Just as Deng Su had anticipated.
Shao Peng was completely unwilling to go home.
He didn’t study locally in Xiangjiang; running off to another city was precisely so he could get as far away from home as possible. A boarding school might be agonizing for other students, but to Shao Peng, it was paradise, a sanctuary that could isolate him from all the hustle and bustle of the outside world, a heaven he had wished for above all else.
Yet he never expected that someone would manage to reach into his meticulously chosen boarding school. The moment he caught sight of Deng Su, Shao Peng’s brows furrowed tightly. Clenching his fists in silence, he turned and ran.
“Pengpeng!” Deng Su gave chase, but how could he possibly outrun a teenager? Before he knew it, Shao Peng had vanished in a flash. Deng Su was left spinning around in sheer anxiety. With it being the change of classes and people coming and going everywhere, he had no choice but to stop.
The students around the school were all sizing Deng Su up, staring at him as a total stranger. Deng Su shoved his hands into his pockets and muttered under his breath, “Damn it all.”
With no other choice, he just had to wait.
Deng Su waited inside the school the entire time, waiting until classes resumed, waiting until Shao Peng had no choice but to stay put.
Scarcely had the class bell rung when Shao Peng had just sat down, and his head teacher came in and called him out. As soon as he stepped into the office, Shao Peng saw Deng Su standing there waiting for him with an expression that clearly said, “Let’s see where you can run off to now.” Speechless, Shao Peng walked over.
“Mr. Deng, you’ve arrived,” the head teacher said in a deferential tone, clearly well aware of Shao Peng’s father’s status.
Deng Su thanked the head teacher, then grabbed Shao Peng’s arm to lead him outside. Shao Peng didn’t budge an inch and said, “Say what you have to say right here.”
The young master’s temper had flared up, and with the teachers in the office staring, Deng Su glanced back over his shoulder and lowered his voice, “You want to discuss your family’s private matters right here?”
“If he dares to do it, why wouldn’t I dare talk about it?” Shao Peng retorted. “What? Does he feel ashamed? Would he even feel ashamed? Not necessarily. Does Shao Yiqing have any sense of shame left?”
Deng Su gave him a sharp jerk and muttered under his breath, “Out with me, now.”
Shao Peng didn’t stubbornly dig his heels in either. Deng Su dragged him out of the office, a process that wasn’t exactly easy, as the two of them engaged in a secret tug-of-war. But Deng Su knew that Shao Peng wasn’t really fighting him.
“Alright,” Deng Su said once they reached the outer hallway, finally releasing him and helping brush down his wrinkled school uniform. “Stop fighting with your dad. It’s been two months and you haven’t been home once. What is it you’re trying to do?”
“I don’t have a home,” Shao Peng replied, leaning against the wall behind him with his hands buried in his pockets, his tone utterly defiant. “What home is there for me to go back to?”
As Shao Yiqing’s son, Shao Peng had inherited excellent genes; his looks far surpassed those of ordinary people. Combined with his youthful, vibrant age, that rebellious edge matched his years and likely attracted the affections of quite a few peers. But having worked closely by Shao Yiqing’s side and grown entirely accustomed to him, Deng Su knew that while Shao Peng was more handsome than most, he still fell quite short of his father.
He hadn’t inherited Shao Yiqing to absolute perfection.
Deng Su scolded him, “Stop talking nonsense out of anger. Xiangjiang is your home, and it always will be.”
Shao Peng let out a sneer. “Right, Xiangjiang is my home. I used to have a real home, didn’t I? Wasn’t it Shao Yiqing who destroyed it with his own hands? How the hell does he even have the nerve to fight for custody against my dad after cheating during the marriage? Just how almighty does Shao Yiqing think he is, huh?”
“I’ll say this again,” Deng Su said, his tone turning noticeably fierce. “President Shao did not have an affair. Your custody rightfully belongs to him. Without him, would you have the educational conditions you have now? Your dad, your dad, your dad, what can he even give you? Need I remind you of his background? Only by keeping your custody in President Shao’s hands will you be safe from being pushed around in the future.”
