Lin Chen did not give the parents, brother, and sister much time.

After receiving the task from the group chat, they all went silent.

Soon, before Lin Chen finished his bath, the four of them submitted their schedules one after another.

The times provided by Fang Dad, Mom, and Sister were all scattered and disjointed.

For example, Fang Dad had to write down time slots on four different dates just to barely string together one full day.

The situations with Fang Mom and Fang Sister were not much better.

Only Fang Brother, as requested, provided a good, complete date that was also soon.

Lin Chen took a look and found that this date happened to coincide with the day he and Fang Ji were going to the museum.

It’s a good day.

He thought.

Thus, he sent the schedules of Fang Dad, Mom, and Sister back for them to rearrange, and exclusively added Fang Brother to the plan first.

Liu Fang (Private chat with Fang Brother): [Please complete the following work preparations within three days: …]

…

Fang Lian’s daily life had no room for entertainment or rest.

When Lin Chen’s task was piled on him, the only thing he could do was further increase the efficiency of his other work to compress his schedule and free up some time for this sudden family task.

The plan proposed by Lin Chen was not complicated, just numerous in its steps.

From researching preferences, to investigating social media circles, to mapping out Fang Ji’s daily routes, and even to reviewing and summarizing important events he and Fang Ji had experienced together since childhood…

Fang Lian frowned at the preparation list for a long time, delegating most of the information-gathering tasks to his professional subordinates.

Only a few things that he absolutely had to prepare himself, such as the “review of important events,” deserved to have a dedicated block of time carved out from his already crowded schedule.

In his opinion, these preparations were not very meaningful.

Aside from understanding “preferences” to buy targeted gifts, what was the point of the other items?

Why did something as simple as coaxing Xiao Ji to stop being angry require such a lengthy process?

Fang Lian did not understand this.

But out of a strange displeasure towards the phrase “it’s enough just to have my brother with me,” Fang Lian was not willing to voice his doubts and dissatisfaction to Lin Chen, as it would seem like he was proactively backing down.

Thus, he gritted his teeth, completed the preparations on the list, and on the agreed-upon date, landed on time and sped back to the Fang family home.

The number of times Fang Lian returned to the Fang family mansion each year could be counted on one hand, so naturally, he had no particular feelings for the place.

But today, he rarely held some anticipation for coming home.

The reason was simple: in addition to the preparation items given by Lin Chen, he had also bought a pile of gifts based on Fang Ji’s preference list from top to bottom. He personally carried the large and small bags, ready to give Fang Ji a surprise at home.

Just as when he dealt with various business rivals, he liked to pry open gaps through their senior management. By analyzing their preferences with the help of his own professionals, he would apply the right medicine for the ailment and cut through at the weak points. He believed his gifts could, to some extent, quell his younger brother’s anger.

The butler had clearly not been informed in advance.

He was very surprised to see the second young master suddenly come home and hurriedly went up to help carry the gift bags: “Second Young Master, why have you suddenly returned?”

Fang Lian did not answer.

He rushed into the house, placed the gifts on the living room table with the butler, and asked him: “Where is Xiao Ji? Hurry and call him out.”

He had no other arrangements for today.

But the sooner the family matter was handled, the sooner he could go back to share the workload for the coming days.

However, the butler froze and said with some distress: “This… Second Young Master, the young master went out today. He probably won’t be back until later.”

Fang Lian’s eyes widened instantly: “Went out?!”

His lips tightened into a straight line, his face clearly showing some annoyance.

He had considered all sorts of situations, but the one thing he hadn’t considered was that in this one-day homecoming event meticulously arranged by the sixty-million-dollar professional, a huge mistake like Xiao Ji being out without his knowledge would occur!

What was this if not a work error, a dereliction of duty?!

Fang Lian’s anger flared up instantly.

He furiously took out his phone, ignored the butler’s calls, and strode out the door, directly calling “Fang Chengyu.”

The phone was hung up before it could ring for three seconds.

Fang Lian’s anger immediately exploded, his thoughts jumping back and forth between “fire him” and “pursue economic damages.”

However, the next second, a long bubble refreshed on the GreenChat chat page.

The chat bubble was so long that Fang Lian had to manually scroll up twice to see the beginning of the message.

Liu Fang: [Today’s Itinerary:
08:30-09:10 — Unpack the gifts you brought. Personally and manually re-wrap all gifts with uniform packaging. Pay attention to the aesthetic appeal and stylistic unity of the gift boxes.
09:10-09:30 — Find a professional for light redecoration. Based on the style and characteristics of each gift, quickly re-plan the first-floor hall of the Fang family mansion. Note: The workload for the light redecoration should be manageable within 8 hours.
09:30-10:00…
10:00-11:00…]

Fang Lian: “…”

?

What is this?

When Fang Lian first saw the dense schedule that ran from now until 18:00 in the evening, his anger instantly dropped by seventy percent.

Oh, so there was a plan. He wasn’t tricked into coming home to waste his time waiting.

