Translated by Eve

　　Edited by Wuxian

　　"Ah Ning, come here. My grandfather wants to see you," Yun Yi pressed over to Sui Yuan's side and whispered, pulling onto his sleeves.

　　Only then was Sui Yuan awoken from the chaos inside his mind. He turned to look at Yun Yi and Yue Minghe, who had come over at some unknown point in time, and still asked despite knowing the answer, "Right now? When did your grandfather start caring so much about us younger generations?"

　　"Who knows, ne! Who knows what my grandfather is thinking?" Yun Yi shrugged and replied carelessly, "You know that he's always been strict with me. He probably wants to see what sort of people I always hang out with, possibly to keep me from being led astray."

　　"Heh, lead you astray? It's clearly you who are leading us away, ba!" Sui Yuan gently jeered in response. However, he did not forget what he came for. He called for the attendant to bring him his gift. Afterwards, he walked over to Old Master Yun, who was sitting upright in the seat of honour, alongside Yun Yi and Yue Minghe.

　　Sui Yuan and Yue Minghe stood side by side before Old Master Yun. Yun Yi stood off to one side and respectfully began introducing his two friends. One mustn't just look at Yun Yi's ostentatious, tyrannical att.i.tude when before other people. In front of his grandfather, gone was his usual careless act. He feared that if the other became displeased, he would beat him fiercely and send him to the hospital. Yun Yi experienced this several times when he was little, thus , a shadow had formed over his heart!

　　As for the supporting female lead, Xin Xin, she leaned by Old Master Yun's side, looking all lovely and cute as she prettily blinked at Yun Yi. Xin Xin was the only person capable of receiving Old Master Yun's favour and was treated amiably even as a member of the younger generation. Thus, her reputation in the Yun Family was especially great. Right now, she was the only one permitted to sit by Old Master Yun's side. Even Yun Yi, who Old Master Yun had the highest hopes for, was not given this kind of treatment.

　　——It was just unfortunate that this privilege would very quickly be 'stolen' away by someone else….

　　Old Master Yun lowered his eyes to look at Sui Yuan and Yue Minghe. A phony look of affection concealed his sharp, examining gaze. It was probably only Sui Yuan that was able to see that there was joy and conflict in the other's gaze from that short glance.

　　Old Master Yun only gave an insipid glance towards Yue Minghe's gift, nodding his head to express his praise. When it was time for Sui Yuan to present his gift, Old Master Yun's eyes lit up, and he raised a hand to allow him to bring it closer.

　　Sui Yuan saw the opportunity and promptly took a step forward to fawn over him, "I heard the Old Master Yun has a pa.s.sion for ancient swords. A few days ago, I came across this antique jian. The appraiser said that it is worth quite a bit. Therefore, I decided to bring this over to you. A sword must be given to a hero, after all!"

　　Old Master Yun glanced at Sui Yuan with an ambiguous and unclear expression. He reached out to take hold of the sword, appreciating it more closely. Soon after, he nodded, very satisfied, "Indeed, it is a good sword. You have gone through a lot of trouble."

　　"It is worth it so long as Old Master Yun likes it," Sui Yuan replied immediately. His expression was deferential and calm, neither overbearing nor servile.

　　Most likely because this gift caught his fancy, the gaze Old Master Yun threwSui Yuan's way became much warmer. He raised his hand to beckon him forward, "I remember that you are the Hao Family's child. Is your grandfather doing well?"

　　Seeing that Old Master Yun wanted to call Sui Yuan over to speak in further detail, Xin Xin immediately stood up and gave him her spot. Her expression was calm and she smiled beautifully. There was not the least bit of dislike or jealousy. To be able to be doted on by Old Master Yun for so long, it was not possible to attain this by mere reliance on the shade provided by her grandparent’s protection. At the very least, one had to know when to advance and when to retreat, as well as be adept at observation.

　　Just as expected, Xin Xin's sensible actions won a commending glance from Old Master Yun. Xin Xin immediately felt rather excited and she pursed her lips into a smile as she headed towards Yun Yi. It was very likely that, to her, even though being able to sit by Old Master Yun's side was a great honour, she still preferred being able to be by her Yi gege's side, even if the other did not respond to her love and only acted extremely perfunctorily towards her.

　　Yue Minghe, who did not receive Old Master Yun's favour at all, could only retreat alongside Yun Yi. Before leaving, he cast a veiled look towards Sui Yuan's direction and slightly furrowed his brows. Although it was a good thing to gain Old Master Yun's fondness, the situation within the Yun Family was truly too complicated. Sometimes, even a good thing could turn into a bad thing if one meddled too much

　　Of course, at this time, Sui Yuan's thoughts were not as complicated. He only felt as though he was sitting on pins and needles.

　　Although it was a good thing that he and Zhao Xihe now knew each other's ident.i.ties, the other's ident.i.ty was really too outlandish. It made him rather unable to keep calm. Sui Yuan cautiously sat in the spot beside Zhao Xihe. His hand was in Zhao Xihe's and he could feel the other's old, deeply calloused palm, which was unlike the tender and smooth hands of the youth. He had to say, Sui Yuan and Zhao Xihe's relations.h.i.+p right now was remarkably alike to a grandson and his grandfather. Even if they stuck closer together, it would only appear like they had a very good grandfather-grandson relations.h.i.+p. The scene of the two of them was very far from what lovers would look like.

　　Even if he silently repeated that even a beauty would be reduced to nothing but withered bones, and that the corporeal body was but a superficial, worldly possession, Sui Yuan still couldn't help but admit that sometimes, one's appearance was indeed very important. Or, rather, it was age that was comparatively important? At least towards Zhao Xihe's face that could only make one think 'respect the elderly', Sui Yuan could not go through with it. He could only rejoice over the fact that the other most likely did not have that kind of need at present.

　　——After all, he was impotent. ╮(╯▽╰)╭