When Shen Yi was one year old, she was a child with absolutely terrible manners.
Specifically, whoever held her was liable to get spit on.
That day, it was Shen Ruxu’s turn.
The boy opened his arms, a coaxing smile on his handsome, baby-faced features as he leaned toward her.
“Come on, let Second Brother hold you.”
“Ptooey—”
A direct hit.
Shen Ruxu turned his head, but not quite fast enough. Half his face was now glistening with saliva. He stood there in silence for a full three seconds.
Seated on the sofa, Qin Ruolan continued flipping through her magazine without even looking up. “Serves you right.”
“Grandma~” Shen Ruxu drew out the word as he pointed to the spit on his face. “Your granddaughter is bullying me.”
“You deserve it.” Qin Ruolan turned a page, entirely unconcerned. “You couldn’t even dodge a one-year-old? You just wanted your little sister to spit on you, didn’t you?”
Shen Ruxu only grinned, making no attempt to deny it.
Turning back, he reached out and gently poked his sister’s plump little cheek.
“Ptooey.”
A second mouthful.
He didn’t get annoyed. Instead, his eyes curved with laughter, and he poked her again.
“Ptooey!”
Another poke.
“Ptooey!”
And so the siblings went back and forth—one spitting, the other poking—having the time of their lives.
Qin Ruolan could no longer bear to watch and got up to leave.
For a while, the siblings treated each other as their favorite toys.
“Yiyi~ Look at Second Brother~” The boy lay on his stomach on the carpet, making faces at her.
“Ptooey.”
“…Yiyi, that trick won’t work on Second Brother anymore. I’m ready for it now—”
“Ptooey!”
“…All right, then.”
The way she pursed her lips was simply too adorable. Shen Ruxu raised his hands in surrender, lay down, and let her do as she pleased. “You win.”
Little children were remarkably good at reading people’s moods.
She never dared to run wild in front of her mother, because her mother truly never spoiled her.
Shen Ruxu, on the other hand, was completely different. He was very good at indulging her.
“Yiyi,” Shen Ruxu said, gazing up at her with a bright, mischievous smile. Then, as if deep in thought, he added, “You little rascal. When you grow up, you’re definitely going to bully me terribly.”
“Ptooey.”
“…All right.” Shen Ruxu couldn’t help laughing. The boy gently rested his forehead against hers and murmured, “I know you’re the most formidable of them all.”
*
When Shen Yi was two, she completely forgot that she even had brothers.
It couldn’t really be blamed on her.
At two years old, brothers were a seasonal phenomenon in her life. Her eldest brother was always busy, and her second brother only showed up every few days.
As for her third brother… What did he even look like again?
So when that impossibly handsome older brother appeared in the living room, the little girl merely glanced at him in confusion before lowering her head and going back to playing with her toy, completely indifferent to his presence.
Shen Wenta stood where he was, looking down at her.
Half a year apart, and she no longer recognized him.
His eyes narrowed.
He had been surrounded and fawned over ever since childhood, yet the moment he returned home, his two-year-old sister treated him like thin air.
He bent down and leaned closer, trying to tell her, “I’m your third brother.”
Shen Yi looked up.
Their eyes met.
At first, her big round eyes held nothing but bewilderment.
Then she made her move.
With perfect precision, she grabbed a fistful of his naturally curly fringe and promptly stuffed it into her mouth.
Children at the age of two loved chewing on things.
Anything soft and dangling in front of them was a potential teething toy.
And unfortunately, his hair had become her first choice.
Shen Wenta: “...”
The teenager froze, still bent at the waist.
His germophobia flared up. A shudder of revulsion shot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head, and his entire body went taut as a drawn bow.
“Brother,” Shen Yi called around the mouthful of hair, then started giggling herself, drool trickling down from the corner of her mouth.
A vein throbbed at Shen Wenta’s temple.
He reached out and pried her fingers open one by one, his movements edged with restrained irritation.
The young man pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned his hands. Afterward, he still couldn’t help reaching out again, prying open her mouth with a frown to inspect just how many teeth the little brat had.
After looking over both her upper and lower teeth, he came to a conclusion and gave a mocking snort.
“...Are you a dog?”
Shen Yi was unhappy. Smack—she slapped the back of his hand.
More drool slid down her chin.
Shen Wenta shuddered in disgust.
“Stay away from me.”
But Shen Yi was unusually enthusiastic. She grabbed his hand, her tiny fingers curling and squeezing against his palm.
The little girl pointed toward the door and got straight to the point.
