SFBF CH49

The crowd arriving for the meeting heard the butler mention that President Gu was currently having breakfast in the living room, causing everyone to instinctively check their watches.
…They hadn’t read it wrong; it was 8:08 AM.

The meeting time President Gu had set was 8:30 AM. Because it was relatively early, the people coming to see him hadn’t arrived as far in advance as they normally would.
But even so, arriving at this time, President Gu was usually already in his office, having started work long ago.
So hearing that President Gu was actually downstairs eating today was truly a novelty.

The crowd stepped into the foyer, and the villa’s main door closed. As soon as they entered, they heard the sound of children talking in the living room…
Children’s voices were very crisp, high-pitched, and easy to recognize. Only then did everyone realize—President Gu was keeping the young masters company while they ate.

Having children really made a difference.
The iron-blooded President Gu, who had been a loner for so many years, was actually coming downstairs to eat in a public area!

Since it wasn’t official working hours yet, everyone was relatively relaxed.
Since President Gu wasn’t upstairs at the moment, out of politeness and respect, everyone felt they should go over to greet him first.

Zhen Yong walked at the very front.
Yesterday, after hearing Assistant Li’s words and realizing the young masters were the key password to winning over President Gu, he had gone back and started searching for ways to get along harmoniously with children. This included, but was not limited to, buying a series of books like One Hundred Ways to Get Along with Kids and Clever Parenting Tips for Three to Five-Year-Olds…
Now that President Gu was right downstairs, Zhen Yong couldn’t wait to show off his cub-coaxing skills. If President Gu happened to see it, he might just take notice of him! …

The more he thought about it, the more excited he got, his pace quickening surprisingly.
And as soon as he reached the living room, his first glance fell on the back of a tall, straight man wearing a white shirt…

With one look at the cut of the shirt and the inconspicuous little logo on the back, Zhen Yong recognized it as one of President Gu’s shirts. A single piece easily cost between thirty to fifty thousand, and the brand was highly distinctive; he had never seen anyone besides President Gu wear it.
Although President Gu rarely wore these types of luxury fashion brands, Zhen Yong had indeed seen him wear this exact piece!

He immediately quickened his step and rushed over to the table. Zhen Yong spun around to face the man in the white shirt directly, putting on a big smile: “Good morning, Presi—”
The words “President Gu” died in his throat.
His smile froze.
His voice cut off abruptly.

—Why was this young man wearing this white shirt Shen Qing???

The young man sitting on the outermost side of the table had a long, graceful neck extending upward, his back naturally straight. His back profile was thin, but his temperament was outstanding.
At first glance, if you didn’t look at the face, it really was easy to mistake him for President Gu.

However, looking closely… The collar of the young man’s white shirt was half popped up. Although the buttons were fastened up to the second one from the top, it still revealed Shen Qing’s entirely slender neck, as well as his prominently jutting collarbones on both sides.
His neck was long and slender, his collarbones exquisite and distinct.
Especially below the shoulder line, the entire shirt draped over the young man, appearing very large.
It was a full size too big.

…This shirt was way too big on Shen Qing!

Not only did the smile freeze on his face, but Zhen Yong’s eyes glazed over; he no longer knew how to control his facial expression.
His mind was entirely consumed by: Shen Qing is actually wearing President Gu’s clothes.
President Gu actually let Shen Qing wear his clothes.
…
But why?? Doesn’t Shen Qing already live here? Is there really a need to be so clingy???

While Zhen Yong stood there in a daze, Shen Qing looked at him, feeling baffled. Instead, from the other side of the table where he was eating, Gu Huaiyu’s voice suddenly rang out: “Vice President Zhen.”

“Here!”
His voice reacted faster than his brain. Zhen Yong answered instinctively and immediately turned his head to look at Gu Huaiyu.

Gu Huaiyu tilted his head up slightly. His gaze didn’t appear weak or lacking in imposing aura just because he was looking up from below; his eyes were sharp as knives: “What are you looking at?”
His voice was slow. Yet it had nothing to do with being a modest gentleman or gentle as jade.
Instead, it felt like someone was being subjected to death by a thousand cuts.

“I, nothing…”
Facing President Gu’s scrutiny, goosebumps erupted all over Zhen Yong’s body. He had no idea how to explain.

