Chapter 26
After receiving the lucky charm pendant, Yu Chen happily tucked it into his pocket. His glass-like eyes rippled with proud delight. This was his special reward for bravely saving someone. Other than Boss, none of the other children had one.
He Zhen’s lips curled upward, infected by Yu Chen’s high spirits and pride.
He smiled faintly at Old Master He. “Thank you, Grandpa.”
Yu Chen bounced up and down, clapping. “Thank you, Grandpa, okay?”
“You’re welcome.” Old Master He gently rubbed Yu Chen’s round little head, then said to Li Huan beside him, “Your Chenchen is truly a beneficial friend.”
Li Huan hid the pride in his eyes and gave a slight nod.
On the way back, He Jinglin held onto the bouncing He Zhi’an, praising his improved kayaking skills nonstop. On the other side, however, the atmosphere around He Jingtai and He Jingcheng was noticeably heavier.
Although He Ling had won first place, the gift he received was only at the same level as Yu Chen’s, and not even as good as what an outsider’s child had gotten.
He Ling’s mother simply could not swallow that grievance.
Though He Jingcheng felt stifled too, as a doting father, he still kept praising He Ling aloud, insisting that his son was the very best.
As for He Jingtai, his face was clouded over.
He Nan was so frightened that he shrank behind his mother like a little quail, not daring to make a sound.
Seeing how pitiful He Nan looked, He Jinglin silently sighed. Unexpectedly, at that moment, He Ling’s mother said in a mocking tone, “Heaven really is unfair. Clearly the one who got first place, yet the reward isn’t even as good as the one for the loser.”
He Jingcheng pulled He Ling close and tried to persuade his wife, “Don’t say things like that in front of the child.”
He Ling’s mother gave a cold laugh. “If you were just a little more capable, would our Lingling have to suffer something this unfair?”
He Jingcheng’s face turned cold, and he dragged He Ling away at a quick pace.
From beginning to end, He Jingtai remained silent, his sinister expression so oppressive that neither He Nan nor his mother dared provoke him.
This incident gave He Jingtai a strong sense of crisis. He did not know when it had begun, but He Zhen was clearly slipping out of his control. Previously, he had sent someone to obtain He Zhen’s medical records, and the doctor had clearly told him that, according to the trend of He Zhen’s condition, he would develop severe manic depression and would have to rely on medication to keep it under control.
So how was it that now, He Zhen looked just like any normal child?
Malice slowly spread through He Jingtai’s heart.
Staging a car accident or some other accident would make his intentions too obvious. But if he started by crushing He Zhen’s psychological defenses, other people would only think that He Zhen had become some little lunatic because he lost his parents young and never received proper emotional guidance.
Since that was the case, then no one could blame him for being ruthless.
That evening, after dinner, Yu Chen and He Zhen went for a walk around the mountain villa together. Yu Chen had been very obedient today. For dinner, his main food had been only half a sweet potato. He had eaten a big bowl of green vegetables, and only two pieces of ribs.
To give Yu Chen more motivation to walk and lose weight, He Zhen had specially brought him to “inspect” the entire villa, since Grandpa’s lawyer had already begun the paperwork. Very soon, the owner of this villa would become him.
“Up ahead is the Bamboo Corridor.” Holding the villa map in his hands, He Zhen slowly read the words aloud for Yu Chen.
Yu Chen was in charge of holding the little flashlight and asked seriously, “Boss, does Bamboo Corridor mean there are a lot of bamboo trees there?”
He Zhen nodded. “Yes. It’s very cool there in summer.”
Yu Chen murmured, “If that place turned into a bamboo castle, it would definitely be cool and super fun.”
He Zhen considered it seriously. “Then how about we turn it into a bamboo castle for you to play in?”
Yu Chen’s eyes widened in delight. “Can we really?”
He Zhen nodded proudly. “Of course.”
Taking the map from him, Yu Chen examined it more carefully. “Boss, what does this say?”
He Zhen replied, “Gathering Plaza.”
“What can you do there?”
He Zhen smiled. “How about making it into a children’s playground for you?”
Yu Chen clapped his hands excitedly. “What about this one, what about this one?”
He Zhen said, “This is called a waterfall.”
“A waterfall?”
