Shen Yi felt that something was off.
She had already been here for five months.
Five months was neither long nor short—long enough for her to figure out most of the timeline of this past world.
She sat on the sofa, her legs dangling over the edge as she swung them back and forth, watching Shen Sixing awkwardly chop vegetables in the kitchen while Wen Ya leaned against the doorframe and gave him instructions.
“Not like that. Tilt your knife a little.”
“Watch your hand, you idiot.”
“Forget it. I’ll do it.”
The two of them were squeezed together in the tiny kitchen. They looked like a perfect match, as if they had taken one look at each other and fallen hopelessly in love.
But the storyline was wrong.
According to the story her mother and father had told her, the two of them weren’t supposed to fall in love at first sight overseas?
So what was going on now?
The System had always told her that the past could not be changed, and that her existence would not affect the course of the story.
So why had the storyline changed?
Shen Yi asked softly, “System, do you have any idea what’s going on?”
There was a long silence in her mind before that voice finally replied:
【Why think so much? The entire plot has already ended. As long as you go back, everything will have a happy ending.】
After a pause, it added:
【You need to understand this, Shen Yi.】
【When a butterfly flaps its wings, it can trigger countless chain reactions. And in this world, all cause and effect originates with you.】
【No matter what choice you make, the final outcome will be good. So don’t be afraid. Just enjoy your life in the present.】
After hearing that, and combining it with what she had been told about the future remaining unchanged, Shen Yi had already vaguely guessed at one possibility.
“Okay.” She smiled. “I’m really looking forward to the ending.”
No matter what, getting to meet her parents when they were young was a pretty good experience.
Wen Ya was holding a handful of scallions as she chatted from the kitchen. “I can retire once the New Year comes.”
Shen Sixing froze for a moment. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Miss Assassin to be in such a hurry to quit.
“Miss,” he asked deliberately, “do people at your company really retire that early?”
“That’s right, that’s right.” Wen Ya nodded earnestly, the scallions swaying in her hand. “Haha, that’s how state-owned enterprises work.”
“Haha.” Shen Sixing laughed along, playing along with a lie that not even a three-year-old would believe.
Clearly, Wen Ya had never worked a day in her life.
Even if she worked for the Celestial Court, it would be impossible for her to retire at the age of twenty.
Wen Ya was completely unaware of how flimsy her excuse was. Seeing that Shen Sixing actually believed her, she smiled with her eyes curved into crescents and began to gloat.
“Shen Sixing, my pension is very generous.”
She had saved up quite a lot of money during her working years, after all.
After lunch, Wen Ya pretended to go to work, leaving Shen Sixing at home to look after the child.
Shen Sixing hurriedly ate a few bites before spending the rest of the time tinkering with his computer in the living room.
The light from the screen illuminated his face, making his expression appear alternately bright and shadowed.
He looked downright sinister.
Shen Yi padded over in her slippers and took a look.
There were several split-screen windows. One of them showed surveillance footage from a blurry angle, though it was still possible to make out what seemed to be a street corner.
In the footage, Wen Ya’s figure was slender and her steps brisk.
“You’re spying on Mom again.”
Shen Yi leaned against the armrest of his chair and looked up at him.
Shen Sixing stared at the screen without blinking. He moved the cursor and zoomed in on some detail in the footage, his voice calm and indifferent.
“Aren’t you curious about what your mother does for work?”
Shen Yi said, “I’m not a pervert like you.”
She muttered the words before climbing back onto the sofa to continue watching television.
On the cartoon, the Minions were throwing bananas at one another. Shen Yi laughed stupidly as she watched.
After a while, Shen Sixing began muttering to himself again.
“Why are there always so many people around her?”
Without turning her head, Shen Yi answered brightly, “Because beautiful women are never short of admirers.”
There was a brief silence behind her.
Then came the resentful crunching of Shen Sixing eating dry bread. Crunch, crunch, crunch—it sounded like a mouse gnawing on something.
Shen Yi finally couldn’t stand it anymore and turned around.
“Dad, why do you like eating these instant foods so much?”
There was perfectly good food in the house, yet he insisted on gnawing on bread every day.
Shen Sixing remained absorbed in spying on Wen Ya, his eyes glued to the screen. Bread crumbs fell all over the keyboard.
Looking at his stubborn refusal to change, Shen Yi could already predict what would happen after Mom found out.
Given Wen Ya’s personality, a gloomy creep who liked spying on people would probably be beaten to death on the spot.
She climbed down from the sofa, walked over to Shen Sixing, and tugged at his sleeve as she tried to reason with him.
“Don’t do this, Dad.”
“You’ll disappear!”
Shen Sixing refused to listen. He stuffed another piece of dry bread into his mouth.
Wen Ya was busy carrying out a commission, so there was a good chance she wouldn’t be coming home tonight.
Outside the window, the sun had already sunk into the gaps between the buildings. Its orange-red light divided the living room into two halves, one bright and one shadowed.
Shen Yi asked again, “What are we having for dinner?”
Shen Sixing was a terrible cook.
The last time he had stir-fried some greens, he’d brought out a charred, black lump.
