Under the huge crystal chandelier, bright lights flickered, glasses clinked, and people mingled in and out.
Shi Qing’s arrival drew most of the attention, even though she only casually greeted a few people before heading to the dining area, showing little interest in socializing.
She stood there for just a moment before waves of people approached to bow, toast, flatter, and try to please her.
Her black fishtail evening gown shimmered under the dazzling lights. Wherever the flowing hem passed, it instantly became the center of the banquet, with a crowd surrounding her yet daring not to come too close. Within a half-meter radius, she was alone.
The seating arrangement at the banquet clearly delineated the social hierarchy of the city’s upper class.
The system, unfamiliar with such scenes, was unused to this display. But Shi Qing, the center of all attention, was clearly accustomed to it.
She acted coldly, occasionally swirling her glass and smiling politely while responding briefly. Even so, those who spoke to her looked honored and flattered.
System: “…”
With the plot developing like this, is it really okay? How did the heroine go from being weak, pitiful, and helpless in the original story to becoming a business magnate?
The system hadn’t received any alarms. The plot was still within control. The relationship between the heroine and hero was progressing logically, with no derailment. It really didn’t make sense that despite the plot changing so much, there was no problem.
But this wasn’t something the system should or could analyze.
After pondering for a while, the system gave up on the question and instead observed the scene, speaking to Shi Qing:
“Host, what shall we do next?”
Waiting for a long time but receiving no response, Shi Qing remained at the banquet, calmly socializing at her own pace. Looking around, the guests mingled in groups, yet among the crowd, Shen Jiyuan was nowhere to be seen.
“In fact, I’ve been thinking about something.”
Shi Qing held her champagne glass. The glittering lights of the banquet reflected on her eyelashes as she lowered her gaze and slowly scanned the room.
Shen Jiyuan’s family company, the Shen Group, was headquartered in City A, while the banquet tonight was in City H — Shi Qing’s territory. Though the two families were financially comparable, their influence differed greatly across territories.
Shen Jiyuan was unfamiliar with City H, having only stepped foot here a handful of times. Logically, if he was invited to such a banquet, he would attend alone.
Yet, tonight, he brought along a child barely over three years old. Even if obedient, a child that young would face countless inconveniences at such a crowded gathering.
So why was Shen Jiyuan so determined to keep the child by his side tonight?
She set her glass down and leisurely left the banquet hall.
The hotel’s private garden connected the courtyard and the golf course, featuring a huge, luxurious artificial fountain. Under a sparse moonlit sky, leaving the bustling event behind, the world suddenly felt tranquil.
Without glaring lights, the cool, watery moonlight spilled on the ground, and the air carried the faint scent of plants. The night air was already a bit humid.
Walking along the garden path toward the center where the fountain was, the sound of flowing water grew louder. Amid the clear sound, Shi Qing heard a faint, hard-to-identify noise.
“Wuwuwu…”
It was a child’s crying, seemingly coming from behind the fountain.
The low sobs seemed to try hard to minimize their presence; even the hiccups were tiny and soft, almost like the sound of a small animal.
Shi Qing stood quietly listening for a while, then stepped behind the fountain. Looking down, she saw a little boy curled up beside a bush.
The first thing visible was the top of his jet-black hair. The child’s hair was neatly trimmed, and he wore a small suit. Huddled in shadow, he looked like a tiny stray cat the same color as the suit if one wasn’t looking closely.
Not only had Shi Qing heard the child’s cries, but as she approached, the child heard the click of her heels.
When her footsteps stopped behind him, the child simultaneously looked up. Under moist lashes, a pair of sharp, bright black-and-white eyes stared directly at her.
His face was wet from crying; his long eyelashes soaked with tears, his flushed face so warm it seemed you could see his breath.
At this moment, it was obvious who the child was.
This child, hiding behind the fountain crying like an abandoned puppy, was an important supporting character in this story and later became a key tool to bring the male and female leads together —
He was Shen Jiyuan’s son.
And also her child.
The child looked up at her curiously, tears still clinging to his eyes, his bright pupils clearly reflecting her image.
He was three and a half years old. This was her first proper meeting with the child.
For years before, Shi Qing had deliberately maintained a mysterious distance, expanding her influence while avoiding any contact with the Shen family.
In Shi Qing’s original world, achieving a position as a director at the An Group while keeping a mysterious identity in the media and public eye was impossible. But in this novel world, anything unusual could happen.
Over the past three years, her path and Shen Jiyuan’s had no intersection; they lived on opposite ends of the world, each leading their own lives.
Shi Qing hadn’t deliberately sought out information about Shen Jiyuan’s child — all for this moment.
Under the night sky, bathed in moonlight like water, when she lowered her eyes and met the child’s gaze behind the bush, it felt like opening a gift box sealed for years.
Through those bright eyes, she saw the traces of Shen Jiyuan’s life these past years.
While she had been busy working, expanding her company, and capturing the market, Shen Jiyuan had been learning how to care for a newborn, raising that small infant bit by bit.
The child had been so carefully raised; Shen Jiyuan had poured countless efforts and care into him.
And this child carried half of her blood.
Just thinking about it felt incredible.
Shen Jiyuan, such a proud man, had actually fathered this child.
Before entering the fast-transmigration world, Shi Qing had already experienced countless things and seen every kind of scene.
But having a child this big all of a sudden — that was a first.
This was the novel world, truly incredible.
