Chapter 9#

Chapter 9 Birthday Party

The difference between the Shen family and the Gu family is like the difference between businessmen and politicians.

It was already many days later when Gu Chenzhou approached the Shen family mansion, which occupied more than ten acres and had all the garden houses.

As a large family, because Old Master Shen was still around, the four brothers of the Shen family, that is, Gu Chenzhou’s four uncles, did not move out of the old house. They just chose one floor each as their residence in the five-story old house with dozens of rooms. The remaining top floor was Old Master Shen’s study and bedroom, and people were not easily allowed to go up.

Gu Chenzhou’s mother, Shen Rou, was Old Master Shen’s only daughter and the youngest child. Gu Chenzhou was not considered old among his dozen cousins. This also led to the fact that since he was fifteen, his experiences every time he came to the Shen house were similar. He would always be pulled by some people to talk, or happen to meet someone—of course, these talks and coincidences have become fewer and fewer as Gu Chenzhou grew older year by year.

“Young Master Chenzhou has arrived?” James, the butler hired from the UK, stood in front of the gate, wearing a white shirt and tailcoat, bowing politely, “Sir is waiting for you upstairs.”

Gu Chenzhou handed the car to the male attendant who came up to him, and followed James into the house: “How is Grandpa’s health?”

“Not bad, just some ailments peculiar to old people.” The butler from the UK spoke fluent and authentic Chinese. He smiled and said, “Sir was very happy to hear the news that Young Master Chenzhou was coming. He specially went to the study to write a calligraphy piece this morning, saying that he would let you take it away later.”

“Someone should be pestering me for things.” Gu Chenzhou laughed, referring to Wei Xiangjin. Old Master Wei didn’t like tobacco, alcohol, flowers or plants in his life, but he liked to appreciate calligraphy, but unfortunately he had no talent in this area.

During the conversation, the two had already reached the top floor. James led Gu Chenzhou through the domed living room and knocked gently on the study door: “Sir, Young Master Chenzhou has arrived.”

“Come in.” The old man’s voice came from inside.

James took a step back, let Gu Chenzhou in, and stood by the door himself.

The thick light brown carpet absorbed the sound of footsteps.

When Gu Chenzhou walked into the study, the old man was wearing reading glasses and reading a psychology book at the desk facing a floor-to-ceiling window. He didn’t make a sound immediately, and even lightened his footsteps, standing quietly by the desk waiting.

About ten minutes later, the old man finished reading a paragraph, took off his glasses and stood up.

“Grandpa.” Gu Chenzhou took a step forward.

The old man waved his hand: “Walk with me in the garden downstairs.” He turned sideways when he spoke. The light coming in from the floor-to-ceiling window hit his face obliquely, illuminating the age spots on his cheeks and his gray hair combed back. He walked out with his hands behind his back, his body a bit hunched, but he didn’t let Gu Chenzhou step forward to support him.

James, who stayed outside, obviously heard what the old man said just now and had already gone down to prepare.

At nine o’clock in the morning, the people in the old house had either left or not gotten up yet. The maids busy in the lobby on the first floor had been strictly trained. Although they shuttled frequently, they didn’t make much noise.

They came to the garden behind the old house, which could almost be considered a small garden: the endless garden was covered with lush grass, with low shrubs planted in between, and a row of straight and lush plane trees with rustling flowers along the edge of the wall. At the end of the plane trees, the lake light was shimmering. The weeping willows on the bank swayed with the breeze, and the slender leaves fell onto the lake surface, creating a circle of shallow ripples. Suddenly a breeze blew, and the mirror-like lake water rippled layer by layer, startling the water birds stopped on the bank.

“Someone went to see you again two days ago, right?” Old Master Shen came to the lake. The parasol and tables and chairs for people to rest were placed early, and snacks and flower tea were also ready. But the old man obviously had no desire to sit down. He walked slowly along the long lake bank, “Do you have any thoughts?”

“Mom must be very happy.” Gu Chenzhou said.

