Chen Jianguo showed up without warning.

It was February 10th. The son was already back at school, and the daughter had gone off to dance class, leaving only Liu Changqing and his wife at home.

But the moment Chen Jianguo rang the doorbell and Liu Changqing, who was in the middle of a meal, opened the door…

It was Liu Changqing’s first time seeing Chen Jianguo in person—before this, he had only read a little about him online.

And it was also in that very moment that Liu Changqing realized exactly whose genes made Chen Dafu look so incredibly average.

This man had the most forgettable face imaginable.

The kind of face that wouldn't stand out at all even in a crowded street.

As he looked at Liu Changqing standing at the door, Chen Jianguo, who was standing outside, gave him a once-over, then peered past him into the house.

He smacked his lips.

"This place has no style at all. The decor’s not cutting it. Want me to send someone over to help you fix it up?"

His hands were behind his back, and he looked slightly out of shape.

He wore gray sweatpants, black and white sneakers, and a black puffer jacket zipped all the way up—he looked exactly like one of those old men who take morning walks in the park.

Down-to-earth didn’t even begin to describe him.

What Liu Changqing noticed most was the sparse hair on top of his head.

Hearing what Chen Jianguo said, Liu Changqing quickly responded.

"No need, we just did a basic renovation."

"You really don’t know how to live, huh? Not even a single chandelier."

Still talking, Chen Jianguo walked right past Liu Changqing into the house—without even bothering to change into slippers.

Watching this from the doorway, Liu Changqing’s mouth twitched.

I just mopped the floor!

But since this was Chen Dafu’s father, Liu Changqing didn’t say anything.

He closed the door and walked over to stand beside Chen Jianguo.

This guy’s plain clothes and the way he stuck his belly out… made him look like some village official on a site inspection.

Chen Jianguo’s eyes scanned the room. When he noticed An Yuanyao sitting at the dining table with chopsticks in hand, staring at him, he froze for a second.

Then he turned his head toward Liu Changqing.

"She’s An Quancheng’s daughter? How come she looks so young, like twenty-four or twenty-five? Looks even younger than my son."

"She takes good care of herself, does facial masks every day..."

As soon as he said that, Liu Changqing felt An Yuanyao’s gaze on him, and quickly corrected himself.

"Of course, it’s mainly good genes! She’s just naturally beautiful!"

Noticing this change in tone, Chen Jianguo looked at him, then at An Yuanyao, and when he saw her loose clothes…

That one look told him everything he needed to know.

He grinned and slapped Liu Changqing hard on the arm.

Smack! That hit really had some force behind it.

"Not bad! How far along is she?"

"A little less than four months."

"Boy or girl?"

"Don’t know yet. The babies haven’t developed enough to tell. And… my wife’s got two in there."

The first part answered Chen Jianguo’s question;

the second part was Liu Changqing showing off.

I mean—how could he not show off? His wife was pregnant with twins!

He hadn't bragged about it before just because there was no one to talk to. Friends like Feng Qian and Chen Dafu already knew. When he first found out An Yuanyao was pregnant with twins, he even gave the whole company a day off in celebration.

Feng Qian had been swamped with work back then and nearly lost it. In the end, they settled for handing out little gifts to everyone.

Chen Jianguo’s eyes went wide, and his expression was genuinely shocked.

He looked at Liu Changqing, then turned to stare at An Yuanyao again.

He couldn’t hide the envy in his eyes.

Muttering to himself, he began rambling.

"One shot, two babies... Why can’t my kid give me a surprise like this?"

Hearing that, Liu Changqing suddenly thought of something.

"He’s not even married yet—of course there’s no baby. But if you let him date someone he actually likes, I bet he could get her pregnant in less than a month!"

He deliberately emphasized the word likes.

He wanted to make sure Chen Jianguo got the message.

After all… the last time Dafu visited, he’d said that during the New Year, Chen Jianguo had set him up on some blind dates. But he didn’t like any of them—he only had eyes for that girl Gu Xiyu.

Liu Changqing hadn’t been able to help back then, but now that Chen Jianguo had shown up himself, why not take a shot?

