As soon as she mentioned that the “hourly rate is very high,” Shen Yanxing slammed his hands on the table and typed out a reply instantly.
[Yes, please sign me up!] [Thank you, Sister Fan!]
Seeing her reply with a quick “Sure thing,” Shen Yanxing couldn’t help but clench his fists, pumping the air to cheer himself on. “Awesome! Another chance to make some money!”
He really, really, really needed the cash.
With enough money, he could throw a much grander and more beautiful wedding for his Auntie Mei. With enough money, they could move into a bigger apartment closer to the city center, cutting down her daily commute so she could get an extra twenty minutes of sleep every single morning!
The more Shen Yanxing thought about it, the more restless and excited he became. Taking advantage of a rare free moment, he hurried over to hang up the clothes from the washing machine.
Just as he finished, Gao Qiumei walked through the door. Shen Yanxing quickly wiped his hands and rushed over to greet her, flashing a bright, radiant smile. “Auntie Mei, welcome home!”
“Hey there!” Gao Qiumei replied with a smile as she changed out of her shoes at the entryway, handing over the bags in her hands. “Have you eaten yet? If not, you can heat up the food in this bag.”
“I already ate, and it was a total feast,” Shen Yanxing said, quickly taking the bags and heading toward the fridge. “I’ll put this in the freezer so you can have it for breakfast tomorrow.”
Looking at the logo on the paper bag, Shen Yanxing could tell it came from a very upscale restaurant.
“A friend treated me. He barely eats because of his job, which is the only reason I managed to pack so much leftovers home.”
Shen Yanxing let out an understanding “Oh~” having already guessed that the friend his aunt met tonight was the wealthy person who had lent them a large sum of money.
This so-called old friend reunion was, in all likelihood, an occasion for Gao Qiumei to pay them back.
He figured this wealthy benefactor must be a pretty big deal in the public eye maybe even the kind of person whose face you could easily find on billboards and advertisements all over the streets.
Probably fearing that he might feel uncomfortable or overthink things, Gao Qiumei had always been very discreet, never revealing any details about the person’s identity. Shen Yanxing had only found out about the loan in the first place because she had accidentally let it slip.
Thinking about the debt brought a wave of heartache and guilt over him. He felt that Gao Qiumei could have lived a much better life on her own, yet she had given up so much for a child like him someone who wasn’t even her own flesh and blood and shared absolutely no biological relation.
As his mood dipped, his movements became mechanical.
But just as he was blindly stuffing the takeout boxes into the fridge, his hand brushed against a box that felt entirely different.
“Auntie, what’s this gift box?”
The familiar logo, the high-end packaging…
Shen Yanxing’s heart skipped a beat, a sudden wave of excitement washing over him. Could this be—?!
“Ah, my friend insisted on giving it to me,” Gao Qiumei said, slapping her hand against her leg in regret. “It looked incredibly expensive, so I tried turning it down for the longest time and didn’t dare accept it. But look at him he slipped it right into the takeout bag when I wasn’t looking!”
“Well, it’s the thought that counts. Since you couldn’t refuse, you might as well keep it, right?” Shen Yanxing smiled. “Can I open it?”
“Sure, go ahead!” Gao Qiumei walked over to stand beside him, waiting for the box to be uncovered. “He didn’t say what it was before giving it to me, so I have no idea either.”
Opening the gift box and pulling back the moisture-proof wrapping, Shen Yanxing eagerly tipped the item out of the bag.
“This is—” Seeing the design of the bracelet, Shen Yanxing literally bounced up and down with joy. “A bracelet! It’s a bracelet!”
It was the exact same bracelet he had set his eyes on from the very beginning!!
“Oh my gosh, it’s so beautiful! Auntie, try it on quickly, it’ll look so good on you!” He gently pulled Gao Qiumei’s hand over, wrapping the chain around her wrist.
He was ecstatic. He was genuinely so happy!
When he hadn’t been able to buy the bracelet before, he had felt a lingering sense of regret mostly because he felt a bracelet was much more practical for daily wear, meaning Auntie Mei could wear it all the time.
But this turned out perfectly. Now she had both the necklace and the bracelet a complete set!
If he wanted to be sentimental about it, maybe the universe knew Auntie Mei would receive the bracelet anyway, which is why it intentionally tripped him up so he wouldn’t buy it himself.
