What a lunatic.
“……”
Shen Yi stared down at him from above.
She was standing, while he lay on the floor. The difference in their heights forced her to lower her gaze. Shen Ruxu’s honey-colored eyes stared back at her without blinking, his lips pressed into a thin line.
Shen Yi began to wonder whether this overgrown adult child’s mental age was actually that of an adult.
She bent down and grabbed his arm, trying to haul him up.
He remained as steady as a rock. He even turned his head away, presenting her with the back of his head.
…The resemblance to a little kid turning away in a huff because they no longer wanted to play with you was almost uncanny.
Shen Yi shook out her wrist and turned to go upstairs.
Seeing that throwing a tantrum and rolling around on the floor had gotten him nowhere, Shen Ruxu, in a fit of pique, darted into the bedroom first.
His unpredictable move startled Shen Yi. Curious to see what sort of madness he was about to unleash, she followed at an unhurried pace. Standing at the bedroom door, one hand braced against the frame, she leaned halfway inside.
She saw Shen Ruxu, in a fit of anger, crawl into the wardrobe. The wardrobe doors stood open. Several jackets and shirts hung inside, and his head was buried among the clothes, leaving only his two long legs sticking out.
“……”
Shen Yi stood in front of the wardrobe, looking down at his legs, which had nowhere else to go. After a few seconds of silence, she reached out and knocked on the wardrobe’s side panel.
“What are you trying to do by crawling in there? Suffocate yourself?”
Shen Ruxu said nothing.
Shen Yi reached out and grabbed him by the collar, clutching the fabric at the back of his neck and dragging him backward with all her strength.
The collar tightened against the back of his neck, forcing the young man to tilt his head back. A muffled groan escaped his throat.
“Come out already.” Her voice was calm. “I’m going back to sleep.”
He remained perfectly still, letting Shen Yi pull at him. With his head tilted back, he stubbornly insisted, “Shen Yi, I don’t approve of this marriage between you two. I’m angry now, you know!”
“Who cares?” Shen Yi let go. The collar snapped back, smacking against his neck.
He flinched.
“And besides, what marriage? Stop making up all sorts of weird things in your head.” She rapped him on the forehead with her knuckles, producing a crisp sound.
Shen Ruxu’s head jerked backward, and a faint red mark appeared on his forehead.
He pouted. The honey-colored light in his eyes wavered, as if it might shatter at any moment. “Really?”
“Really.” Shen Yi poked him. “He’s just a regular friend. He’s a pretty good guy, so that’s enough. Go to sleep early.”
After wishing him good night, Shen Yi left at a leisurely pace.
Shen Ruxu sat on the floor, only half-convinced.
……
Shen Wenta was now completely unable to sleep.
He crawled out from under the covers, wearing nothing but thin pajamas. Sitting on the edge of the bed with the neckline hanging loosely around him, he scrolled through his contacts. His finger hovered over Shen Zhizhao’s name for two seconds before he finally pressed it.
The call connected, and Shen Zhizhao’s unhurried voice came from the other end. “What is it?”
“Do you know Sui Ning?” Shen Wenta got straight to the point, his voice tense. “That man’s eyes were practically glued to Shen Yi when we were on the ship.”
He recalled the scene from back then—
Sui Ning stood on the deck, turning his head to look at Shen Yi in his arms. His gaze was warm and gentle, carrying an expression so saccharine it made one’s teeth ache.
Shen Wenta hadn’t thought much of it at the time. But in retrospect, the image was like a fishbone lodged in his throat—impossible to swallow, impossible to spit out.
His stomach churned. He regretted not shooting him dead on the ship.
He should have shot him then.
Put an end to it once and for all.
Shen Zhizhao was somewhat surprised that his younger brother had taken the initiative to contact him.
The sound of pages being turned came from the other end of the line—a rustle, then silence.
“So?”
Shen Wenta said, “Find a way to keep Shen Yi under control.”
Every time, he tried to rein in Shen Yi and Shen Xun, and every time, he failed.
Shen Yi wouldn’t listen to him. Shen Xun listened even less.
Shen Wenta could only place his hopes on his dependable older brother.
At the very least, Shen Yi would take in a few words when their eldest brother spoke.
“Why are you always trying to discipline them?” Shen Zhizhao’s voice through the receiver revealed no emotion. “He’s only an insignificant admirer. There’s no need to overreact. If you’re really worried, just get rid of him.”
Most of the time, Shen Zhizhao was more interested in keeping Shen Ruxu in line.
As far as he was concerned, Shen Yi and Shen Xun could hardly be more well-behaved.
Shen Wenta said, “I can’t get rid of him. You don’t understand.”
He felt as though he had been driven into a corner, irritation mounting inside him.
