Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The Gu family's old mansion.

After hanging up the call with Gu Shenhan, Gu Chengfeng kept mulling over one thing.

Wang Shuyi saw that it was already Saturday and her youngest son was still at home, surprised. "Did the sun rise in the west? You're actually not going out today?"

"I was planning to, but just now Old Chen called me and said Gu Shenhan and Rong Yu'an have registered their marriage."

"What did you say?!" Wang Shuyi slammed her teacup heavily onto the table on the spot. "That's impossible! With that dog temper of Gu Shenhan's, could he really take a male wife?"

"That's what Old Chen said on the phone just now. I contacted Gu Shenhan, and he didn't deny it."

"How is this possible? Do your father and your eldest brother know about this?"

"Not sure, I sent them messages but they haven't replied yet."

"This is all your fault!" Wang Shuyi suddenly scolded after thinking it over. "When I got the news, I told you to go and get to know that Rong Yu'an first, at least make yourself familiar with him. And you, you just handed such a good opportunity to someone else!"

"How is that handing it to someone else? The old lady never said she would give me Qianhai Shipping if I married Rong Yu'an. Besides, I'm not gay."

"Is Gu Shenhan gay then? It's all because there are benefits in it! You should have won him over first. Even just for the sake of Old Madam Rong's face, the old lady wouldn't have treated you poorly. What kind of mess have you made here?"

"What's the use of saying these things now? And besides, if I go after Rong Yu'an, what about Tao Ling? Wouldn't that be a bad joke on me?"

"Tao Ling, Tao Ling. Don't forget she has a brother, and you still have her – what can the Tao family give you? You need to wise up!"

Gu Chengfeng didn't want to hear this. After a moment's thought, he said, "Ah, forget it. Anyway, Old Chen said that the day after tomorrow, the old master and the old lady will both be back. Then he'll have Gu Shenhan bring Rong Yu'an to the old mansion for a meal. He also said you should get things ready."

"Prepare my ass!"

The more Wang Shuyi thought about it, the angrier she got. The shipping business had always been overseen by her husband, and now this international line was being handed to Gu Shenhan. Who would have the final say in the company from now on?!

For now, the management rights of the hotel were still firmly held by the old lady. Although her eldest son had shares, he didn't have actual decision-making power.

As for the electrical appliance company, needless to say, it was harder than climbing to heaven for the old gentleman to let go of any authority. What she worried about most was that, by taking advantage of the shipping company's convenience, Gu Shenhan's hand might eventually reach the electrical appliance company. That was the real lifeline of the Lianshan Group.

Moreover, Qianhai Shipping ran so many ships back and forth every day; there was plenty of hidden profit in import and export trade that weren't on the books.

The more Wang Shuyi thought about it, the more she felt this was a bad move.

"Who the hell knows what he's thinking. He never showed any sign of this idea before, and suddenly he pulls this, catching everyone off guard," Gu Chengfeng said. "But for him to go this far, he must be determined to get Qianhai Shipping."

"Impossible! As long as your father is still on the Qianhai board, this isn't something he can decide alone. Didn't the old lady say there's a family banquet the day after tomorrow? Invite your Third Granduncle's family as well."

"Why invite them?"

"I have my own plans. Just do as I say."

Rong Yu'an still didn't fully understand the situation in Gu Shenhan's family. Returning to Cuixi Garden, he began preparing to copy the sutras. He had thought he'd have more time than this, but it turned out he only had two days. Two days to write over 5,000 characters, and with quality—just thinking about it worried him a bit.

Gu Shenhan asked, "You sure you can finish?"

Rong Yu'an said, "I can."

He had copied scriptures before, many times. The paper he bought today was four feet long and one foot wide. For characters about the size of a thumbnail, he would need about fifteen feet of paper, so four sheets. Each sheet took him about three to four hours to finish. With two days, as long as he focused, he could definitely complete it.

What worried him now wasn't the copying itself, but how to make it fresh.

On this outing, he had seen many things. Among them were some hanging paintings that actually had calligraphy on them. But the characters were arranged in different sizes—big ones with small, small ones with big—very unique in style. Just copying the sutras seemed too plain.

Here, everyone could read and even print. With the old lady's wealth, what couldn't she get?

"Han Ge, do you have a copy of the sutra?" He had almost forgotten this important thing.

"Yes. But wouldn't an electronic version be more convenient?" Gu Shenhan had just set up the parameters on the newly bought learning tablet. He took it out and opened the electronic version of the Diamond Sutra for Rong Yu'an. "See if this works."

"It works. Han Ge, is this a giant phone?"

"No, it's called a 'tablet computer,' specially for you to learn with." Gu Shenhan switched to the learning software and opened content suitable for kindergarteners. "You can follow this to learn Arabic numerals, pinyin, and the English alphabet. There's also picture recognition for objects."

