It was already afternoon when Jian Shiwu woke up from his nap.
Lui Heng and Qiao An had already woken up and were playing games, Shen Cheng was on the sofa reading a book, the originally spacious study was a little crowded because of the number of people.
The afterglow of the setting sun fell in, the sound of small conversations making the room seem full, the sound of pots and pans downstairs, the faint fragrance of ribs wafting in through the doorway, the warmth of the house, the world was full of fireworks.
Harmony.
He thought of this word inexplicably, and felt unusually full and peaceful inside.
Lui Heng turned around at the sound of movement and said, "You're awake."
Qiao An put down the game in his hand and waved at Jane Shiwu, "Shiwu, come and play a game?"
Jian Shiwu gave a small yawn, "No, you guys can play."
On the desk not far away were the papers that had been written at lunchtime, they had done most of their homework during the day, but there was still a lot of memorization left, which was the hardest part.
Jian Shiwu crossed over the two who were playing games and walked somewhat with difficulty in the direction of the table.
Shen Cheng put down his book and lifted his eyes to look at him: "Just woke up from your nap?"
"Mmm!"
Jian complained as he walked, looking at some of the cupboards and lamenting, "There's so much stuff in the study, quite a lot of it has been there for ages, it feels a bit cramped, next time I'll have to tidy it up properly."
Shen Cheng raised an eyebrow: "What do you put in there."
Jian Shiwu couldn't really say at once, he had forgotten about a lot of things.
Lui Heng interjected: "That big box over there seems to have a lot of toys in it, you have a fetish for collecting?"
Jian said smoothly, "I didn't buy that."
Lui Sheng looked at him curiously.
Jian Shiwu was also inexplicably a little weak as he said, "It should all be things given to me by others..."
Lui Heng gave a long, drawn-out "oh" and then gave Shen Cheng a meaningful look, revealing a smile, saying that it was a gift from someone else, but anyone with a bit of insight could guess that it must have been a gift from a suitor.
Jian was distressed: "The main reason is that I don't know who gave it all, and I can't return it. But I can pile it here, and it really takes up a lot of space, so I can just keep it handy. Throwing doesn't seem like a good thing."
Shen Cheng's voice rang out coolly from behind him, unable to detect any happiness or anger: "A lot of people sent them?"
Jian Shiwu's body stiffened.
Inexplicably, it felt like a coolness crept up from behind.
He turned around and saw Shen Cheng sitting languidly on the sofa, looking at him indifferently, with a gentle and harmless look, but subconsciously he felt that this was something he had to answer properly.
Jian said, "Not many."
Shen Cheng raised his eyebrows noncommittally.
Jian Shiwu walked over to the desk and sat down, somewhat heartlessly: "I'm not interested in them, some I don't even know them, and if I had the chance I would have returned them long ago."
Shen Cheng looked at him and although he didn't answer, there was still some light joy in his heart. If Jian Shiwu wasn't interested in him, didn't that mean he wasn't interested in those people at all, then relatively speaking, wouldn't the chances of winning be greater since he knew him since he was young.
Then, Jian Shiwu added: "Because at our age we put our studies first of course!"
......
The air was quiet for a moment
Shen Cheng raised his eyes and saw Jian Shiwu holding the test paper, with a smile on his face and said to the few people sitting there, "Let's do the Mathematics paper, shall we?"
The remaining three people looked at him indifferently.
Jian Shiwu waited for a while, finally putting down the textbook in the midst of the breathless stares, and said embarrassingly, "Then why don't we just write it later.”
Why did they all look at him like that it was so strange.
Just when he was about to put down his exam paper, Shen Cheng stood up and got ready to go outside, so he asked, "Where are you going, Shen Cheng?"
Shen Cheng said to him without looking back, "I'm helping Auntie Zhen downstairs."
Jian was surprised, if he went to help her, he could also eat a few bites of meat on the side: "I'll go too!"
"You're not going."
"Ah why?"
Shen Cheng turned to look at him. The boy raised his handsome eyebrows, with what appeared to be teasing in his eyes, and flicked his thin lips, "You have to put your studies first at your age."
Jian Shiwu choked back a sob.
~
Downstairs
When she saw Shen Cheng coming over, Zhen Meili smiled: "Why weren't you up there with him and the others?”
"Came out for some fresh air." Shen Cheng stood by the stove and said, "Are you making roast pork?"
"Yes, Jian Shiwu likes to eat it." Zhen Meili asked him, “Do you want to learn?"
Shen Cheng stood still, his dropped eyes hiding the thoughts underneath them as he whispered, "I'll give you a hand."
Zhen Meilie revealed a smile, looking away without saying anything, and whispered bback, "Then you can help me prepare the dish, it is my unique recipe, the recipe is not available outside."
Although Shen Cheng is young, but his help does not drag one back. His skillful movements, whether washing or cutting vegetables are all flowing, come from the influence of his former family.
Zhen Meilie looked at him and in her eyes their was a somewhat distressed look as she asked, "Shen Cheng, these years abroad you... are you doing well?"
The young man's body was straight, in just a few years he’d grown much taller, his face was also colder and more upright, a side face not as clean as before, but looked much more stern, in the light, he’d lowered his head, faint voice: "Quite well."
How could Zhen Meilie not see through the strength behind this, she sighed and said, "I don't know foreigners well, but how could I not know Mr. Ji's temperament, he’s a workaholic, especially when he’s back at the company. How can auntie always accompany you by your side, if you don't tell aunt, but aunt can guess quite a lot."
Shen Cheng was silent and didn't pick up the conversation.
Zhen Mei Li stirred and stirred the porridge in the pot and asked him, "What about this sports day, does Mr. Ji know about it?"
Shen Cheng replied, "Not yet."
