No matter how clever Su Yueyue was, she was only four years old. Under Shen Jingyan's questioning, her mouth twisted and she burst into tears.
Between sobs, she cried out, "The fox spirit wants to eat people! Daddy, the fox spirit wants to eat people!"
A flicker of panic crossed Song Changming's face. "Yueyue, what nonsense are you talking about? I'll have someone take you home!"
Seeing Song Changming's expression, Shen Jingyan's heart clenched.
She didn't dare to think that the man she loved had truly betrayed her.
Forcing down the turmoil inside her, she asked, "Changming, what is this all about?"
"Jingyan, it's just a little jealousy between children. Yueyue never had a father growing up, and on a whim she called me a few times. I didn't expect Mianmian to get jealous. This is all my fault—I'm the one who hurt Mianmian's feelings."
He then looked at the child in Shen Qingluo's arms with affectionate indulgence. "Mianmian, Daddy is your daddy alone, and Daddy only loves you. No one can take that away."
With such a sincere tone, no one could accuse him of lying.
Shen Mianmian watched Song Changming lean in, then her chubby little arm shot out and grabbed hold of the necklace hanging around his neck.
Caught off guard, Song Changming was yanked forward and nearly stumbled.
"Mianmian, what are you doing!"
"Daddy is so mean." The little chubby-cheeked girl pouted in grievance.
"Changming, you scared Mianmian. She didn't mean it."
Song Changming saw the displeasure in Shen Jingyan's eyes.
He forced a doting tone and gently scolded, "Mianmian, let go now. Daddy's neck hurts."
Mianmian rolled her eyes.
She wasn't letting go. The book said this necklace was a Spatial Dimension.
In another day, Song Changming would give it to Su Yueyue. But an accident happened—Song Changming's blood dripped onto it, and he obtained a Spatial Dimension.
And because of that incident, Song Changming came to believe Su Yueyue was his little lucky star.
He granted her every wish and spoiled that childhood sweetheart beyond measure.
Thinking of this—
Mianmian absolutely would not allow her mother's treasure to be snatched away by someone else.
Her little hand gripped the chain tightly, her round eyes fixed on Song Changming. "Daddy, Mianmian likes this necklace."
For some reason, Song Changming's first instinct was to refuse.
"Mianmian, this was a gift from Mommy to Daddy. If you like it, I'll have Mommy get you a nicer one later."
Mianmian puffed out her little cheeks. "No, Mianmian wants this one."
Her black grape-like eyes looked at Shen Jingyan with pitiful grievance. "Mommy, Mianmian likes this."
Shen Jingyan looked at Song Changming. "Since Mianmian likes it, just give it to her. I'll get you a nicer one later."
Song Changming looked at the woman's gaze and felt displeased inside.
Why should what belonged to him be given back? Sure enough, Shen Jingyan looked down on him.
He pushed his tongue against his cheek, then broke into a smile. "Jingyan, saying that makes it sound like we're strangers. Mianmian is my daughter—if she wants it, I'll give it to her. Everything we have will be Mianmian's eventually anyway."
He unclasped the necklace from his neck and handed it to Mianmian. "Are you happy now, Mianmian?"
Shen Mianmian grabbed the necklace and clutched it tightly, making Shen Jingyan laugh despite herself.
Looking at her plump little hand, she reached out and poked the little dimple on the back of it. "You always know how to pick the good stuff."
Mianmian bared her tiny milk teeth in a sweet, happy grin, then held the necklace up to Shen Jingyan. "Mommy wear."
Shen Jingyan felt both comforted and heartbroken. The Shen family had so many fine things, yet she couldn't give a single one of them to Mianmian.
He reached out and touched her little pigtails. "Mianmian likes it, so Mianmian can keep it."
Song Changming looked at Shen Mianmian before him—her little face round and chubby, her complexion fair, and her eyes as beautiful as if filled with a starry sky. Then he thought of Yueyue, who had just been sent away crying like that, and his heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife.
The child born of the woman he loved most—yet he could not openly give her the best.