Maybe he could change the old guy’s mind?

Chen Jianguo sighed.

"Ain’t that the truth? That boy acts like women don’t interest him at all. The girls I picked out for him—all had great assets, but he still wasn’t satisfied. Said he already liked someone… So I looked into the girl. F***, she’s only nineteen! What the h*** can a kid that age do?!"

"…"

Hearing that profanity, Liu Changqing froze.

Then he quickly reminded him.

"Hey, maybe don’t swear—bad for the babies to hear."

"Babies? What babies—you mean those two in her belly? Ain’t no way they can hear anything right now!"

"…"

Unbelievable.

If this guy wasn’t Dafu’s father, Liu Changqing might’ve kicked him out by now. But given their connection, he had to hold back.

After a brief pause, Liu Changqing said to Chen Jianguo,

"Let’s step outside. I actually wanted to ask you something. I’ve heard all about your success story—you’re my idol!"

"Don’t butter me up."

That was all he said before heading toward the door.

He wasn’t stupid—he knew exactly what Liu Changqing meant.

The guy didn’t want him swearing in front of his wife and making a bad impression.

But Chen Jianguo wasn’t one to get offended easily. Realizing that, he didn’t get angry. He just walked right out the door.

Watching him leave, Liu Changqing turned to An Yuanyao.

"You keep eating. Don’t worry about the dishes—just rest after you’re done."

Without waiting for a reply, Liu Changqing grabbed his coat, put it on, changed into his outdoor shoes, and followed Chen Jianguo out.

As they waited for the elevator, Chen Jianguo turned to Liu Changqing, hearing the sound of the door closing behind him.

"You treat your wife too well. What happens when your place in the house gets lower and lower?"

"It’s fine. In a marriage, who cares about status?"

Adjusting his collar, Liu Changqing said that casually.

Chen Jianguo didn’t respond right away.

The elevator arrived.

When the doors opened, they both stepped in.

Liu Changqing pressed the floor button.

Only after the doors closed again did Chen Jianguo speak.

"You know, when I called you that day, Ye Rong was at my place. The whole reason I made that call was to p*** her off. That b**** has driven me crazy."

Liu Changqing was surprised.

He’d always thought it was weird that Chen Jianguo had called him—but now it made sense.

No wonder he’d specifically mentioned his name, and An Yuanyao…

It was pretty clear—Chen Jianguo had called just to send a message to Ye Rong: we’re not working together, ever.

Thinking that, Liu Changqing glanced at the old man.

This guy…

Chen Jianguo stared at the elevator’s floor indicator, continuing.

"I heard a bit about what happened between you and Ye Rong from Dafu. And that time you went to him for help—I know about that too."

"How did you—"

"How do I know? You think Dafu failed at everything in the past just by accident? I had people sabotage those deals on purpose—so he’d stop and come home."

"…"

The elevator reached the first floor. Once the doors opened, Chen Jianguo stepped out quickly.

He walked fast, talking as he went.

"I used to be dirt poor. All the young guys in the village had wives—I didn’t. I didn’t have Dafu until I was 33. We’re the only line in our family, and even though I wanted more kids… well, age caught up with me. I just couldn’t do it anymore."

Liu Changqing followed behind, keeping pace easily—Chen Jianguo had short legs.

They walked out of the community, and Chen Jianguo kept reminiscing.

"Back then, I sold everything—house, land—to get my first bit of capital. That’s how I got started…"

His voice turned a bit somber.

"Now I have everything, but you understand… at my age, all I want is to see my kid get married and have a family. But Dafu? He sucked at school, never got along with my business partners’ kids, and just wandered around the country doing whatever."

"…"

Hearing his cursing and complaints, Liu Changqing figured staying quiet was best. Just let the man talk.

When they reached the bus stop, Chen Jianguo finally stopped walking and turned to ask:

"You know where Dafu is, right? Take me to see him."

"Uh… we have a car. No need to take the bus."

"…"

Chen Jianguo froze.

Then he slapped his own forehead hard.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

His face twisted in embarrassment.

