SFBF CH2

“Cough, cough, cough.”

A sudden fit of coughing came from behind him—a sound of extreme suppression and pain, indicating the person was in significant distress.

Shen Qing heard it and subconsciously tensed up.

He spun around instantly, only to see a tall, thin man sitting in a wheelchair not far away.

The man was wearing pure black silk pajamas, which made his exposed slender neck and cheeks look incredibly pale.

Perhaps due to being overly thin, his facial features were very defined: prominent cheekbones and a sharp jawline.

But none of this detracted from the fact that he was handsome.

A high nose bridge, standard phoenix eyes with double eyelids, thin lips, and a broad nose. Although overly bony and confined to a wheelchair, his demeanor hadn’t lost its strength of character, radiating an aura of cold nobility.

Shen Qing even felt this might be the most handsome man he had ever seen in his life.

No… the second most handsome!

The number one spot, of course, still belonged to himself!

But… why was this person in a wheelchair?

And appearing at home in pajamas??

Shen Qing quickly realized that this must be the cannon fodder destined to die soon in the book, the uncle of the two children, and “his” current husband, Gu Huaiyu!

Due to his frail health, Gu Huaiyu could no longer walk independently in the later stages and relied solely on a wheelchair.

When they got their marriage certificate and the original host had just moved into the Gu residence a couple of days later, Mr. Gu had fallen ill.

By now, his condition was critical. The last time he was rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment was over half a month ago.

So why would such a frail Gu Huaiyu appear at home??

At this moment, Gu Huaiyu should be in a high-risk ward at the hospital, with critical condition notices already issued!

The reason the original host dared to throw his weight around and bully the children while avoiding the servants was entirely because of this.

So now this…

When did he come back?!

Gu Huaiyu managed to stop coughing with difficulty. Looking up, he saw the young man opposite him staring straight at him.

Without blinking.

Gu Huaiyu was slightly stunned by the stare. He hadn’t met Shen Qing many times.

Like many who feared him, ever since moving in, Mr. Shen mostly stayed on the first floor and rarely approached him.

Even when meetings were unavoidable, the other party usually kept his head down, eyes dodging, never looking him in the eye.

Gu Huaiyu was used to being feared. He didn’t like forcing people.

Knowing Shen Qing married him only for the Shen family, and seeing the young man’s determined avoidance, he never forced him to do anything.

So much so that this was the first time in over three months of marriage that Gu Huaiyu found the young man facing him directly.

A slender body like a willow branch, red lips and white teeth, features upright and elegant.

Gu Huaiyu admitted the young man was handsome.

But what was more noteworthy were his eyes at this moment—clear, straightforward, pure and untainted… This surprised Gu Huaiyu even more.

Although they rarely interacted face-to-face, he knew what Shen Qing looked like.

In his impression, the young man’s eyes were well-shaped, not ugly.

But not particularly eye-catching either.

Yet now, Shen Qing’s eyes were… bright and glistening with brilliance.

Gu Huaiyu felt mildly astonished—he had never seen someone with such clear and bright eyes.

…

They stared at each other like this for a moment.

Shen Qing found he couldn’t quite handle the man’s scrutiny.

…Even if he was a cannon fodder about to go offline soon, Gu Huaiyu used to be a big shot.

Shen Qing was just a regular citizen; how could he stand this kind of top-down scrutiny from someone in a superior position?

Especially since, apart from the fact that he was dying soon, Shen Qing wasn’t entirely sure about other information regarding Gu Huaiyu.

That’s right, he hadn’t followed the rules of transmigrators and memorized the whole text.

—Before actually transmigrating, “recite the full text” was just a meme! Who knew he would actually transmigate!!

And as a corporate slave working 996, Shen Qing didn’t have much time to read novels.

Although he had read this book, he focused on the second part!!

The plot involving Gu Huaiyu while he was still alive in the first part was mostly gleaned from colleagues’ complaints and spoilers; he only knew the general direction of the plot.

Besides, forget remembering the plot, even in his memories, the original host didn’t have a deep impression of Gu Huaiyu’s appearance.

The reason was…

Although the original host was dissatisfied with Gu Huaiyu and looked down on him somewhat, Gu Huaiyu’s aura was so powerful that he never dared to look Mr. Gu directly in the eye…

He had only ever gotten a vague look at his face.

