"No problem." Father Shen smiled and said, "Xiaoci really likes lively places."

Others had no objection. Since it was Min Shoubei who initiated it, naturally the people who gathered were people of the same level, and it was always good to get to know more people.

The atmosphere at the dinner table became even more heated, and everyone began to talk about Shen Ci's embarrassing behavior at the banquet.

It's really a large-scale social death scene... Shen Ci's voice is about to explode. Are his embarrassing stories appetizing?

"Ah... I suddenly remembered something." Shen Bie propped up his cheek and licked his lips with a sly smile: "Xiao Ci was in a bad mood once, and Uncle Lu held him in his arms to comfort him. He cried so hard that he fell asleep, and ended up peeing on Uncle Lu in a daze--"

"Ah!" Shen Ci finally couldn't stand it anymore. His face turned red and he roared angrily. Then he stood up and ran away.

Everyone burst into laughter. Shen Bie laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back. He stood up and said, "The child is shy. I'll go and comfort him."

Shen Bie was very familiar with "how to trick Shen Ci" and quickly dragged the stuttering Shen Ci back.

Shen Ci had a face full of bitterness and resentment. He sat heavily on the sofa with his back to everyone and ignored everyone.

Just by looking at his back, you can tell that Shen Ci is furious, and his whole body exudes the aura of "I'm angry, come and comfort me".

The two families looked at each other with suppressed smiles, temporarily keeping the dirty laundry they wanted to reveal to the public.

One after another, people put down their chopsticks and went to coax Shen Ci.

Shen Ci gets angry quickly and is easy to coax. Just feed him some ice cream and let him confide some embarrassing stories, and he will be happy.

The atmosphere became relaxed and cheerful again. Min Shoubei took out a printout from his briefcase and handed it to Shen Ci.

"It's a prototype of the script. The plot probably won't change. You can take a look at it first."

Shen Ci had been curious about the content of the script for a long time, and his attention was immediately drawn to it, so much so that he didn't even pay attention to the snacks that Shen Bie brought to his mouth.

There was some noise in the living room, so Shen Ci picked up the plate of cakes and ran away: "I'm going to the garden."

Mother Shen saw Shen Ci walking away and smiled with relief: "Come on, continue talking about Xiao Ci's stupid things in the past..."

***

It was the perfect season, and the flowers in the garden were in full bloom. The dim lights hung on the racks cast a thin layer of warm light over the quiet and lush flowers and plants.

Shen Ci sat on the swing, eating a cookie and flipping through a script, his exposed calves swaying gently, his round toes occasionally mischievously pinching and pulling a few bunches of weeds, making his skin look even whiter.

The round deer eyes moved rapidly as it concentrated on scanning the small printed words. Its legs moved slower and slower, and in the end it even forgot to bite the biscuit at the corner of its mouth.

It was not until he read the last word that Shen Ci suddenly woke up and dropped his biscuit to the ground.

This... this is a script tailor-made for my mother, which means it's based on her experiences and personality?

However, the protagonist in the script suffered domestic violence and his parents’ divorce in his childhood, which caused him to have mental problems and he fell into long-term depression and inferiority. Later, he began to pretend to be cheerful.

Until he met two people who completely changed his life... Is Min Shoubei one of them?

"Did you finish reading it?"

When Shen Ci looked up and saw who was coming, he immediately put his toes back to his seat and sat upright.

Min Shoubei leaned against a decorative white stone pillar, hugging his chest lazily, "How long has it been? Are you still so afraid of me?"

Shen Ci was ashamed, how could he not be afraid?

Min Shoubei was so fierce when they first met that whenever Shen Ci thought of him, he would think of his roar.

"It's okay..." Shen Ci responded vaguely and touched his nose guiltily.

Min Shoubei did not respond, but looked up at the sky expressionlessly - unfortunately, it was overcast and the night sky was dark.

The atmosphere was a little awkward, and Shen Ci changed the subject: "Dad, is this script about you and mom?"

Min Shoubei slowly closed his eyes and said "hmm" in a muffled voice.