"Look at me, how could I forget you have a car?"

"You didn’t drive here?"

"Sh*t—I did drive here! Just remembered!"

"…"

Watching him flip out, Liu Changqing fell into deep thought.

This guy… early signs of dementia? He’s not even that old! And his memory’s already this bad?!

Shaking his head, Liu Changqing didn’t say anything. He followed Chen Jianguo to his parked car. When he opened the passenger door to get in, he heard:

"You drive."

"Me? Sure, no problem."

He didn’t refuse. Liu Changqing walked around and got into the driver’s seat. Chen Jianguo took the passenger side.

Once they were ready to go, Liu Changqing noticed—

It was an automatic!

It’d been a long time since he’d driven one. His own van was manual, and he’d gotten used to that. Switching back to automatic took a moment to adjust.

But it wasn’t a big deal—he had the skills.

After a quick setup, he started the car and they headed off.

While driving, Liu Changqing listened to Chen Jianguo mutter nonstop.

"Your father-in-law—no, ex-father-in-law—did he leave anything for those two kids before he died?"

"Not sure."

"Really… Li Zhengmao didn’t seem like the type to leave them with nothing. But it doesn’t matter anyway—his empire’s about to be destroyed by Ye Rong."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean? It’s simple—someone who has no business sense trying to run a business… What do you think’s gonna happen?"

Chen Jianguo leaned back in his seat, hands folded across his chest, staring ahead.

"That woman Ye Rong… all she’s good for is getting facials and playing mahjong. She’s not cut out for business. Everything Li Zhengmao built over the years—she’s almost ruined it in just one year. I actually feel bad for the guy."

"…"

"I heard about your divorce from his daughter too, from Dafu. Don’t know why she had it out for you… but she hasn’t caused trouble in a while, right?"

"Yeah."

"There you go. She’s barely hanging on herself—no time to mess with you. Life’s messed up like that. Aside from being pretty when she was younger and her family helping Li Zhengmao out a bit, she wasn’t much use. In hindsight, he really got the short end of the stick. But at least he was loyal—he didn’t dump her when her family fell apart."

Chen Jianguo shook his head.

He just couldn’t understand why Li Zhengmao was so into Ye Rong. If it had been him, he’d have kicked her out ages ago.

"After he died, look at Ye Rong—flirting and strutting around like she wants everyone to laugh at him. Shameless!"

"…"

All the way, Liu Changqing listened to Chen Jianguo’s non-stop tirade.

The guy just wouldn’t shut up.

And somehow, Dafu hadn’t picked up a cursing habit growing up with a dad like this…

That’s impressive, Dafu. Truly impressive.

They finally arrived at their destination.

After parking in an empty spot, both men got out and walked toward Lan Yixian’s breakfast shop.

Even though it was already noon, her shop was still open—and business was booming.

Her dumplings and wontons were popular with the local office workers. Big portions, reasonable prices.

Chen Jianguo stopped dead in his tracks. His face darkened.

He stared at his son, who was running out of the store carrying a bowl of dumplings.

Then he heard him say:

"Bro, you brought coworkers again today? I’ll bring you a plate of pickles in a sec."

"You got chili oil?"

"Yeah! I’ll grab it for you!"

Watching his son say something like that, Chen Jianguo’s body started to tremble.

His son—after all these years of raising him—was now a waiter??

Just as Chen Dafu was carrying the chili oil toward the customers, a furious shout rang out:

"Chen Dafu!! What the h* are you doing?!**"

Everyone turned to look.

All the customers stopped eating and stared at Chen Jianguo and Liu Changqing.

The furious old man with a red face and the tall, embarrassed man beside him.

They didn’t know what was going on.

As for Chen Dafu, he turned his head slowly when he heard that voice.

The jar of chili oil slipped from his hand and shattered on the ground.

Oil splattered, landing on his shoes.

In that short instant, all the color drained from his face.

His lips trembled as he stared at the two men across the shop—his eyes locking onto his father’s face.

He opened his mouth, and in a voice full of fear, he shouted:

"Dad, what are you doing here?!"