Chapter 51

The moment Shang Yan saw Shang Xian again, his previous uneasy premonition came true.

He should have known that this she-devil wouldn’t give up easily without seeing his little child.

However, it was too late to avoid her now.

It was already after school in the afternoon, and Su Miao Miao was beside Shang Yan, ready to go to the computer training group for evening study with him. Noticing that Shang Yan had suddenly stopped walking, Su Miao Miao curiously looked up at him, then followed his gaze forward.

The woman, still charming and beautiful despite wearing less conspicuous clothes, took off her sunglasses and waved at her enthusiastically, greeting her warmly without any hint of unfamiliarity or distance typical of a first meeting. Su Miao Miao was taken aback and instinctively bowed slightly out of politeness. By the time she straightened up, Shang Xian had already walked up to them.

Shang Yan looked at her with disdain.

And she looked at Shang Yan with equal disdain—”What a well-behaved, beautiful little girl. Delicate and exquisite… Someone like you should be kept at least thirty meters away from her by the school to prevent you from causing trouble.”

Shang Yan’s lips curved slightly, letting out a contemptuous laugh.

“If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t even be looking at you now.”

Shang Xian: “…”

Shang Xian: “You really think highly of yourself.”

Unwilling to continue talking to her annoying brother, Shang Xian turned to the girl beside Shang Yan, her face lighting up with a bright smile.

“Hello, I’m Shang Xian. I’m very pleased to meet you today. You’re even more beautiful than I imagined—if you don’t mind, would I have the honor of inviting you to dinner tonight?”

“…”

“…”

Su Miao Miao was stunned. In the past, she had never encountered such a situation at the sanatorium, and ever since she started school, Shang Yan had been protecting her very well. This was the first time she had experienced such an overt attempt at flirtation from a stranger.

—

Especially considering that the person flirting with her was a woman. Before Su Miao Miao could react, Shang Yan’s face darkened. He stepped to the side, partially shielding Su Miao Miao, and squinted at Shang Xian.

“Rare to see you with free time. Instead of hanging out with Bo Yi, why do you keep coming to our school?”

Faced with her brother’s handsome, cool, and pale face, Shang Xian’s smile automatically disappeared, leaving her expressionless.

“I invited her, not you.”

“She is mine.”

Shang Xian: “???”

Shang Xian turned to look at Su Miao Miao, “Is what he said true?”

Su Miao Miao held back her feelings, glancing resentfully at Shang Yan’s unwaveringly upright back, and reluctantly nodded. She couldn’t exactly tell Shang Xian that if she didn’t acknowledge it, Shang Yan would threaten her with that incident of kissing her calf…

Seeing the girl nod so reluctantly, Shang Xian felt a complex mix of emotions. Her expression changed as she looked up at Shang Yan, her eyes full of reproach.

“I thought you still had a bit of conscience and humanity left, but now I see there’s not a shred remaining.”

Shang Yan scoffed lightly, with a half-smile.

“What do I need that for?”

He reached back and lightly draped his arm around the girl’s slender shoulders.

“Having my little one is enough.

“Shang Xian: “…”

What kind of beastly brothers had her family raised?

Shang Xian bent down slightly and looked at the girl.

“Young lady, you don’t need to listen to him. Sister Xian would like to invite you to dinner. Do you have time?”

Su Miao Miao looked up and met Shang Xian’s gaze. The woman had a pair of enchanting eyes with slightly upturned corners, adding to her allure. When such sincere eyes looked at her, it was genuinely hard to refuse. Involuntarily, Su Miao Miao nodded.

A flash of a smile appeared in Shang Xian’s eyes.

She straightened up, “Alright, she already agreed—come on, classmate, step aside and don’t block the way.”

Shang Yan, as the “classmate,” paused, raising an eyebrow slightly.

“I’m not letting her be alone with you, so don’t even dream about it.”

