This was probably the biggest trouble Shen Yuan had ever gotten into since coming to live with the Li family. He had never seen his uncle this furious.
Getting involved with a thirty-seven-year-old man—an older man who was also his uncle’s friend, no less—was bound to make his uncle feel utterly humiliated. Yet on the drive back, his uncle hadn’t scolded Shen Yuan even once. Instead, he tore into Qiao Hailou from head to toe, calling him a shameless, immoral old pervert who had tricked poor Shen Yuan.
By the time he was done, Shen Yuan had been painted as an innocent, clueless little white flower. His face was burning red from listening, but he couldn’t exactly speak up to say that Qiao Hailou hadn’t really deceived him—that he’d been the one to make the first move. In front of his uncle, he was far too embarrassed. When he truly couldn’t take it anymore, he murmured a weak defense: “He’s… not that bad.”
He really shouldn’t have said anything at all. The moment he did, it was like pouring gasoline on the fire.
Li Chen looked heartbroken. In his eyes, Qiao Hailou was a seasoned operator; it clearly wasn’t just a day or two that he’d been leading Shen Yuan on. Shen Yuan being briefly infatuated wasn’t surprising. What Li Chen feared was that Shen Yuan might still be stubbornly deluding himself. Grinding his teeth, he earnestly tried to talk sense into him while ruthlessly exposing Qiao Hailou’s past.
“Idiot, Qiao Hailou really isn’t a good person. He treats relationships frivolously. Even when he was young, I heard plenty about him. As a teenager he was already a notorious playboy, changing partners constantly—cold-hearted and fickle. Didn’t I tell you he fell out with his family at twenty? That was because of a man. He ran off with him! Both families went after them—sounds loyal, right? But less than a week later, they broke up. And after that? Even worse. He changes lovers all the time. Every time I run into him, he’s with someone different. Look at that—how is that not bad?”
At a time like this, Shen Yuan knew better than to say a single good word about Qiao Hailou.
That very day, Li Chen practically escorted him like a prison guard, watching him return to his rented apartment. After more than an hour spent packing clothes and necessities, Li Chen took him straight back home.
Shen Yuan had been living out there mainly because the family home was far from school, and renting a small place nearby was more convenient. But after this, there was no way Li Chen would allow it. He ordered Shen Yuan to get up early every day, forbade him from driving himself, and had the chauffeur take him to and from school—leaving Qiao Hailou no opening whatsoever. On top of that, Li Chen personally watched as Shen Yuan blocked every single one of Qiao Hailou’s contact methods, warning him that he was not to contact Qiao Hailou under any circumstances, nor answer if Qiao Hailou reached out.
Shen Yuan meekly agreed. He wasn’t stupid enough to contact Qiao Hailou right now anyway. Qiao Hailou probably wouldn’t either—doing so would be like walking straight onto a blade. Better to wait a couple of days, until his uncle calmed down.
Right now, no matter what he did, it would be wrong.
That night, Shen Yuan lay on his bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. His uncle had specially had them installed back when Shen Yuan first came to live with the Li family.
He let out a long sigh. What was he supposed to do now? Was this it—was he really going to break up with Qiao Hailou just like that?
Rationally, he understood everything. But emotionally… he really, really wanted to talk to Qiao Hailou.
Li Chen was so angry he couldn’t sleep. After shutting his door, he called Lin Zhihui to vent.
Lin Zhihui thought silently, So you finally found out…
The entire family had known for a long time—Li Chen was the only one in the dark. Now he finally knew. She listened as he went on about keeping a close watch, surrounding and cutting off Qiao Hailou completely, not allowing him the slightest chance to deceive Shen Yuan again.
Lin Zhihui wholeheartedly agreed. Li Chen truly treated Shen Yuan like his own child; otherwise he wouldn’t be this furious. Any parent would react the same way—what parent could accept a thirty-seven-year-old playboy stealing away their sweet nineteen-year-old kid, no matter how rich or smooth-talking he was?
Even though she knew more of the inside story—that Shen Yuan had been the one to make the first move—she still couldn’t help grumbling inwardly about Qiao Hailou’s lack of shame. A nineteen-year-old boy comes onto you and you just accept it? No self-control at all. Fine if you didn’t know he was a friend’s child at first—but once you did, couldn’t you stop? Instead, you kept pursuing him.
