Chapter 12
◎Family Drama◎
It's an upscale residential area near the city center, quiet yet conveniently located, and its prices are ostentatious. In the center is a large artificial lake, fed by fresh water, its surface rippling gently, with lotus flowers blooming gracefully.
On the lakeside, a detached villa is built right by the lake, occupying the best location in the entire residential area.
Shi Ziqian stood outside the front garden gate of the villa with his eyes downcast and his expression indifferent. After a long while, he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.
The door was quickly unlocked, and before he could even step inside, someone came out to greet him. It was a woman with half-gray hair, a kind face, and wearing an apron. Upon seeing him, she exclaimed happily, "Ziqian is back!"
Shi Ziqian's expression softened a bit, and he hummed in agreement.
"Give me your schoolbag quickly, the food is ready and we're just waiting for you." The woman reached out to take his schoolbag, but Shi Ziqian gently stopped her. "I can carry it myself, Aunt Chen."
Aunt Chen stopped insisting and followed behind him, nagging, "It's so hot, why didn't you let Xiao Li pick you up?"
Shi Ziqian did not answer, but only smiled.
As they entered the house and passed through the entrance hall, a young woman's voice drifted from afar: "Ziqian is back! Come and eat!"
Shi Ziqian glanced at the dining table, where several people were already gathered. Apart from him, everyone in the family was eating at the table.
On the table, Zhu Qing rested her chin on her hand, smiling at him. "Since you're coming back today, Aunt Chen insisted on cooking for you herself, and even steamed fish especially for you, saying it's your favorite." She was extremely beautiful, with features as if drawn by a master artist, and a head of glossy black curly hair that cascaded down her chest. She wore simple pearl earrings that complemented her temperament perfectly, and her every move exuded an indescribable air of nobility.
Shi Yuesheng sat in the main seat next to her, glancing at him only briefly before continuing to eat his meal slowly and deliberately.
“We didn’t wait for you.” Zhu Qing smiled gently. “You got out of school too late. Our younger siblings can’t stand being hungry, so we ate first.”
Beside her, two toddlers, around two or three years old, were intently playing with food in their bowls, stirring it until they were covered in it. As Zhu Qing spoke, she gently bent down to wipe their mouths. They were twins, a boy named Shi Yao and a girl named Shi Qiao, who looked remarkably alike.
There was also a girl of about twelve or thirteen years old at the table named Shi Qiyue. She had short hair that barely reached her shoulders. She was facing away from us, eating with her head down and not looking up.
Of the five people at the table, only Zhu Qingchao greeted him.
Shi Ziqian put down his schoolbag and went to the sink to wash his hands.
Aunt Chen picked up his schoolbag, said, "I'll take it back to your room," and quickly went upstairs.
He finally sat down. The family had been eating for a while, and the dishes on the table were not very complete. He didn't say anything, but just picked up a few asparagus spears from a plate that hadn't been touched much.
Shi Yuesheng glanced at him and said, "How many times have I told you to bring your own keys? Why do you always have to ask someone else to open the door for you when you come back?"
Shi Ziqian didn't even lift his eyelids, and said in a calm voice, "Too lazy."
"Lazy? How much trouble can it take to carry a key?" Shi Yuesheng raised his voice a few decibels. Although his tone was not harsh, it carried the condescending authority of a superior.
Shi Yao, who was playing by herself, was startled by him and her mouth twitched as if she was about to cry.
"If you don't want to bring him, then you don't have to. Aunt Chen and the others are always here at home anyway, it's not like you can't come in." Zhu Qing quickly patted Shi Yao's head to comfort him and smoothed things over, "How long has it been since the child came back? Why are you getting angry as soon as he gets back?"
Shi Yuesheng ignored her and continued to stare at Shi Ziqian, saying, "This is your own home!"
Shi Ziqian did not respond, but held his bowl and ate slowly and calmly.
Seeing him like this only made Shi Yuesheng angrier. He glared at him, his chest heaving.
The atmosphere at the dinner table was tense. Shi Qiyue, just like Shi Ziqian, didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, ignoring everything around her and continuing to pick at her food, muttering, "Did Aunt Chen buy too much salt recently? Why is this fish so salty?"
"It is a bit too salty." Zhu Qing overheard this and continued, "Aunt Chen is getting on in years. They say that as people get older, they start to lose their sense of proportion when adding seasonings while cooking, and that's absolutely true. If you ask me, Aunt Chen is getting on in years, how can we let her run around all day? It's time for her to go back and enjoy her retirement..."
Shi Ziqian finally raised his eyes and gave her a disapproving look: "She came to the house earlier than you."
Zhu Qing's expression remained unchanged as she calmly said, "I meant well. I thought she had worked hard all these years and deserved a rest. It wasn't to drive her away."
"Alright." Shi Yuesheng shifted his attention slightly away from Shi Ziqian. "She's been at home for over ten years and doesn't have any children. She'll definitely be living with us in her old age. Let's not talk about these things anymore. We'll just find a few more people to help out."
As soon as she finished speaking, they heard Aunt Chen coming down the stairs, and everyone fell silent, lowering their heads to eat. Apart from the little boy making smacking noises as he ate, no one else made a sound at the six-person table.
Aunt Chen came downstairs and served everyone the dishes at the table.
"How's the food today?" Aunt Chen asked with a smile. "Ziqian hasn't had my cooking in a long time. Is he not used to it anymore?"
"That's fine," Shi Ziqian said. "Don't bother, Aunt Chen, sit down and eat too."
