I met my whole family through Baidu Tieba.

Li Mei, unaware of Shen Kang's thoughts, was still counting on her fingers, unable to make a conclusion. Frustrated, she simply gave up, looked up, and grinned foolishly, "Shen Kang, is she your girlfriend?"

Upon hearing this, Shen Kang was speechless. He casually patted her head and said, "You little kid, where did you hear that word? What girlfriend? She is... you can think of her as your younger sister."

"Oh……"

Li Mei bit her fist thoughtfully, drool dripping down her cheeks.

Shen Kang immediately reached out and used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe it off for her, but then he heard He Qiuzhu's timid voice coming from the side.

"Shen Kang, my birthday is June 20th, and yours is June 21st. I'm older than you, so you have to call me 'older sister'."

"..."

Shen Kang chuckled, unconcerned.

"Don't worry about these details, only children fuss over such things."

He Qiuzhu indeed stopped dwelling on it.

After a while, Shen Kang couldn't shake the feeling of unease, so he turned to He Qiuzhu and said seriously, "Actually, there's something you need to know. To be precise, the date on my ID card isn't my real birthday. It's just the date I was abandoned at the orphanage, but I was born before that."

"By the most conservative estimate, I was born at least on June 20th. If we follow the usual logic, I was definitely born sometime in mid-June. So, it's highly probable that I'm older than you, at least 99% likely. Do you understand?"

"oh."

"...No, oh, what do you mean?"

"Oh, that's right."

"So you also acknowledge that I'm older than you?"

"oh."

"...I'm a little angry."

Li Mei panicked and pulled He Qiuzhu, "Run! Shen Kang is angry. He's a good fighter, we can't beat him!"

……

The adoption of Shen Kang went very smoothly.

The dean contacted Yangcheng University and verified that Xiao Bonian was indeed a professor there. After communicating with several parties, he actively assisted.

With the dean's assistance, Zhou Man seemed to have mobilized a great deal of energy, and the procedures were completed incredibly quickly.

Things went smoothly at He Qiuzhu's house as well.

Her guardian is her uncle, a chubby man who always smiles and looks very kind. Judging from his clothes, he is wealthy, but not as extravagant as President Zhou.

Surprisingly, He Qiuzhu's uncle didn't object to Zhou Man's decision to adopt He Qiuzhu; on the contrary, he seemed to agree, which puzzled Shen Kang.

Regardless, two days later, Xiao Bonian adopted Shen Kang, Zhou Man adopted He Qiuzhu, and Xiao Bonian and Zhou Man registered their marriage. All the formalities were completed in a remarkably fast pace.

After all the formalities were completed, Zhou Man booked a private room at the Sheraton Boding Hotel and held a small celebration dinner, which was attended only by her "family of four".

The table wasn't large, but it felt cozy. Each dish was also small, making it seem expensive; it was a good deal for a Shanghai gentleman.

The family of four weren't very familiar with each other, and everyone seemed to have something on their mind, so the whole meal was rather dull with little interaction. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought the four of them had joined a group-buying deal.

In the end, Zhou Man ended the celebratory dinner with a glass of wine.

"This family is now officially established... I hope everything goes smoothly for everyone."

It doesn't sound like a family dinner at all; it sounds more like a celebration party for a project with no future.

Shen Kang inwardly grumbled, but said nothing. He simply poured himself a full glass of red wine as a courtesy and stood up to offer his toast.

"I hope everyone can get what they want."

Then I drank it all down.

He had just glanced at this wine; good heavens, Romanée-Conti! He had never tasted it in his later years; it would be a waste not to drink more.

The wine was finished and the guests had dispersed, thus ending the banquet.

As previously agreed, everyone would not live under the same roof and would go back to their own homes.

As Shen Kang walked out of the hotel, he still had a half-empty bottle of Romanée-Conti in his arms—given Zhou Man's habits, she might throw it all away tomorrow because she thought it didn't taste right, so he simply asked Zhou Man for it to avoid wasting it.

Finally, he stood by the pool at the hotel entrance and glanced back at the Sheraton Hotel in the darkness.

Under the spotlight, it resembled an indescribable, menacing octopus monster in the darkness.

As the experiences of the past few days flowed through his mind, it felt as if he had gone through a real-life version of "Alice in Wonderland".

At this moment, with the dust settled, he felt a sense of desolation, like the end of a carnival, and a strange, unsettling feeling of impending danger...

"What terrifying sense of impending danger?"