"Ah, this is for me too? But didn't you say it's for two- or three-year-olds..."

Rong Yu'an's voice grew quieter as he spoke, thinking about how in some ways he was indeed like a two- or three-year-old child. It was really discouraging.

At that moment, Gu Shenhan tapped the little speaker on the tablet, and it said, "Broccoli."

Rong Yu'an's attention was immediately drawn. He watched what Gu Shenhan was doing, then imitated him by swiping right and tapping the little speaker.

The tablet showed him a new picture and could also produce the corresponding name.

Rong Yu'an instantly forgot what discouragement was. His eyes lit up as if he had received some great treasure. "Thank you, Han Ge. With this, I won't need to bother you anymore."

Gu Shenhan said, "Take your time getting familiar with it on your own. If you need anything, call the butler."

Rong Yu'an nodded. "I'll copy the sutras first, and after I'm done, I'll learn this. But Han Ge, can you help make this room a bit warmer?"

"Is this room cold too?"

"Mm."

"..." How can a guy be this wimpy about the cold? Gu Shenhan said, "Tian Tian."

"I'm here, master. What are your orders?"

"Set the temperature to 24 degrees Celsius."

"Okay, master. Adjusting immediately."

Gu Shenhan told Rong Yu'an, "If you still feel cold, you can have it set to 25 or 26 degrees."

Rong Yu'an nodded.

Gu Shenhan went out, and soon an older female servant came in carrying two fruit platters. One platter had cut oranges and cantaloupe, as well as peeled pomegranate and rose grapes. The other platter had mixed nuts.

Rong Yu'an asked, "What should I call you?"

The auntie said, "My surname is Lu, Lu Linhua. Just call me 'Lu Yi,' Young Master Rong."

Rong Yu'an had been watching TV dramas all evening and basically understood that people here valued equality, unlike the strict hierarchies in his own world. So he smiled gently and said, "Thank you, Lu Yi, for the delicious snacks."

Lu Yi smiled and replied, "You're welcome. The master told me that from now on, I'll take care of your daily needs. If you need anything, just tell me."

"Okay, then I'm going to copy the sutras next, so I might need it to be quiet."

"Don't worry, young master. The master instructed that if you don't call us these two days, we won't bother you."

Rong Yuan suddenly felt warmth in his heart and smiled as he nodded.

Lu Yi took a look at the calligraphy Rong Yuan had written, then gently stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Rong Yuan ate two grapes. He had never seen a pomegranate before, so he searched on the tablet and found that there really was such a fruit. He quickly noted down how to write it and its name.

But soon he turned off the screen again. He sat thoughtfully, staring at the colorful fruits and nuts. After a moment, he sent a WeChat message to Gu Shenhan: “Han Ge, do you have any colored ink? The kind used for painting.”

“You can paint too?”

“Just a little skill, but it happens to come in handy.”

“Alright, I’ll have someone bring it over.”

Rong Yuan spread out the paper, weighed it down with a paperweight, and measured it with his hand. Then he began to grind ink and copy the sutra.

He didn’t leave the room for two entire days.

On the afternoon of the second day, all four sheets of rice paper were finally filled. Rong Yuan carefully checked each one, confirmed that there were no mistakes or flaws, and rolled up the paper with care.

Gu Shenhan had gone to the company in the morning and came back to pick him up. He asked, “Finished copying?”

Rong Yuan nodded. “Mm.”

Gu Shenhan glanced at the time. “Come on. As a reward for your hard work these past two days, I’ll give you a treat.”

“What treat?”

Gu Shenhan kept it a mystery. After Rong Yuan changed clothes and came out, he drove to a pastry shop, got out, and bought Rong Yuan four different flavors of small cream cakes.

Each was only half a palm in size—vanilla, rose, chocolate, and strawberry. They were topped with fruit jam or flower jam, and crunchy coconut flakes or chocolate shavings.

How could there be such things in another world? Rong Yuan looked at them and couldn’t bear to take the first bite with his fork.

Only after Gu Shenhan reminded him that they’d be at the old mansion soon did he scrape off a tiny bit to taste. The melt-in-your-mouth sweetness instantly captured his taste buds. Rong Yuan held the cake carefully. “Thank you, Han Ge. Would you like to try some?”

Gu Shenhan: “How can I eat while driving? Are you planning to feed me?”

Rong Yuan: “…” This guy’s mouth really alternates between good and bad!

The old mansion had a completely different style from Cuixi Garden. The only similarity was that the first courtyard had trees on both sides. But the house wasn’t transparent—it was a solid beige and brown brick building divided into five structures. In the middle was the main house, surrounded by four buildings of similar style but slightly different, each three stories high and looking quite old. The main house alone had five floors.

Gu Shenhan drove up to the five-story building. A servant came to open the door: “Second Young Master, Second Madam.”