Still, she was an outsider, and her views on education differed from Li Chen’s. Li Chen favored decisive, thunderous action—breaking up the couple outright. She felt that such extreme measures would only provoke rebellion and make the lovers cling to each other even more.
But Shen Yuan respected Li Chen deeply. If Li Chen forbade him from seeing Qiao Hailou, maybe after some time, the feelings really would cool off.
When she heard Li Chen mutter resentfully, “…Once Shen Yuan’s acceptance letter comes in, I’ll send him abroad. That way they won’t be able to see each other,” Lin Zhihui laughed.
“You think you’re in a TV drama? Sending him overseas and that’s it—cut to a few years later, never see each other again? This is the age of technology. Communication is so easy, roaming fees aren’t expensive. You already worry he’ll secretly contact Qiao Hailou even when you’re watching him closely. If you send him somewhere you can’t see him at all, would you really feel at ease?”
Li Chen froze. Her words snapped him awake. She was absolutely right. Forget phone calls and the internet—Qiao Hailou was rich enough to own a private jet. If he wanted to fly over to see Shen Yuan, he could do it anytime. If Qiao Hailou were just some ordinary young man without much money, sending Shen Yuan abroad might cut off contact. But with Qiao Hailou? That would be like delivering Shen Yuan straight to his mouth.
…If Shen Yuan had been dating an ordinary male classmate, Li Chen would have been shocked at first to learn his “idiot” liked boys—but beyond that, he probably wouldn’t have said much.
Now Li Chen was at a loss. “Then what am I supposed to do? If you put it that way, I can’t send him abroad, and I have to keep him here, right by my side. But he’s definitely going overseas for further studies. I can’t stop him from going to school just because of Qiao Hailou, can I?”
Before, since Li Chen hadn’t known, Lin Zhihui hadn’t acted. Now that he did, she finally offered an idea she’d been considering for a long time.
Clearing her throat, she said, “Ahem. How about this—why don’t we find Shen Yuan a more suitable boy? Someone young, handsome, from a good family, with good character. Someone who completely outshines Qiao Hailou. Shen Yuan hasn’t really dated before; he’s never seriously been with someone his own age. Let’s introduce him to someone good.”
Li Chen thought for a moment, then nodded. “That makes sense… Tomorrow I’ll ask around, see which families have sons who are already out, and set something up for Abin.”
It wasn’t an easy task. Li Chen sighed. “This won’t be easy to find.”
Lin Zhihui added casually, “I’ve heard of a few. You can take a look. There’s a bit of an age gap, but not much—five or six years at most.”
She’d had her eye on them for a while already. Originally, she’d planned to introduce someone after Shen Yuan and Qiao Hailou inevitably broke up, to help him heal. She hadn’t expected it would come in handy this early.
Li Chen was delighted. “Good, good, good. I’ll write them down and ask around.”
Shen Yuan had no idea that his uncle and Aunt Hui had already arranged his upcoming gay blind dates.
He slept poorly that night. The next morning he was listless. Because the house was far from school, he was woken while it was still dim outside, shoved into the car, and sent off to class. It was finals season, the last classes of the semester, and attendance was strict.
All day, Shen Yuan felt uneasy, half-expecting Qiao Hailou to appear at the classroom door—but he never did.
His uncle had the driver watch him to and from school, but during class hours, no one was watching him. Why didn’t Qiao Hailou come then? Had he really just given up? Hadn’t he promised to take responsibility?
If he didn’t come soon, then it really would be over.
Sigh. He was going abroad to study anyway. Maybe it would be better if it ended—at least he wouldn’t have to suffer like this. He missed Qiao Hailou terribly, but he knew he couldn’t reach out first right now. One, it would be too easy for his uncle to find out. Two, it would make him look desperate, like he was clinging to Qiao Hailou. That would be humiliating.
Maybe because he was so distracted, he barely ate lunch. Even though he’d chosen his favorite dishes, everything tasted greasy and unappetizing.
The last class of the afternoon had just ended when his uncle called, telling him the driver was waiting at the school gate. He had five minutes to get there—no lingering, straight home.
Li Chen worked fast.
That very day, he contacted the families Lin Zhihui had mentioned and obtained information on their sons. These were all relatively open-minded parents who didn’t mind their children’s orientation and were more than happy to let their sons go on blind dates with kids from similarly well-matched families.
