With these words, the two juniors were stunned.

Xie Fei Nian laughed heartily, walked into the house with his hands behind his back, and took out an old photo album from the top drawer of a chest of drawers.

An Yi took it solemnly, and upon opening it, he immediately saw a photo of his parents, maternal grandfather, and Xie Fei Nian. Looking at the bottom right corner, he hadn’t been born yet at that time.

“At that time, my whole family had moved abroad. When I returned to visit, I spent a couple of days with your grandfather. I heard your mother was pregnant, and we talked about naming you. After a half-day’s discussion, we settled on the character ‘Yi.'”

As he spoke of the past, the old man’s memories were still fresh.

“Fei Bai said this character sounded nice and had good meaning, suitable for both boys and girls,” Xie Fei Nian smiled, “I joked that if it were a girl, we might as well arrange for her to marry into my family, making it a perfect match from childhood. Hey! I didn’t expect to receive a letter from your grandfather later, saying it was a grandson. I was puzzled for a long time.”

An Yi suppressed a smile and flipped through the album.

He flipped through several more photos of the two elderly people. Xie Fei Nian sighed, “At that time, among our sect, Fei Bai and I had the best relationship. Even though I was overseas, we never stopped exchanging letters. I didn’t expect it’s been fifteen years since he passed away.”

An Yi closed the album and whispered, “Yes, it was very sudden, but the only comfort is that there was no pain, he passed away peacefully.”

Xie Nancang was afraid of upsetting An Yi, so he gently placed his hand on his shoulder and smiled tenderly. “No wonder I feel so familiar when I see you. It seems we must have met when we were children.”

Xie Fei Nian sat in a lounge chair, waving his hand leisurely. “You never came back when you were a child. Where would you meet? I joked that you had a little wife in China, and you even pouted and got angry.”

Xie Nancang smiled bitterly. “I was just a child then.”

An Yi smiled with his eyes curved.

The three of them sat together and chatted for a while. When An Yi expressed his desire to stay here for a while, Xie Fei Nian was very pleased.

“Why rent a place outside? Treat this place as your own home. Besides the maid, there’s just me, an old man. It’s quite boring. Having a grandchild-in-law to accompany me is just right.”

An Yi looked embarrassedly at Xie Nancang.

Xie Nancang smiled helplessly. “Grandpa, just call him ‘An An.’ He’s a bit thin-skinned.”

“Okay, okay, what do you want to eat tonight?” Xie Fei Nian asked, “I caught two fat crucian carp yesterday, still in the backyard. Do you want to eat them?”

“Wow, Grandpa is cooking himself? Such a grand welcome for me?” Xie Nancang joked.

“I’m doing it for An An, you brat. Don’t flatter yourself.” Xie Fei Nian glanced at the time. “You guys go upstairs and settle in. I’ll go prepare the fish in a while.”

An Yi stood up to thank the old man and went upstairs with Xie Nancang following behind.

There were two guest rooms on the second floor, both of which were well-lit and aired out. Xie Nancang opened one of the doors and placed An Yi’s backpack on the table. “You can sleep here. The sheets and covers are cleaned regularly.”

An Yi glanced at the furnishings in the room and guessed it was probably Xie Nancang’s room.

He stood awkwardly by the bed.

Xie Nancang relieved his embarrassment in time. “I’ll sleep in the next room. If you need anything, just call me.”

An Yi was slightly stunned, nodding. “Okay.”

“Then rest well.” Xie Nancang exited the room. An Yi had barely breathed a sigh of relief when the door was pushed open again. Xie Nancang stood at the doorway, calling out to him.

An Yi turned around, meeting a pair of gentle and affectionate eyes.

“It’s nothing much, I just wanted to tell you that I’m very glad we boarded that ship together.” Xie Nancang smiled. “Destiny, it sounds like the beginning of a romantic story.”

With that, he closed the door and left.

An Yi remained in place, lost in thought for a long while.

A breeze blew in through the window, carrying the scent of grass from the backyard. On the windowsill sat a pot of round cacti, their yellow flowers swaying gently in the warm summer breeze.

