Ch. 2 – Adoption

Shen Yu is very worried.

Although the one standing in front of him was a miniature version of the villain, after all, he still has a sense of awe for the villain who one day will turn from merely abnormal to abhorrent, so kissing up now was a must.

Today you drink my cup of tea, tomorrow we will be good friends.

Those who fight, kill, kidnap and tear up tickets were not to be offended, okay?

Shen Yu’s thoughts were flying. After turning 180 corners, Shen Yu’s sight suddenly crossed with the gloomy eyes of Tang Li. Suddenly he was shocked, and all his thoughts were gone in an instant.

Forget it.

Before the miniature villain completely mends his evil ways, this cannon fodder character should stay quiet.

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Shen Yu became lost in his gloomy thoughts.

At the same time, the motionless Tang Li almost imperceptibly shook his head. He opened his mouth slightly and said, “No.”

It is reasonable to say that the voice of a ten-year-old child should be crisp and melodious, perhaps with a trace of milky tone [1], but Tang Li’s voice is very hoarse and stiff, which makes Shen Yu very uncomfortable when listening.

Shen Yu, a little distracted, looked at the bruises on Tang Li’s body. He knew that the childhood of a villain character was bound to be difficult, but he did not expect to be sad to this point.

“Are you hungry?” Shen Yu handed the cup to the servant and asked, “Do you want dessert? Let Aunt help you.

Tang Li did not speak.

The servant standing next to him was very anxious and regret that he could not directly make Tang Li cooperate.

In their opinion, the dull and gloomy Tang Li is likely to annoy the master. Whether he can be adopted at this time or not is another matter. The servant feared that the master was not currently in a good frame of mind to take in this child.

The servant explained, “Sir, young master Tang Li’s parents died in a car accident a year ago. Young master Tang Li went to live with many different relatives. Unfortunately, none of them were suitable. As master Shen said that he was lonely, we’ve brought young master Tang Li to you.”

In fact, this explanation has been repeated dozens of times by Uncle Zhang.

They were afraid that Shen Yu would be angry, and they could not refuse master Shen’s orders. They could only explain to Shen Yu their reasoning and bring Tang Li so that their master could meet him.

However, they did not want to accept the presence of Tang Li.

Because they know very well that Shen Yu will need time to recover physically and psychologically soon after he came out of his haze, which makes it difficult for him to take good care of a child.

“… I know.” Shen Yu sighed.

Not only did he know the tragic experience of Tang Li, but he also knew that this cannon fodder character would have refused to adopt Tang Li and instead he would relentlessly ridicule the boy, making it so that he would be remembered by this villain.

In the end, all his misfortune was brought on by a poor mouth.

“Come here.” Shen Yu waved to Tang Li.

Tang Li seemed like he was unaware of Shen Yu’s order, his white lips tightened, his eyes stared at Shen Yu for a moment, and he stood perfectly still.

Left with no choice, Shen Yu had to push his wheelchair over to Tang Li.

If you look carefully, you will find that Tang Li is very delicate. Even if the five features [2] are not yet developed enough to make people feel amazed, he had beautiful phoenix eyes that slightly picked up at the corner, white lips that are very thin, and a sharp jaw line.

But the shadows in his eyes were too strong, and the atmosphere that surrounded him made people feel uncomfortable.

Shen Yu secretly typed up his manuscript, and before he could open his mouth, he saw Uncle Zhang strolling up after tidying up the studio.

“Sir.” Uncle Zhang did not look at Tang Li who stood in front of him. He paced over to Shen Yu’s wheelchair and bent over slightly. He spoke into Shen Yu’s ear with a light voice, “You must be tired. I’ll push you back to your room to rest.”

After that, Uncle Zhang turned around and coldly glanced over Tang Li. Finally, he looked at the servant and said, “Send him back to Elder Shen, I’ll talk to him later.”

The servant immediately understood the intent of the housekeeper.

That is to say, the boy had been rejected.

The servant looked at Tang Li with some sympathy and thought that the child was doomed to misfortune. Even if he lived a lonely but well-fed life in the Shen’s house, he would be much better off than staying at a place where he was being abused.

“Understood.” The servant answered, ready to take Tang Li away.

Seeing this, Shen Yu suddenly felt panicked, and could not help but grab Tang Li’s wrist and frown at Uncle Zhang: “This child, I will keep him.”

As soon as this was said, not to mention Uncle Zhang and the servants that were all full of surprise, even the unresponsive Tang Li was slightly startled. Looking up with round eyes, the boy small stature resembled a terrified squirrel.

Uncle Zhang did not seem to understand Shen Yu’s meaning: “Have you [3] thoroughly thought about it?”

“Yes.” Shen Yu said.

He has been wrestling with the matter over and over for the past two days.

For a long time he had thought about it…

Since he traveled into the story before it really begins, it means that he has an opportunity to change his destiny.

It would be too passive to stay away from the protagonists and supporting actors. Maybe the female protagonist will suddenly come out and say a few simple words to him in the future, and after being seen by the villains, they’ll tear his ticket.

Shen Yu thought about it and decided to solve the problem from the root.

The person who will kill him in the future is the villain Tang Li. This is the best way to change Tang Li’s view on him. It’s better not to be hated by him anymore. As far as the present situation is concerned, adopting Tang Li should be the safest way.

Anyway, Tang Li is only ten years old now. Fourteen years later, he will meet a woman and begin his tragic career as a villain.

That is to say, he still has fourteen years to go…

If you follow the original plot, then at this time, Shen Yu should follow Uncle Zhang’s words and call the servants to drive Tang Li away. He also cynically educated Tang Li, this person who had an unpleasant character. No wonder he was kicked around like a football.