“What do you want to turn it into?”
“Can it become a water park?”
“Of course it can.”
“Boss, you’re so good!”
Excited, Yu Chen threw his arms around He Zhen and rubbed his round little head against him in a spoiled way.
“Boss! When I grow up, I’m going to buy you the prettiest castle!”
He Zhen’s eyes lit up. “Why buy a castle?”
Yu Chen grinned. “Because I want to let you be a happy little prince inside the castle!”
A smile slowly spread across He Zhen’s face. “Then what about you?”
Yu Chen lowered his little head shyly and lightly picked at He Zhen’s clothes with his fingers. “I’ll be your little guard and protect you for the rest of my life.”
He Zhen’s voice was very soft. “Really?”
“Mhm!” Yu Chen nodded firmly. “And Uncle can be the king in there! I’m going to give the best things to both of you!”
A clean smile appeared on He Zhen’s childish face. “Yu Chenchen, we’re going to live together forever.”
“Okaaay!” Yu Chen marched forward in a full heroic stride toward the fishing platform ahead.
Halfway there—
He suddenly turned back sheepishly. “Boss, I’m tired from walking, and my eyes can’t see anything anymore. Can you carry me back?”
He Zhen stepped forward and checked his sports wristband, discovering that the two of them had unknowingly already walked 1.8 kilometers. He nodded, then, just as when they were younger, lifted Yu Chen by his little bottom and carried him face-to-face.
This time, He Zhen held Yu Chen very firmly. His steps were steady and strong, and not once did he jostle Yu Chen.
And Yu Chen, no longer having to walk on his own, comfortably narrowed his eyes. Leaning against He Zhen’s shoulder, he swung his chubby little legs and fully enjoyed the summer evening breeze.
“Boss, you’re really super amazing! You’re even stronger than a mighty little tiger!”
“Chenchen is going to be your little guard forever!”
At that moment, He Zhen felt indescribably happy, full of energy all over.
A few days later, the little gang led by He Zhen had nearly played through the whole villa. On the last day of the National Day holiday, the few of them started playing a role-playing game.
The idea had been proposed by little friend He Zhi’an. Yu Chen had never played house before, so he was extremely interested. As for He Congxing, he always listened to his older brothers, so naturally he had no objections. Only He Zhen found this sort of game far too childish.
“There are four of us. Someone can play the dad, someone can play the mom, and someone can play the child…” The children spread a soft carpet across the sunroom, and He Zhi’an sat in the middle, thoroughly enjoying the pleasure of directing everyone.
“We have four people. What about the one left over?” Yu Chen obediently raised his hand and asked his question.
He Zhi’an thought about it. “The extra person can play the big villain!”
He Congxing showed his sweet little dimples. “Then can I be the baby?”
He Zhi’an nodded. “You can!”
Yu Chen hurriedly raised his hand. “I want to be the dad!”
This time, He Zhi’an was more guarded and reluctantly refused. “I already picked the dad in advance.”
Yu Chen was a child who did not make a fuss, so he simply said, “Then I’ll be the mom.”
He Zhi’an was very satisfied. But after looking at He Zhen, who was staring at him with a straight face, he scratched his head guiltily. “Boss, then can you be the bad guy?”
The moment he heard he was being asked to play the villain, He Zhen’s brows lifted slightly. “Boring!”
He Zhi’an tested the waters. “Th-then… are you playing?”
He Zhen pulled a detective novel from the shelf, leaned lazily against a cushion with one leg propped up, and said, “I’m not playing this childish house game.”
Yu Chen folded his plump little arms. “Right! My boss is a big kid and likes reading super amazing books!”
He Zhen was very satisfied with Yu Chen’s explanation. While lowering his eyes to read, he secretly watched Yu Chen out of the corner of his eye.
He Congxing was the youngest there and had only just started first grade. He obediently chimed in, “Brother Zhen is a big kid.”
He Zhi’an suddenly felt a bit wronged.
He was clearly the same age as He Zhen, and even a few months older. So how had He Zhen become a big kid while he was still a little kid?
“I’m seven too,” He Zhi’an muttered, quietly protesting.
“Then how many characters can you read?” Yu Chen lifted his brows proudly and smiled smugly. “My boss knows all the characters in the Xinhua Dictionary!”
