Chapter 15: Fine, I’ll Go

They walked all the way out of Antique Street.

Only after confirming that no one was following did Su Yifan finally stop.

“What are you doing? You’re acting like a thief,” Liu Yan said, hands on her slender waist, panting lightly.

Su Yifan handed her the purple clay teapot. “Here, take it. I’ve done you the favor—now we’re even. I’m leaving.”

“Hey, wait a second!” Liu Yan hurriedly called after him.

“What is it?” Su Yifan glanced at the teapot in her hands, replying with confidence, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any issues with it.”

“No, you misunderstood.” Liu Yan explained, “I meant, the day after tomorrow is my grandfather’s birthday banquet. All the prominent families of Cloud City will be there, and I’d like to invite you to attend.”

“Not interested,” Su Yifan waved her off and turned to leave.

Seeing her invitation so bluntly refused, Liu Yan’s face fell with disappointment. Just as she was about to get in her car—

“Wait a moment,” Su Yifan’s voice suddenly called out.

She looked up at him quickly.

“What did you just say?” he asked.

Liu Yan raised her brows, repeating, “I said I want to invite you to my grandfather’s birthday banquet.”

“No, the sentence before that.”

The sentence before? Although Liu Yan didn’t understand what he was getting at, she still answered, “All the prominent families of Cloud City will be there?”

At that, Su Yifan nodded. “All right. I’ll attend.”

Liu Yan was baffled.

He agreed just like that? And why was he so interested in the city’s elite families? Did he want to mingle with high society?

She pondered for a good while. Apart from that, she couldn’t think of another reason. So she could only accept that explanation.

After adding each other on WeChat, Su Yifan hailed a taxi home, while Liu Yan took the teapot to have it appraised—not because she didn’t trust him, but just in case. After all, this was a birthday gift for her grandfather and could not be taken lightly.

…

Meanwhile.

Inside the grand hall of the Southeastern Prince’s Residence.

The Prince, Ye Tianjun, sat sipping tea. At that moment—

Tap, tap…

A soldier clad in black armor strode in briskly from outside, each step echoing with the sound of metal scraping.

The soldier knelt on one knee before the dais. “Your Highness, the matter has been investigated. Not a single member of the Wang family survived.”

Not a single survivor.

Crash! Ye Tianjun’s teacup shattered in his grip.

“How dare they! They even dared to touch my people!” Ye Tianjun’s eyes flashed with a murderous glint. He asked in a low voice, “Have you found the perpetrator?”

The soldier hesitated before replying, “N-no, we haven’t.”

“Useless! You can’t even find one person—what’s the point of keeping you around?” Ye Tianjun slammed the table, reducing its corner to powder.

The soldier recoiled in fright, then stammered, “Your Highness, although we haven’t found the culprit, we did identify a suspicious individual.”

“A suspicious individual?” Ye Tianjun narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

The soldier dared not conceal anything. “It’s the son of the current head of the Su family, named Su Yifan.”

“Su Yifan?”

“Yes. According to our investigation, this Su Yifan disappeared five years ago, but yesterday, he suddenly reappeared. The Green Gang and the Wang family have long suppressed the Su family, and as soon as Su Yifan returned, both groups were annihilated. So we suspect…”

He trailed off, but the implication was clear.

Ye Tianjun fell silent, pondering.

After a moment, he asked, “How old is this person?”

“A…about twenty,” the soldier replied, lacking confidence.

“Twenty?” Ye Tianjun could not help but sneer. “A mere twenty-year-old boy single-handedly wiped out two major powers of Cloud City? Do you take me for a fool?”

The soldier broke into a cold sweat, unsure how to respond.

Truth be told, even he didn’t believe Su Yifan was the perpetrator, but the timing of his return was just too coincidental. They had investigated thoroughly, and apart from this young man, they had found nothing. So all suspicion fell on him.

Ye Tianjun snorted, “Get out and keep investigating!”

“Yes, Your Highness!” The soldier scrambled away.

…

Elsewhere, at the Su residence.

Su Zhenguo paced anxiously at the gate. Ever since he had come home, his son Su Yifan had yet to appear. At first, he thought his son might have decided to spend more time with his grandfather, but even after waiting two full hours, he saw no sign of him. He waited another ten minutes at the doorstep, but finally lost patience.

Just as he was about to go look for his son—

“Dad, where are you off to?” Su Yifan’s voice called out.

Hearing his son’s voice, Su Zhenguo looked up sharply, relieved to see his son at last.

“You brat, what took you so long? I thought…” He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

“What did you think?” Su Yifan asked.

Smack! Su Zhenguo lightly cuffed his son’s head. “Never mind what I thought. Come inside and eat.”

Su Yifan feigned pain, then followed his father into the house.

As they entered the main hall, Su Yifan saw his mother, Zhang Hong, and his little sister, Su Meng, waiting for him at the table, which was laden with dishes.

“Brother, you’re finally home!” Su Meng jumped up and ran over to take his arm.

Su Yifan patted her head. “It’s only been a little while—did you miss me already?”

“Don’t pat my head, or I’ll never grow tall,” she protested, covering her head with her hands.

“All right, all right, I won’t,” Su Yifan replied with a laugh.

He sat down at the table, taking in the sight and aroma of the feast before him, and couldn’t help but swallow.

“Mom, you’ve worked hard, making all of this,” he said.

With those words, both Su Zhenguo and Su Meng looked at him in surprise.

“What are you looking at me for?” Su Yifan was puzzled. Had he said something wrong?

His sister arched an eyebrow. “Brother, how did you know Mom made all these dishes?”

His parents gazed at him with equal curiosity, eager for an answer.

Su Yifan, thinking he’d misspoken, realized it was just curiosity. “Don’t you remember? Whenever Mom cooks, she always puts a lot of celery in her stir-fried beef, and she never garnishes abalone or lobster with scallions. But beyond those details, the taste alone is something I’ll never forget in my life.”

Upon hearing this, father and daughter exchanged a guilty look.

To be honest, after all these years, all they’d ever noticed was that the food tasted good—they’d never paid attention to those little details.

As for Zhang Hong, her eyes shimmered with tears—not of sadness, but of joy. She had never imagined her son cared so much about everything she did, even the tiniest, most insignificant details.

“Mom, why are you crying?” Su Yifan asked with concern.

“No, I’m not crying, I’m just… moved,” Zhang Hong replied, wiping her tears away, her face aglow with happiness.

Watching the deep affection between mother and son, Su Meng suddenly felt like an outsider. “Um, Mom, Brother, can we start eating now?”

“Oh, right, right—let’s eat,” Su Zhenguo echoed, picking up his chopsticks.