Chapter 445: Third Master’s Birthday

Fu Chen’s birthday happened to be on Friday, so Song Fengwan didn’t have to attend evening self-study. After class in the afternoon, she went straight back to Yishui Community.

At this time, it was already winter in the capital. Outside the house, the cold wind was blowing against people’s faces. While they were walking around outside, the cold air seeped into their bones, and their bodies shivered.

As soon as Song Fengwan entered the house, she took a deep breath. “Uncle, Cousin…”

“Welcome back.” Qiao Xiyan was sitting beside the heater, holding a stone in one hand and a carving knife in the other. He was working on an embryo, and the lines of the carving were thick. He blew at the powder on the stone.

“Thanks. It’s too cold outside.” Song Fengwan pulled off her scarf and jacket and sat by the heater to dry her hands. “What are you doing?”

“Just something small.”

“Then, what are you going to give to Third Master?” Song Fengwan was curious.

Qiao Xiyan glanced at her. “What are you going to give?”

“I’m just a student without any money, so I drew a painting.” Song Fengwan pointed at the box she had brought back and had already been framed and packaged.

When she said this, she felt inexplicably guilty. She only felt that the things she was wearing seemed to be on fire. When Qiao Xiyan looked at her, she kept feeling that he had some kind of X-ray vision and could see something at a glance.

Seeing her face turn red, Qiao Xiyan thought that it was because of the heater and didn’t pay much attention to it.

He glanced at the wrapped painting.

“It’s pretty good.” Gifts with thoughts behind them were better.

“What about yours?”

“You’ll know when the time comes…”

Song Fengwan was speechless. You and Uncle are definitely giving either stones or jade. What else can it be?! Do you need to keep it a secret?

When the three of them left, Qiao Wangbei only brought a small wrapped box with him. But Qiao Xiyan actually had a box bigger than his palm. Song Fengwan tried holding it…

It’s quite heavy!

Is there gold in it?

***

For Fu Chen’s birthday, everyone had dinnerl at the old residence. Jing Hanchuan and Duan Linbai had come over, and then they would have a small gathering with a few friends later.

Fu Sinian and Yu Manxi’s gift was quite standard. They had bought a very expensive watch together.

Jing Hanchuan was very impressive. He gave Fu Chen two fish…

“You gave me fish?” Fu Chen raised his eyebrows.

Previously, on Song Fengwan’s birthday, he had given her two fish. Now, he was giving him two more fish?

Does he always give fish to everyone on their birthday? Does he really think I’m the owner of a fish pond?

“Two…” Jing Hanchuan pointed at the fish tank. “They’re female. I specially choose them for you.”

Fu Chen smiled bitterly. This is to pair them with Wanwan’s two, right?

He really knows how to save trouble.

Duan Linbai kept his gift a secret and didn’t take it out.

Qiao Wangbei handed Fu Chen a small box containing a work of jade. “I carved it myself.”

“Thank you.” Fu Chen took the box.

“The meaning of this stone is very good. It can make everything go smoothly for you, and it can also…” Qiao Wangbei said bluntly, “… attract love. It can let you find your other half as soon as possible and have a family. ”

When he said this, he specially looked at his son.

Qiao Xiyan pretended not to see it.

The father and son were both busy with their own matters at home, and they usually locked themselves in their own rooms. Even living under the same roof, it was normal for them not to see each other for a few days. Recently, Qiao Wangbei had been idle and saw Fu Sinian and Yu Manxi’s love and affection for each other. In addition, Qiao Aiyun kept telling him to be more concerned about his son…

At Qiao Xiyan’s age, he couldn’t care less about eating, drinking, and playing around, and he didn’t have to worry about work. Qiao Wangbei hesitated for a long time. Where should he start…

The last thing he said was, “Xiyan, you’re not young anymore. It’s time for you to date someone.”

Qiao Xiyan almost vomited blood. When he saw his father smiling kindly at him, a chill ran down his spine.

His father had left him to his devices for nearly thirty years, yet he suddenly cared about him so much. That night, his father even looked for him to have a heart-to-heart talk.

He remembered that the last time his father looked for him to have a heart-to-heart talk was when he was a child because someone had bullied Song Fengwan. He had almost knocked this person’s teeth out.

When this person’s parents came to find him, Qiao Wangbei apologized and called him to his room at night to give him a beating.

