Chapter 47: A Peaceful Night

Deep into the night, Chen Shuting called a designated driver, and Ye Fan supported Old Luan as the three of them left the Golden Dragon Building.

In the car, Old Luan had long since woken up, though his energy remained low.

Sitting in the front passenger seat, he glanced through the rearview mirror at Chen Shuting, who was resting against Ye Fan's chest, and let out a soft sigh.

As if having made up his mind, he spoke up, "Miss, I feel I am getting old!"

"Hmm?" Chen Shuting, who had her eyes closed to rest, opened them and looked at Old Luan as he continued, "My physical condition is not what it used to be. Had it not been for Ye Fan during these past few crises, I fear things would have been quite perilous. From now on, let Ye Fan handle the Miss's security! I'll find a place to retire..."

"Miss, what do you think?"

Old Luan's voice was low, and Chen Shuting fell silent.

When she had first married into the Lin family, she brought two bodyguards. One resigned and left after her husband went missing, and the other was Old Luan.

Over the years, Old Luan had been utterly loyal, giving her great peace of mind. Although his performances in recent incidents had been rather ordinary and he was indeed starting to feel unequal to the tasks, she was still deeply reluctant to let him go.

Ye Fan chimed in, "Old Luan, don't be discouraged. Those recent incidents were just accidents, and I still trust your martial arts skills! With the two of us working together, there certainly won't be any problems."

He vividly remembered the first time he witnessed Old Luan's martial arts: it was at the entrance of Lin Zhenjie's house, where he was hoisted straight up by Old Luan and tossed out the door. Ye Fan had even briefly suspected that Old Luan possessed the ancient art of lightness.

Hearing their attempts to persuade him to stay, Old Luan smiled bitterly, "Miss, Mr. Ye, we know our own limits. Although I am only in my forties, I damaged my foundations practicing martial arts in my youth, and now I am truly just forcing myself to hold on..."

"Forties?" Ye Fan was startled. Judging by Old Luan's appearance, wouldn't he be in his fifties or sixties? How awkward; he had always regarded him as an old man!

Seeing that Old Luan was resolute about retiring, Chen Shuting had no choice but to nod and agree, "Old Luan, if you have made up your mind to stop working, I cannot refuse. However, there are two conditions you must agree to."

"Name them, Miss!" Old Luan turned his body around and looked at Chen Shuting with a serious expression.

Chen Shuting said, "First, you came with me from the Chen family. Even if you are no longer a bodyguard, I cannot just leave you to fend for yourself. From now on, the Rising Sun Antique Shop will be yours, and you can retire there."

"Miss, after all, this is your property..."

"Don't refuse just yet!" Chen Shuting interrupted, "Ye Fan will still have business dealings with the antique shop in the future, and having you there gives me peace of mind. Besides, retiring doesn't mean doing nothing; if there are important matters, I will still come to you!"

"Very well then!"

Hearing Chen Shuting put it this way, Old Luan felt much better in his heart. Then he heard Chen Shuting continue, "Second, you must teach Ye Fan martial arts and pass on your true legacy to him!"

"Huh?"

Ye Fan was taken aback. Before he could even speak, Old Luan nodded in serious agreement, "Even if the Miss hadn't mentioned this, I was going to bring it up myself!"

With that, he looked at Ye Fan and said, "Mr. Ye, you must have witnessed my strength by now. The martial art I practice was taught to me by the old master of the Chen family back in the day, and it belongs to one of the Chen family's secret techniques called the Eight-Section Wind-Chasing Palms. I only learned the first four sections; the remaining four are family secrets of the Chen family, which I was not qualified to learn. However, these first four sections are more than enough to handle most critical situations. Since the Miss has said so today, I will pass this technique on to you!"

A soft chuckle interrupted them, and the three of them frowned simultaneously, turning their gaze to the designated driver.

"Sorry about that! Haha!" The driver laughed heartily and said, "Tell me, did you guys drink way too much? Why are you suddenly acting out a martial arts drama? The Eight-Section Wind-Chasing Palms, huh? I happen to have a technique called the Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms here; do you want to learn it too, hahaha..."

Half an hour later, Chen Shuting's car stopped in front of the gate of Chunjiang Yueming Villa. The designated driver left with one hand covering his face and the other riding his little electric scooter, muttering curses under his breath like, "It's the Dragon-Subduing Eighteen Palms, not the Dragon-Subduing Ten Slaps..." and "Having money means you can do whatever you want."

Ye Fan rubbed his head and smiled wryly. Just after the driver got out of the car, Chen Shuting had pulled out a thick stack of cash from her bag and slapped it across the man's face.

"I'll teach you to make fun of my family's ultimate technique!"

