After Chen Yansen sprinted out of Bei Yi Lane, he was embarrassed to realize he had left his bicycle at the entrance of the internet cafe.
Since it was his only means of transportation for the time being, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk back.
"Huh? You're back already?"
Prince Ziyuan, who had just stepped out of the internet cafe, said to her older brother standing beside her.
"Hello, so it's Ziyan. My, how you've changed."
Chen Yansen stopped in his tracks and greeted her with a wide grin.
"But you just came to my house for dinner yesterday."
Prince Ziyuan pouted her glossy pink lips, feigning anger.
"Haha, is that so?"
Chen Yansen replied perfunctorily as he unlocked his bike.
He planned to keep a respectful distance from Prince Ziyuan and minimize contact as much as possible.
"Brother Sen, don't worry about the two things you asked me to do. I'll get them done, no problem."
Standing to the side, Wang Zihao thought Chen Yansen had returned because he was worried he wouldn't be reliable, so he pounded his chest and swore.
"Mm, see you tomorrow."
Chen Yansen understood Wang Zihao's implication. He clearly wanted to invest his own money for a stake, joining him in flipping MP3 and MP4 players.
He then nodded and waved goodbye.
"Brother, what did Chen Yansen ask you to do?"
Prince Ziyuan only spoke up once Chen Yansen's figure had disappeared into the distance.
"It's nothing."
Wang Zihao shook his head, his eyes darting away.
After all, if anyone found out Chen Yansen had stolen money to start a business, he would be beaten to a pulp.
When you were out on the streets like Brother Hao, loyalty was everything.
'I can't even tell my own sister!'
"Is that so?"
Prince Ziyuan narrowed her long, almond-shaped eyes, staring intently at her brother as she asked with a smile.
"Believe it or don't."
Her stare made Wang Zihao feel guilty, so he just stiffened his neck and clammed up.
It couldn't be helped; intellectually, Prince Ziyuan was in a completely different league.
Her quickness of mind and her ability to understand and solve complex problems left him in the dust.
He had burned the midnight oil just to test into Chunshen Second Middle School;
while Prince Ziyuan, without a single tutoring class, consistently ranked first in her grade and was recruited early by Chunshen First High School.
One was a city-level magnet school, the other was a provincial-level one. The difference between them was obvious.
He was worried that the more he said, the more he would give away.
"Don't think you can hide this from me."
Prince Ziyuan snorted and muttered under her breath.
...
...
Chen Yansen rode his bicycle, making a few stops along the way. After finding a noodle shop on North Street to fill his stomach, he leisurely turned into an alley.
After riding three hundred meters east, a familiar bookstore came into view.
National Guest Bookstore.
Chen Yansen stood at the entrance, gazing at the middle-aged man moving books inside, and found himself lost in thought.
'So Lao Chen was already showing signs of age back then.'
He was only forty, but half his hair was already white. His once-straight posture from his youth was now slightly stooped.
"Have you had lunch?"
Chen Guobin had just finished neatly arranging the latest editions of *The Reader* and *Youth Digest* when he saw a teenager standing at the door.
His angled bangs were gone, replaced by a clean, fresh-looking short haircut.
He bore a slight resemblance to him in his youth, but the boy's eyes and brows were more like his mother's.
"A bowl of knife-cut noodles and an order of potstickers. I brought a portion for you, too."
Chen Yansen's heart was a tangle of emotions. He wanted to go up and hug Lao Chen, but he was afraid of startling him. In the end, he let out a long sigh and spoke as if it were an afterthought.
"Ah? Thanks, son."
Chen Guobin froze for a moment, then subconsciously took the takeout bag.
Feeling the warmth of the food, Chen Guobin felt for the first time that something about his son had changed.
But his awkward nature prevented him from saying anything heartfelt. After a stiff word of thanks, he pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and stuffed it into Chen Yansen's hand.
He told him to eat more, saying it was the time when a boy's body is growing.
"Lao Chen, I want to learn to drive."
Chen Yansen didn't hesitate, pocketing the cash immediately before sitting down across from Chen Guobin and getting straight to the point.
"Learn to drive?"
The hand Chen Guobin was using to grab his chopsticks froze. Then, he nodded. "A man should know how to drive."
