Chapter 24
Clouds of various sizes were scattered across the sky, a mix of dark and white, unevenly arranged, vaguely revealing the azure blue of the sky behind them.
The sun had hidden behind the clouds at some point. The light was dim, perfect for an afternoon nap.
Shen Tiantian lay on his small bed, a small blanket wrapped around his round belly. The quilt had been kicked to the side, half of it hanging down and dragging on the floor.
Auntie Mu brought over a glass of warm milk.
Tiantian had eaten the spicy chicken for lunch and his stomach was full, so Auntie Mu didn’t dare to give him too much milk, afraid it would bloat his stomach.
Now that his afternoon nap was over, it was the perfect time to drink half a glass of milk to protect his stomach.
“Tiantian, wake up and drink your milk.”
Shen Tiantian’s half-clenched little fist grabbed at the air a couple of times. He kicked his little feet and woke up from his dream.
He was still dazed, his little expression filled with the confusion of not being fully awake, but his hand had already taken the milk, and he held it to his chest, gulping it down.
After a glass of milk, his previously somewhat deflated little tummy was instantly filled up again, round and plump.
After finishing his milk, Shen Tiantian let out a small sigh and happily swung his little feet.
“So yummy.”
Seeing this, Auntie Mu smiled, took the milk glass away, and led the little one to the living room.
“There’s no recording this afternoon. Mr. Shen has found a tutor for you. You can meet them this afternoon.”
Before coming to the Shen family, Shen Tiantian had just started kindergarten.
However, after just over a month, he was forced to stop because his mother died in an unexpected car accident.
As winter was approaching and there wasn’t much left of the kindergarten’s semester, Shen Yuanchuan didn’t have Shen Tiantian go to class.
The new kindergarten he had found for Shen Tiantian was a private international kindergarten that advocated elite bilingual education. Both Shen Xiuze and Shen Jinfeng had attended this school.
The international kindergarten had a tight curriculum, with various art classes. Missing just one semester could make it difficult to catch up.
After some thought, Shen Yuanchuan found a private tutor for Shen Tiantian to help his little son catch up.
At his previous kindergarten, Shen Tiantian would just stand with his little hands behind his back, follow the teacher, shake his head, sing songs, eat some snacks, and learn one or two characters before the day was over.
He didn’t understand what tutoring meant yet. He scratched his little face and followed Auntie Mu in a daze to meet the teacher.
The teacher was already waiting in the reception room.
Shen Xiuze’s project had just ended, and he had nothing to do in the afternoon. After taking Ye Jiabao home, he returned to the villa and was brewing tea in the reception room to entertain the teacher.
Seeing that Shen Tiantian was awake, Shen Xiuze beckoned to him.
“Tiantian, this is Teacher Zhao. He has won awards in international Olympiads and is very patient with children.”
Shen Tiantian didn’t know what an Olympiad was, but that didn’t stop him from thinking that the teacher with glasses was very impressive. He opened his small mouth and let out a “wow.”
“Hello, teacher.”
Shen Tiantian greeted him obediently and even bowed to the teacher.
Teacher Zhao was amused. Seeing such a tiny child about to start learning Olympiad math, he couldn’t help but sigh that being a child of a wealthy family was not easy.
At such a young age, they had to start all kinds of tutoring.
“Hello, Tiantian. Before we officially start the class, let’s first understand your learning progress.”
Teacher Zhao wore black-rimmed glasses and was a refined and polite person. He gave a few arithmetic problems, from simple to difficult, to test the little one’s learning level.
Auntie Mu had placed a pencil in Shen Tiantian’s hand. He looked at the tadpole-like numbers, his mind blank.
He sat dazedly at the small tea table, his short little legs crossed like his brother’s, his little brows furrowed tightly as he tried to imprint these numbers in his mind.
But after staring for a long time, Shen Tiantian’s mind was still a blank slate.
Shen Xiuze sat to the side and glanced down at the few problems on the paper.
The first two were addition and subtraction within ten. The numbers gradually increased, and multiplication and division were added.
The last one was a difficult elementary school Olympiad problem.
Perhaps Teacher Zhao thought that Tiantian was a high-IQ genius like his two brothers and was afraid of not being able to test his true level, so he had included problems of various difficulties.
But the fact was, Shen Tiantian huffed and puffed for a long time, counted on his little hands again and again, and even used Shen Xiuze’s fingers, but only managed to write down the first problem.
7+2, Shen Tiantian confidently wrote 6.
