Chapter 112
In the empty room, Wei Chengli lay in bed, lost in thought.
How many times had he moved back and forth from next door?
Forget it… He might as well just stay in this room…
Although the little chubby dumpling’s mind was filled with Yan Yan, and she had no intention of nurturing their father-daughter relationship, at least… Compared to the other families, their side was still peaceful.
One shouldn’t be too greedy.
Thinking of this, Wei Chengli couldn’t help but think of Wen Xiang, he wondered what brilliant solution he had come up with, keeping it a secret… He was a bit worried.
Meanwhile, Wen Xiang, having received his wife’s approval, was asking the staff about Wen Dongyu’s whereabouts.
The poor staff member was sweating profusely from being questioned. How should he put it, Wen Xiang hadn’t completed the second task, he misinterpreted the photo, was this something he could directly tell him? If he couldn’t, could he directly tell Wen Xiang about Wen Dongyu’s whereabouts without mentioning the previous step?
Ah… Why did he have to jump around in the task chain!
Plans never went as expected, the staff kept making phone calls, and it was over ten minutes later when they finally received a response from the program team.
Wen Xiang, who had been anxiously waiting, could finally go and find his lost child.
And in the public restroom, Shi Dingshan, who had just finished a long conversation with Zhou Wanning and received a barrage of calls from the staff, asking him to smooth things over with Wen Xiang, let out a long sigh.
Shi Dingshan knew he shouldn’t interfere with the guest’s choices, but… Wen Xiang seemed to truly want to win back Dongdong’s heart.
Although the program team set up the show’s format and tasks, most of it depended on the guests’ own performance. But… Wen Xiang’s performance was a bit too much…
Those words, they were clearly lies, who would believe them!
Shi Dingshan leaned against the sink, after a long while, he finally hardened his heart again, determined to be a rational observer.
Sincerity might be touching, but… he probably didn’t have a heart anymore.
And Wen Xiang, unaware of how much worry his actions had caused, only knew that he had finally found a path to a bright future. At the end of that path, his lively and adorable son was waiting for him!
When Wen Xiang found Wen Dongyu, he was squatting in the field, eating watermelon with Shen Zilin.
After asking Wen Xiang what he loved the most yesterday, although Wen Dongyu was a bit surprised, he still firmly decided to give himself away. As for who to give himself to, Wen Dongyu carefully considered between Wei Maomao and Shen Zilin, in the end, following his heart, he chose Wei Maomao.
Sadly, it was too late yesterday to inform the Wei family. This morning, Wen Dongyu went over but didn’t see Wei Maomao, he was even scared away by the mush cooking in the pot. Then, while wandering around outside, he bumped into Shen Zilin, who was heading towards the village entrance.
They chatted, and guess what, one had given himself away, the other had left home early in the morning and wasn’t coming back. They naturally hit it off and had been together ever since.
Wen Dongyu, having given himself away, was determined to stay away until the end of this “pretend to be dads” segment. So when Wen Xiang suddenly appeared before him, he was truly taken aback. In fact, his first thought was to run away, but Wen Xiang was faster, he grabbed him.
Grabbed him, picked him up, and ran away…
Shen Zilin, swallowing the watermelon in his mouth, stared after them, a hint of envy in his eyes, which he didn’t even notice himself.
Wen Xiang didn’t run far, he just took his child to another shady spot a dozen meters away and put him down.
“Dongdong, there’s something I need to confess to you.” Wen Xiang said directly.
Wen Dongyu, who was still struggling with how to react when meeting his dad after giving himself away, was stunned. “Ah?”
“The house we’re living in now. Mmm… not the one in the village, but our home, the house we live in with Mom, it’s actually an inheritance from your grandfather, left for you. Do you understand what I mean?” Wen Xiang tried his best to use precise words so his child could understand.
Wen Dongyu shook his head blankly.
Wen Xiang squatted down, picked up a small stone from the ground, and drew a simple house on the dirt, then drew three stick figures inside. “It’s just… you, me, and your mom, we’ve actually been living in the house your grandfather gave you. You’re not living in my house, I’m living in yours.”
