Li Yunhui: “…A dress-up system? For a guide character? Isn’t that just a blatant cash grab??”

Lin Chen raised an eyebrow: “What are you talking about? It’s spending money willingly, not a scam! Besides, who said his new outfits have to be put in the shop? Put them in quest or achievement rewards, and that problem is solved, isn’t it?”

Li Yunhui instantly fell silent.

But looking at him, it was clear he was already tempted!

More than half an hour passed just like that.

A single match lasting over thirty minutes was already quite the limit for the three of them. Playing any more would really start to affect their work.

In a way, gaming was indeed a good avenue for young people to socialize.

After teaming up with them twice, Li Yunhui felt this more and more.

Traditional PC and mobile games were still separated by a screen and lacked a sense of reality. VR games, at least, allowed friends to appear as three-dimensional figures within one’s field of view. Theoretically, their social function should be much stronger than traditional games.

Thinking this, Li Yunhui tried to pull more friends into the game.

Soon, a He Wenyan (spawned less frequently, but picked it up quickly), a Fang Ji (spawned more often, but was very bad at the game), and a few other young masters Lin Chen wasn’t very familiar with before were added to the team-up group.

Seeing this, Lin Chen simply added his new god-brother (spawned occasionally, decent skill level, but his manners in public chat needed improvement) as well, forming a (hard to gather all members at once) all-friends-and-family team.

Over this period, Lin Chen hadn’t taken on any new work or met many new people, yet his life had inexplicably become busy.

During this time, Lin Ruyan would visit his home every now and then, bringing fruits or soup he had stewed himself.

Lin Chen felt that this “biological younger brother” was truly a bit too well-behaved and kind-hearted. After thinking it over, he decided to help expand his social circle too, so he introduced him into the daily sports group.

Aside from this, Lin Chen had another busy matter these days.

That was going to the old residence every two days to accompany Old Master Cheng for a game of chess.

Although Old Master Cheng’s attitude towards their relationship had long softened, he hadn’t verbally relented.

Fortunately, while Old Master Cheng was hard to coax, he was also easy to coax.

Put a little effort into the chessboard, and any difficulty could be overcome.

Once, Lin Chen even coaxed out some classified information about Old Master Cheng’s schedule.

The weather was fine that day. Old Master Cheng was drinking tea and playing chess. Perhaps the atmosphere was just right, and he inadvertently sighed: “I don’t know how many more times I can play chess in the Imperial Capital these days. I heard that after your birthday, you’re going abroad for a trip. This trip will take at least half a year, right? I don’t care how you travel usually, but you have to come back to the country next Spring Festival to play chess with me.”

Lin Chen replied naturally: “Of course, I’ll return to the Imperial Capital for the Spring Festival.”

Old Master Cheng shook his head and waved his hand: “Oh, not the Imperial Capital. I might be in Province X by then.”

Lin Chen was curious: “Province X? What are you going there for?”

Old Master Cheng: “I have a son there too. I heard his daughter is about to take the college entrance exam, but he still hasn’t brought her back for me to see. Tell me, is this proper?!”

Old Master Cheng harrumphed twice, looking extremely dissatisfied.

He waved his hand irritably: “Forget it, forget it. It’s not good to spread this matter around. You’re not allowed to tell anyone, not even Huanzhen!”

Lin Chen recalled the past, remembering the matter of a son from the Cheng family running away from home years ago.

He smiled and refilled Old Master Cheng’s tea, saying: “If you ask me, there’s nothing shameful about this. It might even clear up some people’s misunderstandings about you… Ouch, slap whatever you want but don’t slap the chessboard, you’re going to mess up the pieces! Alright, alright, I won’t say anything, okay?”

Time flew by just like that.

Soon, the date arrived at March 10th, Lin Chen’s birthday.

Cheng Huanzhen was responsible for all the preparations for the birthday banquet.

Cheng Huanzhen hadn’t mentioned this matter to Lin Chen once. Lin Chen found out about it from Fang Ji, but he also never proactively asked Cheng Huanzhen about it.

Except for the time Dad Qi protested about not receiving an invitation to the banquet, Lin Chen hadn’t even asked about the guest list.

Lin Chen just wanted to see exactly what kind of birthday banquet Cheng Huanzhen would arrange for him.

Finally, on his birthday, the answer was revealed.

Cheng Huanzhen held a banquet for him that had enough grandeur, yet was also sufficiently warm and low-key.

It was grand because the banquet was held at the Cheng family’s mountain villa. With Old Master Cheng present, the pomp of the villa was much greater than what the Fang family’s four (former) NPCs could organize.

It was low-key enough because only Lin Chen’s familiar friends were invited. Including the elders from the previous two generations, there were only about twenty people in total, filling just two large tables.

Qi Xiuyi came. He arrived aggressively, wearing a face that said “I told you I don’t want you as my god-brother,” and took his seat reluctantly.

Qi Jingming came. He righteously sat at the main table, closest to the birthday star, as a god-family member.

