SFBF CH36

That night, the online hate campaign against Shen Qing more or less came to an end.

The matter wrapped up with the variety show team posting a statement and apology on Weibo.

First, the show officially and solemnly apologized to Shen Qing. Then they reflected on their own carelessness and, just as Miao Feiyu had predicted earlier, they pushed the blame onto a “junior editor” who had supposedly posted on Weibo without first understanding the situation.

And of course, everyone thought that excuse was complete nonsense.

—If they had already known they accused the wrong person, then why, when they deleted the accusation post, did they say nothing at all and instead let passersby and haters cyberbully Shen Qing for so long?

Now they suddenly came out to explain that it had all been a mistake, that Shen Qing had indeed never signed a contract with them, and that he had never caused any losses to the show. This made the netizens who had passionately joined in cursing Shen Qing feel like they had been misled—angry, humiliated, and unable to accept it.

The show team was directly flamed onto the trending list.

“If your trashy flop variety show can’t be filmed, then just don’t film it. Before it even starts airing you’re already pulling all this garbage, stepping on a bullied little artist to rise in popularity. Is that fun for you?”

“You were the ones who exposed Shen Qing, you were the ones making shady sarcastic remarks at him, and we were the ones you got to do the scolding. Now you suddenly come out apologizing—do you think netizens this year are idiots?”

“Blacklisting this trashy flop show from now on. Instead of doing proper planning in the early stage, you just wanted hype and traffic. No wonder it’s always been this flop.”

“Ahhh can my Mingjia please quit this variety show? It’s disgusting. Mingjia probably hasn’t signed yet either, right? Don’t join it! I don’t want to give this flop show any traffic!”

The show team got scolded badly, and the audience anticipation rating online also dropped a lot.

That night, the production side posted another statement.

But unexpectedly, this statement wasn’t a self-defense, wasn’t more shady blame-shifting, and didn’t even try to explain their earlier chaotic actions.

This statement was another apology to artist Shen Qing.

Two statements in one day, both sincere apologies, still didn’t calm down the netizens who had “taken the show’s place” in cursing Shen Qing earlier.

But it finally made everyone notice that in this whole incident, Shen Qing was the real victim—the truly innocent one, and the one who really deserved an apology.

That also included those random passersby who had started firing their mouths off mercilessly without seeing any real evidence. In truth, they owed Shen Qing an apology too.

“Shen Bottle really got it rough this time. His agency did nothing, this flop show did whatever it wanted, and he didn’t even dare post a clarification himself—he could only vaguely post two photos from home.”

“I think Shen Qing’s agency bears the most responsibility. Why would the show randomly use some flop artist for hype? And how could they possibly get something like ‘whether the contract was signed’ wrong? This was definitely his agency playing tricks.”

“With an agency like that, it’d be hard not to flop…”

“To be fair, I actually kind of wanted to see Bottle on this variety show this time. But after all this mess, he probably can’t join now, right?”

“Shen Qing, how about we crowdfund your contract termination with your agency? You’re still young, don’t waste that face.”

“Even though Shen Qing was miserable this time, can you all stop whitewashing him? He can’t even speak properly on a variety show, what’s there to watch? Just his face?”

“Well, yes, but agency cultivation matters too. If the company never gives him resources, I feel like Bottle really can’t improve.”

Because of this whole incident, Shen Qing’s Weibo actually gained some followers for no apparent reason.

Meanwhile, Shen Qing lurked around reading all the online comments and discussed the matter a little with some helpful people on WeChat. In the end, he got the conclusion from an experienced veteran marketing account: the variety show was basically doomed to flop.

It might even never make it to filming at all.

[Sharp Bro: I’ll give you a little inside scoop for free. Supposedly the planner for this show offended someone, and Milk Channel has already held an emergency meeting to cut the show and re-plan a new child variety program based on the hottest trend right now.]

[Shen Qing: Oh oh.]

[Sharp Bro: I heard from people inside Milk Channel that upper management took your matter super seriously. They all rushed back to the company this afternoon for an emergency meeting, and by evening the show side had already posted an apology. Brother Shen really has influence. So, who exactly is helping you so much behind the scenes? (grinning)]

“…”

Shen Qing paused.

