Chapter 61

Chapter 61

Pei Kangnian's gaze first landed on his son.

Guan Mulin stood beside Pei Haochuan, the two huddled together in conversation.

Xu Yun: "Doesn't it seem like the second young master and that Guan family kid are a bit too engrossed in each other?"

Pei Kangnian: "..."

"When have you ever seen the second young master so close to anyone else?"

Pei Kangnian: "..."

After these two remarks, Xu Yun sensed something amiss: "Eldest young master?"

"Hmm."

Only then did Pei Kangnian snap back to attention, his eyes subtly shifting until they finally settled on Pei Yan and Shen Ju.

Indeed, those two were also huddled together, heads bowed, speaking in low tones.

Just like... his son and the other Guan family child...

Pei Kangnian felt he was on to something...

And perhaps more than just one thing.

"Eldest young master, you know that under Mr. Pei’s leadership, the Pei Group has grown to what it is today, and he always hopes it can continue to develop steadily."

"Of course, the prerequisite is that the Pei Group must remain the 'Pei Group.'"

Pei Kangnian withdrew his gaze and turned to Xu Yun: "Uncle Xu, is there something you're trying to imply?"

Xu Yun smiled: "Not exactly an implication, just that certain necessary measures should be taken when needed. Don’t you agree?"

Pei Kangnian remained silent.

............

Shen Ju felt nervous.

Though he had long made up his mind, when the moment actually arrived, he couldn’t help but feel tense.

This was like a teenage romance meeting the parents.

And the person he was dating was four years older.

And also male.

Oh god, the stakes were incredibly high.

So when should he come clean to his family?

Shen Ju had originally planned to wait until the birthday banquet was over, then have Jian Yi stay so he could officially introduce Pei Yan to everyone.

How should he say it?

Holding Pei Yan’s hand, standing in front of his family, and saying, "Hello everyone, this is my boyfriend"?

Ugh... that sounds a bit cringey.

Or maybe, "Brother Pei, you all know him, right? Well, he’s my boyfriend now?"

Uh... that also seemed pretty awkward.

Just thinking about it made him want to curl his toes.

So how should he bring it up?

What topic should he use to start the conversation?

He couldn’t just blurt out, "Mom, Dad, big brother, Grandpa, I’m in an early relationship, and the person I’m dating is Pei Yan."

Ahhh, absolutely not!

He might as well just have Brother Pei around his parents more often and see if they’d ask on their own.

He was being so obvious—surely they’d say something, right?

Yes, that’s what he’d do.

Having made up his mind, Shen Ju started bringing Pei Yan along to get themselves noticed.

Pei Yan simply went along with it, watching Shen Ju fret and fuss, and really wanted to laugh but bit back a laugh.

Truthfully, he wasn’t in such a hurry anymore to stake his claim on Shen Ju in front of the Guan family. After all, Shen Ju had already given him a private line of communication, openly sharing his innermost thoughts without reservation. This gesture greatly soothed Pei Yan’s possessive urge to keep Shen Ju by his side completely. It was enough for him to know that he was special and unique in Shen Ju’s heart.

So he was willing to wait for their relationship to be naturally accepted by the Guan family.

Anyway, given the mission, for it to succeed, Shen Ju would inevitably have to become engaged to him.

Once marked as his, there was no going back.

So Pei Yan felt assured.

But since Shen Ju was willing to give him more reassurance and take the initiative to confess, Pei Yan had no reason to stop him.

He was more than happy.

Even just watching Shen Ju struggle with how to reveal their relationship made him feel satisfied.

Asserting their presence in front of the Guan family, especially Guan Muyao, made him even more pleased.

However...

The "spotlight" seemed to have been stolen.

Just as Shen Ju was about to pick up a snack and place it on Pei Yan’s plate in front of Qin Suxi and the others—

"Ah, Mu Lin, let me feed you this."

Pei Haochuan held a small cake up to Guan Mulin’s mouth: "This is delicious, try it."

Pei Yan clicked his tongue softly under his breath.

Shen Ju pricked up his ears, his gaze unconsciously shifting.

Guan Muyao’s face was expressionless, looking thoroughly displeased.

Qin Suxi leaned against Guan Lifeng, feeling like she couldn't take it all in.

Guan Jianshan... Old Master Guan lowered his head and scrolled through his phone.

Out of sight, out of mind, as they say.

Well, the children and grandchildren will have their own blessings.

He couldn't control it anyway.

Better to silently scroll through Heart Sutra videos.

Meanwhile, Jian Yi looked from side to side, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter, though no one knew what he was thinking...

Guan Mulin looked somewhat awkward, moving his arm to elbow Pei Haochuan hard from behind.

"Ahem—"

Guan Mulin glared at him: Are you trying to die?!

Pei Haochuan pretended not to see it.

Just as Guan Mulin was about to speak, Pei Haochuan shoved a small cake into his mouth in an instant—

"............"

Guan Mulin really wanted to hit someone!

Shen Ju glanced around, then he looked at Pei Yan before glancing down at the small cake in his hand.

Originally, he had intended to place it on Pei Yan's plate.

But now...

Shen Ju raised his hand.

Suddenly, a large hand reached out from the side and snatched the small cake away.

Guan Muyao took that piece of cake and stuffed it directly into his own mouth, crunching it with excessive force.

Shen Ju was left stunned.