“Play.”
Shen Wenta said, “I can’t be bothered with you.”
Shen Yi grew anxious. “Go play outside.”
Her mom and dad were always busy. Usually, only an adult could take her out, and in Shen Yi’s eyes, Shen Wenta counted as an adult.
Even though she didn’t remember him very well, she still desperately wanted to go outside.
When she saw that he wouldn’t agree, her eyes darted around as she brought out her secret weapon.
Imitating her father’s shamelessly pleading manner, Shen Yi pressed her palms together and lifted them above her head. She looked up at him with wide, imploring eyes, her voice soft and sweet, carrying the sticky, childish lilt unique to little kids.
“Please?”
“Who am I?” he suddenly asked.
Shen Yi: “Third Brother.”
“So now you know I’m your third brother?”
He slowly straightened, looking down at her from above. “Weren’t you saying you didn’t know me just now?”
Shen Yi blinked.
She had never met such a difficult brother to please.
A child’s mind was simple. Seeing the displeased look on his face, she assumed he was unhappy with the way she had addressed him. She hurriedly hugged his leg, tipped up her face, and pulled out the most respectful form of address she knew:
“Uncle Shen Wenta, please.”
“...”
Uncle.
Shen Wenta nearly died on the spot from hearing it.
He stood there stiffly for a moment, his face icy. But in the end, he couldn’t withstand her shameless pestering. He bent down and picked her up.
Testing the substantial weight in his arms, he let out a resigned sigh. “You’re really heavy.”
Shen Yi had no idea she was being insulted. She only felt that this Third Brother was all sharp angles and hard bones.
Narrow shoulders, prominent collarbones—she could feel the shape of his bones even through his shirt.
She had never been one to sit still. After curling up in his arms for all of two seconds, she reached out and tugged at the jade pendant hanging around his neck.
It was a piece of creamy white jade of exceptional quality, hanging from a hand-braided black cord and resting in the hollow of his collarbones, cold as ice.
It was worth a fortune.
The old master had given it to Shen Wenta when he was born.
Among the younger generation of the Shen family, he was the only one who had one.
But Shen Yi had no eye for such things.
She only thought it was cool to the touch and felt wonderfully smooth, so she unhesitatingly stuffed it into her mouth and began to chew.
“Spit it out.”
Shen Wenta pinched the pendant between two fingers and rescued it from her mouth, his brows drawn tightly together.
“Dirty.”
After a pause, he added another cutting remark:
“You’re dirty too.”
The next second—
A damp little palm smacked against his face.
Smack.
The boy turned his head slightly, but he did not get angry.
A child’s slap was no more than a soft, squishy pat. Paired with her giggling face, it had virtually no offensive power—but the insult was off the charts.
Shen Wenta looked at her, as though he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
He should have been angry.
That would have been in keeping with his usual way of doing things.
But he wasn’t.
Shen Wenta had always been remarkably tolerant of his younger siblings, even though neither of the little ones liked being near him.
He lowered his eyes to the thing in his arms.
Small and warm, clutching at his lapel and refusing to let go, smugly delighted with her victory.
Like an unreasonable vine—wrapping itself around anything it encountered, and once it latched on, never letting go.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then he pulled over a sheet of paper, first wiping the jade clean, then wiping away her drool.
Once he was done, Shen Wenta casually hung that priceless piece of suet-white jade around her neck.
He even adjusted the length of the cord so it wouldn’t choke her.
When his fingertips brushed the back of the baby’s neck, it felt soft and plump.
“You…” He looked at her, pondering for a long while. In his arms, Shen Yi had started chewing on the cord again.
“You have to be gentler with me in the future,” Shen Wenta murmured. “I keep feeling like you’ll bully me once you grow up.”
“You have to listen to me in the future.” He bit his lower lip and continued, “And I’ll treat you well, too.”
That was only fair.
If he treated her a little better, then once she grew up, Shen Yi ought to repay him in kind.
Ideally, she would obey his every word.
Whatever he said would go.
As he thought about it, Shen Wenta’s gaze gradually softened. He decided to raise a well-behaved little sister from an early age.
Compared with Shen Zhizhao, who was cold and heartless and never kept his promises, Shen Wenta seemed exceptionally true to his word.
As promised, he took her outside to play for a while. When they returned, the energetic Shen Yi happily pounced at Shen Wenta, who was leaning against the sofa.
“Big brother.”
The weight of Mount Tai crashed down on him…
Shen Wenta coughed twice. With a huge child suddenly sprawling across his chest, he nearly suffocated.