At the moment, he was lying sprawled on the sofa in his room, gnawing on an apple.

When he saw that line, Shen Qing lightly kicked his legs in the air and thought with the apple between his teeth—could it be Shen Yuan?

He typed: [I don’t know.]

[Sharp Bro: Tch, do you really not know or are you pretending not to? Relax, I’m super tight-lipped. I definitely won’t spread it around.]

Shen Qing: …

Yeah right. As if I’d believe that.

Sharp Bro had chatted so much with him and leaked so much only because he wanted to bait Shen Qing into revealing who had made Milk Channel suddenly convene a meeting and then pressured the show to apologize.

But Shen Qing genuinely didn’t know.

His instinct told him it wasn’t Shen Yuan—after all, Young Master Shen had still given him one day.

It was Shen Yuan who had said on the phone that as long as Shen Qing could show him a turn for the better within one day, he would believe Shen Qing was capable of handling this mess himself and would temporarily stop interfering.

…

Uh, well.

Even though Young Master Shen meant well.

There was definitely a kind of “my young master” overbearing aura in what he said. Maybe the original owner, who had always lived at the bottom of a cliff and longed for light to shine on him, would have liked this side of Shen Yuan.

But Shen Qing really couldn’t adapt to it…

Compared to that kind of “for your own good” that insisted on pushing him forward, Shen Qing preferred lying at the bottom of the cliff by himself.

Being a salted fish who just let things happen.

Mm. Thinking about it that way, Gu Huaiyu understood him better…

Wait.

The big boss?!

Shen Qing remembered that the big boss also knew about this matter.

He had mentioned Milk Channel that afternoon too…

Could it really have been him?

What exactly did the big boss do?

Shen Qing checked the time. It was already past 9 p.m. He felt Gu Huaiyu had probably already gone to rest, so it wasn’t convenient to go upstairs and bother him.

At a time like this, he thought maybe he could at least send the big boss a WeChat message to ask—or simply thank him again.

But when he picked up his phone and sat there blankly for a while, Shen Qing suddenly remembered something very, very important—

The original owner apparently didn’t have Gu Huaiyu’s WeChat or phone number at all! …

Th-this…

In his memory, the day the original owner established contact with Mr. Gu, what he got was the number of Mr. Gu’s assistant.

In other words, Li Hong’s phone number.

He had added Li Hong on WeChat.

But because the original owner was very afraid of Gu Huaiyu, he didn’t dare provoke the people around the boss either. He had almost never proactively contacted Li Hong, much less contacted the big boss himself.

From beginning to end, the original owner had never asked for Mr. Gu’s phone number.

And Gu Huaiyu had never offered it either.

…

Wow.

The big boss was way too heartless!

At the very least, they were a legally married couple. Not even exchanging phone numbers?! If that got out, how was he supposed to make people think he was the favored one by Gu Huaiyu’s side?

Shen Qing quickly climbed off the sofa and looked for his slippers. He was going downstairs.

He had already showered earlier, and Shen Qing had long since changed into pajamas.

The room had floor heating, warm and dry, and even stepping on the floor with bare feet felt comfortable.

But he still needed slippers.

After finally finding the slipper he had kicked under the sofa, Shen Qing held the half-eaten apple in one hand and directly pushed open the door of his bedroom.

At night, the villa was still brilliantly lit.

But it was too quiet.

It had already been quiet here during the day, but at night, aside from the bodyguards and a few live-in staff, almost nobody remained in the villa. The moment he opened the door, the silence made the whole place feel a little too empty.

At this hour, the little kids should already be asleep.

They had had a snowball fight in the afternoon, and both children were exhausted.

On top of that, Shen Qing had been worried they’d catch cold, so after coming back he arranged a whole sequence of things—hot baths, hot ginger soup, and so on. By the time dinner was over, Gu Duo had unusually become a little listless too.

Afterward, Shen Qing had dragged them into watching a movie.

It was a domestic animated film that had gone hugely popular a few years earlier, and the content was relatively deep—since it was the first time he was watching a cartoon with the two young masters, Shen Qing didn’t want his own taste to seem too low-class.

As it turned out, before they were even halfway through the movie, Ao Zai had already curled up on the sofa and fallen fast asleep.

