Chapter 3

003.

A fancy hotpot dinner left Lu Yuan completely stuffed.

Lu Jingshan spent the entire meal playing the part of a hotpot waiter, continuously adding fresh ingredients to Lu Yuan's small copper pot, occasionally topping up his broth and adding seasonings, and even handing him tissues himself.

The actual waiter stood there like a statue, and by the time he finally spotted an empty plate to clear, his two colleagues had already swooped in and snatched the plates away with lightning speed.

The waiter: "..."

Fortunately, Lu Zhuo noticed how uneasy he looked with nothing to do and said with a smile, "You don't need to worry about this side. Go get some rest."

The waiter finally breathed a sigh of relief and left at ease.

The private room door clicked shut again, and Lu Zhuo turned to look at his father: "Dad, stop putting so much food in A Yuan's pot. He'll feel awful if he eats too much."

Just as he finished speaking, he saw the lazy Susan on the table spin with a sharp rasp, and the freshly served crab leg meat came to a stop right in front of Lu Yuan. Seeing this, Lu Jingshan, without missing a beat, grabbed another piece with his chopsticks: "The crab meat looks good today. Have some more."

Lu Zhuo: "..."

He turned his head back, looked at his unreadable elder brother across the table, and said in a deadpan voice, "You too, quit spinning it."

Lu Ke remained calm and composed, not even batting an eye, clearly having no intention of listening to his brother—until Lu Zhuo let out a cold laugh: "Binge eating can easily overstretch and thin the stomach wall, causing acute gastric dilation, and in severe cases, a perforated stomach. Of course, acute pancreatitis isn't off the table either. If you two want to send him to the critical care unit on the very first day you're reunited and have Mom crawl out of her coffin at midnight to beat you both to death, be my guest."

Lu Ke's hand on the lazy Susan froze.

Lu Jingshan set down his chopsticks too.

Lu Yuan leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

Too much enthusiasm. Can't handle it. Really can't handle it.

Stuffed to the gills, Lu Yuan was told to go for a walk. Conveniently, he was also thinking about those two fat cats in the snow, so he bundled back into his knee-length black down jacket and trudged out into the courtyard.

It was still snowing, but not hard. Lu Yuan didn't mind, and as he approached the camellia bushes, he immediately spotted the two fat cats wrestling.

Both had stubby legs, and for all their flailing, they never landed a single blow.

But Lu Yuan was thoroughly enjoying the show.

The cats had probably been there long enough to have seen plenty of people, so they weren't shy at all.

Lu Yuan found a clean stone to sit on, picked up a twig from the ground, and held it out between the two fat cats, shouting, "On your marks—get set, fight!"

Thwack!

The two cats, who had just called a truce, lunged at each other again, swiping at nothing.

Lu Yuan couldn't contain his laughter, nearly keeling over.

Inside the private room.

When Lu Ke looked up, his gaze happened to land on the courtyard outside the window. Watching Lu Yuan double over with laughter, the two fat cats seemed to finally realize someone was laughing at them. They immediately called a truce and let out a fierce "meow!" at Lu Yuan in unison. In the end, Lu Yuan gave each of them a pat on the back, and they raised their tails, purring under his hand.

So easy to please.

"You're acting like a peeping Tom right now," Lu Zhuo said with a frown of disgust.

Lu Ke glanced at him: "No worse than you—recognizing a brother you lost for eighteen years in one quick glance."

Lu Zhuo tried to hold it in, failed, and smirked: "What do you know? That's what they call a brotherly sixth sense. The moment I saw him, I felt he should be one of ours."

Lu Ke: "Since he's one of ours, what's wrong with taking a few extra looks?"

Lu Jingshan listened to the two brothers bickering back and forth and couldn't help but laugh: "The eldest is right. I'm happy to take more looks at A Yuan too."

The son lost for eighteen years had finally been found—how could they not look their fill?

*

That evening, Lu Yuan was sent to Songlan Mansion.

Lu Ke was the one driving him. Lu Zhuo had stayed for dinner, but after watching Lu Yuan egg the fat cats into a fight for a while, he was called away—apparently a critical patient with an aortic dissection had been brought to the hospital, and he needed to take over.

A sleek black Maybach drove quietly along the mountain road to Songlan Mansion. The villas at Songlan Mansion, located on Songlan Mountain, numbered six in total, each costing around five hundred million, with courtyards spanning over a thousand square meters and private pools and hot springs.

The car wound past lush foliage, and the luxurious, almost extravagant villa district came into view.

Lu Ke gave a brief introduction: "This is the Bai family's land. The topmost villa is where Bai Yu lives. If you ever run into trouble you can't solve, go find him—I've already mentioned it to him."

"Don't worry about the apartment. I'll have someone pack up your things and bring them over tomorrow. But this place isn't lacking anything either—clothes and daily necessities have already been arranged. You can pick whichever room you want, but the master bedroom is the best in terms of size, lighting, ventilation, and view."

