When Liu Chen walked out of the classroom with his mother, Xiong Wan was nowhere to be seen. However, Liu Chen didn't ask and took his two mothers to the school cafeteria for lunch.
After eating, Liu Chen took his mother to Xidan Department Store to buy a couple of changes of clothes. After returning to "Great Earth Mansion" to shower and change, Ren Aixun's assistant, Xiao Cai, was already waiting in the community.
To avoid traffic jams, Liu Chen, his mother, and godmother left by car in advance for the courtyard house located on the eastern second and a half ring road.
During the National Day holiday, tourists from all over the country wanted to see the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square. After watching the ceremony, they would naturally visit the major attractions in Beijing.
This meant that even though Liu Chen and the others left at three o'clock, they didn't reach the main gate of the Ren family's courtyard house until well past five o'clock.
Holding the gifts they had bought, Liu Chen handed them to his godmother, Shang Gu Lan.
After more than a month without seeing her, the old lady was wearing a red qipao today, paired with a knitted jacket. Perhaps because of the gathering, she had applied a touch of bright red lipstick to her lips, making her look particularly radiant.
Gu Shang Lan smiled and took Liu Fang's hand, holding one hand and gently patting Liu Fang's hand with the other: "Yuan Ying, this is my goddaughter, A Fang, right? You shouldn't have brought anything when you came. Why are you being so formal?"
"Chen Long, that brat, has sharp eyes to have wooed away such a good goddaughter of mine."
Hearing her mother's words, Ren Yuan Ying coughed awkwardly, then looked at Liu Fang's confused eyes with some embarrassment and explained:
"Chen Long, his father and my mother had some acquaintance. He had brought his previous unfaithful wife to our house for dinner in Beijing before. At that time, he also brought his unfaithful wife."
Gu Shang Lan glared at Ren Yuan Ying: "You girl, you say anything. Forget it, forget it. You go in. Your two elder brothers are waiting today." After admonishing Ren Yuan Ying, Gu Shang Lan smiled and nodded at Liu Fang, "Come, A Fang, I'll take you to meet your two elder brothers. Chen Chen, come, hold Grandma's hand and come with us."
After handing the gifts to the old lady who was waiting, Liu Chen then supported his godmother's hand and walked towards the inner room.
At this time, they were discussing something in the dining room. When they heard the noise from outside, they stopped. Seeing Ren Yuan Ying push open the dining room door, Ren Aixun, who was sitting inside, smiled:
"Little sister? I called you a few days ago asking if you'd come back for a gathering, and you said it was boring and you were busy. Turns out you wanted to give Mom a surprise?!"
Sitting next to the elegant Ren Aixun was a tall and robust middle-aged man. Upon hearing Ren Aixun's words, he snorted coldly:
"I think you're used to being childish. This S Province is your ex-husband's territory. You doing business there is just using his name. If you ask me, since you're divorced, you should honestly come back to Beijing. Can't our Ren family support you, a single girl?"
Ren Yuan Ying saw her eldest brother looking down on her small-scale business and was furious. She opened her mouth and retorted:
"Ren Aiguo, I don't like what you're saying. What do you mean I'm relying on his name? When I divorced him, don't you remember what he said?"
Ren Yuan Ying plopped down in the seat next to Ren Aixun, poured herself a cup of hot tea, and said with a hint of grievance:
"He said that I, Ren Yuan Ying, am just a vine clinging to him, sucking his blood. Without the Ren family and without him, I am nothing. But look, the hundreds of hot pot chain restaurants I have now, have I borrowed anyone's name or power?"
Ren Aiguo's brows furrowed upon hearing this. After a moment, he said, "You didn't say anything when you got divorced, so what's the use of saying this now?
After you two divorced, he continued to operate in S Province for another ten years. Even if you want to vent your anger now, it's difficult for me to deal with him."
When Liu Chen entered the dining room supporting his godmother Gu Shang Lan, he heard the last part of his godmother's words and the words of the legendary god-uncle, and he couldn't help but become curious.
Godmother's ex-husband, in S Province? Who could it be?
Before, he heard Ren Yu call the boss behind the wholesale market "uncle," and he didn't think much of it, just assuming Ren Yu's father was also a businessman. Now it seemed that Ren Yu's father might be a high-ranking official in S Province.
"What are you siblings arguing about again? Yuan Ying knows how to handle her own affairs. If she needs any help, won't she ask?"
After admonishing the siblings sitting at the dining table, Gu Shang Lan turned and smiled to introduce to the two brothers sitting in the dining room:
"Aiguo, Aixun, this is your god-sister, Liu Fang, and also Chen Long's newlywed wife. Chen Chen, come, call your eldest uncle."
Liu Chen smiled and nodded to Ren Aiguo, who stood up, and said, "Eldest Uncle, Happy National Day."
Ren Aiguo saw Liu Chen, who stood in front of him with a radiant face, and nodded. He had received news from his mother yesterday that his younger sister would bring her goddaughter home tomorrow, but he was surprised that his mother would actually accept a goddaughter.
However, after hearing that this goddaughter had married that rascal Chen Long, Ren Aiguo understood the old lady's intentions – it was nothing more than to support them, mother and daughter.