Fortunately, at that moment, the other directors also walked over.
No one else was as bold as Vice President Zhen, although the view of Shen Qing’s back sitting there had indeed made many of them almost think he was President Gu.
But those who came for serious work were all shrewd individuals, each more steady and composed than the last.
Unlike Zhen Yong, everyone else took in the full view of the living room, spotted President Gu’s familiar, upright figure and stern face on the other side of the table, and only then stepped forward to greet him.

…Although everyone harbored curiosity and doubt as to why Madam was wearing President Gu’s shirt.
Their thoughts were similar to Zhen Yong’s. They figured Shen Qing lived here and should have plenty of his own clothes to change into, so why insist on wearing President Gu’s ill-fitting shirt…

And the outfit didn’t even match. Madam was wearing a pair of pajama pants underneath…
What kind of bizarre fashion was this?

Though they had to admit, Mr. Shen was famously good-looking and looked good in anything. Even pairing a high-fashion shirt with pajama pants and sitting there lazily, he looked like a top fashion model.
The morning sunlight falling on him seemed like it was just adding a touch of color to his palette.

The young man was just sitting there casually.
His brows and eyes carried a smile, bright and moving. It was a mixture of casual looseness and exquisite refinement.
Anyone approaching the living room table who noticed this scene felt stunned at first glance.

Everyone’s thoughts became surprisingly unanimous: You can’t blame President Gu for treating him differently; this Mr. Shen really is somewhat special.
Putting his looks aside, his aura and mindset might also differ significantly from ordinary people’s.
At the very least, a young man who still wanted to wear his husband’s clothes after getting married would indeed bring a different kind of freshness to his partner. …It seemed President Gu was also not immune to worldly desires.

…
Shen Qing didn’t know what the others were thinking.
If he did, he’d probably defend himself: It’s not like that at all!

Little did they know, Shen Qing did have a lot of clothes, but he only had two sets of pajamas to rotate through.
One set had been washed by the auntie yesterday, and he didn’t know if it was dry yet.
The other set was missing three buttons; if he wore it downstairs, his chest would still be wide open to the world.

…Actually, if he wasn’t in such a rush to get Gu Huaiyu downstairs to eat, he could have just gone back to his own room to change before coming down.
But wasn’t it all to get President Gu to eat a proper breakfast? So while in the master bedroom, he had suggested borrowing an item of clothing from President Gu first.

At first, President Gu wasn’t very willing.
He asked why he hadn’t moved the rest of his clothes upstairs yet, making him have to return to the second floor just to change.
Shen Qing’s explanation was that he hadn’t had the time to move them yet and planned to do it gradually.
Then Gu Huaiyu told him to pick something himself.

Shen Qing didn’t think much of it. He just felt pajamas were too private, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to wear President Gu’s pajamas. He thus casually pulled out a shirt from the rack in the outer room that looked easy to put on and take off.

He had never been particular about these things anyway.
To Shen Qing, clothes only served two functions—covering the body and keeping warm.
In the past, when he was home alone in the summer, he could even go without clothes. It was only because there were too many servants in the villa and frequent visitors that he paid a little attention to what he wore.
But his only requirement was not to expose too much skin and not look too frivolous. That was enough.

So when he asked to borrow clothes and picked them out, he really didn’t think that much. He just wanted to borrow something casually and never considered fashion coordination.

Even now, under the scrutiny of so many eyes, Shen Qing didn’t know what was wrong with wearing President Gu’s clothes.
Vice President Zhen liked to be easily startled. Shen Qing already knew his personality and didn’t think much of it.
The others only cast hasty glances over him; they were curious and surprised in their hearts, but no one let it show.

Everyone calmly and politely greeted President Gu, saying hello to him, as well as to Dodo and Aozai.
In accordance with the host’s hospitality, the butler also ordered the staff to prepare hot tea for the directors.

Gu Huaiyu even proactively asked if anyone hadn’t had breakfast yet, offering to have the kitchen prepare some.
Everyone unanimously looked at the piglet and calf-shaped buns on President Gu’s plate…
And hastily declared that they had already eaten.

For a moment, the living room became very lively.
The matter of Shen Qing wearing President Gu’s clothes was thus casually glossed over.

