Chapter 3

Chapter 3

To Jiang Yicen, this was an unbelievably beautiful city with a bustling nightscape and contented citizens, but to Nan Shuyi, this city was full of selfishness and annoyance.

He'd been drinking today too, so he followed Nan Anru's car home.

With no one else around, the father and son barely talked.

Ever since he turned eighteen, he hadn't lived in this house, and Nan Anru couldn't do anything about it.

He'd had some red wine at dinner, and Nan Anru drank the hangover soup Yao Mengxun brought.

Yao Mengxun poured a bowl for Nan Shuyi too: "Shuyi, have some."

Nan Shuyi didn't say no.

As he drank the soup, Nan Anru asked Yao Mengxun, "Where's Shuqi?"

Yao Mengxun: "The nanny said he was wiped out from PE class at kindergarten today and went to bed early. I'll go upstairs and see if he's asleep."

Nan Shuyi: "Go check. The other day I came back and caught him sneaking time on his tablet instead of sleeping."

Yao Mengxun said, worried: "Why didn't you tell me that?"

Nan Anru: "I confiscated his tablet."

Yao Mengxun: "No, I'm going upstairs to check. He'll wreck his eyes."

She dropped her usual quiet, gentle dinner-table demeanor and hurried upstairs.

Nan Shuyi put the empty bowl down without a word and got ready to head to his room, but Nan Anru stopped him.

"Wait."

Nan Shuyi had just straightened up, but he slumped back onto the sofa lazily: "What?"

Nan Anru: "What do you say?"

Nan Shuyi: "About what?"

Nan Anru: "You know what I'm talking about."

Nan Shuyi knew he was referring to Jiang Yicen: "Do I need you to set me up? What year is this, still doing blind dates?"

Nan Anru couldn't help rolling his eyes: "Out of all your friends, how many have decent character? You're almost thirty and still not settled down. How am I supposed to feel good about handing the company over to you?"

Nan Shuyi: "Then train Nan Shuqi."

Nan Anru was almost pissed off, but luckily, this time he didn't let himself get sidetracked, otherwise he would have started cursing as usual.

"Stop wasting your time all day. If you're interested in Jiang Yicen, then get to know him. Get married soon and stop messing around with your friends. Even though he studied abroad, look how polite and well-mannered he was today, how respectful to his elders, and he graduated from a prestigious university. He's even into you, and his major is relevant. He can help you in the future."

For once, Nan Shuyi didn't fire back right away. He uncharacteristically sat through his father's long-winded speech without leaving, his arm lazily resting on the back of the chair, taking in his dad's assessment of Jiang Yicen. But he said, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Nan Anru was pissed: "You think I can't see through some young guy? His upbringing is in his bones. Not just anyone can fake that."

Nan Shuyi: "One meal and you're giving him such high praise? What if he was just putting on a show for you?"

Nan Anru just smirked: "It's up to you. If you're happy with him, then make it official. Even Grandpa Lin has gone out of his way for you. Think it over."

As Nan Anru stood up, Nan Shuyi finally spoke, slowly: "Jiang Gongming just wants to get investment from Nanyuan, and Nanyuan also needs Jiangda. You're just using me as a tool to expand your company and solidify your position. Why should I listen to you?"

Nan Anru thought he could have a proper conversation with Nan Shuyi this time, but ended up getting angry again over his words. He was truly ungrateful!

"Because I'm your father! And also, haven't you always wanted to get the Yucheng shares your mother left you? I can give them to you, on the condition that you marry Jiang Yicen. After the marriage, you'll honestly go to work at the subsidiary I assign to you. If the subsidiary's performance increases by 100% next year, I'll give them to you."

"You'd better keep your word." Anyway, marriage could always end in divorce.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to do it." Nan Anru provoked him.

The father and son parted ways unhappily once again.

Yao Mengxun had heard their argument upstairs. When she saw Nan Anru come out of the elevator, she quickly showed concern.

"Why are you fighting again? Weren't you just chatting nicely a moment ago?"

"Don't mention it. He's just a stubborn mule!"

Yao Mengxun glanced at Nan Anru, swallowing the words she was about to say. If you ask her, they were truly father and son.

Actually, she also knew that Nan Anru was very satisfied with Jiang Yicen, but she didn't know why. After thinking about it, she asked, "Around the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, didn't President Li bring his second son to pay New Year's calls? Nothing came of it?"

Nan Anru shook his head: "President Li's second son is no good. That kid didn't even glance at the other person. I suspect he didn't even know I had arranged a blind date for him that day. But Jiang Yicen is different."

Yao Mengxun: "How so?"

Nan Anru, having calmed down from the anger sparked by Nan Shuyi, said: "Didn't you see how quiet he was at dinner tonight? He had a proper attitude and even left his phone number. Have you ever seen him behave so calmly in front of anyone?"

Yao Mengxun suddenly realized: "So he's taken a liking to him?"

Nan Anru: "There's definitely some goodwill. Whether he likes him or not depends on how they get along in the future."

Nan Shuyi sat in the living room for a while before returning to his room.