“Alright, alright, let me try.” Gao Qiumei fastened the clasp and turned her wrist around. “Is it pretty?”
“Insanely pretty!”
Shen Yanxing praised enthusiastically, unable to hide his excitement as he adopted a mysterious pose.
“Paired with the necklace I bought you, it’ll look even more stunning Auntie is going to be the most beautiful bride ever!”
Gao Qiumei was stunned. “Xingxing, what else did you buy for me?”
Shen Yanxing pointed toward her bedroom. “I’m not telling. Go look for it in your room yourself, Auntie Mei.”
Beneath the neatly laid out comforter, there was a small, unmistakable bump. Gao Qiumei easily found the gift bag Shen Yanxing had hidden, lifting it out of the covers to look closely. “Oh my goodness…”
Rather than surprise or joy, what Gao Qiumei felt most was worry and concern.
“How much did you spend on this?” Gao Qiumei frowned. “Where did you get the money? Did you really take all that cash and go all the way to the counter downtown by yourself?”
Shen Yanxing nodded vigorously. “Yep!”
“I earned the money from my part-time jobs I’ve been saving up for a long time. I know you aren’t throwing a massive wedding, but I still wanted to celebrate for you. Consider this my wedding gift to you. I hope you have a happy marriage and stay smiling every single day!”
“If possible, I still really hope you and Uncle Feng can hold a proper wedding after you register your marriage.”
Gao Qiumei opened her mouth to say “thank you,” but before the words could form, tears spilled over first.
She wiped her face. “If you bought it, you bought it, but why did it have to be something so expensive? You’re still a student. You need to focus on your studies, not constantly worry about working part-time to make money.”
She was happy, truly, but her heart ached for him even more.
The boy standing in front of her was only sixteen years old. How could he be so mature, so deeply endearing?
“Your Uncle Feng and I already agreed. Once we get our marriage certificate, we’ll bring you over to live with him. He really likes you and thinks you’re incredibly well-behaved and mature. He doesn’t mind your presence at all. Please, promise me you won’t start overthinking things just because I’m getting married, okay?”
“I’m not overthinking anything, I am genuinely happy for you. And this necklace isn’t me trying to flatter you or anything; I just really wanted to wish you a happy marriage that’s all.”
Shen Yanxing was completely sincere. He pulled out two tissues and gently wiped the tears from his aunt’s face.
“I actually know… that you had ex-boyfriends with much better financial situations than Uncle Feng, right? You only broke up with them because they refused to accept me…”
“I’ve always felt like I was a burden to you, like I kept pulling you away from your own happiness. Now that you’re getting married, I am truly, incredibly happy!”
He lowered his head slightly, his voice dropping a bit quieter.
“Anyway, it’s pretty much set that I’ll only be attending a vocational high school, so there’s no real point in saying I need to ‘focus on my studies.’ Using my free time to work part-time and earn some money isn’t a bad thing at all.”
Gao Qiumei let out a soft sigh. “Oh, you… what am I supposed to say to you?”
“You don’t have to say anything! Just accept your wedding gift happily~” Shen Yanxing waved his hands off playfully. “Go on, go into your room and try on the necklace. If it doesn’t fit right, we can still take it back to get the length adjusted!”
“There’s still some salad left over. I’ll cut up some more fruit to throw in so you can have it as a snack, okay?”
Watching Shen Yanxing smilingly grab the salad bowl and head into the kitchen to wash and cut the fruit, Gao Qiumei found herself letting out another long sigh before turning back into her bedroom.
She was torn. How on earth was she supposed to tell Shen Yanxing that his biological birth-mother wanted to take him back?
A few days later, notice came from Sister Fan. She informed Shen Yanxing that, thanks to his exceptionally clean and handsome appearance, he had successfully been selected as one of the greeters for the CAUSE Fashion Gala.
The job covered hair, makeup, wardrobe, and provided both lunch and dinner plus, he could earn a thousand yuan in a single evening! The work itself wasn’t difficult: it mostly involved guiding celebrities to sign in and find their seats. Those assigned to the red carpet zone would guide the stars onstage for photos and hand them the signing pens.