…

This point was specifically mentioned in the book.

Although “Shen Qing” supposedly sacrificed himself for love, he ultimately married someone he didn’t love as a substitute. Moreover, “Shen Qing” himself wasn’t exactly an upright person.

Not only was his marriage partner a sickly invalid who fell into comas randomly, but he also came with two “burdens” (the kids)!

And if not for the Gu family, Shen Yuan wouldn’t have been forced to marry. If Shen Yuan hadn’t been forced, he wouldn’t have had to step in as a stepfather to two burdens, and so on…

For various reasons, “Shen Qing” harbored resentment and hatred towards Gu Huaiyu and his two nephews.

“Shen Qing” loathed and looked down on Gu Huaiyu, yet paradoxically feared him.

Afraid to confront him directly, he instead took out his anger by abusing the children behind his back, bullying the weak and fearing the strong. This cowardly and malicious persona was established immediately, which was the initial point of disgust for readers regarding the character “Shen Qing.”

Only, while reading, Shen Qing, like many readers, couldn’t understand how someone could both look down on a person and be terrified of them.

And terrified to the point of not daring to look up at Gu Huaiyu.

It wasn’t until he met Mr. Gu’s inscrutable gaze that Shen Qing realized… it really was a bit unbearable.

The disdain was because Gu Huaiyu was in poor health and dying.

The loathing was due to displaced anger.

But the fear upon seeing Gu Huaiyu was completely, utterly a biological instinct of being lower on the food chain…

From this perspective alone, you really couldn’t call the original host cowardly.

Of course, the original host’s bullying of the weak and abuse of children was indefensible.

Shen Qing had a headache now too.

At this moment, Gu Huaiyu finally withdrew his probing gaze, and his deep voice sounded: “What making dumplings?”

He looked deathly ill, but his voice was steady and calm, not sounding like someone gravely ill and dying.

At least there wasn’t a trace of fear of death in his voice.

Shen Qing: “…Cough, cough!”

This time it was Shen Qing coughing.

Of course, unlike Gu Huaiyu, his was obviously a meaningless fake cough.

While fake coughing, he recalled the conversation just now.

…In front of the two kids, he could shamelessly change his tune on the spot and casually bluff about making dumplings.

But with such a drastic change in his demeanor, forget fooling Gu Huaiyu; any adult present would think he was crazy.

However, the original host had made quite a commotion pushing the kids around just now. If Gu Huaiyu had been there, he wouldn’t have remained silent and stayed away for so long.

Thinking this way, Shen Qing judged that the other party definitely hadn’t heard the original host’s vicious cannon fodder speech gaslighting the children.

If he hadn’t heard it, things would be easier to handle.

Shen Qing continued to be shameless: “Just taking the kids to make dumplings for you together…”

Seeing Gu Huaiyu’s sickly appearance, he probably couldn’t eat dumplings, so Shen Qing changed his tune: “Of course, we could also make buns, wontons, sticky rice balls… it mainly depends on what you like to eat, Mr. Gu?”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

Shen Qing: “It doesn’t matter if you don’t like eating them, the important thing is… parent-child bonding activity! You know!”

After saying that, he couldn’t help but secretly praise himself: I really am a clever little ghost!

The original host was extreme and petty, and had already started taking his anger out on the two kids.

But the reason he managed to survive until the day Gu Huaiyu died without any abnormalities being discovered was that he had always maintained a persona of loving children in front of Mr. Gu.

And this was important to Gu Huaiyu.

Shen Qing desperately recalled the plot of the first part of the original novel: As a cannon fodder who lived for less than half the book, although Gu Huaiyu didn’t have many scenes, the villainous Gu family’s ability to repeatedly appear and cause trouble between the protagonists relied entirely on the foundation Gu Huaiyu had laid.

As the least favored sixth young master of the Gu family, Gu Huaiyu had always been cold and detached, with a poor relationship with the Gu family.

He had built a business empire entirely on his own, independent of the Gu family.

Yet in the end, he was framed, his body ruined, his willpower destroyed. He returned to his roots, stripped of glory, waiting indifferently for death.

Among the Gu family, the only one Gu Huaiyu had a relatively good relationship with, who had shown him kindness and warmth, was Gu Duo and Gu Ao’s mother, Gu Huaiyu’s fourth sister.