Soft and warm, like a little piglet.

Gu Duo was also fighting sleep, and in the end Shen Qing was the one responsible for carrying Ao Zai back to his room, while Duoduo agreed to him that he would sleep early tonight.

No light leaked from under the cracks of the children’s bedroom doors. They were probably fast asleep with the lights off.

Shen Qing thought that was how it should be. When he was a child, he seemed to have gone to bed around eight or nine too. Duoduo studied until who-knew-what-hour every day—he really was going to stunt his growth like that!

Then he reached the end of the corridor and stretched his neck to glance toward the third floor.

It was just as quiet up there. He paused where he stood, and the sudden urge to ask the big boss for his phone number faded away.

How strange. Why had he just automatically assumed the big boss should give him a phone number?

They were only a plastic marriage after all.

Back when he was working, he wouldn’t have demanded that his direct superior leave him a phone number either…

After rubbing his hair, Shen Qing stopped dwelling on it and turned back to his room.

The next day, when Shen Qing woke up, it was already nearly 9 a.m.

…After going back to his room last night, he had played games for a while, and he hadn’t actually gone to bed until after 1 a.m., so waking up at this hour was already pretty good.

He only got up because he felt hungry. Shen Qing quickly washed his face.

After changing clothes and stepping out of the room, the moment he opened the door, he sharply sensed that something was different today…

Downstairs also seemed unusually quiet.

Normally, Duoduo and Ao Zai rarely came out of their rooms anyway, so not hearing them wasn’t strange.

But around this time, the household staff would usually be starting work—cleaning, tidying decorations, watering plants, replacing flowers, and so on.

Although the staff in his house didn’t gossip, they would still chat casually about everyday things while working.

Especially recently, it had become obviously livelier than before.

That had something to do with Shen Qing not liking too many rigid rules.

Lately, Madam would even sometimes chat along with them, and gradually more people had started talking while they cleaned.

Shen Qing felt that a home should have a lively atmosphere, not be too stern.

Once people relaxed and stopped feeling so constrained, the cleaning actually got done faster.

Finish earlier, rest earlier. Everyone was just a worker—no need to make things hard for each other.

But why was there no sound at all today?

Could it be that nobody was working today?

Suspicious, he walked to the small landing and leaned on the railing to look down. The first thing he saw was the backs of two little bean-sized children sitting at the dining table they all liked so much.

One big, one small, sitting side by side, so proper it was almost ridiculous.

Gu Duo sat with a ramrod-straight posture, back perfectly erect, neck stretched long.

…Even without seeing his face, it was easy to imagine Young Master Duo’s serious expression.

Beside him, Gu Ao clearly didn’t have his brother’s self-control.

His little head kept swaying left and right, glancing around from time to time, but even so, Shen Qing could tell that today Ao Zai was much more disciplined than usual…

The reason was simple: the chair he sat on was too big for him, so Ao Zai could normally half-recline on it. Usually when he sat there, he’d be lounging around and playing with his own little legs.

But not today.

From the little silhouette alone, it was obvious Ao Zai was deliberately trying to make himself sit properly.

The strangest part was that they were children after all, so they couldn’t possibly stay too proper forever—especially Ao Zai. Wherever little Ao Zai was, there was usually sound, because sometimes he’d amuse himself for no reason, sometimes he’d practice pronunciation out loud, and sometimes he’d even sing…

But now everything was silent.

?

Did his kids get taken over by aliens overnight?

“You two came downstairs this early? What are you doing? Did you eat breakfast…” Shen Qing asked as he descended the spiral staircase off to the side.

When he got halfway down and changed angle, he finally saw that on the other side of the table, in the brightly sunlit living room, there was another person sitting there…

“President Gu?”

Today, Gu Huaiyu was wearing a somewhat semi-casual suit jacket, a V-neck sweater, and underneath that probably a dark shirt. He was dressed even more formally than the day before.

The sun was excellent today, bright and clear. The sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows beside the table, flooding the room in gold.

Gu Huaiyu was still sitting in his wheelchair, but his whole body was bathed in the light.