“…”

Glaring at her like a thief, Shang Xian almost lost her smile out of frustration. She squeezed out her words one by one:

“As if I would eat your precious darling.”

Su Miao Miao was momentarily confused, looking from Shang Xian to Shang Yan.

“You’re not getting the chance to eat or run off with her.”

Shang Yan quickly responded, seeming completely unfazed by Shang Xian’s term of endearment.

Shang Xian resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her overly possessive brother, grudgingly agreeing.

“Fine. Then you can come along.”

“…”

*

The car dropped the three of them off at the restaurant’s entrance, and upon seeing the familiar revolving doors, Su Miao Miao felt a bit choked up.

Shang Yan naturally noticed her reaction. In fact, when he first saw the car heading down Central Avenue in C City, Shang Yan already had a vague premonition. When the car stopped, his premonition came true: they had indeed arrived at the restaurant where Shang Yan had his birthday lunch last time.

Strictly speaking, this was where they had first met.

Shang Yan’s lips curved slightly as he looked at Su Miao Miao with deep meaning.

Su Miao Miao pretended not to notice.

“I heard from Bo Yi that this is the best restaurant in C City, so tonight we will…”

In the passenger seat, Shang Xian turned slightly, then froze in place. There was a hint of strangeness in her gaze as she glanced at Su Miao Miao, then shifted her gaze to Shang Yan’s seemingly smiling face.

After a two-second pause, Shang Xian furrowed her brow slowly.

“Are you bullying the young girl again?”

Shang Yan glanced at her. “What do you mean ‘again’?” Without waiting for Shang Xian to say anything else, he got out of the car.

As he approached the door, he proactively opened Su Miao Miao’s side of the car door and then held it open, watching as the girl stepped out.

“Thank you, Master,” Su Miao Miao apologized politely as she got out of the car.

Shang Yan turned to the side, waiting for the girl to walk beside him.

“Back then, why didn’t I recognize you?”

As they brushed past each other, his voice was deep and slightly hoarse, with a hint of a mysterious smile.

“…”

In the end, she couldn’t avoid this topic.

Su Miao Miao was silent for a few seconds, then lowered her head and spoke softly, “I didn’t mean to hide it from you, Master. It’s just that if other people found out, it would be troublesome at school…”

“When have I ever blamed you?”

Shang Yan sighed and gently rubbed the girl’s downcast head.

Su Miao Miao was taken aback. With Shang Yan’s reminder, she suddenly realized: Yes, from the time she revealed herself by falling into the artificial mountain pond until today, Shang Yan clearly remembered that she had hidden it from him, even “deceived” him, but he never questioned her, not even asking for the reasons…

“And besides, you don’t need to be afraid of trouble in the future.”

“…?”

Su Miao Miao turned to look at Shang Yan, who wore a casual smile on his face, and his words seemed nonchalant. However, it was only when he lowered his eyes to look at her that the deep, impenetrable darkness in his eyes seemed like ink, revealing a profound intensity.

“In the future, with me around, there won’t be any trouble. You can do whatever you want.”

Su Miao Miao stood frozen in place.

After a moment, she snapped out of it, feeling a sudden sourness in her nose.

The girl lowered her head.

This was the first time…

Someone had told her,

“You don’t need to be afraid, because I’m here.”

…

She had once sat alone in the pale, colorless hospital room, hugging her knees for so long. Outside the window, seasons changed, laughter and joy abounded, the world was vibrant and colorful.

Vibrant and colorful, yet it seemed like none of the colors had anything to do with her; bustling with life, yet there was no one standing by her side.Until he came.

“What are you thinking about? You’re so lost in thought, not moving at all.”

A playful laughter suddenly startled Su Miao Miao back to reality, pulling her drifting consciousness back. Shang Xian seemed to have finished talking to the driver and was now walking to Su Miao Miao’s other side.

Shang Yan subtly protected the girl who had just regained her senses and continued the conversation.