“My house?” Wen Dongyu blinked.
“Yes, your house. It’s your house, and it’s not a house your mom and I gave you. It’s an inheritance from your grandfather, left for you before he passed away. No one can take it away, not even your mom and I.” Wen Xiang said patiently.
Wen Dongyu understood, he was surprised. “Wow! I’ve never met Grandpa, he gave me such a big house!”
“… “ Wen Xiang tried to maintain his smile. “Yes, that’s right. The reason I didn’t tell you before was that you were still young, and also, I was a bit embarrassed, you see, I’m such a grown-up, living in your house, and I’m not even paying rent… How about this, we’ll still buy you your food, clothes, toys, everything, it’s like we’re paying you rent, okay?”
Wen Dongyu scratched his head, ah, it was so complicated, his brain was a bit dizzy.
“Dongdong, you don’t want to let Mom and me live in your house anymore?” Wen Xiang asked, his heart aching a bit, seeing Wen Dongyu’s silence, but this time, he had learned to be strong.
He was a dad, he could be stronger.
“Ah, no.” Wen Dongyu shook his head instinctively, rubbed his face, and said awkwardly, “I don’t quite understand.”
Wen Xiang: “… “
So the bright future wasn’t shattered by the truth of the story, but by the little baby’s comprehension skills…
“Can I…” Wen Dongyu pointed at Shen Zilin, who was still squatting and eating watermelon in the distance. “Can I ask Shen Zilin?”
These past few days, Wen Dongyu had clearly realized that each baby’s brain was different. Wei Maomao, Shen Zilin, Cheng Tingyan, and Wen Jiangyue, their brains were all good in their own ways, all better than his.
Looking around, there was one brain available, Wen Dongyu decided to give up on using his own.
Wen Xiang, who had wanted to talk to his child alone and persuade him, looking at his silly son, couldn’t refuse.
Whatever, he also got his inspiration from another baby.
Wen Xiang readily admitted his intellectual inferiority and nodded, releasing Wen Dongyu’s hand.
Shen Zilin, who had been thinking about what Shen Jianghe was doing at home after seeing Wen Xiang, was dragged into the Wen family’s brain-seeking vortex within two minutes.
Shen Zilin first listened to Wen Dongyu’s incoherent explanation, after listening, he couldn’t help but rub his ears, he strongly suspected that Wen Dongyu not only couldn’t understand it, he probably hadn’t even heard it correctly, he must have misheard it.
Putting aside the ownership of the house for now, Wen Xiang, a top-tier singer, he wasn’t just a flash in the pan, buying a few houses was easy for him, as for living in his child’s house and feeling embarrassed so he never mentioned it… This story didn’t make sense, it must be Wen Dongyu who misheard, Shen Zilin thought.
Shen Zilin glanced at Wen Dongyu helplessly, then turned to Wen Xiang. “Uncle Wen, I don’t think I understand… Can you explain it to me again?”
Wen Xiang, of course, had no objections. Whether it was logic, sentence structure, or word choice, Wen Xiang was much more precise than Wen Dongyu. But… after listening, Shen Zilin realized that the content was the same!
Shen Zilin fell silent.
He understood…
A liar.
A liar who came to reconcile.
“Did you understand?” Wen Dongyu asked, tugging at Shen Zilin’s sleeve.
Shen Zilin said helplessly, “Which part don’t you understand?”
“The house, we’ve always lived there. What does ‘paying rent’ mean?” Wen Dongyu asked, picking out a few things he didn’t understand.
Wen Xiang: “… “ Just this? You found someone to ask? Why didn’t you just ask me!
“It means your things, other people are using them. The things are still yours, but during the time they’re using them, they should pay you.” Shen Zilin explained concisely.
“Oh. My toys, if other people take them, they’re still mine, and they have to pay me?” Wen Dongyu immediately thought of his beloved toys.
