Chu Yanzhang said he was free. Xie Zhuzhou hung up, lowered his eyes slightly, and quietly listened as Xiao Nan continued.
"That Qin Fang... seems to be from the Qin Family, one of the prominent families Old Master Ji wanted to consider for your marriage."
"Oh." So what? That rotten old man couldn't possibly make him go on a blind date with Qin Fang, could he?
They were both men.
Although men could marry in this era, the great families considered it a violation of the natural order. Anything other than a union of yin and yang was an evil, deviant path.
With some particularly antiquated families, you inevitably ended up being made to drink Chinese medicine and talisman water.
His second brother had briefly mentioned those prominent families to him. The Qin Family apparently wasn't easy to cross; most of them were lunatics.
Well, the Ji Family had plenty of lunatics too...
But what else could he do besides keep his distance from Qin Fang? He wasn't interested in Qin Fang. Surely he couldn't cater to him just to make him happy?
After thinking it over every which way, Xie Zhuzhou once again justified his own behavior.
Half an hour later, Xie Zhuzhou reached Chu Yanzhang's home as fast as he could. Unexpectedly, the power was out, leaving him no choice but to take the stairs. The moment the door opened, he saw Chu Yanzhang's dripping-wet head.
"Xiao Zhu."
"Your clothes..."
"The faucet broke." These days, Chu Yanzhang couldn't even take proper care of himself. For a whole month now, he had spent practically every day feeling his way around and adjusting, either falling over or bumping into doors. After moving somewhere new, he was even more lost.
When he heard just now that Xie Zhuzhou was coming, he had wanted to clean up a little. Instead... he had only made things worse.
Xie Zhuzhou looked past Chu Yanzhang. The place was a mess. It seemed young Chu hadn't been doing very well these past two days of living independently.
"Have you eaten?"
"I was going to heat up some dumplings, but the power went out. The elevator has no power either, right? Did you walk up?" Wen Shuming and the others had also gone away on business.
This was the sixth floor. Xie Zhuzhou had just climbed the stairs, arriving out of breath. He had spent quite a while calming his breathing before recovering his cool and ringing the doorbell with a perfectly straight face.
"Oh, then change your clothes and let's go out to eat. Um, Xiao Nan, take a look and see what can be done about that faucet."
Chu Yanzhang said, "All right. Give me a moment."
Xiao Nan said, "Okay." Sometimes Xie Zhuzhou was so kind that he hardly seemed like himself. He actually showed concern for people!
"Call me when you're changed."
"All right."
A few days earlier, Xie Zhuzhou had actually received a thank-you gift from Chu Yanzhang: a beautiful ruby. But he hadn't accepted it, thinking Chu Yanzhang might be a poor soul who had been kicked out of a wealthy family and would have plenty of things to spend money on later.
There was a reason people liked quiet little cats, dogs, and other animals. They didn't talk much, so your ears got some peace, and being around them felt comfortable. Besides, Chu Yanzhang couldn't see. Xie Zhuzhou could do and say whatever he wanted without worrying about breaking character. Another reason was that he wanted someone to secretly practice his speaking speed with, but not someone like his second brother, whose verbal barrage was so fierce that he couldn't keep up. Chu Yanzhang's unhurried temperament was just right for a beginner. Determined to come out on top in this life, Xie Zhuzhou worried that if he lost a verbal sparring match, he would spend the whole night regretting it under the covers afterward!
That clever fellow Xie was planning ahead again.
"Xiao Zhu, I'm ready."
"What do you want to eat?"
Xie Zhuzhou wasn't eating at home today either.
The Ji Family had even grown somewhat used to not seeing a trace of Xie Zhuzhou all day. Exhausted after coming home from work, Ji Wangyun saw that his little brother was once again absent from dinner and angrily opened the replay of the dating show's livestream to see what he had been doing.
But after fast-forwarding through it once, he found that Xie Zhuzhou had only appeared in a single shot from behind.
"Is the production team bullying our little brother? Why doesn't he get a single shot?!"
Despite knowing perfectly well that Xie Zhuzhou wasn't someone easily bullied, Ji Wangyun couldn't help thinking along those lines.
As he thought about it, a bitter smile tugged at his lips. "Right. Who would dare bully him...?"
That little tyrant was also a little pervert.
A chill ran through Ji Wangyun every time he remembered it. Although he knew Xie Zhuzhou had been joking with him, he was still scared.
As he watched further, Ji Wangyun's eyes widened, his gaze flickering with surprise. "Qin Fang went on this show too?"
Hearing a familiar name, Ji Wangyan came over to look. His eyes narrowed slightly as he confirmed that it really was Qin Fang. He had met him at a banquet a while ago.
He had to admit, there seemed to be something mystical about Xie Zhuzhou's luck. Every fish he hooked was made of gold. As if An Xinian alone weren't enough, now there was Qin Fang, the Qin Family's youngest son.
But the Ji Family was no pushover either. As long as Xie Zhuzhou liked him, getting him wasn't out of the question.
Of course, getting all three at once would be a little bit difficult. He also wanted to see his little brother's embarrassment when it all blew up in his face. Would he be completely at a loss? Surely he would ask them for help then?
Even after coming home, Ji Wangchen was still holding his laptop and dealing with company business. He no longer had time to concern himself with Xie Zhuzhou's trivial affairs.
He simply turned a blind eye to whatever Xie Zhuzhou did, with no need for Assistant Nan to report every last detail.
Meanwhile, as Xie Zhuzhou took Chu Yanzhang out to eat, he also used his phone to buy plenty of history books and books on antiques. Although he had what he had learned in the Great Yan Dynasty in his head, it still wasn't enough to adapt to local ways. Besides, several dynasties had followed Great Yan, so he needed to acquire as much knowledge in this field as possible.
Last was traditional Chinese painting. The weekend would be a good time to work on it at home.
He had already bought the brushes and paper he needed and asked the butler for a studio, on the same floor as his bedroom.
He would give it a try.
If it didn't make money, he would switch to something else.