“We respect our elders and love our juniors, so we were waiting for you.”

Shang Xian: “…”

The fact that such a brother could grow up to be this considerate showed just how kind-hearted she was.

In front of Su Miao Miao, the two siblings at least refrained from engaging in any verbal sparring, instead standing on either side of the girl and entering the restaurant without exchanging any glances.

The restaurant had already reserved the best seats for them.

It was the peak dining hour, and the restaurant was quiet and elegant, with almost every table occupied. Waiters dressed in smart uniforms led them to a table by the floor-to-ceiling windows with the best night view.

The table was set on a semi-oval low platform, with a polished grand piano nearby.

After seating the three of them and taking their orders, the waiter bowed respectfully and withdrew.

Throughout the restaurant, subtle gazes were cast in their direction.

—

Any one of the three who entered would stand out in a crowd, their looks immediately catching the eye. Seeing one of them was rare enough, let alone all three together.

Moreover, sitting at the VIP section of the entire restaurant, many people had already begun to speculate about the identities of these three young individuals.

Shang Yan had anticipated this and had already taken the seat opposite to Su Miao Miao, allowing her to sit by the window, shielding her from most of the onlookers’ gazes.

Shang Xian, who had been puzzled before, now understood the situation and couldn’t help but curl her lips in a half-mocking mutter.

“The sons of the Shang family… They were all so arrogant back then, as if they wanted to reach the heavens. But in the end, they’re just slaves to their wives.”

“…”

Shang Yan stiffened at the mention of the word just used to describe Bo Yi.

After a pause of two seconds, he calmly lifted his eyelids and glanced at Shang Xian sitting opposite him.

“That son-in-law not only inherited this fine tradition but also did his best to carry it forward.”

“Don’t worry, Shang Yan. I was talking about Shang Xiao, not you.”

Shang Xian lazily smiled, her eyes hiding a sharpness behind their allure.

“Moreover, you’re just getting started. As they say, the new waves of the Yangtze River push the ones before them. Each wave is higher than the last.”

Shang Yan: “…”

Su Miao Miao, holding her cup of tea, quietly watched the drama unfold. Her dark pupils sparkled under the light, looking pretty and demure.

Before the first course of soup was served, Shang Xian finally shifted her focus to Su Miao Miao with a gentle tone.

“I haven’t asked before, but what’s your name, young lady?”

The girl set down her tea cup.

“My name is Su Miao Miao.”

Beside her, Shang Yan smirked and chimed in, “Su is from Suzhou, and Miao is the sound a cat makes.”

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Not amused.

She stole a glance at the boy, then corrected with a hint of annoyance, “Miao means distant, not meow.”

However, when the girl mentioned her surname, Shang Xian was already frozen in her seat.

Then, as if she remembered something, various emotions flashed through her eyes swiftly.

The table fell into sudden silence.

Even Shang Yan noticed, lifting his gaze slightly and fixing it on Shang Xian.

Shang Xian came back to herself.

She gave a faint smile, masking her previous thoughts.

“Su Miao Miao’s… It’s a very nice name, very fitting for our little beauty’s demeanor and elegance.”

Su Miao Miao smiled shyly. “Thank you.”

During the meal, Su Miao Miao left the table and went to the restroom.

After the girl had walked a distance away, Shang Xian, who had restrained her expression for most of the evening, finally looked up with a slightly serious gaze.

“Do you know what her background is?”

“…”

Shang Yan didn’t even lift his eyelids.

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever her background, she’s still my family.”

Shang Xian: “…”

Shang Xian: “You really dare to say that. But her surname is Su!”

Shang Yan paused.

With this reminder, something seemed to flicker in his dark eyes.

But he quickly suppressed whatever emotion was there.

Shang Yan raised his eyes slowly, his lips curling into a faint mocking smile.

“So what? Just because her surname is Su, does that mean she must be from their Su family?”