⌈I’ll let Da Huang pee in your car!⌋
“Eh, really?”
Lu Ran asked in a soft voice.
Young Master Fang swore that he could hear a hint of regret in the tone of this person.
He quickly nodded, “Really! Don’t doubt it. I’ll vouch for you, it definitely wasn’t you!”
After saying that, he saw the boy in front of him stop, blinking his unusually dark eyes once.
Young Master Fang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Internally, he was screaming: What’s going on with the Shen family? This is too terrifying! If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have come even if you killed him!
But the relief didn’t last long.
He then saw Lu Ran tug at the corner of his mouth, giving him a beautiful smile as he asked, “How do you know it wasn’t me?”
Fang Chen nearly kneeled in front of him.
With a forced smile, he replied, “That’s because the person who pushed me didn’t do it as… gently as you did.”
Hearing this compliment, Lu Ran finally showed a satisfied smile.
The moment Lu Ran turned away, Young Master Fang collapsed back into the recliner.
Thank goodness, thank goodness, he didn’t have to go into that pool after all.
He swore he’d never swim again in his life and he definitely didn’t want to see any so-called underwater fireworks.
He’d stay at least 800 meters away from any dogs.
The people still splashing around in the pool were struggling.
On the shore, people had come to their senses, some enthusiastically discussing, others secretly taking out their phones to record the video.
Madam Shen was leaning over the pool, anxiously shouting at Shen Xingran inside.
Shen Hongyuan was standing motionless in place, looking completely devastated, as though his heart had turned to ashes.
Shen Xingyu was still holding on.
He was dealing with the mess on his clothes, still trying to comfort Young Master Fang, while shouting for help to get everyone out of the pool.
Lu Ran left the noisy poolside alone.
He pulled out a tissue and wiped his hands clean.
Then he pulled out another and handed it to Ji Min, who was sitting in his wheelchair.
After that, he took Da Huang from Ji Min’s arms, looking at the man in the wheelchair who was anxiously watching him.
He said, “Boss, let’s go out and have some fun.”
The night grew darker.
As the guests gradually left, their expressions were quite something.
Some, who enjoyed the spectacle, thought that the few banquets they’d attended at the Shen family were incredibly entertaining, and couldn’t help but look forward to the next time.
Others, however, were scared, fearing that they might be caught up in the mess. They swore to themselves that even if Shen Hongyuan personally came to deliver an invitation next time, they would not come again.
Shen Hongyuan watched the guests leave, his gaze falling on the ruined Shen family backyard.
His heart and eyes were filled with desolation.
The Fang family he had worked so hard to invite!
The project he was about to secure!
Without this project, the Shen family…
At the thought of this, Shen Hongyuan almost wanted to blow up the entire Shen family.
The culprit behind all this is Lu Ran.
The eldest son, Shen Xingyu, had poured fuel on the fire with his slap.
The adopted son, Shen Xingran, had secretly caused trouble.
And the second son, Shen Xingzhuo, did nothing of use, not helping at all.
They could all go to hell!
But Shen Hongyuan couldn’t do it.
Because Young Master Fang was still here and he had to properly send him off.
So Shen Hongyuan could only force a smile.
He had absolutely no patience for this reckless young troublemaker, Fang Chen.
At home, although Shen Xingran was favored, wasn’t he also obedient and well-behaved in front of him?
Now, just thinking about how Fang Chen had shouted and flailed around after falling into the water made Shen Hongyuan’s head ache.
This is bad, he thought. Young Master Fang would have to go home and explain all of this.
But while sending Fang Chen off, Shen Hongyuan noticed that the irritable young master was unusually quiet.
A cold chill ran down his spine.
Could this boy have been scared silly by Lu Ran?
Just as Shen Hongyuan was about to say the same apology he had repeated a hundred times tonight…
When he turned around, he saw Fang Chen with an expression full of mixed emotions—gratitude and something else.
He said to him, “Thank you, young master, for sparing my life!”
Clearly, Lu Ran could have thrown him into that pool filled with dog urine but chose not to. Wasn’t that mercy?
Shen Hongyuan: “…”
Crazy. They’re all crazy!
When he returned to the living room, Madam Shen was pacing back and forth in the hallway on the third floor, holding a towel.
After a while, she anxiously called out, “Ranran, are you okay? Say something to make Mom feel at ease!”
It was quite some time before Shen Xingran finally emerged from the bathroom.
His face was as pale as if he had just seen a ghost.
He wasn’t sure if the stupid dog had done it on purpose, but none of that urine had hit anyone else.
It had perfectly landed on the top of his head.
“Mom!” Shen Xingran couldn’t hold back the grievance.