His complexion was still pale, but under the sunlight his sharply defined features looked even more handsome and upright. He seemed far more spirited than before, and even his sitting posture seemed straighter…

Only his expression remained unchanged.

…No wonder nobody downstairs had dared make any sound.

So it turned out President Gu had come downstairs to sun himself!

Hearing Shen Qing’s voice, all three people at the table turned or looked up toward him at once.

Shen Qing sped up a little.

Only after reaching the first floor did he notice that the two little ones were seated at one corner of the table, while Gu Huaiyu sat at another corner.

…For all that it had cost two million yuan, the table was actually very large—at least two and a half meters long.

With them sitting like that, it gave off the feeling of people gazing at each other from afar.

That sense of distance…

“What’s going on?”

Shen Qing walked over to them, looking puzzled. “Why are you all here? Having a meeting?”

“You…” Gu Huaiyu’s gaze lingered on him for a moment, as if weighing his words. “…just woke up?”

Shen Qing: “Ah…”

He reflexively touched the hair that had been mussed from sleeping, and several cowlicks poked out between his fingers. Shen Qing felt a little awkward.

The key point was: what kind of tone was the big boss using? So what if he had just gotten up? Was it really that unbelievable?

Because normally neither the children nor the big boss came downstairs, Shen Qing had always gotten up whenever he wanted, and no one ever asked about it.

The staff would only bring him water and ask what he wanted for breakfast, what he wanted to drink, whether he had any orders, and so on.

To suddenly be questioned in this kind of “director’s office” tone made Shen Qing flash back to his working years and the days of nearly being late to work.

The problem was that he’d grown too used to being comfortable lately, so of course he wasn’t used to it.

Shen Qing chose to refuse to answer the boss’s question. He simply pulled out a chair and sat at the table too—although he was technically still a worker now, the code of his current job no longer included “must wake up early and never be late”!

Sitting directly beside Ao Zai, Shen Qing asked the kids, “You two, did you eat breakfast yet?”

“Ate!” Because Shen Qing himself was such a chatterbox, and liked practicing pronunciation, Ao Zai had become much more talkative recently too.

Gu Ao took the initiative to explain, “Ao Zai and gege both drank milk-milk, panda buns, and little steamed buns! And strawberries and little ap-ples!”

Ao Zai was deliberately focusing on speaking clearly. His speech was slower, but it was indeed much easier for adults to understand.

Shen Qing understood, then looked at the homework papers spread all over the table and the ghostly doodles on them, and couldn’t help asking again, “Then what’s all this?”

Ao Zai: “Jiujiu is here, helping gege study!”

Shen Qing: “…?”

He couldn’t help looking up at the big boss.

So this whole serious atmosphere was because the big boss was supervising them while they did homework?? …

But sitting that far away, could he really teach anything?

And besides, did Duoduo and Ao Zai even need to be supervised doing homework? Shouldn’t someone be supervising them going out to play instead?

The look Shen Qing directed toward Gu Huaiyu was full of confusion, but because Gu Huaiyu was already looking at him too, their gazes crossed in midair.

Gu Huaiyu was the first to look away. “Nothing much. Duoduo wanted some books to read.”

“…”

Shen Qing looked again at the book Gu Duo was reading. It seemed to be a collection of short French stories…

Mm, after occasionally studying along with Young Master Duo these past few days, Shen Qing had actually improved—he could now recognize that the books Duoduo read were in French.

Turning his gaze back to President Gu, Shen Qing said, “So you came downstairs to bring him books?”

He remembered that Gu Huaiyu’s bedroom had a huge number of books, and even now thinking about it still felt impressive.

Gu Huaiyu said, “Also to answer Duoduo’s questions.”

Shen Qing: “…If you’re answering questions, aren’t you sitting a little too far apart?”

As soon as he said that, even Gu Duo, who had been focused on reading with his head down, looked up.

He first glanced at his aunt, then at his little uncle, and then lowered his head again.

Shen Qing: …

Now he finally understood where the awkward atmosphere was coming from!

Remembering how even when they chose gifts for their little uncle, Duoduo and Ao Zai had been too shy to deliver them in person, it made sense that even if Duoduo had questions, he probably didn’t dare ask Gu Huaiyu directly.

Borrowing books was likely already his limit.