He said, “Xiyan, we haven’t had a good chat in a long time, right?”

Qiao Xiyan’s back instantly turned cold.

He listened to his father ramble the whole night. Perhaps because he usually spoke too little, he seemed to want to say everything he hadn’t in the first half of Qiao Xiyan’s life. He was still holding a knife in his hand, and Qiao Xiyan didn’t even dare to doze off. He chatted with him until past five in the morning before he actually left to go out for a run.

Don’t you need sleep?

You’re already so old. Why are you so energetic?

On the other side…

Sitting at the side, Duan Linbai almost burst out laughing when he saw Qiao Wangbei’s gift. Attract love?

Isn’t his love your niece?

Why are you getting him to attract other girls?

Qiao Xiyan took out a large box and handed it to Fu Chen. When he opened it…

Duan Linbai immediately leaned over and almost burst out laughing! F*ck, a brick!

He patted Fu Chen’s shoulder. It’s your birthday. What does your future brother-in-law mean by giving you a brick? Does he want to slap you to death?

Haha, your future brother-in-law is ruthless.

“This is…” Fu Chen appeared very calm.

“Green brick. I’ve carved a picture of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove on it. This brick is from the Ming Dynasty, so it’s worth a bit of money.” It was because stones had the meaning of being as solid as a rock and also because he hoped that the relationship between the two families could last forever.

Song Fengwan, sitting at the side, held back her laughter. No wonder Cousin didn’t want me to see it. This…

Impressive, my great cousin.

Jing Hanchuan raised his eyebrows slightly. Actually, this brick wasn’t bad. Moreover, the carving on it was very detailed and exquisite. It was top quality.

One of the most precious cultural relics in the Jinling Museum was the brick drawing of ‘The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi¹‘. Qiao Xiyan’s gift was probably imitated from this.

Yu Manxi knew that the Qiao family didn’t know about the relationship between Fu Chen and Song Fengwan. Otherwise…

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Her cousin might have picked the brick up and smashed Fu Chen’s Head.

The remaining gifts were nothing special. After eating together, Old Madam Fu reminded him to pay attention to his agreement and personal issues.

***

After the meal, Fu Chen and the others were going to go out to continue celebrating. The elders naturally wouldn’t join them. Fu Yuxiu had also returned to the old residence for dinner. He had just received his internship salary and helped order a cake. He said that he had to work overtime on weekends and couldn’t go out to play at night. But Qiao Xiyan went with them.

The venue was at Ninth Mansion. Everyone sat in the hall for a while and only entered the private room after the resident singer finished performing.

There were all kinds of audio equipment and instruments in the private room. As soon as Duan Linbai entered, the atmosphere heated up.

He picked up the guitar at the side and tested the sound.

“Today is Fu Chen’s birthday. As your good brother, I have a song for you. I’m especially grateful for your care and tolerance for me in the past year.”

Duan Linbai had studied classical music and had dabbled with many instruments. The way he held the guitar really did look a little dashing and stylish…

He was wearing a light white sweater today, and the lights were dim and blurry. He was good-looking to begin with, and his fingers were very beautiful, so the way he played the guitar made him extremely good-looking. He had one leg on a chair and was smiling devilishly while humming casually.

Song Fengwan suddenly understood why so many people online liked him.

When he was serious, he was very charming.

Everyone thought that he would sing a happy birthday song, but he plucked a few strings and sang ‘You Are My Eyes’.

Song Fengwan almost burst out laughing. Why is he singing this?

Fu Chen lowered his head and drank his warm water, not wanting to look at him at all.

After Duan Linbai finished singing, he even wanted to sing another song with Fu Chen, but a certain someone naturally didn’t agree.

Song Fengwan, sitting beside him, tilted her head to look at him. “You know how to sing?”

“Third Fu sings really well. You know how boring those gatherings that elders usually hold are, right? They always get their children to show off their talents. When Third Fu was around two years old, he performed in public on Old Madam Fu’s birthday…”

Before Duan Linbai could finish speaking, Fu Chen picked up the melon seeds from the tea tray and threw them at him.

This person is indeed drunk. Why did he start spouting nonsense?

Song Fengwan knew what had happened. Third Brother actually did such a thing when he was a child.