Shen Wenta considered himself fairly knowledgeable about adolescent girls.
The more you forbade them from doing something, the more determined they were to do it.
The more you drove that person away from her, the more pitiful and helpless he would appear in her eyes, stirring up her desire to protect him—or rather, her pity.
It was a strange thing.
Some girls seemed to possess an instinctive, maternal urge to pity others.
And the more pitiful the man, the more easily he could awaken that emotion in them.
At that thought, Shen Wenta folded his hands behind his back, then expressionlessly flung himself heavily onto the bed. The back of his head sank into the soft pillow. Staring at the ceiling, he sank into a state of uncontrollable frustration.
“Let me make a guess,” Shen Zhizhao said.
He had little interest in Shen Yi’s social life. Most of the people around her were women—colleagues, friends, mission partners, all girls without exception.
Then, out of nowhere, a man with dubious intentions had appeared. Shen Zhizhao had no choice but to consider whether he was plotting something.
And recalling Shen Yi’s peculiar tastes...
She liked people who were mild-mannered, who didn’t make others feel pressured.
In other words, someone with an appearance ordinary enough to fade into the background.
After pondering for two seconds, he asked curiously, “That Sui Ning... is he actually very ugly?”
Shen Wenta slandered him without mercy, his voice venomous with resentment. “More than ugly. He’s downright disgusting.”
Shen Zhizhao remained calm. “Stop letting your personal feelings color this. No matter how ugly he is, he can’t possibly be disgusting.”
He knew Shen Wenta too well.
This man disliked the sight of everyone. In his eyes, probably every man in the world was disgusting.
Shen Wenta pulled the blanket over his head, the soft fabric wrapping around him.
He hugged his arms tightly and curled himself into a ball, his teeth grinding audibly as he struggled to figure out what to do.
...It wasn’t as if he could actually kill Sui Ning.
“Little girls going through puberty are perfectly normal,” Shen Zhizhao could only say, trying to comfort his younger brother.
That said, he did check in on his other sister, too.
Shen Zhizhao set down what he was holding and opened his chat with Shen Yi.
Dahei: [I heard someone’s been pursuing you lately? Impressive, Xiao Yi.]
When Shen Yi saw the message, her scalp tingled.
Shen Zhizhao always spoke in that strange, ambiguous way, making it impossible to tell what he really meant.
Unsure what he was getting at, she flatly denied it:
[“Pursuing” is putting it too strongly. Until our assignment is over, he’s my client.]
Shen Zhizhao stared at the message.
Relieved.
He replied with an “Mm” and set his phone aside.
Then it buzzed again.
Shen Yi: [But he’s placed rather a lot of orders, so we’ll have to meet in person many times.]
Shen Zhizhao: “...”
He realized he’d relaxed too soon.
...
Shen Yi knew perfectly well what Sui Ning was after.
To be honest, she wasn’t particularly interested in romantic relationships.
But Sui Ning was a smart man. From beginning to end, he had shown no intention of crossing any boundaries, and every invitation was phrased with exceptional courtesy.
“We could go shopping, have a meal together. If, after spending some time together, you really aren’t interested in me, then we’ll simply remain client and contractor.”
Shen Yi agreed.
Before she left, she crushed all those thumbnail-sized tracking devices between her fingers.
...
Shen Ruxu crouched behind a roadside tree, poking his head a little way around the trunk as his eyes followed the figures in the distance growing smaller and smaller.
He wasn’t alone.
He had brought Shen Xun along, too.
The two of them stealthily trailed Shen Yi, one after the other, looking like a pair of wild animals that had escaped from a zoo and formed a temporary alliance.
When Shen Xun saw Shen Yi meeting up with Sui Ning and walking alongside him, he immediately started forward, clearly intending to join them.
One hand in his pocket, he took a stride with all the swagger in the world.
Shen Ruxu reacted quickly, grabbing the back of his collar and yanking hard.
Shen Xun was pulled backward so abruptly that he nearly cracked the back of his head against the tree.
“What are you going out there for?” Shen Ruxu asked.
“Why didn’t Shen Yi invite me shopping with her?”
He naturally assumed that if Shen Yi did not invite him, he could simply invite himself along.
Putting on the air of an elder brother, Shen Ruxu said seriously, “Because this is her social life, Xiao Xun. People will dislike you if you have no sense of boundaries.”
“Are you talking about yourself, Second Brother?”
“I am not.”
The two bickered quietly for a moment.
Sui Ning had invited Shen Yi to a private art exhibition.
He clearly had unique insights into art. As they toured the exhibition, Sui Ning kept discussing obscure technical terms with Shen Yi—terms she could barely understand.
“Look at this one.”
The painting depicted only a few withered lotus stalks. The leaves curled at the edges, while the seedpods drooped their heads.
