Chapter 92: Childhood Sweetheart Route – Extra (3)
Lin Yiqiong often reflected on her life’s decision, finding the birth of Shen Shuyi to be a decision she both loved and hated.
She had assumed her son, Shen Lu, was well-behaved and set a good example, so she assumed her second child wouldn’t be any more mischievous. Thus, she resolutely gave birth to Shen Shuyi.
Unexpectedly, she gave birth to a little devil.
Many times, the wealthy ladies would gather to play mahjong, envying Lin Yiqiong.
“Elleen, I really envy you! Both your sons are so handsome. Look at Shuyi, how did you raise him? He’s so cute, even better looking than child stars!”
Lin Yiqiong, having won the hand, said, “Want one? I’ll give him to you right away, it’s free! You can take him home for a couple of days today.”
“Really?” The wealthy lady genuinely believed her.
“Really.” Lin Yiqiong was very generous.
That afternoon, Shen Shuyi spent the entire afternoon at this aunt’s house.
Just as dusk fell, Shen Shuyi was returned unharmed.
Lin Yiqiong, cracking sunflower seeds, chuckled, “Not raising him anymore?”
The wealthy woman blushed, “Oh dear, Elleen, you’re so lucky. We don’t have that kind of luck…”
Lin Yiqiong said, “It’s alright. If you really miss Shen Shuyi, you can just keep a tuxedo cat at home. I guarantee you’ll have the same experience raising a child.”
Shen Shuyi looked up at his mother, mumbling, “Mommy, what’s a tuxedo cat?”
Lin Yiqiong picked him up, shook him, and a question mark appeared on her head: “How much does your Brother Heng feed you at school? How come you’re so fat?”
Shen Shuyi had been vain since kindergarten, and whenever someone said he was fat, he would scream on the spot.
“Alright, alright, stop screaming,” Lin Yiqiong quickly pinched his chubby little face, saying, “Who’s a tuxedo cat? A tuxedo cat is you, screaming little tuxedo cat.”
In 2007, Shen Shuyi went from being a preschool classmate to a primary school student.
With Shen Shuyi’s abysmal grades, he could only do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division up to twenty; anything beyond that was beyond his ability—because he only had twenty fingers and toes in total. Therefore, he had no chance of getting into Hong Kong International Primary School.
Shen Shizhang said, “Why don’t you just give up, little darling? Going to another school is the same.”
Lin Yiqiong laughed, “With your counting-based method, Hong Kong International Primary School requires addition and subtraction up to one hundred. Our whole family doesn’t even have that many fingers and toes combined! What will you do during the exam? Count your classmates’ numbers?”
Shen Shuyi felt angry, like a little pufferfish when he was upset.
“I don’t want to! I don’t care! I don’t care! I want to go to the same primary school as Brother Heng!!”
Shen Shuyi trembled with anger, his eyes red-rimmed, and he screamed to the sky, “Waaaaaaahh … She ignored him and immediately wanted to choose another school for Shen Shuyi.
Shen Shuyi was also very determined. After trying to find it useless all afternoon, he started a hunger strike.
This terrified everyone; Shen Shuyi didn’t eat anything for three days straight!
Later, Lin Yiqiong learned that while Shen Shuyi didn’t eat during the day, Zhao Yuheng would secretly bring him bread and snacks when he visited at night. The two children had managed to deceive the adults right under their noses.
In short, Shen Shuyi got what he wanted.
His grades weren’t good enough for Hong Kong International Primary School, but fortunately, the Shen family had plenty of money.
They donated a library building, and Shen Shuyi finally joined Zhao Yuheng on his elementary school journey, carrying his little schoolbag.
That same year, the Shen and Zhuang families bought villas in the same nearby villa area for their children’s schooling, becoming neighbors.
The kindergarten friendship continued, and Zhao Yuheng and Shen Shuyi grew closer, even sharing a ride to and from school to discuss books.
When Lin Yiqiong returned home, Zhao Yuheng had already helped Shen Shuyi wash his hands.
Not only were his hands clean, but Shen Shuyi’s face was also spotless, and he was dressed in a brand-new outfit. His new books were neatly wrapped in book covers on the table—clearly not something Shen Shuyi had done.
Lin Yiqiong found it all very strange.
Shen Shuyi sometimes wouldn’t even listen to her, but he listened to Zhao Yuheng exceptionally well.
Could this be the shared experience of peers?
In any case, with Zhao Yuheng and Shen Shuyi by her side, Lin Yiqiong’s good days had finally arrived.