“I don’t need any of this! To hell with educational conditions, to hell with being bullied or not bullied, and to hell with backgrounds! This is my own life, and I have the right to choose it. What’s wrong with just wanting to live with my dad? If Shao Yiqing is so damn almighty, let him be almighty by himself! Who gives a damn about his power?!”
Deng Su clenched his fists tight, but constrained by their special relationship, he couldn’t lay a hand on Shao Peng. He could only stand there and listen to these unfilial words drifting aimlessly through the air.
Pulling himself together and constantly reminding himself of his mission, Deng Su refrained from provoking Shao Peng further and shifted to a coaxing tone, “Pengpeng, you’re still young, and you see a lot of things much too simply and naively. Society isn’t that straightforward. No matter where you go, you need backing. Without President Shao’s custody, you’re nobody. He’s doing this to secure a better future for you, and I hope you understand that.”
“I don’t understand, and I never will,” Shao Peng said stubbornly. “I only know that he ruined my family and forcibly chained me to his side. I hate him, and that’s how it’s going to be for the rest of my life.”
“Pengpeng.”
“Don’t bother singing his praises. You’re the only person around Shao Yiqing that I don’t completely despise. If you keep defending him and talking nonsense, I guarantee even my head teacher won’t be able to catch me.”
Deng Su raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. “Alright, alright, fine, I won’t say another word. You can tell your dad whatever you want in private when you get home.”
“Who told you I was going home?” Shao Peng spun around and began to walk away. “Exams are coming up, I’m going back to class.”
“Your older cousin is here.” At the exact moment Shao Peng turned back, Deng Su was forced to deploy his ultimate trump card.
Sure enough, Shao Peng’s footsteps ground to a halt. He glanced back at Deng Su in astonishment. “Which one?”
“Who else could it be?” Deng Su said. “Your older cousin.”
Shao Peng turned all the way back around. “What’s he doing here?”
“Word is he’s come to study in Xiangjiang,” Deng Su said. “If we head back now, you should still be able to catch him. Let’s go.”
Shao Peng didn’t move a muscle.
Deng Su decided to stir the pot. “What, not going to give your cousin any face?”
Shao Peng found it thoroughly hard to believe, or rather, he was still deeply suspicious. He stayed rooted to the spot in deep thought for a long while. “If it really is my cousin, I’d go in a heartbeat. I’m just afraid this is another one of Shao Yiqing’s tricks.”
“Look at you, always so full of schemes,” Deng Su said, giving Shao Peng a light pat on the head. “Come on, let’s go home.”
Shao Peng trailed along beside Deng Su, checking and double-checking every step of the way, “Is it really my cousin? When did he arrive? How many days has he been in Xiangjiang? Why is he studying here now? Is he still at home right now? Let me give him a call first.”
Deng Su cut him off. “What’s the point of calling? You’ll see him as soon as we get back. Hurry up.”
Out of options, Shao Peng had no choice but to follow along.
The two of them bounced around on the road for a bit, as cross-city travel was a hassle. There was no faulting Deng Su when it came to taking care of people, especially when dealing with a kid like Shao Peng. While Shao Peng was completely at odds with Shao Yiqing, he still managed to find conversational topics with Deng Su, even opening up about how his studies were going.
He was terribly lopsided in his subjects: his English was atrocious, his humanities were barely passable, and his math was just about adequate. As he talked, he couldn’t help but vent and complain about when English would finally be removed from the nine-year compulsory education system.
“Even if it gets removed, you still have to study it,” Deng Su pointed out. “If no one else, traveling the world freely in the future will benefit you the most.”
“There’s translation software for going abroad nowadays, I don’t strictly need to learn it. Besides, I don’t plan on going abroad anyway.”
“You don’t plan on it now, but what about the future? Life is long, don’t define things so early.”
“I really don’t plan on it, whether you believe me or not.”
