Chapter 29
Proofreader: Akimi
Zhen Yuanbai would’ve never thought that Mother Shi understood her son that well. He subconsciously looked at Shi Bufan and the latter’s smile was about to flow out. He curled his lips and patiently waited for a response.
Then, Zhen Yuanbai turned to look at Mother Shi again. She looked eagerly at him, making him confused. He murmured, “Um, my parents need to agree to this first.”
“Don’t worry. I can talk to your parents.” Mother Shi laughed right then.
Ling Xuan was a very patient woman. While Zhen Yuanbai and Shi Bufan were in the library doing homework, she was sitting not far reading a book. But whenever Zhen Yuanbai raised his head up to look around, he always noticed her gaze on Shi Bufan.
Zhen Yuanbai held in his curiosity, but his imagination ran wild. Could it be that Shi Bufan had been abandoned by his parents as a child and had to live on the streets? Therefore, after being brought back into the family, his parents felt very guilty towards him. Meanwhile, shi Bufan despised them a lot? Or, maybe due to the vast businesses that Shi Family laid a hand on, his parents didn’t have time to spend with him since they had to earn money. Wasn’t that how TV Shows always show?
But how was he going to explain Shi Bufan’s other parents?
Zhen Yuanbai’s mind suddenly recalled a plain face who was peeking at Shi Bufan and their slightly widened mouth.
No wonder he thought that the woman was familiar to him. She was the Mother Shi who went to thank his family! At that time, she dressed up as a noblewoman, but she had worn ordinary clothes a few days ago. Could it be that Shi Bufan was actually her biological son and then she gave him to the current Shi parents who had no children?
Shi Bufan suddenly pinched Zhen Yuanbai’s nose, making the latter snap out of his trance. He stared at Shi Bufan intensely.
Shi Bufan said, “What are you thinking about? Why is your mouth open that wide?”
Zhen Yuanbai rubbed his nose and formed a concrete conclusion in his heart. He reminded Shi Bufan, “Your mother has been watching you.”
“She might be secretly in love with me.”
“…” Zhen Yuanbai suddenly stabbed Shi Bufan’s hand with his pencil, making Shi Bufan gasp in surprise. “Heh. You’re getting bolder.”
“What nonsense are you talking about every day?” Zhen Yuanbai glared at him and said, “I think your mother wants you to get along with her.”
“Is she really my mother?” Shi Bufan tilted his head over at Ling Xuan while the latter slightly smiled at him. She said, “What’s the matter? Are you guys hungry? I can buy something for you guys.”
“Matcha milk tea and lemon black tea. Thanks.”
Mother Shi was delighted and left after placing the book on the shelf. Shi Bufan withdrew his gaze and looked at Zhen Yuanbai, saying, “She’s not my mother.”
Zhen Yuanbai’s heart thumped. “You, you remembered it?”
“I hate her.” Shi Bufan grabbed his pencil and began to do the exam as if he was saying that today was great weather. “Even if I die, I won’t forget the feeling of disliking her. Therefore, she is definitely not my mother.”
“How about the aunt who called for you in the hospital last time? Do you dislike her too?”
Shi Bufan paused and smiled, “You seem to care about my matters a lot?”
Zhen Yuanbai felt as if he had gotten his answer from that and so, he lowered his head, saying, “I’m just curious.”
Shi Bufan was very calm with him and even analyzed in a proper manner, “I don’t like or dislike that person. But, I feel like she’s not my mother as well.”
Doesn’t dislike…it might be because mothers and sons are connected by heart. Even though he lost his memory, he won’t forget his biological mother. But because he might be given to Mother Shi by his biological mother, he also rejected her.
Zhen Yuanbai had imagined the ending but felt as if there were a lot of loopholes. However, this didn’t affect his sympathy towards Shi Bufan. He said, “Is that person not your father as well?”
Shi Bufan’s head began to hurt and he tightly knitted his eyebrows. “No, I don’t know him.”
Zhen Yuanbai hurriedly patted his hand, saying softly, “Ok, ok. I won’t mention him. Feel better now.”
“I…” Shi Bufan rubbed his temple and said unhappily, “I’m not uncomfortable. I just have a headache.”