“All of them? No way, right?” He Zhi’an weakly questioned. For a second grader, knowing a thousand commonly used characters was already very impressive.
“Not all.” He Zhen spoke while looking at Yu Chen. “Around four thousand.”
He Congxing’s eyes widened in admiration, and in a soft baby voice, he gave a thumbs-up. “Brother Zhen! Amazing!”
Yu Chen supported him enthusiastically. “Boss! Amazing!”
Looking at Yu Chen, He Zhen pressed his lips together proudly. “You all go play. I’m going to read my novel.”
Yu Chen withdrew his adoring gaze and started the game with the others.
Since Yu Chen’s role was the mom, He Zhi’an specially borrowed a small apron for him to tie around his waist. Then, imitating the voice of a father, he said, “Child’s mother, I’m hungry. Can you cook for me?”
Yu Chen looked extremely adorable in the little floral apron. Pouting his chubby little face and planting his hands on his hips, he said, “Child’s father! Do we have food at home? Like snacks and things?”
He Zhi’an thought for a moment. “Yes! I’ll go get them!”
With that, he ran back to the bedroom, planning to bring the snacks he had brought with him and use them as props.
Though He Zhen sat with his back to the sunlight reading his novel, he never stopped paying attention to every move Yu Chen made.
Yu Chen was incredibly immersed when he played. Even though He Zhi’an had already left, he still acted like a mother, taking care of He Congxing as the baby, using his soft little baby voice to gently tell stories.
“This story is about Cinderella and the Seven Dwarfs…”
He Zhen raised his brows and laughed at Yu Chen’s nonsense.
Yu Chenchen was such a little dummy!
Very soon, He Zhi’an came running back carrying a heavy load of snacks, a layer of sweat already covering his forehead and nose.
The moment Yu Chen saw so many snacks, he picked up an empty bowl and sweetly went over to meet him. “Child’s father, thank you for your hard work! Let’s count how much food we have together.”
He Zhi’an nodded happily. “Okay, child’s mother.”
He Zhi’an had brought a huge amount of snacks. Even combining the math abilities of the whole family of three, it still took them fifteen minutes to count everything. Altogether, there were forty-five items of food, which was quite plenty.
Satisfied, Yu Chen packed the snacks back into the bag and cleared his throat. “Child’s father, then let me keep the food for us!”
He Zhi’an smiled. “Thank you for your hard work.”
As they kept playing, He Zhi’an and Yu Chen began taking the baby shopping at the “supermarket,” and the family of three looked perfectly harmonious and happy. It got to the point where even He Zhen could barely keep reading.
At that moment, He Zhi’an suggested, “Child’s mother, it’s already dark. How about we all go to sleep together?”
Yu Chen nodded in agreement. “Okay-oh.”
The moment He Zhen heard that, he finally put down his book and glared at He Zhi’an with an unfriendly expression.
In his mind, Yu Chen could only be held to sleep by him.
He Zhi’an was clearly trying to steal his little follower!
Because there were not enough quilts, He Zhi’an trotted off to the next bedroom to borrow one. Taking advantage of that opening, He Zhen walked over to Yu Chen and said, “Yu Chenchen, I want to go out and play. Come with me.”
At that moment, Yu Chen was busy soothing He Congxing to sleep and deeply immersed in the joy of being a mother. Faced with He Zhen’s invitation, his plump little face showed some hesitation. “Boss, but the baby is home all alone. I can’t leave.”
He Zhen frowned angrily. “Then wait until Zhian comes back.”
Yu Chen’s big damp eyes shifted around. Then he obediently nodded. “Okay then, I’ll get the baby to sleep first.”
Lying with his head on Yu Chen’s soft, fleshy thigh, He Congxing felt incredibly comfortable and cooperatively shut his eyes, pretending to be asleep.
By the time He Zhi’an returned, Yu Chen had already taken off the apron and was holding hands with He Zhen, ready to walk out. He hurried to stop him. “Child’s mother! Where are you going?”
Pouting in a very serious way, Yu Chen said, “Child’s father, I want to go out and play with Boss.”
He Zhi’an stood there holding the quilt, completely at a loss. “But we’re supposed to go to sleep now!”
