CFRFGC Chapter 6

⌈You can’t eat everything!⌋

The Shen family, having started from scratch with Old Master Shen, has continued for several decades now.

Though not a top-tier noble family, they can at least be considered a prominent household, having lived a life of luxury for half a century.

However, that night became the most explosive, absurd, memorable, and unspeakable night in the history of the Shen family.

It is said that on that night, the sounds of running water echoed from every bathroom in the Shen household until midnight.

Furthermore, the sound of an ambulance arrived, leading to Shen Hongyuan—who had yelled throughout the entire meal, not only failing to relieve his stress but also developing high blood pressure—being rushed to the hospital.

It’s said that when he was assisted into the ambulance, Shen Hongyuan was still shouting, “I want to take a shower! I want to take a shower!”

Madam Shen had scheduled a beauty appointment with her friends for the next day.

But when the ambulance arrived, it seemed as if she was trying to escape something. She rushed out of the Shen family’s living room as if fleeing for her life, darting past the dining room and heading straight for the ambulance as if she couldn’t bear to stay even a moment longer in the villa.

A neighbor passing by the Shen villa happened to witness this scene and thought the family head had contracted some terminal illness, marveling at the strong bond between the Shen couple.

On the third floor, Shen Xingran had his face buried in his hands, feeling utterly defeated all night.

He had sat a little too close to Shen Xingzhuo today.

When Lu Ran threw that waste bag, the contents had exploded everywhere.

In his hair, on his face, on his clothes…

Even though he had already taken five showers, he could still faintly smell that lingering… odor.

He had a classmate gathering the next afternoon.

Everyone attending would be either rich or well-connected peers from his social circle.

In his current state…

For the first time, Shen Xingran lost all sense of decorum and shouted, grabbing his bathrobe and darting back into the bathroom.

In short, it was a sleepless night.

Only Lu Ran slept without a care in the world.

The next day was a weekend.

Lu Ran didn’t get out of bed until nearly eight o’clock.

He walked out of his bedroom with Da Huang, who had already been washed and smelled delightful, yawning as he headed toward the dining room.

As they were about to enter the dining area, Da Huang paused for a moment, looking up at Lu Ran with a soft whine.

It seemed like he was feeling a bit shy about yesterday’s events.

“Come on, why are you just standing there?” Lu Ran called to him.

Seeing his carefree owner, Da Huang hesitated for two seconds, a glimmer of innocence flashing in his bean-sized eyes, before following him inside.

The entire Shen villa was eerily quiet.

Apart from a few housekeepers working downstairs, there seemed to be no living soul upstairs; not a sound could be heard.

The dining room, which had been in disarray the day before, had been tidied up, and there was no trace left of what had happened last night.

Lu Ran, the main culprit, appeared to have completely forgotten about the previous events, taking his usual place at the dining table.

The table was empty.

He felt a bit displeased and turned to the person in the kitchen, asking, “Where’s breakfast?”

Upon hearing his question, the housekeepers bustling downstairs fell into an awkward silence for two seconds.

In the past, Lu Ran had been an unwelcome presence in the Shen household.

His status was low and he had even been ordered to move into the storage room in the courtyard, living a life worse than the housekeepers.

The head of the Shen family showed him no respect, and the servants, educated and refined, would also ignore him.

In the past, the busy crowd on the first floor would have pretended not to hear him.

However, this time, someone from the kitchen specifically came out, approached the dining table, and spoke in a respectful and softened tone: “Madam and Master are still in the hospital, and the second and third young masters have gone out, so breakfast hasn’t been prepared this morning.”

As the housekeeper spoke, his voice gradually became softer, clearly realizing something was amiss.

Sure enough, Lu Ran looked up at him with a sincere and puzzled expression, asking, “Am I not a person?”

Housekeeper: “…”

“I’m sorry, Young Master Lu. I’ll go prepare it right away,” he quickly apologized.

After saying that, he headed toward the kitchen.

After taking a couple of steps, he stopped again, wearing a look of hesitation as he looked at Lu Ran and asked softly, “Do you mean you want to… have breakfast here?”

He pointed to the dining room.

“What else?”

Lu Ran, who was pouring dog food for Da Huang, looked up at him in confusion upon hearing this.

When the other housekeepers heard Lu Ran’s words, they all cast him looks of awe.

Before long, breakfast was served.

Lu Ran nonchalantly began to eat.

He knew what the housekeepers were surprised about.

However, he really didn’t mind much.

Having studied veterinary medicine, he was well aware that feces were merely undigested protein residues and bacteria.

Now, the dining room had been disinfected so many times that no hygiene issues could exist.

As for the psychological aspect…

Lu Ran worked part-time at a pet shop.

There were often foster cats and dogs that, due to their unfamiliarity with the environment or poor habits, would leave the fostering room in complete disarray.

Cleaning up was always Lu Ran’s responsibility.

Since he had raised Da Huang since he was ten years old, he had started dealing with dog poop long ago.

After all, in an orphanage, he couldn’t hide a dog he was secretly raising.

It didn’t take long for a rival classmate to sneakily inform the teacher.

At that time, to ensure the safety of the children in the orphanage, stray dogs were prohibited from entering.

The teacher, bound by duty, had to chase Da Huang away.

But then Director Lu came along.

In Lu Ran’s memory, the director was a smiling old man.

He was reluctant to part with Da Huang, but the director approached him and asked if he really wanted to keep it and if he had thought about what responsibilities came with raising a puppy.

