“He’s not dead.” Shen Yi stared at him in surprise for two seconds, then said, “And you, my dear little uncle—you inherited everything in the family. Are you happy?”
Shen Sigui let out a dry laugh. “Ha. What are you talking about, Shen Yi? You really are an interesting kid.”
He kept laughing until he realized no one was joining in.
Across the table, Shen Shu’s brows twisted together. “Why him?”
“Could it be that Shen Sixing really is dead?”
“He’s not dead!”
Shen Yi loudly denied it again. Was Shen Sixing really destined to die in the future?
Shen Yi said, “My dad ran away with my mom.”
“Ran away with her? Him?” Shen Shu immediately scoffed. “Do you really understand him? Deep down, he’s a coward.”
“He’s too good at burying his head in the sand. If I’m not mistaken, when he first faced you, his daughter, he hesitated and wavered, trying to escape responsibility. He has no sense of responsibility whatsoever.”
Shen Yi thought to herself, He really did get that right.
Her father was practically made to be a turtle.
Whenever trouble came, he just had to pull his head into his shell, and then he could ignore everything.
…
When Shen Sixing came huffing and puffing through the doorway, he had expected to walk in on a scene bristling with tension—
Perhaps his father would be holding a gun, his mother would have a cold look on her face, and Shen Yi would be trembling helplessly in the middle of them all.
On the way there, he had rehearsed what he would say upon charging inside three times.
But the actual situation was this: Shen Shu sat behind the table, frowning as he sized him up, a cup of tea still in his hand. Qin Ruolan leaned against the sofa, absentmindedly winding strands of Shen Yi’s hair around her finger.
The atmosphere was unexpectedly… harmonious?
The boy’s hair was a disheveled mess from running, and a thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead. He stood in the doorway for two seconds. Once he realized things had taken this turn, he quickly changed tactics.
He forced a perfunctory smile onto his face, tugging the corners of his mouth upward—the standard fake business smile.
“Dad. Mom.”
After greeting them, he crossed the room in three quick strides and sat down beside Shen Yi. Before he was even settled, he had already reached out and pulled her closer to him.
Driven by the instinct to protect his young, Shen Sixing unconsciously used his shoulder to shield half of Shen Yi’s body.
Qin Ruolan’s hand was yanked along with him, and Shen Yi’s hair slipped from between her fingers.
She looked up at Shen Sixing’s tense profile, which was as wary as if he were facing a formidable enemy, and her smile deepened slightly.
So he really cares that much?
Shen Sixing completely failed to notice the change in his mother’s expression.
He swept his gaze around the room. His father was still frowning at him. His younger brother was still swinging his legs and watching the show. His mother was smiling sweetly, but she was probably plotting something too.
In short, everyone was suspicious.
“What were you talking about?” Shen Sixing asked first, then stopped himself and stared at Shen Yi. “Or should I say, what did Shen Yi say this time?”
Shen Sigui said, “Shen Yi said that you’re going to run away with her mother in the future. Is that true, Shen Sixing?”
His tone shifted from questioning to outright menace. “If you leave, I’ll haunt you even after I’m dead.”
Run away together?
The sudden threat left Shen Sixing stunned. He blinked and spent two seconds processing the information.
Run away together?
For once, his mind drifted.
Leave with Wen Ya…
The image that surfaced was surprisingly vivid: the two of them in some unfamiliar little town, along with Shen Yi.
It didn’t seem… so bad?
From childhood onward, Shen Sixing had possessed almost no sense of agency.
He was like a tree planted in a flowerpot, its roots sunk into the soil of the Shen family. Everything—from the wind and rain to the nourishment—came from that pot of earth.
If a useless man like him could one day welcome a powerful woman like Wen Ya as the head of the household, then their future life would surely be a happy one.
“Sounds pretty nice, actually.” Shen Sixing came back to himself for a moment, indulged in the fantasy, and smiled. “I’ll seriously consider it.”
If Wen Ya really told him, “Come with me,” he felt he would probably follow her without even packing his bags.
Shen Sigui said, “I’m not giving you a suggestion!”
“Get a grip. You’ll have five children in the future. If you leave the family, how are you going to support them? You’ll still be working for me in the future. Do you really want that?”