"I'll teach you to make fun of my family's ultimate technique!"

The banknotes fluttered and landed with crisp slapping sounds.

It was the driver's first time experiencing such pleasure from being beaten in the face with cash. Although he felt very angry inside, his body was remarkably honest as he stood at attention to take the beating.

"Looks like I need to find a dedicated driver!" Chen Shuting muttered, then glared at Ye Fan. "You need to hurry up and learn how to drive too!"

Unhappy, Chen Shuting strode into the courtyard with the click-clack of her high heels. Since Old Luan needed to teach Ye Fan martial arts, he also came along to the villa and stayed in a guest room on the first floor.

"Mr. Ye, you don't know how to drive?"

Following behind Chen Shuting, Old Luan looked at Ye Fan beside him and tactfully advised, "You really should learn as soon as possible!"

"Ah, I'm anxious too, but with one thing after another happening, I genuinely haven't been able to spare the time!"

Ye Fan truly wanted to learn how to drive, but with matters piling up one after another, he simply could not carve out any free time.

They followed Chen Shuting into the house, where the housekeeper had already prepared a late-night snack: three bowls of vegetable soup and a few small side dishes.

The three of them chatted while eating.

"Old Luan is going to the antique shop, and from now on Ye Fan will be accompanying me, but our manpower is still too scarce."

Chen Shuting took a sip of her soup, looking rather troubled. "I originally planned to take over the Lin family's companies tomorrow, but with all the commotion tonight, that's out of the question."

"It's fine, let them jump around as much as they want," Ye Fan said with absolute confidence. "The bigger a fuss they make, the louder the slap to their faces will feel later!"

"We can just use this rare free time for me to teach you martial arts," Old Luan said.

Ye Fan nodded and added, "And there's also learning how to drive. Sister Chen, you mentioned last time about finding a driver to teach me—when will they arrive? If not, Old Luan can just teach me along with it!"

"Hold on a second!" Instead, Chen Shuting was in no rush. "I know a race car driver; it will be even better for her to teach you!"

"Alright then!" Hearing the word "race car driver," Ye Fan felt a surge of excitement. This meant she was going to teach him street racing!

After finishing the late-night snack, the three of them returned to their respective rooms.

With Old Luan around, Chen Shuting behaved very properly and did not tease Ye Fan, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Upon returning to his room and opening his suitcase, Li Yaoyao had been waiting for a long time.

"Yaoyao, you're still not asleep!"

"Of course not, I was waiting for you!" Li Yaoyao was wrapped in her quilt, holding her mobile phone, and asked, "How was the dinner party tonight? Did you drink a lot of alcohol?"

"Ah..." Thinking of the farce from earlier that evening, Ye Fan smiled wryly. "It was okay, I didn't drink too much."

Damn it, there was poison in the alcohol tonight! Fortunately, he had practiced the Three-Yang Mysterious Needles; otherwise, there was no telling what the consequences would have been!

Not knowing what was on Ye Fan's mind, Li Yaoyao asked rather shyly, "I boiled some hangover-remedy soup for you. Do you want to drink it?"

"Oh?" Ye Fan was startled for a moment, then broke into a delighted smile. "Of course I want to taste your culinary skills! Send it over quickly!"

To be honest, having just eaten a late-night snack, he wasn't hungry at all. But since Li Yaoyao had made it, naturally he couldn't refuse; instead, he had to pretend to be extremely eager!

Soon, the hangover-remedy soup was transferred over. The broth was thick, dotted with egg flowers, peanuts, and kelp.

Ye Fan took a cautious sip, suddenly froze, and looked at Li Yaoyao with eyes full of tears.

"Goodness, is this the legendary hangover soup? Is this the legendary hangover soup with added peanuts, kelp, and egg flowers? It's simply too delicious!"

"Why is it so exceptionally savory? Could it be because it was made by such a clever and deft young woman? She must have added a seasoning called love into this bowl of soup!"

"I have never tasted such wonderful hangover soup before! If I can't eat this in the future, my life will plunge into an endless night where colors are never seen again! I want to eat this every single day!"

What does it mean to provide emotional value?

Just moments earlier, Li Yaoyao had been worried that Ye Fan wouldn't be used to the taste or that she hadn't cooked it well. Now, she was beaming with joy from the compliments! Her two bright, sparkling eyes curved into crescent moons!

"Oh my, who praises people like that!"

Blushing, she wrapped herself tightly in the quilt, leaving only her eyes exposed. "Your flattery is way too fake!"

"Fake? I don't think so!" Ye Fan wore an expression of sheer enjoyment. "These are all words straight from my heart!"

"You have no seriousness at all! Hehe!" Li Yaoyao gave Ye Fan a playful, sweet eye-roll.