Shen Sixing fled in the most pathetic manner imaginable.
He sprang from his chair like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, then turned, strode forward, and pushed open the door in one smooth motion.
For two seconds, the enormous office was left with only Qin Ruolan and Shen Yi, staring at each other.
Qin Ruolan looked at the little girl, the corners of her mouth curling into a faintly peculiar smile. In an unhurried tone, she said, “Little one, your father doesn’t want you anymore.”
Shen Yi refused to admit that. “Mrs. Shen, he only ran away. Are we supposed to wait here for him?”
Qin Ruolan grew even more sorrowful at that.
She had never expected her eldest son to be such a coward.
He had actually run away just like that.
Fortunately, she still had another useful younger son.
Although Shen Sigui was somewhat rebellious and rambunctious, at least he wouldn’t vanish on the spot immediately after finishing a sentence.
Previously, her younger son had been obsessed with online romance, forcing her to ruthlessly destroy several of his relationships.
People online were more unreliable than the next. One of them had been dating five people online at the same time.
Shen Sigui had ranked fourth.
Qin Ruolan had nearly laughed herself to death. Even as a backup, he could only rank fourth? Couldn’t he at least fight for first place? What a useless boy.
She still remembered how, after learning the truth that day, Shen Sigui had hugged his pillow and cried for the entire night.
Thinking of this, Qin Ruolan sighed.
“Let’s go.” Her indifferent gaze swept over Shen Yi, from the top of her head to the soles of her feet, as if scanning a specimen. Unable to resist, she took a jab at the child. “Your outfit is seriously tacky.”
Shen Yi raised her head. “It’s obviously adorable.”
Wen Ya had always been overflowing with girlish charm.
She bought Shen Yi hats with ears, backpacks with tails, and clothes that turned heads wherever she went.
Shen Yi liked those outfits very much.
Qin Ruolan glanced at her, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly, and dropped the subject. “Come on. You’re coming home with me.”
The car passed through the wrought-iron gates and slowly proceeded along a road lined with plane trees. In the distance, the old family residence came into view.
The vehicle stopped in front of the entrance hall.
Qin Ruolan got out first. She didn’t wait for Shen Yi and walked straight inside. The hem of her black mink coat fluttered in the wind before settling back into place.
Shen Yi hurriedly climbed out of the car and jogged after her.
The entrance hall was lofty, with a crystal chandelier hanging from the domed ceiling. A faint woody fragrance lingered in the air. Several paintings hung on the walls, their dark frames enclosing abstract blocks of color Shen Yi couldn’t understand. Every one of them radiated the unmistakable air of being “very expensive.”
As Qin Ruolan led Shen Yi into the hall, she heard a voice from above.
“Why are you here?”
She looked up.
Someone was draped over the banister at the bend in the staircase. Shen Sigui leaned through the gaps, looking down at her.
The boy rested his chin on his folded arms and gazed at her from above.
“What are you doing here?” Shen Sigui asked.
Before Shen Yi could answer, a series of steady footsteps sounded from upstairs.
The person approaching was someone Shen Yi knew.
The man’s face was stern, his brow bones prominent, his eye sockets deep-set, and his lips pressed into a thin line. His entire presence gave off the air of a strict headmaster who was not to be trifled with.
He looked positively terrifying.
His gaze landed on Shen Yi and moved up and down as coldly as two rulers measuring her.
The instant Shen Yi saw the evil master, the relatively relaxed expression on her face immediately fell.
Her loose posture instinctively straightened.
Even though Shen Yi had developed the reflex of standing at attention over the years, Shen Shu still noticed the slackness in her posture a moment earlier.
The man stepped forward and immediately reprimanded her.
“Stand properly. You’re slouching and cowering. What kind of behavior is that?”
Qin Ruolan chuckled. Wrapped in her black mink coat, cinched tightly at the waist, she looked sleek and sharp. She carefully appraised Shen Yi. “I agree. She really is terribly undisciplined.”
The woman drew her own conclusion. “She needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Me?” Shen Yi exclaimed involuntarily.
If Shen Yi’s parents looked like the kindhearted neighbors in a movie who would warmly help the protagonist through their troubles, then the couple before her looked like the villainous antagonists in an anime—the kind who would eliminate people without a second thought.
“I think I’ll pass, Mrs. Shen.” Shen Yi had a very bad feeling. The evaluative way they looked at her was far too obvious.
Why did it feel as though the two of them were planning to join forces and discipline her?
She forced herself to remain calm and asked tentatively, “Grandpa Shen, Mrs. Shen, may I leave now?”
Shen Shu’s eyelid twitched. He hadn’t expected her to address him that way.
Grandpa Shen?
Was she trying to use that title to curry favor with him?
Disdain filled Shen Shu’s heart. He lowered his eyes to look at her, his lips still pressed into a thin line, and sneered. “No.”
The man slowly approached, his tall figure radiating an overwhelming sense of oppression.
Shen Yi suddenly felt a shadow descend over her head.
She looked up quickly, only to see Shen Shu strike at her without warning.
Shen Yi had been on guard. She instinctively shifted her feet and sprang half a step backward, hunching her shoulders and raising both hands in front of her in a defensive stance.
If he was ruthless enough to strike his own son, there was no way he would go easy on someone like her, whose origins were unknown.
When Shen Sigui saw this, the lightheartedness vanished from his face. His expression tensed as he hurried down from the upper floor.
He took the stairs three steps at a time and landed in front of Shen Yi, blocking her from view.
“Dad, what are you trying to do?”
A faint change appeared on Shen Shu’s face. Suspicious of the agile way Shen Yi had dodged just now, he became determined to test her. His tone toward Shen Sigui grew increasingly impatient.
“Move.”
“She’s my brother’s daughter.” Shen Sigui stood ramrod straight, his voice tightening slightly. “You can’t kill her.”
Shen Yi hid behind Shen Sigui, poking half her head out to study Shen Shu’s expression.
“Since when is it your place to speak?” Shen Shu’s tone was cold. His gaze shifted toward the side where Shen Yi was hiding half her head. “Besides, your brother is eighteen. How could he possibly have a daughter this old? They aren’t related by blood at all. I have no idea what kind of madness has possessed your brother.”
He had considered tying Shen Sixing to a tree in a few days and giving him a few lashes to drive the evil spirits out of him.
In truth, Shen Sigui couldn’t understand how his eighteen-year-old brother could have an eight-year-old daughter either.
His mind stalled for a moment as he turned the matter over, then he managed, with some difficulty, to say, “Then… if you want to kill her, shouldn’t you wait until Shen Sixing comes back?”
Shen Shu neither confirmed nor denied this.
He turned to Qin Ruolan. “Did you find anything out?”
“What exactly is Shen Sixing thinking?”
The relationship between the husband and wife had always been neither warm nor cold.
They were, in a sense, qualified allies. Qin Ruolan handled the connections and negotiations, while Shen Shu made the final decisions. Like two gears, they meshed and turned together. There was little affection between them; most of their relationship was built on mutual interests.
Qin Ruolan sneered. “Your son went on and on about all kinds of bizarre theories concerning genes and blood relations, all to prove that blood ties are meaningless.”
“He’s insane.” Shen Shu frowned and immediately reached his conclusion.
How could blood relations possibly be meaningless?
Blood was what bound family together.
Qin Ruolan pondered for a moment. “Actually, I think he does have a point…”
“You’re crazy,” Shen Shu immediately replied.
…
…
I have to go out to take care of something, so here’s one chapter for now.