And he had probably asked Assistant Li Hong, not Gu Huaiyu himself.

As for Gu Huaiyu… if the big boss was willing to personally come downstairs to bring the books, and after delivering them still sat here in the sun instead of leaving, then that meant President Gu also wanted to get closer to the children.

It was just that the Gu family had gotten too used to being cold with one another. None of them knew how to express themselves…

Shen Qing asked, “So how long have you all been sitting here?”

Hearing that, Gu Huaiyu raised his hand and checked the time, but didn’t answer.

Gu Duo simply had no reaction at all and kept reading.

Only honest little Gu Ao answered faithfully, “Since after breakfast!”

Shen Qing: “…Then haven’t you been sitting here for more than an hour?”

The children usually ate breakfast around 7:30 every day. Aunt Zhang always prepared it on time. Even though Shen Qing had never gotten up that early himself, he knew that much.

And now it was already past 9.

He suddenly wanted to laugh, so he asked again, “Then did Duoduo ask Uncle any questions?”

That question made the uncle and nephew, each sitting at opposite corners, both pause at the same time.

Neither of the people involved answered.

Instead, little Gu Ao said, “Nope!”

Actually, over this one-plus hour, Gu Ao had been just as confused, because his brother had kept reading, his uncle had also kept reading, but little Ao Zai couldn’t focus on books at all…

Even so, Ao Zai was used to staying with his brother while his brother read.

Usually, he’d climb around, fiddle with his little things, and entertain himself happily.

But today his little uncle was present. Ao Zai had indeed been somewhat affected—

Whenever little uncle was around, Ao Zai couldn’t help but behave more properly. Part of it was because his brother had reminded him to before, and part of it was spontaneous.

…Ao Zai himself didn’t know why, but in front of his little uncle he just couldn’t be as relaxed as he was in front of his aunt.

Now that Auntie was here, and even sitting between him and Uncle, little Ao Zai, who had been trying so hard to sit straight, started relaxing again.

His little body nearly sprawled sideways in the chair again, and he kicked his legs upward, stretching like a kitten who had eaten its fill and should now bask in the sun and groom itself.

A little chubby kitten at that.

As the little chubby cat wriggled and squirmed around, he explained this tiny emotional journey to Shen Qing.

When he talked too fast, his pronunciation became unclear again. And compared to his athletic gifts, Ao Zai wasn’t quite as talented in language, so there were many things he couldn’t describe properly.

But Shen Qing still understood.

Shen Qing thought: …Perhaps this is just bloodline suppression.

If your little uncle hadn’t gone down the path of becoming a gloomy big boss, he probably would’ve ended up with the protagonist aura of some dragon-overlord anyway.

Thinking that, he couldn’t help pinching Ao Zai’s soft cheek and only said, “Because you’re still little.”

Ao Zai: “Mm.”

After his cheek got pinched, Ao Zai rubbed it again with his own little fleshy paw.

The kid was always like this. He wouldn’t let people touch him without retaliation—whenever someone touched him, he had to rub the spot again himself, as if remarking it.

But perhaps because he no longer held much hostility toward Shen Qing, Gu Ao only quietly rubbed his cheek and said nothing more.

“Ahem.” Shen Qing had already started taking on the role of smoothing over the atmosphere, because just now Ao Zai had basically said, right in front of his uncle, that having Uncle around made him feel awkward.

Even though the big boss might not have understood.

And even though the big boss did share some blame too—you’re the one sitting there with your face all stern and scary-looking.

But that wasn’t entirely his fault either. The big boss was also a temporary caretaker, and had spent so long being ill.

So after thinking it over, Shen Qing felt he still had to step in himself.

The children needed to know that true feelings still existed in this world, that their little uncle actually cared about them. Letting kids experience love could effectively stop them from becoming future psychos!

The more Shen Qing thought about it, the more energized he got. He quickly stood up and walked toward President Gu.

“Boss, you’ve been sunning one side for over an hour. Time to flip.”

As he spoke, he didn’t wait for the boss to react or refuse. He directly took control of Gu Huaiyu’s wheelchair, pushed him around the table, brought him to the other side beside Gu Duo, then turned and settled him in place.