But as luck would have it, right before everyone had entered, Assistant Tian had couldn’t help his big mouth and asked if Shen Qing was wearing President Gu’s clothes.
This was overheard by Aunt Zhang, who was nearby. Aunt Zhang knew Madam was good-tempered and didn’t set rules. Lately, she had almost come to view Shen Qing as her own son. Hearing that Shen Qing was wearing Sir’s clothes, she took advantage of the bustling atmosphere while no one was paying attention to them, and couldn’t help but ask Shen Qing: “Madam, what about your pajamas?”

Shen Qing: “Oh right, Aunt Zhang, I was just meaning to ask you, do you know how to sew buttons?”
“Sew buttons? Of course I do,” Aunt Zhang smiled. “Do you need buttons sewn, Madam?”
Shen Qing also smiled: “That’s wonderful. The buttons on my pajamas popped off—three of them. I’ll bring them down later and trouble you to sew them on for me.”

“Huh? How did three of them pop off?” Aunt Zhang was surprised: “Weren’t they perfectly fine yesterday?”
Aunt Zhang asking this wasn’t because she was overthinking anything; she viewed Shen Qing similarly to the young masters. She just assumed Shen Qing had gotten playful and done something weird again.

But Shen Qing hesitated: “Um.”

This hesitation of his was a big deal; it quickly attracted everyone’s attention again.
Initially, hearing them talk about sewing buttons had caught a few people’s attention, but they hadn’t paid it much mind, thinking it was just mundane sewing.
But after carefully listening to the conversation and connecting the dots, everyone’s expressions became subtle—
Pajamas that were perfectly fine yesterday suddenly had three buttons pop off this morning, which was why Madam was wearing President Gu’s shirt…

A few veteran company employees looked at Shen Qing, then couldn’t resist turning their heads to look at President Gu.
Gu Huaiyu was still calmly eating.
And having followed President Gu for so long, everyone generally knew that most of the time, if President Gu stayed silent, it meant tacit admission…
…
Our President Gu is actually that intensely rough and wild?
…

Zhen Yong’s eyeballs were about to pop out of his head!
It wasn’t that he didn’t know Shen Qing had moved into President Gu’s room yesterday. The whole reason he had dragged himself out of bed so early to tag along with the main group when he had nothing to do was to find out what exactly they did on their first day of cohabitation!
Just slightly imagining a scene where Shen Qing’s buttons popped off because of President Gu… made him so jealous and anxious he almost coughed up blood.

Clutching his chest in heartache, Zhen Yong comforted himself: It’s just some buttons popping off. Who knows, maybe Shen Qing just tripped and ripped them off himself…
Yes, that must be it.
I can’t overthink this.

That is, until Aozai, who had been pricking his little ears up to listen to the adults’ discussion all along, suddenly asked: “Did Auntie and Uncle get into a fighty-fight yesterday?”

The moment the human cub’s milky, crisp voice rang out, all the adults in the living room fell unanimously silent.

The others: Oho?
Why is the young master suddenly asking this?
Looks like there’s some juicy gossip.

Zhen Yong: …
He immediately conjured up a scene of his Uncle and Auntie “fighting,” gritting his teeth in hatred.

“Fight? We didn’t.”
Shen Qing, on the other hand, had no idea why Aozai was suddenly asking this.
Knowing that children’s logic was wild and unconstrained, he looked at the cub, somewhat amused: “Why does Aozai think that?”
Aozai: “Because Aozai only loses his buttons when he gets into a fighty-fight!”

Shen Qing: “…”
The moment Aozai mentioned fighting, Shen Qing remembered what President Gu had said yesterday about Aozai being bullied in kindergarten and beating up the other kids.
With so many “uncles” around now, Shen Qing didn’t want to bring that up, so he raised his hand and rubbed the soft hair on the cub’s head and his small, soft ears to comfort him.

Aozai didn’t understand why he was being ruffled again, but Auntie’s hands were very pretty. As long as it wasn’t pinching his cheeks, Aozai didn’t mind being rubbed.
…Wait, just now when he was eating his little bun, it seemed his cheeks were pinched by Auntie!

The cub, who had just taken another bite of his red bean bun and was still puffing out his little cheeks, forgetting to chew, looked up with his big, round eyes. Blinking somewhat blankly, he started to try and remember if Auntie had just poked his cheek, but he had already forgotten.

