Shen Yichen had originally been determined to have a good talk with Shen Jize, preferably making him never want to read those anti-humanitarian works of literature again. He had even simulated in his mind a hundred possible responses from Shen Jize as well as ways he would deal with them, but he never expected that the reason why Shen Jize always read those strange books was actually because of Shen Wu.
"Little Wu is quite attached to me. I can feel it. It's just that our areas of expertise and hobbies are different, making it sometimes hard to chat together. But once, when I asked Little Wu about the male lead in Nvnvwang* making the female lead cut her waist in the story, he said a lot, like where the human waist is located, how long the grafting process would take after removal, and how it should be preserved if transplantation wasn't immediately required..."
"Xiaosi**, no need to go into such detail," Shen Yichen interrupted Shen Jize's oversharing.
Shen Jize oh-ed and skipped over that part to continue talking about something else. "Little Wu looked very happy, and we also had something to talk about, so ever since then, I often read some books that everyone else finds strange, and then I use the plots in the books to chat with Little Wu. Today, the situation in the book where an 18-year-old boy still needed to drink milk I thought was abnormal, but Little Wu would probably have a more professional explanation. I'm sorry, big brother, were these books I read causing trouble for you guys?"
Shen Yichen had originally been very bothered, but now he was no longer bothered. He even felt like crying. The child had finally grown up and learned to be considerate of others. Even if the way he showed consideration was a bit strange, this was still a big step forward for their family, and he couldn't suppress such positive enthusiasm.
Thus, Shen Yichen, who had originally been prepared to correct Shen Jize's unhealthy hobby, took the initiative after this conversation to have Lucky Secretary No. 6 from his company take on the important task of helping Shen Jize find books.
Shen Jize's beloved books would never suffer harm again.
After Shen Jize finished speaking, Shen Yue passed on the words Si Chengyou had left with when he departed to Shen Yichen, who said he knew about it and had already cleared his schedule for that day in advance.
Even if there was a high probability that the place Si Chengyou was taking Shen Hui to next Wednesday could not be somewhere the rest of them could tag along, he still had to show Shen Hui his attitude.
Time passed quickly, and one week, fleeting as it was, went by in the blink of an eye.
During this week, Su Yunan had completely recovered back to normal, and under Shen Hui's threats and Shen Yue's coaxing, he had successfully called out a new form of address — "Yue jie"*.
That day, Shen Yue had shamelessly lounged around in Shen Hui's lab, shouting that either Shen Hui or Su Yunan had to call her "jie", otherwise she would just lie here and not leave!
Under the barrage of pestering, Shen Hui upheld her creed of "brothers may die but the dao endures" and successfully pushed Su Yunan out ahead of her.
The first "Yue jie" came into being accordingly.
Shen Yue felt great.
Her wish fulfilled, she took her leave.
On Wednesday of that week, Si Chengyou's car came early in the morning to pick up Shen Hui, and there were also many armed vehicles surrounding it. One look and you knew things were not simple.
All of Shen's family was present; even Su Yunan had come out from the lab and looked at Shen Hui worriedly.
In contrast, Shen Hui was exceptionally calm as she told everyone she would be back after a bit.
Before Shen Hui left, Shen Yue grabbed her hand and said to her, "Huihui, let's go to the amusement park together after you get back. Big brother has cleared people out of there in advance already, so there won't be too many people around."
Shen Hui looked at Shen Yue, then suddenly reached out and stroked her head. "Okay."
...
The place Si Chengyou took Shen Hui to was none other than where the death sentences for Su Chaohai and Zhou Rong would be carried out today.
Unlike other criminals, these two people were tied to too many powerful figures. If they were kept imprisoned instead of executed, no one knew when someone might come rescue them out.
In the end, these two were highly intelligent talents, and if it had been anyone else managing this matter, they might have spared the two for a time out of appreciation for their intellects and had them research some new technologies instead.
But Si Chengyou would not do that.
He knew the potential dangers that would arise if these two did not die, so despite much opposition and questioning, he had still strived to get their death penalties approved for today, lest the longer it was delayed, the more that could go wrong.
What Shen Hui had requested was to be able to say a final word to them before their deaths.
Shen Hui said she wanted to see just how much good could come out from "when one is facing death, one's words are good"*.
Si Chengyou felt there probably wouldn't be much good, but he kept silent.
Si Chengyou took Shen Hui through facial and fingerprint scans at each checkpoint until they finally arrived at a clean, white room where two people were locked up.
When those two saw Shen Hui, the looks of despair in their eyes suddenly sprang back to life.
Seeing their reaction, Si Chengyou asked, "Do you need me to accompany you?"
"No need. I want to chat with them alone for a bit."
Si Chengyou nodded. "Alright. I'll be right outside."