His thoughts raced for a moment, and in reality, only a few seconds passed. Ren Aiguo smiled and handed Liu Chen a red gift box from the table:
"The old lady mentioned it in a hurry, so I didn't have much time to look for anything. I happened to have a Buddha statue on hand. If you like it, wear it. If you find it old-fashioned, put it away. It should be worth a few dollars in a few years."
Liu Chen smiled and opened the gift box. What greeted his eyes was a vivid green and extremely transparent smiling Buddha, with a red string around it, making the green even more pleasing.
A hint of joy flashed in his eyes, and Liu Chen did not hide it. He held the jade Buddha and looked at Ren Yuan Ying: "Godmother, can you help me put it on? I really like this jade Buddha. Thank you, Eldest Uncle!"
Upon seeing Liu Chen's reaction, Ren Aiguo nodded slightly.
"Good taste, you are a child of my Ren family!"
After giving the gifts, the kitchen began to send dishes to the front. Everyone sat down in order, with Gu Shang Lan in the main seat, followed by the three Ren siblings, then Ren Mo, Ren Yu who rushed over, Liu Chen, and Liu Fang.
Looking at Ren Yu, who arrived looking disheveled just as the dishes were being served, Ren Aiguo couldn't help but nag:
"Ren Yu, you kid, with such a good brain, you should serve your country by working for Zhonghua. You've been led astray by your uncle, going into entrepreneurship. How's it going now?"
Ren Yu put down his chopsticks, his expression as serious as Ren Aiguo's, but his features were more refined than Ren Aixun's.
"Currently, the monthly turnover can reach around thirteen million, and it is estimated that the game will experience explosive growth in the next few years."
Hearing this amount, Ren Aiguo's disapproval intensified. However, seeing his younger sister glare and remembering his own previous lack of justification, Ren Aiguo only said:
"Well done. Remember to learn from your uncle and do some projects that benefit the people when you have time."
Ren Yu nodded, accepting Ren Aiguo's words.
Throughout the meal, Liu Chen observed that Ren Aiguo mostly made pronouncements, with Ren Aixun agreeing and supporting with money and effort. Ren Yu often disagreed but didn't say much. As for Ren Mo, he was solely focused on eating. Ren Yuan Ying seemed a bit listless, likely because the topic of her ex-husband brought up before the meal had affected her mood.
After the meal, Liu Chen had a general understanding of the interaction between his godmother's three siblings.
Or rather, the way the Ren family interacted.
The eldest son was in politics, the second son was in business, and he invested in the territory where the eldest son was in politics, providing financial support for the work. Of course, this work was not bribery but rather some unprofitable public welfare projects that no one else would take on, or if they did, they would drag their feet. Then the second son would personally handle it.
The two brothers helped each other and protected their godmother, allowing her to live as she pleased.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen remembered Ren Aixun's accidental death in a car accident in his previous life and his son's plane crash. Counting the time, only four years were left.
If Ren Aixun's car accident was not an accident, then the Ren family might have already begun to attract the attention of certain people behind the scenes.
Thinking of this, Liu Chen pursed his lips and looked at Ren Mo, who was happily eating at the dining table. Perhaps last year's extortion in the stairwell was not a coincidence?
And he and his mother were now tied to the Ren family. Even if Ren Yu was not mentioned, just looking at how his godmother, after meeting them, immediately helped his family find an extra sales channel, helped with buying a house, and did not obstruct his mother's relationship with Chen Long, it indirectly proved Chen Long's character was trustworthy. He heard that the location of his mother's shop was also personally sought out by his godmother from her ex-husband's brother.
Such a proud person as his godmother, for his mother's sake, could humble herself before her ex-husband's family.
After the meal, Gu Shang Lan asked the family's nanny to help take a rare group photo with the DSLR camera brought by Ren Mo.
"Ren Mo, wash this photo out for Grandma. I want to put it in my photo album and show your two brothers when they come back, to let them see their new aunt."
Ren Mo gave an OK gesture, then put away his DSLR and took out his phone from his pocket. He saw a message from Sang Ling in the QQ chat window.
Sang Ling: Does Liu Chen's family own a chain of hot pot restaurants?
"Why is Ah Ling asking this?" Ren Mo looked at the message in the chat box and then at his mother sitting beside him. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Did she confuse me with my mom and Aunt Liu?"
Ren Mo originally wanted to reply to Sang Ling, saying that it was his mother and she had made a mistake, but then he suddenly thought that Sang Ling was very stubborn. If she knew that his family owned a chain of hot pot restaurants, then his previous talk about doing part-time jobs and learning to make money by running Weibo accounts would be exposed!
After thinking about it, his godmother was also a mother, so Ren Mo replied in QQ: Yes, a chain of hot pot restaurants, many of them.
Sang Ling: "Someone in class just shared an interview of Liu Chen on the local TV station. She said her mother only took out a loan to buy a house last year?"
Ren Mo looked at the message in QQ and then remembered that Sang Ling had participated in the interview with Liu Chen at that time. How could he have forgotten?
Ren Mo: Hahaha, just kidding. That's Liu Chen's godmother. Aunt Liu is in the frozen goods wholesale business.