Yong kept his mother company, cooking alongside her and chatting about his travels. Finally, just as dinner was almost ready, his father, Shiyan Toru, and their butler, Uncle Zhibian, returned, looking travel-worn.
Even from the kitchen, he could hear his father's booming voice.
"Honey! I'm home! I'm starving!"
Yong walked out of the kitchen with a dark look of disdain. On his shoulder, Larvesta wore the same expression, looking at his father scornfully.
"Come on, old man. At your age, can't you act a little more composed? All that shouting is bad for my image!"
Shiyan Toru had been delighted to see his son, but at those words, his face immediately darkened. He glared at Yong with utter disdain and spoke in an even more dismissive tone.
"Oh! Who's this? What's he doing in my house? Zhibian, do you know him?"
Beside him, Uncle Zhibian shook his head helplessly. Long accustomed to the way father and son interacted, he turned to Yong with a gentle smile instead.
"Young master, why didn't you let us know you were coming home? I could have picked you up!"
"Uncle Zhibian! It's all right! I'm not the same as when I first started traveling. I'm not that delicate anymore. How have you been feeling, though?"
Facing the hardest-working elder in the household, Yong smiled as well.
"Thank you for all your hard work, looking after the old man too."
"You little brat! Show some respect! I'm still young! Do I need looking after?"
Zhibian smiled and shook his head without saying anything more.
Yong turned away disdainfully, unwilling to bother with the old man, leaving a furious Shiyan Toru to keep airing his grievances to Zhibian.
In the kitchen, his mother looked at him helplessly.
"Can't you talk nicely to your father? Do you