On the other side, Gu Duo, who was also very sensitive to the word “fight,” put down his training chopsticks.
While Shen Qing was comforting Aozai, he looked at Shen Qing.
He didn’t ask anything; he just stared unblinkingly.

Shen Qing then realized—this cub had always been worried that he and his uncle weren’t getting along!
Dodo had just recovered from his fever and had finally relaxed a bit. Yesterday during the day, he had even been very relaxed picking out furniture with him. Shen Qing didn’t want to agitate him again.
And clearly, Dodo had likely believed Aozai’s words and thought he and Gu Huaiyu had fought!

Turning around, he rubbed little Dodo’s head and emphasized with perfect articulation, “We didn’t fight. Your little uncle and I definitely did not fight. Our relationship is great.”

Dodo maintained his serious expression, no longer even eating: “Then how did your buttons fall off?”
Small but profound.
It just so happened that Gu Duo was wearing a dark blue, mock-neck pullover T-shirt today—a style completely unsuited to his age, formal and rigid. With his little brows furrowed, he looked exactly like a miniature detective.

Shen Qing: “I…”
Crap, how am I supposed to explain this? I can’t just say I tripped and the buttons popped off!
He subconsciously looked across at Gu Huaiyu, seeking help from President Gu.
—He couldn’t exactly say they were rubbed off while sleeping either!
Say what you want, it all comes down to the pajamas being poor quality! So annoying!

Gu Huaiyu caught the young man’s gaze and saw Shen Qing’s face full of embarrassment, practically snorting air from his nose.
Instantly, the corners of his lips curved up again. He opened his mouth and said to Gu Duo: “We didn’t fight. Rest assured, we will never fight.”
His voice was deep, spoken slowly, yet filled with absolute certainty.

The crowd off to the side, who had been settled by the butler near the sofas to drink tea: …
Did President Gu really just say that?
Why does it feel so weird… we feel overwhelmingly flattered on the eldest young master’s behalf! After all, President Gu rarely takes the initiative to explain anything to anyone, much less make a promise after explaining!
…It really is different having kids around.
Or rather, the young masters truly were different to President Gu.

Everyone buried their heads in their tea. Over at the dining table, hearing Gu Huaiyu say this, Gu Duo finally relaxed his serious expression slightly.
In his belief system, his little uncle wouldn’t lie, because there was no need to—this was the objective assessment his eldest uncle and second uncle had given of his little uncle in private, and Gu Duo had always remembered it.
Secondly, just the day before yesterday, his little uncle had told him not to worry about adult matters and not to internally fret… Gu Duo felt that even if he couldn’t fully do it yet, he would try his best.
Even though he still didn’t know how Auntie’s buttons fell off.

Gu Duo picked his training chopsticks back up.
There was half a red bean bun and some vegetables left on his plate. Gu Duo’s appetite was much better today than yesterday; he wouldn’t leave leftovers.
He picked up a piece of pan-fried asparagus to eat. Beside him, Shen Qing was still watching the cub.

Uh, how to describe President Gu’s educational style…
He always approached things from the highest vantage point, speaking to the cubs from the position of the family patriarch.
He was always direct, never beating around the bush, speaking the most reasonable yet concise words. Sometimes his tone sounded like giving orders, completely taking on the persona of a stern, reticent father.
This was, of course, useful.
A family needed a strict, intimidating parent figure to instil a sense of reverence in the children so they wouldn’t easily grow crooked.

But the problem was that President Gu was only strict and didn’t know how to express anything else. For two children who had grown up without a father or mother, this was a bit too harsh.
Shen Qing had also experienced a life of wandering and instability. Based on his own experience, he always felt that his ability to grow into a functioning adult had a lot to do with his grandmother always gently educating and guiding him.
…Although he hadn’t developed any special skills by adulthood, his inner self remained relatively bright, and he was happy most of the time.
And that was what he wanted for Dodo and Aozai.
After all, they don’t need any other skills anyway, their family is rich!

Thinking of this, Shen Qing leaned closer towards Dodo and touched the cub’s little arm.
He had always felt that adults shouldn’t be too dismissive of children; it would make the children feel like they were easy to fool and disrespected.
So Shen Qing proactively explained: “The buttons… I just slept, and they fell off.”

“?” Gu Duo turned his head back to look at him.

Shen Qing touched his nose: “You know I toss and turn in my sleep, right?”

