"Eat slowly," Lin Wan'er said, handing Chen Mo a bottle of water.
Chen Mo uncapped the bottle and took a drink.
He then explained to Lin Wan'er, "I eat this to train, not because I'm weak. My body is very healthy."
"Don't worry, I won't say anything outside," Lin Wan'er replied, as if she understood.
Chen Mo's forehead creased.
However, he couldn't be bothered to explain further and took another bite of a ginseng root from his backpack.
Along the way, Chen Mo and Lin Wan'er chatted idly.
Chen Mo learned from Lin Wan'er that her grandfather had not established a family back then.
Her two uncles and two aunts had also not stayed to develop in Chenghai.
Only her grandfather lived alone in their old home.
However, because her grandfather had been quite a figure in Chenghai during his youth, he had many friends. Every time he had a birthday, many people from Chenghai would come to offer their congratulations.
About an hour later, Chen Mo and Lin Wan'er arrived at their old home in Chenghai.
It was a large siheyuan (courtyard house).
Many luxury cars were already parked outside the entrance, indicating the presence of many guests.
Chen Mo followed Lin Wan'er towards the siheyuan.
"Wan'er is here," a middle-aged man said with a slight smile upon seeing Lin Wan'er at the gate.
"Shun Bo," Lin Wan'er greeted him.
"And who is this?" the middle-aged man asked, looking at Chen Mo with a hint of surprise.
"This is my friend, a doctor. He wants to check on Grandpa's health," Lin Wan'er explained.
She then introduced Chen Mo, "Chen Mo, this is Shun Bo, my grandfather's housekeeper. He usually takes care of my grandfather."
Chen Mo, holding a ginseng root, nodded at the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man sized up Chen Mo, but his gaze quickly fell on the ginseng root in Chen Mo's hand.
In recent years, Lin Wan'er's grandfather's health had not been good, and the middle-aged man had dealt with many tonifying medicinal herbs.
Seeing the ginseng root in Chen Mo's hand, the middle-aged man was startled.
The quality of this ginseng was exceptional, even better than that of some hundred-year-old ginseng.
"Young man, is this ginseng a gift for Wan'er's grandfather?" the middle-aged man couldn't help but ask.
He was also curious why Chen Mo would carry such a valuable gift without a wooden box, holding it like this seemed like a waste.
"What gift?"
Chen Mo looked confused and took a bite of the ginseng.
Along the way, this act of biting ginseng had clearly become a subconscious habit.
"You!"
The middle-aged man was stunned.
He could never have imagined that a hundred-year-old ginseng would be bitten off by Chen Mo like this!
This was simply too extravagant!
"Shun Bo, are you alright?" Lin Wan'er also asked.
Shun Bo snapped back to reality and quickly waved his hand, "No, I'm fine."
However, he couldn't help but say to Chen Mo with a pained expression, "Young man, you shouldn't waste ginseng like this. A hundred-year-old ginseng is very rare."
Chen Mo stuffed the remaining ginseng into his mouth, naturally understanding Shun Bo's meaning.
He smiled and said, "I have quite a bit of this ginseng. If you want some, Shun Bo, I'll give you one."
As he spoke, to Shun Bo's utter astonishment, he took out two more ginseng roots from his backpack and handed one to him.
Shun Bo was completely dumbfounded.
This was a hundred-year-old ginseng, and Chen Mo was just taking out two more from his backpack?!
Then, to Shun Bo's even greater shock, Chen Mo took another bite of the ginseng.
Seeing this, Shun Bo hurriedly reached out and took the other ginseng root, fearing that Chen Mo might bite that one too.
"Let's go, let's go inside," Lin Wan'er said, knowing that Chen Mo had an abundance of ginseng and had been eating it all the way. She pulled Chen Mo into the siheyuan.
As he watched Chen Mo's receding back, Shun Bo couldn't help but grumble, "Whose prodigal son is this? Eating ginseng like snacks. If this were my son, I'd whip him with a belt."
Entering the siheyuan, Lin Wan'er led Chen Mo towards the back hall.
Birthday banquets were usually held there.
Crossing the front courtyard, the back hall was quite lively.
An elder sat in a grand chair, with many younger relatives kowtowing and paying their respects.
"Grandpa, I wish you a long life as boundless as the East Sea. This is a jade birthday star I specially bought for you from the Treasure Pavilion," a young man said after kowtowing, opening a wooden box that contained a lifelike jade birthday star.
"Good, good," the elder nodded with a smile.
"This is ice-type jade with green inclusions! And things from the Treasure Pavilion are very expensive. Big Brother, you've really put in effort this time," a young man in his early twenties remarked.
"It's Grandpa's birthday, of course, I have to prepare with care."
He then looked around, "Unlike some people, who haven't shown up for Grandpa's birthday yet. Clearly, they don't have Grandpa in their eyes."
Everyone exchanged glances.
They all knew who he was referring to.
The elder also noticed that someone was missing and frowned slightly, asking a middle-aged man, "Dehong, why hasn't Wan'er arrived yet?"
Lin Dehong looked a bit awkward, "Father, perhaps she was delayed by something. I believe she'll be here soon."
Before Lin Dehong could explain, a young woman said, "Grandpa, isn't Wan'er being too disrespectful? Today is your birthday banquet, and she's the last one to arrive. No matter how busy she is, your birthday should be the top priority."
"Lin Fang is right. This child is becoming more and more insensible," a beautiful woman chimed in.
Lin Dehong's expression gradually turned grim.
In their family, only Lin Dehong lived closest to the old home. As the old man got older, these people would seize opportunities to undermine his status in the old man's eyes.
Lin Dehong understood the reason: they were afraid that when the old man distributed his inheritance, he would favor Lin Dehong.
However, while it was acceptable for others to criticize him, Lin Dehong would not tolerate criticism of his daughter.
"Grandpa!"
Just as Lin Dehong was about to retort, a voice suddenly rang out from the corridor.
Lin Wan'er, holding someone's hand, walked over quickly.
Hearing the voice, everyone turned their gaze.
The person who arrived was none other than Lin Dehong's daughter, Lin Wan'er!
However, when Lin Dehong saw Chen Mo beside Lin Wan'er, and that they were holding hands, his face immediately darkened.
"Wan'er, come here," the old man said with a loving smile upon seeing Lin Wan'er.
Lin Fang, who had been targeting Lin Wan'er, said sarcastically, "Lin Wan'er, aren't you being too thoughtless? Today is Grandpa's birthday, and you're the last one from our family to arrive. Do you even have Grandpa in your eyes?"
Lin Wan'er, who had just reached the crowd, frowned slightly and explained, "Grandpa's health hasn't been good, so I specially went to invite a doctor for him, which is why I'm a little late. Besides, the banquet hasn't even started yet, has it?"
"Heh, so you're saying that because you found a doctor, our entire family has to wait for you?"