Atlas Studios

  Atlas Studios

  Haicheng’s Sky Imperial Garden was the same as that in Jincheng. Being a high-end clubhouse for tea and entertainment, it sat in the center of the city of Haicheng—a location where land was expensive—with all sorts of expensive cars parked at its doors. It was frequented by the wealthy in Haicheng as a place to enjoy tea time.

  Inside the private room, the tea arts master wearing a pure white uniform made of cotton and linen worked skillfully and elegantly. The master was completely unaffected by the sound of the mahjong table in the background, every action was extremely professional.

  The tea arts master passed a cup of hot tea to Tang Zheng whose movements were decorous as he held it to his nose to smell the fragrance, the hot steam slightly fogging up his glasses.

  Fu Huai’an sat with his legs crossed opposite from Tang Zheng. Seeing the master pass over a teacup with both hands, he calmly sat up, one hand holding onto the teacup while the other supported the cup from the bottom, treating the master with great respect.

  Lu Jinnan walked away from the mahjong table with a cigarette in his mouth and said, “Alright, you can leave now.”


  The tea arts master nodded to both Fu Huai’an and Tang Zheng before leaving the room.

  Fu Huai’an drank the tea and placed the cup down, familiarly lighting up a cigarette before carelessly placing it on the table. He then picked up the teapot with his cigarette in hand to refill his cup.

  “Not playing anymore?” Tang Zheng watched as Lu Jinnan sat down and smiled.

  “The moment Old Fu gets here, you stop playing. Without you, I can’t even win this few rounds, it’s meaningless…” Lu Jinnan tapped the ashtray with his cigarette before taking the teapot from Fu Huai’an to fill up his own cup.

  “If I play anymore, I’ll probably lose my pants to you guys…” Tang Zheng smiled.

  Lu Jinnan picked up the cup for a sip, his furrowed brows as he said, “You called a tea arts master over to drink?Kuding?

  ??”


  “I told the tea arts master I wanted to drink Iron Guanyin tea, but that female master ignored me the moment she arrived and only asked Old Fu what he wanted. Old Fu randomly said Kuding, so all I can do is drink Kuding and suffer.”


  Tang Zheng shrugged with a helpless expression on his face.

  Lu Jinnan looked towards Fu Huai’an whose gaze remained calm and said jokingly, “What… You came over from Lin Nuan’s and you’re still so angry? Was she being a hypocrite and didn’t let you touch her?”


  “From what Jinnan’s been saying, this woman sounds hard to settle.” Tang Zheng asked probingly “Old Fu… About this lady that Jinnan’s been talking about, are you just playing around or is your heart involved?”


  White smoke arose from between Fu Huai’an’s long fingers. Between puffs of smoke, he opened his mouth and said, his face indifferent, “We’re getting our marriage certificate tomorrow.”


  Fu Huai’an’s voice was not loud—it was almost completely drowned out by the sound of the high-tech mahjong table rearranging the tiles—but Lu Jinnan and Tang Zheng who sat beside him heard him clearly.

  Lu Jinnan paused in shock and Tang Zheng had a look of surprise on his face.

  Eventually, the ashes from the cigarette at the corner of Lu Jinnan’s lips dropped onto the back of his hand and burned him. Lu Jinnan then hurriedly shook his hand and asked, “Old Fu, you’re really getting married to Lin Nuan?”


  Fu Huai’an tapped away the cigarette ashes and raised his gaze, his black eyes looking at Lu Jinnan as he said in a neutral tone, “Do I look like I’m just playing?”


  Once Tang Zheng heard these words, he hurriedly smiled and said, “That’s good! Tomorrow after you get your certificate, take our sister-in-law out so we can meet! Our own people can gather to celebrate and Sis-in-Law can get to know us. I’ll bring a girl along! Lu Jinnan… You bring a female partner too! Otherwise, it’ll just be a table of men. Sis-in-Law will probably feel awkward.”


  At the mahjong table, Fu Huai’an’s friends started discussing upon hearing that

  “Sure sure! Since you’re getting married, that woman is our official sister-in-law, we have to meet her!”