first time carrying him.

Lu Beichuan shifted and held him tighter.

Zhouzhou looked at Lu Beichuan with his eyebrows furrowed. His little gloved-hands were raised. He wasn't sure where to put them. He blankly looked at Ye Zhen with a hint of grievance in his eyes.

Ye Zhen looked at Zhouzhou with amusement. She separated those two furry hands and wrapped them around Lu Beichuan's neck. Zhouzhou had a surprised look in his eyes as he was carried in his father's arms. The family of four entered the ancestral home's front doors under the gaze of others.

Chapter 301 - She knew that Lu Shaoyan's manipulations were inseparable from Zhouzhou in the novel growing up into a person with a twisted character (3)

It was very lively today. Right after entering the front doors, they heard the sound of laughter and joy that encompassed almost the entire spacious courtyard. Everyone was bustling about to prepare New Year's Eve dinner. There were red lanterns, strings of small firecrackers, and rhyming couplets hung up on the sides of the doorways, making the ancestral home look brand new.

Lu Beichuan and the others followed Butler Lu into the living room. There were many people sitting in the living room. There were old faces and young faces, all of them were unfamiliar to Ye Zhen, except for the old man sitting in the middle. That old man had ample mental vigor.

Lu Beichuan put Zhouzhou down. Holding his son's hand, he walked over to Old Master Lu.

Without waiting for Lu Beichuan to speak, Old Master Lu looked at the chubby kid next to him and waved at him. His face was full of affection for his great-grandson. "Zhouzhou, come over to Great-Grandpa."

The room was crowded with people, but Zhouzhou was neither scared nor awkward. As soon as Lu Beichuan let go, he scurried over to Old Master Lu on his little legs. Smiling and revealing a few baby teeth, he said, "Great-Grandpa, Happy New Year. I wish you a prosperous New Year!"

The child's voice was soft and milky. His enunciation wasn't that clear either. Most of his face was still wrapped in a scarf and flushed. His big, limpid, misty eyes looked at Old Master Lu. His smile was simple and pure.

Old Master Lu's heart melted into a puddle. He really loved this great-grandson. He picked him up and held him in his arms. "Our Zhouzhou is so well-behaved. As soon as you came here, you paid Great-Grandpa a New Year greeting. Great-Grandpa can't be stingy." He picked up the red envelope that he had prepared for Zhouzhou from the table and offered it to him. "This New Year's red envelope is from Great-Grandpa. Take it to buy some candy."

Zhouzhou hesitated and didn't take it. He glanced at Lu Beichuan and said, "Mom doesn't allow me to eat candy."

"Why does she forbid Zhouzhou from eating candy?"

Zhouzhou showed his teeth to Old Master Lu. He looked charmingly naive. "Mom said there'll be bugs if I eat candy, and they'll bite my teeth at night. If my teeth hurt, I'll have to eat medicine! Bitter medicine! Zhouzhou wants to eat candy, not medicine!"

Everyone present was amused by Zhouzhou's words and laughed.

Old Master Lu couldn't hold back his smile either. "Let's not eat candy then. Save this money to buy toys for Zhouzhou."

Lu Beichuan nodded at Zhouzhou.

Zhouzhou finally accepted the red envelope from Old Master Lu. His laughter was loud and clear. "Thank you, Great-Grandpa! Great-Grandpa, are you going to give Dad, Mom, and Grandma, red envelopes too?"

It was only then that Old Master Lu looked at Lu Beichuan and the others.

"Grandpa, Happy New Year."

Old Master Lu's smile diminished. His gaze fell on Lu Beichuan, and he nodded in acknowledgement.

Old Master Lu had observed Lu Corporation's development in the past few years. This development proved that his decision back then was correct; he had chosen the right person to succeed him.

Lu Biechuan and the others sat down. The servants hurriedly brought over tea, pastries, etc. Everyone idly chatted with smiles. It was just exchanging conventional greetings, nothing more.

Sitting on Old Master Lu's lap, Zhouzhou looked around. He was a bit tired after sitting in the car for over three hours. His eyelids kept drooping down. Suddenly, he saw something and got excited. He kicked his little legs and reached out.

"What's wrong?"

Zhouzhou's little hands were scrabbling in the air. His gaze was very eager. "I want… I want to play with lights…"

Everyone followed the direction of Zhouzhou's hands and saw a person lying on a nearby sofa. That person was half-awake and playing with a white jade ball that was the size of a fist. That ball emitted lights of various colors, attracting Zhouzhou's attention.

Lu Shaoyan waved at Zhouzhou. "Come here and Uncle will give you this toy."