Gu Huaiyu: “…”

At first Gu Huaiyu hadn’t understood what “flip” meant.

Not until the sunlight that had been shining on the right side of his face became sunlight on the left.

“…………”

What was Shen Qing doing… pan-frying a fish?

Shen Qing smiled brightly, all white teeth and red lips, and had already deftly brought over the book Gu Huaiyu had been reading.

He set it down in front of the big boss exactly as before and said cheerfully, “You can sit here and read. If Duoduo wants to ask you anything, it’ll be more convenient.”

After saying that, Shen Qing turned to Gu Duo, who had looked up to watch what they were doing, and said, “Little Duoduo, if you want anything, just ask your uncle directly, okay? Don’t be polite with him.”

Neither uncle nor nephew spoke.

At that moment, the servant who had been taking care of Shen Qing ever since the injury to the back of his head finally dared come closer. She was probably too frightened of President Gu and spoke nervously and haltingly: “Madam, you’re finally awake! What would Madam like for breakfast?”

Shen Qing: “……”

Under the gaze of one big pair and two little pairs of eyes, Shen Qing gave another cough.

Honestly, why did she have to emphasize that he had only just gotten up?!

Shen Qing said, “What is there to eat… Is Aunt Zhang in the back kitchen? I’ll go look.”

Although he’d woken up late, Shen Qing had no intention of settling for a bad meal.

It was just that with uncle and nephews all studying here, it would feel a little awkward for him to sit here stuffing his face.

So Shen Qing planned to switch to a small sitting room and go eat there.

Seeing Ao Zai still lying there like a flipped turtle, gnawing on his own little paw, Shen Qing reached out to the little dragon-protagonist: “Ao Zai, wanna come? Go find Granny Zhang and play?”

“Ao!” Ao Zai instantly climbed upright. “Ao Zai wants to play with Granny Zhang!…”

But perhaps because he was used to accompanying his brother, after sitting up, Ao Zai changed into kneeling on the chair, a little lump perched there. He didn’t climb down immediately, only looked at his brother, then at his uncle.

Gu Huaiyu said, “Go play.”

Then he raised a hand, long fingers pressing on the book in front of him, and dragged it over to place it in front of Gu Duo. Like a sudden vocabulary test, he asked, “This word—do you know it, Duoduo?”

Gu Duo looked at where his uncle was pointing, nodded, and answered directly.

Seeing that they were finally communicating properly, Shen Qing left. Before going, he顺便 scooped up the little dragon-overlord from the chair too.

These past few days, with all the eating and exercise, his appearance hadn’t changed much, but Shen Qing felt his body was much better.

…Yesterday, when he carried the sleeping Ao Zai upstairs, he hadn’t even been out of breath!

Today it felt even easier to hold him!

Though President Ao wasn’t used to being carried by adults, that was entirely because he copied his brother’s style.

Since Gu Duo was already a big child, Granny Zhang normally wouldn’t carry him around. Ao Zai had seen that, and so he also refused to let Granny Zhang carry him.

But fundamentally, Ao Zai wasn’t actually resistant to being carried by adults. Even though he felt he was already a big kid, he didn’t really have a concrete concept of that, so being hoisted up by Auntie with his feet dangling in the air felt pretty fun. So he immediately began giggling again.

The moment he moved, Shen Qing got nervous and cried out, “Ahhh little Ao Zai! You have to hold onto me! If I can’t hold you, you’ll fall!”

Gu Ao: “Hahaha, hah-loh-loh-loh!”

Shen Qing: “…Gu Ao! Are you on a swing? Stop moving!”

After finally hauling the child to the kitchen, Aunt Zhang turned around, saw the scene, and couldn’t help laughing… Was Madam carrying a piglet?

The moment he was set on the floor, Ao Zai shot toward Granny Zhang like a little rocket, while Shen Qing quietly took two steps back and poked his head out, peering toward the living room.

Seeing Gu Huaiyu with his head lowered explaining something to Gu Duo, and Gu Duo listening seriously, Shen Qing finally relaxed.

Without needing Aunt Zhang’s help, he found food for himself.

Though it was called the back kitchen, there was also a dining table there, and everything was kept spotless and orderly. It looked more like the kind of open kitchen-dining layout an ordinary home would have.

