Xiao Yuanmu’s leg had almost healed on the day that Xiao Lin came to visit, and after he left, Xiao Yuanmu only needed to rest for a few more days before recovering completely. Once he was recovered, he quickly dove back into his work.

It was probably because there had been too much of a backlog of work that had to be done from before, but between the work for RE and the work for the Xiao Family, Xiao Yuanmu became busier than ever before. Gone was the time he used to spend pasted together with Song Xuanhe, and most of the time, except for contacting him during lunch, the next time they met or contacted each other was after work.

However, Xiao Yuanmu’s off-work hours were very unstable. Sometimes, he would work overtime and only come back late at night, and other times, he would sleep directly at the company because he was too busy.

Two days ago, Song Xuanhe had even gone to the company to see Xiao Yuanmu because he wasn’t used to Xiao Yuanmu suddenly becoming so busy. However, as many matters started demanding his attention, he also no longer had any extra attention to spare on Xiao Yuanmu’s affairs.

Xiao Yuanmu wasn’t the only one who had piles of work. He had too, and not only was it work, there was also his mother and grandfather who would call him every now and then to urge him to return home. Between drawing drafts for his designs that had to be finished soon, to dealing with the calls from Li Nianan and Grandfather Song, Song Xuanhe was also busier than ever before.

As a result of both men’s busy schedule and their inability to make their timing match up, they were hardly able to see traces of the other person around the house except for the dent in the pillow beside them when they opened their eyes in the morning.

After being so busy for a few days, Feng Tong came looking for him. When Song Xuanhe saw him, he felt a moment of confusion and guilt, thinking that Feng Tong had personally come to find him because he hadn’t sent the designs over to him yet.

However, things were quite different from what he’d thought.

“Are you ready?”

Inside a coffee shop at the corner of the street, Feng Tong had set down his coffee and stood up with a smile to ask him this question even before Song Xuanhe could sit down.

He didn’t act like someone who had come to chase after his drafts, but rather like someone who was very excited about something.

It was just that Song Xuanhe didn’t know what Feng Tong was so happy about. He could only ask blankly, “Ready for what?”

“Master McPhail’s tea party.” Feng Tong finished speaking, then watched as Song Xuanhe’s expression grew from vacant to dazed, and the smile on his face changed bit by bit until it became a mixture of surprise and helplessness, “Don’t you know? This time, Master McPhail’s tea party will be held in Y City. You should’ve gotten an invitation.”

Song Xuanhe was first stunned for a few seconds, and then he recalled that Louis seemed to have told him about it and even given him an invitation. He’d been very happy when he learned of this matter, but many things had happened after, which caused him to toss it to the back of his mind. By now, he’d already forgotten where he’d left the invitation.

However, he still recalled the time on the invitation. Song Xuanhe was perfectly calm and collected as he replied, “I know, it’s at three o’clock tomorrow afternoon.”

Feng Tong sighed with relief when he heard this and smiled, “I thought you’d forgotten about such an important event.”

Song Xuanhe: “Of course not.”

Feng Tong was relieved, and only then did he think of asking him to sit down. After Song Xuanhe settled in, he continued, “The people attending the tea party this time should be the same as as before. My teacher took me once, and decided to bring me again this time, so we can meet at Master McPhail’s house when the time comes. But before that, you need to have prepared some things.”

“You should have already prepared it, right?”

Song Xuanhe smiled and asked, “I haven’t heard about having to prepare anything.”

“I told you in the email that I sent you.” Feng Tong looked at him incredulously, “You can’t have gone for so long without seeing the email that I sent you?”

“I’ve been a little busy recently.” Song Xuanhe said, “Zhou Nan came to the States, and he comes to find me for all sorts of things every day. Also, he’s been heartbroken recently. I don’t know why, but he hates all electronic products, so I haven’t been using my computer, email, or cell phone recently. You should know about this.”

Feng Tong was skeptical, but he really hadn’t been able to get in contact with Song Xuanhe through any electronic means of communication, which was why he’d found a way to get someone to contact Yang Jie, then contacted Xiao Yuanmu through Yang Jie in order to notify Song Xuanhe by way of Xiao Yuanmu.

With this in mind, Feng Tong was convinced again.

“What happened to Zhou Nan?”

Song Xuanhe’s expression remained unchanged, “He’s lovelorn. He was in love with his first love, and this time, he wanted to get him back. Unexpectedly, they broke up completely, and it might have been that they broke up through cell phone or e-mail, because now, he won’t use any electronic devices and won’t even allow me to use them, either.”

Feng Tong frowned, “That sucks.”

Song Xuanhe nodded in agreement, and the two of them changed to talk about other topics.

“Do you remember Jiang Deyi?” Feng Tong asked him.

“Of course.”

“He’s also going to Master McPhail’s tea party.” Feng Tong said, “Because his friend was invited, and he’ll be bringing him to participate. I think you know his friend, his surname his Bai, and his name is Bai Mo.”

Song Xuanhe raised his eyebrows, “Why did Bai Mo receive an invitation?”

