Volume 1 Chapter 17: A Feather on a Telephone Pole—What Audacity
Song Jingcheng pushed back his chair and stood up, walking around the tea table as he said, "What you want to do, what you intend to do—I won’t interfere."
He was telling Shen He that he wouldn’t spread word of what happened last night.
Hearing this, Shen He felt somewhat reassured.
She followed Song Jingcheng out.
Staring at the man’s slender yet exceptionally tall figure, Shen He suddenly said, "What if what I do also has a negative impact on your nephew?"
Before his death, Song Jingcheng had bequeathed the Song family’s assets and his personal estate to Mu Tingyun—a clear sign of how much he valued and cared for this nephew.
Shen He wanted to know what Song Jingcheng’s reaction would be if she harmed Mu Tingyun.
Would he tear her to pieces?
Probably.
But Song Jingcheng replied indifferently, "Life is like a battlefield; victory or defeat depends on one’s own abilities. If he can be harmed by you today, he can be harmed by others tomorrow. Whether it’s you or someone else makes no difference."
"I’m a short-lived man. I can protect him for a while, but can I protect him for a lifetime?"
"This path, he must ultimately walk it himself."
Shen He was stunned.
Song Jingcheng protected Mu Tingyun like a mother hen guarding her chicks—why was his attitude so cold today?
Shen He quickly snapped out of it, suspecting that Song Jingcheng was deliberately saying such things to confuse her, hoping to catch her fox tail when she let her guard down.
Ma Kai had seen Boss Cheng off and returned to the house. Seeing Shen He following Song Jingcheng out of the tea room, he asked Song Jingcheng, "Is Miss Shen leaving now?"
Shen He was about to nod when she heard Song Jingcheng say, "Stay for dinner?"
Shen He: "Huh?"
Meeting Song Jingcheng’s questioning gaze from above, she realized he was asking for her opinion.
Shen He actually didn’t dare to be alone with Song Jingcheng.
The man might be short-lived, but his mind wasn’t short-circuited.
Being around Song Jingcheng kept Shen He on edge at all times.
But.
The thought of Mu Tingyun, with Song Jingcheng’s support, leaping to become the dominant force in Qingshi’s business world…
The Song family’s wealth had become Mu Tingyun’s weapon against the Shen family, and Shen He’s heart turned ruthless.
She absolutely could not let Song Jingcheng bequeath his family assets to Mu Tingyun!
She had to make Song Jingcheng see Mu Tingyun’s true nature.
If possible…
Staring at Song Jingcheng’s exceptionally handsome face, Shen He felt a stirring in her heart.
She would never fall for a man again in this lifetime, but she still wanted a child.
Song Jingcheng’s genes were so good—if she could have a child with his genes, it would be extraordinary.
The moment this thought surfaced, it startled Shen He.
A feather on a telephone pole—what audacity she had!
"Shen He?" Song Jingcheng’s voice pulled Shen He back to reality.
"Sure!" Shen He flashed Song Jingcheng a bright smile and said, "I’ve long heard that the chefs in Little Uncle’s household are descendants of imperial chefs. I’m truly in for a treat today."
Song Jingcheng had asked that question purely out of courtesy, never expecting Shen He to actually agree to stay for dinner.
But it was just a meal—no big deal.
Nodding, Song Jingcheng said to Ma Kai, "Notify the kitchen to add two Sichuan dishes." After speaking, Song Jingcheng went upstairs to be alone.
After all, he was an adult single man, and being alone with his nephew’s girlfriend wouldn’t sound good if word got out.
Shen He stayed alone in the backyard.
While the other villas had large gardens in their backyards, only Song Jingcheng's garden had been transformed into a vegetable plot.
Ma Kai, taking on the role of a farmer, was watering the vegetables in the garden.
Seeing Shen He watching from the side, he asked, "Miss Shen, do you know how to grow vegetables?"
Shen He replied, "I know a little bit about everything. When I was young, I even went to the fields with my grandmother to transplant rice seedlings."
Ma Kai praised, "Then Miss Shen is truly remarkable."
Ma Kai didn't ask why she, being the eldest daughter of the Shen family, would have transplanted rice seedlings, nor did he inquire about the grandmother she mentioned.
