Shen Feng’s eyes were immediately drawn to the attire of Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan. It is said that what men like about women is undeniably their breasts and thighs; stating this would never be wrong. If it were to be wrong, then the problem would lie with the woman. If a monstrous woman were to appear before a man, most men would not be interested.
Now, having been reminded of the grand "Zhuazhou" ceremony, Shen Feng immediately realized that it was time for the child to choose something he liked.
Shen Feng then said, “Since everything is prepared, let’s begin. Little Hu, it’s up to you. Grab whatever you like. If you grab the brush, you’ll become a literary scholar; if you grab the flute, you’ll become a musician. If you grab the sword, you’ll become a strong person in the future.”
After speaking, Shen Feng placed his son on the red cloth on the table, looking at the child with anticipation, wanting to know what he would grab at this moment.
After being placed on the table, Shen Xingzhi became curious about the various miniature items around him and began to reach out and grab them. Amidst Chang Jianyi’s eager anticipation, Shen Xingzhi crawled towards a gemstone-inlaid seal on one side. Upon seeing this, Chang Jianyi’s face lit up with relief.
“It was worth having someone carve this seal; children are indeed attracted to it,” Chang Jianyi thought to herself.
Although the item a child chooses during the Zhuazhou ceremony doesn’t necessarily dictate their future profession, it still represented Chang Jianyi’s hopes for her son. Seeing her son crawl towards the seal, Chang Jianyi felt immensely pleased.
However, at that very moment, Little Hu suddenly noticed the brush pen on the side, which was gleaming under the light.
So, Hu quickly crawled over, grabbed the brush pen, and put it in his mouth to bite. But as soon as he bit down, he started crying because it was not edible.
Shen Feng quickly picked him up and said, “Good son, don’t cry. You will be a great literary scholar from now on. Be good, don’t cry.”
The simplest way for a child to recognize an object is to put it in their mouth and bite it. This way, they can tell if it’s edible. However, this time, Hu bit the brush pen. His baby teeth had just started to grow, and the consequence of biting was that his teeth hurt. He immediately burst into tears.
Seeing her son grab the brush pen, Chang Jianyi felt helpless. The saying “scholars are useless” was indeed true, especially in the apocalypse. She wondered how many novelists had starved to death. A brush pen could never kill anyone.
Therefore, Chang Jianyi was somewhat disappointed at this moment. She had prepared the seal, but her son had not chosen it. Instead, he had chosen a profession that wouldn’t guarantee sustenance. It was truly disheartening.
However, Shen Feng was overjoyed at this moment and immediately said, “Good, good, a great literary scholar! From now on, you’ll earn money by just writing a few words. You’ll definitely not starve to death in the future.”
Chang Jianyi gave Shen Feng a glare and said, “What’s so good about that? Scholars can’t earn money anymore. Without talent, one has to rely on reputation. How can you let your child become someone without talent?”
Shen Feng replied, “That’s because you don’t know how scholars make money. Feng Shicheng told me a lot about this. Before the apocalypse, there were two types of scholars who made money: those who wrote online novels, which not many people read, and those who sold physical books. The latter had many ways to earn money.”
Chang Jianyi looked at Shen Feng in surprise and asked, “Can anyone become a scholar even without literary foundation?”
Shen Feng nodded seriously and said, “As long as you can write, you can be a scholar.”
Next, Shen Feng began to explain how to become a scholar. “Writing online novels nowadays is a dead end because not many people read them. Therefore, at this time, it’s still better to write physical books, and it’s best to be selected for mandatory reading for teenagers. This way, schools can promote it, and then students will have to read it. Just like Cao Mou back then, who earned enough money for a lifetime with just one book, ‘The Thatched Cottage.’ But can this book compare to Lu Xun? Can it compare to Zhu Ziqing? No, it can’t!”
Upon hearing this, Chang Jianyi frowned and continued to ask, “However, I heard that to do this, one must first join the Writers Association, which doesn’t seem to be a simple matter.”
Shen Feng sneered, “Writers Association? You can join with just ten people. I remember a female writer named Qian Qian, who wrote vulgar content all day, and she could still join the Writers Association. That was because her father was famous for his research into vulgar topics. If you can join the Writers Association through connections, what do you have to worry about? My son will definitely be fine.”
Chu Chaoyan also chimed in at this moment, “Stop worrying about the child. There aren’t that many divisions of professions in this world. There are only two types of people in the world: the poor and the rich. The poor lack resources even if they have opportunities, while the rich control resources. So, your child will succeed no matter what they do. Shen Feng is the Dragon of Yuzhou, and Little Hu will not be ordinary.”
After hearing this, Chang Jianyi finally nodded, clearly agreeing with Chu Chaoyan’s statement.
Following this, it was time for the birthday banquet. Since it was winter, Shen Feng considered that people downstairs would not want to go out. Therefore, he directly issued an order that Shen Xingzhi’s birthday banquet would not be held publicly, and no gifts were required.
After this order was issued, many people in Yuzhou City were disappointed. Receiving and sending guests was the best way to build relationships, especially on the birthday of the City Lord’s son. Now that Shen Feng had announced that the banquet would not be held publicly, everyone lost the opportunity to give gifts, and naturally, building relationships became impossible. Helplessly, everyone could only sigh.