Even if just a plot device child, Shi Qing still found it novel. She carefully examined the child’s face, trying to find some trace of herself.
But the child was basically a miniature Shen Jiyuan.
Eyebrows, nose, eyes — exactly the same.
No wonder in the original story, the heroine’s son instinctively felt familiar with Shen Jiyuan and wanted to get close. Anyone with eyes could see the blood relation.
Well, it seemed this bond belonged only to the male lead.
Shi Qing slowly exhaled, giving up on this silly game of finding resemblance.
She shifted her attention to other matters and prepared to leave.
It had been three years since the last plot point. Unexpectedly, she had not met Shen Jiyuan yet — but had met the child first. Well then, what should she do next…
“Mommy.”
A timid voice, muffled by sobs but filled with hope and longing, interrupted Shi Qing’s thoughts. The child poked half his body out from behind the bush and looked up at her, softly asking,
“Auntie, are you my mommy?”
This was the first thing the child said to her — completely off-script, beyond her imagination, and impossible to logically deduce.
Even Shi Qing was momentarily stunned.
She lowered her eyes and looked deeply at the child, who tilted his head up, looking at her with a pitiful expression.
Does this child call everyone “Mommy”?
Also, how did Shen Jiyuan teach this kid? He himself is the most stubborn mouth in the world, rigid like a ball-jointed doll who doesn’t make a sound unless forced—so how did he raise a child who looks as pitiful as a puppy with just one glance?
“Shen Shu, where are you—”
Shen Jiyuan’s hurried footsteps traced from the lounge all the way to the garden, where there was only one person.
Seeing the lonely child sitting by the fountain, hugging his knees, he finally exhaled, but his face quickly tightened again. “Where did you run off to just now? Why did you sneak out of the lounge? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”
Shen Jiyuan reached out a hand, his long fingers with distinct knuckles landing on Shen Shu’s forehead to feel his temperature. Shen Shu shivered from the coldness of the hand.
Fortunately, the fever wasn’t too high.
The expression behind Shen Jiyuan’s glasses relaxed slightly but still bore the cold, intimidating demeanor of a composed elite.
“I clearly told you to rest quietly after taking your medicine. Daddy will take you home soon, but you just don’t listen…”
While scolding, Shen Jiyuan took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from the child’s back. “You’re sweating so much after the medicine… Do you want to go to the hospital for a shot?”
Shen Jiyuan hadn’t planned to bring the child to tonight’s banquet.
Three years ago, he had an unexpected pregnancy in City H and was diagnosed that if he didn’t give birth, he might die. So he had to go abroad for the delivery, leaving a psychological shadow on City H.
After ten months of pregnancy, he had a cesarean birth abroad and named the boy Shen Shu, meaning “dawn after the hardest times.”
After enduring the toughest moments, everything was getting better.
After the child was born and his health stabilized, Shen Jiyuan returned to the country. He worked as hard as before, as if trying to make up for lost time.
Everything was going smoothly. It seemed that fate had favored him again. The nightmare of constant accidents did not repeat, and he worked steadily, living a routine life.
Apart from having a child by his side, nothing had changed.
After bringing Shen Shu back, his mother, seeing the boy’s face almost identical to hers, stopped urging him to marry. Shen Jiyuan was very satisfied with his current life.
Shen Shu was smart and obedient. When Shen Jiyuan worked, Shen Shu quietly played with blocks or puzzles nearby — truly an easy child to take care of.
But no matter how good the child was, he was a bit too dependent on Shen Jiyuan.
That was inevitable, because Shen Jiyuan didn’t want many people to know he had a child, so he took care of Shen Shu personally when he was young.
This time he came to City H on a business trip, but the day before, Shen Shu suddenly developed a fever.
When the child was sick, he clung tightly and refused to be cared for by assistants. Shen Jiyuan was anxious and had to bring Shen Shu along even to the banquet.
The child had already taken medicine and had gotten an injection. Shen Jiyuan let him rest in the lounge, but in the blink of an eye, the child disappeared!
Seeing the empty lounge, Shen Jiyuan was worried and searched everywhere. His anger was full, but when he saw the little boy sitting and crying alone by the fountain, his heart softened.
He had been too busy with work lately and had neglected Shen Shu’s feelings.
Shen Jiyuan felt distressed inside but maintained a cold exterior. “Alright, stop crying, what are you acting like?”
Usually, after he scolded him, the child would act spoiled and try to brush off the mistake, acting sweeter than honey. The scolding would just go in one ear and out the other. Shen Jiyuan thought this time would be the same.
But after waiting for a long time, Shen Shu didn’t cling to his arm or act spoiled. He just hugged his knees and cried.
“…What’s wrong?”
Shen Jiyuan began to panic. “Are you feeling unwell?”
He took out his phone, about to call the driver, and while hurriedly sending a message, Shen Shu spoke.
“Daddy… I just saw Mommy…”
Shen Jiyuan’s hand froze mid-air.
His fingers trembled slightly, leaving a string of accidental letters in the message box. The glow from the phone screen lit up his face, casting a terrifying silence over him for a moment.
After a long while, Shen Jiyuan put the phone in his pocket and crouched in front of Shen Shu.
His eyes met the child’s gaze. He took out the handkerchief to wipe the sweat from the boy’s face and looked deeply into his clear eyes.
“Shen Shu, how many times have I told you?”
“You don’t have a mommy. You only have Daddy.”