A place his little uncle wants to go?

Cheng Huanzhen thought about it and felt that this question was simpler than answering where he wanted to go.

But only a little simpler.

When he actually thought about it, Cheng Huanzhen found that all the places that appeared in his mind were places his little uncle had taken him to before.

[Rainy Suction Team P]

Other than that?

…It seems, it’s still very difficult.

A novel place. An interesting place.

The correct answer for his little uncle.

Cheng Huanzhen thought hard for a long time and tentatively answered, “An amusement park?”

Little uncle: “?”

Little uncle was very shocked. “I’m an adult!”

Cheng Huanzhen showed an apologetic gaze. “Sorry, little uncle. I thought you would like it.”

Little uncle: “…Have you ever been to an amusement park?”

Cheng Huanzhen replied, “I haven’t.”

Little uncle thought for a moment, and his eyes lit up as he thought of something interesting. He immediately became excited, his ponytail bouncing and swaying with him, his whole person energized.

Little uncle said, “Big nephew, then let’s go to the amusement park! You can also guess my preferences. When we come out of the amusement park, you have to tell me what rides I liked in the amusement park!”

Cheng Huanzhen thought with confusion that his little uncle seemed to have only a general interest in the amusement park.

But he was very interested in watching him guess his preferences.

…Alright.

Cheng Huanzhen said, “Okay.”

This was the first time Cheng Huanzhen had taken someone out, and it was to an amusement park, a place he had never been near in his life.

Out of caution for unfamiliar things, he asked his little uncle for thirty minutes of preparation time, returned to his room, first made corresponding changes to his plan, then consulted materials with the butler, and planned the whole day’s amusement park play plan in advance.

The butler did not go out with them; they only took the driver.

Cheng Huanzhen discovered that in the half hour he was preparing the plan, his little uncle also seemed to have made corresponding preparations—

Well, little uncle’s spirits looked much better than when they were chatting just now. His ponytail could even sway when he walked.

Did he drink coffee?

Thinking so, Cheng Huanzhen suddenly and belatedly remembered that he had chatted with his little uncle for so long just now, but he had not asked for the answer he originally wanted to get—

What had his little uncle been doing these past few days?

It couldn’t be that he didn’t dare to come find him because he was warned by his grandfather, right?

He was completely fooled by his little uncle.

He thought with melancholy.

There were many rides in the amusement park, and also many people. Fortunately, they bought VIP tickets and had a special queuing channel.

Cheng Huanzhen took out the plan he had made and printed in advance from his pocket and took his little uncle to experience them one by one according to the order of the plan.

On the carousel, his little uncle was about to fall asleep.

On the drop tower, his little uncle’s eyes widened in excitement.

On the pendulum ride, his little uncle tilted his head back and comfortably enjoyed the breeze.

On the water slide, his little uncle was wearing a raincoat but still got wet. His little uncle was very dissatisfied with this and ran to the bathroom to change into a dry set of clothes.

On the Ferris wheel, his little uncle was about to fall asleep again…

Oh. Little uncle likes more stimulating rides.

Judging so, Cheng Huanzhen took his little uncle into the haunted house.

According to the experience shared by the butler, some people may scream, tremble, and other phenomena in the haunted house.

He didn’t know if his little uncle was afraid of haunted houses, so he told him before entering, “Little uncle, if you feel scared after going in, then close your eyes and follow me.”

However, just five minutes into the haunted house, Cheng Huanzhen found that he had overthought it:

Little uncle entered the haunted house with his eyes wide open. Little uncle touched the prop corpse on the side of the road. Little uncle touched the screaming ghoul that fell from the ceiling. When his little uncle saw the live actor ghost hiding in the dark, he took the initiative to greet him friendly.

Cheng Huanzhen: …

Little uncle may not necessarily like haunted houses. But little uncle is definitely not suitable for going into a haunted house—this is too disruptive to other tourists’ haunted house experience!

Finally, the day’s itinerary ended.

Cheng Huanzhen took his little uncle into the car home. Facing his little uncle’s curious and expectant gaze, he thought for a moment and gave a summary, “Little uncle, you like stimulating rides, but you are not suitable for haunted houses.”

Little uncle continued to look at him expectantly.

After five seconds of silence in the car, his little uncle asked in disappointment, “Is that all? Nothing more?”