He was about to say something when he lowered his head and locked eyes with Shen Hongyuan, who was standing at the stairs.
Shen Hongyuan’s gaze was both scrutinizing and a bit suspicious.
Shen Xingran’s fingers, still drying his hair, slightly stiffened, but quickly returned to normal.
Shen Hongyuan thought for a moment but eventually dismissed the suspicion in his eyes.
Still, he reprimanded, “I told you not to provoke him.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Madam Shen immediately started complaining, “What are you doing? Can’t you see Ranran is still upset?”
“Mom, Dad is probably really upset today, so let it go.” Shen Xingran stopped her.
Just then, Shen Xingyu entered from outside.
He had just finished taking care of the other guests he pulled out of the pool and had made sure the workers in the yard were properly sent off.
After doing all that, when he came back, the clothes he had been wearing, stained with all sorts of mess, were still on him.
There were even a few strands of hair in his bangs, still sticky with traces of chocolate cream.
With the villa quiet around him, his exhaustion was visibly evident.
Upon entering the living room and seeing Shen Hongyuan, Shen Xingyu instinctively furrowed his brows and asked, “Dad, what’s going on with him…?”
He only got halfway through his sentence before swallowing the rest of it.
No one knew who he was asking about.
He stayed silent for a moment, then looked up toward Shen Xingran, who was standing in the upstairs hallway.
He asked, “Was it you today?”
Shen Xingyu’s voice was calm and indifferent.
Perhaps because he was used to giving orders, his words always carried a tone of certainty.
At the sound of his voice, Shen Xingran instinctively took a step back and hid behind Madam Shen.
Seeing this, Madam Shen could no longer hold back.
“How long are you two going to keep this up? The one who was pushed into the pool today was Ranran! Why are you questioning him like this?”
Hearing his mother’s voice, Shen Xingyu immediately closed his eyes.
He turned away, letting out a quiet breath, then turned back and said, “Mom, I’m asking him something.”
“You, you, you… Shen Xingyu, do you even know I’m your mother?” Madam Shen’s voice trembled in frustration.
The more the situation went on like this, the more Madam Shen’s heart ached for Shen Xingran.
Look, in this family, only she could protect this child.
But Shen Xingran knew that Shen Xingyu wasn’t so easily fooled.
He pressed his lips together, stepped forward, and took the initiative to explain, “Big Brother, I couldn’t have done such a thing. Given my status and my relationship with Lu Ran, I understand why you would suspect me.”
“But I am an adopted son of the Shen family. Without the Shen family, I am nothing. How could I risk offending the Fang family at this time?”
Shen Hongyuan listened and nodded in acknowledgment.
It was only after realizing this point that he decided not to press further with his questioning of Shen Xingran.
However, after hearing all this, Shen Xingyu’s expression remained unchanged.
He simply said, “The incident has already happened. I’m not in the mood to investigate the truth. Just know, there won’t be a next time. I don’t want to see you and Lu Ran causing chaos in this family.”
As soon as he finished speaking, it seemed like his words had struck a nerve with Shen Hongyuan.
He pointed at Shen Xingyu and yelled.
“Enough! You just got home and already making a fuss. Are you criticizing me for not managing this family properly?”
All the anger that Shen Hongyuan had been holding back tonight surged up at once.
“If it weren’t for you, how would things have turned out like this?!”
Shen Xingyu paused, then lowered his head slightly, acknowledging his fault.
But after holding back for so long, he still couldn’t resist and advised, “You shouldn’t have invited the Fang family today. I’ve met Director Fang before and he wouldn’t let personal feelings affect the direction of the project. The way you’re handling this, though, will only benefit our competitors…”
This statement was like throwing oil on the fire.
Shen Hongyuan’s face immediately darkened.
He sneered, “Shen Xingyu, how many years have you been in charge, huh? And now you dare speak to your father like this?”
Shen Xingyu sighed, “Dad, I’m just addressing the matter at hand.”
“Addressing the matter at hand?”
Shen Hongyuan suddenly flew into a rage: “Kneel down!”
As soon as those words were spoken, the entire villa fell silent.
The servants moving about, cleaning up and tidying things, stopped in their tracks and stared in shock at the father-son dispute unfolding before them.
Shen Xingyu had been the CEO for years, almost acting as the representative of the Shen family outside.
But Shen Hongyuan actually ordered him to kneel?
Under everyone’s gaze, Shen Xingyu suppressed the exhaustion in his eyes.
He placed his coat down, and under Shen Hongyuan’s fierce glare, he kneeled in the middle of the living room.
The knees wrapped in high-end, expensive fabric pressed against the still uncleaned floor of the living room.
