Chapter 25, Twenty-Five: "Good boy~"
Twenty-five:
He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt and light blue jeans, his face turned to the side, looking at the person chatting with Mu Zheng with a bored expression.
Ye Qingxi looked on curiously, only to see the child suddenly turn his head. Their eyes met, and the child's eyes were dark and deep, calm and indifferent.
Such peaceful eyes, such a handsome child.
"Your uncle is here," Mu Shaowu said with delight.
He pulled Ye Qingxi down the stairs and walked towards them.
"Brother, sister-in-law, you've arrived."
Mu Zheng nodded slightly, while Qin Luan smiled.
She looked at Ye Qingxi and said, "This must be Xiaoxi. She's so cute."
Ye Qingxi looked up at her and said sweetly, "Hello, Auntie."
"Hello to you too~" Qin Luan said with a smile.
"This is Xiao Cheng, he's two years older than you, you can call him brother." Her hand gently landed on Qin Cheng's shoulder.
Ye Qingxi then fixed her gaze on Qin Cheng again.
Upon closer inspection, the aloofness in Qin Cheng's eyes becomes even more apparent, but what is even more striking than this aloofness is the superiority of his facial features.
That is to say, his uncle and aunt did not want their child to enter the entertainment industry; otherwise, with Qin Cheng's looks, he could have debuted as a child star based on his appearance alone.
"Brother~" Ye Qingxi called out in a very cooperative manner.
Qin Cheng was a little surprised. Why did the voice sound so childish?
But Ye Qingxi looks very well-behaved and cute, with a pretty little girl's appearance, and her soft, childlike voice doesn't seem to have any problems.
He didn't get along well with his few cousins when he was with the Qin family. Later, he came to the Mu family with Qin Luan, but because they didn't live together, he basically had no contact with the Mu family's children.
Therefore, Qin Cheng had rarely heard anyone call him "brother".
Not to mention someone like Ye Qingxi, who is cute and has a sweet, childlike voice.
Qin Cheng hummed in response, his tone very soft, as if he were not used to it.
"Didn't you prepare a gift for your younger brother?" Qin Luan said with a smile. "Then give the gift to your younger brother."
Upon hearing this, Qin Cheng turned around and went to the entryway to pick up the box he had previously placed on the shoe cabinet.
This is a gift that Mu Zheng prepared for him; it's a model airplane.
He walked up to Ye Qingxi and handed it over.
Ye Qingxi quickly accepted it, "Thank you, brother~"
"You're welcome," Qin Cheng said.
Qin Luan smiled, picked up the bag in her hand, and handed it over.
“This is a gift that your uncle and I prepared for you,” she said.
Mu Shaowu was surprised, "Didn't my brother already give it to me before?"
“It’s not like the three of us are coming over. Xiao Cheng and I brought gifts, and it wouldn’t look good for him to come empty-handed, so we prepared another one,” Qin Luan said gently.
Upon hearing this, Mu Shaowu looked at Mu Zheng.
Mu Zheng nodded. "Take it."
Originally, he had already prepared gifts for Qin Luan and Qin Cheng, but Qin Luan thought it over and over and still felt that she should prepare one herself, otherwise it would not be sincere.
After graduating, she worked as a jewelry designer, so with only a week left before the family banquet, she rushed to design a brooch for Ye Qingxi and made it.
Therefore, the gift he prepared naturally returned to his name.
Ye Qingxi was surprised that Mu Zheng would prepare another gift for her, and said happily, "Thank you, Uncle."
"Thank you, Auntie."
"You're welcome," Mu Zheng and Qin Luan replied.
After receiving two more batches of gifts, everyone finally arrived.
Mu Feng glanced at his watch and saw that it was almost 6 o'clock, so he led everyone towards the restaurant.
The restaurant they went to this time was not the restaurant where they usually eat, but a restaurant specifically used for family banquets.
The restaurant is large, and the tables are very long.
Ye Qingxi originally wanted to sit down next to Mu Shaowu, but Mu Feng called her over and she sat down next to him.
Instantly, everyone's eyes turned to them.
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi could only raise the corners of her lips and reveal an innocent yet shy smile.