Men and women could be set up—so why not men and men?
He organized all the profiles, picked his favorite, and even settled the schedule. In a few days, he would send Shen Yuan over to meet them.
Just then, someone rang the doorbell.
Li Chen checked the video feed, and his face instantly darkened. Damn it. He hadn’t even gone to teach Qiao Hailou a lesson yet, and Qiao Hailou dared to come knocking himself. Was he asking for a beating?
Li Chen didn’t want to open the door.
Qiao Hailou spoke earnestly. “Mr. Li, please don’t hang up. Just listen to me for a moment. I know you’re angry, but you can’t just block your ears and refuse to hear anything I say. Could you let me come in? Let’s sit down and talk properly. I’m not asking to see Shen Yuan—just you and me. We have to talk at least once, don’t we? If you can really scold some sense into me and persuade me, then that’s the cleanest resolution. Don’t you think?”
When Qiao Hailou said he didn’t ask to see Shen Yuan, Li Chen relaxed slightly. After thinking it over, he agreed that they did need to talk. Last time he’d only scolded Qiao Hailou briefly—it hadn’t been satisfying at all. Maybe he’d gone too easy, giving Qiao Hailou hope. This time, he would scold him until he was utterly ashamed and gave up completely.
Qiao Hailou was allowed into the Li house, his attitude extremely humble.
This was the first time in his life he’d shown such deference to someone his own age. This was Shen Yuan’s stepfather—he had no choice but to bow his head.
Qiao Hailou had been anxious too. After returning home the day before, he’d spent the whole day thinking, unable to come up with a good plan. His reputation as a womanizer was just too well-known.
Out of options, he discreetly asked a few people around him for advice.
Cen Chuan said, “Me? When Xiaorui’s dad first found out, he was furious—almost beat me out of the house. Luckily, Xiaorui liked me so much he kept defending me.”
Qiao Hailou felt instantly bitter. How did other people’s boyfriends end up being so devoted? He just hadn’t managed to make Shen Yuan that hopelessly in love yet.
Cen Chuan laughed at the memory. “Later, Xiaorui told his dad, if you think we’re not a good match, then don’t interfere—maybe we’ll break up on our own. His dad watched coldly, and in the end we got married. After that we used a surrogate and had two kids. Once they saw their grandkids, they naturally stopped objecting.”
That clearly didn’t apply here. As for having kids—this wasn’t the right time at all. Having one before marriage would mean an illegitimate child. And if he were to do it, it’d have to be with Shen Yuan’s genes. Who knew how Shen Yuan’s special physical constitution worked, whether it could even produce a child? Sigh. He’d always been against marriage, let alone raising kids. This was the very last resort.
Cen Chuan’s advice was useless.
Qiao Hailou then asked Bai Lu, deliberately disguising it as “a friend of mine” seeking advice.
Bai Lu was speechless and replied bluntly, “Sir… no matter how sweet your ‘friend’s’ words are, no one will believe him. Then he should show it through actions.”
“How?” Qiao Hailou asked.
“What else? Get married.”
“…,” Qiao Hailou fell silent.
He thought about it from every angle. With all his cunning tricks, he could have chosen something more underhanded—putting pressure on the Li family’s business, or threatening that if they didn’t hand Shen Yuan over, Shen Yuan wouldn’t be able to make it in the domestic jewelry industry even after graduating. But those were things he absolutely couldn’t do.
In the end, he chose the dumbest method.
He brought a marriage application with him and went straight to the Li house, showing Li Chen that he wasn’t just fooling around—he sincerely wanted a long-term future with Shen Yuan.
Li Chen didn’t hesitate. He flipped the marriage application over. “Look at how old you are and you still want to trick my kid into marrying you? Have you no shame at all?”
At this point, shamelessness was Qiao Hailou’s only weapon. Look—even a refined, honest man like Li Chen resorted to insults when furious. “Age is something I can’t change. That’s not my fault. Heaven had me born early—when you were born, I was already old. If I were only in my twenties, would you agree then?”
“No!” Li Chen snapped. “Your character is terrible! Shen Yuan is so young, still in school. Next year he’s going abroad to study—his academics will be intense—and you actually have the nerve to trick a well-behaved student into marrying you…”
Qiao Hailou froze. “Going abroad? What study abroad?”