OEBSAS |Chapter 7

Shao’s father was busy with company matters, and Shao the eldest young master had to take care of his studies while learning the company business, so both of them were so busy they were practically running themselves ragged, and they rarely ate at home.

At the dining table, Qian Wenjie was drinking soup happily, Shao Xian was slowly tasting it with a small spoon, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Chen Baizhou take one sip and then pause for two seconds. He could not help asking curiously, “What are you doing?”

Chen Baizhou felt embarrassed to answer, but he also did not want to lie to Shao Xian, so he could only say in a small voice, “It’s too delicious.”

“Even if it’s delicious, you can’t drink too much. Save some room for rice.” Shao Xian was afraid he would drink too much and not be able to eat.

He had not had a proper meal for three days, so he could not go hungry anymore.

Chen Baizhou naturally behaved and listened obediently.

He had also been starved for several days before. Later, when he really could not hold back anymore, he secretly ran to the kitchen to get food after Chen Yu had fallen asleep in the middle of the night.

Unfortunately, Chen Yu had not been sleeping at all. He was just waiting for him to come steal food, so he would have an excuse to punish him.

The punishment was forcing steamed buns down his throat. It almost choked him to death, and almost stuffed him to death too.

His stomach, which had been hungry for several days, simply could not withstand such torment. It hurt for a whole day and a night, but in the end, he still did not die.

After the soup was finished, the dishes were served.

The Shao family rarely wasted money extravagantly, so the dishes were all very ordinary, but the taste was indeed excellent. Qian Wenjie could not help but praise them fiercely after taking just one bite: “Auntie Cai, your family’s food is so delicious!”

Cai Yalan smiled gently. “Then come often in the future. Xiao Zhou should come often too.”

Her son had finally made friends, and she was very welcoming.

Qian Wenjie nodded repeatedly, not afraid at all of getting scolded by his mom when he got home.

Chen Baizhou nodded too, gratefully saying, “Thank you, Auntie Cai.”

Cai Yalan dealt with rich ladies all year round, and she knew much more about the Chen family than Shao Xian did. Before, she had not been qualified to interfere, but now she had found an excuse, and she only hoped Chen Baizhou could suffer a few less days.

“Xianxian, tomorrow is Monday. Remember to get up early. Mom will take you to school.” Cai Yalan reminded him, then looked at Chen Baizhou. “Xiao Zhou is in the same class as Xianxian. Stay at our house today, and go to school together tomorrow.”

Chen Baizhou tightened his grip on his chopsticks, not knowing for a moment how to answer.

Shao Xian and Auntie Cai were already being more than good to him. Was he still going to greedily stay here?

“Xiao Zhou, look, Xianxian doesn’t have many friends anyway. He goes to school all alone every day, how pitiful is that? Just help Auntie keep him company a little more, okay?” As Cai Yalan spoke, she glanced at Shao Xian.

“Yeah, Chen Baizhou, just stay with us,” Qian Wenjie asked Cai Yalan, “Auntie Cai, tomorrow is my first day at the new school, can I go with Xianxian too?”

Shao Xian: “…” Is Xianxian something you get to call?

Qian Wenjie clearly had no idea. He had heard Cai Yalan call him “Xianxian” so many times that he unconsciously got led astray by her.

“Of course you can!” Cai Yalan said happily.

Shao Xian finally tilted his head and looked at Chen Baizhou. Just then their eyes met, and he froze for a moment before saying, “You’ll go to school with me from now on.”

Chen Baizhou immediately broke into a smile and nodded hard. “Mm!”

He was as obedient as a little white rabbit, completely different from Fu Baizhou twenty years later.

Shao Xian sighed inwardly. He did not know how Fu Baizhou had returned to the Fu family, and he did not want to interfere in this matter, but given the situation in front of him, he could not stand by and do nothing.

Twenty years later, Fu Baizhou would be at odds with him, but now, he was still just a well-behaved, sensible child suffering abuse.