Shen Qing ate his breakfast there, while little Ao Zai got fed fruit puree and some water by Granny Zhang as an extra snack.

When the two of them returned to the living room after eating, Gu Huaiyu and Gu Duo were still there reading.

Although they weren’t talking again now, Gu Duo’s back looked much more relaxed, and he seemed more immersed and at ease in his reading.

Shen Qing brought them hot fruit tea.

Little Ao Zai had rested enough and climbed back onto his chair, starting to read the picture book his brother had drawn for him before.

Shen Qing: “……”

It felt like there wasn’t really anything left for him to do here, so he planned to go back to his room and play on his phone.

But then he suddenly remembered what he had wanted to ask the big boss yesterday—and the fact that he still didn’t have the big boss’s phone number.

After hesitating, Shen Qing pulled out another chair. This time he sat on Gu Huaiyu’s other side.

He sharply noticed that the book in the big boss’s hand had been only around one-third read before Shen Qing went to eat, but now it looked like only one-third remained…

?

That meant he’d read at least sixty or seventy pages.

…A medium-format book, no illustrations, densely packed with nothing but text—sixty to seventy pages.

Never mind that it was in French. Most normal people had some reading friction with foreign languages and needed time to mentally translate.

Even with Chinese books, nobody read that fast!

…Maybe the big boss was skipping around.

“What?”

While Shen Qing was propping his chin on his fist, he suddenly heard Gu Huaiyu ask him.

The big boss’s eyes never left the book. He didn’t even raise his head. Then, about half a minute later, he turned another page.

…

He finished another whole page in that little time?

Shen Qing blinked hard, thinking of all the years he’d struggled through reading… and suddenly felt that maybe reading itself wasn’t hard, maybe he was just mediocre…

But even if I’m mediocre, I’m still the one and only me!

He quickly abandoned that self-evaluation and brought up the serious matter instead. “Boss, was it you who handled the Milk Channel thing for me?”

Because he didn’t want to disturb the two kids studying, Shen Qing deliberately leaned closer to Gu Huaiyu and lowered his voice.

The young man’s voice suddenly became warm and soft.

The instant Gu Huaiyu lifted his eyes, he saw the trembling of Shen Qing’s long eyelashes.

His slender fingers unconsciously pressed against the page. Gu Huaiyu said slowly, “If by ‘handled’ you mean having them post one or two statements, then yes, I did ask Li Hong to make contact.”

“Then… thank you.” Shen Qing said it sincerely.

He genuinely meant it. Even though he didn’t really care what the internet said, he had still been genuinely wronged and hurt. Who would complain about getting more apologies?

But what he didn’t expect was Gu Huaiyu saying, “No need to thank me. After all, you are my wife.”

Shen Qing: “…?”

Wait, boss, what kind of tone is that?!

Shen Qing looked at Gu Huaiyu all over again. But the big boss just kept reading, not even lifting his head.

That made the sentence sound completely natural and casual.

As if… “It wasn’t a big deal anyway, and you’re my wife, so there’s nothing to say—I just lifted a hand and solved it for you”!!

Shen Qing: “…cough cough cough!”

Dear god, that was way more domineering than “my young master”!

Shen Qing choked.

Only then did Gu Huaiyu look up again. “What’s wrong with wife?”

Shen Qing’s coughing was so loud that even the two children opposite them looked up at him.

Both of them wore confused expressions.

The very young children didn’t understand what the two adults were talking about.

They only thought Auntie had coughed until his face turned red.

—Was Auntie sick? Wasn’t only Uncle supposed to cough?

Ao Zai looked at his brother.

Gu Duo shook his head.

—I don’t know.

Shen Qing finally managed to steady his breathing… Since the big boss was already calling him wife and telling him not to stand on ceremony, then he really wouldn’t.

Shen Qing took out his phone. “Boss, don’t you think the two of us should at least add each other on WeChat so it’s easier to contact each other if something comes up?”

“WeChat?” Gu Huaiyu frowned slightly, looked at his phone, and his expression suddenly became a little strange.

Shen Qing said, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t harass you. It’s just that we… the kids are already this big.”