Ye Zhen became vigilant, but she wasn't too worried. Seeing this, she only felt that Lu Shaoyan was finally making his move against Zhouzhou. After all, she knew that Lu Shaoyan's manipulations were inseparable from Zhouzhou in the novel growing up into a person with a twisted character.

Bah! This b*stard!

Lu Shaoyan had come here earlier than anyone else. He had been coming over to the ancestral home fairly regularly in the past two year. It seemed as if he really wanted to make up for the missed bonding time between father and son.

Seeing him repeatedly, Old Master Lu recalled the regrets of the past. He was naturally more lenient towards his youngest son than others because of this. Thus, when everyone was properly sitting up in the living room and drinking tea and chatting, Lu Shaoyan was crookedly lying on the sofa, half-asleep. In front of so many of his elders, he showed no regard for manners!

Sitting on Old Master Lu's lap, Zhouzhou was still stretching his head and left hand out towards the shiny bauble.

Old Master Lu scolded Lu Shaoyan with a smile, "There are so many elders here. Mind your manners! Get over here!"

Lu Shaoyan paid no attention to his father's words. His lips quirked up in a small smile. He languidly got up and sat down beside Lu Beichuan. The bauble he had been toying with was just a white light ball. It was a very ordinary toy, but Zhouzhou liked this type of brightly lit toy.

"Call Uncle and Uncle will give you this toy." Lu Shaoyan deliberately showed off the toy in front of Zhouzhou.

"You're two generations above Zhouzhou. How can you tell him to call you uncle? So shameless!" Old Master Lu couldn't do anything about Lu Shaoyan, so he quietly coaxed Zhouzhou, "Call him Great-Uncle."

Zhouzhou looked at Lu Shaoyan with his eyes wide open, and then he questiongly looked at his dad. He was at a loss.

"Dad." Lu Shaoyan laughed, "Is it suitable for me to be Great-Uncle at such a young age? Look, even Zhouzhou agrees that's not suitable. Isn't that right, Zhouzhou?"

Zhouzhou's gaze was riveted on the small light ball that Lu Shaoyan was holding, and he half-heartedly nodded. His nod pleased Lu Shaoyan, and Zhouzhou succeeded in getting the toy.

"No sense of propriety!" Old Master Lu continued to scold, "Zhouzhou is already two years old, and you're still playing around!"

On the side, someone smiled and tried to smooth things over, "Old Master, children are responsible for their own lives. The thinking of today's youth is different from ours. In their eyes, we're old-fashioned and stubbornly adherent to old ideas! Those new things of theirs, we can't accept them. The way they live their lives, we don't have the time to keep an eye on that."

Old Master Lu seemed to accept these words. Feeling the same way, he nodded and sighed. "You're right."

This discussion had lowered the mood, so several people persuaded, talked, and smiled to sweep this topic under the rug.

Lu Shaoyan looked at Lu Beichuan and smiled. "In the blink of an eye, Zhouzhou is already two years old. It's been a long time since we last saw each other."

Since Lu Shaoyan had brought Lin Zhan to see Old Master Lu, he didn't expect his relationship with Lu Beichuan to be as good as it was in the past. He had pondered it over and thought Lu Beichuan would still have some affection for him. As long as he explained himself and recounted his hidden difficulties, their relationship shouldn't be that bad.

Unexpectedly, this Lin Zhan seemed to have touched Lu Beichuan's sore spot. He and Lu Beichuan had become estranged since then.

Regardless, he had already done it. Lu Shaoyan didn't regret it.

Lu Beichuan didn't want to talk to him and perfunctorily answered, "I've been busy. There are many things to do."

"I understand." Lu Shaoyan was always thick-skinned. After saying a few words of pleasantries, he looked at Ye Zhen. "I heard about Qinhua's Riverside and that the producer of that movie is someone named Ye Zhen. That can't be you, right?"

His faked surprised voice was asking for a beating.

Ye Zhen faintly smiled. "It's me."

Lu Shaoyan clapped his hands. "Amazing."

"It's nothing."

Lu Shaoyan sighed and said, “Dad is always saying that I'm loafing around every day, not doing anything significant. He scolds me for not finding a girlfriend. Zhenzhen, you're so amazing. If I meet a woman like you, I would immediately marry her!"

"With how you are, it's already good if you can find a girlfriend. You still want to marry someone like Zhenzhen!" Master Lu scolded him again. And yet, his tone was completely indulgent.

"Dad, how can you say that? At the very least, I'm your son. How can I not live up to your reputation back then?"