“But Boss needs me to be with him.” A trace of difficulty appeared on Yu Chen’s little face. “Can I keep playing with you later?”
He Zhi’an, fully immersed in the role of father, felt terribly depressed. “But the game isn’t over yet!”
“Then you can just get divorced.” He Zhen tightly held Yu Chen’s hand, his expression full of defiance. “If you divorce, then the game is over, right?”
This matter suddenly entered a complete blind spot in He Zhi’an’s knowledge.
What was divorce?
His parents were deeply in love and had never once mentioned divorce in front of him.
He pursed his lips in grievance. “What does divorce mean?”
He Zhen was much more mature than children his age and thus explained the concept to the three clueless little ones. “Divorce means the dad and mom separate, split the property in half, and can form new families.”
Yu Chen looked as if he had learned something brand-new. In a trembling baby voice, he said to He Zhi’an, “Child’s father, then let’s get divorced!” After saying that, his lively eyes quietly fell on the large bag of snacks He Zhi’an had brought.
A little guiltily, he divided the snacks into two shares, his voice carrying small delight. “If the property gets split in half, then does that mean the snacks get split in half too?”
He Zhen nodded. “Mm.”
Yu Chen slowly packed one half of the snacks into his own schoolbag and muttered, “Then I’m leaving now.”
He Zhi’an stood there frozen.
Only after the figures of Yu Chen and He Zhen had completely disappeared did the dense ache in his heart come flooding up.
He slumped to the floor in despair and called He Jinglin to pour out his sadness. “Mom! My wife took the property, left the baby behind, and divorced me!”
On the other end of the line, He Jinglin froze for a moment, then burst into merciless laughter.
Just then, a WeChat transfer notification popped up on He Zhi’an’s phone.
[He Zhen: Money for the snacks Yu Chen took. It’s for you.]
Little friend He Zhi’an, whose heart had been thoroughly shattered, burst into tears with a loud wail.
“I don’t want your stupid money!”
Time passed quickly, the years turning gently, the four seasons cycling one after another.
In the blink of an eye, this school term was already drawing to a close.
As the life committee member, Yu Chen had truly been diligent and conscientious this semester. Not only had he carefully taken care of the class plants and flowers, but among the second-grade classes, the fruit tree belonging to Class One was the tallest and most flourishing in the entire school.
At harvest time, Yu Chen held a huge basket full of fruit in his arms, warmly surrounded by his classmates, and together they took the first group photo of the term.
Recently, Yu Chen had taken on a brand-new task—to purchase the snacks and desserts for the New Year party for the whole class.
The homeroom teacher withdrew ten thousand yuan of class funds, put the money into an envelope, and handed it to the vice monitor Chen Zilu and Yu Chen to keep together.
The children here all came from wealthy families. Every year, the class funds easily exceeded six figures.
To the children here, ten thousand yuan really was not that much.
After receiving the class funds, Chen Zilu asked Yu Chen to go to the mall with him after school on Friday to choose the snacks.
Yu Chen treated this task with utmost seriousness. Carrying a little notebook, he carefully wrote down the foods each classmate liked. But he gradually discovered that the class’s preferences roughly split into two groups. One faction, led by Chen Zilu, hoped that most of the party budget would be spent on snacks. The other faction, led by Xiao Yu, hoped Yu Chen would buy more fast food and fried chicken, because these pampered young masters and young ladies were usually forbidden from eating such so-called junk food at home.
Yu Chen was very conflicted. After going home and asking Li Huan for advice, Li Huan told him to count how many people supported each side, then divide the money into three parts proportionally: one part for desserts and fruit that everyone liked, one part for burgers and fried chicken, and the last part for snacks.
So, on Friday evening, He Zhen accompanied Yu Chen and followed Chen Zilu to the mall to choose food.
Now that winter had arrived, many of Yu Chen’s jackets from last year no longer fit him properly. Some were too tight, some too short. Li Huan and He Jinglin had bought many new clothes for the two brothers.
Yu Chen liked adorable outerwear, like the little bear fleece hoodie he was wearing today. It looked extremely lively on him, and together with his naturally plump, fair appearance, he looked like he could honestly be a model for the hoodie itself.
