Chapter 4
Since they were supposed to be newlywed “lovers” meeting the parents, driving separately wouldn’t look right. So that day, Yan Jin drove over to pick up Shen Yu from his home.
Shen Yu looked Yan Jin up and down, delivering his verdict on today’s outfit: “Not bad.”
“This face of mine has haunted countless dreams,” Yan Jin said, “and all you give me is ‘not bad’?”
“Since when did disturbing people’s sleep become something to brag about? That’s a new one.”
Shen Yu climbed into the passenger seat as he spoke. Yan Jin drummed his fingers on the steering wheel: “Well, that depends on what kind of dreams I’m turning their peaceful sleep into—”
Shen Yu snorted softly and reached for his seatbelt. Just as he was about to click it into place, Yan Jin suddenly asked: “Have I ever haunted your dreams?”
Shen Yu’s hand froze for just a moment before he slowly buckled the belt. The click echoed as he replied: “You have. In the dream, I beat you until your face looked like a pig’s head. Much more pleasant to look at. Woke up feeling refreshed and clear-headed.”
“See? I made you feel refreshed and clear-headed. I do have skills after all.”
“…Is twisting words around really that entertaining, President Yan?”
“Very.”
Shen Yu didn’t dignify that with a response. Yan Jin stopped teasing and hit the gas, finally getting them moving.
Shen Yu’s father, Shen Mo, struggled with psychological issues and really needed someone around to look after him. But when Shen Yu came of age, Shen Mo had simply driven him away, and he didn’t like having others stay with him long-term either. In the end, it was only through Shen Yu’s persistence that they’d managed to keep a kind-hearted caretaker there. Shen Yu couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his father alone. That time when Shen Mo had nearly succeeded in doing something irreversible had become a weight Shen Yu couldn’t shake.
When they arrived at Shen Mo’s house, Yan Jin transformed completely in front of the older man. He personally carried all the gifts and smoothly called out: “Dad.”
Hearing that form of address, Shen Yu’s fingers involuntarily clenched. He gritted his teeth and endured it, smiling gently at Shen Mo: “Dad, this is Yan Jin. We came to see you.”
“Good, good, what a wonderful boy. Come, let’s go inside and sit.”
Shen Mo had always been gentle by nature, but in Old Master Shen’s eyes, he was “lacking backbone, weak and timid.” With too much pain weighing on his heart, his temples had gone white when he was barely in his twenties, and his smile carried the weariness of someone who’d seen too much sorrow.
After entering the house, Shen Yu first went alone to ask the caretaker about Shen Mo’s recent condition. His father only ever shared good news, never the bad, so asking the caretaker was more reliable. He left Yan Jin to chat with Shen Mo, and surprisingly, he wasn’t worried that Yan Jin would mess up the conversation, even though they hadn’t rehearsed anything beforehand.
There was a piano in the side room. Yan Jin had done his homework before coming, using music as a conversation starter and successfully breaking the ice. Shen Mo loved music, and talking about it brought life to his eyes. Yan Jin was a businessman through and through—businessmen knew how to use their conversational skills to say exactly what people wanted to hear, making even complete strangers feel at ease. Shen Mo had been unsure how to begin the conversation, but Yan Jin solved that problem for him.
The atmosphere was pleasant. Shen Mo glanced over at Shen Yu, who was still talking with the caretaker. Yan Jin read the room and stopped talking at just the right moment, sensing the conversation was about to turn serious.
“In the blink of an eye, the child has gotten married. My… my condition, you can see for yourself. Shen Yu never lets me worry, and he tells me so little about his own life. When it comes to matters of the heart, he only brought it up once, back when he was in college. He suddenly asked me what it really felt like to truly fall in love with someone.” Shen Mo sighed. “At the time, I figured he must have met someone he liked.”
Yan Jin thought to himself that what Shen Yu had been asking about back then was probably Yu Feng—nothing to do with him—but he said: “We did meet in college.”
The statement was technically true, but combined with the context, any listener would naturally interpret it the way Yan Jin intended. Shen Mo, for instance, naturally understood it to mean they’d been dating since college.
Shen Mo kept smiling gently. His fingers were clasped in front of him, small movements never ceasing—a reflection of his inner restlessness. After thinking for a few moments, he asked with some hesitation: “You two… getting married first and telling us after. My father didn’t give you trouble, did he?”
