Ch.33 – Old Acquaintances

Shen Yu was used to Tang Li’s praise. However, he still felt a little embarrassed when he looked at Tang Li’s bright black eyes, so he covered Tang Li’s eyes with his hand.

“There’s no more to see.” He spoke in a commanding tone.

Tang Li promised very cheerfully, “Okay, I understand.”

As a result, Shen Yu put down his hand and found that Tang Li was still staring at him.

Sensing the reproach in Shen Yu’s gaze, Tang Li’s eyes smiled even more. He grabbed Shen Yu’s hand and swung it back and forth. He said in a clear and pleasant voice, “I don’t know why, even if I can see you every day, it seems that I can’t see you enough.”

Shen Yu: “…”

These lovely words sure are free flowing.

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Before Shen Yu could respond, Uncle Zhang let out a chuckle: “Young master Tang Li’s mouth is getting sweeter and sweeter.”

Shen Yu felt goose bumps raise on his body: “It’s so sweet I’m afraid he’ll lose his teeth.”

In regards to Shen Yu’s quip, Tang Li didn’t care. He continued to spout sweet words and tightly cling to Shen Yu. He wished his whole person could stick to Shen Yu.

In the process of leaving the airport, Shen Yu inadvertently saw several paparazzi snapping at them in the crowd. Perhaps it was because they were afraid of Uncle Zhang and two bodyguards who were following them, but the paparazzi didn’t dare to closely approach them.

Outside the airport, the branch leaders who received the news had been waiting in the parking lot. After calling Uncle Zhang, the leaders rushed over to guide Shen Yu.

The leader’s face flashed a very subtle emotion as his eyes swept over Tang Li.

It was said that Shen Yu intends to train the Tang orphan into the Shen family’s heir.

It seems that this news is not false, otherwise why would Shen Yu bring the child with him when he went to Jincheng for inspection?

The leader’s mind turned over a thousand times. After thinking about it, he subconsciously squeezed out a kind and gentle smile to Tang Li and asked, “Is the young master on winter vacation?”

Tang Li looked at the leader coldly and said nothing.

Shen Yu pinched Tang Li’s hand, slightly displeased.

Although Shen Yu’s strength was not heavy, but he pinched Tang Li’s face with an expression of grievance, and the little villain’s eyebrows almost tied into a knot because of that.

The little villain’s dark eyes looked at the leader quietly and gave him a bland hum.

Somehow, the leader felt chilled by Tang Li’s stare.

Although he knew this reaction was ridiculous, and that adults shouldn’t be afraid of children, when he thought about that child, the leader didn’t dare try to speak to Tang Li again.

Shen Yu had been observing Tang Li’s reaction. He could see that the little villain was still cold to the outside world and stranger. Feeling helpless, Shen Yu could only reply to the leader in Tang Li’s place, “Chestnut has just started his winter vacation, so I decided to take him out to play. Since we’re here we’ll also inspect your work situation.”

Leader: “…”

Oh…

Originally, taking the child out to play was the key point. The inspection was just an add on.

For a time, the leader felt like his new wife and his son were showing off in front of him [1] .

Despite the vinegar in his heart, the leader devoted himself to arranging five-star hotels and local guides for Shen Yu and his group. By the time the group of people finished their dinner in the restaurant near the hotel, it was after 8 p.m.

The leader took Shen Yu and others back to the hotel and talked to them about their visit to the company tomorrow morning before driving away.

As early as two days ago, the leader learned from Uncle Zhang that there were five people in their group. So, he ordered his assistant to book five suites, even Tang Li had a separate one.

Unfortunately, Tang Li didn’t know that his room was different from Shen Yu’s, so he followed Shen Yu to his room.

Just when he entered the room, Uncle Zhang, who at some point appeared behind him, grabbed his collar.

“Young master Tang Li.” Uncle Zhang spoke expressionlessly, “Your room is on the opposite side. I’ll take you there.”

Tang Li was stunned. He threw his poor puppy’s eyes to Shen Yu and whispered, “I’m afraid…”

Before Shen Yu could speak, Uncle Zhang took the lead in saying, “If young master Tang Li is afraid of being alone, come and sleep with me. Even though I’m in a standard room, there’s still an empty bed.”