So when his fourth sister died in a tragic accident, Gu Huaiyu, already waiting for death, had one last concern and final act of kindness: to take good care of the two orphans, Gu Duo and Gu Ao.

After being tipped off by the Shen family head about this, the original host began to solely cultivate a persona of loving children in front of Gu Huaiyu. Only then did he manage to survive as Gu Huaiyu’s wife until the other’s death, securing a huge inheritance.

Speaking of which, that huge inheritance, if Shen Qing remembered correctly, seemed to be 100 million.

…100 million!

Assets he couldn’t earn in a lifetime of 996!!

In an instant, Shen Qing found himself tempted.

But taking a step back, even without the 100 million inheritance, there were many things he hadn’t figured out yet, and he couldn’t just jump out and say silly things like he wasn’t the original Shen Qing.

For safety’s sake, he had to continue using the original host’s mode.

However, even using the original host’s mode, he couldn’t do immoral things like intimidating the two kids with his eyes and ordering them not to talk nonsense in front of their uncle.

Not to mention the original host being tortured to death by the two kids in revenge in the future, just speaking for himself—Shen Qing was an ordinary person with sound mental health. Even if paid to abuse children, he couldn’t do it.

Thinking of this, Shen Qing suddenly revealed a gentle smile, the corners of his eyes naturally turning up, and walked towards Gu Huaiyu: “Why is Mr. Gu here? It’s drafty downstairs, be careful of catching a cold.”

Shen Qing remembered that in the original novel, after Gu Huaiyu got in the wheelchair, he never stood up again. After being bedridden a few times, he died.

His health was too poor; he couldn’t tolerate the wind now.

Shen Qing wanted to push Gu Huaiyu’s wheelchair and send him upstairs to lie down.

But Gu Huaiyu maneuvered the wheelchair back a step and lifted his chin at him: “Wasn’t it a parent-child activity? Making dumplings? Start then.”

Shen Qing: ?…

Gu Huaiyu’s voice was deep and slow, possessing the authority of a big shot giving orders: “I don’t know how, but I’m in good spirits today, so I’ll watch you guys make them.”

Shen Qing: “…”

As a corporate slave who started working right after graduation, switching from school cafeteria to company cafeteria, Shen Qing could be described as lazy and unable to distinguish grains. He had never touched pots and pans in his life, so what dumplings?

Besides, Mr. Gu, your complexion is obviously terrible! Wouldn’t it be better to go back and rest properly! I promise I won’t bully your two nephews.

I swear!

Shen Qing smiled awkwardly: “How about we don’t make them today, and I take you back to rest first? Parent-child activities can be anything…”

As soon as Shen Qing finished speaking, the little cub Gu Ao let out a scoff directly.

Although Gu Ao was young, as a future Long Aotian, he was born with a mocking skill of “laughing at the heavens while drawing a sword,” standing alone against the world.

And despite his size, he knew that the auntie (uncle’s wife) who was always lazy and only bossed around the uncles and aunties at home couldn’t possibly know how to make dumplings!

Hearing that laugh, Shen Qing turned back somewhat awkwardly to look at the two cubs.

The moment he turned, the big cub Gu Duo subconsciously pulled his brother into his embrace—last time Uncle went to the hospital, Ao-zai just laughed over a small matter, and this man in front of them decided it was an insult to him.

This man was a smiling tiger.

Smiling while sending away all the servants, then verbally humiliating them brothers, and even wanting to hit his little brother!

That time, if Gu Duo hadn’t stood in the middle and taken a couple of hits, Ao-zai’s butt would have blossomed.

Thinking of this, Gu Duo gritted his teeth in hatred.

He was used to the man’s hypocrisy, but couldn’t figure out why the man, clearly not seeing Uncle coming, suddenly changed his tune to making dumplings with them?

If Uncle knew this person’s true face… was it possible Uncle would kick this man out?

Gu Duo was, after all, only a six or seven-year-old child.

Before his mother passed away, he had been well-protected, living alone with his mother and brother, carefree and ignorant of the twists and turns of adults.

It was only after his mother died, when he and Ao-zai were brought back to the Gu family but pushed around by everyone, seeing too many different kinds of people, that he was forced to become more thoughtful.

To protect his brother, Gu Duo had to think more and be more cautious.

He remembered the eldest aunt who despised him and his brother, and the second uncle who publicly called them burdens.

