Newport City is a place with a long and storied history.
As an ancient city that has existed for thousands of years—and once served as the imperial capital—its cultural heritage speaks for itself.
That's why this year, Newport City is focusing on its cultural legacy, and has specially restored a Heritage Street, lined with ancient-style architecture.
All the shops here are modeled after historical businesses; aside from electricity and water, any other modern amenities are strictly forbidden.
The only exception is that every shop is equipped with central air conditioning.
Other than that, there's not even WiFi.
So, if tourists want to get online here, well, they'll just have to use their own mobile data.
There's actually a reason for not offering WiFi.
Most of the city's antique shops have relocated here.
Just imagine—a customer snaps a photo inside a shop and immediately searches it online. Kinda kills the vibe, doesn't it?
So, everyone can look and ask questions—just try not to do anything that ruins the atmosphere.
At ten in the morning, Yina Yin arrived at Heritage Street, accompanied by Cherry Miller, Miles Gu, and Ethan Yin, with Lucas Mu, Ryan King, and Leo and Theo Mo in tow—plus a long line of bodyguards trailing behind them.
These days, Heritage Street had just opened for business, so it was especially lively.
The street was packed with tourists, and every few steps there were all sorts of little trinkets for sale.
Many intangible cultural heritage items—like sugar figurines, dough sculptures, and shadow puppetry—were on display here.
The teens were quickly drawn in and had a blast exploring.
Miles Gu acted as Yina Yin's protector, so wherever Yina went, Miles followed.
Cherry Miller was supposed to stick with Yina too, but... everyone else had long legs, and she was the only one with short legs. After a while, she could barely keep up.
Ethan Yin noticed how hard Cherry Miller was working to keep up with Yina Yin and called out, "Miles, you take care of Yina, okay? You guys are walking so fast—look how tired Cherry is getting."
"I'm fine!" Cherry quickly protested. "I can keep up, really!"
Yina Yin turned around and saw Cherry Miller sweating a little from all the fast walking, and realized she'd been moving too quickly again.
"Oops, sorry Cherry! I forgot how fast I walk," Yina said, noticing Cherry's slightly flustered look. "Why don't you hang back? There are so many people with us—just find a spot to rest, and we'll call you when we're done."
Cherry immediately refused, "No way! I'm your assistant—I have to be ready to help you anytime, anywhere."
Ethan Yin piped up, "Help with what? You can't even keep up, so how are you supposed to help? Besides, as an assistant, you ought to give Miles and Yina some privacy, right? You can't just tag along when they're dating!"
Yina Yin's face instantly turned bright red.
Miles Gu's red eyes flicked over to Ethan Yin, and he just smiled.
Was Ethan Yin interested in Cherry Miller?
He was being so obvious about it!
Yina Yin was still trying to process what was happening, so she told Cherry, "You don't need to stick with me. It's fine—there are just a few streets, and when I'm done I'll come find you."
With that, Yina Yin and Miles Gu turned and walked away.
"Hey, but..." Cherry hurried after them for a few steps, but couldn't catch up and finally gave up, looking defeated.
There was nothing she could do—out of everyone, she seemed to be the shortest and least athletic.
Cherry gave up on trying to catch up with Yina Yin and decided to find a spot to rest and wait for Yina's call.
Even though she knew Yina probably wouldn't call her.
But it was her job—she had to be ready to follow orders at any time.
Cherry turned around and saw that Ethan Yin hadn't gone with the others. Instead, he was standing off to the side, as if waiting for her.
Cherry hesitated for a moment and asked, "Why didn't you go with them, Ethan?"
"Oh? Didn't I just say I wanted to give Miles and Yina some space to date?" Ethan replied shamelessly.
Space to date...
Dragging Ryan King, Lucas Mu, and Leo and Theo Mo along, plus a whole bunch of bodyguards—is that really dating?
"Oh." Cherry didn't ask any more questions. She turned and spotted a teahouse, so she went inside to wait for Yina Yin.
Cherry had just sat down when Ethan Yin plopped down right across from her, making her pause in surprise. "Ethan, you..."
"Can I ask you something?" Ethan sighed. "Could you please not call me 'Young Master Ethan'?"
"But you are a young master," Cherry said, frowning. "I can't break the rules."
"What if I give you special permission?" Ethan looked at her helplessly. "Yina doesn't treat you like a servant, and besides, you're not our family's servant. You're an employee of the Yin Consortium, so you don't have to follow those rules."
"But employees still call you 'Young Master Ethan!'" Cherry said, confused.