“Then don’t have a headache.”
“Why are you so talkative?” Shi Bufan said, “You think that I can just stop myself from having a headache? Then what’s the point of Ibuprofen?”
Zhen Yuanbai withdrew his hand and looked at Shi Bufan’s head, extremely nervous. “You, you remembered something?”
Shi Bufan stared at him and asked, “Shouldn’t you be happy that I thought of something?”
“Of course I am!” Zhen Yuanbai curled his lips up fakely. “I am extremely excited.”
Mother Shi quickly bought the drinks for them and returned. Zhen Yuanbai thanked her and then she returned to her seat far from them. Shi Bufan was the one who wanted her to sit there since he didn’t want her to be so near.
While Zhen Yuanbai thought Shi Bufan was being excessive, he also felt bad for him. As he worked on the problems, he said softly, “Do you want to escape from your house that badly?”
Shi Bufan looked at Zhen Yuanbai as if he was looking at a fool. “Can you not tell that my family is very wealthy?”
Zhen Yuanbai shook his head. “I can tell.”
“If my family is wealthy, why would I want to leave my family?”
“…” You have a good reasoning. Zhen Yuanbai felt confused, asking, “But don’t you dislike your parents?”
“Yes, so I want to spend their money while making them mad. Once they’re dead, I’ll probably be an adult by then. The inheritance will be mine.” He stared at Zhen Yuanbai’s stunned expression and laughed wickedly, “When the time comes, I want to get however many Zhen Congmings as I want.”
Zhen Yuanbai looked cold and it actually made him look a bit terrifying. However, it created a different feeling when he started to talk. He said softly, “What do you mean?”
“What I’m trying to say is…” Shi Bufan tried to guide him, “People can’t treat themselves unfairly. If someone makes you unhappy, you do the same to them.”
Zhen Yuanbai tried to process his words with difficulty, saying, “If you endure it though, you can bring peace.”
“The more I think about it, the angrier I am.”
“But everything will become peaceful.”
“It is only peaceful for the person you’re allowing to do this to you.”
Zhen Yuanbai’s mind recalled Shi Bufan’s face before losing his memory. Whenever the other party called his nickname, he seemed to be eager for his reaction. If Zhen Yuanbai didn’t respond, he would become more and more presumptuous. But if he responded, the other party would sneer at him and let him go.
If someone asked Zhen Yuanbai if he felt wronged, he definitely would say so. But, he couldn’t beat Shi Bufan either. Thinking carefully, Shi Bufan probably smiled happily since he had a peaceful and calm world. Yet, when Zhen Yuanbai thought of himself, he always wiped his tears in secret. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
Shi Bufan pushed the exam over and said, “How do I do this?”
Zhen Yuanbai glanced at it and drew a turtle on the paper, saying, “The answer is on the shell of the turtle. Look carefully.”
Shi Bufan was confused.
Zhen Yuanbai looked down and continued to do the practice exam. Shi Bufan stared at the turtle for half an hour and said, “You’re kidding me right?”
Zhen Yuanbai smiled and kept a straight face when he saw Shi Bufan looking over. “Your reaction is too slow and you have a low IQ. You definitely won’t be able to score 2nd, so don’t bother.”
Shi Bufan licked his lips and said, “You’ve been quite bold lately. Do you believe that I won’t beat you up?”
Once Annoying Shi threatened him, Zhen Yuanbai dwindled down, but didn’t forget to blackmail, “If you hit me, even if my parents agree, I won’t go to your house still.”
Shi Bufan’s eyelashes flickered and avoided the topic, saying, “Here, explain the question to me.”
Zhen Yuanbai grabbed the exam and continued, “If you dare to say you’ll beat me up again, I will make sure to kiss you.”
Qin Ying and Zhen Pingjin had just returned home not long in the afternoon when Mother Shi brought the 2 kids over. She had Zhen Yuanbai bring Shi Bufan to his room while she smiled at Zhen parents and introduced herself. “I am Shi Bufan’s mother, Ling Xuan.”