What Shen Mo feared most in life was Old Master Shen. His personality had been shaped, piece by piece, by his family. Old Master Shen’s intimidating reputation was legendary—a formidable patriarch. Before Yan Jin could answer, Shen Mo found his own reassurance: “But then again, you’re exceptional. He must be satisfied with you…”
Shen Yu had already filled Shen Mo in on Yan Jin’s general background. From Old Master Shen’s perspective, Yan Jin was qualified and brought value to a potential alliance. But of course, what Shen Mo cared about most wasn’t the business advantages. The rushed marriage wasn’t a problem for him either. As a parent, what he cared about was much simpler.
“Dad,” Yan Jin said seriously, “even though our marriage was sudden, I can promise you that I won’t let him down.”
“Yes, yes, good!”
Shen Mo’s fingers finally relaxed. He nodded: “As long as you two are happy together, I’ll have peace of mind. I heard your parents are no longer with us?”
Yan Jin: “…That’s right.”
Shen Yu had lost his mother at five; Yan Jin had lost both parents at ten.
“You’ve had it hard too,” Shen Mo sighed. “I only hope that in the future, you’ll support each other and build a harmonious, happy home.”
When Shen Mo said this, Shen Yu walked over and caught the end of it. He glanced at Yan Jin, who briefly met his gaze before turning to look directly into Shen Mo’s eyes. Yan Jin smiled: “We will.”
Shen Yu said nothing.
After the two had lunch at Shen Mo’s house, they maintained perfect harmony at the dinner table. But once they stepped outside, their expressions shifted and the smiles disappeared. They didn’t exchange a single word until they got in the car, and even the engine started in silence. Yan Jin didn’t say where they were going, and surprisingly, Shen Yu didn’t ask.
The car stopped in front of a flower shop.
Shen Yu suddenly turned to look at Yan Jin.
Yan Jin: “What? Did I misunderstand something?”
Shen Yu’s lips parted slightly. Yan Jin parked properly, unbuckled his seatbelt, and prepared to get out: “Meeting the parents—we’re not finished yet.”
He hadn’t misunderstood. Shen Yu remained silent, also unbuckling his seatbelt and following him out of the car.
“Three bouquets,” Shen Yu said from behind him. “Let’s buy three bouquets.”
Yan Jin walked ahead of him. Hearing this, he smiled where Shen Yu couldn’t see: “Good. We’ll buy three bouquets together.”
Shen Yu didn’t object: “Mm.”
Three bouquets—for Shen Yu’s mother and Yan Jin’s parents. Exactly three parents.
After selecting flowers at the shop and getting back in the car, Yan Jin asked: “Which cemetery is your mother at?”
In front of Shen Mo, he’d called him “Dad” with every breath, but once they were alone, he switched to calling Shen Yu’s mother “your mother.” Shen Yu didn’t find this strange—it was normal. He answered: “South City Cemetery. What about your parents?”
Yan Jin: “Same place.”
The car started again. At this moment, though the car had returned to silence, compared to when they’d first left Shen Mo’s house, the atmosphere felt somehow different.
Tall buildings rapidly receded as more and more greenery filled their vision. The closer they got to the cemetery, the fewer cars and voices there were. The environment grew quiet, and people naturally became quiet with it. Shen Yu’s eyes took in the familiar scenery. Over all these years, only the roads here had remained largely unchanged. He’d come many times—occasionally with Shen Mo, but more often alone.
The unchanging scenery over many years, plus Yan Jin who was also an old acquaintance, yet together they gave him a strange sense of novelty.
They first went to see Shen Yu’s mother, then walked to the Yan couple’s graves. Shen Yu and Yan Jin placed down the fresh flowers. There was no need to pretend to be loving in front of the tombstones as they had with Shen Mo, but they didn’t know what to say in this situation either.
If they were two people who had fallen in love and grown to understand each other before coming together, they could say touching words at this moment, make promises and declarations. But their story was different—whatever they said to these tombstones wouldn’t feel right.
Since they couldn’t speak to the tombstones, they could at least say a few words to each other. Shen Yu looked at the portrait of the Yan couple: “You look very much like your father.”
Yan Jin: “Everyone used to say that.”
