“Nice to meet you. This is a gift I prepared for you.” With that, he took out the gift he had prepared for Shen Nanxing.

Su Chen exclaimed in shock, “Damn, Lao Fu, have you been possessed by a ghost? Your smile is even more chilling than when you’re not smiling!”

Su Chen’s evaluations were always so to the point—sharp and blunt.

Shen Chuanqiong couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

Shen Nanxing looked at the beautifully wrapped gift box in front of him, feeling a bit reluctant. He didn’t really want to accept it. He hesitated for a moment, then awkwardly said, “Isn’t a gift unnecessary…?”

Before he could finish, Su Chen interrupted him, thinking that Shen Nanxing felt shy about accepting the gift. He quickly explained, “Nanxing, just accept it. You have an engagement with Fu Chengyu, so Lao Fu must be thinking about that connection when giving you a gift.”

“Now that I think about it, Nanxing, when you get married, you’ll have to call him ‘uncle’!”

“Engagement?” “Uncle?” Both Fu Zhiyuan and Shen Nanxing questioned in unison.

Fu Zhiyuan’s face tightened at the word “engagement,” clearly irritated, his brows furrowing deeply. Shen Nanxing, on the other hand, was shocked by Su Chen’s deduction—calling Fu Zhiyuan ‘uncle’? At that point, he’d probably have no idea what hit him!

Su Chen glared at Fu Zhiyuan, “Why are you so shocked? Don’t tell me you didn’t know anything about it.”

Fu Zhiyuan didn’t respond, his expression stiffening slightly. He had heard from his family that Fu Chengyu had been engaged since childhood, but he really didn’t know that the fiancée was Shen Nanxing.

Shen Chuanqiong shot Su Chen a warning glance, saying firmly, “That’s just a rumor; don’t go spreading nonsense!”

Su Chen gave him a knowing look, then continued, “I get it, it’s a secret, right? Don’t worry, I’ll keep it quiet.” He then made a gesture of zipping his lips.

Shen Chuanqiong was momentarily speechless. Sometimes, he really wanted to knock on Su Chen’s head to see what kind of stuff was inside, the way he always made up stories in his mind.

“Sweetheart, just take the gift. It’s fine,” Shen Chuanqiong said as he noticed Shen Nanxing’s questioning gaze and made the decision for him. Fu Zhiyuan was his good friend, and since his good friend wanted to give his brother a gift, he couldn’t just turn him down.

Shen Nanxing, hearing his older brother’s words, accepted the gift. He politely smiled at Fu Zhiyuan, saying, “Thank you.”

Fu Zhiyuan coldly and distantly replied, “No need to thank me.”

His gaze shifted downward, focusing on Shen Nanxing’s hands, delicate and fair, and his gaze seemed a little more intense. Fu Zhiyuan’s throat moved slightly, suddenly feeling thirsty. He picked up the glass beside him and took a sip of strong alcohol. The taste of liquor filled his mouth.

Shen Nanxing, feeling uneasy under his stare, instinctively tightened his grip.

Shen Chuanqiong and Su Chen didn’t notice the strange tension between the two.

Su Chen quietly leaned towards Shen Chuanqiong, showing him a photo, and whispered in his ear, “Guess who I saw? Your goddess.”

Shen Chuanqiong glanced at the person in the photo and urgently asked, “Who sent this to you?”

Su Chen looked at him with a hint of pity in his eyes. “She posted it on her Moments. What, should I stalk her?” How pitiful—he didn’t even have her WeChat.

He nudged Shen Chuanqiong’s shoulder. “Hey, want to go say hi?”

Shen Chuanqiong hesitated for a moment. After all, he had upset her before, and Lin Qingyan had blocked him from contacting her.

“What are you hesitating for? Come on, let’s go together,” Su Chen said as he grabbed Shen Chuanqiong and started pulling him toward the door, not giving him a chance to resist. As they walked, he called out to Shen Nanxing, “Nanxing, wait here for us! I’m going with your brother to take care of something!”

