Ch.42 – Cold Shoulder

In fact, even before he asked, Shen Yu already knew the answer in his heart.

Even if Tang Li and Yi Heng didn’t fight, the bruises on Tang Li’s face were probably related to Yi Heng.

Tang Li didn’t deny it. Between the lengths he went to in order to avoid Shen Yu’s gaze, and his slightly reddish ears and tightly clenched jaw, it was enough to show his guilt.

Since Tang Li was reluctant to say any more, Shen Yu would not continue to ask any more questions.

——————

It’s been half an hour since the bruise on Tang Li’s face was dealt with treated, but in fact, the “treatment” was just trying to make the bruise look less frightening.

Tang Li did not seem to care much about his face. He was even too lazy to look in the mirror Uncle Zhang brought him. Instead, he watched Shen Yu’s expression carefully.

Seeing that Shen Yu’s face looked unhappy, Tang Li was a little anxious, he lowered his eyes and gently hung the corners of his mouth, he didn’t even dare to breathe.

Shen Yu was both angry and baffled when he saw Tang Li like this.

He also felt heartbroken.

“Didn’t I tell you to come to me when you encounter this kind of thing again in the future?” Shen Yu seized Tang Li’s small face and said in a frustrated tone, “I see you didn’t take my words to heart at all.”

Tang Li blinked nervously and said, “I did.”

Shen Yu asked, “Then why didn’t you come to me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you with a small trifle.” Tang Li paused, then explained Shen Yu with an unnatural expression, “And I didn’t fight with Yi Heng. Yi Heng just pushed me carelessly… and I hit the corner of the table…”

Not only does the little villain stumble, but by the end his voice became weaker and weaker.

Shen Yu gave a sneer with a crooked mouth.

If he had so easily believed Tang Li’s words, even he could admit that he would have thought himself short of IQ points.

Did Tang Li take him as a fool?

“Do you think I’ll believe you?” Shen Yu asked with a cold face.

“…” Tang Li was nervous and wanted to explain, “I really…”

“No more, that’s the end of the topic.” Shen Yu sighed and turned to Uncle Zhang, who was next to him. “You go down and talk with the vice principal, tell them to go to the library first, and we will take a taxi ourselves.”

Uncle Zhang looked at Tang Li with twinkling eyes.

He seemed to want to say something to Shen Yu, but he hesitated for two seconds before he swallowed back the words that overflowed into his mouth.

After Uncle Zhang left, Shen Yu quietly sat in the room for about ten minutes. It was almost time to leave, then suddenly he took control of the wheelchair and went out of the room.

Tang Li followed Shen Yu silently.

When they arrived at the hotel dining room, the other guests were already gone. Uncle Zhang was sitting alone near the door and had already prepared breakfast for Shen Yu and Tang Li.

If it was in the past, Shen Yu would surely pull Tang Li over together, but right now he was still angry about what happened, so he did not call over Tang Li and instead went straight to Uncle Zhang’s side.

“They’re gone?”

“I had them leave first.” Uncle Zhang went over as he spoke. Just as he wanted to sit in the chair in front of Shen Yu, he saw Tang Li quickly walk over and firmly take away the heavy-looking chair with one hand.

Shen Yu glanced at Tang Li.

Tang Li’s expression changed instantly, and he looked at Shen Yu grievingly.

Shen Yu’s eyes were cold and unmoved.

After a while, Tang Li gradually saw that Shen Yu did not buy his puppy dog strategy, so he tentatively grabbed the other dining chair and sat down silently.

Uncle Zhang looked at the interaction between the two people and shook his head helplessly. His eyes swept over the thin arms of Tang Li on the dining table and then looked down at the dining chair thrown aside. He was suddenly saddened.

When did this child become so strong?

It’s not normal…

————-

After breakfast, the group of three went outside. The Jincheng branch leader, who had met them several times before on their vacation in the city, had been waiting for a long time.

When the leader received a call from Uncle Zhang about half an hour ago, he immediately ending the meeting he was in the middle and drove the company’s car over to pick them up.

If the leader’s attitude towards Shen Yu was flattery when he last met, this time, it was like he would like to crawl on the ground and let Shen Yu’s wheelchair roll over him.

While driving, the leader quietly observed Shen Yu’s expression in the rearview mirror.

After careful consideration, the leader laughed happily and said something in his speech: “Mr. Shen, thank you for thinking of me at this time. Truthfully, I thought I would never see you again.”

Shen Yu looked out of the window in a daze, still thinking about the relationship between Tang Li and Yi Heng.

Hearing the voice of the leader, Shen Yu’s mind was pulled back to the present. He held his chin with his right hand and looked up at the nervous face of the leader in the rearview mirror.

“Why do you say that?”

“I don’t know when Shen Rong offended you, but it seems I mindlessly put you and Shen Rong together at the same table last time…”

As the leader spoke while observing Shen Yu in the rearview mirror, he saw that Shen Yu was not angry at the mention of Shen Rong, and then went on with a more relaxed voice. “Mr. Shen, maybe you think I’m meddlesome, but I still want to remind you that Shen Rong’s is a person that doesn’t let grudges go easily. Right now, he’s thinking about how to trip you up.”