As Yan Jin had grown up, his features had become even more like his father’s. Unfortunately, his parents would never see it.
Besides placing flowers, they also got cleaning supplies from the cemetery staff to tend the graves. The cemetery was regularly maintained, so wiping down the tombstones was just something they wanted to do themselves.
The Yan couple’s two graves sat side by side. Yan Jin’s mother had cut ties with her unreasonable family before marriage, so at her funeral, there had been few who truly mourned her.
If it had been up to Yan Jin, he would have had them buried together, but back then he’d been too young to make such decisions. Shen Yu still had Shen Mo, but Yan Jin’s only support at the time—his grandfather—had been deeply affected by losing his son and daughter-in-law, his health declining day by day. After the old man passed away too, Yan Jin had no one left to rely on, surrounded entirely by wolves, his tender wings trying to shelter an even smaller sister.
His uncle? His uncle had been in league with the wolves.
In outsiders’ eyes, Shen Yu and Yan Jin seemed born to be fortune’s favorites, blessed with infinite glory. People only saw their brilliant success, envying or resenting their achievements at such young ages. But everyone lived their own life and swallowed their own bitter medicine. What people assumed never told the whole story.
As Yan Jin was cleaning his mother’s tombstone, he looked up to see Shen Yu bent over his father’s grave, carefully wiping the stone.
“Let me handle this side,” Shen Yu said without looking at him. “You helped me with my mother’s earlier.”
At the cemetery, both men put away their usual sharp tongues, and for once didn’t snipe at each other even once. In silence, yet with an oddly peaceful feeling in their hearts. Shen Yu felt he actually had many things he could tell his mother today, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for others to hear—especially Yan Jin—so he’d have to save them up to whisper quietly another day.
As the sun set in the west, Yan Jin drove Shen Yu home. This would normally be the polite time for a dinner invitation, a social meal together—but that didn’t happen with these two. Neither suggested eating together. They were courteous where they shouldn’t be and completely missed the point where they should be, simply going their separate ways without even offering each other a glass of water—not counting what they’d had at Shen Mo’s house.
Shen Yu seemed to be in a good mood today, even humming some unknown tune, until he received a phone call from Old Master Shen.
Shen Yu looked at the caller ID, composed his expression, and answered: “Chairman Shen.”
“Mm,” came Old Master Shen’s deep voice from the other end. “After you get to the company tomorrow, come to my office.”
Shen Yu: “Understood.”
No pleasantries or small talk—very direct, hanging up after stating his business.
The relationship between Shen Yu and his grandfather was complicated. Shen Yu admired and respected Old Master Shen’s abilities and talents, but the old man’s cold educational methods and Shen Mo’s situation made Shen Yu direct all his rebellious feelings toward his grandfather. Of course, Old Master Shen didn’t care—he was tempering a young predator, wanting it to develop claws and fangs.
Shen Yu had first met Old Master Shen at his uncle’s funeral, barely a year after his mother’s death.
Old Master Shen had two sons. Originally, he’d stopped interfering in Shen Mo’s life, writing off this disappointing son, but then he’d lost his heir. His eldest son had been consumed by business and died unmarried, without children.
At the funeral, Shen Yu saw his grandfather for the first time. He didn’t look like an elderly man, but like a cold pillar of stone, like a mountain. Wearing a black suit, spine straight, expression solemn, he didn’t weep bitterly over his deceased relative the way Shen Mo did. His gaze passed over the hunched figure of Shen Mo and settled on Shen Yu.
Shen Yu felt like he was looking at a lion. He fearfully gripped Shen Mo’s hand and shrank back, but perhaps it was the fearlessness of youth, or perhaps childhood curiosity—he kept looking at Old Master Shen without averting his gaze.
After his uncle’s funeral, Old Master Shen took over Shen Yu’s education. He didn’t need Shen Mo’s permission. Shen Mo begged that the child was still young and should at least be allowed to live with him. Old Master Shen agreed to that much.
If he hadn’t agreed, maybe Shen Mo’s psychological problems wouldn’t have worsened, and perhaps what happened later could have been avoided.
But these were just thoughts. People couldn’t predict future events—just like when he’d been battling with Yan Jin in college, how could he have foreseen they’d have a flash marriage now?
Shen Yu put down his phone and walked toward the dining table where he would sit alone.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