He had a decent tolerance for alcohol, and the wine from dinner wasn't enough to get him drunk. After showering, he didn't go into the bedroom but instead sent a message to his lawyer friend.

·

Jiang Yicen followed the couple Jiang Gongming and He Nuanqing back to the Jiang residence.

Jiang Gongming was a man who liked to flaunt his wealth. In the early days when the Jiang family was richest, they bought a villa with a private garden. The garden featured a small bridge, flowing water, rockeries, and pavilions. Though not large, compared to gardens from the Republic of China or earlier periods, the Jiang garden was a scaled-down version, meticulously maintained to deliberately create an ancient garden style, even the blue brick walls were made to look aged.

Perhaps because the villa's lighting was dim, when Jiang Yicen looked at the garden villa, he felt as if he had returned to his own home. But he knew very well that this was not his home after all.

Though it looked like a garden from the outside, the interior decoration of the villa was different from the modern houses he had lived in. The floor tiles were shiny and new, and the cream-colored walls were coated with some unknown paint. It had a sandy texture but felt very smooth to the touch.

However, the interior layout was dazzling. The spacious living room had two sets of sofas: on the left was a modern leather sofa set, and on the right was a set of Chinese-style mahogany chairs and sofas. The decorations included antique porcelain vases, Chinese ink wash paintings, calligraphy, and Western oil paintings, creating a sense of absurd patchwork. This was a huge disconnect from the garden outside, completely dispelling Jiang Yicen's faint feeling of "returning home."

His family members each had their own tastes, but they would never put mismatched items together to cause visual clutter.

Jiang Gongming didn't pay any more attention to Jiang Yicen and went straight to his room. He Nuanqing seemed more concerned about her husband's mood, casually telling Jiang Yicen to go to bed early and not stay up late before returning to her room. She didn't even notice any change in her son.

Jiang Yicen thought that if it were his mother, she would have asked him endlessly why he ate less of a dish and would have changed the entire meal the next day.

He missed his family, and his nose tingled. He looked up at the ceiling, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

He found a servant in the Jiang household, and using the excuse of needing to use the bathroom, asked to be shown to his room. After observing how to use the bathroom fixtures, he figured he could manage for the night on his own.

Although he had been sent to his maternal grandfather's side since childhood to study traditional literature, his paternal family had always kept up with the new era and adapted quickly to new things. In terms of daily life, there wasn't much difference for him.

He'd been tense all evening, and after bathing and lying in bed, whether in a dream or truly alive again, with too many thoughts, he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow, exhausted both mentally and physically.

He slept all the way until nine the next morning, the sun already high in the sky, with no one coming to wake him.

Only when he went downstairs and ran into a servant did he realize that everyone in the Jiang family had their own things to do. On the surface, the Jiangs seemed fine with his schedule, but in truth, they paid little attention to him.

On the third day after the matchmaking, Jiang Gongming announced at the dinner table that the cooperation between the two families was progressing smoothly, and the marriage between Jiang Yicen and Nan Shuyi was set.

He Nuanqing’s most frequent advice to Jiang Yicen was to contact Nan Shuyi, to get himself noticed, and she gave him a bunch of tips on how to win a man's heart. Jiang Yicen was both amazed and blushed.

Even in his own time, his mother had never said anything like that to his sisters.

Over the next few days, Jiang Yicen stayed holed up in his room, learned how to use the television. He watched continuously for five days. He had only seen black-and-white movies—silent films with live music—but now movies and TV were so vivid and real. In this new world, he was amazed by new things every day. Even watching the Jiang family’s servant use a lawn mower, he could stand on the balcony and watch for a long time.

From watching TV, he learned that he had come from an era of despair to a future eighty-eight years later. He learned who the current leaders were and what society was like now.

It was an era of peace and prosperity, where everyone lived and worked in contentment. The concerns weren't about war, but about rising unemployment and falling birth rates.

At the same time, he spent some time casually finding out about the Jiang family's members and relationships.

Jiang Gongming had four children in total. The first three were from his previous wife, and only he was He Nuanqing's son. He had two older brothers and one older sister, all of whom were rather distant with him.

Strangely, He Nuanqing had eyes only for Jiang Gongming. She had no demands for her son, putting her husband first. She was like the women of their era who followed the feudal concept of "three obediences and four virtues" and had never had any real schooling. Yet, from what he gathered from the servants, He Nuanqing had graduated from a prestigious university and had once worked as Jiang Gongming's office secretary at the family company. It was because of her proximity to him that, after Jiang Gongming divorced his previous wife, she became his second wife.

Later, she gave birth to "Jiang Yicen." For some unknown reason, "Jiang Yicen" was sent abroad six years ago and returned only before the New Year. The purpose of his return was to marry into the Nan family.

Regardless of the Jiang family’s dynamics, Jiang Yicen didn't really care. His soul had traveled through time and space to eighty-eight years in the future, giving him a new life. He cherished it deeply.

Their country had a future; the imperialists had been driven out, and their blood and tears had paid off. That was enough.

He wanted to see this new world with his own eyes.

After staying home and watching television for five days, Jiang Yicen decided to go out and see how this new world differed from the war-ravaged world he came from.

