Chapter 5: Dad, I Want to Find You a Wife

After Chen Yansen sprinted out of Beiyi Alley in one breath, he realized with embarrassment that his bicycle was left at the entrance of the internet cafe.

With only this means of transport for now, he had no choice but to steel himself and head back.

"Huh? Back again?"

Wang Ziyan, just stepping out of the internet cafe, called out to her older brother beside her.

"Hello there, so it's Ziyan — a girl really does change eighteen times growing up."

Chen Yansen stopped walking and greeted her with a grin.

"But you came to our house for dinner just yesterday."

Wang Ziyan pouted her plump, glossy little lips and pretended to be angry.

"Haha, did I?"

Chen Yansen unlocked the bike while casually brushing her off.

As for Wang Ziyan, he planned to keep a respectful distance and minimize contact.

"Brother Sen, the two things you told me to handle — I'll definitely get them done properly."

Wang Zihao, standing to one side, assumed Chen Yansen had come back because he was worried Wang Zihao couldn't be trusted to get things done, so he thumped his chest and made the promise.

"Mm, see you tomorrow."

Chen Yansen caught the unspoken meaning in Wang Zihao's words — clearly the other wanted to throw in money for a share and resell MP3s and MP4s together with him.

He nodded, waved, and said goodbye.

"Bro, what did Chen Yansen ask you to do?"

Only after Chen Yansen's figure had walked off into the distance did Wang Ziyan finally speak up.

"Nothing."

Wang Zihao shook his head, his gaze evasive.

After all, if it ever came out that Chen Yansen had stolen money to do business, the beating he'd get would be brutal.

When Brother Hao is out on the streets, the main thing is 'brotherly loyalty.'

Not even his own little sister gets told!

"Is that so?"

Wang Ziyan narrowed her slender peach-blossom eyes, stared fixedly at her older brother, and asked with a smile.

"Believe it or not."

Wang Zihao felt guilty under her gaze, so he simply stiffened his neck and stubbornly refused to say a word.

No way around it — in terms of intellect, Wang Ziyan completely towered over him.

Her quickness of thought, her ability to understand and solve complex problems, all left him far behind.

He could only burn the midnight oil and barely get into Chunshen No. 2 Middle School;

while Wang Ziyan, who had never attended a single tutoring class, could steadily hold first place in her year and had been specially recruited early by Chunshen No. 1 Middle School.

The two schools — one a city key school, one a provincial key school — the gap between them spoke for itself.

He was afraid that the more he said, the more holes there'd be.

"Don't think you can hide it from me."

Wang Ziyan gave a cold snort and muttered softly.

……

……

Chen Yansen rode his bicycle, stopping and starting along the way, and after finding a noodle shop on Beijie to fill his stomach, he unhurriedly ducked into an alley.

Riding east for three hundred meters, a familiar bookshop came into view.

Guobin Bookshop.

Chen Yansen stood at the doorway, gazing at the middle-aged man moving books inside, and couldn't help spacing out in a daze.

So Old Chen was already beginning to show his age at this point.

Clearly only forty, yet half his hair had gone white; the upright build of his youth now seemed slightly stooped.

"Have you eaten lunch?"

Chen Guobin had just neatly arranged the latest issues of Readers and Youth Digest when he saw a boy standing at the doorway.

The slanted bangs were all cut off, replaced by clean, refreshingly neat short hair.

Bearing a three-part resemblance to his younger self, yet the look between his brows and eyes was more like his mother's.

"A bowl of knife-cut noodles, two liang of pot stickers — I brought you a portion too."

Chen Yansen's feelings were complicated; he had originally wanted to go up and hug Old Chen, but feared startling him, so in the end he let out a long sigh and said it as if it were nothing.

"Ah? Thanks, son."

Chen Guobin was startled by the words and instinctively took the takeout bag.

Feeling the warmth of the food, Chen Guobin experienced for the first time that his son seemed to have changed somehow.

But his awkward personality kept him from saying anything warm; along with a stiff, extremely awkward thank-you, he fished a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket and pressed it into Chen Yansen's hand.

While telling him to eat more — this was the time for growing.

"Old Chen, I want to learn to drive."

Chen Yansen didn't stand on ceremony, simply tucked it into his pocket, then sat down across from Chen Guobin and got straight to the point.

