Ye Tiancheng was actually crying. Xiao Pang had rarely seen Ye Tiancheng cry; even when he did cry before, it was only silent tears. Today, he actually cried out loud. As Ye Tiancheng's brother, Xiao Pang was stunned. The scene was truly shocking.
"Brother Ye, don't cry. I've never seen you cry before. Can you stop scaring me? I'm scared to death. Do people really change after having children? Why do you feel so sad now?"
Xiao Pang was deeply shaken and spoke incoherently, comforting Ye Tiancheng for a long time until Ye Tiancheng finally stopped crying. To cheer himself up, Ye Tiancheng decided to find something to do, such as finding a master to name the child. At least the birth date and time were known.
"Let's go name my daughter. I remember you told me you knew a master. Let's go find that master right away."
"Brother Ye, didn't you say that no matter what name you chose, Sister-in-law wouldn't listen to you? Let's not waste our effort."
Xiao Pang felt Ye Tiancheng was pathetic. If he didn't put in the effort, it would be fine, but if he put in the effort to find a master to name the child, and the master's name was not used, wouldn't that be even more embarrassing? Thinking about it made him feel even worse.
Seeing how pitiful Ye Tiancheng was, even if it was a futile effort, as a brother, he had to accompany him and could no longer refuse Ye Tiancheng, because Ye Tiancheng was already sad and pitiful enough.
"Alright, Brother Ye, I'll take you to that naming master. Let's give your daughter a nice name. Maybe Sister-in-law will be happy then."
It would have been fine if Xiao Pang took Ye Tiancheng to a good place, but he ended up taking him to a dilapidated unfinished building. If it were a residential building, it would have been better; at least a normal person would live there. But it was an unfinished building, just a large frame from the outside.
"Xiao Pang, are you deliberately making fun of me because I'm in a bad mood today? What kind of broken place is this? What kind of master can come from such a place? If a master who names children well existed, they would live in a mansion and be sought after by many people. In this unfinished building, at most, there's a charlatan. This is the only time I'm naming my daughter, so even if it's cheap, I won't come."
"It was alright before, but I heard he failed in stock trading, so he had to come to this unfinished building to make a living. Don't be so picky. His naming skills are indeed good, and the price is not expensive, only a few hundred yuan. Brother Ye, coming here to get a name is fate. You have to go in and see before you can judge. You can't deny someone before you even meet them. That's not good."
"Alright, I'm really out of options. I'm trusting you, brother. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to this dilapidated unfinished building. This place looks so eerie, and it doesn't seem like a place where a good name can be found for my daughter. But I trust you, brother."
Ye Tiancheng was truly out of options. He had just suffered a great setback from Hou Mingzhu and was a bit overwhelmed. Having a brother by his side was already good enough, so he couldn't afford to be picky.
"Let's go, Brother Ye. Don't mind how shabby it looks here. The more dilapidated the place, the more hidden mysteries it holds. That old man's naming skills are really good. Many wealthy people used to seek him out for names."
Ye Tiancheng said no more and let Xiao Pang lead him upstairs. As soon as they stepped on the stairs, they creaked, sounding like the soundtrack of a horror movie. Ye Tiancheng was startled by the sound for a moment, and his hair stood on end.
"What kind of broken place is this? Why are there such eerie sounds?"
"Don't mind it, Brother Ye. Don't be scared. It's just because this is a dilapidated unfinished building. No one has been here for a long time. Now that someone has finally come, this broken place can't quite handle it, which is why you feel uncomfortable."
Xiao Pang's mouth moved incessantly, and he said a lot, which indeed brought Ye Tiancheng a lot of a sense of security. Since this was the case, Ye Tiancheng could only muster up his courage and continue forward. After all, he was Xiao Pang's elder brother, and it wouldn't be good to lose face in front of his younger brother. If he lost face now, he wouldn't be able to support his younger brother in the future.
"Master Huang, are you there? Master Huang, I'm here to get a name. If you're here, please say something."
Xiao Pang was not shy. Before reaching the end of the stairs, he started shouting. This so-called Master Huang should be the one Xiao Pang mentioned as being good at naming. Ye Tiancheng was actually a little expectant, wanting to see what kind of legendary Master Huang was, and why he felt like he had such a high status, yet also seemed a bit mysterious.
"I'm here."