After Si Chengyou left, those two instantly grew excited. "Huihui, do you have it on you? Did you bring it?!"
Shen Hui's eyes cooled slightly as she took out a small box from her bag. "It's right here."
Su Chaohai immediately burst out laughing. "Hahahaha, clever Huihui, later when we get executed, you definitely have to stay by our side..."
Shen Hui cut off Su Chaohai's words. "By what right?"
It seemed to be because this was Shen Hui's first time rebelling against them that Su Chaohai was stunned into momentary speechlessness before Zhou Rong also opened her mouth. "Huihui, because we're your parents. We gave you life!"
Shen Hui let out a cold laugh. "Stop pretending. I already know everything. Tell me how you two swapped me and Shen Yue. Speak properly and I'll agree to watch you die later."
Once Shen Hui finished speaking, the two people's expressions finally shifted from delight to panic.
They shakily recounted parts of the truth, hiding only the portion relating to the spacetime medium, but Shen Hui had also guessed most of the story correctly.
Seeing that Shen Hui didn't seem moved at all, Zhou Rong racked her brains before suddenly saying, "Huihui, even if you're not our biological child, we truly love you very much. The things we did to you were also because we wanted you to become even better. Even our child — we intentionally had her just for your sake. Without you, there would be no her. You're our everything! We love you!"
A thump resonated within Shen Hui's heart as she suddenly recalled that time when she had woken up in the middle of the night to see Shen Yue silently shedding tears in her sleep. Her heart felt as if it was being clutched by someone, suddenly unable to breathe.
In retaliation, she opened the box in her hands. It was completely empty inside.
Gazing coldly at the despairing looks on the two people before her, Shen Hui laughed happily.
"You two should have died long ago."
At this time, Si Chengyou, who had been eavesdropping outside the room, was strangely reminded by these words of a certain memory.
He couldn't help but think that perhaps Shen Hui really enjoyed saying this line to people on the verge of death.
After the conversation ended and Shen Hui walked out of the room, people soon entered to administer injections into the two prisoners*.
Originally, shooting by firing squad had been scheduled, but since Shen Hui was here to observe, Si Chengyou had applied to change the method of execution to injection. At least it wouldn't look as bloody to her.
In the end, Si Chengyou still wanted to try protecting the nation's flower that was the currently 15-year-old Shen Hui a little.
Shen Hui stared unblinkingly as the executions were carried out until the two people had thoroughly lost all vital signs before shifting her eyes away.
Outside the room, Shen Hui handed over to Si Chengyou that box which had appeared empty.
Just as Si Chengyou was about to open it, Shen Hui stopped him. "Open it somewhere else. The box has a shielding effect that prevents the medium from activating, but once you open the box, it will automatically start capturing mental energy."
Si Chengyou instantly retracted his hand. "Didn't you just say earlier you didn't bring it?"
"I was deceiving them. I wanted to let them taste having hope once more before having it crushed into despair again."
Si Chengyou fell silent.
The 15-year-old Shen Hui was still ruthless.
Only...feeling the weight of the box in his hand, he still found it unbelievable.
Seeing Si Chengyou's gaze continuously fixed on the box, Shen Hui lightly laughed. "I know you want this. Recently, I've remembered some things, like how in a certain timeline, you happened across me by coincidence after I escaped and asked me for the medium. I didn't give it to you then, so you tried to kill me for it. Thanks to you back then, I learned some martial arts skills."
Shen Hui spoke so casually, but Si Chengyou was temporarily at a loss for how to respond. What Shen Hui was talking about was Timeline 12. In his memories, the clues Shen Shuangchen desperately transmitted back had allowed him to pinpoint Shen Hui's exact location, where he directly encountered her.
Shen Hui didn't seem to expect Si Chengyou to answer either as she continued rambling on her own. "But she believed in you, so I'm also willing to believe in you now."
"That day, I saw you two hooking pinkies."
"Shen Yue usually looks kinda spaced out. Occasionally when she smiles it fades quickly. I know she has something on her mind, but don't know how to bring it up."
"All this time, she's the one taking care of my feelings, going along with me. Sometimes, I want to do something for her too."
"She believes in you, so I believe in you. This time, I'm willing to play matchmaker for you."
......
When Shen Hui got home it wasn't too late yet, right about 11am, just in time to have lunch before heading out to the amusement park.
As she got out of the car, she saw Shen Yue waving to her from the guard house, Shen Yichen sitting near the entrance playing chess with Shen Shuangchen. Shen Shuangyi was arguing with Shen Wu again for some reason, while Shen Jize tried to mediate but with little effect.
Seeing Shen Hui return, everyone looked towards the entrance.
Sensing these gazes on her, Shen Hui's eyes curled into a smile.
"I'm home."