Teacher Zhao’s hand, which was drinking tea, paused. He blinked and looked again in disbelief.
Confirming that it was a 6, Teacher Zhao’s gentle face cracked for a moment.
Shen Xiuze was not surprised at all. He watched as the little one, as expected, also got the second problem wrong. The corners of his lips couldn’t help but lift, and he used the action of drinking tea to hide his smile.
After spending more than half an hour, Shen Tiantian finally finished the few incomprehensible problems.
He collapsed on the sofa in relief, his short little legs dangling, looking half-dead. The pencil in his hand was also thrown onto the table.
“So tired.”
After studying for half an hour, his little tummy had inexplicably become tired and deflated.
Shen Tiantian rubbed his little tummy. Seeing that Auntie Mu was not there, he could only turn his head and negotiate with Shen Xiuze.
“I studied today, so I want to eat chocolate sandwich cookies.”
Shen Xiuze looked at the problems, none of which were correct, and let out a soft scoff. He picked up the paper, his expression cold.
“Don’t even think about it.”
How could this level of studying be tiring?
Shen Tiantian was not happy. He pouted his little lips, feeling that his big brother was also very annoying.
A little more annoying than the bad-guy second brother!
Teacher Zhao let out a heavy sigh. He looked at Tiantian, who couldn’t even count smoothly, and suggested tactfully:
“I think that for a child, there’s no need to start with high-difficulty Olympiad math. We can first build a good foundation and start with some simple numbers.”
Shen Xiuze deeply agreed.
“I’ll discuss it with my father and give you a reply tomorrow. We may have to trouble Teacher Zhao to create a new curriculum.”
Teacher Zhao didn’t find it troublesome. After all, the salary the Shen family offered him was enough to make him dedicated to his students.
“Okay, I heard that another teacher has arrived. I won’t waste any more time and will take my leave.”
As soon as Teacher Zhao left, a beautiful piano teacher with curly hair walked in.
Her skin was fair, her pupils were light gold, and her posture was elegant. She sat down in the piano room and lightly pressed a few keys.
Light and cheerful notes instantly danced in the air, awakening Shen Tiantian’s artistic interest.
Shen Tiantian’s talent in art was much higher than his in mathematics.
He couldn’t understand the melody yet, but after watching once, he could play about seventy to eighty percent of it with his little fingers.
The piano teacher’s eyes curved, and she clapped for him excitedly:
“Tiantian is the most intelligent child I’ve ever seen. And he plays with a lot of emotion, unlike your brothers, who play so rigidly and are incredibly boring.”
Piano playing requires the injection of emotion to be considered a perfect performance.
The piano teacher was fashionably dressed, but she was almost fifty this year. She had also been responsible for teaching Shen Xiuze and Shen Jinfeng their first musical instruments.
Shen Xiuze stood at the door. Hearing the teacher’s words, his expression was indifferent, and he didn’t show any extra emotion.
Tiantian, on the other hand, was very pleased with the praise. He sat on the piano bench, his short little legs not reaching the ground, swinging back and forth, his eyes sparkling.
“I’m very stwong, better than my brothers!”
The little one praised himself and didn’t forget to put down his brothers.
Shen Tiantian lifted his little chin and glanced at Shen Xiuze, who was sitting on the sofa. A hint of small triumph couldn’t help but show on his soft, white little face.
Shen Xiuze discovered that Shen Tiantian had a very straightforward and easy-to-understand personality.
All his emotions were grand and open, displayed directly on his face. One didn’t have to guess at all. Just by looking at his round, lively eyes, one could glimpse his true feelings.
Unlike him and Shen Jinfeng, who hadn’t learned much else from Shen Yuanchuan but were top-notch masters at hiding their emotions.
Without thinking further, Shen Xiuze finalized the class schedule with the teacher and saw the piano teacher off.
“Tomorrow, there’s also an equestrian teacher, English and German teachers, a Chinese studies teacher…”
Just as Shen Tiantian thought he was free, he heard Auntie Mu-Mu muttering in his ear like a nagging monk. In an instant, his little brain was about to explode.
“Wah!”
Shen Tiantian flopped onto the sofa, stuck his bottom in the air, and buried his little head in a pillow.
“I’m not going to class.”
He wanted to be a lazy and ignorant bad boy!
Auntie Mu also felt that the curriculum was too much, but she had asked the butler, and both Shen Xiuze and Shen Jinfeng had gone through the same thing when they were young.