Chatting all the way, the two hurried back.
Once he had actually secured him, Deng Su stopped rushing. He took his time treating Shaopeng to meals and letting him take things easy along the trip. Shao Peng kept his eyes glued to his phone the whole time, claiming he was replying to messages in a group chat. When Deng Su teased him about whether he was secretly dating someone behind his back, Shao Peng insisted he wasn’t.
Upon arriving in Xiangjiang, Deng Su first contacted Shao Yiqing, a move he kept hidden from Shao Peng. Once Shao Yiqing’s whereabouts were confirmed, Deng Su drove the car straight home. Shao Peng had behaved reasonably well throughout the journey, but the moment they reached the villa’s front gates, his smile vanished and he grew entirely silent.
“We’re here,” Deng Su said. “Get out.”
Knowing it might take some time, Deng Su had already requested a week’s leave for Shao Peng, who stepped out clutching his schoolbag. He slammed the car door shut and headed toward the lit-up house. Deng Su let out a heavy breath, relieved of his monumental task, and went to park the car. When he finally got out and walked over, he discovered that Shao Peng hadn’t gone inside at all.
He was standing by the door, leaning against the wall.
Deng Su paused in surprise, walked over, and asked, “What are you doing? Why aren’t you going in?”
With his bag slung over one shoulder, Shao Peng cast a glance toward the interior. “Who knows if President Shao is busy or not.”
“President Shao cleared his schedule today specifically to wait for you,” Deng Su said. “Go on in.”
“I wasn’t talking about work,” Shao Peng replied.
Deng Su finally caught his drift. He sighed and explained, “Yang Qian isn’t inside. And he won’t be anymore.”
“Did Shao Yiqing dump him?”
Deng Su clicked his tongue. “No, he went to London for further studies.”
“Even without him, there’ll just be someone else,” Shao Peng said, tilting his head back to press it against the cold wall while crossing his arms. “Every alpha in Xiangjiang wants to be Shao Yiqing’s dog. If I walk in there now, won’t I just be ruining everyone’s mood?”
“Stop talking like that out of anger,” Deng Su gently advised. “After Yang Qian left, your dad didn’t find anyone else. He’s been waiting for you all day, so hurry up and go inside.”
Shao Peng looked at Deng Su, then lowered his gaze to the doorknob. Gripping his backpack straps tightly, he pushed the door open and stepped inside.
A wave of worry washed over Deng Su, terrified that a re-run of their last shouting match was about to take place.
Fortunately, after waiting by the entrance for a little while, he didn’t hear any furious roaring from within. Figuring things were probably fine, he relaxed slightly.
The living room lights were bright. As soon as Shao Peng stepped through the front door, he spotted Shao Yiqing, whom he hadn’t seen in two months, sitting on the sofa. An all-English suspense novel without annotations rested open on his lap. With his legs crossed, Shao Yiqing looked completely relaxed and at ease.
“Where’s my cousin?” Shao Peng cut straight to the point, stopping in his tracks without stepping any closer.
Shao Yiqing raised his eyes to look at him. Instead of answering, he asked, “Have you eaten?”
“Breakfast, lunch, whatever meals needed eating, I ate them,” Shao Peng snapped back. “And whether I didn’t eat is none of your business. Answer the question: where’s my cousin?”
“Is this the kind of etiquette they teach you at school?” Shao Yiqing raised his gaze further, his voice chilling slightly. “Using an accusatory, commanding tone with your elders?”
Shao Peng stepped forward, tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, and threw himself down onto the cushions, propping both legs straight up onto the coffee table. “Shao Yiqing, let’s drop the nonsense, shall we? What etiquette are you and I supposed to talk about? I’v always been a bastard with a father but no mother anyway, what kind of expectations do you even have for me left?”
The book in Shao Yiqing’s hands was an unannotated, full-length English suspense novel, yet he read it effortlessly and had reached the crucial climax of analyzing the case. Turning the page, Shao Yiqing continued reading, his tone entirely unfazed. “Well said. The upper beam is crooked, and the lower beams follow. I’m not a filial son myself, so how could I expect you to understand rules?”