After Lin Yiqiong went out shopping, Shen Shuyi cautiously took an egg out of his schoolbag and asked in a clear voice, “Brother Heng, can an egg really hatch into a chick?” Earlier that day, after school, the two had seen vendors selling chicks at the school gate.
Shen Shuyi carefully selected and bought his favorite egg.
Zhao Yuheng, who had already begun studying basic biology, nodded: “If it hatches properly, it should hatch into a chick.”
“Ah!” Shen Shuyi exclaimed excitedly, “Then this chick will be our little baby!”
“?” Zhao Yuheng felt something was off, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Shen Shuyi became even more excited: “Big brother, we’ve been married for over a year, it’s time to have a baby. Like my dad and mommy.”
“…Right?” Zhao Yuheng, still in second grade, vaguely understood that men couldn’t marry and have children.
Furthermore, his marriage with Shen Shuyi wasn’t legally protected.
Zhao Yuheng hadn’t told Shen Shuyi this, fearing it would break Shen Shuyi’s heart!
“But little darling, you’re still just a little baby yourself.”
“It’s alright!” Shen Shuyi said like a little adult, “My mommy saw on TV that it’s best to have a baby while you’re young. Trust me, I’ll give birth to it tonight!”
That evening, Shen Shuyi went to sleep in Zhao Yuheng’s room.
The two villas were only a few steps apart, and the children’s rooms were right across from each other.
They were young, but when they grew a little older, they could easily climb over the balcony and run into each other’s bedrooms.
Shen Shuyi was carrying an egg in his belly. Zhao Yuheng held his hand, and the two of them washed their hands, faces, and took a shower. Wearing matching pajamas, they nervously climbed into bed.
Uncle Chen turned off the bedroom light after seeing that the children were in bed.
As soon as it was off, Zhao Yuheng turned on his small flashlight. In the blankets, between the two of them, lay a round egg.
Shen Shuyi stroked the egg: “Honey, when do you think our baby will be born?”
Zhao Yuheng shook his head: “I don’t know. Maybe a couple more days.”
Shen Shuyi chuckled: “Brother Heng, have you thought about what to name the baby?”
Zhao Yuheng shook his head again. Shen Shuyi thought to himself, “Tch, this family really depends on me. Without him, everything would fall apart!”
“I’ve already decided.” Shen Shuyi rubbed his nose: “We’ll name him Chen Zhiqiang!”
“Won’t that sound a bit old?” “No!”
“Shouldn’t the baby have both our surnames?”
“Oh dear, Brother Heng, you’re so silly! This is a chicken! How can a chicken have both our surnames?”
“Now you’re inventing again.”
Shen Shuyi fell asleep excitedly. When he woke up the next morning, the egg with the name “Chen Zhiqiang” was gone from under the covers.
“Honey!! Our baby is gone!!” Shen Shuyi’s eyes widened in panic. He jumped out of bed without even putting on his shoes.
Zhao Yuheng quickly hugged him: “Don’t worry, we just woke up. Maybe the baby has turned into a chick and gone out to play by itself.”
Shen Shuyi’s eyes welled up with tears: “Really?”
“Yes!” Zhao Yuheng nodded: “Don’t be afraid, it’s so small, it definitely can’t have run far.”
“Zhiqiang!”
“Zhiqiang—” The voices of a young couple calling out echoed through the villa.
Shen Shuyi’s voice choked with emotion.
Uncle Chen stared blankly at the two children busily searching for someone in the living room, thinking: How could these two young masters call out his great-grandfather’s name?
“Young master, little young master, who are you two looking for?”
“We’re looking for Chen Zhiqiang!” Shen Shuyi gestured anxiously.
“Uncle Chen, we’re looking for an egg with eyes and a mouth drawn on it with watercolors, did you see it?” Zhao Yuheng explained sensibly.
“Oh!” “Butler Chen suddenly realized: ‘The one on the bed this morning? Mrs. Zhang already took it to the kitchen. Is Young Master Shu planning to use it for breakfast?'”
…Breakfast?!
Shen Shuyi finally found Chen Zhiqiang (in an egg-fried form) on the frying pan in the kitchen.
He stood trembling in front of the frying pan, his legs went weak, and he almost fainted.
Zhao Yuheng quickly hugged him: ‘My dear…please accept my condolences.’
‘Zhi…Zhiqiang, waaaaaah…waaaaah…waaaaah…waaaaah…’ Shen Shuyi cried uncontrollably, then sobbed, ‘It smells so good…’
Because of this incident, Shen Shuyi was greatly affected and didn’t smile once all day.
That night, as he went to sleep, he was still thinking about Chen Zhiqiang, silently shedding tears in his blankets.
