At this time, Ye Peicheng had just arrived at the Ye family Mansion.
Father Ye was upstairs in his study sharing an audience with a very important guest. Ye Peicheng intended to wait downstairs for the meantime, but then a maidservant cam to him and said: "Second Young Master, you are invited to go to the study room."
Ye Peicheng nodded and looked up. He made eye contact with his elder brother, Ye Peiqing, who was descending from upstairs. The man's lips appeared slightly hooked, revealing a meaningful smile.
These brothers have always been at odds with each other. Almost every time Ye Peicheng visited home and entered the study, his father would toss the ashtray at him in anger. Seeing his younger brother back once again, Ye Peiqing was in a good mood.
Ye Peicheng ignored him and made his way upstairs.
He knocked on the door and heard the words "Come in." After receiving the invitation, he pushed the door open to his father's study. As soon as he entered, Ye Peicheng noticed a man in his sixties wearing a tangzhuang jacket. The elderly stranger's eyes seemed to brighten as he observed Ye Peicheng from top to bottom with undisguised curiosity,
(**T/N: 唐装 tangzhuang is a kind of pseudo-traditional Chinese jacket with a straight collar)
"Dad," Ye Peicheng greeted.
"Peicheng, this is Mr. Huang," his father introduced. "Mr. Huang is a famous Feng Shui consultant and a Master of Face Reading in China. He seldom visits our Imperial City so I've asked Mr. Huang to inspect our new project."
"Hello Mr. Huang." Ye Peicheng disapproved of his father's infatuation with Feng Shui, but he remained polite.
Mr. Huang stared at Ye Peicheng for a long while before stretching out a hand to pat the young man's shoulder. The corner of the old man's lips lifted: "Not bad."
After commenting, he directed a wink towards Father Ye.
Father Ye understood the old man's intentions with a glance. He quickly instructed his son and said, "Peicheng, I have a matter to discuss with Mr. Huang. You wait for me downstairs."
"Okay," Ye Peicheng replied. He smiled at Mr. Huang before exiting the room.
Within the study, Father Ye couldn't wait to ask, "Mr. Huang, what do you think of my youngest good-for-nothing son?"
"Second Master's fate is a little odd," Mr. Huang mused as he stared off into the distance. "Originally, he should have the fate of a Gusha**. This is an inauspicious sign that leads to a difficult and sad life. Such an unlucky fate is not to be confused with the constellation of Tian Sha Gu Xing; someone who has the Tian Sha fate brings misfortune to those around him. But for someone like Ye Peicheng, the Gusha fate brings misfortune only to himself, leading to a life of loneliness and growing old without anyone to support him. However, there now seems to be a very clean and pure aura on his body."
(**T/N: Gu Sha 孤煞 – it essentially means that he will have a lonely life; it is supposed to be one of the stars in a constellation that fortune tellers use to see a person's fate)
"What do you mean?" Father Ye asked.
"This event can only mean that there's a noble person around him, and this virtuous person may be able to change his originally lonely fate," Mr. Huang explained. "I once saw this kind of pure qi when I used to train under my Master during my early days. I didn't expect such an energy to appear beside Second Young Master. But with this kind of purifying spirit, your second son will no longer have to worry about these things."
"So that's how he'll be able to break free of his Gusha fate? Can you tell me who this noble person is so I can invite him into our house?" Father Ye was a bit anxious since this concerned his own son after all. The young man refused to manage the family business. As a father in his late years, he can't just stand by and watch his son do nothing.
Mr. Huang replied, "Mr. Ye, this pure qi will naturally flow according to fate; it won't be good if we interfere too much. However, at present, there is a slow reversal of Second Master's fortune. The only thing we can do is let nature take its course."
"So that means we shouldn't interfere in anything?" Father Ye asked.
"Yes," Mr. Huang nodded. "Second Master is in the entertainment circle, which means that the noble person he encountered is within the same circle as well. That is why Mr. Ye, although you desperately want to bring your son back to inherit your family business, it's actually best to let your him stay where he is at this stage. Otherwise, he will return to his previous, doomed fate."
"Well, thank you so much for your advice Mr. Huang!" Father Ye nodded in approval.
"No, I would like to be the one thanking you this time. I've been in this business for so many years, and yet you gave me the rare chance to witness such a pure qi for the second time. I have no regrets!" Mr. Huang lamented: "It seems that I need to go and see for myself who this divine and pure person is."
"Well, if you want to meet that person, all we have to do is tell Ye Peicheng to get close with that righteous man, right?"
"There's no need for that. Everything in this world has its own number of days and its purpose for existence. If this pure person ends up standing beside our Second Master, this will prove that they are predestined. But our human intervention will cause side effects." Mr. Huang added: "Of course, if this person encounters any difficulties, Mr. Ye can provide some assistance, but it must be done from the sidelines in order to benefit our Second Young Master."