Cheng Huanzhen tried hard to think and elaborate, “Little uncle, you relatively like the drop tower the most. The water rides getting clothes wet is too troublesome. Little uncle, you generally like…”

Little uncle propped his head up and listened to his calculations. For every point he managed to squeeze out, his little uncle would applaud for him.

Cheng Huanzhen felt a little embarrassed listening to the applause, but his little uncle said righteously, “When you do something you’ve never done before, you should be applauded and encouraged!”

Cheng Huanzhen thought to himself, Alright, I’m being treated like a child.

…But, it’s not bad either.

On the way home, his little uncle maintained his usual sudden style and called for the car to stop three times.

The first time, they passed a new perfume shop. His little uncle entered with joy, picked two bottles, and gave him one.

The second time, they passed a novel claw machine. His little uncle tried it out of curiosity, his record was zero, and he left in disappointment.

The third time, they passed brightly colored tanghulu. His little uncle got out of the car happily, bought two skewers, and gave him one.

Stopping and going like this, the two finally returned home half an hour later than expected.

…It seems that more buffer time needs to be left on the schedule next time.

Returning to the house, Cheng Huanzhen took out the perfume from his pocket and placed it on the table. This was a perfume his little uncle had bought on a whim, not to test his preferences. This made Cheng Huanzhen a little curious, and he planned to try the scent first.

But just then, his phone rang. Cheng Huanzhen looked—

It was a video call from his grandfather!

His grandfather often called him, about once every one to two weeks, to discuss or spot-check his recent work situation.

In the past, he was never afraid of this and could answer the video call in a second.

But this time, the first moment Cheng Huanzhen received the video call invitation, he was startled. He immediately threw the phone on the table and quickly put the perfume away in the cabinet.

He then pulled the curtains halfway, covering the three potted plants, and quickly changed into a formal suit, hiding the new clothes he had bought in the cabinet.

He quickly scanned the room, hiding what could be hidden and putting away what could be put away among the various new things he had recently acquired.

Finally, just before the video call invitation ended, he sat back in his seat with a “thud” and answered the video call with a proper expression.

Cheng Huanzhen’s breathing was even, his expression calm, as he greeted the video, “Grandfather, good evening.”

His grandfather looked like he had just finished dinner and was taking a walk in the old mansion’s courtyard. His grandfather asked, “What were you doing just now?”

Cheng Huanzhen replied, “I was in the bathroom just now and didn’t bring my phone in.”

His grandfather said “oh” and tentatively accepted this explanation.

His grandfather asked about some work situations as usual, and Cheng Huanzhen answered fluently.

His grandfather said, “Not bad. It seems you really haven’t been idle these past few days. By the way, I heard that there was a salon hosted by the Yu family at the AA Building today. Did you go?”

Cheng Huanzhen replied, “Grandfather, I had Ah Hong go to that salon. He hasn’t had time to give me the report yet.”

His grandfather frowned. “The theme of this salon is closely related to the new product you are launching this quarter. As the overall helmsman, you should always actively pay attention to the latest trends! You let your subordinate go to the salon, so what were you doing today?”

His grandfather’s questioning was always like this, leaving no room for leeway or gaps.

Cheng Huanzhen was already used to this and had always been able to treat it calmly.

But for some reason, when he heard his grandfather reprimand and question him like this today, some uncomfortable emotions vaguely accumulated in his chest.

Cheng Huanzhen tried to say calmly, “Grandfather, today I…”

He pieced together parts of his work from the previous two days into today’s itinerary report for his grandfather, hoping to appease his dissatisfaction.

But his grandfather pursued relentlessly, wanting to delve further:

Why was the salon more important, yet it was not scheduled in the itinerary? Why were the miscellaneous tasks arranged in the prime time of the morning and afternoon when there was clearly time at noon to arrange them? Why…

Cheng Huanzhen’s peaceful and comfortable mood from going out with his little uncle during the day gradually fell into calmness in this question-and-answer session. His lips were drawn into a straight line.

Perhaps because he had just learned of his grandfather’s two-faced behavior from his little uncle that morning, after patiently answering a few questions, the emotions in Cheng Huanzhen’s chest were uncharacteristically difficult to control.

Finally, when his grandfather questioned him about a certain reason, he really couldn’t take it anymore and replied with a deadpan expression, “Because that’s what you instructed before, grandfather.”

