Chapter 46: The Veteran Actor

"Old Zhu, where are you? Hurry up and bring out the food! I'm starving, make it quick~~~"

Chen Lin started shouting the moment he arrived at the familiar courtyard.

The whole family was drawn out by the commotion.

Zhu Yuanzhang wore an expression of displeasure. Being called "Old Zhu" in front of all these people—didn't he have any dignity?

Empress Ma, however, was all smiles, quite fond of Chen Lin's casual and unrestrained manner, feeling that it brought a genuine family atmosphere.

Zhu Xiongying came running over in excitement because he spotted the bicycles being carried on the shoulders of several eunuchs, one of which was the very children's bicycle he had ridden before.

Lü wanted to hold him back, but Zhu Biao stopped her beside him, saying, "Let him go. You guys go play too, and remember to mind your manners."

The "you guys" Zhu Biao referred to were none other than Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Yuncong, the young princess, and the younger brothers who had not yet been enfeoffed.

As a group of children rushed over, Chen Lin, acting as their elder, naturally had to put on a show.

He handed out a lollipop to each child, but gave them all to Zhu Xiongying to distribute so that he could establish his authority as the "king of kids" among the little ones.

However, Zhu Xiongying cared nothing for such matters. He grabbed a lollipop, shoved it into his mouth, hopped onto the bicycle, and sped away.

This time, the children's bicycle had been specially fitted with two training wheels by Chen Lin. After pushing himself along with his feet for a moment, Zhu Xiongying realized the bike wouldn't tip over the moment he lifted his feet off the ground like it did before.

"So fun, this is so much fun..."

Consumed entirely by his own amusement, Zhu Xiongying recklessly pedaled the bicycle in wild circles around the courtyard.

Five-year-old Zhu Yunwen, on the other hand, very sensibly took all the remaining lollipops from Chen Lin's hand and handed them out one by one to his younger brothers, little uncles, and little aunts.

In the end, finding there weren't enough to go around, he became the only one left without a lollipop.

Watching Zhu Yunwen's expression—wanting one yet not daring to ask—Chen Lin couldn't help sighing inwardly. Truly a born actor; at such a tender age, he already had the makings of a seasoned veteran. No wonder Zhu Yuanzhang would later be spun around his finger by this little brat.

On the other side, the other children, having received their lollipops, chased after the self-proclaimed king of kids, Zhu Xiongying, as he rode the bicycle. Only Zhu Yunwen stood there quietly, giving off a sense of standing out from the crowd.

Was this Lü's fine teaching, or was Zhu Yunwen simply a natural-born actor?

Annoyed, Chen Lin walked up and gave the budding actor's backside a gentle kick—just a light nudge, as he couldn't make it too obvious.

"Go on, go on, stop annoying me here."

Lü hurried forward, wanting to question and scold Chen Lin, but lacking the courage, she could only glare at him with her eyes.

Zhu Biao stepped forward, patted Zhu Yunwen on the head, and squeezed Lü's arm, implying she shouldn't take it to heart, as this fellow was simply like that.

Then Zhu Biao patted Zhu Yunwen's back as well. "Go play!"

Zhu Yunwen ran off, looking back every three steps. Zhu Yuanzhang and Empress Ma also walked over, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately pointed at Chen Lin and let loose a torrent of complaints.

"You just got here and you're already hitting our grandson. What's the meaning of this?"

Chen Lin glanced at Lü, who was standing beside Zhu Biao. "No special meaning. Just felt that the kid didn't act like a child, so I thought I'd help him find the innocence a child is supposed to have."

Didn't act like a child?!

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned. "Nonsense! A child is a child. Yunwen is just a bit quieter by nature. How on earth does that translate to not acting like a child in your mouth?!"

Chen Lin waved his hand impatiently. "I couldn't care less about your family matters. Where is the imperial banquet? Didn't you hear my stomach rumbling?"

Zhu Yuanzhang snorted coldly and walked straight over to the small electric scooter. "Did you finally bear to part with this vehicle?"

Chen Lin pushed his way forward. "Hands off, this is a birthday gift for Her Majesty."

Empress Ma's face lit up with joy. "A gift for me?"

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty! Sit on the back and I'll take you for a spin!"

Empress Ma looked rather excited. "Well, that would be lovely..."

With that, the onlookers watched with undisguised envy as the two of them circled the courtyard.