Tang Li: “…”

He continued to look at Shen Yu like a puppy.

However, Shen Yu was completely unaffected.

The next moment, Tang Li’s pitiful look instantly switched to expressionless face. He turned to Uncle Zhang and spoke in a cold and polite tone: “Thank you Uncle Zhang, I’m not afraid now.”

Uncle Zhang had already seen through Tang Li’s tragedy selling trick and nodded slightly: “Let’s go, don’t disturb the young master’s rest.”

Shen Yu smiled and waved: “Good night, Chestnut.”

Tang Li looked deeply at Shen Yu, lifted his lips without saying anything, and left with Uncle Zhang dejectedly. If he had a tail behind him, that tail would be slouching between his legs.

Shen Yu looked at his and wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t help choking.

Just as Tang Li had made it to the door, he looked back and stared.

The smile on Shen Yu’s face froze instantly and he saw that Tang Li turn around and go back. The little villain slammed the door with a merciless bang.

—————

The next day.

Shen Yu and Uncle Zhang went to the hotel restaurant to have breakfast together. They saw Tang Li and two bodyguards already sitting at the table.

Tang Li had changed into new clothes. He wore a dark grey woolen overcoat and slim jeans, which were matched with a pure black turtleneck sweater. The suit was picked out by Shen Yu before they left, so Aunt Chen had specially packed it in the little villain’s suitcase.

Unexpectedly, Tang Li looked better than Shen Yu would have imagined.

Shen Yu’s eyes were bright, and he looked at Tang Li several times more as he and Uncle Zhang moved to Tang Li’s table to join him.

Eventually, he saw Tang Li’s small face gradually blush a light pink. The little villain raised his hands in anger to block Shen Yu’s eyes, and stiffly said, “Don’t look.”

Shen Yu spoke with a smile, “It’s because you look good.”

Tang Li: “…”

Shen Yu ignored Tang Li’s resistance and repeated what Tang Li said to him at the airport yesterday with a mischievous smile: “I don’t know why, even if I can see you every day, it seems that I can’t see you enough.”

Tang Li: “…”

When Tang Li put down his hand in frustration, Shen Yu was surprised to find that the little villain’s face had turned as red as a monkey’s butt, even the tips of his ears were a deep red, and he dared not look directly into Shen Yu’s eyes.

Baby boy.

Shen Yu thought of the term with amusement.

Such a thin-skinned child could only pretend to be a big-tailed wolf.

After being ridiculed, Tang Li didn’t talk to Shen Yu during the whole meal. It seemed that he would like to bury his whole face in the bowl.

Shen Yu has a small appetite. He just took a few bites before immediately putting down his chopsticks. Then he held his chin in his hands and stared at Tang Li in boredom.

He had already spent half-a-year with the little villain. He remembered when Tang Li was brought to the Shen house last summer, he was thin, small and short. He looked only about six or seven years old and his arms were so thin they seemed like they could be broken off.

Now, in a twinkling of an eye, Shen Yu had to raise his head up to get a better view of Tang Li while sitting in his wheelchair.

And Tang Li was not as thin as before. He’s no longer the little boy that Shen Yu knew.

Thinking of this, Shen Yu suddenly felt a slight sadness.

After breakfast, the group of people took the elevator to the hotel lobby. The leader who came to meet them yesterday was already waiting in the lobby. The leader had brought two assistants and they drove three cars, so the entire group of people could go to the Jincheng Branch.

Although the Jincheng Branch belongs to Shen Yu’s company, the business of this branch is quite different from that of the head office. There is also a relative of the Shen family in town. Therefore, whether it was the original Shen Yu or the current Shen Yu, they both seldom asked about the situation of this branch.

Shen Rong, the grandson of the Shen family’s second elder, is the Shen family relative who manages the branch. After returning from studying abroad, he was assigned to Jincheng by his elders.

But Shen Rong worked hard for the Shen family. In fact, he acted as a local emperor here and drew a line with the Shen family both in the dark and in the open.