Just as Ye Tiancheng's expectations were at their peak, he suddenly heard a very old voice. This wasn't some Master Huang; it seemed to be an old man, and a rather down-and-out old man. His voice was slightly hoarse when he spoke. In any case, he didn't look like a master.
"I'm here, Master Huang. I've heard of your reputation for a long time, so I've come specifically to pay my respects and ask you to help my elder brother's daughter with a name."
"I've already retired from the mountains, but if an acquaintance comes, I'll still give face and help with naming."
Ye Tiancheng finally went upstairs and saw the true appearance of this Master Huang. His hair was very long, and his beard was also very long. He looked disheveled, wearing a tattered Taoist robe. The robe probably hadn't been washed in a long time. There were even a few small holes and some stains on it. This person didn't look like a renowned master; to Ye Tiancheng, he looked like a beggar.
People said Ye Tiancheng was too simple, like a useless farmer. Perhaps over time, this was human nature. Ye Tiancheng also judged people by their appearance. Seeing someone dressed so shabbily, like a beggar, his first reaction was to wonder if he was a beggar. Where would a normal person dress like this? Moreover, the smell emanating from him was not very pleasant, giving off a very sloppy feeling.
"Brother Ye, this is Master Huang. Say hello."
Ye Tiancheng could barely force a smile because, in Ye Tiancheng's mind, he had already sentenced this Master Huang to death. He didn't think such a disheveled person could really help his beautiful, fairy-like daughter come up with a good name. After smiling, he pulled Ye Tiancheng aside, trying to create some distance so that Master Huang couldn't hear their conversation. However, this unfinished building on the third floor was so small that it was inevitable that Master Huang would overhear them. But Ye Tiancheng couldn't worry about that anymore. Ye Tiancheng actually didn't care about Master Huang at all, so it didn't matter if he overheard a little. He was truly filled with anger, feeling that even diverting his attention here was not enough and was a waste of time.
"Xiao Pang, are you out of your mind? Even if you introduced him to me, it should be reasonable. Are you messing with me? You found a beggar to name my daughter. Although my daughter is not from a prominent family, she is still my precious gem. I won't be stingy in this regard. You don't need to find someone who looks so cheap."
"Brother Ye, what are you thinking? Didn't I tell you that he recently lost money in the stock market and fell into hard times, so he had to come to this unfinished building? He used to live in a villa before, and his naming skills are indeed excellent. Master is a wise person and is professionally certified. He is completely different from the charlatans you're thinking of."
Although Xiao Pang was a bit chubby, sometimes gossiped a lot, and occasionally had the bad habit of lying, when it came to Ye Tiancheng, he never had those bad habits. When facing people he truly cared about, he became sincere, and Ye Tiancheng had never doubted this. Therefore, even though what Xiao Pang said sounded strange, it was actually his heartfelt words.
"Is that so? Then let's let him name her. Since we're here, it's fate. And I trust you, brother."
Ye Tiancheng and Xiao Pang pretended nothing was wrong and returned to Master Huang. On the contrary, Master Huang, having overheard Ye Tiancheng's doubts, looked at Ye Tiancheng with displeasure.
"Don't think that just because I live in this broken unfinished building, I'm nothing. Before, you had to book an appointment to see me for at least half a month. I was very popular. Don't look down on me. Sometimes, you can't judge a book by its cover."
That Master Huang seemed genuinely angry, and Xiao Pang quickly tried to appease him.
"Alright, Master Huang, please don't be angry. My friend is a first-time father and is a bit nervous about naming his daughter, so he's overly anxious. He doesn't know what to do and wishes he could call down the Jade Emperor to name his daughter. No one can be satisfied. This is definitely not directed at you, Master Huang."
Master Huang rolled his eyes, then took a couple of sips of the tea that Xiao Pang had offered, which finally helped to calm his temper and ease his anger.
"That's more like it." Master Huang continued to put on airs, "But I'll make it clear, don't think that because I live in a dilapidated unfinished building, naming a child is cheap. My minimum fee is five figures. Ten thousand yuan is my friendly price. If it's any less, I can't name the child."
Ye Tiancheng's heart immediately felt a surge of anger. He was already angry at Hou Mingzhu, and now he was speechless with anger from this old man. Day by day, he didn't know how much anger he was storing up, feeling like he was going to burst.