Today's meal wasn't prepared by Aunt Zhang, but by a chef specially hired by Mu Feng to cook state banquets. However, eating was certainly not his main purpose today.
His main purpose was, "I called you all over today for two reasons. First, we haven't seen each other in a long time, so we wanted to get together. Second, Xiaoxi has come to our family and will be a member of our family from now on. I see that you all brought gifts today, so I also have a gift I'd like to give to Xiaoxi."
"Xiao Xi, here." Mu Feng picked up the file bag on the table and handed it to Ye Qingxi. "This is 1% of the group's shares. I'll give you the rest when you grow up."
Ye Qingxi: !!
Ye Qingxi never dreamed that Mu Feng would have such an idea.
He knew, of course, that this family dinner was for him, but what was the deal with this 1% share?
He doesn't even have the surname Mu, what would he need this for?!
Ye Qingxi did not answer.
Mu Feng assumed he was too young to understand, so he handed the file folder to Mu Shaowu, saying, "You are Xiaoxi's father, so please keep it for him."
"Okay." Mu Shaowu took it and placed it beside him.
The rest of the Mu family watched, utterly shocked.
It's important to understand that having shares and not having shares are two different things.
Acquiring shares means you can join the company later and even be qualified to take over its management.
Without shares, one can only be a young master or young lady of the Mu family, not the president or general manager of the Mu Group.
Not every member of the Mu family owns shares.
But now, Ye Qingxi has one.
Not only that, the old man just said, "I'll give you the rest when you grow up."
This means that Ye Qingxi may end up with more than just 1% of the shares.
From this perspective, the old man really does treat Ye Qingxi like his own grandson!
Thinking of this, everyone unconsciously looked at Qin Cheng.
They didn't dare to look too openly, so they could only spy on them discreetly.
Mu Zheng's expression remained calm, and Qin Luan's expression showed no change.
As for Qin Cheng, he probably had no idea what this meant and continued eating his food without any expression, just like before.
They are both grandsons with no blood relation, yet their fates are so different.
The other members of the Mu family couldn't help but sigh.
Each person ate the meal with a different mindset.
Some envied Ye Qingxi, some felt indignant for themselves, some hated their parents for being so useless, and some even wished they could take their place.
Ye Qingxi, on the other hand, was in a rather heavy mood.
If he were really a five-year-old child who didn't understand anything, then that would be fine.
But he was different. He knew, of course, how much wealth 1% of the Mu Group's shares represented, so he didn't want them and didn't think he was entitled to them.
But he's in a child's body now, so how can he refuse?
What would a five-year-old child know about shares?
Ye Qingxi immediately felt a headache coming on.
He thought for a long time, until he had finished eating, but still couldn't come up with a suitable reason.
After finishing their meal, the others didn't leave immediately; instead, they chatted in small groups.
However, while the adults could sit still, the children couldn't. They didn't want to stay in the living room and wanted to go to the playground in the backyard.
"Please, please, please go, Mom."
Helpless, Mu Shan had no choice but to agree, "Okay, okay, I'll take you to play."
Mu Shaowu, with his sharp ears, overheard this and turned to look at her. "That's Xiaoxi's amusement park. If you're going to take them there, you'll have to ask Xiaoxi for permission."
Ye Qingxi, who was called out, was sitting next to him and immediately heard his words.
He looked up in surprise, completely unexpected that Mu Shaowu would say such a thing.
Mu Shan wasn't as surprised as he was.
When she brought her children to visit for the New Year this winter, the playground equipment in the backyard was not yet there.
But now we have it.
It's obvious that this amusement park was built for Ye Qingxi.
Mu Shan couldn't help but sigh, "She's really being pampered. She's only just been recognized by the old man, and she already has an amusement park and shares."
If you don't know, how can you tell that he's not your biological grandson?
Mu Shan walked up to Ye Qingxi and asked him, "Qingxi, your brother and sister want to go to your amusement park for a while, is that okay?"
Ye Qingxi nodded quickly, "Okay."
He has never been a petty person, and besides, Mu Shan's two children are six and four years old respectively. Ye Qingxi looks at them with the same attitude that Mu Shaowu looks at him, as if they were children, and she would never hold a grudge against them.