Gu Duo: “…Do you?”
Gu Duo recalled that the day before yesterday when he had a fever, Auntie slept next to him, and he seemed pretty still…
But that night, Gu Duo had slept very soundly and hadn’t woken up in the middle, so he didn’t actually know how restless Auntie was while sleeping.

Shen Qing: …
I really want to say, ‘Of course! You had a fever, and I was afraid of the heat, so we both slept in our own corners. Of course you wouldn’t know how restless I am. Not like your uncle…’
But this wasn’t easy to explain either… Sigh, although I didn’t want to dismiss the child, who told you to be so inquisitive, Boss Dodo? I have no choice but to try and bluff my way through.

Shen Qing said, “If you sleep enough, things just fall off. You’re still young; you’ll understand when you grow up.”

“…Okay.” Gu Duo nodded, though he was confused, he still took it seriously.
He was ultimately too young. Despite his agile and vigilant thinking, being run in circles like this by Shen Qing, he still overlooked the fact that he still didn’t know exactly how the buttons had been slept off.
However, it was exactly as Shen Qing thought. Gu Duo was no longer dwelling on that question—for a cub his age, the fact that an adult was willing to spend time explaining things to him was more important than the answer itself.
…Perhaps that was true for adults as well.

He picked up the pan-fried asparagus and put it in his mouth, chewing carefully. Gu Duo didn’t ask any more questions; he just felt that breakfast this morning was very fragrant and delicious.

Sitting across from them, Gu Huaiyu heard the conversation and looked at Shen Qing again. His gaze held a hint of helplessness, but lacking all of its usual sharpness, instead holding a glimmer of light that wasn’t normally there.

Meanwhile, the others who had been keeping their ears perked to listen to their conversation all concluded—the case was solved.
Madam’s buttons were indeed “slept” off!
…No wonder President Gu seemed to be in such a good mood this early morning. So that was why.

Zhen Yong was grinding his back molars so hard they were about to shatter. He never expected that by rushing over so early in the morning, he would be the first one to be force-fed a faceful of PDA!
…And looking at it, the young masters seem to be very close to this Mr. Shen already. I don’t know if there’s still time for me…
Besides, wealthy families emphasized not speaking while eating or sleeping.
What on earth was this Shen Qing talking about at the dining table with a child?
Opening and closing his mouth talking about sleeping this and sleeping that. Had the Shen family not educated him? …

Thinking of this, Zhen Yong’s eyes lit up again. He craned his neck to look toward the innermost side of the table where President Gu was sitting. He felt that President Gu was a strict person who despised hearing nonsense.
He definitely couldn’t accept this Mr. Shen being so improper.

However, upon craning his neck slightly and looking toward President Gu, Zhen Yong saw…
?
???
What is going on? President Gu… is he smiling???

Although his facial expression didn’t show obvious signs of a smile.
But President Gu’s expression right now was so much kinder than when he faced them!
So much more!
Especially that gaze… it even had a feeling of indulgence in it?!
And the direction President Gu was looking…
Zhen Yong didn’t even dare to look anymore.

Amidst this tangled mood, it was almost time for the meeting.
Assistant Tian stepped forward to inform everyone that if there were no other matters, they could proceed upstairs directly to prepare.

The crowd rose one after another.
At the dining table, Gu Huaiyu had already finished his breakfast.
Shen Qing inspected his plate, feeling fairly satisfied with President Gu’s morning intake, and then asked, “What time will you be done at noon? Shall we eat together then too?”

As someone who had relied on nutrient IVs to maintain his vitals for a very long time, Gu Huaiyu had never included three meals a day in his schedule. He said, “We’ll see at noon…”
“Let’s eat together,” Shen Qing didn’t even wait for him to finish, as if he knew he would say that, directly grabbing the wheelchair handle behind him and giving it a shake.

Gu Huaiyu: “…”
If it were in the past, Shen Qing would never have dared to do this.
But knowing that the big shot could actually stand up without the wheelchair, and stand very straight at that, Shen Qing had grown bolder.

Giving the big shot’s wheelchair another shake, Shen Qing said, “Even if your meeting isn’t finished, it’s fine. Just let me know in advance, and I’ll have the kitchen prepare more so everyone can stay for lunch.”
This last part, Shen Qing said for the benefit of the people who were about to head upstairs but hadn’t yet, and who were turning their heads to look over after hearing the commotion.