The wind rustled, and the weeds that were in the way scratched Shen Ci's bare feet, making the itchiness go straight to his heart.

Shen Ci finally couldn't help it and asked cautiously: "Dad loves Mom so much, why did he burn all the photos?"

Min Shoubei didn't even move his closed eyelids and remained silent.

The light was reluctant to illuminate him, only lazily and casually throwing him a very thin layer of light, leaving Min Shoubei hidden in the darkness.

Like a dead sculpture in the corner.

Shen Ci's toes curled up due to nervousness, and a trace of regret rose in his heart.

"Dad, eat the cake—"

"What's the point of missing her if she's dead?" Min Shoubei interrupted coldly, mocking himself: "What's funny is that I spent twenty years trying to forget her, and you showed up again. It's really a joke from heaven."

"Do you know why she carried little you across the ocean to return to China alone?"

Shen Ci shook his head blankly, and vaguely saw something shining in the corner of Min Shoubei's eyes.

Min Shoubei laughed sarcastically: "Because she quarreled with me because I didn't want to drink from the cup she touched. Isn't that ridiculous?"

How could Shen Ci dare to laugh? He just listened quietly as he continued talking.

"That year, a transnational plane crashed, but I didn't pay much attention to it. When I couldn't contact her no matter what..."

Min Shoubei stopped talking, holding his brow with his slender fingers, and spoke again after a long while.

"Later, I found out through repeated inquiries that your mother was on that plane, but her body was gone. As for you... I can't confirm it."

"It's a miracle that you're still alive. Lu Xiao and I will investigate the reason."

"Anyway, she was angry, and I was angry too, and the result was that we parted forever, tsk..."

"Dad." Shen Ci quickly jumped off the swing, walked over and hugged Min Shoubei, who was obviously in a bad condition: "Don't say it, don't say it, I shouldn't ask."

Shen Ci's big bear hug came so suddenly that Min Shoubei's body stiffened. He hadn't been so close to anyone for a long time.

After a while, Min Shoubei stretched out his hand uncomfortably and carefully touched Shen Ci's hair.

Very soft and fluffy, just like her...

Shen Ci looked so much like her, even his embrace was just as warm. Min Shoubei felt as if his beloved had returned home.

But how is this possible...Min Shoubei smiled bitterly.

It was a miracle from God that their child was alive and even returned to him.

Min Shoubei raised his head to suppress the sourness in his nose and rubbed Shen Ci's hair vigorously: "That's enough! Stop hugging and hating your father. Go back to sleep."

Shen Ci was pulled out and pushed away, staggering and almost falling, but Min Shoubei put his hands in his pockets, turned around and left mercilessly.

Shen Ci: “???”

Is this something a human being can do? After accepting his bear hug to comfort him, the uncle at least bent down and kissed his forehead! Min Shoubei is simply like a heartless scumbag!

If he wasn't his biological father, Shen Ci would have lost control of his sword long ago.

He stamped his feet angrily, ran to the guest room where Lu Xiao usually stayed, and rushed over as soon as he opened the door: "Uncle!"

Lu Xiao was buttoning his shirt. Just as he turned around, he was thrown onto the bed by the child and his waist was almost broken.

Lu Xiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he hugged the person and slowly lay down on his side.

"What?" Lu Xiao rubbed his nose.

Shen Ci snorted: "My dad is so annoying, my uncle is still nice to me!"

"He just doesn't know how to express it." Lu Xiao slowly educated the child, but Shen Ci ignored him, his eyes sparkling with no idea what he was thinking.

"Uncle, I'm in a bad mood." Shen Ci pouted.

Lu Xiao raised an eyebrow: "Hmm?"

Shen Ci chuckled: "So let's go for a ride?"

He picked her up with a gentle smile and said, "Baby wants to go, so let's go."

Without a motorcycle and having drunk alcohol, Lu Xiao could only dig out a dusty bicycle from the Shen family garage.

"I'll drive the car today!"

