With the brother and sister cheering him on, Shen Hao seemed to have found kindred spirits. His mouth immediately ran away with him.
He rattled off every last complaint he had about his uncle, while Xie Tangning and Xie Changyu played the perfect hype team beside him.
Every now and then, they even threw in a complaint or two about their own older brother to make him feel understood. They were practically flattering Shen Hao into the womb!
Meanwhile, Shen Hao was so completely carried away that he failed to notice the wicked intentions hiding behind the siblings’ innocent faces.
Nor did he remember that the very person he was badmouthing was standing right nearby.
Standing beside Shen Lin, Liang Jiaqing listened to the three of them gossiping. She poked Shen Lin’s arm and kept stifling her laughter.
“Your nephew is kind of dumb. Those two are obviously leading him straight into a trap, and he’s still happily jumping in.”
Shen Lin added, “Not only that—he’s even shoveling the dirt over himself. He deserves to be called an idiot.”
“And you, his uncle, aren’t going to do anything about it?” Liang Jiaqing’s face practically screamed, *I want to watch the show.*
Shen Lin fixed an ominous gaze on Shen Hao, who was still babbling away. After a long pause, he finally said, “Of course I am. How could I not?”
Today, he was going to teach Shen Hao exactly what it meant to respect his elders.
That little brat had the nerve to slander him right in front of the person he was pursuing. If Shen Hao didn’t lose a layer of skin today, he’d write his name backward!
Shen Hao had no clue that danger was closing in. Xie Tangning and Xie Changyu, however, noticed Shen Lin approaching at once.
The siblings exchanged another silent glance, their minds perfectly in sync, and promptly dug yet another pit for the poor sucker in front of them.
The next second, Xie Tangning patted Shen Hao on the shoulder with a sympathetic look. “You’ve really had it rough, nephew.”
Xie Changyu patted his other shoulder. “We’re all victims of fate here. I told you—anyone who can get along with my older brother can’t possibly be a good person!”
Shen Hao immediately agreed indignantly. “Exactly! Shen Lin is practically inhuman!”
“You’re absolutely right. Someone that inhuman deserves to get clubbed over the head from behind.”
Shen Hao said, “That’s right! Shen Lin deserves that kind of payback! I’ll get someone to take care of him later!”
“Would you like me to reimburse the cost of hiring someone?”
Still completely oblivious, Shen Hao didn’t notice that Xie Changyu had already removed his arm from Shen Hao’s shoulder and pulled Xie Tangning a good distance away.
“Reimburse me too? What a great guy!”
Shen Hao turned excitedly, wanting to see which fool was being so generous.
Halfway through turning his head, his smile froze.
Oh... so the fool was me.
“Go on, then. Why did you stop? Weren’t you talking so eloquently just now?” Shen Lin stood with his arms crossed, one brow raised.
“Ah... haha... well, you know... the weather’s pretty nice today!” Shen Hao forced out a pained smile, trying to play dumb and muddle through.
But Shen Lin remained unmoved. He didn’t fall for that act—not unless the one doing it was Liang Jiaqing.
“It is nice. Such fine weather is perfect for an uncle and nephew to have a little heart-to-heart, don’t you think?”
Shen Hao laughed twice, trying to drag his two confidants into the line of fire.
But when he turned around, he discovered that his two dear friends had already slipped a good distance away.
At that moment, the Xie siblings completely ignored his accusing stare. Each of them turned their face to one side and whistled, making it blatantly clear that they wanted no part in this.
“!!!”
Shen Hao felt as though the sky had fallen. So he was the only one who had been made a complete fool of!
Those two shameless bastards had actually thrown him under the bus!
Once he realized what was happening, he decided to make a run for it.
Unfortunately, Shen Lin was even faster. He reached out and grabbed Shen Hao by the back of his collar, nearly choking him.
“Uncle, I was wrong! I was wrong! I didn’t say anything just now. I was only saying that to humor a kid!”
“Don’t take it seriously!”