"Ah, Eldest Brother..."

Guan Muyao said coldly, "Eldest Brother likes snacks too, how come I never see you offering me any?"

Then he glanced at Pei Haochuan and Guan Mulin.

He wanted to say "and the small cake," but the small cake was brought by Pei Haochuan... Forget it.

Still, Guan Muyao snorted coldly, "The Guan family has prepared plenty of food. Just eat your own."

The implication was clear: Why feed each other? There are plenty of small cakes.

For a moment, both Shen Ju and Guan Mulin looked as timid as quails.

Pei Haochuan also let out a dry laugh, not daring to speak.

Just as Pei Yan was about to say something—

Qin Suxi suddenly laughed and patted Guan Muyao's shoulder, "Oldest."

Guan Muyao: "?"

"Does it bother you to see this?"

Guan Muyao: "."

Qin Suxi tsk-tsked twice, "Of course it does."

"Your two younger brothers are already flaunting their relationships, and here you are, all grown up and still single. If it doesn't bother you, who else would it bother?"

Guan Muyao: "............"

Shen Ju's eyes lit up, "Mom—"

"Alright, alright."

Qin Suxi waved her hand, "It's all understood between us. Your father and I have been mentally prepared for this. There's no need to say it out loud. This is a free era—as long as you can take responsibility for your own lives and do the right thing, your father and I won't interfere too much. After all, even if we did, you might not listen, and it would just lead to all sorts of trouble. I don't have the energy for that."

Guan Lifeng nodded beside her.

Anyway, he still had his oldest son to count on. The two younger ones could do as they pleased.

The oldest...

Guan Lifeng looked at Guan Muyao, hm... he's reliable, right?

At least now, running the company was completely hassle-free with the oldest in charge.

He should be.

As he looked, Guan Lifeng couldn't help sighing at Guan Muyao.

Guan Muyao: "............"

What was wrong with him now?

After Qin Suxi stated her position and saw that the old man had no objections, she waved her hand, telling the young people to go play somewhere else and stop bothering their single oldest son here.

Besides, they had been performing for quite a while, and she had had enough entertainment.

Both Pei Haochuan and Shen Ju were quite happy.

After Pei Haochuan pulled Guan Mulin away, Shen Ju had just stood up when he caught Jian Yi's eye.

Qin Suxi's stance might represent the Guan family, but it didn't represent Jian Yi.

Jian Yi took Shen Ju aside privately.

Once the two were in a private spot, Jian Yi studied Shen Ju for a long time.

Shen Ju grew anxious and whispered, "Brother."

"Although I'd suspected this might happen, are you serious?"

Jian Yi pressed his lips together, "I always feel like if it hadn't been for me..."

"Brother, even if it weren't for you, I might still have met Brother Pei, and I might still have fallen for him. Of course, it's also possible I wouldn't have met him, and Brother Pei wouldn't have noticed me. All of that is possible."

Shen Ju cut in, interrupting Jian Yi: “But even if meeting Brother Pei was thanks to you, Brother Pei might still not have taken a liking to me—and I might never have gotten involved with him either. That’s possible too, isn’t it?”

“So nothing’s set in stone, Brother. Don’t shoulder it all alone.”

“Also, the mission gauge is about to hit 100%. Look—everything’s going smoothly for me now, isn’t it? If you keep fixating on this, worrying that I only accepted the task because of you and clinging to that idea, it’ll bother me too. So, Brother, don’t dwell on ‘what-ifs’—just focus on how well the task is progressing, okay?”

Shen Ju took Jian Yi’s hand and gave it a gentle shake: “You’ve never been this formal with me before. Just because I’m back with the Guan family doesn’t mean you need to distance yourself.”

“I know—I can feel it. I know you mean well, but if you keep acting like this, I’ll really get hurt—deeply hurt!”

Jian Yi fell silent for a moment, then sighed sharply. “You always have an answer for everything.”

“Shen Jiujiu—when did you get so smooth?”

“Hehe.”

Shen Ju chuckled. “Because I’m speaking from the heart.”

“You really know how to act spoiled.”

Jian Yi clicked his tongue, then suddenly asked, “You don’t act like this in front of Pei Yan too, do you?”

Shen Ju touched the tip of his nose.

*Inwardly, he thought: Actually, I’m even more clingy with Pei Yan.*

Seeing Shen Ju’s expression, Jian Yi almost clicked his tongue again.

It felt like our fine cabbage had been snatched away by some pig.

“Is he good to you? Do you truly like him that much—or is it really just because of the mission?”

“He’s good—very good to me. I genuinely like Brother Pei. I like him *that* much.”

Shen Ju paused briefly: “I can’t say the mission had nothing to do with it—at least it all began with the mission. Well… no, to be precise, it was a glitch in the mission that increased my interactions with Brother Pei. Later, of course, it was entirely because of Pei Yan himself. Honestly, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly when I started liking Brother Pei—but I *do* like him. That much I know.”

“Alright, alright—I get it. With all that ‘liking,’ you clearly adore him.”

Jian Yi paused, then suddenly recalled something critical and asked—

“You’ve found a way to be open with your family and with me—but what about Pei Yan’s family? Do they know about your relationship?”

“Uh…”

Jian Yi narrowed his eyes. “Shen Jiujiu!”

“You’re not the only one baring your heart to your family while *he* hasn’t breathed a word to his, are you?!”