After Shen Youfei left, Shen Youlin lived with Shen Chaowen and Yu Fanxing for a period of time. However, for Yu Fanxing, Shen Youlin was a completely unfamiliar child. In previous years, they would only see each other a few times a year, and whenever she saw him, it reminded her of the dark times from a few years ago.
She found it difficult to like Shen Youlin as a child, let alone the life that came with him.
Not long after, Shen Youlin was sent back to the old Shen family residence.
The Old Madam liked children, but with so many grandchildren, she couldn't pay attention to Shen Youlin at all. Some of the Shen family children would be sent back to the old residence for a period of time when their parents were busy, and then brought back home when they were done. Only Shen Youlin was different. No one came to pick him up.
Even though he was at home, no one cared about him. He felt like a child without a family.
Zhang Yi was the housekeeper of the Shen family, but she also had another identity. She was an orphan adopted by the Old Madam many years ago. She had never married and took care of the Old Madam. Everyone thought she was grateful to the Old Madam and hadn't found someone she liked, so she had remained unmarried. But no one knew how deep her obsession with Shen Chaowen was.
This woman was both crazy and smart, and she was skilled at acting.
She took all her revenge out on Shen Youlin, the child who no one cared about. He was chained with an iron collar around his neck and locked in a dark room, with only clouds as his company.
For a total of 783 days, no one cared about this child in the Shen family.
Very few people asked about Shen Youlin, and even if they did, Zhang Yi would dismiss it with a few words.
During this time, there were two New Year celebrations, and Shen Youlin was allowed to come out of his room and appear in front of everyone. He tried to tell everyone about what Zhang Yi had done, but no one believed him.
"Have you seen how circus trainers tame wild animals? They use a combination of rewards and punishments. They hit them with a stick and give them a sweet date. Before the performance, they bang an iron canister in front of the lions and tigers, and even the fiercest beasts are tamed."
"Zhang Yi is the same. She goes to extreme lengths, but I'm not a wild animal."
When taming failed, Zhang Yi tried to drive him insane.
In front of him, she killed Yun Duo, recording the sound of Yun Duo's screams and playing it on a loop in his room.
"Whether through taming or driving me insane, she wants me to kill Yu Fanxing."
Yu Shu opened her mouth in surprise, wanting to ask why, but then she realized there was no need.
Why bother asking a madwoman why she did such things?
"Zhang Yi is really good at acting. She deceived everyone, making them believe she is a kind and gentle woman. Compared to her, I am like a child who has changed dramatically after my sister left, constantly lying like a naughty child in search of adults' attention."
Apart from Shen Youfei, who else would care about him and understand him?
"I almost went truly mad. Perhaps I was already mad at that time."
That year, Yu Heting and Lin Yanqiu came to the Shen family as guests. They wanted to see Shen Youlin, their little grandson, and noticed something was wrong from Shen Youlin's reaction to Zhang Yi.
Shen Youlin sneered, "At that time, I didn't want to say anything anymore. Grandfather knew something was wrong, but he had no evidence, so he planted a bug on me. And those people, when they heard the recording, didn't believe that Zhang Yi could do such a thing. They thought the recording was fake or that Zhang Yi had some kind of reason."
On the night when Zhang Yi was taken away by the police, Shen Youlin set fire to that building, erasing everything from the past.
"And then I became a troublemaker. At first, it was resentment in my heart, always looking for someone to vent my frustrations on. Later on, it was about wanting to make sure they cared about me. And eventually, it just became a habit," Shen Youlin shrugged helplessly. "Being a troublemaker is truly enjoyable."
Once obedient and well-behaved, no one paid attention. But later, when I became willful and reckless, everyone started to notice.
It proved that old saying: the crying child gets candy, while the well-behaved child starves.
Yu Shu asked, "You admit that you were a troublemaker, but how do you explain the way you bullied me in the past?"
"To get attention, of course! Isn't it common for little boys to tease the girls they like?" Shen Youlin couldn't help but laugh. "Were you never teased by boys when you were little? Had your hair cut or your braids pulled?"
"Yes, but in the end, I would pin them down and give them a beating."
"So, you were fierce from an early age?"
"Yeah, in elementary school, I often got into fights with boys. If anyone touched me, I would retaliate fiercely, even if I didn't always win. I would fight back the next time as well."
A girl without anyone backing her up needs the courage to stand up to bullies.
Yu Shu patted his cheek. "That's all in the past. From now on, I'll take care of you."
Shen Youlin hummed and snuggled into her embrace. "I promise I won't hurt you anymore."
"I know," Yu Shu patted him. "I promise I won't let you stay in the darkness alone."
After some sweet moments together, they started to plan how to get revenge tonight.
"Are you sure it was Zhao Wenqian who did this? How could she know all these things?"
Shen Youlin sighed. "That idiot was probably manipulated by Zhang Yi. I didn't expect her to be so foolish, easily becoming a pawn in someone else's hands."
After Shen Youlin entered the villa where he had lived as a child, he followed the sound and found Zhao Wenqian panicking and leaving the kitchen.
On the kitchen island, there were dismembered toy dogs and an old-fashioned cellphone that emitted dog barking sounds.
Zhao Wenqian didn't expect Shen Youlin to arrive so soon and dropped a boning knife in a hurry. The knife wasn't part of the plan, but somehow she ended up taking it from the kitchen.
As Shen Youlin listened to the dog barking on the cellphone, he felt as if he had returned to that room with no sunlight...
Unconsciously, he picked up the knife, not knowing what he was about to do...
"Shen Youlin, get out of here!"
Who was calling him?
Shen Youlin snapped out of it, the tip of the knife already against his chest.
Finally, that old cellphone ran out of battery.
------------
The day finally broke, and Yu Shu was already sleeping soundly in his arms, although her sleep was not peaceful, with a slight frown on her brow.
Shen Youlin gently released her and tiptoed down to the kitchen on the first floor.
The fragmented toy dog was still there, as was the boning knife.
Shen Youlin picked up the boning knife and walked over to the fireplace in the living room. He pressed the decorative relief on the fireplace, and in the next moment, a piercing alarm sounded.
Each villa had an alarm system that could still be used even in a power outage.
Yu Shu was startled awake by the alarm, hurriedly went downstairs, and saw Shen Youlin sitting by the fireplace, covered in blood. His left hand was already a bloody mess, and the boning knife was by his side.
Yu Shu couldn't contain her anger and exclaimed, "What the hell are you doing?!"
Enduring the pain, Shen Youlin's face was covered in cold sweat, his expression contorted. "Zhao Wenqian can't be allowed to live."
If not for this, Shen Yuxiao wouldn't have the heart to do it.
Yu Shu cursed again, then listened to the footsteps and voices outside the door, quickly messing up her own hair.
Shen Youlin smeared some blood on her face and clothes. "My leading lady, your makeup is done. It's your turn to perform."
"You better be prepared to kneel and wash clothes!"
After she uttered these words fiercely, tears fell from her eyes like beads that had lost their string.
The first ones to rush in were the patrolling security guards. They saw a disheveled, tear-stained Yu Shu, looking bewildered and helpless as she turned to look at them.
As for Shen Youlin, covered in blood, he was already "unconscious and unresponsive."
