AD Chapter 10

After leaving the tattoo shop, the temperature had noticeably risen.

On the way back, Shen Du took out his phone and sent a message to Qin Yi: [I heard you refused to give Xiang Nan my WeChat?]

It was still early, and Shen Du thought he would have to wait a while for a reply. However, just as he turned off the screen, a message came in. It was almost an immediate response.

Shen Du opened it and read the few short words, which he interpreted as having a threatening tone.

[Blame: Did he report you?]
[°: What, you want to deal with him?]

The traffic was getting heavier, and it wasn’t convenient to type, so Shen Du pressed the voice message button and spoke while walking: “Let me tell you, Xiang Nan is under my protection, don’t bully him.”

On the other end, Qin Yi had just entered the venue. According to the rules, the entire venue had to be on silent mode. The team leader was leading everyone in, and Qin Yi glanced up, then turned back to walk out.

Zheng Qing called him softly, “Where are you going?”

“Got something to take care of, you go ahead, I’ll be right back,” Qin Yi replied.

Zheng Qing said, “Hurry up!”

Qin Yi walked into the hallway outside and opened the voice message.

The surroundings were very quiet, and Shen Du’s voice, with a slight Beijing accent, came through, sounding lazy. Qin Yi wasn’t sure if it was because he knew it was the same person, but now it sounded somewhat like [Shen°].

Qin Yi silently played the voice message again, holding it to his ear to listen a second time.

Then, he replied with a voice message. His voice was deep, slightly hoarse, with a magnetic quality.

“I didn’t know when Xiang Nan became someone you’re protecting.”

Shen Du on the other end was a bit stunned by his “bad boy” tone, his ears tingling. “There’s a lot you don’t know. You still haven’t answered me—why didn’t you give Xiang Nan my WeChat?”

“Back then, you and he weren’t very familiar, right? I didn’t know how close you two had gotten,” Qin Yi paused for a moment before continuing, “You’re my client and my tenant. Without your permission, I won’t casually give your contact information to anyone.”

It was a long voice message. Shen Du’s ears were itching from listening.

[°: What if it’s someone you trust?]
[Blame: No.]
[°: You really have principles, huh.]

Shen Du wasn’t sure why he asked that question, but it seemed like he got the answer he wanted, and his mood inexplicably improved.

Qin Yi returned to the venue, and Zheng Qing was standing at the far end waiting for him. When he saw him, he called out softly, “Lao Qin, over here!”

The venue was very quiet and dark. Qin Yi had excellent eyesight and immediately spotted him. He walked over.

Zheng Qing was tall and slim, good-looking, with a very elite appearance. He was one of Qin Yi’s friends in Beijing. He led Qin Yi inside and asked, “What were you doing just now? So in a hurry?”

“Replying to a friend’s message.”

“What message was so urgent?” Zheng Qing glanced at him, “Hurry up and sit down, the auction’s about to start.”

This auction had a lot of valuable items. There was a painting, an authentic work by a medieval European artist. Qin Yi had a habit of collecting famous paintings, and as soon as he heard this one was going to be auctioned, he dropped everything and came.

After sitting down, Zheng Qing leaned over and whispered, “I took a quick look around earlier, and there are quite a few big shots here. A lot of them are here for your painting. If you want to get it, you might have to pay a pretty penny.”

“It’s fine,” Qin Yi said casually, his posture relaxed. Despite his calm demeanor, he gave off an oppressive aura, causing people around him to glance at him several times. He lowered his head and flipped through his phone, not really paying attention, “Just afraid it won’t hurt.”

Shen Du returned home, drew the curtains, and planned to take a nap.

Unexpectedly, he ended up sleeping for the entire day.

By the time he woke up, it was already evening. The sky was dark, and the street outside was lit up with bright lights, creating a lively atmosphere.

Shen Du rubbed his stomach, which was growling from hunger, and went to the kitchen to find something to eat. The fridge only had a few bottles of drinks—nothing else. The kitchen was spotless, with no pots or bowls—he had forgotten to buy them.

Actually, even if he had bought them, they would have just gathered dust.

Shen Du opened a bottle of Sprite and took a stool to the balcony to get some fresh air. After spending the day in the air conditioning, his head felt a bit stuffy.

