I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Upon arriving at the underground parking lot of Deepwater Waterfront, Xiao Bonian had just parked his car when he saw Zhou Man's Bentley pull in.

So he got out of the car and waited, and sent Shen Kang a message saying that he had arrived downstairs and Zhou Man had also come.

At this moment, Zhou Man's car also came to a stop.

"Xiao Yang, you can go back now. Come pick me up at 8 a.m. tomorrow."

"Okay, Mr. Zhou."

After speaking with driver Yang Lin, Zhou Man came over. "You received the message too?"

"Of course."

Xiao Bonian showed his phone. "I sent Shen Kang a text message saying we've arrived."

"Did you buy the cake?" Zhou Man asked.

Xiao Bonian was taken aback, then slapped his forehead and was about to open the car door, "I forgot! You go up first..."

"No need, I've already made my reservation."

Zhou Man stopped him, "The shop will deliver it directly later. We forgot the cake, and we probably haven't prepared a gift either, right?"

Xiao Bonian chuckled.

Zhou Man sighed softly, and like a magician, she flipped her right hand, revealing three bags hanging from her fingers. They were from different brands: Boucheron, Bulgari, and Van Cleef & Arpels.

"I bought these on the way: rings, earrings, and a necklace. We'll each have one later. Boucheron is a ring, Bulgari is an earring, and Van Cleef & Arpels is a necklace."

Zhou Man thought for a moment and gave the Bulgari bag to Xiao Bonian, saying, "You can give this to him."

Xiao Bonian didn't refuse and took it, saying, "I'll give you the money tonight."

He recognized these luxury brands and knew they were expensive, but he didn't have enough money on him, so he could only go to get more that night.

"No need, you're not taking your share anyway, just deduct it from there."

Xiao Bonian didn't say anything, but he made up his mind to give her the money.

Shen Kang hadn't sent a text message yet, so the two of them waited downstairs.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Xiao Bonian cleared his throat and broke the silence: "Is the ring the right size?"

"Her hands are beautiful. I've observed them, and I know their size; there's nothing wrong with them... I've noticed you've been very busy lately. Are university professors this busy?"

"Finals are coming up, and there's been a lot going on at school lately... I've noticed you've been quite busy too?"

"I've just arrived in Yangcheng, and I'm not very familiar with the situation of these companies yet, so it will take me a while to take over. By the way, I still don't know what you teach?"

"In the field of computer science, I've been doing research on artificial intelligence for the past few years."

"Artificial intelligence? Like the kind in the movie 'I, Robot'?"

"Pretty much, but that's in the movies. In reality, it's far less developed and still at a relatively basic stage. For example, Chinese NLP, or Natural Language Processing."

"Natural Language Processing for Chinese?"

"Well, you can think of it as enabling machines to understand Chinese."

"It sounds like laying the foundation."

"Yes, it's about laying the foundation. You understand perfectly."

"I always thought that people in IT had very little hair, but you have a lot."

"Maybe I'm just lazy and don't use my brain much, so I have a lot of hair, haha..."

A short beep interrupted their conversation, breaking the atmosphere that had been building up.

They picked it up and saw it was a message from Shen Kang, informing them that they could go up.

Xiao Bonian then sent another text message, saying that Zhou Man had bought a gift and also bought one for him to give to He Qiuzhu, and told him to go to the elevator to pick it up first.

"Let's go up."

The two then took the elevator and remained silent inside.

When they arrived at their floor and the elevator doors opened, they saw Shen Kang already standing outside.

"Here, deliver this." Zhou Man handed the Van Cleef & Arpels bag to Shen Kang. "There's a necklace inside. By the way, did you ask Aunt Liang to cook later? The cake shouldn't arrive for a while."

Shen Kang took the bag, a half-smile on his face, "No need to cook later, Aunt Liang is too awesome, she didn't come."

"Didn't come?"

Zhou Man and Xiao Bonian were both taken aback.

