Shen Yu changed his clothes and was pushed out of the bedroom by Uncle Zhang. Turning around, he jumped in fright when he suddenly saw a small figure standing silently by the door.
Seeing that it was Tang Li, Shen Yu immediately calmed down.
He laughed and waved to Tang Li, “Chestnut.”
Tang Li had already changed out of his morning training clothes. He was wearing a light-grey knit shirt and black trousers, which made the little villain appear clean and delicate. However, it was hard to hide the cruelty in his bones.
Tang Li looked at Shen Yu expressionlessly, then stepped forward and stood in front of Shen Yu.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Yu reached out and rubbed Tang Li’s hair. Then he put his hand on Tang Li’s shoulder. “Are you looking for me?”
Tang Li tightened his lips and shook his head before letting his eyes fall on Shen Yu’s legs.
After a moment, the little villain asked hoarsely, “Does it hurt?”
Shen Yu smiled and said, “There’s no pain.”
“You lie.” Tang Li said in a firm tone.
“It did hurt a little before.” Shen Yu, speaking in a drawn-out tone, patted Tang Li twice on the shoulder, and said in a low voice, “But after you asked, it doesn’t hurt.”
He gave Tang Li a playful wink.
It’s a pity that Tang Li didn’t get to see this moment. Always frowning and with a small expression, Tang Li stared at Shen Yu’s legs with great seriousness.
Shen Yu felt helpless, guessing in his heart that maybe when he was doing rehabilitation exercises in his study, the voice he made was heard by the little villain. It seems that he should keep away from the little villain in the future while doing his exercises.
—————————————-
When he went downstairs to see Tang Li’s aunt and uncle, Shen Yu specifically asked Aunt Chen to take Tang Li and occupy him somewhere else.
In the grand and luxurious living room, the visiting couple were sitting on the sofa uncomfortably. They looked up and saw Shen Yu, who being pushed by Uncle Zhang, approaching slowly. Their expressions flashed with ecstasy.
“Mr. Shen, here you are!”
“Hello, Mr. Shen!”
Facing the excited couple, Shen Yu just nodded slightly and then gestured, “No need to inconvenience yourself. Please, sit down.”
The couple sat back on the sofa, their hearts almost popping out in their chest.
Their eyes were burning and straightforward. They did not shy away, as if they were trying to see through Shen Yu’s soul. Their faces were full of undisguised greed.
It was unexpected that one day they would see the real Shen Yu in person.
It’s something they didn’t dare to even dream about before…
The unattainable, mysterious and difficult Shen Yu, who even Tang family’s elders wanted to meet, sat in front of them at this very moment.
It’s like winning the lottery.
Thinking of Tang Li, who had not appeared even now, Tang Jia and her husband, Yuan Yunping, had a trace of resentment in their eyes.
When they calmed down, they immediately painted on a smile and looked at Shen Yu.
“Mr. Shen, to be honest, we are here today to discuss Chestnut with you.” Tang Jia said.
Shen Yu naturally knew what the couple was playing at in their hearts, and slightly raised his eyebrows: “Go on.”
“As the guardians of Chestnut, we should guarantee the education of Chestnut in both morals and reason. Furthermore, Chestnut is my brother’s son, and I’m afraid that he won’t be able to rest peacefully if Chestnut is raised away from his family…”
Shen Yu held his chin in one hand, closed his eyes halfway, and looked at Tang Jia coldly.
“Well.” He said, “So what?”
Tang Jia licked her lips and rubbed her hands nervously before continuing to speak, “We all know that Mr. Shen is a reasonable person. You must be able to understand our concerns. If Chestnut stays here all the time and disturbs Mr. Shen, as his guardians everyone will think we’ve neglected our duty…”
Perhaps it’s because Shen Yu is demonized in too many rumors outside that even though Shen Yu never showed a ferocious expression from beginning to end, Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping are still a little afraid of him. They watched his face carefully even when they spoke.
When Shen Yu chuckled, Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping straightened their backs in an instant, not daring to even breathe.
“Are you the guardians of Tang Li?”
“Yes.” Tang Jia quickly nodded. “After my brother and sister-in-law died, Chestnut was brought up by our family. Although he had been to his uncle’s and aunt’s house before, those people…”
At this point, Tang Jia paused, deliberately revealing a mysterious expression.
“Domestic violence?” Shen Yu spewed out what she wanted to say.
“You know?” Tang Jia didn’t realize that Shen Yu would rob them of the chance to sell tragedy. Suddenly panicked, she asked, “What did Tang Li say to you?”
Shen Yu smiled but did not laugh. “He didn’t say anything, but the bruises and scars on his body spoke volumes.”
“Oh, that um…”
Tang Jia swallowed her saliva and nervously stroked her hair. Before she could speak, she was stopped by Yuan Yunping. Tang Jia quickly glanced at her husband and immediately closed her mouth.
“Mr. Shen, this is all a misunderstanding.” Yuan Yunping seemed to find something encouraging in Shen Yu’s expression, explaining with a grin, “Before Chestnut came to our house, he went to live with his mother’s relatives for a period of time. Later, when we visited, we found that those people had a tendency for violence and took it out on Chestnut. Although we later took good care of Chestnut, the scars on his body never seemed to fade.”
