Chapter 6
Shen Baizhou trailed behind Xing Nuo in a daze, his gaze fixed on his younger brother’s round, fluffy little head.
Xing Nuo, sensing his brother’s stare, blinked his watery eyes and suddenly turned his little face away.
Seeing his brother stunned, Xing Nuo’s eyes crinkled with amusement, curving into crescent moons.
“Brother…silly!”
Seeing that his younger brother was truly alright, Shen Baizhou couldn’t help but sigh in relief and pinch his face.
“You’re the silly one!”
You almost died, you know!
Shen Baizhou sighed softly, kneading his brother’s soft, delicate face with evident satisfaction.
“Time for lunch, it’s almost one o’clock.”
Shen Wen set down the takeout he had bought on the way, glancing at Shen Baizhou. He finally understood what he was so worried about.
The first time Shen Baizhou had come to the castle to take care of Xing Nuo, Shen Wen, fearing he would miss the cub’s meal times, had told him:
“The documentaries are right, human cubs can’t miss their three meals a day. Make sure Xing Nuo eats properly.”
Shen Baizhou’s understanding of humans was extremely limited. He saw them as fragile as glass dolls and tended to overthink things.
This led to him becoming extremely anxious whenever Xing Nuo didn’t eat on time.
Fortunately, before one o’clock, Xing Nuo obediently finished his lunch.
Xing Nuo had a small appetite, just a few bites and he was full.
The moment Xing Nuo turned away, Shen Baizhou scooped the remaining food into his gaping maw.
Like a bottomless pit, the food vanished in an instant.
Shen Baizhou narrowed his eyes, chewing, thinking that human food was quite delicious.
Seeing this, Shen Wen lowered his hand from his chin, his expression turning cold. He slapped the back of Shen Baizhou’s head.
“How can you eat like that?”
What if Xing Nuo realized he was a monster?
Xing Nuo was a human, with a fragile body, how could he withstand such a fright?
Shen Wen had repeatedly warned Shen Baizhou not to reveal his monstrous instincts in front of Xing Nuo.
“If you don’t learn your lesson, you’ll end up like those other monsters.”
Shen Wen was cold and heartless towards these monsters he had created, his eyes devoid of warmth.
This time, Shen Baizhou finally behaved.
He hunched over in his chair, head lowered, his large frame looking rather pitiful.
Shen Baizhou nodded vigorously, his silver-white hair falling over his eyes, whispering:
“I won’t eat like that next time.”
Shen Wen looked at Shen Baizhou like this and rubbed his forehead in exasperation.
It was only thanks to his immense power that he survived; otherwise, with his intelligence, Shen Baizhou would have been torn to shreds in the monster horde long ago.
Why couldn’t he be more like Shen Yan?
Shen Wen sighed, stood up, and picked up the little cub who was fiddling with the television.
“Xing Nuo, how about going out with Dad to buy clothes this afternoon?”
The clothes they were wearing were the ones they had brought from the castle.
Shen Wen at least had a set of silver-trimmed clothes. Although the style was unusual, it wasn’t too conspicuous in a crowd.
Xing Nuo, on the other hand, only had robes.
Several of them were elaborate and intricate, layered, requiring a matching small crown and agate rings.
In comparison, the clothes in this world were much simpler and more comfortable.
Xing Nuo wasn’t picky about clothes. Being with his dad made him happy. He cheerfully squinted his eyes and nodded.
“Okay.”
Before heading out, Shen Wen looked at himself in the mirror, then at Shen Baizhou, who was standing beside him, and suddenly said:
“Your hair needs to be dyed black too.”
Their whole family couldn’t have multi-colored hair.
Shen Baizhou looked at his silver hair in the mirror, ruffled it, and gave an “Oh.”
Xing Nuo also looked at his now-curly hair, mimicking his brother, ruffling it and nodding.
“Dye black.”
Shen Wen smiled and tapped Xing Nuo’s nose. “Not Zaizai.”
Xing Nuo was still small, and Shen Wen had seen children with blonde hair, likely of foreign descent, in the complex.
Shen Baizhou, however, his hair was too unusual. Dyeing it was a must.
So, they split into two groups.
Shen Wen took Zaizai to the mall to buy clothes, while Shen Baizhou sat in the hair salon, saying expressionlessly:
“Dye my hair black.”
The hairstylist looked at Shen Baizhou’s hair and exclaimed:
“Dude, you actually managed to dye your hair such a pure silver-white, must have taken a lot of effort!”
The dye job was flawless; this salon must be quite skilled!
Shen Baizhou didn’t bother responding, simply lifting his eyelids slightly in acknowledgment.
It was Xing Nuo’s first time in such a large shopping mall.
It happened to be Saturday, and the mall was bustling with young couples arm in arm, families with children, and groups of giggling girls.
The combined noise created a lively atmosphere.
Xing Nuo’s eyes couldn’t keep up. Nestled in his dad’s arms, his dark eyes reflecting the mall lights, he turned his head this way and that, taking in the sights.
“So many!”
Shen Wen, also rarely seeing so many humans, raised an eyebrow and nodded.
“Indeed, there are a lot of people. This is a mall. Dad will often bring Zaizai here, okay?”
Xing Nuo didn’t understand, repeating innocently: “Mall…what’s that?”
