Shen Yi’s eyes widened instinctively.
Shen Sixing’s mother?
She had never seen her before.
The voice on the phone was calm and unhurried.
“I’ll give you two choices. You come back, or I’ll go find you.”
“And while I’m there, I might as well see what has you so reluctant to leave.” The woman’s tone was light. “You’re an adult this year. It’s time you came home.”
Shen Sixing lowered his head. He was silent for several seconds, his gaze settling on the small patch of light in front of his shoes. No one knew what he was thinking.
“I also heard that you found yourself a woman over the past few months, along with a child, and started playing house.” She continued, her voice carrying a hint of amused sarcasm. “What, life out there is so comfortable that you’ve forgotten your own name?”
Shen Sixing’s expression changed at once.
His previously relaxed posture instinctively straightened, his back going rigid.
He pressed the phone more tightly to his ear and lowered his voice, clearly on guard. “So what? It’s my freedom.”
“Don’t get so worked up.” The woman’s tone was like that of someone soothing a petulant child. “I’m your mother, not your enemy. Why are you so tense?”
Shen Sixing gave a cold laugh.
“You’ve been living together for quite some time, haven’t you?” the woman continued casually. “Why don’t you bring them over so I can meet them? As her grandmother, I should at least get to see my own granddaughter, shouldn’t I?”
Shen Sixing looked up, his expression turning ugly in an instant. “You don’t need to see her. I’ll come home. As you said, it was only a game. Now it’s time to end it.”
To him, home had never been a warm word.
That place was dull and filthy, like a quagmire he could never climb out of, every step pulling him deeper.
Perhaps he had been trapped in that mire for too long. He no longer had even the slightest desire to resist.
After finishing his conversation with the person on the phone, Shen Sixing lowered the phone from his ear.
The screen’s glow illuminated his face, making his features appear even more impassive.
Shen Yi tugged at him from the side.
Shen Sixing turned to look at her.
Shen Yi asked bluntly, “So to you, our relationship is just a game?”
Shen Sixing gave her a deliberately ambiguous answer. “Perhaps.”
A fake family. A fake relationship.
It was like an unreal, colorful bubble lifted by the wind, refracting dazzling light beneath the sun. Anyone could reach out and lightly prick it with a finger, and it would silently burst before their eyes.
Nothing would remain except a damp patch of water.
“What I mean is, our relationship is rather dramatic. It all feels too unreal.” Shen Sixing’s hand tightened slightly. “Perhaps you could tell me more about the future?”
Shen Yi said, “You mean the story about how you defy the entire world for Mom?”
He froze. “Why would I defy the entire world?”
“Because neither of your parents approves. To make them agree, you negotiate with them and pay a terrible price.”
Shen Sixing thought about it, then gave a dry assessment. “That sounds like quite a determination.”
But at present, he wasn’t even sure how Wen Ya would react if she learned what he was really like.
Every day, he secretly observed her routine—watching her water the flowers, cook, bask in the sun, and carefully compare prices over discount labels at the supermarket.
She was bright and sunny, someone who loved life.
And he was a man who looked terrible from every angle.
His spirit was barren. He lacked compassion and any real sense of morality. His world was nothing but layers of gray, piled one on top of another.
Shen Sixing slowly told Shen Yi, “I’m going home tomorrow.”
Shen Yi asked, “Is there any chance you’ll come back alive?”
Shen Sixing: “…”
“I need to stay away from you two for a while.” He looked away. “You’re both too terrifying. You’ll corrupt my willpower.”
“What willpower?” Shen Yi found this utterly absurd. “You’re usually too lazy to even wash the dishes. Dad, your willpower isn’t even as strong as that of a fully grown tangerine!”
“I’m not that pathetic. I washed the dishes today!”
“…”
The father and daughter proceeded to have another pointless argument.
Of course, Shen Sixing didn’t want to return to that home.
For a moment, he even considered asking Wen Ya if she wanted to roam the world with him.
But that sort of romantic-drama plot didn’t apply to two assassins.
Wen Ya could never be willing to leave with him. Besides…
His gaze darkened. Even now, Wen Ya still didn’t know what he did behind her back, or what kind of person he really was.
Everything Wen Ya had seen was only an illusion. Their relationship, too, was a fragile illusion built out of words, with no real foundation beneath it.
It was a castle built on sand. The moment a wave arrived, it would collapse completely.
“If I took you with me, would your mother kill me?” Shen Sixing murmured to the air.
Shen Yi was curled up on the sofa, eating snacks. She didn’t even look up.
“Dad, you’re not planning to run away, are you?”
Shen Sixing was already packing a suitcase.
He stuffed a few pieces of clothing inside haphazardly, zipped it shut, and moved with brisk efficiency.
First, Shen Sixing needed to shake off the people watching him.
“I’m not going back. Shen Yi.”
In the past, he would have gone back if they told him to.
That place was the same no matter how long he stayed there.
But things were different now. Shen Sixing realized that he was still greedy for his current life. So, to keep the two of them from being dragged into this, his only option was to run away on his own.
“If they dare force me again…” His expression was icy. “I’ll kill myself right in front of them.”
Shen Yi: “…”
She paused in the middle of chewing her chips and stared at her cheap dad, who had just announced his intention to prove his resolve by dying. After two seconds of silence, she decided that the threat sounded completely lacking in impact.
Shen Sixing hauled his suitcase toward the door. Before leaving, he hurriedly ruffled her hair.
The door slammed shut behind him.
Shen Yi faced the empty house, the bag of chips still open in her hands. He was already gone.
She blinked, at a loss for words. She had genuinely never expected that, one day, her cheap dad would run away.
Shen Yi had thought he would argue his case, or at least discuss it with her.
But what happened instead?
He grabbed his suitcase and disappeared.
…
By the time Wen Ya returned, it was already five in the morning, and dawn was almost breaking.
A thin band of white had appeared along the eastern horizon.
She stood outside the door for a while, making sure there were no bloodstains on her clothes before going inside.
What she saw was her daughter asleep on the living-room sofa—and her future husband nowhere to be found.
“I’m home, sweetheart.” Wen Ya set down her bag lightly and looked around the empty room. “Where’s Shen Sixing?”
Shen Yi was roused by her voice. Still groggy, she sat up from the sofa and rubbed her eyes as she yawned.
“Ran away,” she said listlessly.
Wen Ya: “?”
“Ran away?” Her voice rose several octaves. “Did I scare him off?”
Wen Ya covered her mouth and silently screamed, then fretted, “Could he have seen me when I was killing someone?”
