The Zuo Family Residence
In the daytime, the weather was clear, and the Zuo Family residence, shrouded in dazzling sunlight, appeared all the more solemn and majestic.
Inside the quaint and heavy courtyard, with its blue bricks and dark tiles, the double-courtyard's doors and windows stood wide open. Seated by the huanghuali wood table in the middle was an old lady whose hair was completely white, every silver strand meticulously coiled up with a hairpin. Her attire was fitting and comfortable.
A pot of water boiled atop a stove, the waves surging and steam billowing.
Zuo Tingyue reached out to take the red clay kettle off the top, pouring the water into the tea leaves prepared on the side. The hot water, scalding and searing, was poured over the silver needle tea leaves. After letting them steep for about ten seconds, Zuo Tingyue continued pouring hot water into the cup in a single direction.
The young master's movements were like flowing clouds and moving water. His cuffs were rolled up and piled at his elbows, his muscular forearms bursting with strength exposed from his shirt. Prominent veins coiled across them and extended to the back of his hands, carrying an extreme wildness and power.
As top-grade silver needle tea, the tea buds floated on the water's surface. Gradually, a small portion of the tea buds slowly sank and settled at the bottom of the cup. The green tea buds stood upright one by one, rising and sinking. The tea liquor was clear and presented an orange-yellow hue, and as time passed, a faint fragrance curled outward and spread.
Zuo Tingyue lowered his gaze to look at the tea whose brewing time had arrived. He poured a cup for the old lady and smiled gently.
"Grandma, have some tea."
His voice softened, and the aura around him also settled, giving off the feel of a gentle and refined young aristocrat.
Faced with her only grandson, the old lady could not muster up any great temper either.
He was ambitious and capable enough; under his ancestors' halo, he had not been buried in obscurity, nor had he been carried away by the flattery of those beneath him. He knew the responsibilities on his shoulders and what he ought to do as a descendant of the Zuo family. As for the family business, the old lady considered herself to have weathered all kinds of storms, and even he was beyond reproach.
It was just that regarding this matter of settling down and starting a family, she could never quite figure out what this grandson was thinking. The family had worn their tongues out yet could not get a single definitive word from him; he was quite proficient at playing Tai Chi and beating around the bush.
That rascal.
"You know why Grandma called you back, yet you still won't give a straight answer, forcing Grandma to ask."
The old lady took a sip of tea and spoke to him indifferently, though there was more or less some displeasure in her voice.
Zuo Tingyue understood an old person's pride very well.
He smiled gently, a smile appearing on his handsome face with peaceful brows and eyes.
"How could that be, Grandma."
"I figured you wouldn't ask."
As Zuo Tingyue spoke, he carried that certain unbridled attitude typical of aristocratic scions.
The old lady gave a light hum. Those who are favored act with impunity-that described Zuo Tingyue precisely. He had calculated that the old lady hadn't taken this matter to heart; he was the sole seedling left in the family, raised with a golden spoon since childhood, so how could she bear to truly scold him? Furthermore, the matter had already faded away on the internet and could no longer kick up any waves.
As for that little business between men and women, he was deeply enamored and fond of it for the moment, but after a long time, there would be no shortage of young and pretty little girls. Just because you are interested, does everyone else find it dull and tasteless?
Men, after all, simply chase after novelty and amusement.
The guiding principles of marriage among aristocratic elites would never change. Where were there any stories of Cinderellas marrying princes? They were mere delusions. In this world, only being matched in strength was the way to endure.
"As long as you know what you're doing."
The old lady dropped this remark and said no more. Her grandson was one she had watched grow up, and he had never disappointed her.
*
Xun Yuan had not called Zuo Tingyue, nor had Zuo Tingyue sent Xun Yuan any messages. After a few days had passed, the storm on the internet had completely calmed down.
For three days, Xun Yuan had not seen Zuo Tingyue. During that time, she accepted a new cultural relic restoration order.
