility of his uncle's idea becoming reality.

Bai Gu smiled. "That would be for the best."

***

Yan Anxuan and Bai Gu had a minor confrontation in the living room, something Yan Zhoubai in the backyard was completely unaware of. His focus at the moment was entirely on Huihui.

As soon as Yan Zhoubai stepped into the backyard, he called out "Huihui!" and immediately a figure came bounding through the air toward him. It was Huihui.

Huihui knew exactly how far to jump, stopping right in front of Yan Zhoubai before circling around his legs, rubbing against him affectionately. It was clear they were very close, and the dog's whole demeanor became incredibly lively upon seeing Yan Zhoubai.

Huihui had such good control when pouncing because he had once bowled Yan Zhoubai over.

It was back when he had just been sent to the Bai household. Still adjusting to the new environment, he was too excited when Yan Zhoubai came to visit him for the first time. He dashed toward Yan Zhoubai with unbridled excitement and ended up knocking him down.

At the time, Yan Zhoubai hadn’t seen Huihui for a while and missed him dearly, so he wasn’t bothered by the fall and didn’t scold Huihui. But after that incident, whenever Huihui saw him, he would still pounce but always controlled the distance well, never repeating what happened before.

Yan Zhoubai crouched down and scooped Huihui into his arms, rubbing his face against the soft fur. He felt incredibly happy and relaxed.

This was the system’s first time seeing Huihui. Although it had lost most of its data and couldn’t remember whether it liked dogs before, it was certain upon first glance that it at least liked fluffy things. So even though it knew Huihui couldn’t see it, it still greeted him.

To be honest, this was the first time Yan Zhoubai realized the system had the potential to be "cutesy"—using a high-pitched, affected tone. He had never heard the system use such a tone before.

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk…"

Even though the system had no physical form and Huihui couldn’t see it, that didn’t stop it from wanting to interact with Huihui.

However, neither the system nor Yan Zhoubai expected that right after the system greeted Huihui in Yan Zhoubai’s mind, Huihui suddenly barked twice and began looking around, pacing restlessly near Yan Zhoubai. Then he circled back toward Yan Zhoubai and started sniffing him, as if trying to find something on him.

"What’s wrong with Huihui?"

Yan Zhoubai thought Huihui might be sensitive to something on him, so he looked himself over while stroking Huihui’s back to calm him down. But he wasn’t carrying anything unusual.

"Could it be?" the system suddenly spoke up. "Could he actually sense my presence?"

"Don’t talk nonsense. Huihui is just an ordinary dog—how could he sense you?" Yan Zhoubai thought the system was talking nonsense.

"I’m not talking nonsense. Look, he was fine just now, but right after I greeted him, he started acting strange. Isn’t there a saying that dogs’ senses are much sharper than humans’? And since supernatural abilities like magic exist in your world, wouldn’t it be normal for Huihui to sense me?"

The system launched into a full logical explanation, convincing itself even more as it spoke.

"That can’t be. How could it be that remarkable—"

Just as Yan Zhoubai was about to say "how could it be that remarkable," he was interrupted again by Huihui’s barking.

Huihui was actually very gentle-natured. Over the years at the Bai household, the feedback Yan Zhoubai had heard from his cousin was that Huihui was quite mild-mannered. His uncle and aunt liked him a lot, and Huihui never barked randomly. Barking twice in just a few minutes was indeed unusual.

Moreover, he kept circling Yan Zhoubai and looking around, clearly searching for something.

"See, sweetie? I was right. Every time I talk to you, he barks. Either he can hear me or he can sense me. I think the latter is easier to accept," the system said.

As if to prove the system’s point, Huihui barked twice again right after it finished speaking.

Now Yan Zhoubai really didn’t know how to argue. It couldn’t all be a coincidence, could it?

"What’s going on?"

"Did something happen?"

Huihui’s barking had likely caught the attention of Bai Gu and Yan Anxuan, who were still in the living room. Both of them came out to the backyard.

"Xiaobai, are you okay?" Yan Anxuan’s first reaction was to check on Yan Zhoubai.

He had never been particularly fond of cats or dogs. Back when Huihui was still with the Yan family, he hadn’t paid much attention to him. The only thing he remembered was Huihui being sent away after breaking their father’s favorite vase. So in his eyes, Huihui wasn’t exactly a gentle, harmless dog. He was worried Yan Zhoubai might get hurt.

"It’s fine, big brother. Huihui is just playing with me."