No one had ever messed with him like this before, from childhood until now.
Shen Yi squeezed his face and reached a conclusion: “Third Brother is good. Big Brother is bad.”
Shen Wenta was too lazy to fight back. With his lips pressed together, he loosely wrapped an arm around her to keep her from falling.
The boy’s neck bent backward as he threw his head toward the sky and let out a long sigh. Looking at his silly little sister, he felt a deep despair at the long road ahead.
Would Shen Yi really obediently listen to him in the future?
…
Wen Ya’s training classes were a required part of life for every child in the Shen family.
The content was simple: dodge.
If you managed to dodge, you passed.
The theory was simple. The practice was brutal.
At the start of every session, seven-year-old Shen Yi was always the quickest to react. The moment Wen Ya raised her leg, she would roll away on the spot; if she couldn’t dodge in time, she would retreat behind Shen Xun.
And every time, Shen Xun would step in front of her.
Whenever Wen Ya attacked, his body moved before his mind could. He would take a step forward and meet the blow—only to be kicked away by his mother first.
His small body hit the mat and rolled twice.
“Shen Xun.”
Shen Yi poked her head out from behind the mat. Once training ended, she would rush over without so much as a pause, dip a cotton swab in iodine, and smear it messily over his elbow, then casually wind a few strips of gauze around it.
Shen Xun rubbed his arm and summed it up in one word:
“Ugly.”
Shen Yi pretended not to hear. She stood up, planted her hands on her hips, and—unable to resist—lectured him smugly:
“You’re so stupid. Everyone at home is always praising you for being clever, but you’re not clever at all. You could obviously dodge, but you always take Mom’s attacks head-on.”
“You’re the stupid one,” he retorted coldly.
Shen Yi huffed, crouched down, and continued sticking bandages over his cuts. They were still crooked and uneven.
Shen Xun was unhappy too.
Of course he could have dodged.
But she always instinctively hid behind him.
So, every time he was about to dodge, he would remember her hiding behind him out of habit.
Shen Yi was a coward, and he was protecting her.
And yet she actually had the nerve to call him stupid.
“It’s crooked,” he criticized her in turn.
“I’ll redo it.” Shen Yi ripped off the bandage and slapped another one on. “There!”
“…It’s even more crooked.”
“Shut up!”
…
Shen Yi’s path to growing up was always full of bumps.
Tooth decay, for example.
Tooth decay—and still being unable to keep her mouth shut.
That afternoon, Shen Shu was in the study handling some documents when he saw the little squirt sneak in at some point.
She was as furtive as a mouse beneath the tablecloth.
Then, inch by inch, she poked half her head over the edge of the table. Drawing in her whole body, she slipped beneath the table.
She had already laid her ambush.
Shen Shu raised an eyebrow, pretending not to notice, and continued working.
A moment later, a small hand reached out from beneath the table. Tentatively, it felt its way toward the snacks on the tea table.
There was a knock at the study door, and his assistant poked his head inside.
“Sir, just now…”
The assistant had watched Shen Yi sneak in suspiciously and had knocked to ask whether he should take the child away.
Shen Shu did not even raise his eyes.
“It’s nothing.” He pressed a hand to his forehead and looked at the bulging lump beneath the table, his expression unchanged. “A rat got in. You can go.”
“A rat?!”
The assistant took him seriously.
“Yes. A very fat one.”
The assistant’s face changed dramatically as he looked around. “Should I call someone to—”
“No need.” Shen Shu calmly blocked the mouse with the tip of his shoe beneath the table. “It won’t come out. Go on with what you were saying.”
He found this child incredibly annoying.
Unlike Shen Xun’s quietness, Shen Wenta’s thoughtfulness, and Shen Zhizhao’s easygoing nature, she was completely different.
She was practically a miniature version of Shen Ruxu.
But most of the time, Shen Ruxu went out of her way to avoid him.
This child, on the other hand, actually dared to come right up to him.
The moment Shen Yi realized that Shen Shu had pinned her in place, she knew things were about to go badly. She tried to crawl out.
“Don’t come out.” Shen Shu pressed down on her head.
A muffled protest came from beneath the table. “It’s so stuffy down here.”
“Then stay there anyway.”
“Why? Grandpa, what are you doing? You’re squashing me.”
She wanted nothing more than to scream. With her grandfather’s hand pressing down on the crown of her head, she was like someone trapped beneath the Five-Finger Mountain—unable to move at all, able only to let out an indignant whimper.