A voice suddenly rang in his ear, startling Shen Kang.

Upon closer inspection, he was surprised to see Yin Mingyang's face close to his, looking at him curiously.

"What kind of terrifying sense of impending danger?" Shen Kang asked him in return.

Yin Mingyang was taken aback, even more puzzled. "I don't know. Didn't you just say that to yourself?"

Shen Kang's lips twitched slightly.

He never expected that he would actually say what was on his mind, and that Yin Mingyang would overhear him.

However, he didn't intend to answer the question and subtly changed the subject: "It's nothing. By the way, what are you doing here?"

Yin Mingyang explained, "Wan Zihao's family is holding a celebration banquet here today to celebrate his excellent results in the college entrance examination."

As for why Shen Kang wasn't invited, it's because Shen Kang is never invited to such events. After all, these kinds of social interactions involve you treating me today and me treating you tomorrow. Even if people have different financial situations and the return invitations vary, it doesn't matter; at least there has to be a return invitation.

Everyone knows that Shen Kang is an orphan who grew up in an orphanage. He has no money and no family, so apart from the beginning, no one called him Shen Kang anymore except for Yin Mingyang.

The other day when everyone went to the KTV was a case in point. If Yin Mingyang hadn't insisted on dragging Shen Kang along, Shen Kang would never have known.

"So it was a victory celebration banquet."

Shen Kang nodded, then asked, somewhat puzzled, "The college entrance exam scores haven't been released yet, so why are we having a celebration party already?"

"Hey, isn't this the score he estimated himself? He estimated it high, and his parents seem quite happy, so they're holding one round of auditions. Once the actual scores come out, they'll hold another round, and after he gets the acceptance letter, they'll probably hold yet another round."

"They're rich," Shen Kang remarked.

"Money's burning bright," Yin Mingyang muttered under his breath. He'd fought with Wan Zihao back in middle school, but lost. It was Shen Kang who avenged him with a move called "Kanglong Youhui," so he'd always disliked Wan Zihao. If he hadn't wanted to eat here today, he probably wouldn't have come.

But this means I'll have to invite Wan Zihao to my own graduation banquet... By the way, my own family's graduation banquet will definitely be much cheaper, so Wan Zihao will be at a disadvantage!

Thinking of this, Yin Mingyang couldn't help but feel happy, as if he had made a profit.

As the two were talking, several more classmates walked over; they were all from their class, so it seemed the party was over.

Zou Jiajia was also there. When she saw Shen Kang, her eyes lit up slightly, and she greeted him with a smile, "What a coincidence, Shen Kang, you're here too?"

"Yes, what a coincidence," Shen Kang replied, but couldn't remember the female classmate's name.

Just as Shen Kang was about to take his leave, Yin Mingyang winked at him, seemingly trying to say something, which left everyone puzzled.

However, being old friends of several decades, Shen Kang quickly guessed what was going on based on his understanding of Yin Mingyang. He looked into the crowd opposite him and eventually noticed a girl.

This girl is quite pretty; her hair is permed and slightly wavy. Unlike typical beauties, her skin is wheat-colored, which is quite distinctive.

Shen Kang didn't remember the face, but from Yin Mingyang's strange behavior, he could easily guess the name of the pretty girl—Ran Wei.

But that's no longer relevant to him. He gets a headache whenever he sees words related to "love" or "romance," and even "unrequited love" doesn't work for him, so he continues to plan his departure.

Zou Jiajia spoke up again: "Are you here to eat?"

"I'm doing part-time work, just passing by while delivering goods," Shen Kang lied without batting an eye, but he glanced at Zou Jiajia again—this female classmate seemed to have a strong desire to talk to him? He'd force a conversation, wouldn't he?

When Zou Jiajia saw Shen Kang's gaze, she inexplicably felt as if he had seen through her, and she was speechless for a moment.

Just then, someone whispered, "That girl is so pretty..."

The sound seemed contagious, gradually but quickly drawing everyone's attention to the other side of the pool.

There stood a tall young woman, wearing a bohemian-style long dress that swayed gracefully in the evening breeze. Her long, smooth, black hair flowed freely. The hotel lights illuminated her face, making it appear as white as jade. Her eyes were clear and cold, and her features were exquisite. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

Even Ran Wei, the prettiest girl in their class, paled in comparison to this young woman. Several girls in the class stared at her with wide, greedy eyes—not only boys like to look at beautiful women, but girls do too, especially someone as beautiful as her.