He felt that Fu Baizhou should not be treated like this.

“Xianxian, what time are you leaving tomorrow morning? I’ll wait for you at the door then.” Qian Wenjie was already getting more and more used to calling him that.

Shao Xian told him a time, and Qian Wenjie let out a “oh” before continuing to shovel food into his mouth.

After lunch, Shao Xian saw that Chen Baizhou’s complexion was much better, so he took him for a stroll in the garden to help him digest. Qian Wenjie, while holding his little toy, kept asking Shao Xian for information.

“Xianxian, are the teachers at Yuying fierce?”

Shao Xian glanced at him, pinched a petal, and said carelessly, “I heard your class teacher likes corporal punishment.”

“How could that be!” Qian Wenjie did not believe it. “Most of the students at Yuying have some background, right? How would the teachers dare…”

“You already said it yourself, most of them.” Shao Xian glanced at Chen Baizhou, who had his head lowered and was silent.

Qian Wenjie understood instantly.

His mom had said that teachers could be good or bad, and for someone like Chen Baizhou, who was isolated and bullied, if there was a teacher with bad intentions, there was no telling whether he would often be corporally punished.

“Chen Baizhou, how are your grades?” Qian Wenjie could not keep words in. “If your grades are good, maybe the teacher will protect you.”

Shao Xian patted his shoulder. “Our homeroom teacher is pretty okay. He doesn’t like solving problems with violence.”

“Oh…” Qian Wenjie was about to say something else, but then Wang Shufen came looking for him to take him out to buy a new backpack and new stationery.

He waved goodbye happily, and did not forget to remind Shao Xian: “We’re going to school together tomorrow morning, don’t forget!”

Only Shao Xian and Chen Baizhou were left in the garden. Chen Baizhou stood obediently beside Shao Xian.

“Why did you say sorry today?” Shao Xian suddenly asked.

Chen Baizhou froze, his gaze a little blank, and he did not react for a moment.

“On the way to my house.”

Shao Xian reminded him, and he then remembered.

“You and Auntie went to the hospital to pick me up, but I wasn’t there, so you made a wasted trip.” Chen Baizhou said softly.

Shao Xian caught his hand and saw that several of his fingernails were split and broken. He could not help asking with a darkened expression, “What is wrong with you?”

Chen Baizhou thought about it and said guiltily, “I broke my word. I caused you trouble.”

“But in my view, in this matter, Chen Yu was at fault, your mom was at fault, Aunt Sun made a mistake, and only you were not at fault.”

Shao Xian stared into his eyes and said seriously.

As a mortal enemy, although Shao Xian could not find out things that far back from Fu Baizhou’s childhood, knowing about Fu Baizhou’s condition was not difficult for him.

He had a psychological barrier and liked to deny himself.

Although he was later taken back by the Fu family and educated for several years, the imprint from childhood had never faded.

Fortunately, this self-denial was suppressed by him with all his effort, otherwise he would not have been able to carry the Fu family business.

Chen Baizhou was stunned. How could that be?

When he was little, his mom had always told him that he was a child without a father, born to collect debts. Later, after he came to the Chen family, this kind of language about being born with original sin filled his ears even more.

Whatever he did was wrong, and whatever he did was sinful.

Someone like him was not qualified to receive kindness from others.

But now, the person in front of him, who was the most good-looking in the world, was actually saying that he himself was not at fault, and that the people at fault were others.

How could that be?

“Even if you did have a fault, it would only be that you were unable to resist.” Shao Xian said sternly. “I checked your grades. You often rank at the bottom. Although it sounds a bit snobbish to say this, people with good grades always have a few more chances of success than others.”

Fu Baizhou had graduated from a top international university at the time, so there was no possibility of buying a diploma, which was why Shao Xian did not believe his grades could have been this bad when he was little.

It was not as if he had not considered family reasons, but if he could not even stand firm in this matter, he would not be able to accomplish anything later either.