At the birthday banquet, Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan sat on either side of Shen Feng, while Shen Feng held the child. The other people sat in the surrounding seats. After Wang Xiqiang and Wang Xiran sang the birthday song, Shen Feng held Shen Xingzhi and blew out the candles. There was only one candle, but Shen Xingzhi took a long time to blow it out. His lung capacity was still not very good, as he was just a baby.
Seeing that Shen Feng was happy at the birthday banquet, Chang Haojie immediately said, “Brother-in-law, if you’re almost done, come back and live here. Also, have Sister Du bring Little Long back. I haven’t seen Little Long for a long time, and I really want to see him now.”
Chang Haojie had received orders from his sister, so he had to speak and persuade Shen Feng to stay. What Chang Haojie was saying was also what Chang Jianyi wanted to say.
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng’s first reaction was to look at Chang Jianyi beside him, wanting to see her expression. Chang Jianyi was smiling.
Shen Feng then vaguely said, “Let’s eat first, let’s eat first, and then we’ll talk.”
Chang Jianyi and Chu Chaoyan exchanged glances, seeing helplessness in each other’s eyes. Even at this point, Shen Feng still hadn’t said he would return to live here. This implied that he still intended to live outside with Du Xinshi, as if he were determined.
Although they had only been separated for a little over a week, Chang Jianyi was constantly worried. She was afraid that Shen Feng would leave and never return. This would mean she would lose Shen Feng forever. Chang Jianyi had already lost Shen Feng once, so now, she would not stand by and watch herself lose him again. Such a feeling was truly painful.
However, the fact that Shen Feng had not agreed to return to live here made Chang Jianyi’s unease grow.
At this moment, Chu Chaoyan came to Shen Feng with a glass of wine and said, “Afeng, will you have a cross-cupped wine with me?”
Shen Feng looked at Chu Chaoyan’s gentle and affectionate demeanor and couldn’t help but agree, saying, “Okay, no problem. It’s just a cross-cupped wine, right?”
Shen Feng didn’t stand on ceremony and started drinking. When Wang Xiran saw this, her little face turned red. Although she was still young and naive, Wang Xiran knew that boys and girls shouldn’t have such intimate physical contact. But now, such intimate contact was happening right before her eyes, and Wang Xiran immediately felt shy.
“Children, don’t look. Eat your food obediently,” Chang Haojie said in a rather mature tone, and then he picked up a chicken leg for Wang Xiran, telling her to eat obediently.
Although Chang Haojie was not much older than the Wang Xiqiang siblings, he always acted like an elder when speaking and acting. The reason was simple: these two were Shen Feng’s students, his direct disciples. In that case, Chang Haojie was their martial uncle, which meant he held the status of an elder. Since he was an elder, he had to maintain some dignity.
Seeing this, Chang Jianyi inwardly praised Chu Chaoyan for her cleverness. Shen Feng’s alcohol tolerance was quite low, while Chu Chaoyan’s was average. If they drank, it would end up being a one-for-one exchange, and Shen Feng would naturally stay.
Shen Feng did indeed get drunk at his son’s birthday banquet. His head was spinning. Alcohol tolerance wasn’t something that could be trained casually; it was related to one’s physique. Some people had more alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes in their bodies, so they had higher alcohol tolerance, while those with lower levels of alcohol dehydrogenase enzymes had weaker tolerance.
Shen Feng’s tolerance for alcohol had improved significantly, but he didn’t drink regularly, so he still got drunk.
At this point, only Shen Feng, Chang Jianyi, and Chu Chaoyan remained in the main hall. Little Hu had been taken away by Chang Haojie to be looked after. There was a dedicated nanny responsible for Little Hu’s upbringing.
Shen Feng looked at his watch and realized it was getting late. He stood up and said, “It’s getting late. I need to go back. I’ll come again next time.”
However, after Shen Feng said this, Chang Jianyi grabbed his hand and said, “This is your home. Where are you going back to?”
Shen Feng’s head was spinning, but he still said seriously, “I need to go to Sister Du’s side to take care of her. Here… I’ll come back later.”
Chang Jianyi then hugged Shen Feng, tears in her eyes, and said, “Afeng, don’t go. I know it was wrong of me to slap you before, but I was angry at the time. Don’t be angry, please forgive me. Also, if you really like Sister Du, let her come back too. I promise, from now on, I won’t say anything about the matters between you two. Is that acceptable now?”
Although Shen Feng was drunk, he understood Chang Jianyi’s meaning. She was apologizing now to keep him here.
Chu Chaoyan also said earnestly, “Afeng, my sister and I specifically dressed up and put on makeup today to persuade you to stay. If you don’t stay, won’t all this be in vain? Let the past be the past. Let’s go back to how we were before, wouldn’t that be good?”
Shen Feng remained silent for a moment, then continued, “No, I have to go. I have to go back!”
“Why?” Chang Jianyi asked tearfully. “Why, even after I’ve apologized and tolerated your behavior, are you still like this? Do you already detest me?”
At this point, Shen Feng could only explain helplessly, “It’s not like that. Du Xinshi’s heart condition has flared up, and she’s also pregnant. The doctor said she might not survive the delivery. Her time is limited, and she cannot be stimulated now, otherwise, her heart cannot bear it. Therefore, I can only live outside with her.”
After saying this, Shen Feng tried to pull away, broke free from Chang Jianyi’s grasp, and slowly walked towards the outside, preparing to leave Fengshen Palace.