After provisionally calming down, he settled his mind to read the text.

First, he looked at the time.

…Dividing each time slot so finely, was this doubting his work ability? Was he the type of person who couldn’t arrange anything and would just mindlessly execute someone else’s plan?

Then, he looked at the content.

…Redecorate the first floor of the house? Why wasn’t this task arranged with the butler before he came home, so the butler could do it in advance? Why was it necessary to waste his time on such a thing?

Fang Lian frowned as he read to the end and saw the additional instructions at the end of the message:

[1. You must arrange it yourself, set it up yourself. You are only allowed to hire one light redecoration designer for the entire process.]
[2. Fang Ji is expected to return home after 6 PM tonight. The specific time is uncertain, but to be safe, please complete all arrangements before 6 PM.]
[3. This GreenChat account will be offline for the entire day. If any unexpected situations arise, you may exercise your own discretion in handling them, with the priority of ensuring the smooth completion of the redecoration.]
[4. Please enjoy the joy of creating a surprise for your younger brother with your own hands ^ ^]

As Fang Lian read the first three instructions, his frown deepened with each line.

However, when he saw the fourth one, his expression suddenly became blank and bewildered.

…Enjoy?

Enjoy what?

This boring, time-consuming manual labor that produced no benefits… what was there for him to enjoy??

…

The Wendong Museum was built within a three-kilometer radius of the Qi family mansion. In a city the size of the Imperial Capital, this distance could be considered quite close.

However, the Fang family and the Qi family lived far apart, so even though Fang Chengyu and Fang Ji did not leave late in the morning, it was already between nine and ten o’clock when they arrived at the museum.

When they arrived, the ground-level parking spaces around the museum were already completely full.

One didn’t even need to look closely at these vehicles; just by glancing at the license plates and recognizing the car logos, one could tell what kind of figures had been invited.

—Who knows, maybe after touring the museum, everyone could just go out for a party together.

However, Qi Xiuyi had not only invited the young masters of his own generation this time.

The parents of the young masters and misses were also on his invitation list.

The heads of many wealthy families resided in the Imperial Capital, and a glance at the license plates revealed that many of them had come.

It had to be said that the quantity and quality of Qi Xiuyi’s collection were indeed quite famous both inside and outside their circles.

Under the guidance of the staff at the entrance, Fang Chengyu and Fang Ji entered the museum. A professional guide proactively approached them and began to lead them on a tour, starting from the first floor.

Fang Ji was not very interested in antique collection.

He agreed to come to the museum mainly to accompany his brother, and secondarily to try to find something he could learn and borrow from Qi Xiuyi’s “gift.”

In fact, he was indeed quite shaken.

Not by the antique collection, but by the building itself—

Grand, spacious, and with a very clever spatial design. The moment Fang Ji walked in, his state of mind couldn’t help but broaden along with it.

Fang Ji activated one-click-follow on his brother, his head looking left and right.

The more he looked, the more he liked it, and he couldn’t help but tug on his brother’s sleeve: “Brother, this Qi Xiuyi’s architectural taste is really something, look at that…”

Lin Chen was also not listening attentively to the guide.

He had already heard the first-floor explanation half a year ago and could still remember most of it. So right now, he, like Fang Ji, was observing the museum as a whole.

Upon hearing this, Fang Chengyu smiled and said, “Yes, look at these decorative details… you can tell Xiuyi put a lot of heart into it.”

Fang Ji was dismissive of this, thinking that if it were him, he would have been just as attentive. What was so praiseworthy about Qi Xiuyi?

Just then, Fang Chengyu suddenly stopped and turned his head to look in a certain direction.

Fang Ji stopped in confusion and followed his brother’s gaze.

It was a corner of the museum.

Two large floor-to-ceiling windows formed a right angle, letting in the gentle daylight from outside the museum.

Looking out against the sunlit path, the broad and beautiful river shimmered under the sunlight.

Fang Ji quietly gasped and couldn’t help but take two steps towards the corner, stepping onto the golden path of light that铺进馆内 (pū jìn guǎn nèi, “paved its way into the museum”) from outside the window.

Fang Ji turned back happily: “Brother, look, the view from here is so beautiful!”

Fang Chengyu happened to walk past him, smiled and patted his head, pointing to a spot in the corner: “Go there, the view is most open there.”

Fang Ji didn’t move, watching in confusion as Fang Chengyu walked past him, went forward, and then stopped.

Fang Ji looked closely and only then noticed that there was a row of lounge chairs placed in the corner.

And right at the spot in this row of chairs closest to the corner, Qi Xiuyi was sitting with his head bowed, holding some kind of paper in his hand. His entire aura was so dejected that he hadn’t even noticed the clatter of his jewelry or their conversation just now.

His brother walked up to Qi Xiuyi, stopped, placed his hands on his knees, bent down, and tilted his head slightly.

His brother gently asked Qi Xiuyi: “Good morning, Xiuyi. Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”