Seeing them turn around, Shen Qing gave them a smile, neither humble nor arrogant, looking exactly like the master of the house.

Meeting Madam’s gaze, the directors collectively averted their eyes. Some were shocked that he actually dared to shake… shake President Gu…
Others were purely blinded by his bright and beautiful smile.
Recovering their wits, everyone politely nodded at him, or simply gave a bow.

Gu Huaiyu’s hand resting on the wheelchair twitched, and he suddenly said, “That shouldn’t be necessary. The meeting won’t run past 10:30.”
His voice was very low.

The directors hurriedly agreed, chiming in that yes, their work efficiency was very high, and there was absolutely no way the meeting would drag on until noon! After that, no one dared to linger downstairs any longer, scrambling up the stairs.

“Alright then. Whatever works, your work is important.”
Shen Qing didn’t force the issue with the others, just turning to Gu Huaiyu: “So we’ll set lunchtime at twelve then?”
Gu Huaiyu said, “Okay.”

The massive army heading to the meeting marched upstairs, and Gu Huaiyu also left. The first floor suddenly felt empty.
The two cubs were still sitting at the table.
Actually, they had finished breakfast a long time ago. But having spent nearly a year in the main Gu family estate, Dodo and Aozai had actually been subjected to strict rules. For example, they couldn’t pick up their chopsticks until the head of the family started eating, and they couldn’t leave the table until the head of the family did.

Although Aozai didn’t remember much of this without someone reminding him.
But Dodo still remembered.
After all, this was one of the rare meals they shared with their little uncle. Since their little uncle hadn’t left the table, Dodo didn’t move.
And Aozai always followed his brother. Seeing his brother not moving, those rules that had been distant for a long time vaguely floated back into his little head, so Aozai didn’t move either.

The two cubs waited until their little uncle left before jumping down from their chairs. Dodo announced, “We’re going to wash our hands.”
He looked so cool doing it; even without putting his hands in his pockets, he just looked incredibly cool.

Only then did Shen Qing realize that even though Dodo had clearly finished eating long ago, he practically set his chopsticks down at the exact same moment as his little uncle, and only got up to leave after Gu Huaiyu left the table.
…In the past, when the three of them ate together, Shen Qing was always the fastest eater, and the first to finish and leave the table, so he had never noticed this little detail.

Now noticing it, Shen Qing was surprised that such a small cub knew so much, and couldn’t help asking, “Little Dodo, where did you learn these rules?”
Gu Duo actually didn’t want to say, but since Shen Qing asked, he answered: “At the Gu family.”

Children should be taught rules, but establishing rules for children is actually a process that takes years and immense patience. Even teaching them to be polite and say hello when seeing people is best done by patiently telling them over and over, and inspiring them through personal example.
But when Dodo and Aozai were at the Gu family, no one had the patience to teach them like that.

To make a child remember deeply and not repeat a mistake, besides accumulating education and influence over time, there is another method: scolding and physical punishment.
So having rules enforced upon them wasn’t a good memory for the two cubs.

Seeing Dodo’s expression, Shen Qing knew they must have suffered no small amount of grievances. His heart suddenly filled with anger and heartache.
He crouched down, rubbed the two cubs’ heads, and said, “From now on, when you eat with your little uncle, you don’t have to follow those rules… We are a family; there aren’t that many rules.”

As for whether they needed to follow rules outside or in front of others… they’d cross that bridge when they came to it.
Shen Qing thought very lazily: The rules were set by the Gu family anyway. When the time comes, I’ll just ask Gu Huaiyu.

Without waiting for the cubs to react, Shen Qing directly grabbed the two cubs’ little hands, smiling without a hint of disgust: “Let’s go, taking you to wash those dirty little paws!”
Gu Ao loved the tone Shen Qing used when speaking like this. Even though his little paws were indeed filthy, he giggled gleefully and let Shen Qing pull him along.

Because Dodo knew his hands were dirty, he subconsciously tried to pull away evasively when Shen Qing first grabbed him, not wanting to dirty his Auntie’s hands.
But Shen Qing was an adult, after all, and brooking no refusal, he firmly grasped Gu Duo’s small hand.