Shao Xian also did not believe that after enduring ten years of humiliation, the child was really as simple and obedient as he appeared.

What he lacked was only a sense of self.

Chen Baizhou lowered his head, seeming to have suffered a tremendous blow. He stood there motionless. After several minutes, he finally looked up and smiled as he said, “Mm, I’ll study hard for sure.”

Shao Xian patted his head. “Make progress every day.”

The June sunlight was a little hot, and a little blinding.

Chen Baizhou greedily looked at the person in front of him, who was so beautiful he seemed like an elf, and only felt his heart pounding wildly. He could not bear to look away for even a second.

A hand suddenly covered his eyes lightly. He could not see Shao Xian, and the burning pain from the sunlight gradually disappeared too.

“Idiot, you don’t want your eyes anymore?”

The sound of Shao Xian’s soft scolding flowed into Chen Baizhou’s heart, hotter than the sunlight.

“Let’s go. I’ll take you to your house to get your backpack. You’ll need it for school tomorrow.”

Shao Xian left before waiting for his answer. Chen Baizhou curved his lips into a smile, and even when the muscles around his eyes moved, it did not feel painful.

The two of them went to the Chen family home. Bai Meijuan and Chen Yu were both not at home. A servant opened the door, and Chen Baizhou moved smoothly all the way through, picked up his backpack, and even planned to take some clothes.

The clothes were all very old, and some did not even fit, but Shao Xian did not stop him.

After returning to the Shao family, Shao Xian brought him to the room and was just about to review lessons with him when Chen Baizhou walked toward the bathroom instead.

He had thought Chen Baizhou was going to the toilet, but the bathroom door was not closed, and the sound of water was not right either. Out of curiosity, he walked into the bathroom, only to see Chen Baizhou washing clothes.

“Do you not want your hands anymore?” He walked over in a few steps and snatched the clothes away.

The clothes were dripping wet, and water dripped onto the floor, one sound after another, splashing into shattered beads.

“Chen Baizhou, don’t you know your fingernails are injured?” Shao Xian’s face was dark, and he was honestly a little angry.

As the Shao family’s second young master, he had been used to smooth sailing from childhood to adulthood. No one had ever dared make him unhappy. The only outsider who had ever made him put in effort was Fu Baizhou.

Although they were enemies, it had to be said that he admired Fu Baizhou.

What came after admiration, no one could really say. But Shao Xian could not stand people insulting Fu Baizhou. Only Fu Baizhou himself could criticize him.

Qian Wenjie often mocked him for it too, saying it was like he was dating some little boy.

Shao Xian did not think it was dating. He only felt that battling Fu Baizhou was exhilarating and satisfying.

As for those who were not qualified to cross swords with Fu Baizhou, what right did they have to judge him?

Now, a shrunken version of Fu Baizhou stood in front of him. Although he now had the surname Chen, and was extremely weak right now, he was already within Shao Xian’s protective range. Others could not mistreat him, and Chen Baizhou himself could not mistreat himself either.

When Chen Baizhou saw his dark face, he immediately became extremely guilty and uneasy, murmuring, “Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have washed clothes…”

“I’m not saying you shouldn’t wash clothes. I’m saying that compared to washing clothes, your own hands are more important, and besides, there’s a washing machine at home, so it’s not your turn to wash them yourself.”

As he spoke, he put the clothes into a basin and planned to do it himself.

The Shao family never kept useless people. Although he was the Shao family’s second young master, everything he was supposed to know, he knew.

“I-I’ll carry it myself!” Chen Baizhou hurriedly reached out to snatch the basin.

When Shao Xian saw that he was so anxious he was about to cry, his throat tightened, and before he knew it, he handed the basin back.

It was said that people born with teardrop moles liked to cry. He had never believed it before because Fu Baizhou had been as cold as a knife, but now, he suddenly believed it a little.

Wasn’t Chen Baizhou, who was not yet Fu Baizhou, already crying several times?