Shen Yi: “Did you gamble it all away again?”
Shen Yi had never heard her father mention Shen Sixing’s younger days.
But the fact that he gambled was no secret in the family.
Most of the time, Shen Sixing enjoyed that feeling in the casino of not being in control of the outcome.
Losing made him frustrated.
Winning made him lightheaded.
Only when he was especially desperate for money would he resort to shady methods to make a profit at the table.
Under normal circumstances, Shen Sixing just played recklessly in the casino, relying purely on luck.
The money he earned was pretty much all thrown in.
And he’d end up losing everything.
Hearing this, Shen Sixing turned his head to look at her. A hint of scrutiny crept into his gaze.
“Do you know me that well?”
He leaned back in his chair, looking down at her from his height, his eyes turning cold for a moment.
They’d only been talking for a few minutes in any real sense, but he was acutely aware that this kid seemed to understand him surprisingly well.
She was nothing like the brat he remembered—the one who, at eight years old, could climb onto the roof and rip off the tiles.
Of course, that didn’t mean he thought she was well-behaved now—
The remains of the dismantled gun parts were still scattered on the floor, practically staring back at him in outrage.
Shen Yi noticed the shift in his eyes.
“I was just guessing. There are a lot of lottery tickets on your table.”
“Do you really have no money left at all?” She pursed her lips and changed the subject: “So you don’t usually eat anything?”
She didn’t really want to believe he was that broke.
Was she really going to have to live the kind of life where “following Dad around means going hungry three days out of nine”?
Shen Sixing lowered his head and gently bit down on his wrist, sulking.
“I don’t eat. Usually, I don’t eat.”
“Eating means cooking, and cooking is exhausting, and washing dishes is such a hassle.”
“I have no money. I have no money...”
As he mumbled to himself, the boy curled up in the chair, his knees pressing against his chest. The skinny wrist poked far out from his sleeve, the bones prominent, the skin so thin you could see the blue veins beneath.
He looked like a severely malnourished, scrawny guy.
Shen Yi: “...”
“So,” the boy continued, lowering his head so that the stray strands of hair fell over his eyes, “I can’t raise you. I can’t even raise myself.”
“When I said earlier that I’d take care of you, I was out of my mind. You can leave now.”
“Or,” his tone was ambiguous, whether he meant it or not, “I could sell you off.”
“I’ll find you a decent adoptive parent.”
There was no way he’d keep her.
He’d gotten carried away in that moment, but once he’d sobered up, Shen Sixing regretted it.
He was the kind of person who couldn’t even take care of himself, skipping meals depending on his mood.
Adding an eight-year-old kid to this chaotic lifestyle was nothing short of a disaster.
Shen Yi tilted her head, thinking. “If you don’t have money, then go earn it,” she said matter-of-factly.
Shen Sixing ignored her and turned away.
He began counting his tasks.
The last one before that had involved a cross-border case affecting three countries, two smuggling networks, and a semi-official grey transit hub. The authorities had been tracking his trail.
He needed to lay low for a while now.
Before that, though,
Shen Sixing needed to get rid of this troublesome burden.
He snapped his laptop shut, pushed his chair back, and stood up.
“Get up.”
He looked down at her.
“Are you taking me out to eat?” Shen Yi asked, looking up at him.
“No,” Shen Sixing said. “I’m taking you to an orphanage.”
Shen Yi: “...”
Shen Sixing had made up his mind.
There was no way he was raising a child.
“No way. I’m not going to an orphanage,” Shen Yi said decisively. She spun around and wrapped both arms around the doorknob.
It was one of those old-fashioned round lock knobs, and she clung to it with both hands like a koala hanging from a tree.
Shen Sixing reached over, grabbed her by the collar, and pulled.
—He was shockingly strong!!
Shen Yi felt the back of her collar tighten, and before she knew it, she was being lifted half an inch off the ground.
But she wasn’t exactly weak either.
The girl held on tight to the door, refusing to budge.
Father and daughter were locked in a silent struggle.
Shen Sixing wondered how this was even happening.
Sure, he wasn’t a frontline fighter, but he had enough strength and skill that he shouldn’t be outdone by a kid.
He put more force into it.
They tugged back and forth.
The already shaky old door only seemed to get worse.
The screws in the doorframe had long rusted, and the hinges had been loose for a while. Shen Sixing had a habit of kicking the door open when he went out, which had done the door no favors.
As the two of them pulled and yanked, the poor hinges finally gave up.
With a creak,
the door came clean off.
Shen Yi was still holding tight to the door.
Completely stunned.
Her legs were still dangling in the air, both arms locked around the knob—she and the door panel were now hanging together in Shen Sixing’s grip.
Shen Sixing: “...”
There wasn’t time to mourn the dead door.
After a three-second silence, he detached the door-board, with her still on it, from the frame and set it gently on the floor.
Before Shen Yi could react, he crouched down and pried her fingers off the knob.
Then the boy took her hand—his fingers were ice-cold and held on tightly; she couldn’t break free.
“I’ll call you a cab and have someone take you to the orphanage. Maybe you’ll find a decent adoptive family there. But at least your family won’t be me.”
“I have no interest in raising a child. You’d only be a burden to me.”
He didn’t like forming bonds with anyone.
It made a person vulnerable, turned someone fearless into someone timid, hesitant, and anxious.
Shen Sixing had seen too many people brought down by their weaknesses—ironclad one moment, and the next, their throats in someone else’s grip because of a name.
In short, emotions were poison.
And love? That was a demon.
He dragged her toward the door.
The hallway reeked of stir-fry from one of the neighbors—probably someone cooking chili—the fumes stinging their eyes.
Shen Yi bit her lip and let out a scream: “I’m not going! If you sell me, my mom is going to be furious!!”
Shen Sixing stopped in his tracks.
“And what can your mom do about it? She’s not here anymore, is she? Can she come after me? No, she can’t. How sad...”
He stretched out his words, that youthful careless mischief dripping from his tone.
“But your Uncle Shen Sixing here will be finding you a new family soon. You’d better thank me now.”
Shen Yi resisted, digging in her heels, forcing herself to stay calm. She knew she’d have to come up with something that would hook this stubborn, impenetrable man.
Otherwise, there was no way he’d keep her.
“Actually,” Shen Yi said, speaking slowly and clearly, word by word, “My mom is your wife. Do you believe that?”
Shen Sixing froze.
“Wife?” He mouthed the word like he’d never heard it before, nearly biting his tongue.