“This is by Bada Shanren.”
Shen Yi, an utter philistine, was lost.
“This painting has obviously been restored,” Sui Ning continued, pulling her back from her wandering thoughts. “Look at the edge of this lotus leaf—the color is different from the middle.”
“The restoration used plant-based pigments, but the original was painted with mineral pigments. After mineral pigments oxidize, they develop a faint matte finish. Plant pigments don’t—they only become more and more translucent. So in fifty years, this restored lotus leaf will be lighter than the original. By then, the entire painting will look as though a piece is missing.”
Shen Yi was even more bewildered.
To be honest, she had no knowledge of or insight into painting whatsoever. Listening to this sort of topic was no different from listening to gibberish.
If it had been someone like Pei Wanyan or Shen Wenta, perhaps they might have found some common ground with him.
But Sui Ning kept talking.
He talked about how many inspections a painting had to undergo before it could be taken out of storage and hung on display, about temperature- and humidity-controlled cases, and all sorts of things.
Shen Yi followed beside him, her big eyes turning blank and beady, her pupils shrunk into two squashed black beans filled with confusion.
She didn’t understand any of it.
She had never liked studying since she was little.
The words in books were like a swarm of ants—crawling here and there, only to scatter the moment they entered her mind.
Sui Ning was terrifying.
How could he speak about something so dull with such seriousness—and get more and more enthusiastic the longer he went on?
After hearing Sui Ning’s endless speech, Shen Xun silently reached for the knife he always kept in his pocket.
—He was getting ready to hack this pretentious man to death.
Shen Ruxu immediately held him back with all his strength. “Wait, wait! Don’t act rashly. If you jump out like this, Shen Yi will think we’ve been following her the whole way!”
If the two of them suddenly showed themselves, they would definitely get beaten up.
No sooner had he said that than Shen Ruxu saw Shen Yi take Sui Ning by the hand and lead him away.
Her hand merely caught the edge of Sui Ning’s sleeve with a gentle tug, and Sui Ning followed her without resistance.
Under the lights of the exhibition, the two of them walked farther and farther away...
Farther and farther...
Shen Ruxu snapped. He was about to rush out at once. “I’m going to kill him.”
This time, Shen Xun held his head down instead. Calmly assessing the situation, he said, “Wait. Don’t panic. Even if you go out there, it won’t help. A knife is too inefficient. Shen Yi will definitely stop you. The probability of killing him is less than one percent.”
Shen Ruxu had one hand pressed against Shen Xun’s shoulder, while Shen Xun had one hand pressed on Shen Ruxu’s head. Both of the brothers trembled with fury as they watched the pair disappearing in the distance.
Shen Yi had no idea about the farce unfolding behind her.
She was eager to get something to eat, rather than look at some incomprehensible art exhibition.
After the two arrived at a restaurant, Shen Yi stood in the lobby and was the first to raise an issue with Sui Ning.
“Don’t talk about that stuff anymore. I’m not interested in art. I don’t have an artistic bone in my body. My grandfather often says I’m practically a disaster when it comes to art.”
“And when you start going on and on about those things, you really remind me of my third brother. People like him scare me, so really—don’t talk about it anymore.”
She emphasized it again and again.
Sui Ning froze, deeply puzzled. “...I’m like your third brother?”
What did he have in common with Shen Wenta?
“Very much so.”
The moment the words left her mouth, Shen Yi suddenly heard a familiar voice behind her—
“Then tell me who I remind you of.”
At some point, Shen Wenta had appeared behind her.
Her face pale and sickly, she leaned against the stair railing and watched the two of them coldly.
Shen Zhizhao stood beside her, his gaze equally deep as he looked at Sui Ning.
Shen Yi: “…”
She froze for two seconds. Looking at the two people who had suddenly appeared, she felt no guilt whatsoever about having spoken ill of them. Instead, she seized the initiative and struck first.
“Why are you here? Were you following me?”
The corner of Shen Wenta’s mouth lifted slightly. “What do you mean, following you? Did you buy this whole street or something?”
He had only just returned home today. He and his eldest brother had sat down to discuss something, and before the tea in the upstairs private room had even gone cold, they had heard the commotion downstairs.
This restaurant was outrageously expensive, with very few diners, and its atmosphere was exceptionally quiet.
They had heard Shen Yi’s voice perfectly clearly just now.
Shen Zhizhao’s expression was calm. He gave a faint smile. “We really were just passing by. What a coincidence—were you two about to go shopping as well?”
“Yes,” Sui Ning said.
His gaze paused briefly on Shen Wenta’s face before shifting to Shen Zhizhao.
He knew these two.
Each one was more troublesome than the other.