“Your two brothers also studied from a young age. Otherwise, how would they have become so outstanding, right?”
Shen Tiantian continued to protest. He pulled his little face out of the pillow and said angrily:
“I’m already a big kid. I don’t need to learn these things.”
But Auntie Mu couldn’t decide these matters. Shen Tiantian’s protests were useless. He could only explode in anger like a small firework, crackling and exploding on his own.
As dinner approached.
The still-exploding Shen Tiantian received an unexpected call.
“Grandma?”
The elderly woman on the other end said “yes.” Hearing her grandson’s voice, she was overjoyed and called out his name several times.
“Tiantian, is that Tiantian?”
Tiantian nodded vigorously and hummed in acknowledgment. He lay on the carpet and asked with a pout:
“Grandma, are you okay? I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
Hearing this, Grandma’s heart soured, and she couldn’t help but wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes.
She had had a hard life. Her husband had died early, and she had raised her two daughters to adulthood alone.
After her daughters went to the big city to pursue their careers, she was afraid of being a burden to them and lived alone in the countryside, farming a few acres of land.
Even when she knew that both her daughters had gotten pregnant out of wedlock, she had never said a word of blame and had even traveled thousands of miles from the countryside to help her daughters take care of their little grandsons.
Before Shen Tiantian was three, he had spent more than half of his time with his grandma.
His mother was busy earning money, so it was just him and his grandma at home, along with his cousin of the same age.
But six months ago, Grandma felt that her two daughters’ lives were gradually getting on track, so she returned to the countryside.
She was getting old. In the countryside, she met Grandpa Qin, who had also lost his wife. The two of them thought of living together to spend their last ten or so years.
But unexpectedly, a few months ago, Grandpa Qin went up the mountain and found a little boy with a head injury.
Both Grandpa Qin and Grandma were soft-hearted people. They couldn’t bear it, so they paid for the little boy’s medical treatment and kept him.
Only Ye Jiabao, who had been reborn, knew that this child was the true male lead of this world!
So what if Shen Xiuze and Shen Jinfeng had high IQs and ruthless methods?
They were constantly fighting, proud, and unyielding.
They had torn the company apart, and in the end, wasn’t most of it swallowed up by the male lead, and they had become the ruthless and gloomy villains in the book?
Speaking of which, in his previous life, the little male lead had grown up in the Shen family.
Because in his previous life, Ye Jiabao had taken Shen Tiantian’s identity, and Ye Jiabao’s mother was unwilling to raise Shen Tiantian, this little burden, so she had sent Shen Tiantian back to the countryside.
When Grandma found out that her younger daughter had let Ye Jiabao go to the Shen family, she was so angry her heart ached.
But she was ultimately a soft-hearted person. She couldn’t win an argument and was afraid that her daughter would do something drastic in a fit of anger, so she could only tremble and take Shen Tiantian back.
Grandma was old, and Grandpa Qin’s health was also not good. Raising one little grandson was already a struggle, and they really couldn’t afford to raise the little boy they had found.
She tossed and turned for several nights, thinking of the several mouths waiting to be fed at home. In the end, she hardened her heart and sent the found child to Ye Jiabao.
At that time, Ye Jiabao was already the little young master of the Shen family. A little bit from his fingers would be enough for this child to live on.
And the Shen family was rich and powerful. Maybe they had a way to help the child find his parents?
Ye Jiabao’s mother was afraid that Grandma would cause trouble and, in a fit of anger, reveal the matter of Ye Jiabao replacing Shen Tiantian to return to the Shen family. She held her nose and kept the child in the Shen family.
But she also made Grandma promise that she would never appear in front of Ye Jiabao and herself again.
Grandma’s heart was broken by this daughter, but she was old and had no power to control her wild-hearted daughter, so she could only return to the countryside.
The Shen family didn’t care at all about the extra child.
The father and three sons were all busy with their careers. Shen Yuanchuan didn’t even see the little boy following Ye Jiabao until more than two months later.
Don’t be fooled by the three Shen family men. Shen Xiuze was always cold and deadpan, but in reality, Shen Yuanchuan was the most ruthless one.
Shen Yuanchuan wouldn’t say an extra word to people he didn’t care about. Facing this little boy who had popped up, because of his dislike for his own little son, Ye Jiabao, he didn’t even bother to ask his name.
In his previous life, the atmosphere in the Shen family was extremely oppressive and suffocating.