It was also the director who told him that while having a pet brought companionship, it also came with responsibilities.

If he really wanted to keep it, he had to take responsibility for feeding Da Huang, cleaning up after it, and managing it well so it wouldn’t cause trouble for others.

Of course, Da Huang still couldn’t stay in the dormitory.

The director spoke to the security office. They arranged a little nook for Da Huang inside, even getting him vaccinated.

Lu Ran would go over every day to feed Da Huang and clean up after him.

Because so many people liked fluffy pets, the orphanage later opened a small yard to raise small animals like rabbits and chicks.

Each class was responsible for taking turns to look after them.

When Lu Ran was in the orphanage, he often thought about how happy life would be once he found his family.

But now, looking back on his life in the Shen household, Lu Ran felt he had a better time in the orphanage.

Although there were more kids in the orphanage, leading to minor conflicts, there were also times when the teachers couldn’t manage everything or were exhausted from handling it all.

Overall, Lu Ran had everything he needed and he even played with expensive electronic devices.

The director would check every classroom each day.

When he was younger, Lu Ran really liked this director; every time the director came by, he felt excited and particularly looked forward to chatting with this kind elder.

It would have been even better if he could receive a compliment from him.

But the director was too busy and there were too many kids in the orphanage.

Just like the toys and electronic tablets in class, everything belonged to everyone and wouldn’t be owned by any one person.

Sometimes, Lu Ran would secretly fantasize about how nice it would be if the director were his relative.

Just his, not someone else’s.

Though this fantasy never came true, the director did leave Da Huang to him.

Before long, Lu Ran finished his meal.

He habitually cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks before taking Da Huang out to work.

As he stepped outside, he happened to encounter Shen Xingran and Shen Xingzhuo returning.

The moment Shen Xingran saw Lu Ran, he immediately shrank into the car like a mouse seeing a cat.

He hadn’t even eaten breakfast.

Just seeing Lu Ran and his dog made him feel like there was some kind of smell on him…

Shen Xingzhuo stood outside the car, not even looking at Lu Ran.

Lu Ran stole a glance.

It was common for the Shen family to ignore him and he was already used to it.

But now…

There was a hint of fear mixed in with their disregard, making them feel a bit apprehensive.

Shen Xingran was completely hiding.

Shen Xingzhuo didn’t hide, but judging by the way he reached for the car door, he probably wanted to avoid him but didn’t have time.

He had changed his look today, mainly by shaving his head.

He had shaved off all the longer ends of his hair, leaving himself with a buzz cut.

What he didn’t know was whether the hairstylist who shaved his head realized what had happened to that hair the night before.

Lu Ran didn’t pay much attention.

He was in a hurry and directly led Da Huang past the car.

As he passed behind Shen Xingzhuo, the fearless young master seemed to remember the sensation on his back from yesterday and stiffened up like a statue.

However, Da Huang squatted down by Shen Xingzhuo’s feet, wagging his little tail.

With his pair of black, bead-like eyes, he looked up at Shen Xingzhuo expectantly.

This was Da Huang’s way of showing affection towards someone, wanting to play.

Lu Ran found it a bit unusual.

He gently tugged on the leash. “Da Huang, let’s go. Silly dog, can’t even tell a good person from a bad one before getting friendly.”

Da Huang reluctantly followed.

Seeing that the two had completely left, Shen Xingran finally let out a sigh of relief in the car.

“Second brother! Look at him!” Shen Xingran complained.

After a long pause without a response.

When Shen Xingran looked up, he heard Shen Xingzhuo murmuring while staring into the distance, “…still so young, and calling it Da Huang.”

Shen Xingran didn’t hear clearly and asked, “What are you mumbling about, second brother?”

Only then did Shen Xingzhuo come back to his senses. “Oh, nothing.”

The two of them walked towards the villa together.

As they passed by the dining room, Shen Xingzhuo habitually showed concern for his younger brother. “Haven’t eaten breakfast yet, are you hungry?”

After he spoke, the two suddenly fell silent.

They turned to glance at yesterday’s “crime scene” and hurriedly escaped upstairs.

Three days later, Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen finally returned from the hospital.

As they got out of the car, both looked noticeably thinner.

During those three days, they had hardly eaten anything.

That night, Lu Ran happened to give them a “surprise” right when they were at their hungriest.

As a result, everyone’s bodies automatically associate the feeling of hunger with that subtle yet shocking taste and sensation.

Whenever they felt hungry, they thought of it.

It wasn’t until the third day that they could no longer hold on and managed to eat a little.

They still had to avoid dark-colored, semi-solid foods, as well as anything that resembled what was on the dinner table that night.

After a few days of hunger, Shen Hongyuan’s beer belly, which had developed with middle age, was gone.

Upon returning to the villa, Shen Hongyuan and Madam Shen tacitly avoided lingering in the living room on the first floor and headed straight up the stairs to the second floor.

Halfway up the stairs, Shen Hongyuan’s phone rang.

He glanced down and noticed it was an important client, so he immediately answered.

The voice on the other end was very concerned. “Mr. Shen, I heard you were hospitalized a couple of days ago. How is your health now?”

“Mr. Li, thank you for your concern. It’s nothing serious, just my old issue; my blood pressure is a bit high…” When he thought about why his blood pressure was high, Shen Hongyuan couldn’t help but pause.

Mr. Li remained enthusiastic: “Yes, we’re getting older; we all need to pay attention, especially regarding our diet. We can’t eat just anything!”

Shen Hongyuan: “……”

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