So, he wasn’t sure how long he and his brother could stay with Little Uncle.

Even less did he dare tell Little Uncle about this man’s attitude towards them.

He wasn’t sure if Little Uncle would be like Eldest Uncle, abandoning them because Eldest Aunt disliked them.

Nor was he sure if Little Uncle would be like Second Uncle, discarding them because they were annoying…

Remembering how Eldest Uncle and Second Uncle were submissive in front of Little Uncle… Gu Duo bit his lip. Obviously, Little Uncle had the worst temper in the family.

…Forget it.

Better not tell Little Uncle.

Little Uncle’s health wasn’t good either…

Anyway, it was the same everywhere.

If they didn’t deal with this man here, they had nowhere else to go.

Although this man named Shen Qing was bad, at least he went out to play all day and was rarely home. Most of the time, they were left in peace…

Gu Duo hugged his brother tighter, covering Gu Ao’s soft, pouting mouth to stop him from speaking nonsense to the man.

Long eyelashes hid a gaze that didn’t belong to a six or seven-year-old. Gu Duo used his already thin body to shield Gu Ao. Determining he could protect his brother, he looked up frankly at Shen Qing.

But he found that the man turning back to look at them was simply looking back.

Unlike before, smiling while revealing a fierce and disgusting gaze.

…At this moment, the man’s features were even very clear and bright, and he looked quite good when he smiled.

Gu Duo froze, even more puzzled.

What exactly was wrong with this person today?

Just as Gu Duo’s big eyes revealed a puzzled look because he wasn’t particularly good at hiding his thoughts yet, the man in front of him suddenly rolled his eyes and fell straight down!

Shen Qing felt he wasn’t okay.

Especially that feeling of losing control over his limbs and consciousness—it was really terrible!

Originally, the back of his head was swollen high and bleeding, probably with a concussion too; he should have gone to the hospital immediately.

But even so, he felt the original host deserved it.

—Before falling, he happened to see Gu Duo’s expression of endurance mixed with ruthlessness, and knew this child was no longer a simple, innocent kid.

But the original host deserving it had nothing to do with him, Shen Qing!

In an instant, the world spun. Shen Qing subconsciously wanted to find a support point. His instinctive reaction was that he couldn’t fall straight down again, or he might really kick the bucket.

Losing even this transmigrated identity!

As his vision spun, he saw Gu Huaiyu suddenly reach out the moment he fell, seeming to want to support him instinctively.

But the person in the wheelchair looked truly too frail; Shen Qing worried the other couldn’t catch him.

So in the nick of time, borrowing the strength of the hand on his waist, he exerted force suddenly, turned…

And indeed didn’t fall straight to the ground again.

…Instead, his knees buckled, and he actually lunged face-forward towards Gu Huaiyu!

So by the time he reacted, he was lying on Mr. Gu’s lap, and due to inertia, his head… smashed right onto the other’s lower abdomen…

“Thump!”

A sound rang out. Shen Qing couldn’t quite distinguish if it was the sound of his knees hitting the floor or his forehead hitting the other’s abdomen.

In that split second, he actually felt Gu Huaiyu’s stomach was quite hard… Could it be that even after being sick for so long, Mr. Gu still had abs?

Shen Qing couldn’t help but examine the other’s lower abdomen area.

A heavy intake of breath came from above his head.

“…”

Shen Qing blinked, looking at Mr. Gu’s pajama pants close at hand…

Suddenly feeling their current posture was a bit strange?

“This is what you call… par-ent-child-bon-ding-ac-tiv-ity?”

Gu Huaiyu’s voice was cold, coming from above his head.

Shen Qing: “…”

Finally realizing that whether his head hit the other’s hard abdomen or if the other had abs wasn’t the point.

The point was he was half-lying on Gu Huaiyu’s lap, face pointing at…

This is so weird!!!

Shen Qing immediately tried to get up.

But that spinning sensation returned. He had just propped up his upper body when he fell heavily again, landing back in position.

And this time, his position shifted further down, his head nearly landing on…

Shen Qing: “…”

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

“…Are you going to get up or not?” Gu Huaiyu’s voice came, unbearable now, fierce and dark, accompanied by a heavier gasp.

__

Author’s note:

Shen Qing: It’s over, it’s over, I must have pissed off Mr. Gu.

Gu Huaiyu: .