I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

"Yun Chu, you seem to have something on your mind. Has something happened recently?"

"It's nothing," Qin Yunchu said. "My family thinks I'm getting too old and they're starting to think about setting me up on blind dates."

"What? You're going on a blind date?" Jiang Xinhai asked, somewhat surprised.

"No, no, it's just that I have that intention," Qin Yunchu said. "I don't know which relative told me to do this, but they stuffed a lot of photos of so-called young talents into my hands and told me to choose one."

"You're not at the point where you absolutely have to get married, are you?"

“Yeah, I think so too. I want to play until I’m thirty,” Qin Yunchu said. “But they’re relatives after all, so I can’t get angry.”

“Thirty years old is a bit late,” Jiang Xinhai said. “Having a baby at that age would be a bit dangerous.”

For some reason, the room suddenly fell silent after hearing these words.

“I’m already twenty-eight, I don’t have more than two years left to play around,” Gu Yuqing suddenly said sullenly, “yet marriage is still like a pipe dream to me.”

Her words struck a chord with many people, and the bitter taste of wine turned into anger.

It's all that Chen Ya's fault.

"Excuse me." Xia You came over from the restaurant and took a box of chewing gum.

“The only one who doesn’t have to worry about getting married now is Xiaoyou,” Gu Yuqing sighed. “She’s still young, while we’re all getting old!”

Xia You's expression was cold as she asked, "Why get married?"

"Most girls want to get married to some extent, right? Don't you want to get married?"

"No, I don't want to get married in my entire life."

"What if Chen Ya wanted to marry you?"

Xia You's face suddenly turned bright red, and after a long pause, she finally said:

"That kind of thing is impossible."

Gu Yuqing chuckled: "Because you think Chen Ya won't marry you, so you plan to never get married, right?"

Xia You's face turned even redder. She turned away angrily, chewed her gum fiercely, and went to the restaurant.

"Sister Yuqing, you've gone too far in bullying me."

"Yeah, be careful Xiaoyou might dig up your indecent photos."

“No need to look,” she said, rolling the beer can over her face. “My indecent photos have already been posted in the group chat.”

"..."

...A message box popped up, and Xia You stared at the laptop, her brows furrowing deeply.

"What does the Lu family patriarch's birthday have to do with me? Why should I have to go?"

Her hands were typing furiously on the keyboard when she suddenly heard a sound coming from the living room:

"...Have you received an invitation to the Lu family patriarch's birthday celebration?"

“I also received an invitation,” Qin Yunchu said. “It seems they invited people from several other top-tier or weaker top-tier families. I wonder what they’re up to.”

"What else could it be? They're trying to turn things around," Gu Yuqing said lazily. "They even had the nerve to invite me. They must have been fooled by their nonsense."

Xia You's ears twitched; she really wanted to ask, but in the end, she was too embarrassed to speak.

As the saying goes, "Even a starved camel is bigger than a horse," and "A centipede dies but does not fall down," which perfectly describes the Lu family.

Decades of hard work could never be destroyed by Chen Ya in one move. Even without Ai Hua, the Lu family is still the Lu family, just at a lower level.

The reason the Lu family can still be the Lu family is because of their old patriarch.

It wasn't because the old man had extraordinary abilities, but simply because... he was indeed a great man.

As long as he's around, the Lu family won't really fall.

In another month, it will be the birthday of the Lu family patriarch. At this critical juncture, the Lu family is sending out invitations to heroes, and their intention to revitalize their family is obvious.

Based on Gu Yuqing's understanding of the Lu family patriarch, this matter was probably not what the patriarch intended.

"The Lu family can still hold a banquet and invite guests from all directions without any problems. With Chen Ya's personality, I don't know how unhappy he must be." Gu Yuqing sighed. "I really want to hold him in my arms and coax him to prevent him from doing anything rash."

Qin Yun Chu looked at her speechlessly.

Sister, your scheme is so elaborate that even Chen Ya's hometown can hear it!

……

Far away in Chen Ya's hometown, although it was different from the magnificent high-end villas, the harmony of the poor family reunion was irreplaceable.

However, at this moment, Chen Ya sat at the table with a livid face, glaring at his mother.

The two stared at each other, the food on the table still steaming hot, but the atmosphere had turned icy.

Chen Xi, the younger sister, had already retreated to the inner room in anger, while Chen Ya was still confronting their mother in the outer room.

"Mom, that man treated you like that, and you still listen to him?" Chen Ya frowned.

"Tsk, how disrespectful! What do you mean by 'that man'? That's your father!" the mother said sternly.

"He gave birth, packed his bags, and left, abandoning his wife and children. What connection does he have with my family other than blood ties?"

He gestured towards the inner room with his chin: "Ask Xixi if she acknowledges this father."

Chen Ya always spoke of his mother with great pride.

He told the story of a woman with little education who, with only her two arms, worked hard in the countryside and single-handedly raised him and his sister to adulthood.

But he never mentioned his father to anyone.

He didn't mention it, not because his father had died, nor because he had lost contact with him.

When Chen Ya was six years old, his father abandoned his wife and children, leaving his family behind, and went to the capital to make a living.

For Chen Ya, the memory of his father was already very faint, and he didn't care at all that he was a fatherless person.

If there were no sky over my head, I would be the sky—that has always been his character.

But today, my mother, who has toiled for most of her life, suddenly mentioned to me that my father, who abandoned his wife and children, has actually come back.