He just didn't expect Mu Shaowu to have Mu Shan come to ask for his consent.
After all, he never had parents.
Ye Qingxi still remembers that when he was about six or seven years old, one day his aunt brought her child over to play.
He got sleepy while playing, so he went to his bedroom to sleep.
But when he woke up, he found that the little doll he had placed on the bedside table was gone.
“Oh, your cousin took that,” his mother said nonchalantly. “He came to see you and happened to see it, so he took it out and played with it for a while. When he was leaving, your aunt told him to put it down, but he didn’t want to, so I gave it to him.”
"But that's mine," Ye Qingxi said. "You didn't even ask me, how could you give it to him?!"
“It’s just one doll,” his mother said, looking at him. “If you like it, I’ll buy you another one another day.”
"That's different."
“What’s the difference? It’s just a doll.” His mother said impatiently, “Xiao Xi, you’re the older brother, don’t be so stingy.”
Ye Qingxi: ...
Ye Qingxi turned around and returned to her room, feeling dejected.
He didn't understand why, even though he was at home, lying in bed, his mother wouldn't even ask him a question.
Why? It was clearly his stuff, yet it was given to someone else without his knowledge.
"It's just a doll." If it's "just a doll," why not have his aunt buy one for his younger brother?
Or are you going to take it away from him?
Ye Qingxi couldn't understand it.
Later, when he grew up, he finally understood that it was because children did not have the right to make decisions; the decision-making power was in the hands of adults.
But now, looking at Mu Shaowu beside her, Ye Qingxi felt that his previous thoughts were actually wrong.
Children can have decision-making power if their parents respect their wishes.
Ye Qingxi suddenly felt a strong urge to hug Mu Shaowu, who was standing next to her.
However, he was a little embarrassed, so he just quietly moved closer to Mu Shaowu, his fingers touching his fingers.
He was secretly cuddling with Mu Shaowu when Mu Shaowu suddenly turned around and asked him, "Do you want to go to the amusement park for a while?"
Ye Qingxi shook her head.
He's not interested for the time being.
"What about Xiao Cheng?"
"No need, thank you," Qin Cheng said politely.
"Then you two go upstairs and play video games," Mu Shaowu said.
Although the old man said that Ye Qingxi might not necessarily need Qin Cheng as a brother.
However, he still hoped that Qin Cheng could get closer to Ye Qingxi.
Often, people don't share many heart-to-heart talks with their parents and grandparents, but rather with their siblings.
Mu Shaowu has such a brother himself, so he hopes that Ye Qingxi can have one too.
In this way, his growth will not be lonely.
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingxi looked at Qin Cheng and asked, "Do you want to play?"
Qin Cheng: ...
In a sense, Qin Cheng didn't really like playing with other people.
He had played with others before, but it wasn't a pleasant memory.
Later, he stopped playing with others as often.
But when Ye Qingxi looked at him and asked him in a soft voice, Qin Cheng suddenly didn't know how to refuse.
"Go play for a while," Qin Luan said with a smile. "Your father and I still have some things to talk to your uncle and the others about. There's no rush to leave. You can play a little longer."
Qin Cheng glanced at her, saw the expectation in her eyes, and hummed in agreement.
Ye Qingxi stood up and led Qin Cheng upstairs.
“The game console is in my dad’s room,” he said.
"Mm," Qin Cheng replied.
As they went up the stairs, Qin Cheng noticed Ye Qingxi's slippers again.
Yes, once again.
The moment he saw Ye Qingxi, he noticed that she was wearing the slippers that Mu Zheng had bought for her.
They were brand new; he hadn't worn them yet and kept them at the Mu family's house as spare slippers.
Qin Cheng didn't speak, and silently walked to the third floor, arriving at Mu Shaowu's door.
Ye Qingxi opened the door and led him inside.
He sat down on the sofa and handed his game console to Qin Cheng.
Qin Cheng looked at him, "Aren't you going to play?"
Ye Qingxi glanced at Mu Shaowu's game console next to her, then at her own tablet, and finally picked up the tablet. "I'll play this."
"Why don't you play video games?" Qin Cheng said.
"Aren't you going to play?"
"Hmm," Qin Cheng replied indifferently.
"Then you just said 'um'."