After a pause, Lu Ke added, "I'll transfer the property to your name in a couple of days, so feel at ease."

Transfer the property too?

Lu Yuan, who was chewing on hawthorn to aid digestion, was taken aback and quickly waved his hand: "No need to go through all that trouble."

An unlimited black card given away without a second thought, a sports car worth tens of millions gifted just like that, and now a villa worth hundreds of millions on top of it?

Lu Yuan felt his fragile frame couldn't bear such a heavy weight of money.

"It's not trouble. This was all supposed to be yours. You're a child of the Lu family, and you deserve to enjoy all of this with a clear conscience." Lu Ke's gaze stayed fixed ahead, his voice fading into the sound of the villa district gates opening and closing. "We wronged you before. That won't happen again."

Lu Yuan's ears twitched. In the darkness, he tilted his head slightly, his gaze landing on the man's cold, sharp profile. After a moment of silence, he didn't refuse the kindness again.

Lu Ke delivered him to the villa.

Light flooded the space like daylight, outlining the understated yet luxurious design in full view.

Lu Ke left the exploration of the villa to Lu Yuan, only saying, "The butler, chef, and housekeeper will arrive tomorrow morning, but I've also had some food put in the fridge. If you get hungry tonight—"

Before he could finish, his gaze landed on Lu Yuan, who was stubbornly gnawing on a hawthorn.

Whether it was too much food or too sour, he'd only managed to bite off half of it the whole ride.

Lu Ke: "..."

He probably won't get hungry.

Lu Yuan caught the gist of what he was about to say and understood why he'd stopped mid-sentence, quickly adding, "Don't worry, I'll take care of myself."

Then, glancing at the pitch-black sky outside, he asked considerately, "It's this late—are you still heading back to the city? There are plenty of rooms here, so why not stay the night and leave in the morning?"

"No need. I won't disturb you tonight."

"Alright then." Lu Yuan replied dryly.

Lu Ke didn't linger. After saying, "Have a good night's sleep," he headed for the elevator, ready to go down to the garage and leave.

Lu Yuan watched his retreating figure, then glanced at the half-eaten hawthorn berry in his hand. He chucked it into the trash can without a second thought.

Too sour! He'd never tasted anything this sour in his whole life!

Just as Lu Ke's foot hit the elevator, he remembered something important. He held the door open and turned back, only to see Lu Yuan scrunching up his pale, handsome face and flinging the hawthorn berry away with a wince.

Lu Ke: "..."

Man, that must've been sour. And he really held it in.

"A Yuan."

"Huh?" Lu Yuan turned his head and saw Lu Ke, who was supposed to have left, walking back over. He instinctively glanced at the trash can.

This sour hawthorn berry was, after all, requested by this very man from the waiter.

His ears turned red, and he nonchalantly nudged the trash can forward with his foot, blocking it with his body. He looked up at Lu Ke with big, innocent cat eyes. "What's up?"

Lu Ke pretended not to notice his little move and said briefly, "We never swapped numbers."

Oh, right, right.

They'd been so caught up in eating and chatting that they'd forgotten to add each other.

Lu Yuan brought up his WeChat QR code and quickly received a friend request with the note "Big Bro." He casually added the contact right in front of Lu Ke, letting the note auto-fill.

Lu Ke nodded in satisfaction. "Alright, I'll take off then. I'll come by tomorrow if I have time."

Lu Yuan watched him go. "Get home safe."

Lu Ke: "Got it."

*

The villa had three floors counting the basement. After a quick look at the kitchen, dining room, and guest rooms on the first floor, Lu Yuan headed upstairs to the second.

The master bedroom took up most of the second floor, so spacious it felt almost empty. As the warm white lights came on, the light gray curtains slid open along the track, and the floor-to-ceiling window spanning the entire wall clearly reflected Lu Yuan's face. He looked out the window—beneath his feet lay Songlan Mountain, and before his eyes ran the Chunnan River winding through the entire city. The water rippled gently, mirroring the reflections of towering high-rises on the opposite bank.

He could take in nearly the whole dazzling night view of the city.

...No wonder the place cost so much.

The location alone was worth a fortune.

Lu Yuan stood there like a total country bumpkin, staring until his legs started to ache, before he finally turned around to open the closet.

Although Lu Ke had mentioned he'd send clothes over, Lu Yuan hadn't expected much—until now.

At first glance, sweaters, shirts, cashmere coats, down jackets—everything was neatly arranged in his exact size. But what really blew Lu Yuan away was when he opened the adjacent cabinet: it was stuffed with fluffy pajamas. There were Psyduck ones, little sharks, little dinosaurs, little kittens, and even a clownfish so ugly it was almost insulting.

Lu Yuan was speechless.

He felt a wave of embarrassment hit him, but when he reached out and touched the fabric, he was immediately won over by the soft, warm texture.

He snapped a photo and sent it to Lu Ke, offering a polite thank-you: Thank you, I really like them.