Fu Chen naturally wouldn’t sing. Yu Manxi was more broad-minded and dragged Fu Sinian to sing a duet. This was the first time Fu Sinian sang publicly. His voice…

When he sang ‘Hiroshima mon amour’, he gave it a gloomy feeling.

Qiao Xiyan was sitting at the side and texting someone. Seeing that he wasn’t paying attention to him, Fu Chen leaned over to Song Fengwan and lowered his voice. “Do you want to hear me sing?”

“Yes.” She nodded seriously.

“I’ll sing for you alone later.”

Perhaps seeing that Qiao Xiyan was busy, Fu Chen leaned against the sofa with a lazy expression and suddenly squeezed beside Song Fengwan…

At this moment, the heating in the entire city was on. Everyone in the room wasn’t wearing much. Their narrow seats and the places next to each other seemed to have a thin electric current.

Song Fengwan coughed twice and subconsciously looked at Qiao Xiyan, who was sitting in an armchair not far away. She felt uncomfortable all over.

Third Brother is too bold. Cousin is here, and…

He definitely has a knife on him.

He even leaned over.

Just as she moved an inch to the side, he leaned over, making Song Fengwan’s legs curl up slightly. She could only squeeze in a corner aggrievedly.

Just as she was feeling nervous and anxious, Fu Chen held her hand.

The lighting in the private room was too dim, so it was already good enough that people could see each other’s faces clearly. There was no way to distinguish any other small movements at all. Song Fengwan wanted to break free, but Fu Chen’s fingers gently opened the gaps between her fingers, reached in bit by bit, and clenched tightly…

He grabbed her hand tightly.

Sitting not far away, Jing Hanchuan was playing music with his head lowered. From the corner of his eye, he saw the two of them holding hands secretly. He subconsciously looked at Qiao Xiyan, who was sitting opposite him.

These two are really bold. They’re secretly holding hands in front of her cousin?

If they’re discovered, Qiao Xiyan might want one of his arms.

“Wanwan, didn’t you say you would give me a special gift?” Fu Chen lowered his voice and looked straight ahead. He didn’t look like he was communicating with Song Fengwan.

“Yes.”

When Song Fengwan gave him the painting, Fu Chen had sent her a private message. She had said that she had something else, and it wasn’t convenient to give it to him in front of everyone.

“What are you giving me?”

“This…”

Song Fengwan was already regretting it now. How could she listen to Hu Xinyue and really give herself to him?

Besides, everyone was here now. How should she answer? She couldn’t possibly say, “I want to give myself to you.”

She would die of embarrassment.

“Huh? What are you giving me?” Fu Chen was definitely looking forward to her gift the most.

“We’ll talk about it later. It’s not convenient now.” Song Fengwan was very nervous. She had thought of many possibilities in her mind and even thought of how to talk to Fu Chen.

But when this day really came, she felt inexplicably timid and utterly terrified.

Her gaze landed on the alcohol on the table. She picked up a glass of Long Island iced tea and took a few sips.

The alcohol emboldened her.

Fu Chen narrowed his eyes. What does this girl want to do? He had seen her go crazy after getting drunk.

After sending a message, Qiao Xiyan frowned slightly. “Wanwan…”

“Mmm.”

“Don’t drink too much.” Song Fengwan was an adult after all. Everyone was in high spirits today, so it wouldn’t hurt to drink a little.

“I know.” Song Fengwan also thought that she definitely couldn’t get drunk. She just wanted to drink some to bolster her courage.

“The store is about to close. I’m going to the Jade Hall of Spring. I’ll get Third Master to send you back,” Qiao Xiyan discussed with her. He and Qiao Wangbei had made plans to return to Suzhou tomorrow. Before leaving, he wanted to go to the store to take a look at the situation.

“You’re not leaving with me?” Song Fengwan was happy in her heart, but she had to pretend to be unhappy.

“Why don’t you come back with me now?” It was night time, but it wasn’t even nine o’clock yet. Song Fengwan was in high spirits tonight. Qiao Xiyan wanted her to relax for a while longer since it was rare for her to do so.

She looked troubled.

“I’ll talk to Third Master…”

Qiao Xiyan then told Fu Chen about this matter and asked him to send Song Fengwan back to the school later. He naturally agreed readily.

But Jing Hanchuan raised his eyebrows slightly. Given the situation tonight, something will definitely happen. You’re sending your sister to Fu Chen’s bed…

He lowered his head and continued to play his music.