Surprisingly, Grandfather Xiang and Shui Koshing came back earlier than expected. There was no other reason than the fact that they both felt like spending time home was far much worthwhile than chatting idly at the banquet held after the charity auction. They both had no interest in socializing.
They both had retired from their respective fields for a while and left everything to the younger generation. However, there were still people who were anticipating making their acquaintance. It was a pity that they were all bound to be disappointed.
?
When Grandfather Xiang came back, Hyson was the first one to jump around like a kid. He told him what he ate, what he did, and a lot of nonsense. And just as always, Grandfather Xiang patiently listened to Hyson's chattering without complaining. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it as always. There was nothing new about this scene.
"Jun, I didn't expect to see you here today," said Shui Koshing as he sat down with Zhai Yanjun.
"Well, I didn't expect it as well," muttered Zhai Yanjun to himself.
"When did you come back?"
"Just last night," answered Zhai Yanjun.
"Then you could have taken a rest for the day."
"I am resting," stated Zhai Yanjun. But he didn't explain himself. This way of resting was probably quite novel to anyone. However, he didn't think so. Because he felt like coming here today was better than going for therapy. It put him in such a good mood that he couldn't control his smile from the moment he came here. No wonder, Master Xian had been smiling a lot lately.
Indeed, the people around you do have control over your emotions.
After talking to Zhai Yanjun for a while, Shui Koshing stepped away. Meanwhile, Zhai Yanjun noticed how Shui Koshing seemed to be interacting with Yue. He couldn't help frowning with a deep look in his eyes. He had a strong feeling since earlier that he knew Yue from somewhere and now seeing Shui Koshing's familiarity with her, he felt like he was on the right track.
Due to the ties between Zhai and Shui family, there wasn't anyone in their circles who were connected in some way. Although he felt like his reasoning was far-fetched, he couldn't help thinking along this track. His heart was telling him he was right.
"You can stop looking, it won't get you anywhere," he heard Raelle voice and snapped his head around to see her sitting languidly on the other side.
"Am I not allowed to look?" asked Zhai Yanjun.
"Sure you're allowed to do so but what's the point?" retorted Raelle. "Just seeing won't solve the doubts swirling in your eyes."
Zhai Yanjun was taken aback by her words. And suddenly laughed softly as he shook his head, "If I knew you're so interesting, I would have shown up for our blind date."
"And do you think we would have gotten anywhere after that blind date?" asked Raelle as she straightened up.
"Not romantically," answered Zhai Yanjun honestly. "But we could have become friends."
"Friends?" repeated Raelle as she stared at him. "Friendship with me is tiresome."
"I can already tell," he told her. "And that's why I'm surprised that you have a best friend who has been around you for years."
"There is nothing surprising about that," said Raelle as if she didn't think it was anything worthy of mentioning.
"Your friendship is quite precious," he suddenly spoke out his mind after observing them for hours. "Precious enough to make someone envious."
Raelle's finger tapped on her knee as she told him, "Do you think your friendship with Xian isn't precious enough?"
Zhai Yanjun lowered his eyes, "He and I have never been friends actually. Maybe we were friends when we were young. There is a clash between his personality and mine. He manages to make anyone like him almost instantly but I always had trouble communicating with people. In a way, you can say he was an extrovert and I was the introvert. When he made new friends, he always took me with him but I wasn't comfortable with anyone else. So, I distanced myself." He looked up at her and laughed at himself, "I self-sabotaged myself, didn't I?"
Raelle took a moment to ask, "What is friendship to you, Mr. Soldier?"
Zhai Yanjun shrugged his shoulders, "I never really thought about it because before today I didn't think friendship was anything special. But seeing you and Hyson made me realize that I was actually wrong. So, perhaps to me, the definition of friendship is your relationship with him."
"Do you want to know what's between me and Hyson?"
Zhai Yanjun leaned over as he anticipated her answer.
"Mutual trust, mutual support, and understanding," answered Raelle. "At the end of the day, our friendship isn't that different from others. You're willing to stand up for Xian when he needs you the most just like he is willing to stand up for you when you need him the most. Isn't that all there is to friendship? I wonder why you both are reluctant to accept this truth?"
Zhai Yanjun didn't know how to react to her words. Her words reminded him of what his grandma told him. Indeed, he and Xian were friends who were just unwilling to accept this fact.
"What are you guys talking about?" asked Grandfather Xiang when his attention finally shifted from Hyson who was still telling him stories.
"Nothing special," answered Zhai Yanjun. "Oh, Granduncle, I brought gifts. Let me bring it in."
Saying that he ran out of the house and brought gifts from his car.
"Since I came to apologize, I couldn't come empty-handed, or else my grandma would have grilled me alive," said Zhai Yanjun jokingly as he placed the gifts on the coffee table.
"It's a good thing you only took out your gifts now or else, Yanyan would have been the one to grill you," stated Hyson as he chuckled looking at Mu Chenyan who was silently sipping tea.
Although Mu Chenyan had a bad attitude towards Zhai Yanjun, seeing how patient and nice he had been with Yue, she couldn't help re-evaluating him. It wasn't nice to sentence someone to death over one mistake. She was a benevolent person, she would give him another chance to redeem himself.
Even though all that was going through her mind, she didn't show a single thing on her face.
Zhai Yanjun first gave a small rectangular box to Grandfather Xiang, then he gave a slightly bigger box to Mu Chenyan. As for Raelle, her gift box was longer than the others. Grandfather Xiang's gift was a precious jade. Grandfather Xiang raised his brow at the sight of this gift before he looked at Zhai Yanjun, "This is good stuff."
"As long as you like it," said Zhai Yanjun with a big smile on his face. He seemed like he was currying favor right now shamelessly but he didn't care how his image collapsed before him. He deeply admired Grandfather Xiang, after all.
Mu Chenyan nonchalantly opened the box in her hand and then her eyes widened in surprise. She was so surprised that she even stood up instantly. "No way!" her lips parted but only these two words came out of her mouth.
"This gift is quite aligned with Yanyan's taste," said Hyson. "Congratulations! Your collection only lacks the last one now."
Mu Chenyan picked up the dagger in her hand with excitement glittering in her eyes. Anyone could see that her emotions were in disarray right now. She couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Her finger traced the shiny and sharp blade of the dagger. The blade was so sharp that her fingertip got slashed but even the blood didn't faze her excitement. If anything, it only intensified it. There was a dragon design carved at the hilt of the dagger. An expert in the field of antiques could only tell how valuable this centuries-old dagger in her hand was. But when it came to things like that, Mu Chenyan was the best expert herself!
Without a doubt, she knew this was an original!
She never thought she'd come across this dagger like this. She looked up at Zhai Yanjun who seemed to be waiting for her to say anything. Mu Chenyan pursed her lips before saying, "Thank you for this! But it must be very expensive. So, I can't take it without paying you for it."
Zhai Yanjun waved his hand saying, "There is no need for that. That just happened to be collecting dust in my maternal grandfather's antique collection. He doesn't even appreciate it. So, I thought this should belong to someone who truly had a passion and who knew what treasure this is."
Mu Chenyan was still hesitant to take it.
"Chenyan," Grandfather Xiang called out.
"Yes, Elder Xiang?"
"If you still feel uncomfortable, you can send something from our family's collection as a thank you gift. There is no need to feel burdened."
Mu Chenyan was instantly enlightened, "That's right! That's the best solution. Why didn't I think about it?"
"They say first love makes you lose your senses," said Hyson. "Seeing your love for daggers, it's quite obvious that the first love is dangerous."
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