“Forget about your toys, we’re talking about the house now.” Shen Zilin glanced at Wen Xiang, he was blinded by the blatant expectation in his eyes, he looked away and explained to Wen Dongyu, breaking it down. “Your dad means, your grandfather gave you a house, the house is yours. Your dad and mom are living there now, they feel like they’re borrowing your house, so they should pay you rent. They’re not planning on paying you cash, but they’ll cover your food, clothes, toys, books, tuition, basically everything you need to spend money on. But the money you spend isn’t theirs, it’s money they should be giving you anyway, it’s your own money. In other words, from now on, you’re living in your own house, and the money you spend is also yours. You don’t have to worry about having nowhere to live, nothing to eat, or no school to go to. Because you have a house, houses are very valuable!”
“Right! That’s it! Do you understand now?” Wen Xiang asked, his eyes full of anticipation.
“I understand.” Wen Dongyu nodded and sighed. “Grandpa is so good, he gave me a life!”
Wen Xiang: “Yes, your grandpa is truly good…” There was no need to elevate it to that level.
Seeing the gradually warming atmosphere between the father and son, Shen Zilin couldn’t help but interrupt. “Uncle Wen, that house, it will be under Dongdong’s name, right?”
“Of course! It has to be!” Wen Xiang said firmly, without hesitation.
Shen Zilin gently pulled his sleeve away from Wen Dongyu’s grasp, he could only help them this much, friend.
“But…” Wen Dongyu grabbed Shen Zilin’s sleeve again. “But my house, I don’t want to lend it to Dad and Mom.”
Wen Xiang: “… “ It’s over, I messed up, I deserve it!
Shen Zilin: “… “ I suggest you look at your dad, who’s about to cry!
Wen Dongyu, feeling a bit embarrassed, didn’t even look at Wen Xiang, he leaned closer to Shen Zilin and whispered, “Lending things is uncomfortable, lending them all the time is even more uncomfortable. Can I give my house to Dad and Mom, a little bit? Then we’ll all be living in our own houses, no need to borrow.”
Shen Zilin was stunned, he looked at Wen Xiang, who was also stunned. Oh, you should cry, you deserve to cry.
“Is it okay?” Wen Dongyu asked, tugging at Shen Zilin’s sleeve.
“It’s okay, whatever makes you happy.” Shen Zilin said helplessly.
Why did they have to drag him into this pretend play about property, he truly felt like his intelligence was being insulted.
“Then I’ll have a place to live, but I still don’t have money. I still need to earn money, you still have to lend me money, hire me as an employee, okay?” Wen Dongyu emphasized.
Shen Zilin: “… “ Forget it, it seemed his dad still had hope, he probably wouldn’t need his money. And… it was time to have some standards for his employees’ intelligence.
“It’s a pity Grandpa didn’t leave me any cash.” Wen Dongyu mumbled to himself, a bit disappointed.
Wen Xiang, who had just turned around and secretly wiped his eyes, quickly turned back. “Cash, oh, there is! I haven’t had a chance to tell you, your grandpa also left you money, a lot of money.”
“… “ Shen Zilin looked at Wen Xiang’s “sincere” expression in shock, he pulled his sleeve away from Wen Dongyu’s grasp again and walked away quickly.
Truly, staying any longer would be disrespectful to his own intelligence.
The feeling of having his intelligence trampled on the ground and repeatedly rubbed wasn’t unique to Shen Zilin.
The viewers in the live broadcast room were truly speechless.
“When Wen Xiang started talking about grandpa, inheritance, and the house, I was dying of laughter, I thought he had come up with some brilliant solution! It turned out he just repackaged ‘giving the house to raise the child’… And Dongdong actually believed him, truly, Dongdong, eat some walnuts, or you’ll be the next naive innocent!”
“Dongdong is still young, it’s normal for him to be fooled. But I didn’t expect that after being hurt by the ‘borrowing,’ he wouldn’t want to ‘lend’ and hurt his parents, truly… My heart is breaking.”
