Chapter 10
Shen Tiantian lay in his small bed with its guardrails, the little cub completely sunk into the soft quilt. His breathing was long and even, and his cheeks were flushed a ripe red.
His small fists were held in a strange position above his head. Disturbed by the noise from outside, his thin eyelids, through which one could see the faint blue veins, fluttered open for a moment before closing tightly again.
“Shen Tiantian?”
On the other end of the video call, Shen Jinfeng was wearing a light-colored suit jacket, unbuttoned, revealing an expensive shirt underneath.
His hair was casually swept back, revealing a full, broad forehead, and his gentle, handsome face showed a rare sharpness.
Looking up, he saw the cameraman had already entered with the camera rolling. Shen Jinfeng just tilted his head slightly, signaling for the cameraman to stand to the side and record.
In the live stream chat, after a morning of warming up, plus a few trending topics on entertainment apps for promotion, the number of viewers skyrocketed to tens of thousands as soon as the broadcast started.
[I’m here, I’m here!]
[Cub cub cub! Where is my cute cub?]
[Wow, Shen Jinfeng changed his clothes. He’s so handsome!]
[Looks like he’s in an office from the background? Is the cub not appearing this afternoon?]
Shen Jinfeng had already looked away from the camera. His brows furrowed as he continued to speak into the phone’s video call:
“Shen Tiantian, if you can’t get up, you won’t be on TV.”
Shen Tiantian felt like he was having a nightmare.
In his dream, the evil and terrifying second brother had grown eight mouths, cackling sinisterly in the sky and constantly calling his name.
“Shen Tiantian, Shen Tiantian…”
Sweat beaded on Shen Tiantian’s forehead. He clenched his little fists tightly, gave a sharp kick in the quilt, and his eyelids suddenly flew open.
He scrambled out of the quilt in a panic, sat up holding onto the wooden guardrail, his expression still a bit dazed, and said with his small mouth open:
“I heard the bad-guy second brother calling me.”
Shen Tiantian looked up and saw Auntie Mu looking at him with concern. He couldn’t help but wipe the sweat from his forehead and let out a small sigh of relief.
“That was close. Second brother isn’t here,” Shen Tiantian grinned.
A cold laugh came from the side. The bad-guy second brother’s voice came through the phone, his tone low, exactly like in the dream.
“Shen Tiantian, is that what you call me behind my back?”
Only then did Shen Tiantian notice a strange man standing next to Auntie Mu-Mu, holding a phone that showed his second brother’s slightly angry, handsome face.
Shen Tiantian covered his head, let out a little “ah!”, and flopped back down, burying his little head with its messy hair in the pillow.
“I’m dreaming!”
The evil second brother has taken over his dream!
Shen Jinfeng felt a vein throb in his forehead. He gently pinched the bridge of his nose and laughed out of sheer anger.
“Shen Tiantian, calling me a bad guy is one thing, but what, is it so hard to accept me appearing in your dream?”
Second brother’s voice was still echoing in stereo around Shen Tiantian’s ears, but Shen Tiantian didn’t want to listen. He could only cover his little head and tremble in the pillow.
Auntie Mu thought the little one was cold and quickly wrapped a small sleeping blanket around him, patting Shen Tiantian’s back.
“You’re not cold anymore. Auntie Mu will cover Tiantian with a blanket.”
Hearing Auntie Mu’s voice, Tiantian pulled his little head out of the pillow, wrapped in the fluffy blanket, his small mouth open. It took him a long while to react.
Oh, so this wasn’t a dream.
Shen Tiantian stood up holding the rail. He stared face-to-face with his second brother in the video for a few seconds, his little brain slowly booting up. He then obediently gave his second brother a smile.
“Big brother, why are you in the video?”
Looking at the little cub acting cute and well-behaved after waking up, Shen Jinfeng let out a cold snort from his chest. His brows lowered slightly, and he glanced at the camera before speaking:
“I sent my assistant to pick you up for the recording, but who knew all he would find was a little lazy bug who likes to sleep in, and couldn’t be woken up no matter how much he was called.”
“I had no choice. This bad-guy second brother had to call you himself.”
Shen Tiantian knew he was in the wrong. He pressed his lips together, looking exceptionally well-behaved after just waking up. Standing on his little bed, his voice still carried a sleepy daze.
“Second brother isn’t bad at all. I’m not a little lazy bug either. I was… I was just really tired today, so I slept a little bit longer.”
Afraid that his second brother wouldn’t pick him up to be on TV, Shen Tiantian held up his short little fingers and made a “little bit” gesture.
Shen Jinfeng saw his ingratiating little act, raised an eyebrow, and couldn’t be bothered to lecture him.
“The recording has already started. Hurry up and change your clothes. Have Assistant Uncle bring you over, or you’ll be late.”
Shen Tiantian nodded quickly and obediently waved his little hand at his second brother.
“Okay, see you in a bit!”
After hanging up, Shen Tiantian swiftly jumped down from his little bed without even putting a pillow on the floor. He shuttled back and forth in front of his wardrobe, barefoot.
“Auntie Mu-Mu, does this look good?”
Although young, Shen Tiantian already had an idol’s burden. He hugged two or three fluffy jackets, repeatedly comparing them in front of the mirror.