Because it was a major gala, the standards for the staff’s posture and etiquette were incredibly high. Consequently, there would be a two-day training session where the event manager would familiarize them with the venue and teach them basic formal protocol.
Shen Yanxing went along happily and discovered that his fellow part-time companions were mostly art students looking to break into acting or singing.
Unlike Shen Yanxing, who was in a pretty fantastic mood, Gu Congjue was currently enduring a severe “trial” under the exact same sky.
“Gu Congjue.”
Xiang Yuyan leaned one hand on the desk, while the other pinched his biological son’s summer homework, unleashing the ultimate maternal special move: calling him by his full name.
Gu Pingyue stood solemnly beside Xiang Yuyan, attempting to radiate an aura of absolute fatherly authority.
“As you well know, you were born into a family of artists.”
“Your grandfather is a highly respected actor; your grandmother is a widely renowned Peking Opera star. Your maternal grandfather is a retired professor from the vocal music department, and your maternal grandmother served as the lead singer for the song and dance troupe for several consecutive terms. Not to mention your dad and me we both shine brightly in our respective fields.”
Gu Congjue listened expressionlessly, casting a sidelong glance at his confiscated math homework.
The exact same opening line, the exact same speech he had heard it countless times before. It wasn’t hard to guess what followed or what Xiang Yuyan was actually trying to achieve.
“And what about you? As the sole heir to this generation of the Gu-Xiang family, you show ‘no drive to improve’ and spend all day ‘wasting your life away.’ You don’t practice your vocals, you don’t stretch your legs, and you don’t even practice your lines in front of a mirror. All you do is hole up in your room doing math problems!”
Gu Congjue suppressed the urge to yawn out of sheer boredom. He wondered briefly since when solving math problems counted as having no drive and wasting one’s life away?
Whatever, best not to comment. It wasn’t the first day his parents had acted completely bizarre; he was used to it.
“Right now, an amazing opportunity to better yourself and expand your social circle is sitting right in front of you. Don’t you think you should accompany Mom and Dad to attend it, hm?” Xiang Yuyan finally dropped the real hook.
Gu Congjue remained silent, sitting at his desk like a suspect under interrogation.
His hands were rested on the desk, his right hand still holding a pen the scene of the “theft” of his math homework remained perfectly preserved, and the “perpetrators” were the unreliable parents standing right beside him.
Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Xiang Yuyan naturally assumed he was throwing a tantrum and about to refuse again, so she quickly hauled out the big guns.
“If you don’t go, I’ll burn your homework!” The former pop icon gnashed her teeth with an exaggeratedly ferocious expression. “I’ll burn your homework and snap all your pen refills!”
The naturally spacey Gu Pingyue felt a bit bad about this, whispering a soft protest, “Yuyan, is it really a good idea to threaten the kid like that?”
Xiang Yuyan hissed at him, quietly scolding back, “I’m just bluffing to scare him! Why are you taking it so seriously? Didn’t we agree that I’d be the main attacker and you’d be the support? Why are your elbows suddenly turning outward toward our son?”
Gu Pingyue let out an “Oh,” only just realizing his blunder. He quickly straightened his face to rebuild his strict demeanor. “Listen to your mother.”
Gu Congjue was entirely speechless.
He had heard every single word of that.
“I’m not just trying to scare you, you know. I really dare to burn it,” Xiang Yuyan emphasized, though her confidence was visibly flagging. “Come on, just come to the gala with Mom and Dad. There will be so many handsome and beautiful uncles and aunties there. We need to take you along to get your face out there, otherwise—”
Before Xiang Yuyan could finish her sentence, Gu Congjue nodded calmly. “Alright, I’ll go.”
Xiang Yuyan froze instantly. “Huh?”
“Since you put it that way, I’ll go,” Gu Congjue added. “Staying home during the break is pretty boring anyway.”
As he spoke, he glanced once more at the homework pinched in Xiang Yuyan’s hand, thinking to himself that this homework didn’t actually matter at all.
If he wanted to, he could easily just write it all over again. They were just middle school math problems they took physical effort to write out, but required zero actual brainpower. He could probably finish the whole thing in two nights.
The real reason he had agreed to attend the gala wasn’t his parents’ hollow threats. It was the words Aunt Fang had once said to him.
He needed to take the initiative, to go out into the world and cross paths with his destiny.