Su Chen naturally understood the principle that a person of importance shouldn’t take unnecessary risks. He had no intention of going on this adventure alone. He would only go if his personal safety was guaranteed, which naturally meant a bodyguard like Chen Fei was indispensable.
Chen Fan had thought it was some major issue. When he learned Su Chen was just bringing friends, he was overjoyed. How could he possibly refuse? He agreed to it right away.
"No problem! Never mind two or three—even five or six would be fine!"
The two chatted a while longer. Only after confirming Su Chen’s approximate travel time to Singapore did Chen Fan reluctantly hang up the phone.
Su Chen thought his day was over and was just about to get up and head to his room for bed when the phone in his hand went DING! A text message arrived.
A flicker of surprise crossed Su Chen’s face as he picked up his phone and read the message.
"Little brother, it’s your big brother, Chen Fan. This is my private number. Remember to call me when you’re about to leave, and I’ll come pick you up at the airport!"
That’s right, the message was from Chen Fan. The text contained a twelve-digit number. Su Chen knew that the "0065" at the beginning was Singapore’s country code, similar to an area code back home.
The following eight digits were the phone number itself.
Su Chen hadn’t expected Chen Fan to send his personal number. This wasn’t a number generated by some virtual device like before; it was a real, actual phone number.
If Su Chen wanted to, he could use this number to easily find Chen Fan’s current location or other information.
But Su Chen didn’t do that.
’He wanted to see what this "big brother" of his was really up to.’
’If I found out information now, it wouldn’t be as interesting when I get to Singapore. After all, a little mystery is what creates the desire to explore.’
Su Chen stood up from the sofa, holding Yuanbao, and hummed a little tune as he headed toward the upstairs bedroom.
"Pointy are the peach leaves~ and the willow leaves cover the sky. In his rightful place sits Duke Ming, now listen closely to my words..."
...
"Panghu, you beast, hold still! Stop twisting and turning!"
「The siheyuan—front courtyard!」
Chen Fei and Steward Jiang were washing Panghu and the two little ones, one holding a hose and the other a bar of soap.
If Panghu and the two little ones weren’t so shockingly conspicuous, they would have just taken the three of them to a pet groomer instead of having to wash them at home like this.
Felines have a bad habit when it comes to baths: they can’t help but shake their bodies after getting wet, and Panghu was no exception.
After being rinsed with the hose, the soap-covered Panghu had a natural reflex, shaking and sending most of the foam and water flying onto Chen Fei and Steward Jiang.
Annoyed, the two men grabbed Panghu’s head and started rubbing it vigorously, squishing his chubby face until it was square, then round again. It was a state of blissful agony.
DING-DONG~
The sudden ringing of the doorbell interrupted the playful scuffle between the two men and the tiger.
Jiang Hui shoved the hose he was holding into Chen Fei’s hands and hurried toward the main gate.
"Mr. Xiao!" Jiang Hui said as he opened the door and saw Xiao Chen standing outside, quickly ushering him in.
Even Chen Fei, who was in the middle of washing Panghu, quickly stopped what he was doing and stood up to greet Xiao Chen.
"Well, I’ll be damned. Su Chen actually managed to get this big guy, Panghu, back into the country?" A look of astonishment appeared on Xiao Chen’s face when he saw the tiger being bathed.
He originally thought Su Chen would only bring back Hu Er and Zhaocai, since the two little ones were still small and much more convenient to transport.
But he never would have imagined that Su Chen would actually bring Panghu back too. This was China, after all. If anyone saw him, it would cause a massive uproar.
Especially keeping it in a place like the Imperial Capital, and in a busy downtown district no less. If it ever slipped out by accident, who knew what kind of chaos would ensue.
Panghu spotted Xiao Chen as well and started padding toward him.
"Whoa, Panghu, you beast, don’t you come over here!" Seeing the tiger covered in soap, Xiao Chen knew that if it rubbed against him, his outfit would be ruined.
Seeing Xiao Chen take two or three steps back, Panghu stopped in his tracks, tilting his head to look up at Xiao Chen in confusion.
"You two get him clean! I’m going to find Su Chen first. I’ll deal with this one later!" Xiao Chen left them with these words and quickly disappeared from the sight of Chen Fei and Jiang Hui.
Hearing this, Chen Fei quickly shouted in the direction Xiao Chen had gone, "Mr. Su is probably in the basement!"
"Got it!" a voice called back from the central courtyard.
After searching the central and rear courtyards without finding any sign of Su Chen, Xiao Chen followed Chen Fei’s tip and went straight into the elevator.
The moment the elevator doors opened, Xiao Chen shouted, "Su Chen, are you—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was blinded by countless rays of brilliant golden light.
GULP. The sound of someone swallowing hard could be heard.
Xiao Chen stared, completely dumbfounded, at a wall not far away. Illuminated by the lights, it glittered with a golden sheen that was utterly captivating.
"Holy cow, that’s an entire curtain wall of gold!" Xiao Chen smacked his lips. Even with his top-tier background, he had never seen a spectacle like this.
After studying it more closely, he realized the wall was actually quite thick. It wasn’t just a single facade as he’d first thought, but a solid four layers, making it nearly a meter wide!
"Brother Cheen, what are you doing here?" Su Chen asked, emerging from a treasure room in the back after hearing the noise.