Chapter 04
Going Home
Qingqing was a very sensible child. She knew she shouldn’t disturb others, so she quietly wiped away all the tears on her face herself.
Even though her heart still hurt.
Fu Yueci, sitting beside her, felt strangely conflicted. Logically, he should have found her behavior pleasing.
He hated bratty children who cried over every little thing. More than once, he had even wished that all troublesome kids in the world would simply disappear.
Yet seeing Qingqing like this left a bitter feeling in his chest.
Fu Yueci pulled out a few tissues and stiffly cupped her little face.
“I’ll bring you back next week.”
His tone was as rigid as ever, and his movements weren’t exactly gentle, but it was still much cleaner than when Qingqing wiped her tears herself.
The little girl obediently stayed still. Her soft childish voice sounded muffled.
“Th-thank you, Brother…”
“Mm.”
For once, Fu Yueci didn’t act aloof. He raised a hand and rubbed her head.
The car soon stopped in front of the Fu family’s residence.
To be precise, it was only a temporary residence.
A detached villa in Jingshui Bay worth eighty million yuan. They had owned it for years, but this was the first time anyone had actually lived there.
Standing before such a huge house, Qingqing felt extremely nervous.
She followed closely beside Fu Yueci. She stretched out her hand, wanting to hold his, but then remembered him saying he didn’t like her, and timidly withdrew it.
The place was simply too big.
Too unfamiliar.
Just stepping inside made her afraid she might dirty the floors.
“Brother…”
A tiny, uneasy voice sounded.
Fu Yueci lowered his head and saw the little girl’s watery eyes, looking as though she might cry again.
“C-Can I hold your hand?”
Fu Yueci froze for a moment.
His hesitation gave the little girl the wrong impression. Her voice trembled badly.
“J-Just for a little while. I’m scared…”
Something tugged at the boy’s heart.
After two seconds of silence, Qingqing shrank back as though she had done something wrong.
“Sorry, Brother.”
The next moment, a fresh, cool scent approached her.
The little girl was suddenly lifted into the air and brought to a height she had never experienced before.
Then she heard a stiff voice beside her ear.
Awkward and unnatural.
“I hate hearing people say sorry more than anything. Don’t say it again in the future.”
“Oh~”
Qingqing carefully memorized those words.
She cautiously grabbed the fabric on Fu Yueci’s shoulder. When she saw that he didn’t reject her, she slowly leaned against him.
“Brother is so nice~”
The little girl’s faint milky voice sounded beside him.
Fu Yueci pressed his lips together and carried her inside.
Meanwhile, at the Shen family residence, Ruanruan’s reaction upon seeing an equally large and beautiful mansion was completely different.
She appeared calm as she followed behind Shen Yu.
On the surface, she seemed composed, but her eyes had already taken in every corner of the Shen household.
She managed to suppress her excitement, but she couldn’t extinguish the burning desire in her eyes.
This was the richest family in A City—the Shen family!
It was even more magnificent than she had imagined.
From now on, she would replace Qingqing and become the young miss of this household.
Ruanruan jogged a few steps to catch up with Shen Yu, deliberately acting reserved.
Throughout the journey, she hadn’t seen any other family members. There weren’t even any servants in the courtyard, which made her somewhat puzzled.
The moment she stepped inside—
Bang!
Something exploded above her head.
Startled, Ruanruan let out a scream and crouched down, covering her head as colorful ribbons fluttered down around her.
“Welcome Qingqing, our little sister, to the family!”
Madam Shen and her two children had been waiting at home.
Each of them held a party popper, though only the one in the hands of Shen family’s second young master, Shen Jinxia, had actually gone off.
Madam Shen casually tossed her unopened popper onto the sofa.
Immediately, the servants behind her unfurled a banner.
When Ruanruan looked up, she saw the words:
Warmly Welcoming Qingqing to the Shen Family!
The expression on her face froze for a brief moment.
She turned helplessly toward Shen Yu.
At that same moment, the cheerful mother and her two children finally got a clear look at her face.
The smiles on all three faces instantly disappeared.
Shen Yu rubbed his forehead awkwardly.
His wife and children had assumed he was bringing Qingqing home today and had prepared this surprise. He had simply forgotten to explain after picking up the child.
“This is Ruanruan. From now on, she’ll be part of our family.”
At this point, there was nothing else to do but awkwardly move on.
Madam Shen reacted quickly.
She immediately instructed the servants to remove the welcome banner before walking over to Ruanruan as if nothing had happened.
“I’m sorry, Ruanruan. We made a mistake. We’ll hold an even bigger welcome party for you later.”
Ruanruan’s eyes reddened, tears glistening at the corners.
She bit her lip and nodded, looking pitifully wronged yet unwilling to complain.
The sight made Madam Shen feel somewhat guilty.
“Alright, everyone, put everything away.”
Madam Shen turned and instructed the servants.
The tables and sofas in the living room were covered with gifts.
All of them had been prepared by the Shen family for Qingqing.
But now that the child who had arrived was Ruanruan, giving her those gifts felt inappropriate.
A carefully prepared welcome celebration ended in awkward silence.
After everything had been cleared away, Madam Shen eagerly pulled Shen Yu into a room to ask about what had happened, leaving the three children alone in the living room.
The Shen siblings were very well-mannered.
Despite being disappointed that the wrong person had arrived, they didn’t ignore Ruanruan. Instead, they treated her kindly.
But Ruanruan wasn’t happy at all.
Her mind remained fixed on the gifts that had been taken away.
An expensive teddy bear.
Beautiful clothes.
Diamond-studded hair clips.
If she posted photos of them online, who knew how many envious comments they would attract?
Since the family had made a mistake, wouldn’t it have been better to simply give everything to her as compensation?
And people called Madam Shen a noble lady of a wealthy family.
In Ruanruan’s opinion, she wasn’t even as good at dealing with people as she was.