Shen Ci insisted on giving Lu Xiao a ride, so the tall Lu Xiao had no choice but to curl up in the back seat, letting Shen Ci ride crookedly along the road.

Occasionally someone passed by, and they all looked at me with a horrified expression, as if I were a fool.

A cool breeze blew as they gradually left the villa area. When they reached the nearest bridge, Shen Ci was too tired to ride any further.

"Uncle! You're too heavy!"

Lu Xiao laughed and slowly pushed the car to the side: "The baby is too weak."

The scenery was just right, so the two of them simply stopped walking. Lying on the bridge railing, they could see the night lights of the bustling city across the lake, and the neon lights turned into blurred spots of light.

Shen Ci tilted his head and pointed in a random direction: "My uncle has his office over there."

Lu Xiao's eyes were fixed on Shen Ci, and his mellow voice was particularly low and gentle in the night breeze: "Yeah."

"Humph, you're just trying to fool me." Shen Ci closed his eyes: "I was so tired from riding just now, I'm a little sleepy."

"Let Si..."

"Tsk——" Shen Ci suddenly opened his eyes alertly, frowned and looked around.

Lu Xiao didn't understand what was going on. He followed Shen Ci and gradually heard some faint sounds in his ears, like something humming.

Shen Ci ran back and forth cautiously like a puppy, and finally found a shoebox in an inconspicuous place at the end of the bridge.

"Uncle!" He waved at Lu Xiao excitedly.

Lu Xiao squatted down, calmly pushed Shen Ci's hand away, and slowly opened the shoe box - inside were three little puppies that had not yet opened their eyes, crying for milk.

"I picked up a puppy!" Shen Ci was so excited that he almost jumped up and danced on the spot excitedly.

The Shen family was worried that the carefree Shen Ci would kill his pet, and no matter how hard they tried to appease him, they still couldn't get him to do it. So no matter how coquettishly Shen Ci acted, they never agreed to let him raise the pet.

It’s so lucky to be with my uncle, Shen Ci felt even happier.

He held up the shoebox like a treasure. The three puppies looked like ordinary local dogs, mixed breeds that didn't look good, but the more Shen Ci looked at them, the more he liked them.

"Uncle, let's call them Shen Xiaobai, Shen Xiaohei, and... Lu Xiaohua! Okay?"

Lu Xiao was stunned: "Lu Xiaohua?"

Shen Ci said confidently: "Yes, we picked this up together, so of course it should be named after you. I am the father, and you are their mother!"

Is he a mother?

Suddenly there were three more dogs to throw at her, and Lu Xiao's mother didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

However, if they are the "parents" of the little puppy, then they are "husband and wife"?

Lu Xiao's eyes were filled with doting smiles, and he said softly, "Okay."

That night Shen Ci brought the puppy back to the Shen family. He fed the puppy and made a nest for it. He was so excited that he couldn't sleep all night. The servants in the house were also annoyed by him.

As a result, Shen Ci almost died of sleepiness during class the next day, but his heart was still sweet. He rushed back to Shen's house to see the puppy as soon as the class was over.

The equipment for raising a dog was not yet ready, so Shen Ci decided to pick it out himself.

He called Wei Shuo and the experienced Yang Xi, and they were going to meet in the city.

Shen Ci got off the car at a secluded alley, lifted his mask, and waited for a few minutes before he became itchy and wanted to explore the pet store he had found in advance.

"Jingling bells——"

The store door opens, wind chimes ring, and the clerk warmly welcomes customers.

Shen Ci raised his head and glanced around the store, and unexpectedly found a beautiful acquaintance who was smiling and talking to a young female clerk.

It turned out to be Hai Jiaxi?

As soon as he saw her, Shen Ci immediately remembered the days when she and Lu Xiao worked together, and... their engagement.

The Hai family's attitude was still unclear. Shen Ci was afraid of being questioned about his relationship with Lu Xiao, so he took a few steps back and planned to slip away.

However, Hai Jiaxi suddenly looked up and saw Shen Ci, with a surprised look on her face: "Oh, Xiao Ci?"