Old Master Lu had been a rather big playboy when he was young. Talented and handsome, he caught the attention of many young women. He had married three times. Each wife had been as beautiful as a flower.

Old Master Lu had an angry expression. "You b*stard! You're talking nonsense!"

Lu Shaoyan raised his hand in surrender. "Okay, okay, I'm talking nonsense. I'll stop talking, okay?"

During this conversation, Zhouzhou had gradually lost interest in the small light ball in his hands and become fidgety. He turned his head and whispered something into Old Master Lu's ear.

Who knows what Zhouzhou said? Old Master Lu threw his head back and laughed.

He put Zhouzhou down on the ground. Just as everyone was wondering what Zhouzhou said, they heard Old Master Lu say to Ye Zhen, "Zhenzhen ah, take Zhouzhou to the bathroom. He almost can't hold it in."

Zhouzhou's calves were shaking. He was doing a fidgety dance, and his face was flushed. He grabbed Ye Zhen's hand and kept saying, "Mom, Mom…"

Ye Zhen couldn't hold back her smile. She immediately got up, picked up Zhouzhou, and followed Butler Zhou towards a bathroom.

Zhouzhou was so anxious that he started crying. He whispered into Ye Zhen's ear, "Mom, I… I want to pee…"

Passing through a covered corridor, Ye Zhen quietly said, "It's okay. You can pee. You're wearing a diaper."

Before going out, she had taken into consideration that the car ride was three hours long and it was cold out, so she had put a diaper on Zhouzhou.

Zhouzhou's lips wobbled. He narrowed his teary eyes. "Don't want to…"

Ye Zhen didn't know what was up with him. He was clearly only two years old. And yet, he was very embarrassed about not being fully toilet trained. If it wasn't for her threats and promises, he would have insisted on not wearing a diaper when they went out.

"So embarrassing…" Zhouzhou laid on Ye Zhen's shoulder and sniffled. He kicked his little legs and said in a nasally voice, "... Down."

Ye Zhen put him down.

As soon as his feet touched the floor, Zhouzhou crouched down. He looked up at Ye Zhen and Butler Lu. His lips wobbled as if he was about to cry.

Ye Zhen hastily turned around. "Mom doesn't see anything!"

Butler Lu couldn't hold back his smile. He raised his head, pretending to look at the sky. "I don't see anything either."

Zhouzhou's face was flushed. He crouched there, not moving.

In that moment when Ye Zhen turned around, she saw several doctors passing through the opposite covered corridor from her peripheral vision.

There had always been doctors on-call in the ancestral home, but it was just one or two doctors that were there to check on Old Master Lu. Why were there so many doctors present now? Ye Zhen was somewhat curious.

"Butler Lu, why are these doctors here?"

Butler Lu's expression was unnatural for a moment, but he quickly recovered and smiled. "They're here to do a check up for Old Master. As you know, it's been cold lately. Old Master's old illnesses have flared up. His health isn't too good."

"Grandpa is sick?"

"It's just a bunch of old health problems."

Ye Zhen didn't ask anymore.

Zhouzhou stood up. He was shaking all over. Embarrassed, he kept his head down. He tugged on Ye Zhen's clothes and quietly said, "Mom."

Ye Zhen turned back. She didn't pick him up, just held his hand. "Let's go to our room, okay?"

Zhouzhou nodded.

After going to the guest room, Ye Zhen rummaged through the bags and took out a diaper. Just as she was about to change Zhouzhou's diaper, the kiddo hid in the bathroom and wouldn't come out. Ye Zhen pushed the bathroom door ajar. Through the gap, she saw Zhouzhou peeking out from behind.

"Mom, don't come in."

"How can Mom change your diaper if I don't come in? Can you change it yourself?"

Zhouzhou firmly shook his head. "Don't want you to change. I want Dad!"

Ye Zhen found it odd. This kid was usually in a hurry to hide from his dad, but now, he took the initiative to ask for his dad.

"Why are you so shy? You're my son. Mom has been changing your diapers since you were born. "It's okay. You don't have to be shy in front of Mom."

Zhouzhou persistently shook his head. Using all of his strength, he pushed the door with his hands. He wouldn't let Ye Zhen enter the bathroom.

Ye Zhen was worried that she would hurt him if she forcibly pushed open the door. For lack of a better option, she compromised, "Alright then. Mom will go look for Dad. Be good, wait here. Mom will be back soon."

Zhouzhou nodded.

Ye Zhen put down the diaper and walked out of the room.

A servant happened to walk past the room. She was carrying a tray of various medicine bottles and unknown liquids.