It was like being covered by layer after layer of dark gray volcanic ash. It was clearly on the verge of eruption, but it was quiet and silent, making people’s nerves perpetually tense.
Under the heavy pressure, Ye Jiabao’s personality gradually became twisted, and he would occasionally kick the little boy.
The little boy was quiet and silent and didn’t resist much. He lived in the Shen family like a little transparent person.
It wasn’t until the truth was revealed that Ye Jiabao learned that this little boy named Qin Ye was the little son that the Qin family had lost years ago.
At that time, Ye Jiabao had just started middle school. When he heard the news that Qin Ye had been taken away, his blood instantly ran cold.
The Qin family was a jade family, an old and established wealthy family, a time-honored business from ancient times.
He had bullied their little son like a workhorse. Ye Jiabao would definitely be retaliated against!
But Ye Jiabao waited in fear for several years, but Qin Ye never made a move.
Just as Ye Jiabao thought that Qin Ye had let the matter go, on the eve of his university graduation, he was met with an overwhelming counterattack from the other party.
It was Qin Ye who had exposed the matter of Ye Jiabao replacing Shen Tiantian. Then, there was a series of academic fraud incidents, which resulted in him not even getting his university diploma.
In short, Ye Jiabao had lived a miserable life in his previous life. Besides the two villainous brothers, it was this madman, Qin Ye, who had contributed the most!
Qin Ye was petty and held grudges. His personality had a hidden crazy streak. Anyone who had offended him was, without exception, dealt with miserably.
The thought of his previous life made Ye Jiabao’s fingertips tremble with hatred.
What made him even angrier was that even though it was Shen Tiantian who had gone to the Shen family in this life, Shen Tiantian had still embarked on the path of the entertainment industry.
And his relationship with his two brothers was not as bad as in his previous life.
Ye Jiabao was really unwilling. He sat silently on the bed, thought for a long time, and felt that it might be because the variable of Qin Ye was missing.
In his previous life, a few days after he went to the Shen family, Qin Ye was sent over.
Doesn’t Shen Tiantian think of himself as the little protagonist Long Aotian?
In front of the real protagonist, Qin Ye, what was Shen Tiantian?
At most, he was a little villain cannon fodder, adding a little hardship to Qin Ye’s protagonist life.
When Qin Ye went to the Shen family and was ordered around by Shen Tiantian like a workhorse, maybe it would even be filmed by the live broadcast. Could Shen Tiantian continue to be his little child star then?
At this thought, Ye Jiabao couldn’t wait to call his grandma and persuade her to send Qin Ye to the Shen family.
“Grandma, you don’t know how well Shen Tiantian is living in the Shen family! The floors of the Shen family are made of marble, the crystal chandeliers are really embedded with crystals, and the food is different every day. You should send Qin Ye over. The pressure will be less!”
In this life, Grandma didn’t have the pressure of raising two children at the same time. After listening to Ye Jiabao’s persuasion, she was still hesitant.
Until Ye Jiabao said again:
“Shen Tiantian is on a variety show now. Let Qin Ye follow him. Maybe if he shows his face online, he can be found by his biological parents?”
This time, Grandma was completely moved.
She felt that this child, Qin Ye, although young, had a calm temperament and clear eyes, and didn’t seem like a child without parents.
Maybe his parents were also looking for him all over the world?
Ye Jiabao, however, sneered at this, thinking that because of their little son’s disappearance and the expansion of the Qin family’s business, Qin Ye’s parents had been developing abroad these past few years.
Otherwise, in his previous life, Qin Ye wouldn’t have had to wait until he was thirteen or fourteen to be recognized by the Qin family.
But Grandma was moved by the idea of sending Qin Ye to the Shen family.
The Shen family was large and powerful, and they also owed her daughter and little grandson. They definitely wouldn’t disrespect Tiantian and just kick Qin Ye out.
So Grandma dialed Shen Tiantian’s number.
“Tiantian, Grandma has a little boy here, about the same age as you. Grandma wants him to go and stay with the Shen family for a while to see if he can find his parents on the show.”
In the tiled house in the countryside.
The old woman’s voice was old and carried a hint of twilight. She spoke slowly, with a long, sleepy tone.
Qin Ye sat on a wooden stool in the kitchen, holding a piece of firewood. He listened to Grandma calling her little grandson, and the fire in the stove illuminated a small part of his silent little face.
He knew that it was a great burden for the two elderly people to raise him.
Even if he was really sent away, it didn’t matter.