"That's because my mom wants me to play," Qin Cheng thought to himself.
"What do you want to play if you don't play video games?"
Qin Cheng didn't have anything he wanted to play; he wasn't used to playing games when he was a guest at someone else's house.
He thought for a moment, then asked Ye Qingxi, "Do you have any books?"
Ye Qingxi: ...Goodness, you love reading so much, no wonder you're number one in your grade.
Ye Qingxi nodded and led him to Mu Shaowu's study next door.
“My dad said I can watch whatever I want. Look, I’ll get you whatever you want to watch.”
Qin Cheng walked to the bookshelf, looked around, and finally chose a book called "World Geography".
Ye Qingxi leaned closer curiously and asked him, "Can you understand it?"
Qin Cheng: ...
Qin Cheng didn't really understand it, but that didn't stop him from finding the content of the book very interesting.
“Sure,” he said calmly.
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi pointed to a spot on the map and asked him, "Where is this?"
"South America."
Ye Qingxi: !!
Wow, you actually understand that! That's amazing!
Ye Qingxi stopped talking and found a book, sitting down next to him to read it together.
But after looking for a short while, Ye Qingxi felt her eyelids getting heavy.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at the text in the book again. "Where did I leave off?" Ye Qingxi asked in confusion. "Never mind, I'll start over." He returned to the first sentence of this page and read it word by word.
But after a short while, his eyelids started drooping again.
"Why don't you just play video games instead?" Qin Cheng said helplessly, looking at his obviously sleepy appearance.
Ye Qingxi turned her head, her eyes still blurry from almost falling asleep, "Playing games will make noise and disturb you."
His voice was soft, and to Qin Cheng it sounded like a baby's voice.
Qin Cheng was puzzled. Why didn't his cousins speak in such a childish way?
“No,” he said.
Ye Qingxi shook her head, determined not to do anything that would affect other people's studies.
Qin Cheng: ...
The other person was younger than him, and was his younger brother. Qin Cheng was about to put down his book and play a few games with him when he suddenly noticed that the other person was also wearing a black rope around his neck.
The rope looked very ordinary, but Qin Cheng suddenly realized that he probably had a similar one.
"What are you wearing around your neck?" he asked.
Upon hearing this, Ye Qingxi pulled out the jade pendant from her neck, looked down at it, and said to him, "Jade Guanyin."
After he finished speaking, he noticed that Qin Cheng also seemed to have a black rope around his neck, and asked him, "What about you?"
Qin Cheng: ...
“Same as you,” he said after a long pause.
Ye Qingxi asked curiously, "What does it look like?"
Qin Cheng did not answer.
Ye Qingxi then asked, "May I take a look?"
Qin Cheng: ...
Seeing that he seemed reluctant, Ye Qingxi was about to say "never mind," when she saw Qin Cheng raise his hand, grab the rope, and pull his Guanyin jade pendant out from the collar of his clothes.
Ye Qingxi quickly joined them.
Although both jade pendants are of the Guanyin type, the jade is of different quality and the carvings are not the same.
Qin Cheng's was more emerald green, while his was more lustrous.
"Was yours also given to you by my father?" Qin Cheng asked.
Ye Qingxi nodded.
He thought his uncle was a really good person.
She not only gave it to him, but also to this stepson who had no blood relation to her.
“He hopes we grow up safe and healthy,” he said.
Qin Cheng was somewhat surprised, "He told you that?"
Ye Qingxi immediately realized that when his uncle gave Qin Cheng the jade pendant, he probably didn't tell him the meaning of the pendant.
“My deskmate told me,” he said. “He was wearing a jade Guanyin pendant around his neck. I asked him why he was wearing it, and he said his mother bought it for him, hoping he could grow up safely and healthily.”
Qin Cheng listened, then looked down at the jade pendant around his neck.
"So I think that your father, who is my uncle, gave us this because he hoped that we could grow up safely and healthily."
Yeah?
Qin Chengxiang.
He hopes he grows up safe and healthy.
"Is your deskmate the same one you had in kindergarten?" Qin Cheng turned his gaze back to Ye Qingxi's face.
Ye Qingxi: ...Of course not, she was my deskmate in elementary school.
