Release that Man

Ye Shuang had to accompany Grandmother Luo, which, of course, had nothing to do with Fang Mo. Even if his sister seemed to be interested in him, even if Fang Mo himself had quite a good impression of him… that was ultimately someone else’s private business.

Therefore, no matter how strong the curiosity was, it didn’t cross Fang Mo’s mind to suggest something as rude as being an extra tour guide to join the fun. However, if the other party proposed it, like a fat cow walking into the crocodile’s open mouth, then it would be a completely different story.

Was this fate or just a coincidence? Who could really tell? But that is exactly what happened the following day.

…

After about half a beat, with a twitch of his lips, Fang Mo rolled up the painting he was examining and nodded at Ye Shuang, who was holding the door open for a genial old lady. “This is such a coincidence, Mr. Ye.”

Ye Shuang naturally didn’t anticipate this sudden encounter. She uttered hopelessly, “Yes, it is quite a coincidence…”

Grandmother Luo’s eyes glowed cheerfully. She glanced at the smartly dressed Fang Mo before turning back to her future grandson-in-law, who was still in the middle of the test. “Xiao Ye, this is your friend?”

Oftentimes, a man’s success could be discerned from the company he surrounded himself with. Didn’t they say, birds of a feather flock together? Therefore, one’s social circle also represented one’s standing in life. One had to at least be of a similar quality as the members of the social circle to be accepted, or else no matter how captivating one looked on the surface, it would have been absolutely pointless.

Fang Mo, with his majestic presence, impressed Grandmother Luo greatly. If this ‘friend’ wasn’t a set-up, then based on this Fang Mo alone, Grandmother Luo’s impression of Xiao Ye had increased tremendously.

Before Ye Shuang could answer the question that was directed at her, Fang Mo, who was familiar with many social experiences, had already discerned the hidden meaning of Grandmother Luo’s words. Since he did value Ye Shuang as a friend, Fang Mo willingly lent his aid to brush up Grandmother Luo’s affection points for Ye Shuang. “Even though I’ve not known Mr. Ye for long, he has offered me his help many times. Therefore, I do consider him a friend.”

Ye Shuang, by then, had caught on to the situation. She hurried to make the introduction. “This is Fang Mo, my… cough I mean, your granddaughter’s former boss.”

Grandmother Luo nodded with added satisfaction. “Such a promising young man.”

After a few more words, the elder lady wandered off deeper into the shop, leaving behind a sighing Ye Shuang to take a much-needed breather and to chat with Fang Mo.

“What kind of drug has jumbled your mind thusly that you would bring your girlfriend’s grandmother to tour an antique painting and calligraphy shop‽”

After calming down from the initial shock, Fang Mo couldn’t help but deliver this verbal jab at Ye Shuang. Of course, he was privy to what was going on, after all, even the upper class had to find a partner and get married. Even though Fang Mo hadn’t been through this test himself, he had heard from his many friends about the infamous test of the in-laws.

However, the stories that he had heard from his friends mostly occurred at the malls or hotels, mainly to see whether or not the man would be willing to spend money on his future in-laws, or if he was kind enough to offer to help carry the shopping bags and other such miscellaneous personality tests. This was the first time he had seen the test carried out in a painting and calligraphy shop.

“I swear to God, this wasn’t planned; it’s mainly due to that mouth on my despicable younger brother!” Ye Shuang hissed angrily, thinking about the trouble Little Brother Ye had inadvertently gotten her into again. “Afraid that Grandmother might not be satisfied with me, he did his best to drop in some good words about me… Frankly, his intention was pure, but I seriously cannot understand why he would say I’m an accomplished scholar of the ancient four Chinese arts ¹ … Grandmother, of course, thought that was too unbelievable, so she purposely brought me here today to see whether I was bluffing or not.”

Fang Mo blinked several times and wondered incredulously, You’re already referring to your girlfriend’s family as ‘grandmother’ even though you haven’t yet passed the test and gotten married‽

Fang Mo couldn’t help but think about his own little sister, and at that moment, he kind of understood how she felt. It was not that he wished misfortune on others, but looking at how invested Ye Shuang was at ingratiating himself to his future in-law in comparison to the negative affection points between him and his little sister… this great contrast did annoy Fang Mo to a certain degree.

Coughing to avoid the rather forward usage of the term ‘grandmother’, Fang Mo found another topic. “Your brother‽ The young man who was with you that night‽”

“Yes, that bastard indeed!” Ye Shuang nodded vehemently but immediately added, “Actually he’s my girlfriend’s younger brother, but… we’re close, and since he already treats me like his actual older brother, I’m used to referring him as my brother.”

“…” Even the girlfriend’s little brother is already part of his family.

Fang Mo regretted asking that question because his spirit was lowered even more.

Right then, Grandmother Luo had decided to resume the test. “Xiao Ye, come over to look at this calligraphy.”

‘The Accomplished Scholar’ Ye Shuang frowned and had no choice but to abandon Fang Mo to endure her tests. Fang Mo naturally wouldn’t give up such a wonderful show. When he saw the imitation of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy that Grandmother Luo held in her hands, he narrowed his eyes instantly before turning to glance at Ye Shuang with impish amusement in his eyes.

That’s not a real antique, so this definitely won’t be an appraisal test; it looks like it’s going to be a trivia test, perhaps she might even ask Ye Shuang to show his calligraphy talent on the spot… Why am I hoping that will happen? Christ, this is exciting.

“That’s an imitation of Lanting Xu… It’s already 80 percent similar to the works of the Calligraphy Saint.” Before Ye Shuang could say anything, Fang Mo intervened to make the introduction, on one hand, helping his friend, who might not be familiar with the history of calligraphy, while on the other, raising the difficulty of this test. “Wang Xizhi’s Lanting Xu was known as the best running hand in the world, so it’s fairly impressive that an imitation can be so close to the real thing… Xiao Ye, what do you think‽”

Xiao Ye? Are we that close‽ What happened to Mr. Ye‽ Ye Shuang glared at this troublemaker, who was obviously savoring her misfortune and nodded in pretense. “I also think it’s not too bad.”