In the dining room.

Deathly silent.

Lu Yao was so shocked she didn’t know what to say.

Liu Shiting was the first to react. "Miaomiao," she asked, "are you saying Uncle Lu is Lulu’s father?"

"Mhm, that’s right."

Ordinarily, Song Miaomiao wouldn’t have blurted this out.

But she was afraid that if she didn’t say something, her roommate, Lu Yao, might actually throw herself at him.

If Jiang Silu found out then...

...their friendship as roommates would probably be over!

Lu Yao was still in disbelief, stammering, "No... that can’t be right! Then why do they act like they barely know each other? And... I’ve never heard Lulu call him ’Dad’!"

"That’s because her parents separated before she was even born. Her father just came back into her life, and now Lulu doesn’t know what to do or whether to accept him," Song Miaomiao explained.

Hearing this, Lu Yao was mortified beyond belief.

She quickly looked at Song Miaomiao and Liu Shiting in embarrassment, pressing her palms together. "Um... Miaomiao, Shiting, just pretend you didn’t hear anything I just said, okay? Please, please, please don’t tell Lulu. I could just die from embarrassment."

"Don’t worry, we’ll pretend we didn’t hear anything. Just make sure you don’t get any more ideas like that, or we won’t be able to be roommates anymore," Song Miaomiao warned.

Liu Shiting nodded along. "But to be fair, we didn’t know about this either. You can’t be blamed for this, Yaoyao."

With this new information, she could finally make sense of everything that had happened lately.

In other words, when they first started university, Jiang Silu and Uncle Lu hadn’t reconnected yet.

Jiang Silu really did need a part-time job to cover her living expenses.

But then Uncle Lu appeared and started giving her all sorts of designer bags and high-end luxury cosmetics.

And judging by Uncle Lu’s resources...

...he was one hundred percent the CEO of a publicly listed company!

’Looks like I’ll have to get on Lulu’s good side from now on.’

In fact, this wasn’t just Liu Shiting’s idea.

Lu Yao was thinking the same thing.

She had originally just assumed Jiang Silu came from a well-off family.

But she never expected something like this.

If Jiang Silu and Uncle Lu successfully reconciled, and after graduation, she smoothly took over some corporation and became a vice president or something...

...then wouldn’t she, as a roommate of four years, be set for life?!

At this thought, Lu Yao couldn’t help but get excited.

She might not be able to become Uncle Lu’s young girlfriend, but she could still ride her roommate’s coattails to success!

’No! I have to be extra nice to Lulu from now on! My future depends on her!’

’Aaaah! I’m so jealous of Lulu! To have a dad that rich!!’

’Aaaah, I can’t take it! I’m going to go home and ask my dad if he’s secretly a rich man who’s just been testing me all these years!!’

Song Miaomiao, however, had other thoughts.

She was now a little worried that Jiang Silu would blame her for telling Lu Yao and Liu Shiting about this so soon.

Her heart was in turmoil.

’Lulu, I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean to expose your secret, but if I didn’t, Yaoyao might have thrown herself at him. It’s all Yaoyao’s fault, I swear! What messed-up values!’

Meanwhile, Lu Fan and Jiang Silu had no idea what was happening back in the private room.

The two of them walked out of the room together and headed toward the end of the corridor.

Jiang Silu followed awkwardly behind Lu Fan, walking in silence.

Lu Fan turned to look back at her. "Silu, how is your design for the competition coming along?"

"It’s... it’s okay," Jiang Silu replied. "Elder Meng has given me a lot of ideas."

Speaking of Elder Meng, she bowed slightly again and thanked him earnestly. "Thank you. If it weren’t for you, I probably would have never gotten the chance to meet Elder Meng in my entire life."

"Silly girl, there’s no need to thank me," Lu Fan said with a smile. "If you ever need anything, forget about Elder Meng—I’d find a way to pluck the moon from the sky for you if you asked."

Hearing this, Jiang Silu’s eyes gradually welled up with tears.

For any other daughter, this might have been the kind of thing her father would say all the time as she was growing up.

But she had waited eighteen years to hear it.

Eighteen long years!!

And now, she had finally heard it.

It was a father’s love, eighteen years late.

For some reason...

...after hearing Lu Fan’s words, the sentimental Jiang Silu found her resentment toward him lessen just a little.

"By the way, Elder Meng has to spend time at the research institute, so he’s quite busy. He might not always be able to answer your questions right away. Are there any other garden design experts you admire? I can help you get in touch," Lu Fan asked.

Jiang Silu habitually shook her head. "No, no, that’s okay. I can ask my professors at the university."

"Your professors have to teach so many students and handle so many other things; it’s hard for them to devote too much attention to your design project. Or, if you can’t think of any garden design experts, how about I find one for you?"

Seeing Lu Fan’s insistence, Jiang Silu bit her lip, then pursed them before saying quietly, "Actually... there is a female teacher in the field of garden design that I’ve always admired. But I’m afraid it might be a bother for you, and I don’t know if she’d be hard to contact..."

After saying that, she talked herself out of it. "You know what, never mind. Lu... Dad... Uncle Lu, let’s just forget it."

Jiang Silu had wanted to call him Uncle Lu, but it didn’t feel quite right.

She thought about calling him Dad, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

At this moment, the young woman’s heart was in turmoil.

’Sob, what on earth am I supposed to call him?’ 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’He’s my father, so why can’t I say the word...’

’Is this unfair to him?’

Lu Fan saw Jiang Silu’s conflict and her delicate thoughts. He smiled. "You can call me whatever you want. Don’t feel any pressure. I’d be happy even if you called me ’old man’."

Hearing this, Jiang Silu nodded slightly.

"So, what’s the name of the teacher you admire?" Lu Fan asked again.

Jiang Silu finally spoke up. "It’s He Fengchun, Teacher He..."

Once Lu Fan had the name, he said cheerfully, "Alright. By the way, didn’t you need to go to the restroom? Go on."

"Okay, okay." Jiang Silu quickly walked into the restroom.

Truthfully, she really did want to have a conversation with Teacher He Fengchun.

After all, she was the academic leader in the preservation and development of modern Jiangnan gardens, having led and participated in the restoration design work for many famous classical gardens in the Jiangnan region, such as the Changshu Jing Garden and the Suzhou Keyuan.

She also led the compilation of academic works like *Suzhou Gardens* and *A Record of Jiangsu’s Classical Gardens*.

If Elder Meng was the titan of landscape architecture...

...then Teacher He was the leading figure in Jiangnan Garden design.

A large part of the reason Jiang Silu chose to major in landscape architecture was that she had read Teacher He’s writings during her second year of high school.

She even thought that if she could meet Teacher He just once in her lifetime, her career in design would have no regrets.

But... could her father really get in touch with Teacher He?

Jiang Silu looked at her reflection in the mirror, simultaneously holding onto hope and trying to manage her own expectations.

Even if he couldn’t contact her, she couldn’t let herself be disappointed.

Because her father had truly tried.

Just seeing him take the initiative to ask if she had a teacher she admired already made Jiang Silu very happy.

A short while later, she came out of the restroom.

Lu Fan was waiting for her in the corridor. "I just had someone contact Teacher He," he said. "She said she’s free this weekend. I’ll take you to meet her then."

Hearing this, Jiang Silu froze on the spot.

It had only been two or three minutes, and her father had already contacted her idol?!