However, he certainly couldn't tell Qin Cheng this, so he nodded in agreement.
"Then why don't you go to kindergarten and continue to be his deskmate?"
Ye Qingxi lay on the table and said, half-jokingly, "Because I'm going to kindergarten, I can't be his deskmate."
"He transferred?"
Ye Qingxi remained silent.
Seeing that he didn't speak, had his head down, and buried half his face in his arms, Qin Cheng thought that he was right, and that Ye Qingxi was sad now.
Before he came, he had heard some things about Ye Qingxi from his mother.
He knew that his father, grandmother, and grandfather had all passed away, and his only mother had remarried and was no longer by his side.
That's why he lives here and becomes his grandfather's grandson.
It's so pitiful.
Qin Cheng thought he was even more pitiful than him.
At least he always had a mother and an uncle, and now he has a father too.
Although sometimes he doesn't understand whether his current father likes him or not.
However, his mother and uncle always liked him.
But Ye Qingxi's mother didn't like him.
Otherwise, she would have taken him with her when she got married, just like his mother.
“I’m in third grade,” Qin Cheng said.
Ye Qingxi turned her head, wondering why she was suddenly bringing this up.
"If you want to find me, come to Class 1, Grade 3."
"Oh," Ye Qingxi replied.
Qin Cheng looked at him, then glanced at the book in his hand. Given how easily he got sleepy when he read, and how he skipped kindergarten and went straight to first grade, could he keep up?
Qin Cheng sighed silently in his heart, thinking that when the time came, he would probably have to help his soft and pitiful younger brother.
At this point, he was no longer saddened that his grandfather liked Ye Qingxi so much.
Although his grandfather gave his slippers to Ye Qingxi, Ye Qingxi did not have a mother.
Although her grandfather built an amusement park for Ye Qingxi, Ye Qingxi has no uncle.
Although his grandfather always had Ye Qingxi sit next to him when they ate, Ye Qingxi only had his grandfather.
He only has his grandfather left, so it's only natural that his grandfather favors him, takes care of him, and likes him.
Otherwise, he would have nothing left.
As for his father giving him a similar jade pendant, it was simply a wish for him to grow up safely and healthily.
Qin Cheng thought that he really needed to grow up safely and healthily, after all, his family members didn't seem to be very safe or healthy.
It wasn't because his father didn't love him enough, but because Ye Qingxi really needed this jade pendant that could protect him and keep him safe and healthy.
Qin Cheng quickly came up with reasons for both his grandfather and father.
"I'll play games with you," he said.
Otherwise, Ye Qingxi would fall asleep again soon.
Ye Qingxi: Huh?
Ye Qingxi didn't understand why the topic had shifted back to playing games.
"You read a book," he said. "I read a book too."
"I'm tired of watching," Qin Cheng said. "Let me take a break."
“But you’ve only been looking at it for ten minutes.” Ye Qingxi pointed to her smartwatch.
Qin Cheng: ...Yeah, it's only been ten minutes and you're already going to sleep.
Can you endure a 40-minute class?
Ye Qingxi pointed to his "World Geography" and coaxed him gently, "Just hang in there, read for another ten minutes, and then I'll play video games with you, okay?"
Qin Cheng: ? ? ?
No, isn't he the younger brother?
What's with this tone of voice when you're trying to coax a child?
"Sweetie~" Ye Qingxi coaxed patiently, "Just hang in there a little longer~"
Keep it up, study hard, you're number one in the grade, a little genius!
Qin Cheng: ...
Qin Cheng lowered his head, but after two seconds, he couldn't help but look up at him and said, "You should hold on a little longer and watch for another ten minutes."
He opened the book and placed it in front of Ye Qingxi.
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi: ...
"Sweetie~" Qin Cheng coaxed him, pointing at the book, "Just a little longer, and I'll play video games with you~"
After saying that, he nodded silently.
That's right.
He's the older brother, how could Ye Qingxi be the one telling him to be "good"? He should be the one telling Ye Qingxi!
"Good boy~" Qin Cheng repeated.
Ye Qingxi: ? ? ?
Ye Qingxi: ...
What does it feel like to be told "good boy/girl" by a seven-year-old?
A: It's very subtle.
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