Shen Wen’s smooth hair fell over his shoulder, his light-colored eyes reflecting the mall lights like a galaxy, his voice gentle:
“A mall is a place where they sell many things. The clothes we are buying today are here.”
As he spoke, Shen Wen carried Zaizai upstairs.
Behind them, a group of girls giggled and nudged each other:
“That child is so cute!”
“Is he a celebrity’s child? I’m so envious of that hair!”
“Blonde hair actually looks so good? I used to think it was tacky!”
“Ahhh, the little one looked at me!”
Oblivious to the discussion they had sparked, Shen Wen and his son went straight to the clothing stores.
The third floor of the mall was almost entirely dedicated to children’s clothing, with prices that weren’t cheap. Only a few parents with children were browsing.
Shen Wen held a black card, and whenever he saw something he liked, he simply had the staff pack it up and deliver it to his home.
In one store, Xing Nuo spotted a set of clothes printed with sunflowers and was instantly captivated, touching them repeatedly.
Seeing how much he liked them, Shen Wen took him to try them on.
With his new favorite clothes, the sunflower-trimmed robe was ruthlessly discarded by Xing Nuo.
After changing, Xing Nuo ran to the mirror.
The child in the mirror, with his three-head proportions, curly hair, and a casual light beige hoodie and matching pants and shoes, looked even tinier.
Mimicking the other children, Xing Nuo turned around, stood on tiptoe, and looked up at his dad.
“Clothes~”
The outfit was designed as a parent-child set, and Shen Wen also changed into the same style.
He was tall and slender, his smooth golden hair almost reaching his waist, his features sharp and his face fair. At first glance, he had an androgynous beauty.
However, upon closer inspection, his prominent Adam’s apple and high nose bridge left no room for misunderstanding about his gender.
Wearing the hoodie with a small sunflower print on the chest, Shen Wen’s aura seemed to soften.
Standing next to Xing Nuo, looking at their matching outfits, big and small, he nodded in satisfaction.
“It does look good.”
At the checkout, the staff genuinely praised them:
“These clothes suit you both so well. We’ll be getting more sunflower-themed clothing soon. Would you like to sign up for a membership? We can notify you about promotions!”
This immediately piqued Shen Wen’s interest.
Xing Nuo loved sunflowers, these vibrant and radiant flowers.
Just like Xing Nuo, bright and eye-catching at first glance.
Shen Wen loved that his Zaizai possessed such vibrant energy, not sickly or weak, a sight that brought joy to his heart.
Shen Wen took out his phone and, somewhat clumsily, scanned the membership QR code.
Passing by another clothing store, they also picked out a few items for Shen Baizhou.
After finishing their shopping, Shen Wen took Xing Nuo back downstairs to the hair salon.
As soon as they arrived, Xing Nuo struggled to get down. The moment his feet touched the ground, he ran towards his brother.
“Brother!”
Running up to the silver-haired teenager, Xing Nuo was about to bury his face in his arms when he looked up and froze.
The other person chuckled, teasing Xing Nuo and rubbing his small face.
“Whose little one is this, calling me brother?”
On the other side, Shen Baizhou, his hair now dyed black, scowled and glanced at the white-haired teenager.
“Xing Nuo, come here, brother is over here.”
Xing Nuo’s little face was flushed from being rubbed, the whole cub dazed. He took two steps back and looked up at the black-haired Shen Baizhou next to him.
“Brother?”
Xing Nuo scratched his face in confusion, tilting his head, uncertain.
Shen Baizhou hummed in response, and, fearing his expression was too stiff and might frighten Xing Nuo, forced a smile.
“Brother dyed his hair. Didn’t I say before we left that I was going to dye it black?”
Xing Nuo remembered, but he was still young and didn’t have a clear understanding of hair dyeing.
Seeing his brother’s drastically changed hair, Xing Nuo hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should recognize him.
He slowly walked over and extended his small hand.
Shen Baizhou understandingly bent his knees and crouched down in front of the little cub.
He lowered his head, revealing his newly dyed black hair for Xing Nuo to easily touch.
Xing Nuo touched his brother’s freshly dyed hair, his bright eyes sparkling with curiosity.
“Black?”
Shen Baizhou hummed in agreement. Seeing that Zaizai wasn’t averse to it, he picked him up.
“Don’t recognize your brother anymore?”
Xing Nuo, his small face flushed from having mistaken someone else for his brother, shook his head vigorously.
“Recognize.”
As he spoke, Xing Nuo twitched his nose and, like a little puppy, nuzzled Shen Baizhou’s neck, sniffing.
As if confirming something, Xing Nuo nodded firmly.
“Is brother.”
Xing Nuo remembered this scent.
Cold, with a hint of salty sea air.
Shen Wen walked over and ruffled Zaizai’s hair, his eyes curving into a smile.
“Zaizai is so smart, recognizing your brother right away.”
Xing Nuo covered his messy hair, babbling, and buried his face in his brother’s shoulder, ignoring his dad for the moment.
Shen Baizhou spoke seriously:
“Xing Nuo isn’t used to the dyed hair, you shouldn’t ruffle his hair so much.”
Shen Wen, still smiling, let out a cold snort.
“Understood.”
Anyone who didn’t know better would think Shen Baizhou was the cub’s father.
So protective.