“You still don’t want to say it, and I won’t force you,” Old Master Shen squinted and said, “For so many years, you have seen clearly that what they want is probably more than just this little bit in my hand.”

“I was just about to tell you, Grandpa, I plan to use part of the inheritance left by Mom to establish a social welfare fund. This way Mom might be happier.” Gu Chenzhou said.

The old man’s footsteps paused slightly: “Is this an inquiry or a notification?”

“It’s a notification, Grandpa.” Gu Chenzhou was still respectful, but there was no hesitation in his tone.

They continued walking and slowly came to a tall banyan tree.

The roots of this banyan tree were vigorous, deeply rooted in the soil underfoot. Its arms spreading to the sky were strong and sturdy. The leaves on the canopy were layered and densely woven like an umbrella, casting a deep shadow on this piece of ground.

They stood in front of this old banyan tree. The swing tied to one of the trunks was pushed by the morning breeze and swayed gently.

Old Master Shen looked at the swing and said to Gu Chenzhou: “Your personality is really different from your mother’s. Your mother would never speak to me so affirmatively.” He didn’t wait for Gu Chenzhou to answer, and continued, “I have often thought in recent years, if I hadn’t loved her excessively because I had a daughter in my old age, hadn’t expected her to be carefree like a real little princess… hadn’t raised her to have such a soft and innocent personality, would she not have left me so early.”

“Grandpa…”

“Willing to be a dodder relying on a tall tree…” Old Master Shen looked at the swing. The days when his little daughter sat on the swing he tied himself, swinging high and smiling sweetly seemed like yesterday. He seemed to be talking to himself, “The tall tree will leave one day.”

Gu Chenzhou wanted to say something, but the old man didn’t want to listen, and quickly changed the subject: “I heard you are going to organize a birthday party for your brother?”

“Yes, it’s in these two days.” Gu Chenzhou followed the old man’s topic, “I also want to borrow James from you to help this time.”

“Take him, you did the right thing.” Old Master Shen was silent for a while, and said lightly, “Fifteen years is enough. Since you have taken this step, continue to walk… Over the years, Yuelin hasn’t had it easy either.”

The current Mrs. Gu’s surname is Zheng, Zheng Yuelin.

Gu Chenzhou lowered his head slightly and didn’t speak.

Old Master Shen laughed again: “I forgot, you are not your mother, you have big ideas.”

“Alright, go, do what you want to do.” The old man, like before, refused to be supported, turned and walked back the way he came. His speed was slow and steady, his figure hunched but tall, “Your grandpa is still standing here now.”

Tianxiang Mountain is located in the northern suburbs of the capital, outside the urban area. It is not near or far from the city. There are no people around, and it belongs to an area that has not yet been developed. Since Gu Chenzhou bought this place two years ago, in addition to keeping a small yard for himself at the foot of the mountain, the villa on the top of the mountain and the road up the mountain were also built early.

July 28th is Gu Zhengjia’s sixteenth birthday.

Although he had temporarily borrowed James from Old Master Shen, when this day really arrived, Gu Chenzhou still came to the villa early to make the final confirmation. As another organizer of the party, Wei Xiangjin, who originally planned to come together, arrived at the villa near evening because of some temporary matters.

“Nice place.” The four fields were open, and the clear mountain wind blew continuously, reducing the heat. Wei Xiangjin praised Gu Chenzhou as soon as he got out of the car.

On the side of the cliff, Gu Chenzhou was leaning on the wooden fence that was set up early along with the winding mountain road to enjoy the cool air. He raised his eyes: “Since I bought it, of course I have to make it better.”

“Looking at this place makes me want to buy it too.” Wei Xiangjin muttered, and walked into the villa with Gu Chenzhou.

The villa is located on the top of the mountain. When planning, in order to maintain the mountain scenery as much as possible, the villa was not built squarely, but followed the idea of “a cabin in the forest”. The whole structure was made of wood, completely embedding the villa in the woods.

Wei Xiangjin followed Gu Chenzhou into the villa. The gaps between the irregular stone slabs were covered with moss, and the sound of flowing water came from behind the villa. They walked into the hall, and James, who was arranging work, came up to meet them:

“There are still three hours before the party starts. The two young masters can go to the backyard and sit for a while.”