He asked for a new map of Lin City. The family driver took him to one of the Jiang family's old commercial districts.

The Jiang family had many businesses, but due to various reasons, they had all been sold off. Some were sold by him for the greater cause, others by his brothers. During wartime, holding onto these assets would have only benefited the Japanese.

After the War of Resistance began and City Lin fell, even the garden estate of the richest man was used by the Japanese as a command center. His family’s assets were even less likely to be preserved. Fortunately, he had sold them in time, and the money helped many displaced people.

The driver was not talkative and dropped him off as instructed.

The former Jiang family business street had been transformed. He had to go in on foot, as cars could only park outside.

"Young master, should I wait in the parking lot?"

Jiang Yicen had brought his wallet and wanted to explore: "No need. I'll just get a taxi back myself."

Getting out of the car, he immediately saw the former Jiang family silver shop, once prosperous. Now it was gone, replaced by a major brand gold store, an unfamiliar brand that had become a well-known old name. The street itself had become a historic district in the city. At one time, eighty percent of the shops on this street belonged to the Jiang family.

At this hour in the morning, there weren’t many people.

Next to the gold store were restaurants, various beverage shops, snack shops, and clothing stores.

He walked along, browsing, holding a freshly bought milk tea in his hand, taking a gentle sip. All the pedestrians on the street drank like this. As the young master of the Jiang family, he had been raised to be reserved and rule-abiding, he had never eaten while walking down the street.

In this new era, it was very free. No one would mind, nor would they give him strange looks. Even women openly admired his appearance, making him so embarrassed that he quickly hurried away from their gaze.

He continued south along Qingyuan Road. The tallest and biggest building was one of the Jiang family’s biggest tea houses. The tea house had five floors, and its most attractive feature was the theater stage. Famous performers of the time considered it an honor to perform here, and it was a place full of anecdotes.

Jiang Yicen stood in front of the tea house. It had clearly been renovated. It looked like the old teahouse, but not quite.

Nearly a hundred years had passed, and the place had changed greatly. The owner had tried to restore the tea house to its original style, but it fell short.

Jiang Yicen was grateful that the tea house still stood.

He entered the tea house. The interior was indeed nostalgic, with wooden chairs and tables, and even the menu was modeled after the style of his era. The walls displayed the tea house’s history.

The waiter led him to the fifth floor, to a seat by the window. From there, he could see the bustling modern street below and the endless skyscrapers in the distance—modern architecture he had never imagined.

He ordered a pot of pre-Qingming tea and sat there until two in the afternoon, just in time for the stage opera performance. The tea house offered a variety of entertainment: not only opera but also performances from all over the country, pipa music, Sichuan opera face-changing, and cross-talk.

Jiang Yicen watched with great enjoyment, and he whiled away the time until five in the afternoon.

He came out of the tea house and stood on the sidewalk. The streetlights above automatically turned on, and the shops along the street lit up with all kinds of signs, each uniquely shaped. He walked along, amazed by the technology he had never seen before. Even the road had colorful lights.

But he forgot where he had walked to and didn’t know the Jiang family’s address. In the past, he would just say "XX Mansion," and the driver would know. Pedestrians around him got into cars one after another, but he couldn’t hail one. There were buses on the street, but he didn’t know which stop to take, feeling just as lost as when he first got here.

Modernity was wonderful, but he couldn't fit in. He was just a lonely soul from a hundred years ago.

He walked along the street, entering an old lane. There were also many shops here, but not as bustling as the main street.

He saw a telephone that looked similar to the ones from his time.

The shop owner sat behind a glass counter, scrolling through his phone with the volume turned up. A familiar voice came from the phone, one he thought he'd heard from the Jiang family servants’ phones.

"Miss Jiang, facing her five fiancé candidates, resolutely chose the most handsome one. In her previous life, she chose the most gentlemanly man, but that man only wanted her family fortune..."

Jiang Yicen thought, "Even today's stories are about rebirth."

He approached the owner: "Excuse me, boss, may I use the phone?"

"Sure, go ahead." The boss nodded without looking up, still glued to his phone screen watching a short drama.

Jiang Yicen was relieved that he remembered a modern person’s number.

He picked up the phone and dialed. The first two calls didn’t connect, and only on the third try did the other end pick up. He wondered if he was dialing wrong.

The other person said nothing. Jiang Yicen tentatively said, "Nan Shuyi, is that you?"

Nan Shuyi: "It’s me."

Jiang Yicen: "I’m sorry to bother you at this hour. Do you have a moment now?"

Nan Shuyi's voice was neutral: "Something wrong?"

Jiang Yicen said awkwardly, "I’m lost."

Nan Shuyi paused for a second: "...Lost?" Xiao Liuzi wanted to see him and couldn't think of a better excuse.

Nowadays, everyone had a phone with navigation, and at worst, they could call a Didi. Rumor had it that the Jiang family had sixteen drivers, each had their own group chat.

Jiang Yicen, embarrassed, said quietly, "Could you please come pick me up?"

Nan Shuyi replied briefly: "Address."