“The power of genetics is truly strong, Wen Xiang thought of giving the house to alleviate Dongdong’s pain from lacking power, and Dongdong also thought of giving the house to his parents so everyone would be happy. No wonder Dongdong believed Wen Xiang’s nonsense… Because it’s the same logic! Hahaha!”
“Truly, if it were any other baby, Wen Xiang wouldn’t be able to fool them, only Dongdong, he’s truly naive and innocent. Little CEO Shen clearly knew Wen Xiang was lying as soon as he heard it, hahaha, in the end, when Wen Xiang said Grandpa also left him money, Little CEO Shen didn’t even want to say anything and just left, speechless.”
“Right, Little CEO Shen’s expression when he left, hahaha, it was like he was saying, ‘Are you guys even listening to yourselves? I can’t listen to this anymore, I’m out, have fun by yourselves.’”
“Little CEO Shen is also very sweet, he asked, ‘Uncle Wen, that house, it will be under Dongdong’s name, right?’ He was clearly trying to confirm if Wen Xiang was just saying it or if he was sincere. Although words said on a live broadcast can’t be used as evidence, there’s a big difference between telling a white lie in front of the public and outright lying. Thankfully, Wen Xiang seems to be sincere.”
“Speaking of Little CEO Shen, when Wen Xiang came over and took Dongdong away, I felt so sorry for Little CEO Shen, all alone. Can’t the program team tell him about CEO Shen’s whereabouts and situation? Seeing Little CEO Shen squatting there, eating watermelon alone, it broke my heart.”
…
They wouldn’t reveal it, but the first batch of things sent from Shen Jianghe arrived.
After refusing to participate in the Wen family’s intelligence-lowering conversation and leaving, Shen Zilin had just returned to his original spot when he received a small wooden box from the program team.
Inside the box was a stack of… cardboard with drawings?
Cardboard the size of two adult palms, folded in half, with drawings and words on them, like simple greeting cards.
Shen Zilin took out the first one, and as soon as he opened it, he froze.
It wasn’t because of anything else… Before even taking them out, Shen Zilin had already felt a strong sense of familiarity from the shape of the cardboard and the handmade drawing on the cover of the top card. He even guessed immediately that they were made by Shen Jianghe.
But he didn’t expect… Shen Jianghe would draw this for him.
The first card, the cover was a simple pink flower, but when he opened it… Inside was a stick figure drawing of a mother holding a baby.
Was it… Mom?
Was it… him?
Shen Zilin quickly took out the second, the third…
There were a total of five cards in the wooden box.
Except for the first one, the other four all depicted the same baby, in different poses, lying down or sitting. Judging from the background colors and patterns, each card seemed to correspond to a season.
Only the first one was different.
Shen Zilin opened the first card again, he gently touched the woman in the drawing, the artistry was average, but her eyes were gentle.
“Did Dad draw these? These cards?” Shen Zilin asked, looking up at the staff member who had delivered the box.
The staff member nodded. “Yes. CEO Shen is still drawing, he said he’ll keep drawing until you’re willing to come home.”
Shen Zilin understood, it was just like how Grandpa used to make him draw cards for Dad when he was younger. But he drew them, and Dad still didn’t come home.
But… Shen Zilin looked at the card in his hand.
Dad… drew Mom? The Mom he never wanted to talk about with him?
Sadly, there wouldn’t be more.
He only had a mother for a very short time.
As short as this card.
“You’ve seen these cards, are you willing to go back now?” The staff member asked, following the procedure.
Shen Zilin shook his head.
The staff member quietly retreated.
Soon, Shen Jianghe, who was diligently drawing at home, received the news of Shen Zilin’s refusal. As expected, his pen only paused for a moment before continuing to move across the paper.
He had received a whole box of such cards, year after year. Now he had only drawn five. Not getting the desired response, wasn’t it normal?
Shen Jianghe gradually realized that this wasn’t just an urgent task on the show, it was the true distance between them that needed to be bridged.
It had been so easy to drift apart, now, wanting to come closer naturally required more effort.
Shen Jianghe knew that.
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