"I see." Father Ye lowered himself to performed a solemn ceremony for Mr. Huang, but Mr. Huang quickly supported him up. He laughed and said, "We're both almost the same age, I'm embarrassed!"
Although Mr. Huang is a distinguished guest, he couldn't stay behind for dinner due to other business matters.
Since today is Ye Peicheng's birthday, the housekeeper prepared a double-layered cake for him.
When Father Ye arrived at the dining table, the people in the room were surprised to find that this old man didn't show signs of anger when seeing Ye Peicheng.
"Let's eat," Father Ye said, after which everyone sat down altogether.
Ye Mother glanced at her Second Son.
She motioned Ye Peicheng to sit down to not make their father angry, but unexpectedly, Father Ye's gaze swept over the double-layered cake and commented cheerfully, "Isn't it his birthday? Sister Zhang, please cut a slice for each one of us."
The maidservant, Mrs. Zhang, quickly took the platter and divided the cake before distributing the slices to everyone.
Although wasn't any candle for a birthday wish, it was already quite a miracle that Ye Peicheng's birthday didn't end in an argument.
Ye Peiqing raised his sights, and his slightly slanted Phoenix eyes locked gazes with Ye Peicheng on the opposite side of the table. He observed his younger brother with a measuring stare.
Mrs. Zhang then placed a cake in front of the Second son.
Ye Peicheng tasted it carefully. The sweetness caused him to frown; he couldn't help but recall Qiao Moyu's appearance when she savored her cake in the lounge.
It was obviously such an oily cake, but she ate it so sumptuously, unlike the other actors who were scared to bite into anything sweet in case they gain weight. Qiao Moyu savored her cake as if the food before her was her entire world. 'Ha ha.'
Ye Peicheng doesn't stay in the Ye Mansion during weekdays; instead, he stays over at his personal villa in the city. After dinner, he bade farewell to his dad. Father Ye asked, "Are you still shooting a movie tomorrow?"
Ye Peicheng gazed into his eyes and nodded calmly, "Yes."
"Even if you're busy with your work, you should always come home." After saying this, Father Ye waved his hand, indicating that he may go.
Ye Peicheng was astonished. What happened to his father today?
On the way home, he flipped through his microblog and inadvertently saw the topic, '#Shengshi drama's Beauty in Plain White.' Since he was part of the cast, he decided to click on the video.
Unexpectedly, there was a car that ran through a red light on the other lane. Ye Peicheng's driver braked quickly, but their car still ended up with a slight scratch.
Within the sudden deceleration, Ye Peicheng's fingertip accidentally pressed 'like' on the post on Weibo.
In this short window of time, Ye Peicheng's 'like' on Qiao Moyu's video created a ripple effect that soon set off a storm.
Qiao Moyu once again climbed to the hot search once again. This time, beside her name was Ye Peicheng's.
The comments down below showed that Ye Peicheng's fans were particularly excited: "My husband even praised the new actress! How long has it been since he complimented another actress? Three years? And this person just joined the entertainment circle too!"
"Is this real? I think my heart's about to break!"
"Even though Moyu sister is pretty, our hubby is still ours!"
The fans were excited, but Ye Peicheng shifted uncomfortably. It was all an accidental slip of his hand, but should he explain himself?
He clicked on the video this time and saw Qiao Moyu's performance. There was a hint of interest at the depths of his eyes. Was this girl a Shaolin disciple?
While the fans online were in commotion, Qiao Moyu was totally unaware of these events.
She was giving Luo Luo a shower at this time.
The toddler was only two years and four months old. He insisted that he wanted to bathe by himself and refused his mother's help.
After taking a few moments to undress the little child, Qiao Moyu brought her son into the bathroom and tested the water temperature in the tub before putting him in.
The toddler was obviously very shy. He crawled in the large tub and turned his back and small buttocks towards his mother.
Qiao Moyu ran to her son's room and grabbed some rubber toy ducks. She placed them in the bathtub with Luo Luo. "Oh no, the rubber duck's gonna bite baby's little butt if he doesn't turn around quickly. Don't worry, mom will save you!"
The little boy reached out behind and touched the toy. After catching a duckling, he turned his head and looked up at his mom. "Luo Luo isn't fooled!"
Qiao Moyu took advantage of this moment and readily planted a kiss on his cheek: "Little Luo, you were fooled!" she laughed.
When the toddler realized he was tricked, he turned around completely and splashed water at Qiao Moyu. The pair of mother and son enjoyed themselves in the bathroom.
Hearing the commotion, Nanny Yu came into the bathroom and discovered the totally drenched Qiao Moyu. She couldn't hold back a laugh and said: "Miss Qiao, you're just like a baby, people will never guess you're actually 18-years old!"
Qiao Moyu suddenly went quiet from surprise. Actually, before she crossed into this world, she was also only 18-years old!
Author's Afterword:
"Well Qiao Moyu, instead of an eighteen-year-old, you act more like–an eight-year-old!