Gu Chenzhou nodded and said to James: “Notify me when Zhengjia comes.”

“Yes, Young Master Chenzhou.” James bowed and agreed.

Wei Xiangjin followed Gu Chenzhou to the backyard. Just as he sat down on the stone bench, a maid in uniform walked over holding a tea tray, silently arranged the things, and seeing that Gu Chenzhou had already started doing it himself, she retreated again.

“Your move is a bit big.” Wei Xiangjin said thoughtfully. Organizing a party for Gu Zhengjia and specially using his newly built villa as the reception place, although the attention was a bit strange, since it was to be done, it was fine to do it beautifully. But borrowing people from the Shen family was completely outside the scope of ‘doing it beautifully’—you know, even when Gu Chenzhou himself became an adult at eighteen, he didn’t put so much thought into it.

In a few minutes, Gu Chenzhou had already made the tea. He handed a cup to Wei Xiangjin, took a sip himself, and said indifferently: “What does this count as? It only depends on whether I am happy or not.”

Wei Xiangjin raised his eyebrows and smiled: “Young Master Gu’s words are really domineering.” He didn’t continue this topic, but he still had some doubts in his heart, feeling that Gu Chenzhou’s move this time seemed to be more than just helping Gu Zhengjia organize a birthday party. But what else besides this? He couldn’t think of it for a while.

Approaching eight o’clock, all the classmates and friends invited by Gu Zhengjia arrived in advance. The people in their circle invited by Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin also came one after another. James, who had worked beside Old Master Shen for nearly thirty years, had impeccable ability and prepared very properly. The maids and waiters shuttling through the crowd met the needs of every guest.

Born in a family like the Gu family, the social circles of the two brothers were destined to overlap. The friends Gu Zhengjia made while still in school might have lower status, but most of them could talk to those standing at the top of the circle, and many had some relatives or connections.

At eight o’clock sharp, the party started on time.

Wearing a formal suit and well-groomed, Gu Zhengjia’s arms were a bit tight when he spoke at the beginning, but his expression was fairly natural. Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin took the lead in applauding, and then Gu Chenzhou took Gu Zhengjia and introduced him one by one to the important figures present.

Old Master Qiu’s granddaughter, Old Master Shen’s grandson, the third generation of the Chen, Wen, and He families, Sun Peiming… Although he had just returned from abroad for three years, everyone in this circle understood who to associate with and who to alienate when they were in their teens, and had established relationships early: for example, Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin, for example, the third generation of the Chen and Wen families, for example, the Qiu and Shen families who were preparing for marriage.

Three years were diluted to be almost undetectable in such a background. The people who could come to this party were all those who intended to associate with Gu Chenzhou and Wei Xiangjin. Even Sun Peiming, who was tricked by Gu Chenzhou a while ago, praised Gu Zhengjia very respectfully when Gu Chenzhou introduced him: losing at the card table was losing, anyway, sometimes he spent more than this money to support a pleasing lover. But if he made the Gu family lose face on this occasion, he might make a deadly enemy.

After introducing a circle of people, Gu Chenzhou finally took Gu Zhengjia to the young master of the He family. Three years were not obvious to others, but it couldn’t be ignored here with He Hailou: When Gu Chenzhou left the capital, He Hailou had just arrived here.

“Young Master He.” Gu Chenzhou shook hands lightly with He Hailou, and put his palm on Gu Zhengjia’s shoulder, “Thank you Young Master He for doing us the honor. This is my brother Zhengjia.”

Rarely without a companion, He Hailou was leaning diagonally against the wall drinking a glass of whiskey. He held the wine glass in one hand and put the other hand in his pocket. Wearing an exquisite white suit and a diagonal striped tie, he looked even more like a noble son than Gu Chenzhou.

Hearing Gu Chenzhou’s introduction, he glanced at Gu Zhengjia, then smiled gently at Gu Chenzhou, his tone prolonged:

“Young Master Gu is really a good brother.”