Although Yueyue had been wrong today to push Mianmian into the river, if Shen Mianmian had not been so domineering and willful at such a young age, she would not have suffered this.
Involuntarily, a trace of disgust appeared in his eyes as he looked at Shen Mianmian.
It was all her own doing.
"Jingyan, Mianmian is tired. You should carry her upstairs to sleep for a while."
Shen Jingyan nodded. "Then I'll go up and take her to sleep for a bit."
Mianmian lay on Shen Jingyan's shoulder, tilted her head toward Song Changming, stuck out her tongue, and made a face, deliberately swinging the necklace.
Song Changming was almost angered to death, but he could hardly stoop to argue with a child. He only felt an emptiness in his chest, as if he had lost something important.
Once in the room, Shen Jingyan placed Mianmian on the soft, cottony big bed.
"Be good, Mianmian. Mommy will change your clothes."
Mianmian sat obediently on the bed, clutching the necklace and swaying her head.
"You like it that much?"
Mianmian let Shen Jingyan undress her. Her bare little baby body had a belly that folded into three swimming rings.
Shen Jingyan could not resist pinching it, making Mianmian giggle and roll into a ball on the bed like a mochi dumpling.
"Mommy, ticklish, ticklish."
Shen Jingyan sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her over, put a little vest embroidered with a white lamb on her, and felt her heart ache at the bruises on her little arms.
"Mommy won't let Su Yueyue come over anymore, all right?"
Mianmian yawned. "Mianmian doesn't like Yueyue. Daddy likes her."
As she spoke, a mist of tears covered her eyes, and she placed the necklace in Shen Jingyan's palm.
"Mommy's, Mommy's."
Her drowsy voice grew softer and softer.
Shen Jingyan looked at the milky, adorable Mianmian, adjusted her into a comfortable position, and covered her chubby little belly with a blanket.
She picked up the chain beside her, her expression gentle.
This chain had once been a token of love given to Song Changming. It was not actually very precious, but it was a family heirloom of the Shen family.
In the past, it was passed to the eldest daughter-in-law, but in this generation, Song Changming had married into the family.
So she had given this chain to Song Changming.
She had not expected that Mianmian would like it too.
Shen Jingyan got up, intending to put the chain in the drawer.
But unexpectedly, the little girl mumbled, turned over, and pressed the chain under her body.
"Mianmian?"
Shen Jingyan tried hard to turn Mianmian over, heavy as a lump of iron.
But unexpectedly, her hand pressed against the pendant.
Her palm hurt.
Was she bleeding?
Shen Jingyan clicked her tongue and got up to get the medicine kit, when suddenly a wave of dizziness came over her.
She was stunned for a moment, then looked down at the necklace in her hand. The jade on the pendant had actually absorbed her blood.
Its color had become a little deeper.
What was going on?
Before her thoughts could sort themselves out.
Shen Jingyan's expression changed. She sensed that something had actually appeared in her mind.
She swallowed nervously.
She seemed not quite certain.
There was actually a very, very large place in her mind.
Shen Jingyan was not some ignorant woman. She had studied and been exposed to modern education.
She would not act as if she had seen a ghost just because something exceeded the scope of normal understanding.
She silently recited, "Enter."
Suddenly, she found herself in a mysterious Spatial Dimension.
"Exit."
Looking at Mianmian, who was sound asleep on the bed, Shen Jingyan broke out in a cold sweat.
She had nearly given away the Shen family's ancestral treasure to Song Changming.
If Mianmian hadn't helped her get it back, wouldn't she have become the sinner of the entire Shen family?
Shen Jingyan gently grasped Mianmian's chubby little arm, and only after feeling that warmth did she slowly calm the emotions in her heart.
Mianmian was her little lucky star.
With this thing, the items the Shen family had left behind could be preserved.
A husband and wife are one body; in the past, she definitely would have told Song Changming.
But after everything that had happened today, Shen Jingyan still hesitated.
Su Yueyue had already called Song Changming "Daddy" more than once.