Fang Ji came. He had rushed to design a complete set of exclusive jewelry these past few days, containing over 40 accessories. He brought it to the banquet as a gift for Lin Chen.

Fang Lian came. He attended as a “university senior” of the “Spirit Medium Master.”

Old Master Cheng came. He acted as if he were returning to his own home (which it indeed was), arriving quite early and domineeringly taking over the command of the birthday banquet preparations.

Cheng Zhaorui came. He followed tremblingly behind Old Master Cheng. Once at the venue, his eerie gaze almost pierced right through Lin Chen.

Li Yunhui came. Behind him, he brought a large group of young masters and friends from other families who had met Lin Chen, instantly inflating the invitation list from 10+ to 20+.

He Wenyan came. He brought along Lin Chen’s newly acknowledged biological brother, Lin Ruyan. This banquet became the first (semi) inner-circle event he participated in after being kicked out of his home, aside from certain young masters’ funerals.

Wen Shaozhuo also came. He was invited as Cheng Huanzhen’s friend.

When Wen Shaozhuo received the birthday banquet invitation, he was a bit bewildered.

But he had always remembered the helping hand Cheng Huanzhen extended when his brother had a fever back then, and also remembered how Cheng Huanzhen rented the villa to their brothers at a price lower than the market rate for the whole of last year. Therefore, he earnestly prepared a few paintings as gifts and came nervously.

Wen Shaozhuo encountered some small trouble on his way to the banquet.

He got lost at the foot of the mountain and couldn’t find the cable car for a long time.

He circled around the foot of the mountain anxiously for ages. The more he circled, the more lost he became. After wandering for about twenty minutes, seeing that the birthday banquet was about to start and having no other options in his desperation, Wen Shaozhuo finally mustered up the courage to send a message to Cheng Huanzhen, explaining that he got lost and would be late, expressing his deep apologies.

As soon as the message was sent, he received a call from Cheng Huanzhen.

However, as soon as he picked up the phone and called out “Brother Huanzhen,” he heard a gentle and unfamiliar male voice say to him: “Hello, Shaozhuo, where are you right now? Turn on video call so I can see.”

Wen Shaozhuo didn’t recognize this voice.

But the voice was very gentle, so gentle that he couldn’t muster any vigilance or nervousness.

So he complied, turned on the video, and after the other person looked at his surroundings, they said: “Just stand right there and don’t move, someone will come to pick you up in a moment.” Then they hung up.

Only after hanging up did Wen Shaozhuo react belatedly.

He felt a bit embarrassed. Hugging his gift paintings, he squatted on the ground sighing for a while, melancholically thinking about how he should apologize for the trouble he caused later, practicing his lines stumblingly in a low voice over and over again.

It’s so hard…! If only Brother A-Heng were still in the country…

Thinking this melancholically, Wen Shaozhuo stared blankly at ants moving their home and food.

Just then, the crisp sound of footsteps approached.

By the time Wen Shaozhuo reacted, a pair of clean leather shoes had entered his field of vision.

Seeing that the shoes were about to step on the ant nest, Wen Shaozhuo’s eyes widened. Tensing his throat nervously, he wanted to stop it: “Wait…!”

But he saw the leather shoes pause slightly in mid-air, then change direction and land lightly on the empty ground beside the ant nest.

A fair, slender hand descended in front of him.

Wen Shaozhuo looked up in a daze.

A strange brother wearing a brown overcoat had stopped in front of him, bending down and greeting him with a smile: “Hello, you must be Shaozhuo, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Lin Chen. Thank you for coming to my birthday banquet today. Let’s go, the cableway isn’t far from here, we can get there in about five minutes.”

It was Wen Shaozhuo’s first time seeing such a person.

Even though the voice and face were unfamiliar, he inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity and closeness from him.

At any other time, speaking to other strangers, he would be somewhat nervous, his scalp tightening.

But right now, facing this brother, all his nervousness miraculously disappeared.

However, the guilt from getting lost remained.

Wen Shaozhuo hurriedly stood up, reached out, and shook hands: “Hello, Brother Lin Chen! I’m so sorry, so sorry to cause you such trouble, making you come down personally to pick me up!”

Lin Chen smiled: “It’s nothing. You are the guest. Letting you get lost at the foot of the mountain clearly means our guidance preparations weren’t good enough. Next time this happens, send a message earlier so you don’t have to wander around by yourself for so long.”

Two bodyguards in black followed behind Lin Chen. Cheng Huanzhen originally wanted to come down himself, but Lin Chen thought it would be nice to take this opportunity to meet Wen Shaozhuo briefly, so he snatched the job and came down himself.

Cheng Huanzhen was worried about him, but someone had to stay on the mountain to preside over the situation, so he had no choice but to send two bodyguards along with him.

The mountain wasn’t high. With a car to the cableway and then another car, the round trip didn’t take long.

Soon, Lin Chen brought Wen Shaozhuo up the mountain. To comfort Wen Shaozhuo, he gave him the extra Angel Guide gift bag he had received from Li Yunhui a few days ago as a small meeting gift.

