The birthday celebration for Old Master Yang was very grand. He had been a formidable figure in the business world for decades and had earned the respect of many. As he grew older, he gradually llowed and befriended many like-minded people.
Thus, of the hundred seats at the celebration, aside from the ten or so tables of relatives from the Yang Family and Ji Family combined, the rest consisted mainly of friends and business connections of Old Master Yang and the current authority, Yang Sheng.
Guests took turns offering their birthday wishes at the main table, and Da Bao and Little Treasure, as future successors of the Ji Family, naturally followed Yang Sheng and Ji Rui to socialize with various guests, taking the opportunity to et people of all kinds.
Le Tong, Chu Ran, and the two girls stayed at the main table to accompany Old Master Yang in greeting guests. The atmosphere was quite cheerful until a middle-aged man approached to toast Old Master Yang.
Old Master Yang naturally did not drink himself, so his assistant helped drink the wine. However, the young man following the middle-aged man kept staring at Nuonuo, eventually reaching out his hand to her.
"Hello, miss. Are you Si Han?"
Nuonuo was slightly taken aback, but Le Tong reacted faster, smiling at the young man and asking, "Who is Si Han?"
The young man looked at Nuonuo closely again. "Si Han is the spokesperson for a fashion brand. Is she really not Si Han?"
By the ti her mother feigned ignorance, Nuonuo had realized what was happening. She smiled at the young man as well. "I’m not her; you’ve mistaken for soone else."
Although the young man did not press the issue further, it was enough to raise Le Tong’s suspicions.
Seeing all this, Old Master Yang quietly instructed his assistant to look into the father and son pair’s background.
Soon, soone reported to Old Master Yang that the middle-aged man was rely a Beijing businessman and that his son was studying abroad.
Yang Liu relayed to Le Tong what she and Nuonuo had discussed, which finally put Le Tong and Old Master Yang at ease.
Nuonuo felt a pang of guilt seeing how tense her mother and great-grandfather were.
"Mom, I’m sorry. If I hadn’t insisted on taking this endorsent, you wouldn’t have to worry all the ti."
Le Tong patted her face, "Silly girl, you haven’t done anything wrong. Whatever you want to do, just go ahead. As your parents, we’ll always be your most steadfast support, no matter what."
Nuonuo hugged Le Tong tightly, clinging to her like she did when she was a child.
...
After returning from Beijing, Da Bao officially reported to the Ji Family, though he didn’t have a fixed position. Even Nuonuo wasn’t sure which departnt her brother worked in exactly, only knowing that he often traveled for days on end.
Nuonuo no longer blad or resented her brother’s hectic work schedule, as she used to in her immature youth. Instead, she spent most of her ti at the orphanage with the children. Additionally, she asked Mr. Mai to find her a posture teacher, attending yoga classes three tis a week. Her days were quite fulfilling.
Thus, throughout the month after sumr break, the siblings scarcely saw each other. Soon, it was almost ti for school to start again. Da Bao’s busy schedule finally eased, and in the last few days of August, he played the role of the considerate brother, driving his siblings around to eat and have fun.
On the last day of August, the brothers accompanied Nuonuo to register at the First High School. After registering, they encountered Si Jun, who was also there to register, at the teachers’ office entrance.
They exchanged greetings and the siblings stood in the corridor chatting while waiting for Si Jun to finish registering. Once done, the four of them went to a café outside the school.
Starting in October, Si Jun would study abroad as one of the five exchange students from the entire school, for a duration of one year.
The expenses were covered by the Ji Family, though this was not an unconditional sponsorship. It was finalized through a private agreent between Da Bao and Si Jun.
Only Da Bao and Si Jun knew the terms of this agreent; even Nuonuo was in the dark.
"Si Han, these are notes and highlights I’ve used before. I’ve organized them for you. See if they are helpful."
Si Jun handed over a large bag of study materials to Nuonuo, who accepted it warmly, thanking him repeatedly.
In reality, with Da Bao around, she didn’t have to worry much about her studies, but she couldn’t dismiss Si Jun’s thoughtful gesture.
Da Bao took it in stride and even glanced through two notebooks, giving them a very fair assessnt.
"Nuonuo, Si Jun’s notes are concise and to the point. You should go through them more; they might really help you."
He wasn’t a narrow-minded person. If soone was genuinely good to Nuonuo, he felt happy for her too.
The prerequisite was that the person understood moderation and knew what was appropriate to do and what was not. Clearly, Si Jun was a sensible person.
With her brother’s endorsent, Nuonuo enthusiastically started going through the materials. Da Bao seed to expect to encounter Si Jun here, taking advantage of their lively chat to fetch a large box of supplies from the car.
"Si Jun, you might find these useful."
As soone with experience, he didn’t mind offering Si Jun guidance and assistance in academics or daily life.
"Thank you, Brother Yu!" Si Jun had beco so at ease with him that he was natural, just like an old friend.
This attitude, where he accepted support without losing self-respect, won Da Bao’s admiration.
Da Bao trusted his judgnt, believing that with ti, Si Jun could achieve greatness.
"No need to thank . Once you’re out there, you’ll have to rely on yourself for many things. I’ve included a contact list. If needed, you can contact those people in order. I’ve inford them beforehand, so if you encounter any trouble, you can try reaching out to them."
Si Jun nodded but said, "I hope I won’t have to use any of them!"
Da Bao neither agreed nor disagreed. Ultimately, he’d done what he should. How Si Jun chose to navigate and survive would be up to him.
"Brother Jun, actually, so connections can be used without issue. You might find they can make things a lot easier. Of course, you need to judge which connections are worth using and which aren’t."
Fourteen-year-old Little Treasure offered Si Jun so practical and reasonable advice.
As the young master of the Ji Family, he didn’t blindly rely on or depend on his background, but when necessary, he would certainly not pretend to be aloof.
Therefore, he believed Si Jun should also wisely utilize the network provided by his brother rather than resisting it just to appear virtuous.
In so matters, compared to a miserable failure, achieving success by leveraging resources is not shaful; in fact, it is more comndable.
Si Jun paused, then quickly understood what Little Treasure ant, "Yes, I’ll weigh things carefully!"
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