Chapter 32
Not only did Shen Xiuze have detailed information on Shen Tiantian, but Shen Jinfeng also had it.
In some aspects, the two were surprisingly similar. They would both speculate about unknown enemies with the greatest malice.
Before Shen Tiantian came to the Shen family, they had already sent people to investigate him, and they knew even more details than Shen Yuanchuan did.
However, the information on paper was ultimately not as clear as reality.
Shen Xiuze thought about the inexplicable phone call the little one had made tonight. The tadpole-like words on the paper floated in his eyes, and his fingers couldn’t help but slowly clench.
The strong wind was still howling. Shen Jinfeng had just hung up the phone with Shen Tiantian when he received a call from Shen Xiuze.
Shen Jinfeng’s eyebrows rose, and a thoughtful look appeared on his handsome face as he answered the call.
“What brings you to call me?” Shen Jinfeng twirled a pen in his fingers, his eyes still full of vigilance and mockery.
Shen Xiuze didn’t mind his attitude. After a moment of silence, he asked:
“Did Tiantian call you?”
A soft snort escaped Shen Jinfeng’s nose. His mind raced, and he immediately thought of something, his expression faltering.
“That’s right, it seems his mother…”
His words stopped abruptly. Shen Jinfeng didn’t say any more, but he already knew the purpose of Shen Xiuze’s call.
“What do you want to do? Take this opportunity to comfort the little brat and make him feel touched? Use him to add a boost to your fight for the company?”
Shen Jinfeng really couldn’t see through Shen Xiuze’s recent actions.
They had been brothers for so many years. Shen Jinfeng knew exactly what kind of person Shen Xiuze was.
He was a cold observer, ruthless in his actions, and would never do anything unnecessary.
But Shen Xiuze’s attitude towards Shen Tiantian was very strange.
It couldn’t be that Shen Xiuze was a cute-things-enthusiast, could it?
Shen Jinfeng’s mind raced. He really couldn’t figure out the reason for Shen Xiuze’s abnormal behavior, so he could only attribute it to him wanting to use Shen Tiantian.
Hearing Shen Jinfeng’s words, Shen Xiuze’s eyelids lifted, and his tone couldn’t help but carry a hint of mockery.
“If you have nothing to do, go get a check-up. Get a CT scan of your brain. It’s better than letting your imagination run wild all day.”
Shen Tiantian was just a chubby and somewhat cute little child. How could Shen Jinfeng have the nerve to use the word “use”?
Shen Xiuze rarely retorted like this. After he spoke, he paused, pressed the bridge of his nose, and skipped the topic.
“I called to ask you, how late are you working tonight?”
A bunch of question marks appeared above Shen Jinfeng’s head. His long, beautiful eyes widened, and for a rare moment, they showed a hint of round confusion.
“What’s it to you?”
Shen Jinfeng then thought of Shen Tiantian’s phone call and immediately understood.
“You’re asking if I’m coming home after work, right? Are you afraid that Shen Tiantian will be scared at home alone?”
So roundabout. It was really impressive.
Knowing that Shen Xiuze was not using Shen Tiantian, Shen Jinfeng was relieved. A smile appeared on his lips, and his tone softened a lot.
“I should be back. The studio is not far from home. You can’t make it back, right?”
The Shen Group’s branch company was located at the border of this city and another. Shen Xiuze often stayed there for a week or two at a time.
Except for necessary occasions, he was almost never seen at the Shen family home.
Shen Xiuze coughed, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. Being seen through, he couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable.
“You go back and check on Tiantian. He’s sleeping alone, and there might be thunder tonight. Keep an eye on him.”
Shen Jinfeng listened to Shen Xiuze’s instructions coming through the phone. The static blurred Shen Xiuze’s cold voice, and in that moment, it seemed as if time had softened a lot.
The corners of Shen Jinfeng’s mouth also lifted. After Shen Xiuze finished speaking, his tone carried a hint of a smile:
“I know. You don’t have to tell me. I’ll pay attention.”