After that, the atmosphere in the car became a little cold.

The leader waited for Shen Yu’s response for a long time. He thought that the other party hadn’t heard him clearly. He really didn’t want to say it again. However, he could see Shen Yu directly staring at him in the rearview mirror.

Leader: “…”

For a moment, he dared not say anything.

He feared that even breathing would cause Shen Yu to act out.

It has to be said that although Shen Yu is gentle in temperament and often wears an approachable smile, when he looks at a person seriously, he can easily scare a person into wetting themselves.

The leader couldn’t help but swallow.

He thought Shen Yu would keep silent, but at the next moment he heard Shen Yu say, “I thought you had a good relationship with Shen Rong.”

The leader smiled dryly and said, “You’re not wrong, at least, it used to be good.”

Shen Yu: “So what else do you know?”

Hearing this, the leader’s cold sweat was suddenly turned on like a waterfall, he did know more, even about how Shen Rong intended to find a woman to use against Shen Yu.

In Shen Rong’s own words, even if Shen Yu’s legs cannot stand up, there are always other places to stand up, right?

Don’t bother looking at Shen Yu now, as long as the woman is pregnant with Shen Yu’s child and gives birth to the child, is Shen Yu not a sitting duck [1]?

It goes without saying that Shen Rong did not intend to find a famous or elegant woman to accomplish this task. He wanted to find a woman who was easy to control – those women who can sell their bodies for money, are not the best ones to control?

When Shen Rong told people on the phone about the plan, the leader shivered around the corner of the corridor.

He listened to Shen Rong’s vicious plan without missing a word.

But he dared not tell Shen Yu those words. He could either alienate Shen Rong slowly or he would have to remind Shen Yu that once his eavesdropping on Shen Rong’s phone call was exposed, Shen Rong would inevitably retaliate.

“I guessed it.” The leader gripped the steering wheel and spoke calmly, “I have worked with Shen Rong for so many years and more or less know his personality.”

Shen Yu was silent for a long time before he showed a big smile: “Thank you.”

The leader knew that his words did not dispel Shen Yu’s doubts, but since Shen Yu said so, it means that the matter is over. The leader laughed and said, “Mr. Shen is always polite.”

————–

The group of people arrived at the library at 9:30 a.m., half an hour before the competition began.

Outside the library gates, there were crowds of people, and security lines and patrol car could be seen everywhere.

Tang Li’s vice principal was looking for him in the crowd, and after he saw them, he then hurried away with Tang Li without saying a word.

Originally, the accompanying parents could go in with admission tickets, but the school did not expect Shen Yu to accompany Tang Li, and did not prepare for Shen Yu and Uncle Zhang’s entrance.

—— In fact, among the students who come from all over the world to participate in the competition, those accompanied by their parents could be counted on one hand.

At this time, most parents happily followed the staff into the library, leaving Shen Yu and a young man squatting on the edge of the flower beds sighing.

The young man heard Shen Yu’s sigh, and with a happy look, got up and ran over.

“Is your child in there too?” The young man’s skin was almost transparent in the sunshine. He had beautiful features, black hair and a youthful appearance.

Although Shen Yu was not in the mood to chat with strangers, this person came to him smiling, and he could not treat the other coldly.

“Yes.” Shen Yu smiled perfunctorily.

“Are they also participating in the competition?” The hair on the man’s forehead was slightly long, and his eyes were round eyes were covered as they stared at Shen Yu.

Somehow, Shen Yu could not help thinking of a rabbit, and then of Tang Li.

According to his memory, whenever Tang Li’s mood fluctuates greatly, he likes to open his eyes wide like a rabbit.

“Aren’t all the children who went into the library participating in the competition?” Shen Yu laughed and thought that the young man’s manner was similar to that of Tang Li in certain ways, which made him feel a little closer to the man.

So they continued to talk throughout the morning.

Eventually, the young man also joined Shen Yu and Uncle Zhang for lunch.

After chatting, Shen Yu found out that this man was also named Tang, he was from city C, and had deliberately pushed off all his work and accompanied his cousin to participate in the competition.

His cousin, Tang Wenjing, was the same age as Tang Li. In the eyes of his parents, relatives, teachers and classmates, his cousin is mud that cannot support the wall [2]. However, he was often taken abroad by his parents when he was young, so he has a good command of English.

Although Tang Ming spoke righteously, Shen Yu could still hear from his words that the cousins had traveled thousands of miles to Jincheng not to compete in English at all, but to find a girl.

[1] the idiom originally used here is something along the lines of ” Man is a knife , I am a fish” meaning the right to kill is in the hands of the killing tool (the knife), and the “fish” is in the position to be slaughtered. So Shen Rong (the knife), would be in the position to kill Shen Yu (the fish). I’m little unsure of this one, but I think that’s the gist.

[2] Meaning they’re not really expecting him to contribute or grow the family’s reputation.