With just the thought of seeing Shen Rong in person so soon, Shen Yu’s mood can only be described as terrible.

The original Shen Yu was no fool. So, it would usually be impossible for him to give up a profitable branch company to Shen Rong, who he is not familiar with him, for no reason. The reason why Shen Rong was given this branch is that the original Shen Yu robbed Shen Rong’s fiancée away…

That’s correct.

The Du family’s second daughter, who eloped with the male model, was originally Shen Rong’s fiancée, but was later looked at favorably by the original Shen Yu

Shen Rong’s parents did not dare to offend Shen Yu’s parents. They cancelled the marriage contract between Shen Rong and Miss Du without saying anything. Unfortunately, Shen Rong had no ability to resist when he was in middle school.

Hey…

What’s with this melodramatic dog-blood play?!

If the original Shen Yu had known that Miss Du would elope with the male model, would he still insist on getting engaged to that woman?

Shen Yu was uneasy the entire trip. Fortunately, when he arrived at the branch office, he was told that Shen Rong had gone out to talk about a project. Shen Yu was silently relieved.

The leader led Shen Yu and others into a conference room, and then ordered the leaders of every departments to be ready to report to Shen Yu. Shen Yu could only silently suffer and resist the urge to fall asleep for the next three hours.

By noon, the work reports were finally finished.

“Mr. Shen.” The leader rubbed his hands and plastered a pleasant smile on his face. He asked carefully, “Do you want the employees to take a break so you can tour around the company?”

Employees can pretend to work hard in front of their superiors. However, during their lunch break, what you see on their desks usually reflects their real work ethic.

However, Shen Yu was full of desire to avoid Shen Rong and only came to the company for inspection for the eyes of Uncle Zhang, Tang Li, and the two bodyguards.

So, Shen Yu solemnly told the leader, “Uncle Wang, I believe in your ability. The staff you nurtured don’t need to be closely scrutinized. I have always had confidence in you and my cousin, otherwise I would not have left the branch office in your hands.”

The leader was stunned and immediately moved to tears: “Mr. Shen, I didn’t expect you to trust me so much. Thank you for your trust in us, we will do even better.”

Shen Yu nodded, looked at the clock on the wall and said, “Enough with business talk. Where are we going to have lunch today? We’ll meet the guide later.”

Naturally, the leader heard the urgency in Shen Yu’s words and quickly wiped the tears from the bottom corner of his eyes before leading them out: “I understand that Mr. Shen’s time is valuable, the restaurant I chose is not too far from here, just a short walk away.”

That restaurant was indeed not far, it was on the top floor of the store next to the branch office.

The leader seemed to have been struck by Shen Yu’s words just now. When the group started heading towards the restaurant, he was still moved to tears. He walked steadily beside Shen Yu’s wheelchair and said in a very sincere tone, “Mr. Shen, thank you very much for your trust in us. We’ll always remember your kindness.”

Along the way, Shen Yu ears almost went deaf from all the praise [2] , and he continued to maintain an embarrassed but polite smile.

Soon, the leader said, “Shen Rong didn’t intend to come, but after you said that, I thought he should also come.”

Shen Yu heard the words and immediately shook his head like a rattle drum: “No, no, no, that’s okay! Why bother to call Shen Rong back from his business?”

The leader smiled gratefully: “You are so considerate and thoughtful of us, for this alone Shen Rong must come over to show proper thanks.”

Shen Yu looked desperate. “I’m not…I don’t have…you think too much!”

The leader also said, “Don’t worry about Shen Rong, Mr. Shen. He arrived earlier than us. Now he’s waiting for us in the private dining room.”

Shen Yu: “…”

(╥_╥)

[1] Basically he means he’s being ignored when he should be the main priority. I wasn’t sure of the exact phrase and was relying pretty heavily on context clues.

[2] This is a tough one. The original says that his ears almost cocooned up, which, from what I can gather, is an exaggeration meaning you listen to someone talk for so long that earwax fills up your ears to the point that you can’t hear anymore. There’s not really a good English equivalent.