After hanging up the phone, Shen Jinfeng looked at the call history and couldn’t help but shake his head with a smile.
Shen Tiantian lay in bed, playing with his little feet, pulling his fluffy socks on and off, half-hanging them on his toes.
After calling his two brothers, he soon heard the patter of raindrops outside the window and couldn’t help but jump out of bed.
It was still pitch black outside, but from time to time, a small bolt of lightning would flash across the night sky, briefly illuminating the window.
Shen Tiantian was not at ease and called Shen Yuanchuan again.
Unfortunately, the call still didn’t go through.
Since the afternoon, Shen Yuanchuan’s phone had been unreachable.
Shen Tiantian was not sleepy. He sighed and lay back on his small bed with a heavy heart.
After a while, the door was pushed open, and a small head peeked in from outside.
“Tiantian, are you asleep?”
Qin Ye held a small hot water bottle. Seeing that Shen Tiantian was not asleep, he walked in and tucked the hot water bottle into Tiantian’s arms.
“Grandma brought this. It’s very warm when filled with hot water. If Tiantian hugs it to sleep, you won’t be scared.”
In the afternoon, Qin Ye had noticed that Tiantian was not in a good mood. At night, he had specially asked Auntie Mu to help fill the hot water bottle and brought it up for Shen Tiantian.
Although the villa had heating and air conditioning, unlike the countryside where it was drafty at night, Qin Ye still felt that it would be more comfortable to hug a warm hot water bottle.
Grandma had even sewn a cloth cover for the hot water bottle. Shen Tiantian held it in his arms, squeezed the hot water bottle, and couldn’t help but let out a small “wow.”
“It’s really warm.”
Qin Ye saw that half of Tiantian’s quilt was on the floor. He picked it up for him and, like a little field snail girl, busily helped him remake the messy little bed.
“Alright, Tiantian, hurry up and lie down to sleep.”
Tiantian nodded, dived into his small bed, and the neat and tidy little bed instantly became wrinkled again, with half of the quilt wrapped around his waist.
But he really liked to roll around wrapped in the quilt. After rolling twice in bed, as expected, he had rolled himself into a meat floss roll.
“Ah, the quilt monster has eaten me!” Tiantian shouted.
Shen Tiantian was wrapped up tightly, his little hands and feet unable to get out. He flailed around in bed like a fleshy little caterpillar.
Qin Ye was dumbfounded. He looked at Tiantian, who had wrapped himself up in just a few seconds, and couldn’t understand how he had done it.
But he still quickly went over and clumsily helped Shen Tiantian break free from the quilt.
Unfortunately, Qin Ye’s strength was too small. Just like he couldn’t move the small flower pot today and couldn’t hold back Tiantian who was swept away by the wind, tonight he couldn’t help Tiantian pull away the quilt monster either.
He was so anxious that his head was covered in sweat. Just as he was thinking of going to find an adult for help, he heard a voice.
“What’s going on here?”
A gentle, smiling voice came over, along with a damp mist and the unique cold scent of a rainy night.
Shen Jinfeng had only taken off his coat. His gray shirt was loosely draped over him, the cuffs slightly large, revealing the watch on his fair wrist.
Shen Jinfeng placed the things he was carrying on the bedside table, walked closer, and saw the little fleshy bug flailing around in bed. He couldn’t help but laugh twice.
The laughter was a rare, hearty one, without a trace of gloom. A physiological tear even welled up in the corner of Shen Jinfeng’s eye.
“It’s a good thing I came back tonight, or I would have missed this silly little caterpillar.”
Qin Ye, on the side, was extremely anxious. He circled around Shen Jinfeng and looked up.
“Tiantian is trapped by the quilt. Hurry up and help him!”
Shen Jinfeng glanced at Qin Ye and nodded.
“Don’t worry, what’s the rush?”
Shen Jinfeng took out his phone and first took a picture of the little one.
To prevent the embarrassing moment from being unrecorded and leaving regrets in the future, Shen Jinfeng even considerately sent the photo to Shen Xiuze at the same time.