He glanced toward the two little ones opposite and reinforced his conviction. “There’ll always be some emergency sooner or later, right? If I can’t contact you, it just feels weird.”

Seeing that Gu Huaiyu was still staring at him and still showed no sign of adding him on WeChat, Shen Qing didn’t back down.

He firmly continued voicing his opinion: “If I can’t contact my husband, I’ll feel insecure~”

“……”

Gu Huaiyu paused. After a moment, he said, “It’s not that I won’t add you. I just don’t use a phone.”

Shen Qing: “…? Huh???”

His eyes widened unconsciously, and only then did Shen Qing realize—

He really had never once seen the big boss holding a phone.

But still, wasn’t this the 21st century!? …

Then he thought about the big boss’s poor health. He was always hospitalized and surrounded by machines. Maybe phones really weren’t allowed in ICU-type situations.

And that made it seem understandable again.

But it was still hard to imagine…

After all, he was home now, wasn’t he?

“Not using a phone means you don’t have one at all…? You don’t even have a non-smartphone?” Shen Qing asked suspiciously.

Gu Huaiyu leaned back at the question, expressionless. “No.”

“…Then what do people do if they want to find you?”

Gu Huaiyu acted as if this was nothing. “Anyone who needs to reach me should at minimum know my assistant’s number.”

Shen Qing: ……

Damn, he’d been persuaded again—the big boss was never someone just anybody could reach anyway!

“Then… then what if you want to contact someone else? Or need to handle high-tech office work?…”

He refused to believe Gu Huaiyu didn’t need smart devices at all!

But Gu Huaiyu still replied the same way: “I have an assistant.”

“And besides…”

If it hadn’t been for taking in Gu Duo and Gu Ao, and now gaining a wife… there truly wasn’t anything in this world he absolutely had to do anymore.

Meeting Shen Qing’s gaze, Gu Huaiyu’s voice paused slightly, but he didn’t explain. He only said, “It’s nothing.”

Shen Qing: “……”

Shen Qing didn’t notice the flicker of loneliness in the big boss’s eyes. He was still immersed in shock and suddenly thought of modern society. The first function of a phone might be communication, but there were so many other things it was needed for too!

“But don’t you ever want to use one? Like suddenly wanting to chat with someone, scroll videos, read novels, play games…”

Okay, looking at the big boss, gaming was obviously impossible.

But other entertainment…

From Gu Huaiyu’s reaction, it seemed he didn’t need any other entertainment either.

Shen Qing: …damn.

There really were people like this!

Even his late grandmother had played on her phone before she passed away! But big boss, you…???

No wonder the big boss was so closed off and depressing.

Even though the smart era had severe information fragmentation and lots of internet junk, sometimes people needed that kind of junk to nourish them in order to really feel human!

Shen Qing did his best to suppress his shock and curiosity.

He tried not to let the big boss notice the strange look in his eyes.

He leaned closer again and tested the waters: “So the reason you don’t use a phone is because you don’t want people disturbing you?”

Gu Huaiyu narrowed his eyes. “That’s part of it.”

Shen Qing said, “But I still think you should have a phone. At least you could use it to make calls and contact people more easily… You’re already a big boss with two children now!”

Gu Huaiyu: “……”

Gu Huaiyu paused. After a moment, he slowly nodded. “Fine. I’ll consider it.”

“Then don’t bother considering it—just try it first!”

Shen Qing suddenly stood up, inspiration striking. “I suddenly thought of a way that won’t disturb you, but will still let us contact you. Wait here!”

With that, he ran off.

He disappeared from the living room and rushed toward the corridor in the corner.

Gu Huaiyu: “…?”

The direction the young man had run in… seemed to be where Duoduo and Ao Zai’s little private storage room was.

…

A few minutes later, Shen Qing came running back.

The young man’s face was glowing with excitement. Once he got close, he pulled a box out like a magician’s reveal and handed it to Gu Huaiyu.

“Here—Big Boss, from now on use this to contact us!”

Gu Huaiyu: “?”

The moment he saw the box clearly, Gu Huaiyu froze.

Not just him—even the two children beside him froze at the same time, stunned—

Unless they were mistaken, the picture on the box… wasn’t that a children’s phone watch?

Support me on Ko-fi