The expressions of the couple cracked open in unison.
This bizarre angle of praise was something they had never imagined.
Wen Ya: "Why on earth do you think that living on the eighteenth floor makes him brave?!"
Shen Yi: "Because it's the eighteenth floor, Mom. He actually dares to live there all by himself."
"Look, an ordinary guy living on the second floor would need the light on to sleep. But he lives on the eighteen! Every night he can overlook the city lights—how strong mentally does he have to be? He's like a modern-day lone warrior! Just like a knight living in a castle tower."
After saying this, Shen Yi covered her mouth tightly, barely holding back her own laughter.
After hearing all this, Wen Ya felt like she was about to faint.
She often sought advice online, and the most common thing she heard was how to guide a rebellious teenage daughter. But no one had ever told her—
That when her daughter grew up, she would become a hopeless romantic who somehow equates "living on the eighteenth floor" with "bravery"!
The woman forced a strained smile. "...So living high up equals being brave? Then wouldn't a snow leopard on the Himalayas be a war god?"
"I've also carried out missions in high-rise buildings, and I've even killed several people. So, doesn't that make me the first assassin who cannot stand the heights?"
"Oh, that's different."
Shen Yi pulled on Wen Ya's arm, continuing to coax her mother, "Mom, you and Dad had a love marriage, so you must support me in pursuing freedom, right?"
The young girl's big, round eyes stared straight at Wen Ya, silently.
Wen Ya's hands were trembling: "...But that's too much freedom, baby. This isn't okay."
"Do you really know him? Do you know how he really is in private? Have you looked into any of this?"
"Of course I don't, but love is always blind. I believe that if someone loves another person enough, there's no need to know them too deeply," Shen Yi became more excited as she spoke, clasping her hands together, seemingly bubbling with happiness. "And he also said he wants me to drop out of school and leave China with him."
"I can go to Italy with him. He said he doesn't like women who study. Knowledge only changes destiny, but love can reshape the soul."
"In the future, we can go rowing in Venice together and feed the pigeons in Saint Mark's Square... He said I don't need to study or take college entrance exams. He'll support me with his allowance."
"He's such a responsible and romantic person~"
After saying this, Shen Yi closed her eyes in rapture, as if she could already see the Venetian waters reflecting the sunset.
When Wen Ya heard the word "drop out," her fists tightened.
When she heard "run off to a faraway place," she began grinding her teeth.
When she heard "don't need to study"—
She snapped!
Wen Ya clenched her hands tightly, resting her head in her palms as she took a deep breath.
Ignoring Shen Yi, who was completely dazed by love, she began speaking to Shen Sixing in a calm tone that barely concealed her fury:
"You know what, Shen Sixing?"
"Ever since Xiao Yi was little, I've thought about it more than once: no one will stop my daughter from studying. I have to make those people in our village who look down on me understand what it means when fortunes reverse."
Wen Ya's wish was for the villagers to see her in a new light. Unfortunately, her previous children simply didn't measure up.
This made those in the village who already despised her now completely ignore her.
Wen Ya was truly indignant about this.
She wasn't a naïve romantic who chased after a man just to dig up wild vegetables and suffer in the countryside.
But every time she returned to the village, she was met with criticism.
In the early years, Shen Sixing had at least been an overseas student. No matter how you looked at it, he was a college graduate.
But who knew that after gilding himself abroad, instead of bringing glory to his ancestors, he would become an internationally wanted fugitive?
She didn't want to bring Shen Sixing home to witness a family reunion where the first thing her relatives would say after seeing him was, "Xiao Ya, doesn't your husband look just like that fugitive we saw on the news?"
And Shen Yi, as their only daughter and a future college student, was her one and only hope.
She absolutely would not allow any disruption to Shen Yi's education.
No one.
Absolutely no one!!!
Shen Yi: "..." Th-that's some strong determination.
She instinctively shrank back.
Her mother's gaze was no longer that of a parent looking at her daughter; it was like looking at"the one true heir"—in an academic sense.
"Xiao Yi," Wen Ya's calm face gradually turned icy, and her voice rose sharply, raising an octave, "Mom doesn't—permit—this!"
"How can you drop out? I've been wondering why your grades have been steadily declining these past few months. Now I know you've been fooled by a man."
"And let me guess, he's a poor man, right?" Wen Ya muttered to herself. In all her years in her profession, she'd seen countless stories of smooth-talking "Cinderella men." Every time a client asked her to make those no-good men who deceived their daughters disappear, Wen Ya had killed off more than a few gold-digging scoundrels.
She was already starting to plan how to make this lowlife who seduced a minor vanish from the face of the earth.
Shen Yi: "The Visconti family is an old aristocratic lineage. He's not a poor man at all. He can inherit the family business in the future," she said.
On this point, Shen Yi was telling the complete truth.
After the cruise ship incident, Lorenzo was definitely the first in line to inherit.
"An old family..." Wen Ya said with interest. "One that's existed since the Jurassic period?"
Shen Yi: "...Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration."
Wen Ya smiled sweetly as she picked up a fruit knife from the table. With a gentle drop, the blade pierced straight into an apple in the fruit bowl, the flesh letting out a crisp crunch.
"Since he's not a dinosaur, then—"
She didn't finish, but her smile sent a chill down Shen Yi's spine.
In Wen Ya's worldview, it didn't matter if the family was old or new—nothing could interfere with Shen Yi's education.
As for Shen Yi failing her exams? Wen Ya, caught between admitting her own failure in raising her daughter or deciding her daughter was stupid, unwaveringly chose to blame someone else.
Obviously, this was all Lorenzo's fault.
She'd finally realized it.
It was all this damn man's fault for leading her astray.
Her once well-behaved, lovely daughter had been corrupted by this Lorenzo.
Shen Sixing had been silent for a long time. Once Wen Ya had finished her outburst, he finally got a chance to speak.
He rubbed his forehead, trying to use his remaining rationality to sort out the logical flaws in this conversation.
"...Eighteenth floor, brave?"
He repeated this combination of words slowly, as if tasting a particularly bizarre dish.
"How did you manage to link those two words together, Shen Yi?"
His expression grew dazed under Shen Yi's explosive tirade. "Even if he really does live on the eighteenth floor without being afraid, so what?"
"Your mom can jump from the eighteenth floor and land safely. What's wrong with you, child?"
The more he listened, the more wrong it seemed.
It wasn't that she was in love; it was like she'd been brainwashed.
"And him 'using his allowance to support you'?" Shen Sixing pointed his finger at each word, his expression shifting from confusion to horror.
If it weren't for his personal nature, he would have wanted to scream along with his wife.
How did Shen Yi manage to see a sense of responsibility in this? Was she insane?
Who exactly had been starving her that she needed some guy to support her with his allowance?
Shen Sixing grabbed her by the shoulders. "Shen Yi, back when I was with your mother, I was almost finished off by your grandfather. That's why I left."
He even tried to lower his voice, threatening his daughter with a cold expression: "Shen Yi, do you want to be finished off by your grandfather too?"
There was no choice.
His child was rebellious, breaking his heart.
Shen Sixing felt that today, he absolutely had to get her under control.