The cool can pressed against his palm, and Shen Du bit the bottle cap, lowering his head to order takeout. He had already eaten at all the good places around, so he had no choice but to order a delivery from the other side of the city.

He thought to himself that if this continued, he’d probably starve to death someday.

After paying, Shen Du opened a live stream, feeling a bit strange. He hadn’t streamed in two days, yet his followers had increased. Shen Du glanced at the comments and realized that most of these people had come from Weibo.

He didn’t know that even though he had set that Weibo post to be visible only to himself, someone had still taken a screenshot and shared it. The post spread from one person to ten, then a hundred, and soon, everyone was waiting in his live stream.

In the 40-plus hours he hadn’t been online, his past Weibo posts and live stream history had already been thoroughly analyzed. As soon as he logged on, viewers flooded in, calling him “husband.”

The most common message was “lg, kkj.”

Shen Du finished the last of his drink, expressionless, and opened Baidu, his voice indifferent: “Good evening, tonight I’ll be doing a voiceover of ‘The Heart-Calming Mantra.’ It’s being broadcast outside, no sound card, so bear with it.”

“Don’t like it? If you don’t, then don’t listen.”

Ignoring the protests from the audience, Shen Du’s mood remained unchanged, and he began reciting like a monk chanting: “The heart is like water, clear water is the heart. The breeze rises gently, and the waves remain calm. Sitting alone in the bamboo grove, I let out a long whistle and play the zither…”

He kept chanting until the delivery arrived.

Shen Du took two bites but lost his appetite.

He took out his phone and sent a message in the family group.

【°: Mom, when will you be able to master the art of creating clones?】

His mom quickly replied: 【What’s wrong?】

Shen Du shamelessly acted cute: 【I miss you.】

His mom’s heart melted, and she immediately sent a voice message: “Oh, my baby misses his mom, I miss you too. I’ll be back in a few days, or you can come to Paris to see me.”

Shen Du, while letting the smart robot find a movie to watch, typed: “Your son doesn’t have plans to go abroad for now, and I’m not interested in running around. I—”

Before he could finish typing, his dad, Shen Fushan, popped up in the group: “Don’t, wife. If our son comes, what will we do? Besides, he doesn’t miss you, he just can’t eat the takeout and wants your cooking.”

Shen Du’s mom was indeed an excellent cook, and it was how Shen Fushan had been won over back in the day.

No one knew Shen Du better than his dad. Shen Fushan knew exactly what Shen Du was thinking.

Shen Du deleted everything he had typed and sent a voice message: “I haven’t even said anything yet, can you calm down, old Shen?”

How could Shen Fushan calm down? It was hard enough raising his son to adulthood, and now, just with a few words, he was going to interfere with their happy life. He was devastated.

Perhaps fearing Shen Du would really fly to Paris overnight, Shen Fushan, unwilling to even take a bath, lay in his chair and started trying to nurture father-son affection.

【Dad: Should I call Aunt Zhang and ask her to go to Yunshan to cook for you? We’re not home anyway.】

Shen Du, while looking at the membership recharge page, couldn’t help but laugh at this.

【°: Why would I call Aunt Zhang over? She has a grandson to take care of.】

【Dad: Then you hire someone yourself.】

【°: .】

【Dad: Seriously, why don’t you find someone who can cook? You wash the dishes, she cooks, just like your mom and me. It’s great.】

Shen Fushan went on and on about his love story with Mrs. Yao Mei-yuan. Back when he started his business, he had nothing, and it was only thanks to his wife’s cooking that he survived.

Shen Du had heard this story no less than 800 times since he was a child.

Shen Fushan sent a series of voice messages, but Shen Du didn’t open a single one.

The next day, Shen Du tried to learn how to cook.

The first thing he did was buy ingredients. Young Master Shen was inexplicably enthusiastic about cooking for the first time. He gave up on ordering delivery and went to the supermarket himself.

He excitedly went in for a big shopping spree, but when faced with a pile of colorful vegetables, he fell into deep thought.

Is this bok choy? What? Is this… jian shou qing??

His enthusiasm came quickly and left just as fast. After realizing he couldn’t tell the vegetables apart, he gave up and went to the neighboring mall instead.