Holding them, one on the left and one on the right, Shen Qing led the two bouncing cubs toward the first-floor bathroom.

After their hands were washed clean, Shen Qing sent the two cubs back to the playroom to play, while he returned to the first floor to eat breakfast.
By now, he had already changed out of his pajama pants and brought his pajama top down to ask Aunt Zhang to sew the buttons back on for him.
As for President Gu’s shirt, he was still wearing it.

Shen Qing’s habit was that once clothes were worn, they had to be washed.
He already had it on. If he took it off now, he’d still have to wash it. If he changed into other clothes, that would just be one more piece to wash.
It was better to just wear this one for the rest of the day and wash it later.

However, the buttons popping off did remind him that rotating between just two sets of pajamas was clearly not fail-safe; sometimes supply wouldn’t keep up with demand.
Pulling out his phone and opening a shopping website again, he decided not to wait until he went out shopping and instead just buy online.
Since he had money, he didn’t need to look at the prices, and could even pay extra for the fastest direct courier delivery.

In a moment of inspiration, Shen Qing simply went directly to the kind of luxury brand stores that offered personal home delivery and ordered several sets of pajamas. He figured this would be faster, and he wouldn’t need to wash them separately; he could wear them right when they arrived.
…It really is true that having money changes the way a person thinks.
The original owner had bookmarked quite a few luxury brand websites, which Shen Qing had found on the phone.
But if it were in the past, he probably would have just looked at them and forgotten they existed.
Now though…
What is flexible application? This is flexible application!

After buying pajamas for himself, he inexplicably clicked into a maternal and child store affiliated with a high-end brand. Seeing that they sold those children’s one-piece cartoon pajamas, each one more adorable than the last, he continued buying and buying, ordering a batch based on Dodo and Aozai’s heights.

…Today’s dose of shopping thrill: acquired.

After finishing breakfast, Shen Qing went upstairs to play with the cubs… ah, no, went to look for the cubs to play.

Just as he reached the second floor, he bumped into Li Hong, who was getting ready to head out for errands.
Li Hong recognized the shirt Shen Qing was wearing as President Gu’s at first glance. He wasn’t surprised, because Assistant Tian had already told him about this in the morning, and he had already done his surprising then.

Even so, upon seeing Shen Qing, Li Hong was still struck with amazement—
Wearing a pair of black peg-top trousers with an excellent drape on the bottom, and an oversized shirt on top, Madam perfectly blended elegance, intellectualism, sexiness, and poise all into one.
He couldn’t just say he knew how to dress. He could only say that everything looked good on him!

As to why Madam was wearing President Gu’s clothes, they couldn’t pry.
But what was beyond doubt was that in all these years, he was the first person to ever wear President Gu’s clothes.
…It seemed the relationship between Madam and President Gu was indeed advancing by leaps and bounds.

As one of the very few, or perhaps the only person who understood President Gu’s situation, Li Hong felt very gratified.
No matter how much he complained internally about President Gu treating people coldly, Li Hong knew that President Gu simply didn’t want to hold anyone back during the final stages of his life.
Including the young masters. Most of the time, President Gu only watched over them silently.

…So now, with President Gu coming downstairs to eat, being so close with Madam… he had even agreed to go through with that surgery!
Did this mean that President Gu’s mindset had changed?

Thinking of this, Li Hong wasn’t just gratified; he was also very excited.
After all, selfishly, he didn’t want his incredibly generous boss to just disappear like that.
…If President Gu was gone, who would he work for?
The young masters were still young, and Madam clearly only wanted to be a salted fish. When the time came, the entire company could only fall apart. Even if President Gu left escape routes and connections for the young masters and Madam, what about him?
He was still a young guy in his prime!
He didn’t want to become unemployed just like that!

Thinking of this, the highly emotional Li Hong immediately gave Shen Qing a deep bow.

Shen Qing: ?
“Assistant Li, what is this?”

Li Hong: “It’s nothing, Madam, I just wanted to wish you and President Gu a long life together till your hair turns white, a hundred years of harmonious union, a match made in heaven, conjugal bliss… blooming flowers and a full moon, and may you flourish together like twin lotus flowers on one stalk!”

Shen Qing: ?…?
He had a face full of utter confusion.

How should I put it… as expected of a senior special assistant by President Gu’s side, to be able to use so many idioms all at once!
So cultured!

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