Chapter 15 Golden Night

Chapter 15: Gilded Night

The journey from Ding Shu was, in fact, the shorter one.

Her age was impossible to guess from her looks, nothing like the stern, rigid elder he had imagined.

In stark contrast to You Jinhui's minimalist, cold-toned decor, You Ting's home was a two-story detached villa. The front yard was filled with a large expanse of roses, currently in full, vibrant bloom.

The interior soft furnishings were a riot of rich, varied colors, making one suspect they had mistakenly entered a private art gallery. The air was permeated by a faint, delicate scent, perhaps from the roses in the yard, or perhaps from a specially blended fragrance. Chen Jiyan's nervous tension eased considerably, and his posture became less rigid.

You Ting herself wore an impeccably tailored suit dress, suitable for attending a banquet at a moment's notice or participating in a formal meeting.

She looked to be 30 at most, with dark, luminous eyes. The ruby brooch pinned to her collar glittered in the sunlight.

"You've come. I've been wanting to meet you for a long time."

For a first meeting, it was neither overly familiar nor coldly distant. They say politicians are the best at performance, and You Ting was a master among them.

She spoke unhurriedly, with cadence and modulation. Even if a piece of wood were standing here, it would feel utterly charmed.

Chen Jiyan had never been good at socializing, yet after interacting with her, he didn't feel any discomfort at all.

To feel comfortable conversing with someone far older and of higher status was, without a doubt, a sign that the other party was accommodating you.

Her goodwill was evident, regardless of her underlying motives.

"Originally, I was going to give you a name. However, your previous guardian said you already had your own name. It's a very nice one."

Mentioning Vita Star, Chen Jiyan perked up. "You know her?"

You Ting shook her head in denial. "At the time, most of the procedures were handled by my spouse. It happened so suddenly. After Sanshine was destroyed, the people inside vanished without a trace."

Ding Shu authorities had found no traces. This time, with the smuggling incident, Ding Shu was also involved. While he was indeed one of Mo Harbor's targets, uncovering the truth behind Sanshine's destruction was a consensus both sides had reached, albeit independently.

"Sanshine..."

"I'm sorry if this brings up unpleasant memories," You Ting did not avoid the topic. "It's You Jinhui's fault. He failed to look after you properly. Such a thing will not happen again in Ding Shu."

She gave a solemn promise.

"Actually, I have few memories of past events," Chen Jiyan said. If she wanted to probe him for the truth behind Sanshine's fall, he was truly helpless. He couldn't very well say he had crossed over and knew nothing about this place, so he had to resort to the clichéd but useful excuse of amnesia.

"That might be for the best. A mother always hopes her child can live happily."

From her tone and expression, one couldn't detect regret or pity; it seemed more like a sigh of relief.

"If there's anything you'd like to know, or if I can help you in any way..."

"I heard from You Jinhui that your health hasn't been good. I'd be very happy just knowing both of you are healthy and safe."

Chen Jiyan's favorable impression of her rose from five to eight points.

"Are you settling in well in Ding Shu? If you have time, you can come here often. Treat it as your own home."

"Don't be polite. We are family, after all."

Her personality and style were completely opposite to You Jinhui's.

Ms. You was very easy to get along with, nothing like the rumors suggested. She seemed to have ordinary maternal concern for You Jinhui as well, making the rumors of a strained mother-son relationship seem less credible.

Perhaps they had many differing views, but that didn't hinder their care for each other. When You Jinhui mentioned family, there was no resentment, just a hint of exasperation mixed with a touch of disdain.

When You Ting mentioned him, although her words were critical and reproachful, they still held concern.

"The fresh flowers in the Hengmai room, were they from you?"

Poppies, large hibiscus flowers, and some unnameable blooms he recognized—they often appeared in his room at the research institute.

Ambitious, competing for resources with men, superiors, lovers, and even her own son, yet her rooms were filled with many plants and flowers.

The main city, Ding Shu, did not typically grow such finicky and delicate plants. People believed they would drain resources. Planting them in public areas was even illegal. Private areas allowed cultivation, but exceeding a certain number could lead to reports and, in severe cases, detention.

However, Ms. You's status and resources meant she had no need to consider such restrictions. Were it not for constraints of time and space, she could turn the backyard into a botanical garden.

Their conversation didn't last very long. A friend of You Ting's came to visit, so Chen Jiyan and You Jinhui tactfully took their leave first.

"Ms. You's friend, is she also a council member?"

This form of address was something he had asked You Jinhui about before coming. Chen Jiyan felt "Auntie" was too distant, "Aunt" was also strange, so he had to seek external help.

He was then informed that if addressed this way, You Ting would be very pleased, which indeed proved true.

"How could that be? Would you want to be friends with a colleague?"

Of course not.

"Ms. You has quite a good personality. How come you're nothing like her?"

"I admittedly don't have many friends. You don't seem to be in a position to criticize me on that."

Chen Jiyan, to date, possessed zero friends, not even matching the social connections of the notorious Chief Executive.

"My standards for choosing friends are rather high." Besides, he hadn't been here long. Just struggling to survive each day consumed all his energy; where would he find time to make friends?

To be fair, You Jinhui could only be considered a roommate he got along with relatively well. It wouldn't develop into any other kind of relationship.

"Aren't we going back?"

"It's still early. Let's go somewhere."

Chen Jiyan would rather go back.

"The doctor said for someone in your condition, you shouldn't always stay cooped up in your room. You need to go out appropriately to get some fresh air."

You Jinhui advised calmly.