His grandfather frowned. “Before? How long ago was that? The instructions are dead, but people are alive. Now that the situation has changed, you can’t change your strategy according to the specific situation?”

Cheng Huanzhen continued to reply with a deadpan expression, “Because that’s what you instructed before, grandfather.”

His grandfather stopped his strolling footsteps.

His brow furrowed even tighter, with a faint sign of anger. “I’ve told you not to be so rigid, not to be so rigid. You need to understand the market, understand the core desires in customer needs!”

Cheng Huanzhen replied with a deadpan expression, “But that’s what you instructed before, grandfather.”

The crisp sound of a glass water cup shattering rang out.

His grandfather was furious and yelled at him, “Cheng Huanzhen!”

The old butler on the side hurried forward, trying to persuade the old Mr. Cheng, saying things like “Young Master Cheng has always been a bit inflexible,” “It’s not good to get angry on New Year’s Eve,” and “Your blood pressure just went down”…

Old Mr. Cheng was very annoyed.

What was even more annoying was that he did know that this was a flaw in his grandson’s character.

But usually, knowing that his grandson had this flaw, he could still tolerate it. Today, this flaw was directed at himself…

He snorted coldly and said in a bad mood, “After the new year, I will find time to check your progress again. If I find you slacking off like your uncles and aunts again… hmph!”

He hung up the phone with a deadpan expression.

Cheng Huanzhen watched as the phone screen went black.

In all his life, he had seen his grandfather angry many times, but most of the time he was a bystander, watching from the side as his grandfather furiously scolded his uncles, aunts, and younger siblings.

A scene like today’s was a first for him.

Just after his grandfather hung up the phone, Cheng Huanzhen suddenly felt that his chest did not seem to be as tight as usual.

The good mood from playing with his little uncle during the day also slowly returned like flowing water.

Strange.

But he didn’t think too much about this matter.

Because he soon thought of something worth worrying about. Could it be that because of this video call, his grandfather would take his little uncle back to the old mansion to punish him?

…Tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and they all have to go back to the old mansion.

But his grandfather had always valued the atmosphere of the new year on the first day, and it was impossible for him to do so on such a day. Moreover, his little uncle had only been home for a few days, right?

Thinking so, Cheng Huanzhen was still a little worried and decided to go tell his little uncle first, so that he could be careful tomorrow.

Thinking so, he stood up and planned to go find his little uncle.

However, as soon as he opened the door, he saw his little uncle standing outside, his hand raised as if he were just about to knock.

Little uncle had changed into a set of pajamas, a bright gold. It looked good on him too.

Little uncle was surprised. “Big nephew!”

Cheng Huanzhen greeted him, “Hello, little uncle.”

Before Cheng Huanzhen could think of how to start the topic, his little uncle had already pulled him out the door with a smile. “It’s New Year’s Eve, quick, come watch the Spring Festival Gala!”

Cheng Huanzhen was puzzled. “The Spring Festival Gala?”

Little uncle said, “It’s a must-do on New Year’s Eve. You can’t have never watched the Spring Festival Gala, right!”

Cheng Huanzhen: “…Yes, little uncle.”

Little uncle was disgusted. “You can’t be working on New Year’s Eve, can you? Quick, quick, big brother is already waiting for us outside!”

Cheng Huanzhen was dragged out the door by his little uncle. After greeting his father in the living room, he sat on the sofa with his little uncle.

A night of snacks, a night of the Spring Festival Gala.

Little uncle watched TV seriously, often laughing out loud at the programs. Except for about ten minutes in the middle when he ran to the side to look at his phone, he sat seriously on the sofa watching TV the rest of the time.

His father, on the other hand, ate snacks seriously. While eating, he also pointed at certain colleagues on the programs, saying “this singer” one moment, and “that director” the next… in scattered bits and pieces, his mouth never stopped.

And him?

Cheng Huanzhen watched the programs blankly. Every time his little uncle laughed out loud, he would try even more blankly to find the punchline in the program.

And then fail repeatedly.

Four useless hours passed just like that.

His evening plan was once again completely ruined.

But forget it, it wasn’t the first time it had been ruined anyway.

Although such time was useless, unplanned, and chaotic, it could also be considered a comfortable time—compared to reporting work to his grandfather just now, how could it not be considered comfortable?