Shen Yue finally failed to let Shen Yichen drink her tea.
As if foreseeing something, Si Chengyou found an excuse to run away half a minute before Shen Yue brought over the tea set.
Before leaving, Si Chengyou said he would come over the next day to deliver the sculpture. He happened to know someone who could carve a toad for Shen Yichen. He could even help arrange the feng shui placement and set up the lighting.
Shen Yichen was all smiles when he heard this and chatted with Si Chengyou for a while. His earlier annoyance from Shen Hui's and Shen Wu's teasing had dissipated.
As Shen Yue watched Si Chengyou and her eldest brother chatting and laughing while leaving, she mentally compared the two.
The current Si Chengyou was still not as tolerant as the one in her memories.
In her memories, Si Chengyou had calmly drank five cups of the tea she brewed before finally revealing his true feelings after confirming she really had no talent for tea brewing.
But the current Si Chengyou couldn't even finish one cup before giving up. His endurance was clearly not as strong yet.
Thinking this, Shen Yue suddenly recalled that Si Chengyou had mentioned being afraid of small soft-bodied animals.
Si Chengyou was not scared of animals like snakes or pythons. But he would instinctively fear and get goosebumps from small crawling creatures like caterpillars, silkworms, and earthworms.
Although the Si Chengyou in her memories said this, when facing the expensive caterpillar pets Shen Yue had bought and kept in prison, he showed no abnormal reaction. Instead, he calmly let his dog eat the bugs. This made Shen Yue unable to confirm if that piece of information about him was real or fake.
Was it true or false? She would test it out tomorrow.
When Si Chengyou finished sending Shen Yichen back, Shen Yichen happened to see Shen Yue messing around with his tea set.
Shen Yichen had assumed Shen Yue was just playing. But when the aroma of tea spread, he realized every action Shen Yue took while brewing tea exuded a strange tranquil aura.
Shen Yue brought the freshly brewed tea to Shen Yichen and asked, "Eldest Brother, why did you accept his gift?"
Shen Yichen took the tea from Shen Yue. It was still scalding hot. He didn't hurry to drink it but instead asked back, "Why can't I accept his gift?"
Shen Yue could have evaded Shen Yichen's counter question with some nonsense. But she didn't do that. Instead, she used what Shen Yichen had taught her in the past to probe further: "Eldest Brother, you once said to not take favors from others easily. Since he's not a relative or close friend, wouldn't accepting his gift mean we now owe him?"
This was Shen Yichen's first time discussing such matters with his younger siblings.
Strangely enough, none of the siblings in their family were actually stupid. But looking at them overall, their IQ was definitely higher than their EQ.
Among the seven family members, Shen Yichen felt only he and Shen Shuanyi had decent EQ.
Shen Shuanyi had honed his EQ while struggling in the entertainment industry. Shen Yichen didn't interfere much. As for the rest, while Shen Yichen wanted to guide them, they were stubborn and unreceptive, doing as they pleased.
Hearing Shen Yue ask this question now, Shen Yichen was very moved.
After so long, finally one of the kiddos was listening to the interpersonal tips he taught them daily.
Shen Yichen sank into the happiness of successful parenting. He unconsciously took a sip of Shen Yue's tea but got his tongue scalded. It was not serious though. "The tea you made tastes great," he praised.
Shen Yue grinned. "I practiced for a long time."
Shen Yichen took two more sips before explaining to Shen Yue, "The one who came today is Old Three's superior. He claimed to have come to visit Old Three as a war buddy but actually represented the country. The gift he brought was just delivered through him.
Old Three has sacrificed himself for the nation and gotten injured. For better or worse, he will be disabled to some degree for the latter half of his life. But this was an outcome he agreed to when first stepping onto the frontlines.
By accepting the gift, I'm not saying I owe Minister Si any personal favors. Rather, this shows the country our stance.
Old Three's injuries are his glory while getting to live is his luck. No matter the outcome, we have no complaints."
After listening, Shen Yue unconsciously smiled. She praised Shen Yichen, "Eldest Brother is truly amazing."
Shen Yichen relished her compliments and immediately offered to increase Shen Yue's allowance.
It just so happened to be money confiscated from Shen Wu's card.
Shen Yue happily accepted without hesitation.
From their conversation, she knew Si Chengyou currently posed no threat to Eldest Brother. That was good enough.
"Eldest Brother, there's something I want to tell you," Shen Yue suddenly said.
Shen Yichen drank another mouthful of tea in his calm, content state. "What is it?" he lazily asked.
"I've taken a liking to someone."
The tea stuck in Shen Yichen's throat. He couldn't swallow or spit it out and started violently coughing.
"Cough cough, you said *cough cough*...who? Could it be that boy Ye Yin?"
Shen Yichen had a deep impression of Ye Yin.
After losing that competition years ago, Ye Yin had kept his promise to never bother Shen Yue at school again. He had also worked very hard these past few years, making a name for himself in various major competitions. One could say he had become quite the rising figure.
So even if Shen Yue directly said she secretly promised herself to Ye Yin, Shen Yichen felt he could understand. After all, that Ye Yin boy truly had good character. He would definitely treat Shen Yue well in the future.
Shen Yue was not very smart while Ye Yin was very smart. The two complemented each other perfectly.
In his heart, Shen Yichen was deceiving himself. But he still had to refuse. Shen Yue was still too young...
"It's not Ye Yin. It's someone else. That person would make a great bodyguard for Huihui. Eldest Brother, could you hire him?"
"I can't...Huh? What bodyguard?"
"One of the people who was experimented on together with Huihui in the past has come looking for her, Eldest Brother. Can we keep that person around?"
Experimented on. Just those three words and Shen Yichen understood everything.
After thinking for a bit, he nodded. "Sure. Let me know if you need any help or have questions."
Shen Yue nodded obediently at Shen Yichen with a sweet smile. "Okay!"
The next day while going to school, Shen Yue happened to catch a ride with Shen Wu who had no driver. She first dropped Shen Wu off at the hospital where he worked. Then she went to school with Shen Hui before successfully being late.
The penalty for being late was getting dismissed later than everyone else along with Shen Hui.
By the time Shen Yue picked up Shen Wu and Uncle Zhang to head home together, it was already 6:30 PM.
At that time, the sunset glowed red in the sky. But when the three of them walked into the second yard after entering the Shen house, they saw a conspicuous giant golden toad the size of three Shen Yues.