Yan Zhoubai was still stunned by the possibility that Huihui could sense the system’s presence. Seeing his uncle and brother come over, with his brother looking so nervous, he didn’t react much, his mind still preoccupied with the idea that Huihui could hear the system.

But since his uncle and brother were here, he couldn’t just focus on playing with Huihui. He still had a task to complete.

Back in the living room, Yan Zhoubai retrieved the velvet pouch his mother had given him from the small white crossbody bag he’d left on the sofa.

"Uncle," Yan Zhoubai spoke hesitantly, "Mom asked me to bring this to you. It’s the longevity lock from when my cousin was born. She said that since he’ll be graduating from overseas soon and returning home, she thought it would be a good time to give this to him."

Yan Zhoubai handed the velvet pouch to his uncle.

Bai Gu was visibly stunned when he heard that Bai Rong had asked Yan Zhoubai to bring this to him. He took the pouch and carefully removed the longevity lock and bracelet inside.

He recognized them. Strictly speaking, this wasn’t Bai Mengqian’s longevity lock—it was something Bai Rong had commissioned for him back then. But at the time, their relationship was at its worst due to disputes over their father’s inheritance, so he hadn’t accepted it. Bai Mengqian had another longevity lock, one he had made himself.

He never expected her to have kept it all these years.

Yan Zhoubai didn’t know about all these complications. He only noticed that his uncle held the longevity lock and bracelet, examining them closely with an inscrutable, complicated expression that was hard to describe.

Yan Anxuan, sitting nearby, also noticed, but he didn’t know about the past conflicts either. He was only a few years older than Bai Mengqian and had been too young to understand such things back then. Bai Rong had never mentioned it. He was even more perplexed than Yan Zhoubai, surprised to learn that his mother had kept his cousin’s longevity lock all these years.

Yan Zhoubai thought that by returning the longevity lock now, his mother was demonstrating her continued care for her nephew. Just as his uncle had never let his conflicts with her affect his relationship with him and his brother, his mother felt the same way toward her nephew and niece.

But Yan Anxuan thought more deeply about it. Regardless of whether he knew about the longevity lock being returned back then, he could tell that it was unusual for his mother to have kept Bai Mengqian’s longevity lock all these years. By actively returning it now—not to Bai Mengqian but to his uncle—she was signaling her intentions.

She wanted to reconcile with her brother.

"Alright. Go back and tell your mother that I understand what she means."

Bai Gu said this as he placed the longevity lock and bracelet back into the velvet pouch and kept it.

***

Yan Zhoubai was overjoyed to have Huihui back and to have a temporary respite from studying. He had been very happy and carefree these past few days, a stark contrast to the "storm" raging outside due to the bullying incident at Lixing High School.

His father had told him not to worry about it anymore, so he really hadn’t—there wasn’t much he could do anyway. Both he and the system agreed that his father sincerely intended to address the issue this time.

What surprised him was that his brother, who had been so vocally indignant about the incident before, had completely disengaged after their father took over. He even seemed much more relaxed these past few days.

Yan Zhoubai was puzzled. Wasn’t his brother supposed to be a workaholic?

Not only did his big brother adjust his previously jam-packed schedule, but he even had time to accompany him to buy pet supplies for Huihui.

Huihui had been away from the Yan family for too long, so some of its old items were no longer usable, and some were already broken. They needed to buy new ones.

Yan Zhoubai was initially taken aback, but thinking it over, he then felt genuinely happy. It seemed like he really hadn’t gone shopping with his big brother in all these years.

It would have been even better if Bu Qiran hadn’t joined them.

When Bu Qiran found out they were going shopping together to buy pet supplies for Huihui, he insisted on joining. He said that since Huihui would now be part of the Yan family, he wanted to be involved in its life and strengthen their bond.

When it came to the art of speaking, Yan Zhoubai always felt that Bu Qiran was miles ahead of him. If he had been even half as articulate when he was young, he wouldn't have been so overlooked.

Of course, back then, he had a bit of a stutter, so even if he had wanted to speak well, he couldn’t.

And so, just the three brothers went out shopping together.

But little did they know, they were photographed by the media.

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Author's Note: This is my first time organizing a giveaway, and I had no idea that giveaways set on the day of the clamp couldn’t be displayed on the homepage. But I’ve already set the draw for tomorrow noon, and it seems like it can’t be changed.

So my first giveaway was a big failure [bursting into tears]. I’ll try again next time.