Shao Peng leaned back against the sofa, casually snatching up a throw pillow to clutch to his chest. “Glad you know it.”
Lifting his chin, Shao Peng looked around the room. Aside from Shao Yiqing, there didn’t appear to be anyone else. He repeated his question, “Where is my cousin sleeping?”
“Haven’t decided yet.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ll let him choose for himself when he gets here.”
Shao Peng’s brow knitted tightly as he clutched the pillow. “Are you messing with me?”
Shao Yiqing lifted his gaze from the book, his expression utterly frank. “So what if I am?”
Shao Peng hurled the pillow in his hands straight down onto the table.
The impact sent a vase teetering over the edge.
Shao Yiqing glanced at it briefly before lowering his head back to his book. “Clean that up before you go out, or I swear I won’t let you back home next month.”
Shao Peng clenched his fists and took several deep breaths. Facing off against Shao Yiqing always gave him this exact feeling, no matter what he did, it seemed entirely impossible to truly provoke him. The last time he cursed him out as a bitch, he managed to get a rise out of him once, but that was it. Right now, he looked completely steady again, entirely immune to provocation.
With malicious intent, Shao Peng probed, “Shao Yiqing, why did Yang Qian dump you anyway?”
Shao Yiqing caught the underlying sting in his words immediately. Instead of intercepting them, he waited for him to finish.
True to form, Shao Peng had nothing kind to say: “Did he finally realize he got the short end of the stick? Look how young he is, and how old are you? Plus, you’ve got a son as old as me! However stupid he might be, he couldn’t possibly spend the rest of his life with an old man like you, could he? He rushed to dump you and fled abroad, are you heartbroken? Aren’t you usually the most skilled at getting those alphas to act like your loyal dogs? How come you couldn’t keep this one on a leash this time?”
These words were vicious, completely devoid of basic manners, and would have sent any father flying into a rage. Yet this was simply the norm for Shao Peng and Shao Yiqing’s interactions; there were plenty of even harsher things said in the past, making this pale in comparison.
It didn’t stir up a single ripple.
“Yeah, how come I couldn’t keep him on a leash?” Shao Yiqing echoed Shao Peng’s tone, reaching up to stroke his own face. “Could it really be because I’ve lost my youth and looks? Heavens forbid, I certainly haven’t had my fill of fun yet.”
“This is your retribution,” Shao Peng spat viciously. “Do you still think you’re seventeen or eighteen when everyone loved you?”
“Precisely. Oh, how wonderful it would be if I were seventeen or eighteen again,” Shao Yiqing said, resting his chin in his hand as he looked at Shao Peng. “Pengpeng, your dad is so pitiful.”
Shao Peng grew irritated. He hadn’t received any of the explosive reactions his words were supposed to trigger, and he found himself utterly appalled by Shao Yiqing’s shamelessness.
Giving the coffee table a swift kick, Shao Peng slumped back down against the sofa.
Seeing that Shao Peng had temporarily run out of steam, Shao Yiqing closed his book and tossed it onto the coffee table. “Your room has been renovated. I had it changed to a sports theme. If there’s anything you don’t like, let Uncle Xu know and he’ll have it changed.”
Without a second thought, Shao Peng shot back, “I’m not sleeping here.”
“Where else do you plan on sleeping?” Shao Yiqing asked.
“Anywhere else,” Shao Peng said, spreading his arms wide. “Do you think you’re the only person in Xiangjiang with friends?”
“Are you referring to those hoodlum friends of yours? Do you think they don’t have to go to class?”
“That’s right! I’d rather go crash on their dorm floor for a night than spend a single second under your roof, Shao Yiqing.”
Shao Yiqing stood up, casting his gaze down at the slouching teenager sprawled across the sofa. “Fine by me. If you’re truly planning on never returning to school, I have no objections.”