The more he spoke, the more frantic he became, gripped by the fear that he might be forced to clean up the mess.
Shen Sigui had never possessed much ambition. He was an optimist, and in his mind, all those third uncles and sixth maternal uncles lived happy lives leeching off their parents.
As far as he was concerned, as long as Shen Sixing was around, he could enjoy the perfect life of an ordinary rich second-generation heir. If Shen Sixing wasn’t around, then it would be his turn to endure a brutal education.
Endless classes and lessons crushed him. Only at night could he barely catch his breath.
He didn’t want to live like that.
Shen Sixing shrank back at his yelling and burrowed into the sofa. He raised a hand to rub his buzzing ears, then buried his face against the backrest, looking a little surprised.
“She even told you that? But what can I do? The future is predetermined. And since they’ll already be born, I’ll find a way to raise them.”
The boy poked half his face out of the sofa, his tone becoming exceedingly earnest.
“At worst, I’ll kill one person a day. Surely that’ll be enough to feed the kids.”
“But you’re such a hopeless idiot when it comes to daily life…” Qin Ruolan sighed softly as she listed his crimes. “You can’t even tell sugar from salt. Your three meals a day usually consist of instant noodles and bread. Just look at your daughter. Her hair’s already turning yellow—she must be suffering from malnutrition because you’ve been starving her.”
Shen Yi touched her own hair, wanting to say that wasn’t the reason.
Her hair had always been that color naturally.
Shen Shu glanced at Shen Yi’s hair color, and suddenly looked as though he had acquired a nuclear weapon. He joined the attack with absolute conviction.
A cold laugh escaped his throat. “You’re the kind of genius who could manage to kill a turtle. What makes you think you’re qualified to run away with someone and start a family?”
Shen Sixing listened as the two of them traded one criticism after another, utterly baffled.
Why, after only a short while, had both of these fake spouses started questioning his ability to take care of a child?
He was obviously very smart. He learned quickly, and cramming at the last minute had never failed him. He could cook instant noodles with the timing accurate to the second, and had even researched exactly how long to soak the noodles to make them perfectly springy.
His hands would definitely be fast and steady when preparing formula for the children in the future.
Why couldn’t he raise kids?
“Why can’t I start a new family? I’ll have five children in the future. No one will understand how to raise children better than I do.”
After saying this angrily, Shen Sixing tried to make them understand that he would be different in the future than he was now.
Qin Ruolan laughed. Without a hint of emotion, she applauded slowly. “Do you want me to congratulate you? Super Dad?”
Shen Sixing said coldly, “You really don’t have to be sarcastic.”
Qin Ruolan ignored the knife-sharp look he gave her. “Then promise me you’ll be a good father. During the three years you were away from home, you couldn’t even take care of yourself.”
“I’m trying.” Shen Sixing spoke one word at a time. “You can’t expect anyone to know everything from the moment they’re born. Wen Ya and I will work hard in the future. I promise.”
Qin Ruolan stared at him for several seconds.
She slowly rose to her feet and straightened her clothes before naturally taking Shen Yi’s hand.
Shen Yi was startled by the gesture. She glanced at Qin Ruolan but did not pull away.
Qin Ruolan took the opportunity to lead Shen Yi toward the door. After two steps, she stopped beside the doorframe and turned sideways.
“Shen Sixing.”
She called him by his full name.
“If you truly accept the outcome of leaving with a woman while having nothing to your name, then I won’t oppose your departure either. After all, perhaps the future is already destined.”
“It’s just that you should make sure you won’t regret your decision in the future, especially when you still haven’t figured out how to shoulder your responsibilities and aren’t mature enough yet.”
“And if you do regret it someday…” Her voice softened. “Don’t shift the blame onto anyone else. I don’t think anyone is forcing you to make this choice.”
“This is your own decision. Since you’ve made up your mind to abandon everything and leave, then think through the consequences.”
With that, she calmly led Shen Yi out of the living room.
Qin Ruolan’s steps were remarkably light as she left, already eagerly planning to bring out the little dresses she had kept hidden for so long and change Shen Yi into every one of them.