“That, I don’t know.” Feng Tong said, “Also, I heard that Master McPhail has been in talks for cooperation with the heir of a jewelry tycoon from China recently. The heir may also be there this time.”

Song Xuanhe looked at Feng Tong, his expression puzzled.

Feng Tong spread his hands and laughed, “I just thought that you heirs might know each other, so I wanted to tell you ahead of time.”

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” Song Xuanhe smiled.

“Okay, then.” Feng Tong said, “I heard that this heir played around in the entertainment circles for a while and achieved great success.”

Song Xuanhe’s eyebrows lifted, and he immediately thought of Xue Mian.

Feng Tong said helplessly, “I think you probably know who it is.”

“Thank you for your reminder.” Song Xuanhe laughed briefly, “But earlier, what did you say needed to be prepared?”

“Your design book, of course.” Feng Tong said, “You don’t need to bring too much, just one or two designs. What one can get from Master McPhail’s tea party depends on the participants’ luck. As long as one of the masters sees your drawings and develops a liking for you, then you’ll be…”

Feng Tong stretched out two fingers and made a V symbol, then stood it upside down on the table like a pair of human legs. He raised his other hand to his forehead, and then the hand with the inverted V made a jumping action, flying up to step on the hand at his forehead in an instant.

He raised his brows, “Reaching the heavens in one step.”

Song Xuanhe laughed briefly, “You know as well as me that this is an almost impossible possibility, and I already have a teacher. I won’t be anyone else’s student.”

Feng Tong shook his head, “I can see from your designs that you must have had systematic training. Those who are not in the industry might believe you when you lie and say that you’re just gifted, but for people like us, we can see your skills almost at a glance. Of course, we can also tell that you have a good teacher. However, you should know that a good teacher isn’t only based on what they can teach you, but also what he can give you.”

“Your teacher may be great, and maybe they’ve given you a lot of right things, but you have to admit that their position in the clothing industry can’t bring you anything. Xuanhe, believe me, if you can gain the appreciation of some of the masters, your teacher would be proud of you.”

Song Xuanhe burst out laughing with a pfft sound, then shook his head, a brilliant smile on his face. Feng Tong could only look on in confusion.

If that serious and narcissistic little old man knew that someone had said that his ‘position in the clothing industry can’t bring anything for his students’, and ‘he would be proud if his student was appreciated by other masters’, he didn’t know if it would be like when he wanted to accept him as an apprentice, but Song Xuanhe hadn’t agreed. Would he scurry around showing Feng Tong invitation letters from various designer brands and all sorts of awards that came from who knew where?

He wondered if he would deliberately go and take part in various grand gatherings for designers in the fashion industry the way he’d done before, pretending not to care, yet awkwardly fearing that Song Xuanhe wouldn’t see that his position in the design industry wasn’t insignificant.

The corners of the smile on Song Xuanhe’s face softened as he thought of that little old man.

If there was anyone else in his original world that he thought of, then it would be that teacher of his who had tried his best to help create relationships for him, and even put aside his ego to have his friends and opponents participate in his fashion design debut.

Feng Tong was puzzled and asked Song Xuanhe, “What are you laughing at?”

“He wouldn’t be proud.” Song Xuanhe laughed and said, “On the contrary, he would stiffly tell me to never call him teacher again.”

Feng Tong frowned as Song Xuanhe continued, “Then, he would turn around and scold me for not having a conscience, telling me that he’s already the best, and I’ll never be able to find a better teacher than him.”

When he thought of that scene, Song Xuanhe’s smile grew gentle, and a few traces of sadness appeared in the bottom his eyes.

[ Have you really decided to stay? ] The system asked.

[ Xiao Yuanmu can’t live without me. ] Song Xuanhe’s lips curved. [ I believe that my parents would understand me, and they’ve always had each other. My teacher also has other students other than me, while Xiao Yuanmu only has me. He’s so pitiful that I can only stay by his side to accompany him. ]

The system fell silent for a few seconds, then said: [ I told you before that if you chose to stay, you can choose one item from the system store. After you really decide to stay on the day that you’re set to leave, you can choose something then. ]

Song Xuanhe frowned. He didn’t recall whether or not the system had said that he could choose something from the system store before, but it wasn’t too late to hear about it now.

[ When the time comes, we’ll be saying goodbye forever. ] The system’s voice was a little sad.

Song Xuanhe was stunned for a moment when he thought about how this voice that had been with him in his mind would disappear in a few days, and a faint sense of melancholy appeared at the bottom of his heart.

[ You’re sad. ] The system said, [ I don’t feel so bad seeing that you have feelings for me. ]

[ Will systems be sad, too? ] Song Xuanhe asked, [ Don’t you guys only have data? ]

[ Are you looking down on data? ] The system replied, [ Can’t I have sad data? ]

Song Xuanhe fell silent for a while. The corners of his lips wanted to curve up in a smile, but he ultimately pursed his lips.

Feng Tong watched Song Xuanhe’s expression shift and thought that it was either because he was unhappy with him asking him to find another teacher, or because he felt bad for his own subpar teacher. He suddenly felt a little guilty.