Ye Zhen called out to stop her, "Wait."

The servant halted and looked at Ye Zhen. "Young Madam, do you have any orders?"

"Excuse me, can you go to the living room and ask my husband to come over? Just tell him I ask him to come over."

"But…" That person seemed to have reservations. She looked down at one of the medicine bottles.

Ye Zhen looked around. She didn't see anyone else around. She would worry if she left Zhouzhou alone in the room, so she asked, "Are you in a hurry to deliver that?"

That person shook her head.

Ye Zhen smiled and took the tray from the servant. "I'll hold it for you. It'll only take you a few minutes to go to the living room. It won't delay you too much."

The tray had been taken by Ye Zhen, so the servant couldn't say anything to refuse her. She turned and headed to the living room.

Ye Zhen looked at the various medicine bottles on the tray. The text on them was all in English, so Ye Zhen couldn't read them. Thinking of the doctors that she had seen earlier, she went back into the room, took out her phone and took a picture of the medicine bottles.

Zhouzhou was leaning against the door and saw his mom doing something with her phone. His voice sounded very wronged as he complained,"Mom, how come Dad isn't here yet?"

After Ye Zhen took photos of every bottle, she replied, "Mom will go out to look. Don't worry." She put down her phone, picked up the tray, and walked over to the door with it as if she hadn't done anything. She happened to bump into Butler Lu, who had come here with Lu Beichuan.

Butler Lu had walked over here in a hurry. As soon as he saw Ye Zhen, he hurriedly took that tray and handed it over to the flustered servant who had her head lowered.

"Young Master is here. If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."

Ye Zhen saw that Butler Lu's expression was looking increasingly weird. She felt suspicious, but still smiled and answered, "Okay."

"What's wrong?" Lu Beichuan entered the room and asked, "Why were you looking for me?"

Ye Zhen closed the door, pushed Lu Beichuan towards the bathroom, and urged, "Zhouzhou is in the bathroom. Go change his diaper."

"Me?" Lu Beichuan looked at Zhouzhou, who was looking at them through the gap between the door and door sill. Zhouzhou blinked and quietly hid behind the door.

Ye Zhen pushed him and mouthed, "Shy."

Lu Beichuan couldn't hold back his smile at that. He took off his suit jacket, handed it to Ye Zhen, rolled up his sleeves, picked up the diaper, and went into the bathroom.

Ye Zhen took her phone out and searched online for the uses of those medicines.

In Ye Zhen's memory, she had never seen Butler Lu looking so flustered. He was usually calm no matter what. It was as if he was scared that she had stumbled onto a secret. She had heard him sighing in relief when he took the tray from her and saw him looking at that servant with blame.

As Ye Zhen carefully browsed the information she looked up, her brow furrowed more with each new piece of information.

The bathroom door opened.

Zhouzhou scurried out of the bathroom and called out, "Mom." Ye Zhen turned a deaf ear to his attempts at getting her attention.

"What are you looking at?"

Holding the phone, Ye Zhen looked at Lu Beichuan and said in a lowered voice, "I saw several doctors on my way here. The servant that I sent to fetch you was carrying a tray of cancer medication."

"Are you sure?"

Ye Zhen showed Lu Beichuan the photos that she had taken.

Lu Beichuan's expression was similarly grave after he finished looking through the photos.

"But, it's possible that medication might be for someone else. Are there other people living on this side of the ancestral home…"

"No," Lu Beichuan calmly said, "Grandpa is the only one living on this side of the ancestral home."

"Grandpa seems to be in good spirits. Besides, wouldn't he go to a hospital if he was sick?"

Lu Beichuan quickly skimmed the information Ye Zhen had found. His brow was deeply furrowed. "I'm not sure either. Don't worry. I'll get to the bottom of this."

Ye Zhen nodded.

Zhouzhou was standing by himself and watching his parents, who were preoccupied with their conversation and didn't respond to his calls to them. He was about to get mad!

***

It was very lively at the Lu's on Chinese New Year's Eve.

Their extended relatives came and went. Ye Zhen didn't have time to rest almost the entire day. When they were eating the reunion dinner that night, Ye Zhen observed Grandpa Lu's spirits and energy level, but she didn't get any clues. He seemed quite lively. As he ate and drank, he joked around. Perhaps, it was due to the effects of alcohol, his cheeks were ruddy. He didn't seem like a sickly person at all.

As for this reunion dinner, Ye Zhen knew that the only reason why so many people were attending was because Old Master Lu had called them here. This reason made Ye Zhen more certain that her speculation was correct.