Xie Tangning, who had just been keeping herself completely out of it, suddenly chimed in, “Really? But you sounded pretty serious to me just now~”
Adding insult to injury came naturally to Xie Changyu. “What do you mean, ‘humor a kid’? I’m an adult, and Brother Shen Lin is such an impressive, mighty man.”
“How could he possibly believe that? Right, Brother Shen Lin?”
Shen Lin let out a cold laugh. “Enough with the sarcastic remarks. I’ve already sent Lu Huaiyu the video of you two calling him less than human just now.”
Xie Tangning/Xie Changyu: “!!!”
“Big Nephew Shen, you’re right. Brother Shen Lin really isn’t human!”
Shen Hao, looking utterly resigned to his fate, was dragged away by Shen Lin. The cameraman tactfully turned the camera aside.
He was doing his best to leave these loving uncle and nephew enough private space to deepen their bond!
Cameraman: Ah~ I really am such a thoughtful little angel~
“Ow~”
“Oh, wow~”
“Yikes~”
“Ah! Don’t hit my face! I’m really sorry! I swear I’ll never say things like that again!”
【Cameraman, I’m begging you—please turn the camera back! We want to see!】
【Just hearing those screams, I can already imagine how intense the scene must be!】
【I never knew Boss Shen could be this entertaining! What a waste—we should’ve saved this for the Spring Festival Gala!】
Listening to those miserable cries, Liang Zhou and Wu Dacheng couldn’t bear to watch.
So they covered their faces, peeking through the gaps between their fingers with the corners of their mouths lifted in amusement.
After watching for a few seconds, Monkey Bro suddenly took over and began whispering like a demon.
“Brother Shen Lin, are you sure you’ve eaten?”
“With that little strength, you couldn’t kill a fly! My aunt likes strong men—come on, put your back into it!”
The assembled guests all let out a collective gasp. “You kid are seriously heartless!”
Still being beaten, Shen Hao turned toward that shameless brat and gave him the middle finger.
When Shen Hao finally reappeared on camera, he looked exactly like a chibi character with a swollen, bruised face and bumps all over his head.
Having completed the great task of teaching his nephew how to behave, Shen Lin felt refreshed and satisfied.
He really was a successful education expert—unlike that disgraced Lu Huaiyu!
After being thoroughly disciplined by his own uncle, Shen Hao stormed over to the demon siblings.
“You two set me up on purpose, didn’t you? Just wait!”
“You’re both so rotten. Sooner or later, I’m going to plant you two in the ground!”
Xie Tangning wore the shameless expression of someone who had already accepted defeat: “Who messed with you? You were the one who insisted on going after Shen Lin to have a heart-to-heart about your uncle-nephew relationship!”
“Exactly. Don’t pin everything on the two of us! We’re both still overdue for a beating from our big brother!”
Xie Changyu looked just as unconcerned, infuriating Shen Hao so much that he threw a combination of punches at thin air.
Su Xiaoye suddenly sidled up beside Xie Tangning and whispered, “Shen Hao, your guard was way too low. Shen Lin practically shoved it right in your face just now.”
“And you still didn’t notice! Who else can you blame?”
Xie Wanwan joined in with another jab: “That’s right! How could you possibly blame Xie Tangning?”
Shen Hao was so angry that he actually laughed. “Where did you two die-hard fangirls come from? Go stand over there!”
After being hit with that retort, Su Xiaoye and Xie Wanwan giggled a couple of times and fell silent.
Xie Tangning wrapped one arm around Xie Wanwan and the other around Su Xiaoye. After sticking her tongue out at Shen Hao, she dragged her two friends along to keep picking grapes.
Xie Changyu hurried after them as well, completely ignoring Shen Hao the Ultimate Sucker, who had come looking for trouble after taking a beating.
Thankfully, his longtime partner Wu Weixiang came over and patted him on the shoulder in consolation.
As expected, the older generation really knew how to comfort people!
If one overlooked the fact that Wu Weixiang’s face was already contorted from holding back his laughter, then yes, he really was quite comforting!
Shen Hao: “……”
Ugh! Tonight, he was going to assassinate this whole bunch of shameless dogs who loved watching other people’s misfortune!