"Learn to drive?"

Chen Guobin's hand holding the chopsticks paused, then he nodded and said, "A man should learn to drive."

Previously, he had suggested his son use the summer break to get his driver's license, but Chen Yansen's head was filled with nothing but Zhou Keyuan, internet cafes, and pool halls; after a few words of argument between them, the matter was dropped.

"How about I give your Third Uncle a call?"

Chen Guobin pondered for a moment, then spoke with a furrowed brow.

"Is Chunshen home to only one driving school?"

Chen Yansen asked in return.

He knew very well the true relationship between Old Chen and his three uncles; during festivals, even basic exchanges were scarce, so asking for help now would surely bring nothing but cold shoulders and mockery.

"Alright, I understand."

Hearing his son say this, Chen Guobin immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Ever since his wife passed away, he had visited the Liang family only once; the meaning behind his father-in-law and mother-in-law's words, both explicit and implied, was nothing more than cursing his wretched fate for killing their youngest daughter.

His eldest and second brothers-in-law likewise found him unbearable, and while the youngest brother-in-law's attitude was somewhat gentler, it was hardly any better.

As Chen Yansen grew up, the relationship between the two families eased slightly, but that was limited to paying a New Year's visit on the second day of the lunar new year.

"Huizhen, it seems our son has finally grown up."

Chen Guobin lowered his head and continued eating, a wave of warmth passing through his heart.

"Old Chen, can I discuss something with you?"

Chen Yansen sized up Old Chen, waiting until he finished his noodles before asking cautiously.

"What is it?"

Chen Guobin was in a good mood and, seeing his son's serious expression, straightened his body, ready to listen intently.

"You're only forty this year; do you really not plan to find a companion? At the last parent-teacher meeting, Meng Jun's mother praised you for being mature and stylish, saying you looked thirty percent like Ti Lung and had a scholarly air..."

Chen Yansen spoke slowly, his expression not at all like he was joking.

Chen Guobin's smile instantly froze, his mouth hanging open as if he had lost his soul.

"You don't like Meng Jun's mother? Actually, our homeroom teacher, Zhang Li, has feelings for you too; most importantly, she is only thirty-three this year and should still be able to bear children!"

Seeing this, Chen Yansen thought Old Chen disliked plump types and quickly changed the subject, recommending another candidate for stepmother.

"You little brat, I'll beat you to death!"

Chen Guobin's face slowly turned red; after roaring, he顺势 grabbed a ruler and swung it fiercely at Chen Yansen's head.

"Old Chen, do you have any conscience at all? I'm introducing a wife to you, and you treat me like this!"

Terrified, Chen Yansen jumped up and retreated, dashing out of the bookstore and shouting loudly from the doorway.

The tender moment between father and son hadn't even lasted ten minutes.

"Old Chen, your son is truly filial!"

"Hahaha, finding a stepmother for himself, truly a one-of-a-kind case!"

"Brother Bin, that kid Yansen isn't wrong!"

Shop owners nearby heard the commotion and poked their heads out to watch the spectacle; several familiar uncles even started joking loudly.

"You rascal, get back in here!"

Chen Guobin spoke sternly, his face set in anger.

"Old Chen, don't disbelieve us; our homeroom teacher really can still bear children; I wouldn't mind having a younger brother or sister in the future."

Chen Yansen was not afraid of him and continued persuading from the doorway.

"Student Chen Yansen, what did you just say? The teacher didn't hear clearly; could you please repeat it?"

Not far away, Zhang Li, holding her lesson plan, spoke through gritted teeth, the ballpoint pen in her hand creaking as she gripped it tight.

Chen Yansen slowly turned his head, revealing an awkward yet polite smile: "Hello, Teacher Zhang. Goodbye, Teacher Zhang."

Having said that, he didn't even dare ask Old Chen for the driving school tuition, quickly mounted his bicycle, and chose to flee immediately.

"Teacher Zhang, the child doesn't understand; please don't take it to heart."

Chen Guobin rubbed his hands nervously, cursing the son who dug his own grave in his heart, while forcing a bitter smile onto his face.

"It's fine, it's really fine."

Zhang Li was equally embarrassed; she quickly finished the pleasantries and farewells, then left without looking back.

(End of this chapter)