Auntie Mu walked over and helped him pick out his clothes.
Shen Tiantian was conflicted and anxious, constantly trying on clothes in front of the mirror. In the end, he chose a brown teddy bear jacket.
He put on a beige bib-overall and sweatshirt set underneath, slipped on his little shoes, and then, holding the assistant uncle’s hand, he rushed outside in a hurry.
Seeing that he was small and his legs were short, and that he hadn’t gone very far after running for a while, the assistant uncle sighed twice and simply scooped Shen Tiantian up.
Shen Tiantian faced the cool afternoon autumn wind. The flesh on his little face jiggled from the bumpy ride, but he still shouted in a trembling voice:
“Uncle~~ Run faster~~”
His voice was shaken into several pieces.
The assistant uncle summoned the strength of a thousand-meter dash, held the little one, and rushed into the car parked at the entrance.
With a loud slam of the door, the assistant uncle shouted:
“Old Wu, drive!”
The driver stepped on the gas, and the car sped away with the two of them.
Inside the car, Shen Tiantian slumped in his seat, looking even more exhausted than the assistant uncle who had been running the whole time.
Shen Tiantian wiped the sweat from his forehead as if he had just come off a professional racetrack, his little chest heaving as he panted.
“Yay~ We made it.”
Shen Tiantian had thought the car was like a bus and would leave in a moment if he didn’t come out.
The assistant uncle was the one who was truly tired. Running from the third floor all the way out to the lawn was a distance of at least a few hundred meters, and he had sprinted the whole way.
The two of them panted simultaneously, slumped in their seats, on their way to Shen Jinfeng’s studio.
Shen Jinfeng’s studio was established during the summer vacation of his second year of high school.
Shen Yuanchuan treated his two sons equally. As soon as they entered high school, he gave them a sum of start-up capital, allowing them to do whatever they wanted, even if they lost it all.
Shen Xiuze was meticulous and methodical. He followed some of the Shen Group’s subsidiary projects, delving deep, and saw profits soon after investing his money.
But Shen Jinfeng was different. He was optimistic about the untapped potential of the entertainment and internet sector and took a different path by investing in a web drama.
The drama was a success. Although it didn’t become a massive hit that year, it was indeed a minor success.
Shen Jinfeng then took the opportunity to establish his own studio.
His studio was not in a remote location. He rented half a floor of a commercial building and divided it into several office and reception areas.
Perhaps because of his young age, the atmosphere in Shen Jinfeng’s studio was very youthful. The employees dressed casually, and the clock-in times were flexible.
The cameraman didn’t dare to film the employees’ work areas, nor did he dare to film Shen Jinfeng’s desk, for fear of capturing some confidential documents.
So, the audience could only stare at the wall behind Shen Jinfeng’s office for a long time.
[Emmm… It’s hard to say, but Shen Jinfeng has been sitting there without moving for almost half an hour.]
[Is there something fascinating on his desk? By the way, as a young master of the Shen family, shouldn’t his life be extravagant, indulgent, decadent, and filled with lavish spending?]
[So boring. I feel like he’s even more tired than me, a corporate slave!]
The netizens who had originally come to the live stream to get a glimpse into the luxurious life of the wealthy felt a strong sense of boredom watching Shen Jinfeng’s work routine.
This is not what they imagined at all!
Where are the luxurious yacht parties? The glamorous business receptions filled with fragrant clothes and clinking glasses? The carefree life of speeding in a luxury car and throwing money around?
Perhaps because Shen Jinfeng’s work routine was too uninteresting, the number of viewers in the live stream dropped rapidly, leaving just over ten thousand.
But a trending topic slowly climbed up.
#YoungMaster’sBoringLife
Some netizens who didn’t know the truth clicked on it and saw the time-lapsed video of Shen Jinfeng working, instantly seeing a reflection of their own corporate slave lives.
[Damn! At this moment, I suddenly feel that the gap between me and the rich isn’t that big.]
[My eyes have been opened. I always thought the lives of the rich second generation were all colorful and exciting.]
Shen Jinfeng was completely unaware of the developments online, and the staff didn’t dare to remind him. They filmed like this for almost an hour.
Finally, the assistant director walked in, panting, and said:
“Let’s turn it off for now. There’s a problem with the network on the live stream side, and one of the guests is causing some trouble. Let’s suspend filming.”
Only then did Shen Jinfeng deign to look up from the pile of documents. He pinched the bridge of his nose and asked:
“What happened?”
The assistant director waved his hand, sat down in the chair opposite him, and seeing that the live stream was off, quickly took a gulp of water.
“It’s a small problem with the non-celebrity guest, but don’t worry, it’s easy to solve.”
Since the assistant director said so, Shen Jinfeng didn’t inquire further. He frowned and said:
“Are we still going live today?”
The assistant director continued to drink water. “Probably not.”
Shen Jinfeng thought of the little cub who was eagerly waiting to be on TV, and his heart skipped a beat. His frown deepened.
Before he could think of anything, in the next second, Shen Jinfeng heard a milky little shout:
“Big brother, I’m here to film~”
A vein throbbed in Shen Jinfeng’s temple.