The next moment, the worry hanging over him finally settled.
The instant Shen Yi landed, she ducked and twisted. Her entire body spun halfway sideways, her sweeping leg tracing a low, level arc.
It struck the ankle of the thug on the left with pinpoint accuracy. His weight had already been planted on the balls of his feet, and the sweep sent him stumbling forward. The stick flew from his hand.
Shen Yi didn’t wait for it to hit the ground.
Her five fingers closed precisely around the shaft, and she swung it out in one fluid motion.
The thug’s knee buckled, and he dropped to one knee with a heavy “thud” against the tiles.
The entire exchange took less than two seconds.
Shen Sixing almost let out a shriek. In the next instant, he watched his eight-year-old daughter snatch up a stick and beat a grown man to the ground.
His mouth hung open, his face blank with bewilderment.
…This was his daughter?
Was this how he raised his daughter in the future?
No way.
Shen Sixing had imagined how he would raise his five children. If any of them failed to get into college, they would all be kicked out to find jobs.
Once they got off work, the five of them could take turns cooking a couple of dishes for him.
Of course, that arrangement only applied if they failed to get into university.
At Shen Yi’s age, she should be studying hard and striving to improve herself.
And yet she had actually gotten into a fight with these people?
Shen Sixing was breaking down.
…
The man on the right charged over with a beer bottle in hand.
Shen Yi slipped half a step to the side, and the mouth of the bottle skimmed past her shoulder.
The little girl held the stick horizontally, trapping the man’s bottle-wielding arm. Using his momentum, she pressed down, twisted her wrist, and struck the inside of his elbow with the end of the stick.
The man hissed. His fingers loosened, and the bottle fell from his hand.
Quick as a flash, Shen Yi hooked it upward with her toe, sending it bouncing half an inch into the air. Her other hand snatched it by the neck, gripping it securely.
She turned toward the burly man in front—the one who had been shouting about beating someone up—and gave him a huge smile.
It was not the sweet, innocent smile of an ordinary child. Shen Yi’s radiant grin carried an undisguised streak of ferocity.
“Have sweet dreams.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she raised the bottle and brought it crashing down on the man’s head.
“Bang!”
The man’s vision went black, and he collapsed stiffly to the ground.
Shen Yi was about to charge forward again when Shen Sixing seized the opportunity to scoop her up. With one hand pressed against her back, he decisively carried the child away.
Though he looked frail enough to be blown over by the wind, whether in the past or the future, Shen Sixing had always been faster than anyone else when it came to slipping away after causing trouble.
That was how he had managed to remain alive and at large despite being wanted.
After beating someone up, of course you ran immediately.
But this little war criminal, Shen Yi, still wanted to charge back in. Her legs pedaled in midair as she shouted, “I’m not done beating them up yet!”
Shen Sixing plunged into the crowd and took several winding routes before finally shaking off the people chasing them.
Once the commotion had died down, he straightened and lowered his head to look at the little girl still squirming in his arms.
The boy remained silent for a long while, his gaze fixed on her.
“You were following me the whole time?”
He had never expected her to tail him all the way there.
And he hadn’t noticed at all?!
Shen Yi showed no shame whatsoever. “Mom taught me tracking techniques. You taught me how to walk without making any sound, too.”
She repeated Shen Sixing’s earlier words:
“The most important thing about following someone is to observe the rhythm of their steps. Don’t create a separate sound of your own. Match your movements to the target’s.”
“You have to turn yourself into their shadow. Your footsteps have to become their footsteps.”
“In other words—people who walk in sync will never lose each other~”
Shen Yi bounced twice, then happily spun in a circle. With absolute conviction, she summed up, “Our footsteps are in sync, so we’re the same kind of people. Heehee.”
Shen Sixing: “…”
It did sound exactly like something he might have taught her about tracking.
But looking at her bright, cheerful expression, Shen Sixing couldn’t smile at all.
His expression had been grim from beginning to end. He grabbed the fabric at Shen Yi’s shoulder and shook her firmly, his voice turning cold.
“How are you so reckless? You dare rush in like that? Can’t you be obedient for once?”
“He was hitting you.” Shen Yi immediately started talking a mile a minute, like a machine gun. “Of course I couldn’t just watch you get beaten up. You’re way too obedient, Dad. It made me a little unhappy.”
Shen Sixing could tell that she had been sulking ever since they were at the gambling den.
It seemed that after seeing him bullied there, she hadn’t smiled once.
“I just don’t like trouble, so I let them hit me.”
His heart softened. He lowered his head and tightened his arm around her, pressing her head against his shoulder. His tone remained harsh as he scolded her, “Don’t ever run over like that again. Even if I get beaten to death, I don’t want you coming to save me. It was terrifying, do you understand, Shen Yi?”
Shen Sixing’s face was as pale as a ghost.
He truly couldn’t suppress the fear that had gripped him after witnessing what had just happened.
Ever since learning that he had a daughter in the future, Shen Sixing had been constantly anxious around her. He was terrified that one careless mistake would somehow get her killed in this time period.
“Oh, okay,” Shen Yi said, pretending to be clueless. “I understand.”
One look at her dazed expression told Shen Sixing that she hadn’t taken a word of his lecture to heart.
He grew even more annoyed.
It was already nighttime, and Shen Yi was hungry.
Shen Sixing had no choice but to take her to a roadside eatery for something to eat.
Shen Yi was having wonton soup, her hair swaying back and forth beside the bowl.
Seeing this, Shen Sixing frowned. He reached out and smoothed down the curl sticking up over her forehead, then wrapped her hair tie around it twice and tied it into a little topknot. The curls at ear level were gathered into a small bun, leaving her wispy bangs pulled completely away from her face.
Her entire face was exposed, making her eyes look even rounder and larger.
After dinner, Shen Sixing, physically and emotionally exhausted, walked home with the child.
The streetlights stretched their shadows long across the pavement.
The smaller one hopped along, the little bun on top of her head bobbing with every step.
The bigger one hunched slightly, head drooping, wearing the expression of someone who had lost all faith in life.
Suddenly, his phone rang.
Shen Sixing pulled it out and glanced at the screen.
It was Shen Sigui.
That man was like a persistent ghost. He was always showing up at Shen Sixing’s place, mooching food, drinks, and even a place to sleep. No matter how many times Shen Sixing tried to drive him away, he refused to leave.
Shen Sixing was thoroughly sick of him.
After Shen Sixing rejected the call twice, it rang again.
Frowning, he answered impatiently. Beneath his deceptively gentle tone was unmistakable irritation.
“What’s wrong with you? Why do you insist on calling me?”
“Do you think phone calls are free?”
“I hate rich people like you the most.”
After finishing his tirade, he heard silence on the other end.
A moment later, a woman’s voice came through. She sounded deeply puzzled.
More than puzzled, though, she sounded mocking.
“Sixing, after spending so much time outside with those people from the bottom of society, you’ve actually turned into this?”
The moment he heard that smug, superior tone, Shen Sixing recognized which acquaintance it belonged to.
All at once, perhaps because he hadn’t eaten, a familiar, twisting pain rose from his stomach.
Slowly, he lowered the phone from his ear and glanced at the screen.
The caller ID showed a saved contact that hadn’t lit up in a very, very long time. After three years without contact, Shen Sixing had assumed the number no longer existed.
Shen Sixing raised the phone back to his ear.
Shen Yi lifted her head and saw the profile of Shen Sixing beneath the streetlamp.
What caught her attention most were his eyes. They had still been filled with laughter just moments ago, but now they suddenly turned dark and empty, devoid of anything at all.
He said, “Mom.”