With that, he turned and walked out.
“I just won’t study at all, then!” Shao Peng bellowed angrily. “All you know how to do is threaten me with this! Who gives a damn? I’ll just go be a blind illiterate!”
“As if you aren’t one already,” Shao Yiqing called back over his shoulder without missing a beat. “Judging by your monthly exam scores, I could write the answers with my feet and still score higher than you.”
Burning with fury, Shao Peng yelled, “Shao Yiqing!”
With his back still turned, Shao Yiqing lowered his head to adjust his cuffs, responding with indifferent coolness, “Your dad is right here.”
Shao Peng utterly detested Shao Yiqing’s omnipotent, untouchable demeanor. He racked his brain for a long while, running through every disrespectful remark in his arsenal until they were entirely exhausted. Straining to find anything left to say, he ground his teeth and spat out, “Why did you call me back?”
Shao Yiqing didn’t answer him.
Shao Peng narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning razor-sharp. “Could it possibly be because you missed me?”
Shao Yiqing still didn’t move, though his hands paused mid-motion. Catching it from behind, Shao Peng assumed he had finally scored a victory and pressed the attack aggressively, “How disgusting are you, Shao Yiqing? Even saying those words makes me want to vomit.”
Then, Shao Peng heard a sound, a cold, disgusted snort of mockery.
Shao Yiqing turned back around. The lights caught his seductive, captivating face, his fox-like eyes glinting with a biting chill at the corners. “Who’s to say it isn’t? I practically puked my guts out from morning sickness when I was pregnant with you. It’s only fair that you get to feel nauseous for a change, since it takes two people to make a child, I shouldn’t be the only one suffering.”
With that, he walked away, wearing the most alluring smile imaginable.
Left behind in the living room, Shao Peng threw a fit, stomping his feet and sending the book on the table crashing to the floor with a loud clatter. Naturally, it elicited no response whatsoever.
After venting his anger to himself for a bit, Shao Peng stormed into his bedroom. The basketball-themed decor was brimming with athletic energy. On the wall beside the computer desk hung posters of his favorite basketball stars complete with autographs, though whether they were authentic was anyone’s guess, though given someone of Shao Yiqing’s status, acquiring them would hardly be difficult.
Shao Peng threw himself onto the bed, finding everything in sight utterly irritating.
The more the room suited his preferences, the more thoroughly annoyed it made him.
He wanted to murder Shao Yiqing.
If murder weren’t illegal, and if patricide were considered acceptable.
Stepping out of the house, Shao Yiqing turned around to find Deng Su sitting by the edge of the fountain, resting his chin in his hand as if waiting for something.
“Still not going back to sleep?” Shao Yiqing walked over. The fountain was still running, its bubbling water sounding exceptionally clear in the quiet stillness of the night.
Deng Su stood up, cast a worried glance toward the house, and asked anxiously, “Is everything alright?”
“He’ll stay put for tonight,” Shao Yiqing replied.
The stone in Deng Su’s chest finally dropped. Out of sheer instinct, he couldn’t help muttering, “With a temper like Pengpeng’s, goodness knows who he takes after.”
The moment the words left his mouth, Deng Su realized how inappropriate they were and panicked, “No, wait, I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It doesn’t matter who you’re referring to,” Shao Yiqing said, his voice bewitching yet his expression bleak. “He didn’t pop out of a stone fissure, and since the person isn’t dead, what harm is there in mentioning it?”
Deng Su thought to himself that his brain genuinely short-circuited sometimes. But words spoken were like spilled water; there was no taking them back. And since Shao Yiqing didn’t seem to mind, and there was arguably no better time than the present to delve deeper into the matter, Deng Su couldn’t help asking, “President Shao, have you ever considered sending Shao Peng over to him? Shao Peng only acknowledges that person anyway. Forcefully keeping him by your side will only make the relationship even more rigid.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Shao Yiqing said. “He can hate me for the rest of his life, and that’s fine.”