Rong Yuan suddenly felt nervous. Thinking about how many things he still couldn’t understand, he stood still for a moment after getting out of the car.

Gu Shenhan came around from the other side. “What are you afraid of when I’m here? Let’s go.”

Rong Yuan nodded and walked side by side with Gu Shenhan up the steps into the house.

In the living room on the first floor, about a dozen people were sitting. As the couple entered, someone said, “Oh hey, Second Brother, you finally made it. We’ve been waiting for you two for ages. Was the traffic bad?”

Gu Shenhan looked at Gu Chengfeng, whose concern seemed genuine but was actually insinuating that he and Rong Yuan were late. “It wasn’t traffic. An An’s gift for Grandpa and Grandma took some extra time.”

With that, he loosely placed his hand on Rong Yuan’s waist. “Come, let me introduce you. This is Grandpa, this is Grandma. This is Third Granduncle, and Third Grandaunt.”

Rong Yuan said, “Greetings, Grandpa and Grandma. Greetings, Third Granduncle and Third Grandaunt.”

“Pfft, why does he talk like that?” Gu Chengfeng looked at Rong Yuan. “Second Brother, your wife is hilarious.”

“His brain was damaged after falling into water, that’s why. Is it funny?” Gu Shenhan said. “Stepping on others’ pain to show off yourself—you’re getting more and more impressive.”

“You!”

“Alright, you two start arguing the moment you meet. Do you even respect me, an old lady?” The old lady waved at Rong Yuan and said with a smile, “An An, come over to Grandma’s side.”

Rong Yuan walked over.

The old man and old lady were in their seventies but looked very robust. He was a bit surprised. Could someone in their seventies look this young?

The old lady, Chen Wanzhen, pulled Rong Yuan to sit down and said, “Let Grandma have a good look at you.”

Rong Yuan sat on the edge of the seat politely and said sincerely, “Grandpa, Grandma, this is my first time here. I didn’t know what you liked, so I copied a sutra for you. I hope you like it.”

The old lady said, “You copied it yourself?”

Rong Yuan said, “Yes. But time was a bit tight, so it’s not very well done. I hope you and Grandpa won’t think me clumsy.”

The old man had originally opposed this marriage, mainly because he didn’t think forcing a bond like this would lead to anything good. But the old lady insisted, so he agreed. Now that the young man had arrived and seemed quite well-behaved, he didn’t want to make things difficult for him. So he followed along: “Then I’ll have to take a good look. If it’s well done, Grandpa will give you a reward. If it’s not, then you’ll have to copy another one for Grandpa. How about that?”

Rong Yuan said, “Yes, Grandpa.”

Gu Shenhan opened the brocade box. “It’s too rushed. I haven’t had it mounted yet.”

The old man took it, wondering what the writing would be like. When he unrolled it, he was stunned. He looked at Rong Yuan and asked for confirmation, “Did you write all this, and paint these?”

Rong Yuan said, “Yes, Grandpa.”

Third Granduncle exclaimed, “This second grandson’s wife has excellent calligraphy! The composition is natural, the hand steady.”

The old lady was also impressed, especially by the Maitreya Buddhas scattered in orderly chaos among the characters—nine on one sheet, each with a different expression. “Oh my dear, this is no less than what a great calligrapher would produce.”

Even Third Grandaunt couldn’t help chiming in, “Indeed, sister-in-law, look at these Maitreyas—so vivid, and they’re not in pure ink. But placed in the whole sutra, they don’t stand out at all. So clever.”

Gu Chengfeng, hearing all the praise, laughed and said, “Second Sister-in-law, you’re really fast. You’ve only been in Haicheng a few days and you’ve done such a big job. Grandma’s been practicing calligraphy for fifty years and couldn’t finish that fast.”

He clearly didn’t believe the writing and paintings were by Rong Yuan. And saying it wasn’t mounted—so if it wasn’t mounted, it couldn’t have been written by Rong Yuan? Who was he fooling? That was four large sheets of both text and painting!

Rong Yuan still remembered Gu Chengfeng’s voice and was still upset. Upon hearing this, he immediately replied, “Little Uncle flatters me too much. At my age, I naturally cannot match Grandma’s steadiness; writing faster is normal. But Grandma’s brushstrokes are surely more stable and powerful. How can a junior like me compare? It’s like Han Ge—a few years older than me and much more composed in his actions. That’s something I, the younger one, can’t catch up to.”

This speech was delivered sharply. The people present weren’t fools—they understood after a moment’s thought. He was both defending himself, belittling Gu Chengfeng, and elevating Gu Shenhan, all while sounding humble.

What a mouth.

The eldest branch’s family was fuming, while the four elders struggled to suppress their laughter.

Only Gu Shenhan felt as if a warm current had slowly washed through his heart.