Zhu Yuanzhang's heart was itching with envy!

Standing there and rubbing his hands together, he felt quite restless.

Lü, meanwhile, wore a pensive look, lost in her own thoughts.

Zhu Biao looked at Zhu Yunwen, who was chasing and playing not far away. Seemingly touched by something, he looked at Lü beside him, and then at Chen Lin riding the bike...

Only Zhu Di and his brothers remained carefree and thick-skinned, directly snatching the laptop from Chen Xiaolan's arms.

"I'll go first, I'm the eldest!" Zhu Shuang declared his priority.

"Big brother is even older, and I don't see him coming over to snatch it. What the hell do you count for, you second-in-line?" Zhu Gang retorted.

"Then let's go by who has the best operating skills. I was the one who lasted the longest last time, so I get to play first," Zhu Di laughed.

King of Zhou, Zhu Su, hadn't gone to the villa last time and didn't quite understand why his older brothers were arguing so fiercely over a box. He just stood off to the side, watching the spectacle in utter bewilderment.

As for the other imperial sons who weren't born of Empress Ma, they naturally didn't dare to compete with these legitimate sons and could only stand by and watch with curious eyes.

In the end, the laptop fell into the hands of Zhu Yuanzhang. A crowd followed closely behind him as he placed the laptop on a stone table, studying it for a long time without managing to find the power button.

Just then, Empress Ma pulled up behind the crowd on the small electric scooter.

Zhu Yuanzhang was startled. "My dear, you learned how to ride it already?!"

Empress Ma nodded excitedly. "Little Chen is a great teacher, and this thing is actually quite easy."

"Is that so? Let me try as well."

With that, Zhu Yuanzhang straddled the small electric scooter. "Is it this twisty thing here?"

Empress Ma hurried forward. "Don't move yet. Let me sit behind you and take you for a short ride first. Take it slow, it goes very fast..."

With Empress Ma embracing him from behind, off they rode. Zhu Di, physically the strongest among the brothers, seized the spot originally belonging to Zhu Yuanzhang and parked himself in front of the laptop.

Chen Lin walked up behind him, his gaze drifting toward the dashing figure of Empress Ma. He couldn't help marveling to himself: do ancients all possess such incredible balance?

He had only taught her once, and Empress Ma had mastered it right away. Impressive!

"Chen Lin, hurry up and see how to turn this on!"

Chen Lin gave Zhu Di a shove and squeezed him aside. "Move aside. With your pitiful skills, you still want to play *Age of Empires*? Just stand behind me and watch how I play. Whether you can learn anything depends entirely on your own capability."

With that, Chen Lin pulled a mouse from his robe, plugged it into the laptop, booted it up, and launched *Age of Empires*.

Single-player mode, setting up a match against AI: Spain versus three random hardest-difficulty computers, island map—start!

With a flurry of rapid keystrokes and micro-management, Zhu Di and the others were completely dumbfounded by this display of high-level operations!

So it could be played like this?! Previously, they had all foolishly clicked around with the mouse, and not even very smoothly at that.

Unlike this fellow, whose flying fingers instantly built a lumber camp, farms, houses, trained villagers, heraded sheep, explored the map, hunted wild boars, gathered from berry bushes, and upgraded the town center—all in one fluid motion.

Zhu Di and the others exchanged glances. So sheep weren't just a source of food; they could also be used to scout the map!

Wild boars could be hunted, and farmlands could be arranged neatly around the town center.

Building layouts could also double as perimeter defenses, and picking up those little white dots on the map and delivering them to a monastery could even generate gold!

That marketplace could actually be used to trade wood for gold and stone?!

What on earth had they been playing before? No wonder they couldn't even win a 3-v-1 match.

Looking at it now, a 5-v-1 or even a 10-v-1 might not guarantee a win; just his basic micro-management alone could slaughter them.

They hadn't lost unjustly at all!

As the game progressed, Zhu Biao was also drawn over, and Zhu Yuanzhang abandoned the small electric scooter—having already mastered it—to join the crowd standing behind, watching the naval battle unfold on the laptop screen.

Cannons on massive warships, cavalry archers, musketeers, landing operations, island arrow-tower defenses.

A whole series of military strategies and tactics, under Chen Lin's manipulation, played out before their eyes like a live tactical offense-and-defense drill...