When it came to experience in buying snacks, if Yu Chen claimed second place in the class, no one dared claim first. In He Zhen’s bedroom stood a huge transparent glass snack cabinet. Inside it were snacks from all over the world, specially built by He Zhen to serve as Yu Chen’s personal snack vault.
Of course, opening this snack vault came with conditions.
For instance, if Yu Chen lost half a kilo, he could choose one item.
So every time Yu Chen picked snacks, he had to stare at them for ages, exhausting his brain to pick the single most delicious thing.
“If they sprinkled a little pistachio crumble on top of this matcha mille crepe, it would be perfect.” Yu Chen secretly glanced at the ten thousand yuan in Chen Zilu’s hand and twisted his little hands in worry. The teacher had said the money was to be jointly kept by the two of them, but Chen Zilu never once asked for his opinion and instead kept the class funds entirely to himself. In the end, what they bought was still whatever Chen Zilu decided.
He Zhen led Yu Chen along, but all his attention was on Yu Chen’s downcast face. While Chen Zilu was off choosing strawberries, He Zhen called in a low voice, “Yu Chenchen?”
Yu Chen lifted his soft little face. “Oh?”
He Zhen said, “You’re unhappy.”
Yu Chen lowered his eyes, his long thick lashes trembling lightly. “Mm. Chen Zilu keeps holding onto the class funds. Whenever I tell him what to buy, he disagrees. I’m really afraid he’ll buy too many snacks and forget that Xiao Yu and the others want burgers.”
Although Yu Chen himself also liked snacks, he remembered that the duty of the life committee member was to take care of every classmate well.
So he had made up his mind that everyone at the party should get to eat what they wanted.
He Zhen squeezed his palm. “I’ll go ask him for it.”
“Boss—”
“I think I should go myself.”
Yu Chen felt that, since he was the life committee member, he had to take responsibility. He had to dare to express his own thoughts.
His little chest slowly rose as Yu Chen, with his hands behind his back, walked seriously and solemnly up to Chen Zilu. “Vice Monitor, may I have half of the class funds? That way we can divide the work and buy the food separately.”
Chen Zilu actually had his own reasons for keeping hold of the class funds. He did not agree with using class money to buy that kind of junk food. Wouldn’t it be much better to buy more imported snacks?
He stared at Yu Chen and had just started to think of how to refuse when he suddenly noticed the warning look He Zhen was sending from not far away.
The vice-monitor aura around Chen Zilu instantly weakened quite a bit, and he said vaguely, “Fine. We’ll each take five thousand. I’ll give it to you in a bit.”
“Thank you!” Yu Chen was delighted and continued choosing things enthusiastically with his little schoolbag on his back.
He Zhen looked at Chen Zilu with considerable satisfaction, his light brown eyes carrying faint scrutiny that made Chen Zilu feel uncomfortable all over.
Only when He Zhen and Yu Chen finally went to another section did Chen Zilu glare resentfully at He Zhen and continue picking snacks that the little followers around him liked.
Only by giving those people benefits would they be willing to flatter him.
The sight of three primary school students darting around the supermarket was already eye-catching enough, not to mention the several big, sturdy bodyguards following behind them. Passersby kept throwing curious glances their way, wondering if some TV station was filming a program.
After shopping for a long time, Yu Chen’s little tummy began to rumble.
Seeing Yu Chen staring longingly at the ice cream, He Zhen went to line up on his own, intending to buy him a macadamia-cheese ice cream as a reward for getting an A+ on yesterday’s quiz.
Chen Zilu had a piano lesson to attend, so before leaving, he reminded Yu Chen that on Monday they would need to submit their planned food purchase list to the homeroom teacher for approval. Once it was approved, the actual shopping would officially begin on Tuesday. Yu Chen nodded his little head solemnly and promised to complete the task.
After Chen Zilu left, He Zhen came back holding the ice cream.
Yu Chen got so excited that he almost danced with joy. He did not even take it from him but instead leaned forward eagerly and bit straight into the double-berry ice cream mixed with Hawaiian macadamia nuts.
He stamped his little feet in happiness, both hands clutching his cheeks. “Boss! I really, really, really love you!”