The entire birthday banquet went very smoothly.

After all, the middle and older generations were all present, so the younger generation didn’t dare to cause any trouble.

Only Li Yunhui, who had absolutely no idea that the middle and older generations would come, asked Lin Chen quietly in a cold sweat after the banquet ended: “Bro, isn’t your social circle a bit… unbalanced?”

Lin Chen looked back in surprise: “Oh?”

Li Yunhui looked serious and lowered his voice: “Don’t tell me you’re that legendary type of obedient child who can’t hold a conversation with peers for more than eight sentences but becomes the darling of the older generation!”

Lin Chen smiled: “As long as you know. Next time, be a good boy and yield the commander role to me, or be careful I don’t complain to the higher-ups.”

Li Yunhui never took threats well. Not even joking ones! Upon hearing this, he rolled his eyes on the spot: “Complain? What, are you going to complain to my dad? I got it with my own skill, come snatch it yourself if you’re capable!”

Lin Chen failed to convince Li Yunhui, which was a pity.

However, that night, Lin Chen still returned home in a cheerful mood with a car full of gifts.

The birthday banquet was very successful and smooth, and it was all prepared by Cheng Huanzhen personally.

So Lin Chen proactively hugged and kissed him, then praised him: “I had a very happy birthday today. Thank you, A-Zhen, you worked hard.”

Cheng Huanzhen rubbed his nose against Lin Chen’s hair and said: “Little Uncle, I haven’t given you my birthday present yet.”

Lin Chen smiled: “Oh? I thought that cake as tall as a person today was my birthday present.”

Cheng Huanzhen said: “That was the birthday cake. Little Uncle, how can a cake and a present be the same thing?”

Hearing this, Lin Chen became expectant.

He sat properly on the sofa, waiting to receive his birthday gift.

But as he waited, Cheng Huanzhen stood still and didn’t move.

Lin Chen looked at him in confusion and noticed that the tips of his ears were slightly red, though it wasn’t very obvious on his wheat-colored skin.

Cheng Huanzhen said slowly: “This gift is a bit special. Little Uncle, you can’t laugh at me after you see it.”

Lin Chen became even more interested: “Oh? What kind of gift requires you to give me a preemptive warning?”

Cheng Huanzhen stared at him silently for three seconds, then slowly turned on the TV, switched to the Imperial Capital General Channel, and selected the news replay.

…TV.

TV??

Lin Chen looked at the TV in shock.

Cheng Huanzhen dragged the progress bar, and the image soon landed on a dessert shop Lin Chen was very familiar with. He wasn’t sure if he had eaten there or not.

But today, the flow of people in the dessert shop was obviously much higher than usual.

It was packed inside, and a long queue had even formed outside the shop.

The news anchor reported this scene in standard broadcasting tones.

“Today, the Strawberry Festival event initiated by the Imperial Capital Cheng Group has attracted high attention from citizens. Hundreds of dessert shops in the city jointly launched special Strawberry Festival celebration activities… Citizens can participate in the event by recording blessing videos on-site or writing handwritten messages to enjoy a free strawberry dessert of their choice… As of this afternoon, tens of thousands of citizens have participated…”

The scene moved inside the dessert shop, and the camera focused on a little girl.

The girl stood on tiptoes, trying hard to hold a pen and write a handwritten message at the front desk. The camera zoomed in, showing the crooked writing on the paper: “Happy Birthday, Strawberry King!”

Following it was a very cute handwritten emoticon: (=^▽^=)~

The girl finished writing the card.

Her father beside her helped take a photo of the message to post, handed the card to the front desk, exchanged it for a very exquisite strawberry cake for his daughter, and then took her upstairs to find a seat in the shop.

Just then, Cheng Huanzhen brought out a large cardboard box from the room.

Inside the box were bundles of handwritten cards.

Cheng Huanzhen placed the box on the ground and said slowly: “I actually had this idea for a long time. I thought, since Little Uncle likes eating strawberries so much, why not make your birthday a Strawberry Festival? You probably haven’t received a Strawberry Festival as a birthday gift before, Little Uncle. It would be even better if it makes you think of me whenever you eat strawberries in the future.”

“It just so happened that when we changed our names together that day, Little Uncle, you chose the name ‘World’s No.1 Big Strawberry.’ I thought, then Little Uncle, you must be the Strawberry King… Little Uncle?”

Cheng Huanzhen looked up in confusion.

He saw Lin Chen clutching his stomach, already collapsed on the sofa laughing.

Lin Chen was laughing so hard tears were coming out: “Strawberry King… Oh my god, Strawberry King, Strawberry Festival!”

Laughing, Lin Chen hooked his arm around Cheng Huanzhen’s neck and pulled him down onto the sofa as well.

He kissed him, kissed him, and kissed him again.

His eyes overflowing with laughter, he said: “Thank you for the festival gift, A-Zhen. I’m very happy. Do you have any wish you want to make to me?”