Chapter 71 Part 2

Ouyang Yuyuan tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Yi Ge, why this getup?”

“Nothing, I wanted to keep a low profile.” Chu Yi said, then handed him the gift in his hand. “This is the birthday present for the patriarch: a Jade Carved Longevity Star inside. And this is for your cousin—give it to him after I leave.”

Ouyang Yuyuan grinned cheekily. “Which cousin?”

Chu Yi’s deep eyes glanced faintly at him, too lazy to reply. Ouyang Yuyuan stuck out his tongue.

As he walked Chu Yi inside, he asked curiously, “Yi Ge, why not deliver it personally?”

Chu Yi: “I have my reasons for doing this. Don’t ask what you shouldn’t, and don’t tell them I came later.”

“Oh.” Ouyang Yuyuan obediently agreed. Little did he know that his compliant and obedient appearance caught another person’s eye, inexplicably irritating.

“Young Master Ouyang.”

Chu Yi heard someone arrive but did not turn his head, instead quickening his steps inward. “I’ll head in first.”

“Hey…” Ouyang Yuyuan watched Chu Yi sneak away, utterly baffled. But he remembered to greet the guest and turned around—only to wear a ghostly expression.

“Heh heh, Young Master Fu, it’s you…”

Fu Huaiyan raised a brow. “What’s this? Surprised to see me, or is Young Master Ouyang feeling guilty?”

“Guilty about what!” Ouyang Yuyuan stubbornly denied it, but his clear black-and-white pupils darted around wildly, and his rosy lips unconsciously pursed tight.

Fu Huaiyan’s fingers twitched. He had wanted to hold back, but recalling this person’s sly nature in coaxing him to call “daddy,” he directly seized his chin. “What are you guilty about, Young Master Ouyang?”

His pupils were deep, his domineering gaze flickering with dangerous light.

During his time in Liang Province, memories that made him grit his teeth would flash in his mind from time to time: besides Ouyang Yuyuan tricking him into calling “daddy,” there were scenes of this person ordering him to serve tea, pour water, even warm the bed.

Ouyang Yuyuan hurriedly twisted his head away and retreated several steps. “Worst case, I’ll pay you back the money.”

He had not mentioned it, and Fu Huaiyan had almost forgotten—this person had even swindled money from him when he was mentally impaired!

Fu Huaiyan found the person before him stingy and petty, slippery and cunning. Yet, rubbing the lingering smoothness between his fingers, he somewhat missed that sensation.

What he did not say was that Ouyang Yuyuan had also competed with him in peeing, bathed together with him… Occasionally waking at midnight to find the familiar figure gone from his arms—that warm, soft waist around his little belly—even left him somewhat forlorn and sleepless.

Seeing him silent, Ouyang Yuyuan hurriedly clutched the gift from Chu Yi. “Don’t come closer. This is someone’s gift—if you damage it, Grandpa will definitely hold you accountable.”

He had wanted to invoke Chu Yi but, remembering Yi Ge’s repeated emphasis, did not dare ruin his plans and invoked the Yu Patriarch instead.

Either way, it was an elder; Fu Huaiyan should give some face, right?

“Cousin Huaiyan, let’s head in quickly.” Fu Chengmao, who had followed silently behind Fu Huaiyan, urged at this moment.

Unlike Ouyang Yuyuan, he knew his Cousin Huaiyan’s temperament too well. Cousin Huaiyan was domineering, a proud son of a noble house. If offended, he disdained harsh words and simply made the offender come crying to beg.

Ouyang Yuyuan was lucky—with the Yu Family and Master Chu behind him. For the sake of the life-saving grace, his Cousin Huaiyan surely would not do anything to him, but the two should have gone their separate ways henceforth.

Yet here was his Cousin Huaiyan actively flirting?

Fu Chengmao was stunned. To avoid greater trouble, he hurriedly spoke up.

Fu Huaiyan seemed to snap back, coughed lightly into his fist. “Alright, let’s go.”

With that, he strode ahead, leading Fu Chengmao away without looking back.

Ouyang Yuyuan rubbed his reddened chin and muttered, “Stingy ghost. Good thing I escaped that…”

Had he known this guy was so fierce, he never would have agreed to look after him back then. Not only had he not earned any favor, he had nearly made an enemy.

In truth, he never considered that with his behavior around Fu Huaiyan, the Fu Family not pursuing it afterward was already magnanimous. Moreover, with no prior ties between the Yu and Fu Families, Fu Huaiyan suddenly attending the Yu Patriarch’s birthday banquet was hardly anything less than gratitude and a gesture of goodwill.

The Yu Family Mansion covered a vast area, including gardens and a back courtyard. Chu Yi slipped into the crowd, and others could no longer spot him.

Yet two people still recognized him: Li Yunkai and Mu Jiajun. Seeing Chu Yi dressed ordinarily, standing alone without companions, furtively positioning himself in a less crowded spot, they thought he was some intruder with ill intentions.

For Yuanzi’s sake, they naturally had to help the Yu Family maintain order at the banquet. Mu Jiajun stepped forward without thinking and patted his shoulder. “Sir, which family are you from? We don’t seem to have seen you before.”

Li Yunkai: “I feel like you’re unfamiliar too. Back from abroad? We’re all here for the Yu Patriarch’s birthday banquet—let’s chat.”

Not to brag, but between them, they knew fully eighty percent of the notable families in the Capital City. This person’s back view screamed newcomer.

Chu Yi, who was taking some snacks, stiffened at the back. He turned around, and now the shocked ones were the other two.

Mu Jiajun: “Yi Ge, it’s you—”

“Shh, keep it down!”

In the end, it became three people each holding a plate of snacks, huddling together and using the snacks to shield their faces.

Li Yunkai wore a bewildered expression, looking at his good brother: Why are we hiding?

Mu Jiajun: Don’t ask. He doesn’t know either…

◇