Zhao Yuheng hugged him tenderly: ‘My dear, it’s okay. The child is gone, we can buy another one.'” “Waaah…” Shen Shuyi wanted to cry even more after being comforted: “Brother Heng, but this is our first baby… Waaah…” Zhao Yuheng wiped away his tears, kissed his cheek, and then kissed him on the lips.
Shen Shuyi was stunned. When Zhao Yuheng comforted him, he often kissed his little face, but rarely kissed lip.
However, this was more effective than a cheek kiss. Shen Shuyi felt much better after being kissed on the lips.
The touch of lips to lips, in Shen Shuyi’s mind, was far more intimate than a cheek kiss.
He was very receptive to this. After Zhao Yuheng kissed him twice, Shen Shuyi felt it wasn’t enough and kissed him back.
The two little bundles of joy kissed each other in the blankets for a while until Shen Shuyi got tired. He hugged Zhao Yuheng’s shoulders and sleepily said, “Little…” “Brother, you have to kiss my lip from now on, I don’t want to kiss my cheek anymore…” Zhao Yuheng nodded and agreed; he also found kissing on the lips more comfortable.
Besides, Shen Shuyi’s lip was soft and plump, kissing it felt like eating jelly—cool and refreshing, even better than jelly in texture.
Zhao Yuheng hugged his handsome younger brother tighter, patted his back, and coaxed Shen Shuyi to sleep: “Good boy, go to sleep now.”
From that day on, Shen Shuyi developed the habit of kissing Zhao Yuheng for a while every night before going to sleep.
Lin Yiqiong accidentally witnessed this a few times but didn’t think much of it.
Shen Shuyi was a kissing maniac, kissing everyone.
Moreover, her little darling was a particularly expressive and emotionally expressive person; if he wanted to say he loved someone, he’d say “I love you so much,” and if he wanted to say he hated someone, he’d say “I hate you so much.”
Of course, few people took Shen Shuyi’s fleeting love and hate to heart.
The day after losing their first child, Zhao Yuheng took Shen Shuyi to the chick stall again and bought some more.
This time, Zhao Yuheng was more sensible. Worried that the nanny might accidentally mistake their babies for eggs again, Zhao Yuheng opted to buy several chicks directly.
Live animals were more appealing to Shen Shuyi than eggs.
Just as kittens are naturally drawn to butterflies and birds, Shen Shuyi also adored small animals.
He immediately wanted to keep all the chicks in the yard.
Lin Yiqiong didn’t have any objections, but once she caught Shen Shuyi feeding the chicks eggs, she hesitated for a moment, then said, “Sweetie, I think feeding the chickens eggs is a bit too cruel, isn’t it?”
Shen Shuyi, squatting on the ground, a tiny ball, ignored her: “Mommy, you don’t understand, eggs are nutritious!”
“Okay!”
Shen Shuyi broke a whole egg in his hand, scattering the pieces on the ground, muttering to himself, “Chen Zhiqiang, Li Guochang, Huang Weiming, come and eat!”
“Meiling, Xiulan, you two chicks aren’t allowed to be picky eaters.”
“Zhao Lifen, where are you running to! Don’t run outside the yard!”
Lin Yiqiong: “…” Whose naming aesthetic did this unfortunate child inherit?
By the time Shen Shuyi was in third grade, Chen Zhiqiang 2.0 had become a large family.
He freely dated Meiling, Xiulan, Lifen, and other hens at different stages, even occasionally having affairs.
In the past three years, Chen Zhiqiang has had many descendants, and his filial sons and grandsons now number four generations living together.
At Shen Shuyi’s request, housekeeper Lin built a chicken coop in the yard for the Chen family to live in.
Shen Shuyi cherishes these chickens dearly, spending long hours talking to them every afternoon after school.
In the evenings, after finishing his homework, he goes to sleep in Zhao Yuheng’s bedroom.
Shen Shuyi’s bedroom has become practically unused; if it weren’t for Mrs. Li cleaning it for him every day, given Shen Shuyi’s frequent occupancy, the room would be covered in dust.
He spends almost every spare moment in Zhao Yuheng’s room, especially during holidays, sometimes staying all day.
“Brother Heng! Hurry up and kiss me, I want a kiss…” Zhao Yuheng went to the United States to participate in the elementary school math Olympics and won first place in the world-class competition; he hasn’t returned to Hong Kong for a week.
As soon as they got back, Shen Shuyi rushed in like a little cannonball, clinging to Zhao Yuheng and pouting for a kiss.
Zhao Yuheng lowered his head and kissed him several times on the lips before Shen Shuyi finally looked at Zhao Yuheng’s trophy with satisfaction.
He exaggeratedly held it up: “Wow—you’re so amazing!”
