When Shen Qingtang saw the man sitting in the wheelchair, she was momentarily stunned.
The man turned around and, noticing a little girl carrying a basket, was equally surprised.
He appeared to be in poor health, with a frail and gentle demeanor that gave off an air of harmlessness. His soft voice made it easy for others to let their guard down.
“Can you carry that? Isn’t it too heavy?”
Instead of answering Shen Qingtang, the man posed another question.
Shen Qingtang looked down at the basket of fruit she was holding.
“It’s not heavy.”
The man’s sharp eyes noticed that Shen Qingtang’s attire was clearly high-class, yet she was doing manual labor.
“Where are the adults in your family? This kind of work is for grown-ups, not a child like you.”
Shen Qingtang was only five years old and didn’t have the cunning to realize the man was testing her.
“I wanted to do it myself. I wanted to help…”
She spoke shyly.
The departure of her nanny had left her feeling insecure, and hearing the servants talk about how much Ji Tingzhou doted on Ji Nian made Shen Qingtang even more eager to fit in.
But no one had taught her how to quickly adapt to a new environment, so she could only try her best to get along with those around her and make them like her.
Some people, seeing how young she was, began to harbor ill intentions. Unable to openly bully her, they instead pretended to need her help, deliberately making fun of her.
For example, one servant had claimed to have a stomachache and asked Shen Qingtang to carry these things to the lake.
Shen Qingtang, who never knew how to refuse, had come here without a second thought, even though she was in the middle of preparing for something else.
Only when she saw the lake did she realize she might have been tricked, but she couldn’t bring herself to be angry. Instead, she wondered if she had done something wrong to upset the servant.
Perhaps because she hadn’t had anyone to talk to for so long, the man’s few words made Shen Qingtang lower her guard, and she ended up sharing a lot.
Her identity, however, was no surprise.
“Shen,” he mused. Interesting. The daughter of Shen Rushan?
“It’s not your fault. The person who tricked you is the bad one.”
He beckoned Shen Qingtang to come closer.
The little girl thought for a moment, put down the basket, rubbed her sore wrists, and walked over.
The man pointed to the green lotus in the lake.
“I hate the color green, so I don’t like this lotus. I want to destroy it.”
“Is it the flower’s fault?”
Shen Qingtang was speechless.
No one had ever said such things to her before…
“It’s not the flower’s fault…”
The child’s eyes were filled with confusion.
Seeing the little girl’s bewildered expression, the man’s eyes softened.
If his sister’s child had survived, they would have been about this age.
Thinking of the child who had died along with his sister before they were even born, the man felt a pang of sorrow. He turned his head away and coughed, his face growing even paler.
Shen Qingtang walked over, picked up the small blanket that had slipped from his lap, and tucked it back around him.
The man’s gaze softened.
What a pity. Such a good child, yet she belonged to Ji Tingzhou. Though perhaps it was precisely because Ji Tingzhou didn’t value her that she had such a pure and kind nature.
“The lotus won’t turn pink just because I don’t like its color.”
“You have your own color. There’s no need to envy others.”
Remembering the look of envy on Shen Qingtang’s face when she mentioned someone else, the man recalled the report from his subordinate about a child who looked exactly like Ji Tingzhou and was suspected to be his biological daughter.
Ji Tingzhou’s daughter? She couldn’t be anything good.
Just another little demon from the Ji Family.
The man’s brows furrowed in disgust, and the warmth in his eyes was replaced by coldness.
When he looked at Shen Qingtang again, his gaze held a complex emotion.
If she had been a bit older, she might have recognized it as guilt.
“The kinder you are, the easier it is to hurt yourself. In that way, you’re very much like your father.”
Shen Qingtang looked puzzled.
The man smiled faintly. “I’m not talking about your adoptive father. I mean your real father, Shen Rushan.”
Shen Qingtang’s eyes lit up!
“Uncle, you knew my dad!”
This man actually knew her father, that shadowy figure in her memory who she only remembered as having large, warm hands.
“Yes.”
“I’d love to tell you more about him, but I’m a bit busy now and have to leave. Could you do something for me?”
Hearing that he was leaving, Shen Qingtang’s expression turned regretful, and her eyes followed him.
“Of course, Uncle.”
Since he was her father’s friend and had comforted her, Shen Qingtang was more than willing to help.
The man softly praised her as a good child and took something out of his pocket, placing it in her hand.
...
Gu Xiuyuan’s lateness inevitably angered his father, though given the public setting, he didn’t say much.
Instead, he introduced his son to his business partner.
Hearing the man’s compliments, Gu Xiuyuan’s father couldn’t help but feel a hint of pride, though he downplayed it. “He’s still young. He has a lot to learn.”
Gu Xiuyuan stood by his father’s side, maintaining a composed and polite demeanor, though his mind was elsewhere.
He was thinking about Shen Qingtang and the fireflies he had hidden away.
He also thought about Shen Qingtang and that “newnew.”
The comparison left him feeling… conflicted.
He was too young to understand why the differences between people could be so vast.
Though that “newnew” had given him that strange bottle, thinking about the girl’s fierce demeanor made it hard for him to like her.
She’s so scary…
He decided he’d stay away from people like her in the future.
Though it’s not like they’d cross paths again anyway. His father would never allow him to associate with a servant’s child.
“Good evening, everyone.”
The lights dimmed.
A spotlight shone on the staircase, and the previously lively room fell silent as everyone’s attention turned to the figure standing there.
Everyone likely had the same thought.
What does Ji Tingzhou look like?!
Some said he was a towering figure, nearly two meters tall. Others claimed he was a sinister, overweight man. There were even rumors that he had a baby face, given his young age.
But when the tall, poised figure stepped into the spotlight, with his jet-black hair, cool-toned skin, and sharp, striking features that hinted at mixed heritage, the room was captivated.
No one could have imagined that the young heir of the Ji Family, who had killed all his siblings and skinned his own father, could possess such striking beauty.
The first to look away from Ji Tingzhou was Gu Xiuyuan.
He was staring in shock at the little girl in the blue dress standing to Ji Tingzhou’s right.
It was Shen Qingtang!
She was a member of the Ji Family!
“Xiuyuan, see that girl? Find a way to befriend her. I’ll overlook the whole firefly incident.”
Gu Xiuyuan froze.
How did his father know about that?
Aside from the fireflies, he wasn’t surprised that his father wanted him to get close to Shen Qingtang. He even wanted to say they were already friends.
But before he could speak, he noticed his father’s gaze was directed elsewhere.
Following his father’s eyes to Ji Tingzhou’s left—
Gu Xiuyuan: !!!!!?
Wasn’t she supposed to be a servant’s child?
Yes.
The little girl standing to Ji Tingzhou’s left, clutching his sleeve, was the same one who had demanded Gu Xiuyuan show her his “newnew.”
It suddenly dawned on Gu Xiuyuan why Ji Tingzhou looked so familiar.
The resemblance between the two was uncanny—it was as if they were carved from the same mold. Even if Ji Tingzhou had another child, it couldn’t possibly look more like him.
Ji Nian’s identity was unmistakable.
The room erupted into whispers. Though these people prided themselves on their decorum and kept their voices low, the sheer number of them made the chatter quite loud.
Ji Nian, who appeared every bit as aloof and regal as her father, was actually struggling to hold her pose. Her arms were getting tired.
‘Is it over yet? My arms are so sore. Can I let go now?’
She looked up at Ji Tingzhou.
He glanced down at her with a look of condescension.
‘Endure it. If you let go, I’ll spank you.’