Shen Nanxing immediately panicked. How could he let them be alone with Fu Zhiyuan? He called out to Shen Chuanqiong, “Brother…”

“Be good, stay here and wait for me, I’ll be back soon,” Shen Chuanqiong reassured him. He didn’t want to miss the chance to explain things to Lin Qingyan, and with Fu Zhiyuan there, he felt comfortable leaving Shen Nanxing behind. After all, he trusted Fu Zhiyuan’s character.

Shen Nanxing watched them leave, his lips curling slightly. He felt the atmosphere was extremely awkward now. Fu Zhiyuan didn’t say much, and Shen Nanxing wasn’t the type to be open around strangers, so the two sat in silence. Shen Nanxing could only lower his head and poke at the food on his plate.

Fu Zhiyuan felt somewhat frustrated. Was he really that intimidating? Why couldn’t Star Bao even look him in the eye? He lowered his voice, “Your brother and the others should be back soon. Want to open your gift?”

Shen Nanxing thought, well, awkward conversation is still conversation, so he nodded along with Fu Zhiyuan’s suggestion. He opened the gift to find a brooch. It was a rose, crafted with deep blue gemstones, shining with a mysterious and profound glow under the lights, like the brightest star in the night sky. The surrounding diamonds sparkled like tiny starlights, adding a touch of brilliance to the rose, making it dazzling.

“Mm?” Shen Nanxing glanced at the brooch in the box, then looked up at Fu Zhiyuan. “Did you get the wrong gift?” If he remembered correctly, this was a limited edition piece, the only one of its kind. It wasn’t something you could just buy with money. Wouldn’t it be a bit too extravagant?

Fu Zhiyuan paused slightly, “You don’t like it?”

He should’ve had his assistant check what Star Bao liked before picking something out.

Shen Nanxing diplomatically replied, “It’s not that I don’t like it. It’s just… isn’t this a bit too precious?”

Receiving such an expensive gift for no reason always made him feel like he owed the giver something in return.

Fu Zhiyuan noticed the concern in his eyes and reassured him, “It suits you perfectly. It’s just a small, inexpensive trinket. Don’t feel burdened.”

Seeing that Fu Zhiyuan insisted on giving it to him, Shen Nanxing relented, “Alright, thank you.”

At worst, he could give Fu Zhiyuan a gift of equal value in return sometime, so it wouldn’t feel like he was taking advantage of him.

Fu Zhiyuan noticed that Shen Nanxing had been convinced and felt a small sense of relief. “Good.”

The two fell silent again. Shen Nanxing glanced at the door, wondering why his brother and the others hadn’t returned yet. He looked at Fu Zhiyuan several times, hesitated for a while, then spoke to him with a tone that seemed to ask for permission, “Can I ask you something?”

Little did he know, his appearance—looking like a lost kitten, gazing up at him innocently, cautiously testing the waters—was utterly adorable in Fu Zhiyuan’s eyes. He felt a strong urge to take Star Bao home with him.

Fu Zhiyuan sighed, “Go ahead.”

Shen Nanxing, thinking that Fu Zhiyuan wasn’t going to respond, was surprised when he did. “Is Fu Chengyu really your nephew?”

Fu Zhiyuan nodded.

“Then why does he look nothing like you?” Shen Nanxing’s voice grew softer as he spoke, realizing that what he said might have been a bit impolite, as if he were prying into someone else’s privacy. The reason behind it was too complicated to explain in just a few words, so Fu Zhiyuan simply replied, “Because I’m not his parents.”

Shen Nanxing responded with an “oh” and didn’t press the matter further. Fu Zhiyuan resisted the urge to pat his head and asked, “Can I call you Xing Bao?”

“No!” Shen Nanxing immediately rejected it without even thinking. He couldn’t believe Fu Zhiyuan even came up with something like “Xing Bao.” Just thinking about it made him cringe.

Fu Zhiyuan wasn’t surprised at his rejection. He responded nonchalantly, “Alright, then I’ll just call you ‘Guaibao’ from now on.”