This time, it was a colored sculpture ornament-an exquisite relief-sculpted colored sculpture ornament. Unfortunately, it had been gathering dust for many years, losing its original luster and colors, and appeared all dusty and grey.
At a single glance, Xun Yuan recognized it as Bodhisattva Guanyin.
After receiving the cultural relic, she carefully placed it on her workbench, selected the appropriate tools, and taking advantage of the quietness of these past few days, she first performed a simple cleaning.
Xun Yuan liked cultural relic restoration because this job was very "slow". Slow was good; it settled the mind and spirit, and trained a person's patience. A person just needed to be able to stay grounded.
Meeting Zuo Tingyue again was quite sudden.
When Xun Yuan walked out of her studio, the moon was already at the center of the sky. The weather was dark and gloomy, and a drizzling light rain drifted down from the air-another night rain.
Xun Yuan was not holding an umbrella. Having come to Harbor City for a few months, she still wasn't used to carrying an umbrella; she simply didn't want to bring one.
She stood silently under the veranda, torn between rushing out into the rain curtain or waiting for the rain to stop.
As her gaze wandered about, her attention was caught by a black car. Her gaze paused-quite a coincidence.
It was Zuo Tingyue's car.
Across a short distance, Xun Yuan saw that Special Assistant Lin was driving. Xun Yuan paused for a moment, then decisively fished out her phone and called Special Assistant Lin.
"Is your boss in the car?" she asked directly.
Special Assistant Lin: "Yes."
"Oh." Xun Yuan hung up the phone.
In the car.
Special Assistant Lin looked at the hung-up phone, completely baffled, but he could tell that the boss was her target.
He didn't believe for a second that Xun Yuan didn't know Zuo Tingyue was in the car.
"Boss, Miss Xun just called me. She must have seen our car."
Zuo Tingyue let out an "en," and as if sensing something, he turned his head to look not far away.
The woman in the aqua-green qipao stood gracefully under the veranda, a silk shawl draped over her lean shoulders, revealing her pretty collarbones. Her skin was whiter than snow, and her dark hair was braided to one side and hung before her chest. A pair of jade-green earrings hung from her ears, making her look both aloof and exceptionally captivating.
When she stood there without a word, the mysterious sense of a story about her became even heavier, and her unapproachable, pure noble temperament was revealed without any concealment, completely subduing that charming allure.
Xun Yuan cast her gaze toward the car. Through the privacy glass, their gazes did not meet, yet they seemed to know each other's minds.
"Umbrella."
Special Assistant Lin handed him the umbrella.
Zuo Tingyue took the umbrella, pushed open the car door, opened it up, and walked in the direction of Xun Yuan.
Xun Yuan's brows and eyes flickered slightly. The person in her sight was peerlessly handsome, with a facial appearance striking enough to make people envious and jealous. When he walked over, his aura was cool and reserved, completely devoid of the dissolute and flirty demeanor he wore in private.
This was the second time-the second time he had walked toward her, solely to hold an umbrella for her.
Fairly speaking, Xun Yuan did not have absolute certainty that Zuo Tingyue would get out of the car to pick her up, but she made that phone call anyway, testing the waters, playing the game.
How could one not be moved? That was Zuo Tingyue.
Zuo Tingyue walked up close to her, grasped her wrist, and without a word of inquiry, pulled her beneath the umbrella. He led Xun Yuan to the front of the car and uttered a flat, "Get in."
After Xun Yuan pulled open the rear door of the car, he said indifferently, "Sit in the front passenger seat."
Xun Yuan's hand paused for a moment. She closed the car door, then pulled open the door to the passenger seat and sat inside.
Zuo Tingyue walked around to the other side and handed the umbrella to Special Assistant Lin. Special Assistant Lin understood in a second and decisively got out of the car, leaving the space to them.
"Where to?"
He uttered those two words after getting into the car, his voice magnetic and deep, devoid of any other emotion.
Xun Yuan sensed a subtle atmosphere; his mood was not high.