Chapter 59: Suppression

Shen Yunhe woke up from the dream, the outside already bright with daylight. He sat up, still shaken, and reached for the sandalwood doll beside his pillow. He gently rubbed his thumb across it. This was a gift from his son the night before. Perhaps the dream he had was real—maybe it was the nightmare his son had once experienced.

After going through such a desperate nightmare, it was no wonder his son’s personality became so twisted.

The children opened the door, laughing as they climbed onto his bed. Jiang Huaiyu lay on top of him.

“Dad, get up! We’re going to the amusement park today!”

Shen Yunhe, his face pale, trembled as he hugged the three children tightly.

“My babies, you’re all safe. I’ll never let anything happen to you again!”

Jiang Huaijin looked up at him, confused. What did this mean? Did he know about the past life? Shen Yunhe lowered his head and kissed his son’s forehead.

“Son, don’t be afraid. Daddy’s here.”

Jiang Huaijin’s eyes instantly turned red, tears falling drop by drop, as all the pent-up sorrow surged in his heart.

“Dad.”

Shen Yunhe hugged his son, gently patting his back, feeling a deep pain. Jiang Huaiyu and Jiang Huairou also giggled and pounced on their father.

The four of them played around on the bed for a while until Jiang Banyue opened the door.

“Stop messing around, hurry up and wash your faces. It’s time to go downstairs for breakfast!”

Shen Yunhe patted the children. “Let’s go, wash up in the bathroom. After breakfast, I’ll take you out to play!”

“Yay!”

The children happily ran into the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash their faces. Shen Yunhe smiled and followed them. The four of them lined up, holding their toothbrushes, brushing in sync. After finishing, they all spat at the same time.

“Let’s go, time to eat!” Shen Yunhe put away his toothbrush, wiped his lips, and led the children downstairs.

Jiang Banyue had already prepared the meal and set it on the dining table. The father and children sat down, and Shen Yunhe served food to the kids.

“Dad, I want to eat steamed buns!” his daughter shouted, pointing to a basket of buns.

“Alright!” Shen Yunhe picked two buns for Jiang Huairou.

Jiang Huairou placed the buns on her plate, opened them, and poured out the filling, only eating the skin. She also only ate the skin of dumplings, being picky with her food. Every meal, she had her preferences, which always made Jiang Banyue furious. She often felt like losing her temper.

“Jiang, Huairou! If you don’t want to eat, then don’t!” she shouted angrily.

Jiang Huairou trembled at the sharp tone, and Shen Yunhe quickly took the filling from her plate and put it into his own bowl.

“I’ll eat the filling. I love it!” he said gently.

Jiang Banyue suppressed the anger inside her. She knew she shouldn’t take it out on the kids, but sometimes, when she was at her limit, she felt like she wanted to take the three children and leave this suffocating world. She felt afraid—afraid that she couldn’t control the dark side within her and might hurt her children.

She was truly terrified, afraid that something would happen to the kids, that they might leave her. She wondered if all of this was just a dream.

When the three children saw their mother’s attitude, they all obediently lowered their heads and ate their food. Shen Yunhe watched her with concern and picked up a bun, placing it in front of her.

“Eat,” he said softly.

Jiang Banyue stared blankly at the bun in her bowl. Her fingers trembled as she picked up her chopsticks, mechanically eating the bun bite by bite. Tears fell, one by one, onto the bun.

Shen Yunhe walked over with a tissue and gently wiped away Jiang Banyue’s tears, his heart aching as if pierced by needles.

“Darling, what’s wrong? If there’s something, talk to me. I’m always here!” he said, his voice full of concern.

Jiang Banyue looked at the wet tissue in Shen Yunhe’s hand and realized she had been crying.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

The three children were also startled. Jiang Huairou jumped off her chair and ran over to hug her mother.

“Mom, don’t cry. I’m sorry, I won’t be picky with my food anymore. I’ll eat the filling, and I’ll never be picky again.”

Jiang Banyue hugged her daughter and comforted her, “Good girl, it’s not your fault. Something got into my eye and it hurts. It has nothing to do with you.”

“Ah! That must hurt. Dad, quickly help Mom. Take the thing out of her eye!” Jiang Huairou exclaimed.

“Okay.”

Shen Yunhe, listening to his daughter’s words, moved closer and gently cupped Jiang Banyue’s face, trying to look at her eye more closely. The heat from his big hand immediately made her skin feel hot, and she instinctively pulled back, feeling uncomfortable.

“It’s fine now. There’s nothing wrong. Let’s eat!” she hurriedly said.

“That’s not okay. I promised our daughter, and I’ll do it!” Shen Yunhe insisted.

He lowered his head, looking at her gently. He blew softly on her eye, and the warm breath made Jiang Banyue’s ears flush red. She suddenly stood up and pushed him away.

“It’s okay, I’m fine. Let’s eat!” she said, trying to change the subject.

Jiang Huairou covered her mouth and giggled. “Wow, Dad is amazing. He blew on Mom’s eye and it’s all better!”

Jiang Banyue lowered her head shyly at her daughter’s words, using eating as an excuse to cover her embarrassment. Shen Yunhe smiled and gently lifted her daughter back into her seat.

“Alright, it’s time to eat. After we finish, we’ll go out to play.”

At that moment, a cheerful voice came from outside the door.

“Brother, Sister, are you ready? Let’s go quickly!”

“Okay, okay, we’re coming!” Jiang Huairou quickly stuffed a few more bites of food into her mouth. Jiang Huaijin and Jiang Huaiyu also sped up their eating. Shen Yunhe frowned when he saw this.

“Eat slowly, don’t rush!”

Jiang Banyue grabbed her bag and packed some snacks and tissues into it. Both families drove in two cars. Song Mingzhu squeezed into Shen Yunhe’s car to play with the older children.

Jiang Banyue sat in the front passenger seat, listening to the four kids behind her chattering excitedly. She felt a bit irritated and pursed her lips, leaning back against the seat with her eyes closed, trying to rest. Shen Yunhe glanced at her and asked with concern, “What’s wrong? Are you tired?”

“I’m fine,” she replied without opening her eyes, speaking casually.

Shen Yunhe looked at her with worry. Sighing, he thought to himself that maybe he should take her to see a psychologist. Her condition really didn’t seem right.

After about half an hour, they arrived at the amusement park. As soon as they got out of the car, the kids excitedly rushed in. Jiang Banyue got out holding a bag of snacks. After Shen Yunhe parked the car, he walked over to her and casually took the bag from her hand. Song Shiyan and An Xiuxiu also parked their cars and walked over.

“Jiang Jie!” An Xiuxiu happily skipped a few steps and linked arms with Jiang Banyue. Jiang Banyue smiled at her.

“Take it slow, you’re already so big but still act like a child!” Song Shiyan said from behind, carrying some items, walking slowly.

Shen Yunhe exchanged greetings with Song Shiyan. The two men chatted as they followed their wives, carrying things.

An Xiuxiu chattered nonstop as she held Jiang Banyue’s hand, and Jiang Banyue listened attentively, smiling and nodding. The kids in front were running around excitedly. Since it was the weekend, there were many parents taking their kids out to play.

The children stopped in front of a large slide and eagerly went up to play. The four adults stood at the bottom, chatting while keeping an eye on the kids.