He reached out and touched a petal, his gaze drifting downwards to the figures of an old man and a young man chatting in the backyard.

Xie Nancang sat in the shade, fanning Xie Fei Nian with a handheld fan, while two goldfish in a tank at his feet flapped vigorously.

The two of them were laughing together, though An Yi couldn’t hear what they were saying.

As they laughed, Xie Nancang looked up and met An Yi’s eyes through the window.

An Yi instinctively withdrew into the room, a lingering warmth remaining on his cheeks.

He usually suffered from insomnia, but due to the exhaustion of the journey and the comfortable and familiar environment of the Xie family, he found himself unusually sleepy in broad daylight.

In his dreams, he returned to his childhood, where he always enjoyed squatting in the yard with his grandfather, mixing clay or glaze together. He would end up covered in dirt, but whenever his mother scolded him, he would pull his grandfather to his side for support.

Even when scolded, he was happy and never felt lonely.

An Yi felt a rare sense of peace, and when he woke up, his heart was still comforted by the warmth of his dreams, not as uncomfortable or empty as before.

He thought that perhaps it was because Xie Fei Nian reminded him so much of his grandfather.

An Yi lay on the bed for a while, lost in thought. When he got up, washed, and changed clothes, he could smell the aroma wafting downstairs.

“Awake? The fish will be ready soon. You can hang around for a while.” Xie Nancang emerged from the kitchen, wearing an apron around his waist, looking somewhat comical.

An Yi walked over and saw Xie Nancang adding spices to the pot in a sequence, trying to thicken the sauce over high heat.

He smiled and patted Xie Nancang’s elbow, taking the spatula from his hand. “Let me do it, or you’ll burn the pot like this.”

Xie Nancang was somewhat surprised. “You can cook?”

“Yes.” An Yi’s eyes darkened slightly.

Yan Chen was very picky. An Yi used to believe in the old saying that the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach, so he deliberately took cooking classes to improve his culinary skills. However, every time he carefully prepared a meal, Yan Chen never glanced at it, let alone ate it.

An Yi occasionally stirred the soup and glanced back at Xie Nancang. “Where’s Grandpa?”

“He’s in the backyard.” Xie Nancang took off his apron, naturally reaching around An Yi to tie it for him, “I’ll go call him for dinner.”

“Okay.” An Yi lowered his head, his ears turning red.

Xie Nancang chuckled softly and turned to leave.

The three of them moved a small square table to the front yard. With the long summer days, they enjoyed a few cups of wine in the twilight courtyard, eating fish and peeling shrimp, indulging in a leisurely and relaxed atmosphere far from the hustle and bustle of the city.

When they were in high spirits, Xie Fei Nian dipped his finger in some wine and casually sketched a few strokes on the table, capturing the side profile of An Yi’s face as he gazed into the distance.

An Yi couldn’t help but marvel.

A master was a master. Although these few strokes looked careless and sloppy, they were far from simple and required extremely strong foundation skills.

“Grandpa, can you teach me how to make ceramics? I want to learn.”

An Yi addressed Xie Fei Nian as such according to Xie Nancang’s seniority, his slightly flushed eyes showing not a hint of drunkenness, only a sparkling desire.

This was the first time Xie Nancang had seen An Yi with such eyes since he had known him.

It melted his heart.

Xie Nancang lightly tapped his grandfather’s foot under the table.

However, Xie Fei Nian didn’t rush to respond. “My requirements for taking on students are very high. Clumsy and foolish ones need not apply, as I still want to live a few more years; and those who lack creativity and are too conventional need not apply, as they’ll tarnish my reputation.”

This statement was not false. Xie Fei Nian was considered a master in the world of ceramics, and over the years, countless people had come seeking his guidance, but he had only taken on two students.

Now those two students had already established their own reputations, and An Yi couldn’t compare to them.

But he still wanted to give it a try. “…I have some skill with my hands, and I’m eager to learn,” he said incoherently, “I don’t expect you to take me as your student, but I’d like you to teach me more. I, I really like the figurative porcelain sculptures you make, and I also want to learn porcelain glaze painting, and…”

Xie Fei Nian interrupted him, asking directly, “What’s your foundation in art like?”