Although Yuan Yunping explained a lot of things, he did not get any response from Shen Yu.
Gradually, Yuan Yunping calmed down and began grabbing at his hair awkwardly.
“Don’t be nervous.” Shen Yu said, “I just needed to ask.”
Hearing this, Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping felt relieved: “So long as Mr. Shen does not misunderstand, it’s good.”
Shen Yu nodded and turned to let Uncle Zhang come near. He whispered something to him.
Uncle Zhang softly replied and went straight to the second floor.
“You can rest assured that since you are the guardians of Tang Li, I will not stop you from taking him away.” Shen Yu smiled and said to Yuan Yunping and his wife, “Uncle Zhang has gone upstairs to pick up Tang Li. It’ll only be a moment.”
Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping were stunned.
They looked at each other in a panic, and they both saw their own dismay reflected in the other’s eyes.
No…
Why didn’t Shen Yu follow their script?!
Didn’t those people outside say that Shen Yu absolutely didn’t want to leave Tang Li?
According to reason, Shen Yu should strongly refuse their request to take Tang Li away, and then make them start negotiations, right?
Their original intention is not to take back that money-losing brat, but to eat, drink and live freely in their house, and even stab people with knives! [1]
They’d be crazy to take the little murderer back!
“Mr. Shen, in fact, Chestnut is better off staying here with you than going back with us. Our Tang family has declined, and we cannot provide the best options for Chestnut in both his spiritual and material needs.”
In a panic, Tang Jia began to speak freely. “But you’re different, the Shen family has a prosperous business and only one master, even if Chestnut is left with the Shen family’s scraps, it is enough for him to enjoy the best material life.”
Shen Yu smiled lightly, but there was no smile in those peach blossom eyes. He said, “I really like Tang Li, he’s an excellent child. Your retreat makes me feel like a bandit making off with someone else’s valuables.”
“No, no, no.” Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping shook their heads like a pair of rattle drums.
Shen Yu said, “Thank you then. I will take good care of Tang Li.”
Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping nodded, but they didn’t intend to get up and leave. They pushed each other for a while in secret. Finally, Tang Jia shyly said, “Mr. Shen, speaking of this, we’re not hiding it from you. In fact, we came here to ask you for one thing…”
Shen Yu said, “You want money?”
Tang Jia did not expect Shen Yu to be so direct. Stunned for a few seconds, she spoke, a bit embarrassed, “There’s a project in our company that can’t amass the necessary funds…”
Shen Yu interrupted her with a smile: “I won’t give you money.”
Tang Jia: “…”
“Mr. Shen, how can you say that?” Yuan Yunping opened his mouth with a hard scalp [2]. “When we discussed with you about the future of Tang Li just now, you acted so understanding.”
Shen Yu’s soft temper does not mean that he has no temper.
Now this viscous couple have put the harness around his neck. If he doesn’t stand strong now, they’ll think that he is someone that is easy to take advantage of.
“That’s two completely different matters. I heard your suggestion to leave Tang Li here, and I refused your request for money. Is there any connection?”
Shen Yu smiled but did not laugh, his eyes grew colder. He stared at the shuddering Tang Jia and Yuan Yunping.
Yuan Yunping was frightened, but he could not bear to see the cooked duck fly away [3]. He gritted his teeth and threatened, “It seems that Mr. Shen’s temper is not suitable for taking in children. Today we can only take Tang Li back.”
“You dare,” Shen Yu said.
For a moment, Yuan Yunping shivered violently, his face turned blue, and his neck and mouth were stiff. “We are the guardians of Tang Li. We have the right to take Tang Li back. Mr. Shen, you are detaining minors illegally. All your actions are against the law!”
During the quarrel, Uncle Zhang quietly returned to Shen Yu’s side and handed him a stack of bound materials from his study.
Shen Yu flipped through the pages slowly, the icy grin on his mouth became colder and colder. He shook his hand and threw the report at Yuan Yunping’s face. The gloomy voice was like a sentence from the God of death.
“Let’s see who broke the law here!”
The not-thin and not-thick stack of data fell on Yuan Yunping’s face with a crash, which made his cheek ache. Yuan Yunping could only ignore the pain and quickly picked up the report that fell on the ground.
After turning over a few pages, Yuan Yunping’s face lost all its blood he staggered against Tang Jia, looking desperate, as if he had seen the end of the world.
Tang Jia felt that something truly bad must have happened. She quickly grabbed the report and looked at it. Soon, her expression was the same as Yuan Yunping’s.
“All the evidence of your past child abuse is in it. I’ll see you in court.” Shen Yu’s words fell, deathly cold.
Immersed in despair, Yuan Yunping was immediately pulled back to his thoughts by the voice. He immediately threw himself on his knees and pleaded, “Mr. Shen, we did not abuse Tang Li. The injuries on him were not done by us, but by the relatives of his mother.”
Shen Yu laughed, “In that case, let’s directly go together.”
[1] Meaning they want to have a powerful backer.
[2] Again, a hard scalp means to put on a brave face/ toughen one’s skin. In context it’s basically saying he’s hardening himself to act shameless.
[3] The cooked duck flew away meaning, to lose what one has got, fail to seize an opportunity when it’s available