Shen Sixing lowered his head, his gaze falling on Shen Yi’s clenched fist. His expression was blank. “It’s nothing more than a code—a sequence of genes arranged in a particular combination.”
Qin Ruolan looked intrigued. “But you should understand that blood ties are our strongest connection, the one bond that can never be severed.”
“Is that so?” Shen Sixing’s speech quickened slightly. He gave a cold laugh, looking somewhat on edge, bristling like a hedgehog. Instinctively, he hurled out words to protect himself—and to keep Shen Yi from being hurt.
“I don’t think so. Sometimes people attach far too much meaning to a particular arrangement of molecules, as if a matching sequence means those things should naturally exist.”
“Things like trust, understanding, and an inseparable bond.”
“Why do most people equate ‘genetic similarity’ with ‘natural closeness’?”
He took a step forward, his voice rising slightly. “It’s merely a statistical bias left over from evolution. Genes provide nothing more than a tendency.”
“I believe chemical bonds don’t carry emotions. Something else does.”
It was unprecedented for Shen Sixing to say so much. He spoke so quickly that Qin Ruolan didn’t even have a chance to interrupt.
It was simply his nature. He had never been good at being honest with people.
It always made Shen Sixing feel as though he were in a vulnerable position, so he constantly tried to protect himself with an air of indifference.
And living alone, completely by himself, was the only thing that made him feel absolutely safe.
For him, forming connections with others was an especially frightening thing. It meant that he would no longer be living only for himself. He would have to worry about someone else, and thus fall into an endless cycle of anxiety over gains and losses.
But Shen Yi’s arrival had left him no choice.
Even Qin Ruolan was surprised that he would say all this just to defend a child who wasn’t related to him by blood.
“Then what do you think carries emotions?”
“I don’t think it’s blood or genes. At least, not for me.” Shen Sixing took two steps, trying to organize his thoughts and express what he meant.
For someone as awkward as him, this was more difficult than killing someone.
His emotions churned—agitation, hesitation, and inner conflict. He kept fiddling with the gun in his hand, running his index finger back and forth along the trigger guard. He even wanted to scratch his head with the gun, using it to conceal his feelings.
“I don’t want to talk about some vague, ethereal thing called love. I don’t really understand that word. But ever since she came here, I’ve been constantly building a connection with her.”
“At first, I wasn’t fond of her. I was only acting out of a kind of responsibility that had no real basis.”
“My latent sense of what a family should be told me that I had a duty to keep her safe.”
“But constantly worrying about someone else is a terrible feeling. It took me a very long time to get used to her presence.”
“The day I met Miss Wen, I had a paternity test done. When I received the results, I thought I would be angry, or unable to believe them. But I wasn’t. Blood ties weren’t important. None of it mattered. I had invested time and energy. I worked hard to support her, found a way to send her to school, and accompanied her in those boring little games. If anyone bullied her, I’d shoot them dead.”
Shen Sixing reached a decisive conclusion. “And all of this is Shen Yi’s fault. She changed me.”
Shen Yi was nearly stunned by his sheer lack of reason.
Her dad really was something else.
His thought process was beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
Shen Sixing spoke at lightning speed, with the frankness of an honest man who had finally thrown caution to the wind and torn down an entire wall.
“She changed me, and she made me invest so much time and energy. In the future, I may invest even more.”
“You once told me that when the sunk cost is too great, neither people nor things are easily abandoned.”
“Shen Yi is my greatest sunk cost at present.”
“So”—he gave a cold laugh, the slight curve of his lips carrying an almost provocative edge—“what blood relationship?”
“She’s mine.”
“…”
After listening to her taciturn son deliver such a long-winded argument just to prove that blood ties were meaningless, Qin Ruolan couldn’t help applauding him.
“So you can talk this much after all?”
“You’re just too lazy to chat with us normally, aren’t you?”
Shen Sixing was always quiet and withdrawn at home.
After saying all that, he abruptly fell silent.
Shen Yi had listened carefully from the side, and she couldn’t help staring blankly. The future Shen Sixing had never said anything like this.
Whether now or in the future, Shen Sixing was always reserved and gloomy. It was truly no easy feat to make him say something like that.
So Shen Yi stepped forward. The girl gave him a huge smile and looked straight at him.
“Thank you, Dad.”
“You always say that you don’t understand what the word ‘love’ means. In fact, I didn’t understand it before either.”
“But now, I think I understand what that word means better than you do.” She spoke honestly. “So I love you.”
“…”
Shen Yi’s straightforward declaration made Shen Sixing’s pupils contract slightly.
He swallowed, then turned away expressionlessly. He walked around the table and pulled open the office door.
Then he…
Ran away screaming.
His frantic footsteps carried the terror of someone who knew that if he didn’t run now, he was completely doomed.
Shen Yi: “…”
Qin Ruolan: “…”
“Is there something wrong with him?” Qin Ruolan murmured. For some inexplicable reason, she felt a little depressed, as though she had given birth to a complete lunatic.
After witnessing Shen Sixing’s many baffling human behaviors, Shen Yi finally understood why the perfect mother had fallen for the gloomy father.
Even the coldest killer would laugh when faced with a man who was this ridiculous and hopelessly strange.
…
After Wen Ya handed over her assignment, she hurriedly asked her superior for leave. When she returned home, she found that the door was ajar. There were faint marks around the lock where someone had tried to pick it.
She pushed the door open and entered. Shen Yi was nowhere in the living room, and the television remote lay askew on the sofa cushion.
Wen Ya calmly took out her phone, found Shen Sixing’s number, and pressed call.
The phone was answered after two rings.
Wen Ya softened her voice. “Where’s Xiao Yi?”
“She’s with me.”
Shen Sixing leaned against the wall, recovering from his earlier panic as he tried to organize his words. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way to send her back in a few days. For now, we’re both safe.”
Wen Ya: “For now??”
“I mean, give me a week.”
“A week?”
Hearing the slight upward lilt in her voice when she repeated “a week,” Shen Sixing broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly changed his answer.
“Three days.”
“I’ll definitely bring Shen Yi back within three days. This place is safe. Nothing will happen to her.”
Wen Ya leaned against the wall in the corridor. “Three days? Fine. If you two don’t come back within three days…”
She said, “I’ll come there myself.”
Shen Sixing turned his head and glanced out the window. Several people in dark uniforms were patrolling outside. Their gun holsters bulged at their waists, and they moved in orderly, vigilant formation.
The young man withdrew his gaze, a hint of hesitation in his voice. “That sounds a little dangerous.”
Wen Ya reached out and gripped the edge of the doorframe. Then she tore off the already-broken door completely.
Calmly, she said, “I feel like I’m overflowing with strength right now. I could probably kill your entire family with one punch.”
Shen Sixing’s expression froze. From the other side came the unmistakable sound of something snapping.
“……”
Was he really destined to be abused by his wife in the future?