"Don't worry about me, I left some food in the kitchen." Aunt Chen quickly refused, neatly wiped the table in front of Shi Yao clean, served soup to everyone, and then left.
Shi Yao was still poking at the food in his bowl with his spoon, and hadn't eaten a single bite for a long time. Zhu Qing then picked up his little bowl in a good mood, ready to feed him herself. "Ah, Yao Yao, open your mouth."
Shi Yao pouted and refused, shaking her head to avoid the spoon, accidentally knocking a spoonful of fish paste to the ground.
"Look how you've spoiled him! None of our children this age had to be chased around and fed!" Shi Yuesheng said impatiently.
“That’s right.” Shi Qiao tilted her head in agreement. She had two little braids and looked like a delicately crafted porcelain doll. “Mom, Qiao Qiao can use chopsticks by herself now, so why do you still have to feed your little brother?”
Zhu Qing glanced at Shi Yuesheng reproachfully, then asked instead of answering, "Why are you being so fierce? Do you have to make the children afraid of you?" She then touched Shi Qiao's face and said gently, "Because Qiao Qiao is very well-behaved and can do things very well by herself. Your little brother is too naughty and refuses to eat properly, so Mommy has to feed him."
Shi Yuesheng was still dissatisfied: "Isn't all this naughtiness because you spoiled him?"
Zhu Qing said, "What boy isn't mischievous? You should really worry if he's like a block of wood all day long."
Shi Ziqian listened calmly, slowly finished his soup, and was about to put down his spoon when Shi Qiyue pushed the bowl away in a huff, saying, "I'm full, I'm going back to my room."
"Why go back inside?" Shi Yuesheng frowned again. "It's rare for the whole family to be here, so just stay in the living room."
Shi Qiyue pursed her lips, listlessly walked to the sofa, sat down, picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and muttered under her breath, "Crazy."
Shi Yuesheng glanced at her listless appearance, his brows furrowing even more, but he managed to suppress his anger and instead turned his gaze to Shi Ziqian, "By the way, the home furnishing mall is opening next weekend, so make sure you have some free time and come work with me."
He was referring to one of the group's important projects this year: a home furnishing shopping center built to international top-tier mall standards, which brings together a large number of top international and domestic brands. Shi Yuesheng attaches great importance to this project.
"I'm busy." Shi Ziqian refused immediately without the slightest hesitation.
"How can you say you're not free? You can't be free on the weekend!" Shi Yuesheng raised his voice.
"Something came up at school," Shi Ziqian said calmly.
“Okay, something’s wrong, huh? I’ll call your teacher right now to ask for leave for you, and see if he’ll give me that kind of face.” As he spoke, Shi Yuesheng immediately started scrolling through his phone’s contacts.
"Oh dear, what are you doing? You're so short-tempered." Zhu Qing quickly stopped him, covering her phone with her hand. "Talk to the child properly, why say such hurtful things?"
"Am I short-tempered? There's not a single person in this house who doesn't annoy me!"
Zhu Qing reached out and patted Shi Yuesheng's back to soothe him. "It's rare for the whole family to sit down and have a meal together. It would be so much better if we could be peaceful and harmonious. You had to start arguing after only a few words."
Shi Yuesheng took two deep breaths, and it took him a while for his expression to calm down.
She took the phone from him and said, "I know you too well. You're just trying to scare the kids. Do you even have the teacher's phone number saved? I bet you don't even know which class Ziqian is in."
Shi Yuesheng's eyes widened immediately, and he snatched the phone back. "If I don't have his teacher's number, I must have his principal's number! I'm going to call him right now and ask him what my son is doing at his school all day long, and why he can't come home on weekends!"
“Of course he’s busy studying at school. Ziqian is in high school right now, his studies are very demanding. Besides, he’s still so young. Now is the time for him to focus on his studies. Why are you in such a hurry to get him involved in your business affairs?” Zhu Qing said helplessly, and gave Shi Ziqian a reassuring look, signaling him to say a few conciliatory words.
Shi Ziqian remained unmoved.
"How old? He's almost an adult! Besides, I didn't ask him to do anything. I have so many business partners coming to support me when the business opens. Would it do him any harm to come and recognize people?"
"This child clearly has no interest in your business dealings, so why do you keep pressuring him? You're making him not want to come home anymore. He finally comes home this time, and you start again. If you continue like this, he'll stay even further away from you in the future."
Shi Qiyue was lounging on the sofa, and whether intentionally or unintentionally, she turned on the TV to a family drama, which was arguing intensely on TV.
Now things are really lively both on and off TV.
Hearing the commotion, Aunt Chen hurriedly came out of the kitchen, but dared not say anything. She could only anxiously stand at the kitchen door and look in this direction.
Shi Ziqian remained aloof, watching the two argue over him as if he were an outsider. His gaze fell lightly on Shi Yuesheng, then turned to Zhu Qing, lost in thought. After a moment, he seemed to suddenly remember something amusing and chuckled softly.
His indifferent smile made Shi Yuesheng's expression even uglier. Just as a storm was brewing, Shi Ziqian suddenly spoke up.
"Stop arguing, I'll go." His tone was unusually submissive.
The two people opposite were both taken aback.
“It’s unnecessary to argue about my affairs,” Shi Ziqian said.
Before the two could respond, he stood up, looked at Shi Yuesheng, and continued, "I'm going up, Dad."
His gaze then turned to Zhu Qing, who nodded slightly, seemingly unperturbed.
"Auntie."
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