Shen Yu was sweating bitterly at the mere thought of these words. He was grateful that he hadn’t crossed the line and rejected Tang Li. Otherwise, he would have no chance to recover.

“Pack up the second bedroom next to my bedroom and add some new furniture. If chestnut wants, then he can live here from now on.” After giving these orders, Shen Yu found that he was still holding Tang Li’s hand.

The child’s wrist is very thin, it felt fragile as if a little force could break it, his skin is snow white Blue blood vessels hidden beneath the skin are dimly visible, his hands are cold, Shen Yu felt as if he was holding an ice cube.

But Tang Li did not struggle. Looking at Shen Yu with a confused look, even the vigilance just now dissipated a lot unconsciously.

“Of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t force you. I’ll leave you a room. You can come whenever you need it.”

When Shen Yu finished speaking, he saw Tang Li’s lips open.

“I’ll stay.”

The child’s voice is unusually husky and low, but he spits out these two words, one after another, with great seriousness.

“That’s good.” Shen Yu’s eyes curved as he smiled, while loosening Tang Li’s hand, he continued to command his servant, “Take him with you. Also, buy some clothes when you add the furniture.”

Although it’s still sunny outside, it’s late autumn in September. The clothes on Tang Li were thin, and all the bruises in the shorts and shorts are exposed.

Seeing this, Shen Yu paused, “Call Dr. Liu so that he can take a look.”

————————————————-

After going to the study.

Uncle Zhang’s face was tense, and his eyebrows were tied in a knot. He had stopped talking, but eventually he could no longer hold his tongue. “Sir, you don’t have to grieve over the idea of offending Elder Shen. The child is indeed misfortunate, but his personality is gloomy and irritable. He is not suitable for staying in the Shen house.”

At the desk, Shen Yu was sorting out the stack of drawings that Uncle Zhang had collected before. He did not bother to raise his head when he heard the words. With a tone of indifference Shen Yu spoke, “Our Shen family doesn’t lack a pair of chopsticks. [4]“

“But Sir…” Uncle Zhang was quite embarrassed. “I remember you didn’t want to be disturbed by that child. I thought you were just doing it for Elder Shen, and you didn’t really adopt that child.”

Shen Yu, who had been busy for half a day, finally looked up at Uncle Zhang with an inexplicable look on his face. Only when he saw Uncle Zhang getting uncomfortable did he utter in a loud voice: “When did I say those words?”

Uncle Zhang was stunned.

“Think about it carefully.” Shen Yu laid down his drawings, the beautiful peach blossom eyes had no emotion, a lake without ripples. He said, “Since my grandfather suggested that I adopt Tang Li, when did I say that I would let him go?”

Shen Yu’s tone of voice was not severe, he spoke simply out of pure curiosity and his expressionless face was simply his normal appearance.

But despite this knowledge, Uncle Zhang was so frightened that a few drops of bean-sized cold sweat formed on Uncle Zhang’s forehead.

“I…” Uncle Zhang did not know how to explain it. Shen Yu did not express his dislike for Tang Li from beginning to end. It was his wishful thinking that Shen Yu hated Tang Li very much.

As for the source of this knowledge…

Even Uncle Zhang himself was not clear, it was if this assumption had been naturally rooted in his mind.

Shen Yu did not expect a simple question would frighten Uncle Zhang into such a strange and helpless state, he waved his hand indicating to Uncle Zhang that he may return to his own business.

When the door of the study was closed, Shen Yu picked up his mobile phone and dialed Elder Shen’s telephone.

——————————————

Tang Li curled up in the bathtub.

The bathroom is about the size of two-thirds of the bedroom he lived in at his aunt’s house. The bathroom is bright, clean and fresh. The scent of lavender floats in the air.

Due to the excessive light around, the bruises and scars on Tang Li were exposed more thoroughly.

But he’s already used to it.

A year ago, his parents died in a car accident. Then his family company was seized, and he was deprived of his inheritance. He was also expelled from his home by those people and lived under the roof of relatives.

His relatives were not kind to him.

His parents used to struggle to earn money to support the parasite relatives, but now that his parents are gone, the quality of life of the relatives had plummeted, so they could only vent all their complaints on him.

For more than a year he was plunged into the abyss of misery.

Then a month ago, he received a phone call from his father’s teacher, Elder Shen, asking him if he would like to go to the Shen’s house to live with Shen Yu.

Tang Li has heard of Shen Yu’s name.

His aunt and her family often talk about the Shen family and Shen Yu, trying to climb into Shen family’s good graces, even if it is only a relative of the Shen family. It’s a pity. How can a family like the Shen family look at them?

Shen family…

Shen Yu…

Tang Li breathed out, and his mouth raised into a seemingly innocent sneer.

He wants to stay at the Shen house.

Even if it’s as Shen Yu’s cattle, horse, or dog. He’s willing to do it.

[1] Milky Tone – meaning a childish or young sounding voice. I’ve heard it used to describe the voice of women that purposely talk in a “cutsie” way. As far as I know it’s called “milk” because it describes the tone babies have when crying for their mother to give them milk and is therefore associated with a child’s voice, but I’m not completely sure ¯_(ツ)_/¯.

[2] The five features: eyebrows, eyes, ears, nose, mouth.

[3] The housekeeper uses the more formal of saying “you”, 您 (nín), as opposed to the less formal 你 (nǐ) when addressing Shen Yu. On a side note, my favorite character in Chinese is also 您 because to create it you use the informal 你 and the character 心 (xīn) which literally means “heart”. So, when you use 您 as opposed to 你, you are, in a very literal sense, putting more heart into addressing someone. When I was first learning how to read Chinese this was always the one fun fact that stuck with me.

[4] Meaning they don’t lack the capacity to feed and house another person.