He even had the audacity to ask Chen Ya to come back and rekindle their father-son relationship!

It's important to know that Chen Ya's father, Chen Sheng, didn't return home in glory after years of wandering and making money.

He struggled for many years without any success, but finally, thanks to his handsome face, he hooked up with a rich woman and rose to prominence.

After being favored by the wealthy woman, he didn't think of going home to help his wife. Instead, he rushed back to his hometown, ransacked the place, and was overjoyed to find—

When he eloped with his wife, they didn't get a marriage certificate because of the lack of proper policies.

This saved them the trouble of going through divorce proceedings.

So he resolutely left and never appeared in Chen Ya's life again.

Today, I heard about this person again, and it was from the mouth of that old wife who had wasted most of her life.

"No matter how much you have a problem with him, he's still your father. Blood is thicker than water. As the older generation says, 'When your parents call, answer without delay; when your parents command, act without laziness.' How can you remain indifferent when your own father asks for your help?"

"If you need to talk to me about something, I definitely won't dare to delay at all. As for him, let's postpone it for a while."

Chen Ya eats his food.

"Ya Zi!"

The mother slapped her thighs with both hands, pretending to be stern, and said loudly.

"If you keep doing this, Mom will get angry!"

Chen Ya sighed and said, "Mom, it's not that I don't want to listen to you, it's just that I really don't like him. If you force me to help, I can only dawdle and offer half-hearted assistance. Of course, even if I just give up, it will still be a peak that countless people can't surpass..."

"Alright, alright, stop being so cheeky. Call your sister out and come eat."

Chen Ya smiled and went to call Chen Xi out.

The family sat around the table, and Chen Ya picked up his chopsticks: "Today is Christmas. Although we don't celebrate Western holidays, it's a joyous occasion that our family is reunited on this day. Let's all enjoy our meal."

Chen Xi raised her glass and clinked it with her brother's, her face flushed, while their mother looked gloomy.

...That evening, her mother went to bed early. Chen Xi pulled Chen Ya outside and whispered:

"Brother, I just passed by Mom's room and heard her sighing."

"She's not asleep?"

“No, she’s been sighing,” Chen Xi said. “She’s got something on her mind.”

Chen Ya frowned. He really didn't understand why she insisted on doing the same thing when that man treated her that way.

“Brother, I was angry at first, but now I understand,” Chen Xi said. “I will definitely take care of my mother in her old age. My biological father did not raise me, so I will not take care of him.”

“That’s what I think too,” Chen Ya said.

“Mom knows it in her heart, but she just can’t get over it,” Chen Xi said. “The older generation has this kind of thinking. They feel that giving birth to you is a huge favor, and if we don’t repay it, we are unfilial.”

"I understand. She's not afraid that her biological father will turn out badly in the future; she's afraid that we'll be branded as unfilial." Chen Ya nodded.

That's what she thinks.

"Her mistake was...sigh, she was too kind."

She was a great mother, and also a mother so kind that she was almost foolish.

However, if it weren't for her simple and stubborn nature, the brother and sister wouldn't have developed such upright personalities.

“Brother, let’s go,” Chen Xi said. “You are a world-renowned musician, and I am just a small-time creator. We are no less than any of those famous socialites and rich young men in Beijing. Let’s just treat it as a trip for fun.”

“Well, let’s just go have some fun,” Chen Ya said, “but that doesn’t include you.”

"?"

"You stay home with Mom and repay your father for giving you life. I'll go alone," Chen Ya sneered.

Chen Xi nodded obediently.

Chen Ya walked to the door and said, "Mom, I'll listen to you. I'll go see him."

"Really?!" He heard his mother sit up abruptly from inside the room.

"Really, just go have some fun, what's the big deal?"

The door opened, and my mother greeted me with a happy face.

Chen Ya suddenly felt that, just for that smile, even if he didn't like that person, what was wrong with enduring it?

……

Braving the cold wind, Chen Ya tightened his scarf.

After getting off the high-speed train, Chen Ya hesitated for a long time among the various taxis before finally scanning a shared bicycle.

The capital city is bustling, unlike other places; even the pigeons by the roadside seem to have a disdain in their eyes.

He pedaled his bike, passing through the intersection of Yangchangzi Hutong and Xiasanlu, then turned east onto Qianmenkou Street and rode under the overpass for half an hour. He was drenched in sweat and had to take off his scarf before finally arriving at the Taizixuan Hotel.

The place where he made his appointment with that cheapskate father.

"Chen Ya!"

On the second floor, a man in a suit waved down and shouted at him. Chen Ya looked up and his expression softened slightly.

At least you can recognize your own face at a glance.

The hostess spoke softly, her eyes subtly scrutinizing his disheveled appearance as she turned around, before saying veiledly:

"Sir, we only accept reservations."

"I'm looking for someone."

Without lingering, she quickly went upstairs and bumped into the man who had greeted her earlier.

Chen Sheng held his phone up at a 90-degree angle with one hand, and put the other hand in his pocket. He glanced at the phone to the left, then at Chen Ya, and then smiled broadly.

"Yes, yes, you look a bit like me when I was young."

Chen Ya walked over and glanced at his phone screen out of the corner of his eye. He saw that it was a photo of his face that his mother had secretly taken at some point and sent to him via WeChat.

So that's how the man recognized him at a glance. Chen Ya just thought, oh.

Oh, I see.

"Come on, let's go inside. Booking this hotel wasn't easy; your dad pulled some strings."