Clearly, the fact that Shen Guanghui was not the biological son of Mrs. Zhong had already reached the ears of Ma Kai and others.
Along with that, the story of Shen He being abandoned by Shen Guanghui and living with her grandmother in the countryside had also spread.
It seemed Song Jingcheng was aware as well, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically instructed the kitchen to prepare two extra Sichuan dishes.
Because her hometown was Yucheng.
The dining room was unusually large, with a table three meters long.
Song Jingcheng sat at the head of the table, and Shen He's utensils were placed in the middle by Aunt Qin.
Seeing Shen He staring at her utensils without moving, Song Jingcheng raised an eyebrow and asked her, "Don't you like the color of this set of utensils?"
He knew girls had peculiar tastes and thought Shen He disliked his family's utensils.
Shen He explained, "My apartment is small, and my studio is small too. Having grown up this way, I've never eaten at such a large dining table."
She looked across the table at Song Jingcheng and said with utmost sincerity, "Eating so far from the host, Uncle, when you speak, I can't hear you."
Song Jingcheng: ""
Taking such a roundabout way was simply to want to sit next to Song Jingcheng.
"Come sit here." Song Jingcheng pointed to the first seat on his right.
Shen He quickly moved her utensils over.
Aunt Qin came to the dining room to deliver soup spoons and noticed the change in seating. She paused for a moment.
Returning to the kitchen, she nudged Ma Kai's arm, who was eating, and whispered, "Is that Mr. Song's girlfriend?"
"What?" Ma Kai's expression changed drastically, quickly reminding Aunt Qin, "You better speak quietly."
Aunt Qin was startled and asked softly, "Isn't she?"
Ma Kai glanced toward the dining room, catching only a side view of Miss Shen's face.
Noticing Miss Shen's constant smiles while talking, Ma Kai thought: If she really were his girlfriend, that would be great, but Mr. Song knows his life is short and has resolved not to date or marry in this lifetime.
When Mu Tingyun took Shen He to visit Song Jingcheng at the Song family home earlier this year, Aunt Qin had just taken leave to care for her daughter who was in postpartum confinement.
So Aunt Qin didn't yet know Shen He.
Ma Kai said, "She's just a younger generation."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Qin muttered inwardly: What about being a younger generation? She's not a family descendant. If they see each other favorably, wouldn't they become peers?
But Aunt Qin dared not say this.
During the meal, noticing that Song Jingcheng only touched each dish once before losing interest, except for the bowl of matsutake mushroom chicken soup which he drank a few more mouthfuls, Shen He felt a pang of sorrow.
She knew Song Jingcheng wasn't picky; he was physically uncomfortable, unable to eat much, and shouldn't eat much.
"Uncle, your illness…" Shen He originally wanted to ask Song Jingcheng how he contracted this illness, but seeing Song Jingcheng's eyelids droop, she knew this question would upset him.
Shen He impulsively changed her question and said, "Is it hereditary?"
Song Jingcheng was stunned.
Though she didn't understand why Shen He cared about these messy questions and felt that given Shen He's status, it wasn't appropriate for her to ask such things, Song Jingcheng still replied politely, "This isn't a genetic disease."
In other words, it wouldn't be passed down to children.
"Then…" Shen He really wanted to ask why he didn't get married and have children to pass on the Song family fortune. But she also knew this was absolutely not a question she could ask.
If she did, she'd be kicked out today.
Unexpectedly, Song Jingcheng didn't resist the question.
He saw right through what Shen He wanted to ask and proactively answered, "You want to ask me why I don't get married and why I don't have children, don't you?"
"Yes!" Shen He quickly nodded.
Song Jingcheng's answer was somewhat profound. He said, "The person I could love must be exceptional. And such an exceptional woman shouldn't spend her life alone."
Shen He's heart twitched, once again feeling that tingling sensation as if struck by an electric current.
Grandma, I think I've struck gold in a pile of shit.
Shen He lowered her head and silently drank her soup, feeling a pang of sorrow for Song Jingcheng and increasingly thinking he deserved better.
Song Jingcheng lived an upright and honorable life—how could he have mistakenly trusted that viper, Mu Tingyun?