Shen Shu remained perfectly composed, not loosening his grip in the slightest.
The assistant outside the door continued reporting on work matters. Shen Shu annotated the documents with the tip of his pen, attending to two things at once without so much as a change in expression.
Beneath the table, however, two small hands continued reaching tirelessly for the pastries.
When they couldn’t reach the treats, they changed course and reached for his hand instead.
Shen Shu: “…”
He lowered his eyes and glanced down.
The little hand was spread open, palm facing upward. Its five fingers opened and closed twice, clearly meaning: pastries.
“Just one,” he said.
The little hand held up two fingers.
“One.”
The little hand held up three.
“...Fine, two. Any more than that, and I’m taking you out and handing you over to your mother right now.”
The little hand finally seemed satisfied. It formed a V sign, then withdrew.
After that, he occasionally slipped a pastry beneath the table and even refilled her cup of tea.
He fed her with great enthusiasm.
The sound of chewing came from beneath the table, along with a muffled thank-you:
“Grandpa is so nice.”
Shen Shu’s hand paused over the document.
“Just eat,” he said, still coldly. “And don’t make a sound.”
The feeding continued throughout the entire afternoon.
Once Shen Yi had eaten her fill, she crawled out from beneath the table and swaggered into the afternoon tea gathering with Wen Ya and the other ladies.
She sat primly upright, sipping her black tea in tiny mouthfuls while listening to Grandma and her mother chat about jewelry and gossip.
Her back was straight, her legs were neatly pressed together, and she held her teacup with practiced poise. Every now and then, she even nodded, looking like a seasoned middle-aged socialite.
Qin Ruolan hid a laugh. “What have you been up to, little one?”
Shen Yi replied, “I went to Grandpa’s study.”
“Oh?” Qin Ruolan said. “Isn’t he busy? What did you go there for?”
To the older generation, anything children did was merely harmless amusement.
Shen Yi didn’t dare admit that she had gone to sneak a bite to eat.
Wen Ya handed her a piece of fruit.
“I’m full!” Shen Yi protested.
Suspicious, Wen Ya reached over and rubbed her stomach.
Shen Yi instinctively covered it.
Wen Ya poked her round little belly and said with an amused, knowing smile, “What did you eat to make your stomach so round?”
Shen Yi covered her mouth and said nothing.
“Shen Yi!!” Wen Ya roared.
Terrified, Shen Yi forced out a trembling voice. “I-I’m sorry, Mom.”
…
After she turned ten.
The reprimands Shen Yi received most often were for the rules her grandfather insisted upon.
“You—one, two, three, all of you…”
His face dark, he paced back and forth, tapping the ground with a bamboo cane as he counted each one of his disobedient grandchildren. He was heartsick with frustration.
“You’re running around like monkeys outside with no manners at all!”
He had been discussing something with others in the inner hall, and the three siblings had no idea what they were thinking, barging in one after another.
In the end, all three of them were punished.
It was the grandest punishment Shen Yi had ever seen.
The three grandchildren stood in a row in the courtyard, each with a porcelain vase balanced on their head. They looked like three potted plants bearing fruit.
The vase on Shen Yi’s head was blue-and-white porcelain.
It was a prized antique belonging to Shen Shu, supposedly from the Ming dynasty.
The old man had tried to frighten them into standing properly beneath the blazing sun by emphasizing the vase’s value.
He put on a stern expression and made two rounds of inspection. With his hands clasped behind his back, he was just about to begin the second part of his lecture when—
Shen Yi deliberately wobbled.
The porcelain vase swayed lightly atop her head. Sunlight flashed across its blue-and-white glaze, and it looked as though it was about to topple.
His expression changed instantly, and even his voice cracked.
“Don’t—move—!”
“Stand properly,” Shen Shu commanded solemnly. “Stand. Properly.”
The sun grew fiercer by the minute.
Beside her, Shen Ruxu’s eyes had shrunk to little dots from the heat, and his whole body had wilted like taffy melting under the sun.
Shen Yi fished a tiny fan out of her pocket, hurried over, and aimed it at him, waving it frantically.
“Second Brother? Are you all right?”
Shen Ruxu pouted. “Second Brother is going to melt.”
Shen Yi complained, “…Useless Second Brother.”
After watching for a moment, Shen Xun saw that Shen Shu and Qin Ruolan were not looking in their direction from inside the courtyard.
He immediately snuck the vase off his head and pulled Shen Yi with him into the shade.
At last, the three of them crouched around the little fan, instinctively sticking out their tongues in unison.
So hot.
……