"You..." Ethan thought for a second. "Forget it. I'll make an exception for you. From now on, just call me by my name. If you call me 'Young Master Ethan' again, I'll dock your pay—one hundred per time!"
"Huh?!" Cherry was a bit stunned.
Was this young master acting weird again today?
"Try calling my name. Just once?" Ethan looked at Cherry with anticipation.
Cherry lowered her eyes and changed the subject, saying, "Why isn't Quentin Sheng here yet? He's the chief assistant, but he's so busy..."
"Can't be helped. With Mom and Dad out of town, someone has to handle the company's affairs. As my chief assistant, Quentin is bound to be busy." Ethan Yin still wouldn't give up: "Come on, just call my name once?"
Cherry gave Ethan a helpless look. "Are you really that free today, Ethan?"
"One hundred off for every violation!" Ethan said seriously. "I mean it—I'll really dock your pay!"
Cherry froze for a moment, quickly looked down, and stopped responding to Ethan.
The teahouse attendant brought fresh tea, and just as Cherry reached for it, Ethan's long arm snatched it up and poured her a cup himself.
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"Thank you," Cherry said softly. "But I can do it myself."
"So, can you call my name now?" Ethan looked at Cherry, full of hope.
Cherry couldn't resist anymore and finally said, "E-Ethan Yin."
"That's more like it! Friends call each other by name. See, I just call you Cherry." Ethan said seriously. "Remember, use names from now on. Otherwise, next time the penalty is ten times as much!"
Cherry forced a smile and nodded.
"Just drinking tea is boring. What would you like to eat? My treat." Ethan, seeing Cherry relent, pressed his advantage. "The food on Ancient Street is supposedly made the old-fashioned way, nothing like modern mechanized cooking. The taste might be a bit rough, but it's all about authenticity. Want to try some?"
Cherry could only nod and say, "Okay."
Ethan raised his hand, and immediately a teahouse attendant came over. Ethan ordered a few snacks, and the attendant happily went to place the order.
The two of them sat there in silence, and the atmosphere gradually grew a bit awkward.
Just then, a voice called from behind: "Cherry? Is that really you?"
Cherry turned at the sound and saw a cheerful-looking young man running toward her, excitement written all over his face.
Cherry thought for a moment, then remembered—this young man had helped her out on the plane when she was returning to China.
Back at the airport, he'd lost his ticket and didn't speak German, so he couldn't explain his flight to the staff.
Cherry had been standing right behind him in line, so she helped him out.
To thank her, the young man even treated Cherry to a drink outside.
They were both Chinese, so Cherry didn't refuse his kind invitation.
But when the young man wasn't looking, Cherry secretly paid the bill herself.
The young man felt so bad about it that he insisted Cherry leave her name and address, promising to treat her properly someday.
Cherry only told him her name, not her address, so to this day, he still doesn't know where she lives or what she does.
Cherry remembered that the young man's name was Shawn Shi.
Cherry looked at him and nodded with a smile.
The young man quickly said, "Do you remember me? I'm Shawn Shi. When I was traveling in Germany, you helped me at the airport!"
"Of course I remember," Cherry replied with a smile. "What a coincidence."
Cherry smiled at him, and Ethan Yin was not pleased.
With a top-tier heartthrob right in front of her, she barely smiled, but to a guy with zero looks, she was all smiles?
Ethan immediately tried to make his presence felt. "Is this your friend?"
Shawn Shi turned around, and the moment he saw Ethan Yin, he froze.
Ethan had kept his head down, so Shawn hadn't gotten a good look at him until now.
But now...
Shawn felt a chill of fate run down his spine.
How could a man look so strikingly beautiful and almost otherworldly?
Most importantly, he radiated a commanding aura—like someone born to lead.
Who was this guy?
It wasn't really Shawn Shi's fault.
Ethan Yin had rarely appeared in public since childhood, and five years ago, he went to Hans for special training.
Now he's just returned and hasn't made any public appearances, so of course outsiders wouldn't recognize him.
Still, even so, Ethan's presence was impossible to ignore.
Earlier, Shawn had been so focused on Cherry that he hadn't noticed Ethan, who'd kept his head down.
But now, when Ethan looked up and spoke, Shawn felt an unprecedented pressure.
This man was powerful!
Shawn felt he didn't even have the courage to speak.
Because Ethan was simply too impressive.
Cherry had grown up surrounded by handsome men, so she was immune to the charms of Ethan and Gu Miao. She replied lightly, "Not really. Before I returned to China, I transferred flights in Germany and happened to help him out of a jam."
Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Really?"