Chapter 74 - 68: Close Family

Chapter 74: Chapter 68: Close Family

Dinner.

For dinner, they had teppanyaki at the hotel’s buffet restaurant.

In Song Jianye’s words, they’d been frugal for a whole week, so it was time to treat themselves.

And they really did eat well. Chen Yuan had only ever seen beef of this quality on TikTok.

After the meal, Uncle Zhang prepared two bags of cut fruit. They had eaten their fill and were now taking some to go, not holding back in the slightest.

Walking back to the university, Chen Yuan glanced at the cut fruit in the two bags. They were identical—eight boxes in total.

"You got so much."

"One bag is for you," Song Jianye said.

"Did you get some for my three sons, too?"

Having spent a lot of time with Chen Yuan, Song Jianye had gained some understanding of the patriarchal system of a men’s dorm.

"Uncle Zhang brings me cut fruit every day so I can maintain a good relationship with my roommates. I figured you needed it too, so I asked him to prepare a portion for you."

"It’s almost the end of the month. You didn’t have to go to the trouble."

"Why?"

"It’s the end of the month. If you let them have a sip of instant noodle broth, they’d kneel and call you ’Dad’."

Her big eyes filled with even bigger confusion...

Clearly, Song Jianye’s understanding of the patriarchal system of a men’s dorm didn’t even scratch one percent.

Passing by a stall selling Schrodinger figurines, Song Jianye spotted a new item: a small Jia’Er figurine she hadn’t seen before.

As was her custom, she bought one for 9.90.

Back at the university, Chen Yuan walked Song Jianye to Dorm 9 but didn’t head back right away. Instead, he whispered conspiratorially, like a thief:

"When you get back to your room, eat the first box. Do it quietly, and don’t let your roommates see."

"What’s special about the first box?"

"The hotel ran out of strawberries, so your box has two extra ones. Don’t let anyone see you eating them," Song Jianye said in a hushed tone, as if someone could actually overhear them.

"What about yours?"

"I don’t have any in mine. I gave them all to you."

Tsk tsk tsk...

’Now *this* is what you call a little lover from a past life and a warm little jacket in this one.’

"Take my box. You have the strawberries."

"No way. I’m bad at hiding things; I’m afraid I’ll get caught. You eat them."

Like a cheerful little rabbit, Song Jianye headed toward her dorm building.

"I’m going. Bye-bye!"

"Bye."

Chen Yuan returned to his dorm room, carrying the cut fruit. His three "sons" stared intently at the bag in his hand.

"Boss, what did you bring back?" Liu Shiyu asked.

"If I’d come back empty-handed, I’d let it slide if you called me ’Boss.’ But now that I’ve brought back cut fruit from the Lanting Hotel, what should you be calling me?"

Liu Shiyu: "Godfather!"

Sun Pengnan: "Dad!"

Sheng Kangming: "Godfather!"

"As for you, Fourth Bro, just using my name is fine."

Chen Yuan distributed the cut fruit. It was the end of the month, and everyone was tightening their belts. A luxury like fruit was practically hard currency in the dorm. Even a mealy apple that a dog would turn its nose up at would be devoured in a few bites.

"Boss, do you have any money to spare? Can I borrow some?"

"How much?"

"A thousand."

"It’s almost the end of the month. What do you need to borrow so much for?"

"My girlfriend is coming to visit this week, and I’m short on cash. Help me out, Godfather."

Liu Shiyu’s girlfriend was a high school classmate of his, but she was attending university in Hang City, which wasn’t too far away.

When it came to borrowing money, however, Chen Yuan had no intention of making him call him ’Dad’ for it.

He would either lend the money or he wouldn’t; making him call him ’Dad’ for it was inappropriate. Money wasn’t something to joke about.

Chen Yuan picked up his phone, spearing a piece of cut fruit and eating it as he tapped on the screen.

"Sent it to you."

"The hell? Why is it only fifty cents?"

"There was a 600 processing fee, 200 in interest, and a 199.5 late-payment collateral fee, which leaves fifty cents."

"Holy shit, I’m serious! If you don’t help me out, I’ll have to go ’pump’ for it."

Sun Pengnan and Sheng Kangming both snapped their heads toward Liu Shiyu, as if they’d just discovered a new business opportunity.

Sun Pengnan: "Which hospital?"

Sheng Kangming: "How much per session?"

"I’m fucking talking about taking out a payday loan!"

"I sent it."

"Thanks, Godfather!"

...

「Wednesday arrived, and with it, Chen Yuan’s favorite class: English.」

Bai Yueran was wearing a form-fitting wrap dress and black stockings—an outfit that was quite uncommon for her until now.

Chen Yuan guessed that with summer on its last legs, the weather would soon turn cool, and it would be too cold for little skirts and the like.

And so, the female teachers at the university had begun their late-season push to climb the ranks.

In a situation like this, Bai Yueran was naturally not one to be outdone, so she had come out in this battle armor of an outfit.

And with that cocky expression of hers, she gave off a strong ’I’m going to outshine all you try-hard vixens’ vibe.

"Teacher, here’s a chair for you. It must be tiring to lecture in high heels," Chen Yuan said, moving a chair onto the lecture platform.

"You see? This is why he’s my class representative. You all should learn a thing or two from Chen Yuan."

Sun Pengnan: "What’s with the boss? When did he become such a simp?"

Sheng Kangming: "Dude, he’s simping for Bai Yueran. If I were the class rep, I’d be simping too."

Liu Shiyu: "Your tongue is too short. Let me do it."

Chen Yuan sat in the front row, resting his head on one hand and twirling a pen with the other.

’That’s more like it. You’re already wearing a hip-hugging skirt; if you don’t sit down, the shape won’t look as good.’

Bai Yueran lectured with her legs crossed, a high heel dangling from the tip of her foot, swinging back and forth...

Like a never-ending spring... dream...

The boys in the back rows would never understand the true value of this scene, just as Bai Yueran would never know how much she... suffered... in their dreams.

The first English class of the morning began with "class begin," and ended with "my husband."

For the second period, Advanced Mathematics, Chen Yuan moved to the back row, yielding his throne to Zheng Wenkai and, along with it, the opportunity to admire the orthopedic shoes.

Without the buff from Bai Yueran’s black stockings, the Advanced Mathematics class was far duller.

Liu Shiyu looked like a drowsy husband in a movie.

Sun Pengnan was as indifferent as a passenger on a tram.

Sheng Kangming was in full-on ’fake scholar’ mode, appearing as focused as a wife cooking in the kitchen.