Zhao Yuheng was a little embarrassed by his praise and pretended to be calm, saying, “It’s alright.” “If you like it, this trophy can be yours.”
“Really?” “No.” That evening, the two families ate together to celebrate Zhao Yuheng’s outstanding performance in the international competition.
Shen Shuyi stood on the living room sofa, holding the trophy high: “Mommy! Look! This is my trophy!”
Lin Yiqiong clapped sarcastically: “Oh my, our little darling really found a good husband. He sits at home doing nothing and has a world number one trophy.”
“Hmph, you’re just jealous.” Shen Shuyi didn’t care at all.
“What am I envious of? My husband is way better than yours.” “Hmph, Dad’s just so-so. Has he ever been number one in the world?”
“Yes,” Lin Yiqiong said, surprised, “Doesn’t he have a son who just won number one in the world?”
Shen Shuyi, holding the trophy, blinked, convinced by his mother.
“Okay! That’s really impressive!”
That evening, Lin Yiqiong posted on her WeChat Moments about Zhao Yuheng winning the award, with only two words: “So proud!”
From childhood to adulthood, this child had given almost all his trophies to Shen Shuyi.
Isn’t that funny? Xinrou had to go to Shen Shuyi’s room to see all of her son’s trophies.
The six years of elementary school were leisurely and long, and before they knew it, it was time for Zhao Yuheng to graduate.
Mommy said that Zhao Yuheng would be a middle school student next semester.
Middle school is awesome!
In the eyes of elementary school student Shen Shuyi, this was practically an adult.
As soon as get out of class ended, Shen Shuyi ran towards Class 1, Grade 6. His classmates, seeing him arrive, exclaimed, “Zhao Yuheng, your little brother is looking for you!”
It was common knowledge throughout Hong Kong International Primary School that Zhao Yuheng had a very handsome younger brother.
Shen Shuyi went straight to the last row of the classroom. Zhao Yuheng was well-developed and tall, and since third grade, he had always sat in the back rows.
The seat next to him was usually Shen Shuyi’s, but today was different. A girl was standing next to Zhao Yuheng.
Shen Shuyi stopped and stood far away. He didn’t hear what the girl said. After a while, the girl left something behind and left.
Curious, Shen Shuyi walked over and picked up the girl’s item. “Brother, what’s this?”
“A yearbook,” Zhao Yuheng explained.
Shen Shuyi looked at the thin piece of paper with six holes along the edge. He already recognized all the words on it.
It read: Name, age, hobbies, favorite things, tell us about our relationship, write down any wishes you want me to fulfill, etc… In Hong Kong, there’s no tradition of writing yearbooks after elementary school graduation. The girl was an exchange student from the mainland, and Shen Shuyi was seeing this for the first time and was very curious.
“Why did she give you this?” Shen Shuyi asked.
“She probably wants me to write it,” Zhao Yuheng said.
Shen Shuyi’s eyes widened: “So, are you going to write it?”
“No,” Zhao Yuheng explained, “Writing something like this is pointless, since we won’t be in contact anymore.”
Shen Shuyi hesitated for a moment: “If you’re not going to write it, can you give it to me?”
Zhao Yuheng paused: “What do you need this for?”
“Nothing!”
That evening, after taking a shower, Shen Shuyi went to bed. He finished his homework and waited for Zhao Yuheng to go to bed.
Half an hour later, Zhao Yuheng went to bed and found Shen Shuyi already asleep. He took the teddy bear from Shen Shuyi’s arms, placed it next to his pillow, turned off the overhead light, and left only the bedside lamp on.
As soon as the lights were turned off, Shen Shuyi jumped up: “Brother Heng, you haven’t kissed me tonight!!”
“Weren’t you warmed up?”
“Even if I’m asleep, I can’t skip it. Hurry up and kiss me! If you don’t kiss me, I won’t be able to sleep, and I’ll have nightmares.”
Zhao Yuheng picked Shen Shuyi up and kissed him several times, then suddenly stopped.
Shen Shuyi, still feeling drowsy and comfortable from the kisses, opened his eyes upon seeing this: “What’s wrong?”
Zhao Yuheng frowned: “My knee hurts a little.”
Shen Shuyi quickly climbed out of bed and rubbed Zhao Yuheng’s knee with his hand.
Lately, when it was just the two of them, Zhao Yuheng always told him that his legs hurt a little.
Shen Shuyi didn’t know what was wrong, so he just massaged Zhao Yuheng’s legs whenever they hurt.
Growing pains are an unavoidable pain for every child during development.