When Wen Ya was home, Shen Yi could at least eat something resembling a normal meal.
Once Wen Ya left, Shen Sixing—their bargain-bin dad—would rummage through the refrigerator and combine whatever strange ingredients he could find into increasingly bizarre dishes.
Shen Sixing answered absently, his fingers still tapping away at the keyboard.
“I’ll make you stir-fried carrots with spinach later. It’s rich in all kinds of vitamins.”
What kind of culinary abomination was stir-fried carrots with spinach?
Shen Yi couldn’t help but flop across the table, her soft curls bouncing gently atop her head.
The girl began to grumble.
“I don’t want carrots, spinach, or dry bread! I want KFC, McDonald’s, hamburgers!”
Shen Sixing’s head began to ache from her incessant whining.
Over the past few months, he had tried to find several jobs, but the gaps in his résumé were simply too long. On top of that, he had only just turned eighteen.
Not a single legitimate company was willing to hire him.
But even criminals didn’t always have schemes to work on. Occasionally, Shen Sixing took on simple account-opening jobs to make ends meet.
The money he earned wasn’t even enough to cover the interest on his credit card.
He pressed a hand to his head, his voice pained. “Finding a job is really difficult these days, Shen Yi.”
“You don’t like vegetables? Fine. I’ll make braised pork for you later.”
Shen Yi looked dejected.
“...Sob. Your braised pork is always burnt.”
She might as well eat vegetables.
When Shen Sixing heard her crying, he grew anxious. Biting his finger, he lifted his head from the computer and spoke in his usual calm voice.
“Wait. Don’t cry yet.”
“Xiao Yi, have you ever heard this saying?”
Shen Yi pursed her lips, confused. “What saying?”
“Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,” he said solemnly. “Don’t look down on your young dad just because he’s poor.”
Shen Yi said nothing.
She lifted her head from the crook of her arm and muttered, “A poor guy is a poor guy. What do you mean, ‘don’t look down on your young dad because he’s poor’? You probably won’t have any money in the future either. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have become a hitman working for Uncle.”
That kind of slogan was basically the same as saying, “Don’t look down on your middle-aged dad because he’s poor,” or “Don’t look down on your old dad because he’s poor.”
Other than being something he could shout at every stage of his life, it had no practical value whatsoever.
“…I’m working for Shen Sigui again?” Shen Sixing had just been hit with another piece of devastating news. He instinctively buried his face in his arms and muttered,
“Why am I so damn poor?”
His phone screen was still lit, and the bank’s debt-collection text glared from the notification bar.
He raised a hand to clutch his stomach. Just thinking about those numbers made it ache.
Could someone give him some money?
He wanted money.
He wondered how much of a reward he could get for reporting one of his fellow criminals.
He knew several people with hefty bounties on their heads.
For example, the Madman, who had blown up half a bridge not long ago; the Fox, who specialized in stealing confidential files from various companies.
And the group of thugs who had intercepted a shipment at the docks last month. Pick any one of them, and the bounty would be astronomical.
Shen Sixing ran through countless possibilities, from reporting them to blackmail and even robbing them himself. He seriously considered the feasibility of each option.
Then he dismissed them all.
No. Reporting them would take too long to pay off, and it would be too easy to get himself into trouble.
It wouldn’t be good if Wen Ya found out.
Shen Yi sat beside him, poking at a dry piece of bread until it crumbled into bits.
She secretly glanced up at him.
Suddenly, Shen Sixing sat up straight.
He remembered—he could go to the casino.
Shen Sixing had once frequented that chaotic place, sitting at the gambling tables all night without even blinking as he pushed his chips forward.
When he lost everything, he would stagger out in a daze, only to return the next day and start again.
Over and over, like some kind of self-destructive ritual.
But things were different now.
He had to raise Shen Yi.
The current house alone had cost at least five million, and the price of homes in good school districts was still climbing. Property management fees, utilities, internet bills, tuition, future childcare expenses—every single one was a very real cost.
Shen Sixing had never considered such trivial expenses before. Money had never held any meaning in his eyes.
Losing money at the casino had been as effortless as breathing.
He had never cared whether he won or lost. He simply enjoyed the feeling of emptying his mind and letting go of everything.
But after becoming a father in the prime of his life, Shen Sixing could no longer afford such pleasures.
He needed to win back enough chips to cover all the expenses he was facing.
Cheating in a place like that carried enormous risks. If he was caught, he would almost certainly be beaten.
But Shen Sixing had been used to taking a beating since childhood. When he had first entered society, his lack of understanding of human nature had earned him plenty of abuse. There had even been times when he could no longer stand it and had fought back. Ending up with a bruised and battered face was practically routine.
Having thought of a way to make money, Shen Sixing stood up, closed his laptop, and looked down at Shen Yi. He tried to keep his voice as light as possible.
“Xiao Yi, I’m going out to make some money. Stay home and behave.” He paused. “If your mother comes back, tell her I’m out earning money.”
Shen Yi readily agreed, nodding so hard her head bobbed like a woodpecker’s.
As soon as the door closed, she waited three minutes.
Then she immediately followed him out.