“Mrs. Ling.” Zhen Pingjin heard of her name and even saw her interview before. He shook hands with Ling Xian while Qin Ying went to pour water for her. After both parties introduced themselves, Qin Ying asked, “Is there a reason why you came to our house?”
“Oh right, you guys should know that Shi Bufan’s grades were quite poor in the past. But after this monthly exam, he actually got within the top 100. I asked their teacher and they said that it was Yuanyuan’s contribution that aided him. I was wondering if Yuanyuan can go be a guest at our house and tutor him or something.”
Qin Ying smiled and said, “We heard of this before and it’s not all just Yuanyuan’s contribution. Shi Bufan would have to be willing to learn as well.”
“No, no. You don’t know. My kid is hard to manage, especially hard. His father and I can’t even look after him. You don’t know how happy I am that he’s willing to listen to Yuanyuan and study in class. I know that you guys are worried that he might lead Yuanyuan on the wrong path, but don’t worry. I will make sure to look after them and I’ll take responsibility for the 2 children. Regarding Yuanyuan tutoring him, I can pay him according to the private tutor’s hourly fee. We’re all parents, so I’m sure you guys know how I feel right now.”
Qin Ying subconsciously stared at Zhen Pingjin and the latter scrunched his eyebrows, saying, “We can understand your feelings, but I need to make sure of something.”
Ling Xuan subconsciously sat up straight and Zhen Pingjin said, “Are you really Shi Bufan’s mother?”
Ling Xuan’s face became rigid and Qin Ying immediately glanced at Zhen Pingjin too. Last time when the Shi parents visited their house, she wasn’t home, so she thought her husband was being a bit rude right now. Zhen Pingjin said calmly, “If I put you in a difficult situation, I’m sorry. I just have some questions in my mind that I must get an answer to. Otherwise, I won’t let you take my son away that easily.”
“I know.” Ling Xuan raised her finger and brushed her hair behind her ears, saying calmly, “I am his biological mother. There is something going on in the family…”
She lowered her voice and said, “Now, Shi Bufan doesn’t remember anything. I can’t let him know this, so I hope you guys can keep a secret for me.”
When Shi Bufan first came to the Zhen family, he had lost his memory and his head felt like it was exploding. Now that he came back to Zhen Yuanbai’s room, he saw that the decorations were fresh and pleasing to the eyes. The bedsheet had SpongeBob SquarePants printed on it and there were some posters of domestic cartoons on the wall, making Shi Bufan chuckle. Zhen Yuanbai glared at him and peeked out, confused. “What are they talking about? Why did they go out?”
Shi Bufan peeked out as well and squinted his eyes, saying, “It must have something to do with me. Let’s go out and eavesdrop.”
Zhen Yuanbai hurriedly pulled him back and said, “We can’t eavesdrop on the adults’ conversation.”
Therefore, Shi Bufan sat back on Zhen Yuanbai’s bed and laid down, rolling in a circle. He said, “Let me add a tint of masculinity touch onto the bedsheet.”
Zhen Yuanbai ignored him and hoped that his parents wouldn’t be moved by Mother Shi that easily. After all, it was quite unsuitable for him to live in someone else’s home. Yet, he didn’t get his wish and Qin Ying quickly came to call for him, “Yuanyuan, Mother Shi is inviting you over to her house to tutor Shi Bufan. Do you want to go?”
Hearing this, Zhen Yuanbai knew that they clearly agreed. Zhen Yuanbai subconsciously looked at Zhen Pingjin and the latter said faintly, “Make your own decision.”
Half an hour later, Zhen Yuanbai sat in the car heading back to Shi Bufan’s house. Zhen Youxiu stood by the door with a cold face, watching them drive away. Then, he suddenly looked at his parents and asked, “What influenced this stupid decision?”
Zhen Pingjin walked over and wanted to hit him, saying, “Who are you calling stupid?!”
Zhen Youxiu humphed and turned around, running upstairs.
Zhen Yuanbai who held two outfits in his hands, sitting in the car with Shi Bufan, suddenly received Zhen Youxiu’s message. He opened the message in confusion and his mother’s annoying voice rang in his ears: Shi Bufan is a tiger and Mother Shi is his accomplice. You’re just an unfortunate man who fails to live up to his name.