The black knee-high military boots on his feet exuded a sense of decisiveness and elegance. His attire made him look like an emperor descending from the heavens, majestic and dazzling yet retaining his charm. Such a person seemed never to belong to the mortal world.
"Uncle Shun Yao, Aunt Xie, you’ve arrived." Yan Aohan was as gentle as he had been years ago. It seemed the years of separation had not severed their bond.
"So it’s Aohan. You’ve grown even taller than you were five or six years ago." Zhu Shun Yao recognized Yan Aohan and laughed heartily.
Yan Aohan smiled faintly, warmth appearing in his eyes. "Thank you for the compliment, Uncle. Please come in quickly; it’s quite hot outside." Yan Aohan personally lifted the entrance curtain to let them in.
Zhang Haifeng saw this side of Yan Aohan and raised an eyebrow slightly. Over the years, Yan Aohan had been very busy. The busier he became, the more unapproachable he seemed. Now that the Zhu family had arrived, Zhang Haifeng realized that Yan Aohan could indeed be approachable, provided there was a specific audience.
After entering the house, Zhu Shun Yao introduced the Cheng Baokun family to Yan Aohan. Hearing their surname, Yan Aohan recalled the results of his investigation. "The Cheng family is quite good."
"With such praise from Young Master Yan, if my old man heard it, he would certainly be very proud." Cheng Baokun knew Yan Aohan was no ordinary person, so he dared not be too presumptuous in front of him.
There was no air conditioning, yet the room was very cool. Zhu Yanyi had no interest in listening to their conversation. She only looked around, curious about the source of the coolness. She noticed something resembling an incense burner in every corner, emitting smoke. Upon approaching, she realized it was not an incense burner, but an ice cooler. Ice blocks were placed inside, and a pipe connected it to the outside. She didn’t know exactly how it worked, but it seemed to use air pressure to force circulating wind into the pipe, directing it to the ice. This kept the entire room from feeling stuffy and made it exceptionally cool.
"How creative! Who made this?" Zhu Yanyi asked curiously.
Yan Aohan saw Zhu Yanyi’s interest in the ice cooler and smiled. "The original owner of this house was reportedly a descendant of a mechanism master who studied under Lu Ban. Although the skills faded over dozens of generations, she still had some talent. She designed this before the era of turmoil. Later, when the turmoil began, she sold the house to me. When I had it renovated, I thought these features were quite good, so I kept them."
Zhu Yanyi gave a thumbs-up. "This is much better. I think we should explore the civilization of our Chinese ancestors more. Really, some of their brains were much better than ours."
Zhu Zhibin suddenly spoke up from the side. "I know. Although my sister gets good grades, she doesn’t like math or science. But to be a doctor, she still has to study them."
"Hey, little bean sprout, can you stop exposing your sister’s secrets? If you’re so capable, try staying at the top of the grade for once and show me." Zhu Yanyi sneered at her little brother.
Zhu Zhibin huffed. "Sister underestimates me. I’ve decided I want to start first grade too."
"Cough, cough." Zhu Shun Yao, who was drinking water nearby, coughed upon hearing this. "Little bean sprout, don’t make trouble."
"I’m not making trouble. Sister can do it, so can I. Besides, Sister has already taught me the elementary school textbooks. I’ve learned up to fourth grade now. Also, I heard Second Sister started school at six. I’m six this year too, so I can go to school as well." Zhu Zhibin spoke logically and clearly.