A vibrant and lively voice soon came from the phone, sounding like a very sour and sweet candy, reflecting a colorful light under the sun.
“Okay, Grandma, can you come too? I miss you.”
Shen Tiantian’s little milky voice had a hint of a sob. Not being able to see his grandma, his tone was tinged with sadness.
Grandma also felt sorry for her little grandson. She wiped her tears and said:
“Then Grandma will go and see you. Grandma will bring you some chickens from the countryside to make soup for you to grow taller.”
On the other end, Shen Tiantian almost jumped up, raising his little fists and shouting:
“Yay, I’ll grow very, very tall, snatch the company from my brothers, and let Grandma count the money!”
Grandma: “…”
What? What are you going to snatch?
Grandma was shocked for a moment, and her words became clumsy.
“Snatch… snatch the company? That’s not good. What if your two brothers hear you say that?”
Grandma knew that Shen Yuanchuan was a big boss. She had watched many family dramas of that era, and there were many stories of brothers fighting over the family fortune until they were bloody and the family was torn apart.
But Shen Tiantian seemed particularly clueless, smiling, and standing on the sofa with his little hands on his hips.
“It’s okay, my brothers already know.”
Shen Tiantian was a little cub who loved to tattle. In the few days since he had returned, he had already said a lot to Shen Yuanchuan about inheriting the company.
This one sentence didn’t make a difference.
Shen Xiuze and Shen Jinfeng were already tired of hearing him talk about snatching the company.
Grandma really didn’t know what to say. She was stunned for a moment, then sighed:
“You be good. Grandma will take Qin Ye to the city to see you tomorrow.”
After hanging up the phone, the firelight in the stove made Qin Ye’s eyes flicker. He couldn’t help but turn his little face and ask:
“Grandma, were you just calling your grandson?”
Grandma nodded. Thinking of Shen Tiantian’s silly and clever energy, she couldn’t help but grin.
“Yes, Tiantian is a good child. You’ll know when you meet him.”
Qin Ye nodded, rested his chin on his arm, and thought of the lively voice on the phone, like a little sparrow. The anxiety in his heart seemed to fade a little.
But he was being sent to someone else’s house by the grandma and grandpa who were supposed to adopt him. Qin Ye was still uneasy and didn’t sleep well all night.
After the autumn rain, a bright morning sun arrived.
The light danced lightly in the air, passed through the thin gauze, and fell in beams onto the bed, enveloping the soundly sleeping little cub in a golden light.
Shen Tiantian was a restless sleeper. It was unclear how he did it, but when he woke up, his head was actually stuck in the guardrail of his small bed.
This small bed was specially prepared for Shen Tiantian by the butler. It was a small-sized children’s bed, and to prevent the child from being a restless sleeper, a circle of wooden railings was specially placed around the small bed.
But at this moment, the carefully customized wooden railing had trapped the little master’s head.
And yet, Shen Tiantian was still sleeping soundly, very soundly.
Another bedroom.
Shen Xiuze was responsible for receiving several private tutors. Shen Yuanchuan had returned too late last night, so Shen Xiuze had to find him in the morning to report the situation.
Shen Yuanchuan was wearing his pajamas. He had just taken a couple of sips of tea when he was shocked by Shen Tiantian’s wrong math problems.
The water in his mouth almost choked him. Shen Yuanchuan quickly put down the teacup and carefully looked at the answers Shen Tiantian had written.
“Teacher Zhao suggested that Tiantian first build a good foundation in mathematics,” Shen Xiuze added from the side.
Shen Yuanchuan let out a soft hiss and laughed in exasperation.
“Is there any other way besides building a good foundation?”
When Shen Yuanchuan heard Shen Xiuze say that Shen Tiantian had performed well in his piano class, his expression softened a little. He turned and said:
“Let’s go and see if the little one is up yet.”
Shen Xiuze nodded and followed Shen Yuanchuan to Shen Tiantian’s bedroom.
As soon as the two of them entered the room, they were shocked by Shen Tiantian’s unique sleeping posture.
Shen Yuanchuan gasped, looking at Shen Tiantian’s head stuck in the railing, and quickly took out his phone.
He opened the camera and first took a picture of Shen Tiantian.
Shen Xiuze heard the click of the camera and looked over.
Shen Yuanchuan coughed in embarrassment and dialed a number, asking Butler Zhou to bring a saw to rescue the little one.
Oooh I bet Qin Ye is ml 🤭