Only then did a glimmer of satisfaction flash in Shen Hongyuan’s eyes.
He spoke in a low voice, “Do you remember what your grandfather taught you?”
Shen Xingyu lowered his gaze and replied, “Yes, everything comes second to the family.”
“I’ve kept you by my side since you were ten. I’ve carefully nurtured you and now I’ve given you so much power—do you know why?”
“For the Shen family.”
The man kneeling on the ground replied in a deep voice.
“Now, do you still remember your identity?” Shen Hongyuan suddenly raised his voice.
“Yes.” Shen Xingyu kneeled seriously, “I am your son, Shen Xingyu of the Shen family.”
Shen Hongyuan was about to say something else when suddenly, Shen Xingyu’s phone rang.
Shen Xingyu instinctively took out his phone to check.
Shen Hongyuan, displeased, snapped, “Stay kneeling!”
Shen Xingyu’s posture stiffened for a moment. On his usually serious and silent face, a hint of awkwardness finally appeared.
“Father, it’s a work call,” he said.
Shen Hongyuan’s voice turned cold: “Your father is speaking to you.”
Shen Xingyu hesitated for a while but finally stood up. “Sorry, Father.”
He saw who was calling and hurriedly answered, walking toward the exit. “Director Fang, I apologize for today, but I believe…”
Just like that, Shen Xingyu, who had been kneeling in the hall just moments before, walked out.
Shen Hongyuan sat still, staring blankly for a few seconds, a dazed expression overtaking his face.
Suddenly, in a burst of anger, he swept all the cups and plates on the coffee table to the floor.
With a loud crash, the entire living room was filled with shattered pieces, a complete mess.
…
Lu Ran was sitting in Ji Min’s business car.
Butler Chen was taking ice cubes from the car’s refrigerator and placing them in a towel that Ji Min had opened in his palm.
The man looked down seriously, wrapping the towel carefully, checking to make sure there were no sharp edges, and then handed the towel to the young man in the back seat.
“Apply it to your face,” he instructed.
Lu Ran took the towel and squeezed it in his hands.
His face wasn’t severely injured, but after being hit and exposed to the cold outside, he now felt uncomfortably hot as the car’s heating system warmed him.
“Where are we going now?” he asked.
“Hospital,” Ji Min glanced at him.
Lu Ran fell silent for a moment, then suddenly leaned forward and slapped the seat of the driver’s seat: “Driver, stop the car!”
Ji Min felt a headache coming on. He reached over and pulled him back, settling him into the back seat.
“The car’s still moving, what are you doing?” he scolded.
“I’m not going to the hospital.”
Lu Ran’s hands were restrained by Ji Min, unable to break free. He could only tilt his head back and look at him, “My face is fine, I don’t need to go.”
Ji Min’s gaze remained deep and fixed on him without saying anything.
Lu Ran knew the man in front of him was not easily fooled. After a pause, he added, “Other parts of me are healthy, too.”
Ji Min remained unmoved.
Lu Ran started to panic a little.
He turned to glance at Da Huang and then said, “If you really want me to go, I’ll make Da Huang pee in your car!”
Butler Chen and the driver, sitting in the front, looked at each other: “…”
Da Huang, who had been napping, looked at him: “…”
Only Ji Min remained calm, glancing at Lu Ran before looking down. He said, “Da Huang just peed, he can’t do it again right now.”
Lu Ran: “…”
He tensed up for a moment, looking out the car window, realizing they were indeed getting closer to the City Hospital.
He grew more anxious. “Then… then I’ll pee in your car!”
Ji Min: “…”
The man stayed silent for a moment, then couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Ji Min’s calm and handsome face cracked into a smile.
“Well, why don’t you go ahead and pee in it, let me see?” he said.
Lu Ran: “…”
He didn’t expect the man to say that. He froze for a while, unsure of what to do.
He really hated hospitals.
The lingering smell of disinfectant and the sterile, patterned ceilings always made him uneasy.
Lu Ran didn’t want to smell that again, nor see it again.
If possible, he never wanted to step foot in a hospital for the rest of his life.
But he didn’t know how to refuse Ji Min.
However, after asking that question, Ji Min quickly retracted his expression.
He let go of the wrist he had been holding.
The warm, dry, and strong touch suddenly disappeared.
Lu Ran was stunned for a moment. Though he didn’t understand what had just happened, he quickly seized the opportunity.
“Ha! You’re so worried about my health. Could it be because you like me?”
But the man, who usually exploded at such topics, didn’t react much this time.
He simply brushed off the subject lightly, then asked, “Why don’t you want to go to the hospital?”