“I attended art classes for a few years in school, and afterwards, I’ve been self-taught,” An Yi straightened his back, like a student being called on by the teacher.

“Have you studied sculpture? Practiced figure sketching?” Xie Fei Nian fired off questions like a machine gun. “How much do you know about clay and kiln firing?”

An Yi choked, “Not much…knowledge about those.”

Xie Fei Nian widened his eyes, and Xie Nancang quickly kicked him under the table. Xie Fei Nian coughed and sipped his wine, changing his tone. “It’s alright, it’s alright, kid. Once you sober up tomorrow, I’ll take a look at your basics first.”

An Yi saw hope and quickly filled the old man’s wine glass. “Thank you, grandpa, for giving me a chance.”

Because of the time difference, An Yi hadn’t slept much at night. Early in the morning, when he heard Xie Fei Nian getting up downstairs, he hurried downstairs and demonstrated everything from preparing clay to shaping, trimming, mixing glazes, and painting, showing everything he knew.

Xie Fei Nian saw that his basic skills were okay, and he was quick-witted. With just a few pointers from the side, An Yi could understand the meaning.

It was evident that this kid was talented.

Most importantly, An Yi was diligent and hardworking, which was a very rare quality.

Because he hadn’t studied sculpture before, An Yi had to start from scratch. In order to imitate Xie Fei Nian’s Guanyin porcelain sculpture, he practiced with clay, often staying in the studio all day without moving. Often, late into the night, you could still see him diligently practicing.

Day after day, his eyes became bloodshot.

Xie Nancang’s gaming company was located in the neighboring city, and he had spent a week there. When he returned to Ling’an and saw An Yi like this, he felt a little distressed.

He advised him to rest, but An Yi enjoyed it.

“I don’t feel tired. I enjoy this, and when I’m tired from practicing, I can sleep more soundly,” he said.

Xie Fei Nian saw all of this and sincerely appreciated the good grandson of his student and friend, Fei Bai. Unfortunately, his own grandson was as hard-headed as iron. 

“Ceramic sculpture takes time to accumulate. You can’t expect to achieve any amazing effects after practicing for just a month or two. It’s okay to take a break occasionally.”

Xie Fei Nian told An Yi, “Find some time to take the intermediate ceramic artist certification exam. Although I don’t attach much importance to this, with this certificate, when you participate in exchanges or other exhibitions in the future, those people from associations won’t look down on you, understand?”

An Yi nodded, “Yes, grandpa.”

Xie Fei Nian relaxed. “Good grandson, give me a leg massage.”

An Yi then massaged his legs and shoulders.

Xie Nancang couldn’t help but joke, “I feel like I went out for a business trip, and now you two are more like the real grandfather and grandson.”

Xie Fei Nian sat in the rocking chair, giving him a meaningful look, letting him ponder on it himself.

There weren’t many ingredients left at home, so An Yi planned to go to the supermarket. Xie Nancang accompanied him all the way.

The two pushed a shopping cart, selecting everything from vegetables, eggs, and fresh produce to dairy and baking products, then from wines and beverages to fruits, vegetables, and flowers, creating a harmonious and warm atmosphere.

Xie Nancang couldn’t help but slow down his pace, wanting to prolong this sweet and beautiful time alone with An Yi.

“An An,” he said, watching An Yi check the expiration date of yogurt, “I’ve noticed that you’ve been much happier lately.”

“Oh, really?” An Yi looked up, with a glimmer in his eye.

His smile was faint and tranquil. “Is it that obvious?”

Xie Nancang felt a bit ticklish and oddly nervous because of his smile.

He held An Yi’s slightly cold fingertips, which were chilled by the yogurt, and sighed softly, “Well, as long as you’re happy.”

^[1]Author’s note: Today I wasn’t able to write about Yan Chen’s appearance, maybe in the next chapter. Xie Nancang will always be so gentle, so good, this is his character, he … Continue reading