"Anything's fine."
Shen Yi had long since grown used to these exchanges between his parents and could only quietly look away.
A slight turn of his head brought him face-to-face with Yuan Chen's unreadable gaze. Yuan Chen casually took the tangerine Shen Yi had been squeezing and began peeling its thin skin with hands more accustomed to holding a pen.
Yuan Chen joined the conversation at just the right moment, his tone calm. "I hear you enjoy fishing, sir?"
"Ah, it's my only pleasure these days. Retirement is so boring... Once the weekend comes around, I can hardly live without a trip to the fishing grounds."
"There's a resort by the South China Sea. It's a little out of the way, but if neither of you minds, it's quite peaceful. You're welcome to stay whenever you have time." He paused. "It's one of my family's properties."
"A resort... You mean that really expensive one?"
"Yes."
His answer was concise, without a trace of showing off. Yuan Chen spoke of his family's five-star resort as casually as if he were discussing a guesthouse on a street corner.
"I hear there are some good fishing spots nearby. And family members stay free of charge."
"How could we accept that... At such an expensive place..."
"There are plenty of empty rooms. Please don't feel you're imposing."
This was practically a money offensive. Shen Yi glanced at him uneasily, but Yuan Chen merely smiled and handed over the peeled tangerine, its segments neatly stripped of white pith.
Shen Yi's mother watched the scene in silence.
The tangerine this "President Yuan" had peeled was almost excessively immaculate, while her son took it and ate as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
It seemed she had nothing to worry about. The last