Entering puberty, Zhao Yuheng’s height increased rapidly, growing almost ten centimeters per semester. This pace of growth was difficult for his body and bones to keep up with, and he was often awakened by the pain of his pelvic growth spurts.
The only person who knew about this was Shen Shuyi. Because Zhao Yuheng woke up in pain every night, Shen Shuyi would also wake up, almost subconsciously, to grope in the dark and massage Zhao Yuheng’s calves.
Shen Shuyi kissed his knees, then climbed on top of him and kissed Zhao Yuheng’s lips.
Every time he felt pain, or didn’t want to take his medicine, Zhao Yuheng’s kisses would make him feel a little better.
Shen Shuyi tried to make Zhao Yuheng feel more comfortable in this way.
“How long will this pain last?” Shen Shuyi asked, kneading his hips.
“I don’t know, maybe it’ll have to wait until I stop growing taller,” Zhao Yuheng gritted his teeth. “I’d rather endure the pain a little longer, I’m afraid I won’t grow taller.”
“If you won’t grow taller, then you won’t grow taller,” Shen Shuyi said, tears welling in his eyes. “It’s so painful, it’s better to be short. I’ll grow taller later, and I’ll cherish you.”
“If I don’t grow taller, I’ll be shorter than you. What kind of short person is an older brother?” Zhao Yuheng chuckled.
Shen Shuyi remained sullen, focusing only on massaging Zhao Yuheng’s legs.
That night, Shen Shuyi stayed with Zhao Yuheng until very late, tears still staining his eyes.
Zhao Yuheng’s growing pains lasted the entire summer vacation. In just two months, he had already grown fifteen centimeters, and it seemed there was no sign of it stopping, which both surprised and delighted Zhuang Xinrou.
Meanwhile, Shen Shuyi was very worried.
Zhao Yuheng, nicknamed “Eye Stone,” had grown taller and taller, already resembling an adult, while Shen Shuyi looked like a primary school student—though he had always been a primary school student.
Standing together, he was almost a head shorter than Zhao Yuheng.
During this time, Shen Shuyi worked diligently, drinking a large cup of milk every night before bed.
Lin Yiqiong teased him, “Baby, drinking so much before bed, be careful you don’t wet the bed tonight!”
Shen Shuyi waved his hand dismissively, “Don’t worry about it. It’s Brother Heng’s bed anyway!”
After starting junior high, Zhao Yuheng went to a boarding school, living there from Monday to Friday, only returning home on Saturdays and Sundays.
When Shen Shuyi first learned that Zhao Yuheng was only home two days a week, he was utterly devastated.
But he was powerless, and the junior high school Zhao Yuheng attended was the best in Hong Kong, so he couldn’t persuade Zhao Yuheng to drop out, just so he could sleep with him every day.
It took Shen Shuyi a long time to adjust to sleeping alone.
Every night, however, he would video call Zhao Yuheng. At first, he cried every night, but after five days, Shen Shuyi finally realized he couldn’t change this cruel reality. So he started calling Zhao Yuheng more often, refusing to hang up until he fell asleep.
A week later, Zhao Yuheng returned home, and Shen Shuyi excitedly waited for him there that afternoon.
As soon as the Bentley that was picking up Zhao Yuheng arrived at the door, Shen Shuyi couldn’t help but rush out.
Lin Yiqiong tried to grab him, but couldn’t hold him. Shen Shuyi started crying halfway through his run. By the time Zhao Yuheng got out of the car, Shen Shuyi was already clinging to him, his face covered in tears.
“Brother Hen…: Waaaaah…” Shen Lu stood at his doorway, scoffing, “When I was in high school living in the dorms, why didn’t I get this treatment? Heh.” Afraid Shen Shuyi wouldn’t hear, he raised his voice, “Heh!” Lin Yiqiong shook her head, pouting, “Look at him, anyone who didn’t know better would think Shen Shuyi was Little Heng’s biological son. Is he really this clingy to his own mother?” The group teased Shen Shuyi.
Shen Shuyi sniffled, having cried enough, before hugging Zhao Yuheng, staring at him with teary eyes.
The next second, he unexpectedly kissed him. Zhao Yuheng, used to it, kissed him several times in return.
The two children grew up together, their close relationship was well-known, and Lin Yiqiong never took their occasional kisses and hugs to heart.
But the strange thing was that after Zhao Yuheng entered junior high school, he grew a lot taller, and now his height was probably close to 1.8 meters.
Shen Shuyi wasn’t short either; he was already 1.55 meters tall in sixth grade.
This kiss, visually speaking, made Lin Yiqiong’s heart skip a beat.
She had never interfered with Shen Shuyi’s friendships, but wasn’t this a bit too intimate?
