Shang Ruyi couldn’t help but laugh.
Who would have thought that Yu Wenye, someone so stern and cold like a block of ice, would have such interesting friends.
Watching as Pei Xingyuan grumbles and looks like he’s about to fight Lei Yu, the young men nearby quickly try to calm him down: "Alright, Xingyuan, whose childhood name sounds any better? We’re all friends here, no one’s laughing at you."
Only then did Pei Xingyuan angrily sit back down.
Even after sitting down, he was still upset, pointing at the noble sons and calling out all their childhood names.
Upon hearing them, none truly sounded any better, with some called Little Piggy, Ah-Ci, or even Puppy.
However, when he got to Shang Ruyi, he paused.
"Sister-in-law, do you have a childhood name?"
Shang Ruyi hesitantly replied, "No, no."
Seeing her , Pei Xingyuan knew she definitely had one, and quickly said, "Hey, everyone here has said their childhood names—" Someone immediately pointed out that it was him who asked, but he ignored it and continued, "If Sister-in-law considers us family, she should share her childhood name too!"
As he spoke, he turned to Yu Wenye and said, "Brother Feng Chen, don’t you agree?"
Yu Wenye, who had been sitting quietly drinking, seemingly oblivious to the surrounding noise, finally raised a brow and glanced at Shang Ruyi.
Shang Ruyi’s face turned even redder.
The young men, seeing this, began to chime in with laughter: "If even Brother Feng Chen doesn’t know, that’s going too far."
"Yes, Sister-in-law, we’re all friends here."
Seeing the situation, Shang Ruyi knew she was "stuck between a rock and a hard place." Besides, a childhood name was just for fun; nobody really minded—in particular not Pei Xingyuan. So she coughed lightly and softly said, "My, my childhood name is—"
Everyone perked up their ears.
Even the hand Yu Wenye held a cup with paused midair.
The private room suddenly fell silent.
Shang Ruyi sensed something was off about the atmosphere in the room and saw peculiar and complex expressions on everyone’s faces.
Yu Wenye put down his cup and looked at her.
After a while, it was Pei Xingyuan who laughed and said, "How did Sister-in-law end up with such a strange childhood name?"
Having already revealed it, Shang Ruyi smiled openly and said, "As a child, I was mischievous. When I accompanied my father on a mission to the Turkic lands, I saw the moon on the grassland, large and round like a jade plate, and chased after it on horseback, aiming to pluck it down. My father saw how much I loved the moon and asked me if I was willing to be a servant of the moon. I said I was, so he gave me the childhood name Ming Yue Nu."
After hearing this story, the private room grew even quieter.
After a while, Pei Xingyuan clapped his fan heavily against his palm and said, "Good, truly good. This childhood name may be mundane, yet there’s elegance in its simplicity, truly rare."
Lei Yu let out a cold snort nearby.
Shang Ruyi chuckled, saying, "I’m sorry to have amused everyone."
Everyone said it was nothing, and after a few laughs, they moved on from the topic. But when Shang Ruyi picked up her chopsticks to reach for the dishes again, she noticed Yu Wenye sitting beside her, looking at her with a complicated expression.
She puzzledly looked down to check, finding nothing amiss with her appearance.
Yet Yu Wenye paused, shook his head, and averted his gaze once more.