"Fresh air with an FS level over 30?" What's the difference between that and telling me to do drugs directly? "If you want me to die sooner, just say it."

Staying outside too long made him irritable, and his words became less polite.

"Don't young people all like to have fun? Not going to the auction?"

An auction? The kind where, in his previous life, saving for decades wouldn't even get him past the first asset verification hurdle?

"I'll go."

Thinking he was still hesitating, You Jinhui spoke again, "No spending limit. See anything you like, just bid."

Retracting the "roommate" label for You Jinhui—he liked being friends with rich people the most.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Jiyan had changed into another outfit.

If the previous attire was tasteful, this one was overly flashy, with intricate decorations bordering on frivolous.

The white suit was perfectly tailored, and the rose-gold inner collar was layered, reminiscent of medieval court nobility.

"It suits someone your age."

In contrast, You Jinhui [You Jinhui] wore a dark gray suit that complemented his deep blue eyes perfectly.

His eyes and nose resembled You Ting's [You Ting's], while his eye color was likely inherited from his father.

As for height, "Is everyone in your family this tall?"

"Everyone in our family is tall. Before you came, my dad was the shortest."

"I should... still be able to grow taller." Chen Jiyan suddenly felt inadequate.

The villa looked rather plain. After seeing You Jinhui's castle and You Ting's garden, Chen Jiyan found himself unmoved by a house he would normally envy. He even found it a bit boring.

However, stepping inside revealed a whole new world—a lavish golden banquet hall so dazzling it was hard to keep one's eyes open.

Glasses clinked, and well-dressed guests mingled, a world starkly different from the cold machinery of Ding Shu or the natural harmony of Man Du.

"Didn't they say resources were scarce and survival was difficult?" It must be a lie.

"It's just rhetoric to motivate the public, to make them worry about the future." You Jinhui replied briefly, casually finding a seat and gesturing for Chen Jiyan to join him.

You Jinhui's familiarity with the scene stirred a complex, indescribable emotion in Chen Jiyan.

He should have been happy. After all, his guardian was part of this class, so his own treatment wouldn't be too bad.

But thinking of the modest Sang Xia'en, the perpetually gloomy and oppressive Ding Shu, he felt a deep aversion to the extravagant and indulgent scene before him.

In contrast, You Jinhui seemed to fit right in here, as if he were born to navigate such places. Yet, a faint trace of disgust was barely detectable in his expression, contradicting his ease of movement.

Chen Jiyan recalled You Jinhui's earlier remarks about dying in the line of duty. The turbulent tide of emotions receded, and his heart calmed once more. He wasn't the only outsider here.

Chen Jiyan sat to his right, following his gaze to observe the crowd.

So it turned out privileged classes existed in every era. The only thing truly equal for all was death. He had thought that in a doomsday scenario where everyone was in danger, people would unite more and work collectively to ensure the survival of their species. But it turned out that even as they approached extinction, life would still be divided into hierarchies until the very last second.

Indeed, this was the humanity he was familiar with.

For them, items from the old world were luxuries—rare, hard to obtain, and prone to depletion. Like the pocket watch that had just sold for 1 million, or that small bottle of ink more precious than gold.

Because they were useless things, people were more willing to attach value to them, granting their owners a unique, noble aura.

In essence, it was no different from marketing in the past.

"I'll look around on my own. Don't worry about me; go do what you need to do."

He didn't buy for a second that the busy Lord Executive had brought him here just to shop.

"How useful am I as a shield, Lord Executive?"

Since establishing the persona of a family man, the Lord Executive had more excuses for leave, fewer tasks, and even ways to escape team-building events. It was all too convenient.

"Couldn't you find other excuses, like saying I'm sick or something?"

"That won't do. It would cause panic."

True. "But you keep using my illness as an excuse to apply for remote work, and even use the lame excuse of taking your child out during employee team-building events, only showing up briefly in between. Isn't that going too far?"

"Too far? I don't think so."

"It damages my image."

To the outside world, he was already a fragile glass figure who couldn't survive without machines and couldn't even get out of bed without his guardian.

Everyone looked at him with pity, and the rumors were growing exponentially. He suspected that if this continued, soon everyone in Ding Shu would look at him the way the research institute staff did—like he was a panda.

"It's really annoying."

Every time he appeared in Ding Shu, he could see the shock in people's eyes—"Look, that's the Lord Executive's child who can't take care of himself"—and the joy—"Oh my, I've seen a living endangered species."

You Jinhui, who had just finished chatting with colleagues, pulled out a silver mask from somewhere and placed it on Chen Jiyan's face without explanation. Then, he put on a matching one himself.

"Don't mind them. The auction is about to start. Find a seat and settle in."

"Am I the one minding them?"

His guardian was completely unaware of the problem, dismissing him with words meant to placate a child, making Chen Jiyan seem like he was making a fuss.

He was led by the shoulder to a dimly lit corner.

"Let me reiterate," he emphasized his request again.

You Jinhui wasn't looking at the stage at all. Instead, he leaned in, checking Chen Jiyan's wristband.

The venue was equipped with signal jammers. He had checked all the data ten minutes ago, but just before the auction started, he wanted to observe it again to be sure.

"Understood. I won't use you as an excuse next time."

"Be good. If you see anything you like, just bid."

He still had unfinished business. Like a beast lying in wait before a hunt, he remained silent and hidden in a secluded corner, waiting for his target to appear, ready to strike.

Chen Jiyan was easily appeased, focusing intently on the catalog of tonight's auction items.

Author's Note:

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