Just as Sui Ning was about to say something to send them away, Shen Zhizhao beat him to it. “Would you mind if we came along? The more people, the merrier.”
Sui Ning: “…”
What could he say?
Seeing that Shen Yi did not object, he could only nod reluctantly in agreement.
Of course, Shen Yi had no objections either.
She even breathed a sigh of relief. With more people around, Sui Ning surely wouldn’t keep talking to her about mineral pigments and plant-based dyes.
Still, Shen Yi suspected Shen Zhizhao was fooling her. Otherwise, how could they have run into each other by such a coincidence?
“Big Brother, you really weren’t following me?”
Shen Zhizhao let out a soft, theatrical sigh. “Now you’re being unreasonable, Xiao Yi. Haven’t you noticed that someone else has been following you?”
Seeing Shen Yi’s doubtful expression, Shen Zhizhao could only fall a few steps behind them and pull out the actual pair of stalkers.
One hand grabbed Shen Ruxu by the back of his collar, while the other seized Shen Xun by his collar.
He hauled the two of them out in front of everyone like a pair of chicks.
Having been dragged forward by his eldest brother by the collar, Shen Ruxu straightened his clothes and smoothed the crooked collar with his fingers. An innocent smile appeared on his face. “Hi. Fancy seeing you here.”
Shen Xun, meanwhile, looked perfectly justified, without the slightest hint of guilt at having been caught.
Shen Yi stood rooted to the spot, staring at the two unexpected newcomers before her.
“This is unbelievable,” she said. “You two were following me too?”
Shen Ruxu’s smile remained unchanged. “Of course not. We were just passing by too. Isn’t it a little unfair to accuse us like that without knowing the facts?”
Shen Yi clearly did not believe his nonsense. But she had long since stopped wanting to listen to Sui Ning ramble on about technological progress and humanity’s future—such boring topics.
“Fine,” she said, taking the opportunity to grab the two of them with a smile. “Then you must want to go shopping with us too, right? Come along.”
And just like that, the shopping party grew even larger.
Sui Ning: “…”
The corner of his mouth twitched, and his expression gradually went blank. He could not understand what kind of shopping trip required so many people.
Sui Ning had never seen such a bizarre family in his life.
It seemed he had been far too optimistic about the situation.
This wasn’t something he could solve simply by being brave enough to pursue Shen Yi.
It was more that he felt like he’d need to have something seriously wrong with him to fit into this family.
His gaze traveled across the five of them, as though he were visiting an exhibit of rare animals.
This grand shopping expedition finally came to an end in that bizarre atmosphere, with Sui Ning fleeing in defeat.
After returning home, Shen Yi turned to face the culprits.
She could feel her temples starting to throb again.
“What exactly are you all doing?”
Shen Ruxu crouched down, fluffy-haired, and raised a hand in surrender. “Sorry.”
But Shen Yi’s heart did not soften. She stepped forward and promptly gave Shen Ruxu and Shen Xun a hard punch each.
The blows were heavy enough that Shen Ruxu sucked in a breath of pain.
Shen Xun, meanwhile, had no idea why he’d been hit. Clutching his chest, he looked up at Shen Yi in confusion. “What was that for?”
“What do you think?”
Shen Xun said, “I don’t know.”
The brother and sister glared at each other for two seconds.
Shen Yi realized there was no reasoning with this robot.
After that, Shen Zhizhao got a punch too.
He’d spent the whole trip making snide, passive-aggressive remarks, constantly saying in that fake, lukewarm tone, “Is this your friend, Xiao Yi? Impressive. Looks like you’ve made some pretty good friends too.” It had given Shen Yi a splitting headache.
Then came Shen Wenta’s turn.
Having witnessed the miserable fates of the others, his fingers instinctively clenched at the collar of his shirt, and he leaned back slightly.
It was a textbook gesture of weakness and self-defense.
Shen Wenta shut his eyes as though facing death without regret.
Seeing how frail and pitiful he looked, Shen Yi hesitated. Her iron fist turned into a forceful flick to the forehead instead.
Her finger snapped against his forehead with a crisp smack. “Move.”
Shen Wenta winced and covered his forehead. When he noticed that the other three had all been punched while he had merely been flicked, he bit his lip and—against all odds—smiled.
“...”
“Why?”
Shen Ruxu pointed at his own forehead, then at Shen Wenta’s, accusingly.
This was completely unfair.
Shen Xun and Shen Zhizhao also raised their brows in unison, staring directly at the sole survivor.
“What are you looking at?” Shen Wenta was visibly delighted, the corners of his mouth curving up so much he couldn’t suppress them. In a cold voice, he said, “You deserved to be hit. I’m not like some pervert who casually follows people around.”
Shen Ruxu: “...I’m going to kill you!”