That evening, Shen Du took out all the cards he had just gotten—gym membership, massage card, swimming card, credit cards, and so on—and stood at the bathroom door, trying to remember what he was supposed to do today.

Two days later, at the tattoo shop.

Around 3 PM, Niao Niao ordered some cold beer and crayfish, then went upstairs to call everyone down for afternoon tea.

There were five tattoo artists in the shop at the moment. Apart from Xiang Nan, the rest were all in their thirties and had been tattoo artists for many years. Their skin, except for their faces and necks, was covered in various tattoos.

Master Cao, the oldest of them, acted like a parent when Qin Yi wasn’t around: “Eat first, then get back to work?”

“Just a little bit, almost done.”

“Bird, haven’t you hired more staff yet? How can you manage everything by yourself?” Master Liu casually opened a bottle of beer.

“There were a few people who came for interviews, but I plan to wait for Brother Qin to come back before deciding.”

In fact, many had come—both men and women—but most were here for Qin Yi. The shop was a popular spot, and among them, Qin Yi was the most popular. In the tattoo business, who didn’t know that the tattoo shop on Qingwa Road had a cool-looking manager?

As soon as the job posting went up, it spread online, and the number of applicants was overwhelming.

There were a few candidates who looked promising, so she noted down their names and contact details, waiting for Qin Yi to return to make a decision.

As they were talking, the wind chimes jingled, and the door was pushed open from the outside.

“Everyone here?”

Everyone looked toward the door.

“Brother Qin!” Xiang Nan rushed over first to take whatever Qin Yi was holding. “You’re back? How did things go?”

When Qin Yi saw Xiang Nan, he remembered Shen Du’s words, “I’ve got your back,” and his gaze paused for a moment.

Xiang Nan touched his face. “Do I have something on my face?”

“Yes, a grain of rice.”

Xiang Nan: “??”

He hadn’t eaten rice today.

“Brother Qin, you’re teasing me again.”

It was quite strange. A person with such a grumpy face was now acting like a spoiled child.

Qin Yi patted him on the shoulder and said meaningfully, “Don’t make that face, it looks like I’m going to punish you.”

Xiang Nan looked at him in confusion.

“Go hang up the closed sign. We’re resting this afternoon. I brought some things for everyone.”

“Everyone who has clients this afternoon can go ahead and take care of them, but if you don’t have any appointments, clear some space for me.”

“Ah, this is too embarrassing, making the boss spend money again,” Master Liu said.

Master Cao ruthlessly exposed him: “Cut the crap, your face is going to split from smiling.”

Master Liu chuckled and raised his fist, as if to hit his old buddy. Qin Yi walked around them, sat down on the low sofa, and took out the gifts from his suitcase.

“They’re labeled with names, take yours.”

A few heads gathered together, and within less than half a minute, the gifts on the table were almost all taken. Xiang Nan, remembering Qin Yi’s gift, swiftly closed the door.

Just a few steps back, he heard someone knocking on the door.

Xiang Nan frowned and turned around, not in a good mood. He hadn’t noticed that the shop had closed—Shen-ge?

Outside the glass door, Shen Du waved his hand and mouthed, “Open the door.”

Niao Niao stood there, staring blankly at the luxury skincare products in her hand.

Brother Qin must be really rich…

She was standing closest to the door, and hearing the noise, she thought it was Xiang Nan coming. “Xiang Nan, go check your gift, Brother Qin—”

Her voice abruptly stopped.

“Shen Du?”

Shen Du smiled. “Hey, we meet again.”

After saying that, he casually scanned the room, finally locking eyes with the man on the sofa. His tone was familiar, as if they were long-time friends: “When did you get back?”

“Just arrived,” Qin Yi replied.

Shen Du nodded, indicating he understood.

Master Cao and the others silently watched the scene, wondering who this young man was and why they hadn’t seen him before.

Niao Niao was quite fond of Shen Du and was happy to see him. “Shen Du, what brings you here?”

Even Xiang Nan and Qin Yi looked at him.

“I? I’m here for an interview.”

As soon as he said that, Shen Du noticed the strange looks from the others. He ignored them, and instead, directly looked past the crowd at the person in the middle, asking straightforwardly, “Qin Boss, are you still looking for people?”