He had previously suggested that his son get his driver's license during the summer break, but Chen Yansen had only had Zhou Keyuan, internet cafes, and pool halls on his mind. After a brief argument, the matter had been dropped.
"How about I give your third uncle a call?"
Chen Guobin said with a frown after a moment of thought.
"Is there only one driving school in Chunshen?"
Chen Yansen retorted.
He knew perfectly well what Lao Chen's relationship with his three maternal uncles was really like. They barely interacted even during holidays, and asking for a favor now would undoubtedly be met with scorn and snide remarks.
"Alright, I understand."
Hearing his son's words, Chen Guobin breathed a sigh of relief.
Since his wife's death, he had only visited the Liang Family once. His father-in-law and mother-in-law's words, both in and between the lines, basically amounted to cursing him for having a wretched fate that led to their youngest daughter's death.
His two older brothers-in-law also couldn't stand the sight of him. And while the youngest brother-in-law's attitude was a bit milder, it wasn't much better.
As Chen Yansen grew up, the relationship between the two families eased somewhat, but it was limited to paying a visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year.
'Ah, Hui Zhen,' Chen Guobin thought, 'it seems our son has finally grown sensible.'
Chen Guobin lowered his head and continued to eat, a warm feeling spreading through his chest.
"Lao Chen, can I run something by you?"
Chen Yansen studied Lao Chen, waiting until he had finished his noodles before asking cautiously.
"What is it?"
Chen Guobin was in a good mood, and seeing his son's earnest expression, he sat up straight, prepared to listen seriously.
"You're only forty. Are you really not planning on finding a companion? At the last parent-teacher conference, Meng Jun's mom said you were mature and stylish, that you looked a bit like Venerable Dragon, and had a certain scholarly air..."
Chen Yansen said slowly, his expression devoid of any hint of a joke.
Chen Guobin's smile froze on his face. His mouth fell open, as if his mind had gone blank.
"You don't like Meng Jun's mom? Actually, our homeroom teacher, Zhang Li, is into you too. And most importantly, she's only thirty-three, so she can probably still have kids!"
Seeing his reaction, Chen Yansen assumed Lao Chen didn't like the full-figured type, so he quickly changed tack and recommended another candidate for stepmother.
"You little bastard! I'll kill you!"
Chen Guobin's face slowly turned red. With a roar of fury, he snatched a ruler and swung it violently at Chen Yansen's head.
"Lao Chen, have you no conscience? I'm trying to find you a wife, and this is how you treat me!"
Chen Yansen jumped back in fright and bolted out of the bookstore, shouting from the doorway.
The tender moment between father and son hadn't even lasted ten minutes.
"Hey, Lao Chen, your son is so filial!"
"Hahaha! Trying to find a stepmom for you—that's a new one!"
"Brother Bin, the kid Jensen has a point!"
The owners of the neighboring shops heard the commotion and poked their heads out to watch the spectacle. A few of the familiar uncles even started shouting jokes.
"You brat, get back in here!"
Chen Guobin ordered, his face stern and full of anger.
"Lao Chen, don't write it off! Our homeroom teacher really can still have kids. I wouldn't mind having a little brother or sister."
Unfazed, Chen Yansen continued his persuasion from the doorway.
"Chen Yansen, what was that you were just saying? Your teacher didn't quite catch it. Could you please repeat yourself?"
Not far off, Zhang Li, clutching a lesson plan, spoke through gritted teeth. The ballpoint pen in her hand creaked under the pressure of her grip.
Chen Yansen slowly turned his head, forcing an awkward yet polite smile. "Hello, Teacher Zhang. Goodbye, Teacher Zhang."
With that, not even daring to ask Lao Chen for the driving school fee, he swiftly hopped on his bicycle and beat a hasty retreat.
"Teacher Zhang, he's just a kid who doesn't know any better. Please don't take it to heart."
Chen Guobin nervously wrung his hands. While mentally cursing that little brat for getting him into this mess, he forced a pained smile onto his face.
"It's nothing, really."
Zhang Li, looking equally mortified, quickly exchanged pleasantries and said her goodbyes, then left without a backward glance.