He Zhen held the ice cream up for him and did not feel tired at all. Quietly, he asked, “Yu Chenchen.”
Yu Chen licked the ice cream. “Mm?”
He Zhen narrowed his eyes. “If anyone buys you ice cream, would you say that to them too?”
Yu Chen had eaten too quickly, leaving a ring of ice cream around his mouth. With his hands behind his back, he shook his head in all seriousness. “I only eat the ice cream Boss buys for me. I don’t want anyone else’s!”
Satisfied with that answer, He Zhen clicked his tongue, pulled out a tissue from his pocket, and gently wiped Yu Chen’s mouth. “Don’t eat too fast. You’ll get a stomachache.”
Yu Chen obediently replied, “Received, Your Highness the Prince!”
After a weekend passed, before he even had time to return to class that Monday morning, Yu Chen and Chen Zilu went together to the teacher’s office and handed over the neatly written list to the homeroom teacher. Yu Chen had not known how to write the character fan in Godiva, so he had carefully annotated it one stroke at a time in pinyin.
The homeroom teacher was very satisfied with Yu Chen and Chen Zilu’s work. She handed the list back to Yu Chen. “Any time this week, you can go make the purchases.”
Chen Zilu smiled ingratiatingly. “Thank you for your support, Teacher! You’ve worked hard too!”
The homeroom teacher smiled lightly and asked Chen Zilu, “Which one of you has the class funds? If making the purchases is too difficult, I can send someone to buy everything according to your list. Otherwise it’ll be too heavy, and the two of you children won’t be able to carry it.”
Chen Zilu set down his schoolbag and began rummaging inside. But even after searching for a long time, he still could not find the envelope.
A slight change crossed his expression. But after only two seconds of thought, he resumed his serious, confident look and said to Yu Chen, “Look at my memory. I gave the envelope to you last Friday, didn’t I?”
Yu Chen waved his hands. “No. You promised to give it to me, but you were in a hurry for your piano lesson and forgot.”
“I did give it to you. You even put it in the pocket of your little bear hoodie.”
“You didn’t give it to me…” Yu Chen blankly searched through his pockets, unknowingly getting led astray by Chen Zilu’s certain tone.
Chen Zilu suddenly turned serious. “Yu Chen, did you leave the class funds at home? If you forgot to bring them, that’s okay. But you absolutely must not lie.”
“I’m not lying.” Yu Chen scratched his head anxiously and looked helplessly at the teacher. “Vice Monitor really didn’t give it to me.”
“Don’t panic.” The homeroom teacher smiled at the two of them. “Think carefully again. The class funds shouldn’t be lost.”
“But they really aren’t with me.” Pouting, Yu Chen followed Chen Zilu out of the office. “Vice Monitor, you really didn’t give it to me. Did you forget?”
A trace of guilt flashed across Chen Zilu’s face, but he still insisted, “Yu Chen, you definitely forgot. That day, weren’t you only thinking about the ice cream and completely forgot that I gave you the class funds?”
“I…” Yu Chen clutched his little head. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember when exactly Chen Zilu had supposedly handed him the money. But it was true that, that day, he had been desperately craving ice cream, and his eyes had been fixed the whole time on He Zhen standing in line to buy it.
“Think again—”
“If you really can’t remember, then we’ll just have to tell everyone that you lost the class funds.”
Chen Zilu blinked at him, smiled, and walked away.
Ever since Yu Chen had been elected life committee member, the classmates had all trusted him a great deal. Even the students who originally supported him had come to think more highly of him. Chen Zilu had long disliked him. But since He Zhen protected Yu Chen, he had not dared do anything to him directly. Taking advantage of this incident, he could finally destroy some of Yu Chen’s prestige in the eyes of the class.
As for the envelope containing the class funds…
Chen Zilu racked his brain, but could not remember where exactly he had put it on Friday.
Out in the hallway,
Yu Chen stared blankly at Chen Zilu’s back, terrified that he would run off and tell the classmates something.
With his hands tucked together, he was so anxious he was like a little ant on a hot pan. His dry eyes instantly turned red.
No!
He had never received Chen Zilu’s class funds!
He had to find a way to clear his name!
Yu Chen puffed out his lips, his tear-filled big eyes shining with determination.