Deng Su opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but stopped himself.
Watching his lips twitch, Shao Yiqing knew precisely what he was thinking. “Are you about to tell me that raising a child doesn’t take a lot of money, but rather a lot of love?”
That was indeed what Deng Su wanted to say. Since Shao Peng refused to acknowledge Shao Yiqing and only recognized his alpha father, letting Shao Peng live with that alpha father was surely the best approach. True, that alpha father came from humble beginnings… but hey, to a kid, love was all that mattered.
To his thoughts, however, Shao Yiqing merely responded with a light chuckle.
“Deng Su, how old are you this year?” Shao Yiqing asked.
Caught completely off guard while deeply engrossed in pondering the answer to the previous topic, Deng Su gave a pale reply, “I’ll be twenty-six after the New Year.”
“Then let me ask you,” Shao Yiqing’s figure looked desolate and detached against the night backdrop, his gaze dropping to fixate on the hem of Deng Su’s shirt. “When you turn thirty, would you rather be leading a mediocre, struggling existence, skipping meals and hiding away in a shabby rental apartment, or would you rather have cars, houses, money, and companions, even if you lacked that one thing called love?”
Deng Su didn’t dare answer casually. He fell into deep, cautious thought, weighing what people were truly chasing in this lifetime and what they actually needed.
Shao Yiqing waited a moment. When Deng Su failed to produce an immediate answer, he didn’t press him further, simply explaining, “Perhaps my description is exaggerated. But compared to what I can guarantee him versus the kind of life his father could provide, the disparity is massive. Do you really expect me to listen to his choices during the absolute cloudiest, most irrational years of his youth?”
Deng Su finally understood and offered no further persuasion.
Sometimes, it wasn’t just Shao Peng who thought too simply; he tended to simplify things too easily as well.
Meanwhile, Shao Yiqing would always possess that cold, rational mindset. He simply refused to allow Shao Peng to make such a decision, or rather, he refused to let him make it at such a naive age.
“Love is enough to live on and love fulfills all things,” Shao Yiqing murmured as he walked toward the gates. “The most useless lies of all, fooling generation after generation.”
“President Shao?” Deng Su hurried after him. Even though he didn’t know where they were going, following him meant the destination would eventually reveal itself.
That night, Shao Yiqing did not rest at the villa.
Instead, he went back to the office building, where a few departments were still working overtime into the night. Slipping quietly back into his office, he found the sofa had already been cleaned and the room carried the faint fragrance of indoor green plants. He lay down on the sofa and stayed there until the late hours of the night.
At some unknown hour, his phone rang.
It was an unfamiliar number. When Shao Yiqing answered, he couldn’t immediately place the voice on the other end.
“It’s Siyang,” the person on the line said, their tone exceptionally cautious. “I’m calling so late, I hope I’m not disturbing you?”
Not in the mood to humor anyone tonight, Shao Yiqing didn’t bother masking his coldness, telling him bluntly, “State your business.”
He Siyang heard it loud and clear, but chose to ignore it, offering a sincere invitation instead: “Tomorrow at 6:00 PM, I’m hosting a birthday dinner. I was wondering if I might have the honor of inviting you to attend.”
If you were wondering, why did you call anyway?
Shao Yiqing didn’t voice the thought aloud, but he knew perfectly well what game He Siyang was trying to play. In his currently foul mood, He Siyang had basically thrown himself right into the line of fire. Using someone else’s genuine sincerity to blow off steam over one’s own bad temper, anyone with even a shred of conscience wouldn’t do such a thing.
Yet Shao Yiqing possessed a very clear self-awareness: he was a person completely devoid of conscience.
And so, he agreed without a moment’s hesitation: “Alright.”
Twirling a black pen between his fingers while propping his legs high up on his desk, Shao Yiqing gazed out at the night scenery through the window, filled to the brim with malicious intent, while his voice dripped with honeyed sweetness as he asked, “Would you like me to dress to the nines?”