Shen Tiantian saw the bad-guy second brother taking a picture of him, let out a roar, and wriggled over from the head of the bed.
With a great effort, he flailed up and, with the only part of him that could move, his little head, he rammed into his second brother’s stomach.
Shen Jinfeng was in the middle of sending the photo when a sharp pain shot through his waist, and he was knocked to the ground, unable to stand.
The phone fell to the side, and Shen Jinfeng’s brows furrowed in pain.
Shen Jinfeng looked down and saw the round and plump Shen Tiantian lying on top of him. He was both angry and amused.
He hissed in pain. Without even picking up his phone, he clutched his aching waist with one hand and lifted this fluffy little tyke with the other.
Shen Tiantian was lifted into the air, and the restraint of the quilt was mostly released.
The rest of it was draped over him, making him feel like he was the bravest little warrior at this moment, and the quilt on him was his bright cape.
“Bad-guy brother!”
Shen Jinfeng’s eyelid twitched, and he quickly reached out to block the impact of this iron-headed doll.
“Your head is too hard!” Shen Jinfeng held Shen Tiantian’s forehead and watched him sway left and right in the air, like a stubborn little calf.
“You really are a living ancestor.”
Shen Jinfeng sighed softly, put the little tyke back on the bed, picked up his phone and put it in his pocket, walked to the bedside table, and picked up the small cake he had bought.
“It seems my worry tonight was purely unnecessary. You little one are so lively, you don’t look like you’re in any trouble at all.”
As Shen Jinfeng spoke, he deliberately shook the small cake in his hand, a hint of cunning in his smile.
“It seems you don’t need to eat the small cake I bought today. I’ll just take it back.”
From the beginning, Shen Tiantian’s eyes had been glued to the small cake.
Seeing Shen Jinfeng leave, Shen Tiantian felt as if his little heart had also turned into a wisp of a soul and floated away with the scent of the small cake.
“I… I am in trouble.”
Shen Tiantian, wearing socks, bounced off the bed and trotted after his brother.
“I’ll eat the small cake.”
Shen Tiantian looked up with his little face, tugged on his brother’s clothes, and his expression became extremely obedient.
His eyes sparkled, dark, moist, and sparkling, as he looked at Shen Jinfeng with anticipation.
With this little appearance, he was just short of hugging Shen Jinfeng’s hand and rubbing his face against it.
Shen Jinfeng looked at the little tyke, who was both infuriating and amusing. He really wanted to pinch his nose and teach him a lesson.
But don’t be fooled by the little one’s small size; his temper was big.
Shen Jinfeng really didn’t dare to provoke him casually now.
“Alright, but the small cake is a reward for the little friend who sleeps obediently tonight. As soon as I came in, I saw you making a fuss. It’s so late and you’re still not sleeping. It seems you’re not being obedient.”
Hearing this, Shen Tiantian quickly ran back, dived into his wrinkled little quilt, and tightly closed his little eyes.
“I’m sleeping, I’m sleeping! I’m a very obedient little friend.”
Shen Jinfeng had dealt with the little brat in a few words. With a smile on his lips, he picked up the pillow that had fallen on the floor and placed it by his bed.
“I’ll come and check later. If you’re still sleeping obediently, I’ll give you the small cake tomorrow.”
Shen Tiantian didn’t dare to respond and could only keep his eyes tightly closed, showing that he was trying very hard to sleep.
Without the lively and energetic little cub, the air seemed to have quieted down in an instant.
Shen Jinfeng stood by the bed for a while. It wasn’t until Shen Tiantian’s breathing became shallow and he fell into a dream with his little head tilted that he left with light steps.
At the door, Shen Jinfeng found that Qin Ye had not left, and his steps paused.
“Thank you for tonight.”
So young, and yet he came up to take care of Tiantian at night.
Qin Ye, however, didn’t think it was a big deal. He nodded and ran downstairs on his short little legs.
Looking at his back, Shen Jinfeng pondered for a while, found a friend in his phone’s contact list, and asked:
[I remember the Qin family was looking for someone a while ago, right?]