"Why?"
"Nothing." Shen Cheng whispered, "He’s very busy at work, running around from place to place, taking time off for a few days for the Games would delay him from making money for business."
Zhen Meilie looked at the quiet and steady child next to her, and felt inexplicably uncomfortable in her heart. These years she was most distressed for Shen Cheng, for no other reason than the fact that the child had grown to be a heart-breakingly understanding child, and if there had been no accidents, he would have been a starry-eyed child, but he was born to suffer all sorts of hardships, and then he was easily taken back by the Ji family according to reason. He should have enjoyed it, but then he was taken to a foreign country he was unfamiliar with. No one knew that Shen Cheng had endured too much hardship.
She failed to take care of Shen Youting back then, but now she must take care of Shen Youting's child.
Zhen Meilie let out a deep breath as she said to Shen Cheng, "Why do you think that? Not long ago our family Jian’s father and your dad always had business dealings. During the meetings ah, Ji always mentioned you from time to time, although he didn't say it explicitly, but we could all see that he actually cares about you a lot and takes you as his pride."
Shen Cheng paused in his movements.
Zhen Mei Li took the dishes Shen Cheng was cutting and put them into a clean wok to fry, and she said, "As a parent, earning money to raise a family is all about giving your children a better life, so they can live a good life, but if you can't even give the most basic companionship, then what's the use of earning money? Did Mr Ji tell you that he didn’t want to come and only wanted to do business in M to make money?"
Shen Cheng lowered his eyes, hiding the emotions inside.
After awhile, he opened his mouth: "He is busy every day until late at night."
Zhen Mei said, "Every day?"
"Mm."
Shen Cheng wiped the console with a rag, "There are many social engagements, sometimes overtime, I don’t see him during the week, I only come across him every night."
The gatherings are few and far between.
Even if he occasionally encountered him in the daytime, Ji Yuansheng would only simply have a few words with him, and the rest of the time they’d just look at each other, relatively speechless. Many times Shen Cheng would think, as far as Ji Yuansheng is concerned, he is only a stranger who suddenly broke into his life. After all, he didn't grow up by his side since he was a child.
Pride
He’s the pride of Ji Yuansheng?
If it wasn’t for what Zhen Mei said today, Shen Cheng wouldn’t have dared to believe it himself.
Next to him, Zhen Meilie found it strange: "Every day? Late at night you would still be awake?"
Shen Cheng turned around to wash the rag at the sink, lowered his eyes to hide his emotions, and replied in a low voice: "Evening self-study after class."
......
Zhen MeiLie felt as if something didn’t seem right somewhere.
One has late night study sessions and the other is working late into the night, so they meet every day. But is it they really don’t want to meet? Obviously one can choose to live at school and the other can pinpoint the time to avoid the kid’s time coming from school, but they don’t. In an awkward, somewhat uncharitable way, they expressed their concern for each other.
Zhen Mei Li paused and smiled, "It's precisely because Mr Ji is so busy every day that he should take time out to rest."
Shen Cheng looked up at her.
"If I remember correctly, there will be a parents' meeting a week or two after the final exams." Zhen Meili opened the soup pot, took a sip of the delicious pork chop soup, and bent her eyebrows at Shen Cheng, gentle and kind: "How about trying to give him a call this time?"
The pair of eyes that were identical to Jian’s seemed to have the power to soothe the heart.
Shen Cheng felt as if he had been standing in front of a closed door and he couldn’t go in, but then someone gently pushed him from behind, not with much force but giving him the courage to take a step inside.
Still looking at him gently, Zhen Meilie said patiently, "Okay?"
The pot of soup was steaming with hot water, the wok of frying vegetables was making a sound of oil and vegetables touching, and in the midst of this bustling noise, the uncommunicative boy nodded gently and agreed in a low, muffled voice: "Yes."
...
At the evening meal, several children ate with a look of satisfaction. Jian Shiwu was practically finishing a bowl of roast pork all by himself, and Lui Heng was a little unable to catch up to him , "You're not afraid of getting fat!"
However, when it came to other foods, Jian could still keep his head above water, but when it came to roast pork, it was hard to be sensible.
After being robbed of the last piece of meat, he looked angrily at Lui Heng, justified by his anger: "How much fatter can I get? Besides, as Shen Cheng said, it's not like I can't afford to eat."
Lui Heng stuffed the roast meat into his mouth and vaguely agreed with him, "Yes, yes, your Shen Cheng can afford it."
?
Are you talking in human terms?
Jian turned back to Shen Cheng with a bit of anger, "Look at him!”
There was soup just being served, and Shen Cheng served the soup and handed the bowl to Jain Shiwu, in a faint voice: "Help yourself to a spoon."
...
Jian Shiwu's arrogance dropped sharply, like a kitten who wanted to show off his strength, but he was slapped by the owner, and he obediently put away his paws, he glared at Lui Heng , and could only bury himself in the soup.
Zhen Meili smiled and said, "Speaking of this, when he was young, he said that he would marry him for making braised pork for him every day."
Lui Heng laughed out loud.
When Jian Shiwu was exposed, his face suddenly turned red, he glanced at his mother: "Mom!"
Lui Heng didn't think it was enough, he put down his chopsticks and coughed lightly, "No wonder then, you know that last year when senior school first started, a girl gave Shi a love lunch on the table at noon, and then left a note with her contact details. He came back and saw the roast pork on the inside and ate it clean, and when he was done he called the little girl and guess what he said?"
Everyone at the dinner table was looking at Lui Heng and the big family was curious.
Lui Heng was holding back his laughter and his face was red as he said, "Brother Shi asked people how much the box lunch cost, whether it was Alipay or WeChat, and whether he could still order food in the future."