After finishing breakfast, Su Baizhou stood up, went back to her room, and grabbed her bag, seemingly preparing to go shopping.
"Watch the house, I'll be back soon."
With that, Su Baizhou left.
Luo Ye had no idea what his senior was up to. He returned to his room and continued writing.
If he wasn't writing, he was on his way to writing. He was truly a diligent, capable little writer.
In his novel, the male lead had given up on the girl he'd secretly admired for years and was growing closer to the female lead.
The comments were full of applause, praising how exciting the plot was.
Luo Ye started planning the next part of the story—the male lead would fall in love with the female lead, and she would slowly fall for him, too.
It was strange to him that, as someone who had been single for 18 years, he was writing a romance novel.
Soon, his morning writing task was done. Luo Ye sat back in his chair, ready to scroll through short videos.
However, he had a nagging feeling that he had forgotten something important.
What was it?
Luo Ye sat there in deep thought.
At that moment, his phone suddenly rang with a video call, and the name "Aunt" appeared on the screen.
Luo Ye scrambled to answer the call.
The screen showed a graceful woman with an elegant appearance, wearing expensive earrings and a necklace, dressed in high-end clothing.
Although there were signs of age on her face, her skin looked well-maintained, as she took care of it every week. Chen Shaoman still looked very charming.
"Ah, isn't this our little Ye Ye?"
Aunt's voice was high-pitched and sweet, completely at odds with her rich, refined appearance. She spoke as if she were a little girl talking to a kitten, her face full of affection.
Luo Ye's forehead darkened, but he couldn't bring himself to be mad.
In this family, no one ever got mad at Aunt, and no one dared.
When Aunt was younger, her personality was like a noble lady—high-class, if you will. But to put it bluntly, she had a "green tea" personality.
In her husband's words, she wasn't just green tea, but his dear younger sister.
That's why her husband, Uncle Gu, was completely under her thumb, always swooning over her. Whenever Aunt shed a tear, Luo Ye and Gu Mingxuan would get a beating from Uncle Gu.
In this family, Aunt was a precious gem, even though she was no longer young.
Seeing Luo Ye's expression, Aunt Chen pretended to be sad and mumbled, "Ye Ye, it's been a month since I've seen you. You didn't even bother to call your Aunt. I'm really heartbroken."
"I've... been busy, hahaha. Aunt, how have you been lately?"
"Not well at all."
Aunt Chen shook her head, her face full of worry. "I only have one little nephew. For the past month, I've been wondering if you're eating well at school, if you're living well. That Gu Mingxuan, that good-for-nothing, actually went abroad when you started school. He really infuriates me."
(Gu Mingxuan: Am I not your only son?)
Listening to Aunt ramble on, Luo Ye couldn't help but smile wryly and ask, "Aunt, what's the matter? Why are you calling me?"
"What? Ye Ye, are you saying I can only call when I need something? You're really breaking my heart, boohoo."
A cold sweat trickled down Luo Ye's forehead.
He forced a smile and gently replied, "Aunt, that's not it. I think about you every day. You can call me anytime."
Gu Mingxuan often said that Luo Ye was really good at taking care of girls, and the reason was clear.
Having lost his parents, Luo Ye was doted on by the Gu family even more than Gu Mingxuan, and that came with a lot of pressure.
That pressure came mostly from Aunt Chen.
"Now you've made Aunt happy."
Aunt Chen immediately brightened, as if the sadness from a moment ago never existed.
"Ye Ye, today's your birthday, and you're not home. Your Uncle Gu and I were thinking about what gift to get you."
Upon hearing this, Luo Ye felt a warm sensation in his heart and smiled slightly. "Aunt, you and Uncle Gu raised me. That's the best gift I could ask for."
"That's not enough. How can my dear nephew not have a gift on his birthday? Uncle Gu, give 50% of your company's shares to Ye Ye."
Luo Ye almost dropped his phone.
On the video, his Uncle Gu, Gu Rancheng, walked into view, also wearing a bitter smile. He sighed, "Honey, I'm a director, but I don't even have 50% of the shares myself."
"I don't care, figure it out!"
"Why aren't you doing something about it?"
"You don't love me anymore!"
"Waah, you don't love me anymore, waah!"
Aunt Chen's tears flowed like pearls, and Uncle Gu immediately panicked, crouching down to comfort her.
Despite being an old married couple nearing fifty, they still acted like teenagers, calling each other "darling" repeatedly, making Luo Ye cringe.
Taking advantage of their affectionate moment, Luo Ye exchanged a glance with Uncle Gu and then quickly ended the call.
Gu Rancheng's company wasn't the biggest conglomerate in Beijing, but in the field of game development, it was one of the top companies nationwide.
Apart from the company that produced PUBG and Honor of Kings, no one could compete with the Gu family for second place.
The company's shares were mostly split between Gu Rancheng and Gu Mingxuan, who held 55% of the voting rights.
Luo Ye had no shares at all.
It was obvious to anyone that Luo Ye wasn't suited for handling the company or taking on a leadership role.
If he were the leader, the whole company would probably be sold, and he'd be counting the money for someone else.
Luo Ye didn't want the responsibility, nor did he have the desire to be involved.
So Aunt's suggestion about giving him shares was just a joke.
Besides, Luo Ye wasn't the type to want nominal shares without getting involved, since he was easily manipulated.
A young man barely in his twenties couldn't deal with company shareholders in their forties or fifties.
But Gu Mingxuan was different. He'd been groomed as the heir to the company since childhood, so his resume was impeccable, like someone wearing the hero's halo.
Luo Ye, on the other hand, had been growing up carefree, with no expectation of running the company.
After losing his parents, both Aunt Chen and Uncle Gu just wanted Luo Ye to be happy and do whatever he liked without any pressure.
After the video call ended, Luo Ye finally remembered something.
Today was his birthday.
But he was in Jiangcheng, and it was the middle of a seven-day holiday. His roommates were all gone.
Looks like he'd have to spend his nineteenth birthday alone.
Well... not exactly alone.
He still had his wonderful readers.
At the end of today's update, Luo Ye added a line:
"Happy birthday to me."
Soon, in the comment section, readers flooded in with birthday wishes.
Although they were often harsh on the plot, sometimes even cursing, at moments like this, they were all incredibly sweet.
They truly were a group of lovely readers.