Shen Kang didn't explain, and simply gestured for the two of them to follow him inside.

It took the two of them a while to get there, and it was already getting dark. All the lights in the house were on, and the warm light filled the entire living room.

The TV was on, and He Qiuzhu was sitting quietly on the sofa watching it. She was wearing a light gauze dress and looked as serene and beautiful as a most intellectual and elegant little princess. The photos that Shen Kang had sent them earlier seemed like an illusion.

Shen Kang gestured for the two to follow him to the kitchen, then pointed to the trash can in the corner.

There are several instant noodle bags.

"What do you mean?" Zhou Man frowned.

Shen Kang slowly explained, "I didn't see Aunt Liang even after 6 o'clock, so I felt something was wrong. I asked He Qiuzhu and found out that Aunt Liang only cooked normally on the first day. She probably stopped coming for the next two days because she saw that we were leaving early and coming back late."

"Every time, she would call He Qiuzhu and say that something had happened at home, asking if she could take a day off. If that wasn't possible, she would ignore her own family matters and come over anyway. You can tell from He Qiuzhu's attitude that she couldn't say no, so she would just eat instant noodles by herself. I guess Aunt Liang has taken on other jobs and is working for other people."

Zhou Man's temper flared instantly, her eyebrows furrowed, and she immediately picked up her phone to call Aunt Liang—wasn't this bullying an honest person!

Xiao Bonian was also furious, but he still waved his hand to stop her, "We'll talk about this later, let's celebrate your birthday first. Don't let something like this ruin your birthday."

Shen Kang agreed, "That's what I think too."

They both made sense, so Zhou Man had no choice but to suppress her anger and said irritably, "Then I'll call another chef over." After saying that, she started making phone calls.

Mr. Zhou's energy is still strong; the chef arrived in less than twenty minutes, and the dishes were even pre-processed on the way.

The birthday celebration was held on a rooftop, where the night sky was right above.

The long table in the center of the terrace was used as a dining table. Cold dishes were served immediately, and five minutes later, hot dishes began to be served one after another. Ten minutes later, all the dishes were served, and the chefs immediately left.

The family of four sat around a long table. In front of He Qiuzhu was a birthday cake with the words "Happy 18th Birthday He Qiuzhu~" written on it and 18 candles.

Under the pitch-black starry sky, only the candlelight illuminated He Qiuzhu's face, making her look as beautiful as a porcelain doll.

She is no longer as aloof as before; her eyebrows are slightly curved, and her eyes are bright and sparkling.

After calming down for a while, Zhou Man's anger subsided temporarily. She smiled and said, "Qiu Zhu, happy birthday!" She then took out the Boucheron box, which revealed a sparkling peacock feather ring.

"Here's your birthday present. Try it on and see if it fits. My eyes are my best judge; it should be fine."

"Thanks."

He Qiuzhu took the ring and tried it on; the size was indeed just right.

Then came Xiao Bonian, who also presented a gift. "Qiuzhu, I also wish you a happy birthday! May you have many more birthdays to come!"

Finally, there's Shen Kang.

"Well, let me just say a few words."

Shen Kang stood up, his expression serious, his voice firm and resonant: "On this breezy summer day, we come from all corners of the country, gathered here for the same dream. First, I want to thank heaven, thank earth, thank..."

Zhou Man listened for a while, then couldn't take it anymore. She picked up a paper cake mat and threw it at him. "You should thank me for not getting angry yet!"

Shen Kang turned away to avoid him. "Look at you, Mr. Zhou, you're in such a hurry. I'll be thanking you soon..."

Seeing Zhou Man stand up, Xiao Bonian quickly stood up as well, stretching out his hands to block between the two, "Calm down, calm down!..."

Looking at the chaotic yet inexplicably heartwarming scene before her, He Qiuzhu's eyes sparkled, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously curled up.

very nice.

She clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and silently made a wish, only to feel a chill on her cheek.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Shen Kang's hand had just left her face, and it was still covered in cream.

"Shen Kang!" Zhou Man roared, "Why did you do that to her?!"

"Birthdays are all about having fun like this, look how happy she is... No, He Qiuzhu, what do you mean? Pretending to cry! Are you kidding me?!"

"Shen! Kang!"

"No, Mr. Zhou, look! She didn't even shed a tear, just pouted. Her acting is terrible! Can't you tell? Look, she's secretly smiling!..."

"Mr. Zhou, calm down!..."

……

After the birthday dinner ended, the rooftop finally quieted down, and the outdoor lights were turned on, casting a warm, golden glow that wasn't glaring.

Xiao Bonian and Zhou Man went down first, probably to deal with Aunt Liang's matter.

Shen Kang, on the other hand, was studying the Van Cleef & Arpels four-leaf clover necklace.

"This tiny thing probably costs tens of thousands, and it doesn't even look like anything valuable. These luxury goods sellers are really making a killing..."

"Shen Kang, thank you."

Shen Kang turned his head and saw He Qiuzhu staring at him.

Her face was now clean, and her eyes were sparkling. "I'm so happy today."

"Hey, what are you saying? According to the household registration, you're at least my sister."

Shen Kang reluctantly put down the Van Cleef & Arpels necklace and pushed it over, saying, "Keep your necklace safe. Also, we're getting a new housekeeper. If the new housekeeper makes excuses not to come like Aunt Liang did, it's okay if you feel bad not refusing. Just send me a text message."

He Qiuzhu nodded obediently, then corrected Shen Kang's choice of words: "Shen Kang, according to the household registration, I am the older sister, I am above you."

Then she got happy again, "Tomorrow is your birthday, Shen Kang, I'm coming to celebrate with you tomorrow! I'm going to smear cream all over your face!"

At this moment, Xiao Bonian and Zhou Man also came up, it seemed that the matter over there had been settled.

Hearing this, Zhou Man said, "Yes, Shen Kang, tomorrow is your birthday. Are you planning to celebrate like this too?"

"Stop!"

Shen Kang quickly stopped them, "June 21st is just the day I was abandoned at the orphanage. The director said he saw a doctor, and my real birthday should be... June 18th!"

Moving forward one day would be too obvious; moving forward three days would be just right, very natural, hmm.

"So my birthday has already passed, let's talk about it next year. By the way, Mr. Zhou, what did Aunt Liang say?"

"She apologized, and we definitely can't use her anymore. Although her behavior was very unethical, there wouldn't be any real results if we really investigated. Let's find a new nanny tomorrow."

Zhou Man was a little helpless, but then decided to continue the topic of birthdays, "If you want to change your birthday, that's fine, just find some time to have it. Even if your birthday has passed, we can have one for you tomorrow..."

"Mr. Zhou, you're all quite busy, so leave the finding a new nanny to me! I have some things to do tonight, so I won't be staying here. I'll be busy with the new nanny tomorrow, so I won't be back. I'll be leaving now!"

Shen Kang finished speaking in one breath and quickly made his escape.

"Hey!..." Zhou Man turned around and reached out, wanting to grab Shen Kang, but was stopped by Xiao Bonian.

She looked at Xiao Bonian with some dissatisfaction.

Xiao Bonian then gestured for her to come with him.

The two went downstairs again, and at a corner, Xiao Bonian finally shared his analysis: "Although Shen Kang seems cheerful and mature, I think he is more resistant to new interpersonal relationships than Qiu Zhu. Especially when these relationships go deeper into his life, he will subconsciously push them away and lock himself in a small room."

Zhou Man seemed thoughtful. "You mean, outwardly warm but inwardly cold?"

Xiao Bonian nodded, "More or less..."

……

The next day, Shen Kang indeed did not return to Shenlan Waterfront all day.

However, he wasn't just killing time outside; he discovered that he seemed to have found a business opportunity.