Grandma Yang was frantic, scolding, “How can you be so heartless, huh? Go on, hurry up and pick him up and soothe him!”
Qin Kun and Su Siwen couldn’t hold back any longer; they stepped forward instinctively to comfort their son. But as they looked towards the door, there was still a flicker of hesitation. Handing Youyou over to Shen Minyan was a decision they had struggled to make. But now…
The little one kept crying, his voice growing hoarse, his breathing becoming labored. Grandma Yang was startled. With a cry of alarm, she quickly carried the child inside the house.
“How can you let a three-year-old cry like this? He’ll ruin his voice! Don’t cry anymore, Youyou. Your dad and the others were just joking with you. How could they not want you?”
Even though he hadn’t been directly in the rain much, standing out there for so long and crying like that left Su Youli’s little face covered in tears, his cheeks flushed bright red from crying. Grandma Yang was truly frightened. She hurried inside, not forgetting to shout behind her, “He’s going to get sick like this! Hurry up and get him changed!”
Shen Lin anxiously followed, making sure to drag Shen Minyan along with him. Su Siwen and Qin Kun immediately followed as well, scrambling upstairs to find clean clothes and towels to bring down to the first floor.
On the first floor.
Grandma Yang had taken off Youyou’s wet clothes, wrapped the little one in a blanket, and was constantly patting Su Youli’s back, coaxing him softly. Shen Minyan and Shen Lin stood nearby, their faces etched with worry, their hands tingling. Yang Shiqing arrived hastily with the just-woken Yang Yang. The Su family’s modest living room was filled with people, but no one except Yang Yang dared to approach the furious old lady.
“Youyou!”
As soon as Yang Yang entered, he shook off his father’s hand and ran over, only to see a pitiful Youyou lying in Grandma’s arms. The little guy’s eyes were red, his skin fair and delicate, with tear tracks clearly visible on his face. He looked utterly miserable, making Yang Yang want to cry too.
Yang Yang had never seen Youyou cry so hard. He clenched his little iron fist and shouted, “Who bullied you? I’ll help you beat them up!”
“…Yang Yang gege,” the little one said between sobs.
“Daddy… doesn’t want Youyou.”
Even though he had stopped crying, he still felt terrible. Yang Yang climbed onto the sofa and took his little hand. Soon, Su Siwen and Qin Kun came downstairs with the clothes.
“Get a basin of water and a clean towel to wipe Youyou’s face.”
Su Siwen and Qin Kun did whatever Grandma Yang told them to do. Finally, after the little one had calmed down a bit, Su Siwen, his eyes red-rimmed, squatted in front of Youyou, his voice choked with emotion: “Youyou, Daddy doesn’t not want you, you know that?”
Su Youli buried his face in Grandma Yang’s arms, refusing to look at his father. Qin Kun took Youyou’s temperature and warmed up some milk. Everyone in the room was worried sick about Youyou. Who could handle such a shock so early in the morning? After crying like that, the little guy started running a low-grade fever.
Even Shen Minyan, whose expression rarely changed, had his features shift, suddenly becoming tense. When it came to parenting experience, if Grandma Yang claimed to be first, no one there would dare claim second. When Su Siwen and Qin Kun first moved back to Yunshui Street, they always went to Grandma Yang for any minor ailments the little one had.
Grandma Yang stood up with the child in her arms, casting a reproachful look at the men standing dumbfounded in the room. Even Yang Shiqing was inexplicably looked down upon by his own mother.
“All of you grown-ups are less sensible than my grandson!”
Yang Yang puffed out his chest, walked past them with his chin up, and followed Grandma upstairs. The child had developed a fever right under the grown men’s noses, and had cried himself hoarse. At that moment, no one could sit still. Though Shen Minyan didn’t show it, he was indeed a bit panicked.
The last time he felt this way was three years ago, the night his wife was in labor. Shen Lin stood at the bottom of the stairs, hands hanging by his sides, his eyes fixed on the spot where his little brother had been carried upstairs. He hadn’t expected his brother to resist leaving with them so much. He really did like Youyou, but it was clear Youyou preferred Uncles Su and Qin.
He took a deep breath, tilted his head back slightly, and spoke softly, slowly to Shen Minyan: “Dad, if Youyou doesn’t come back with us, does that mean he’s not my brother anymore?”
Shen Minyan had forgotten how long it had been since he last heard Shen Lin call him “Dad.” His heart tightened. He didn’t know how to answer that question.
“Don’t push him, okay?” Shen Lin said.
His hand hovered in the air for a moment, then landed on Shen Lin’s shoulder. “Youyou will come back with us,” he said to Shen Lin.
No one in the room spoke. When they heard movement on the stairs, they all turned to look.
Grandma Yang lowered her voice, pointing at Qin Kun and Su Siwen as she came downstairs, saying, “How could you two be so heartless, huh?”
Grandma Yang held nothing back when she scolded: “If you think I’m an old busybody sticking my nose in, I’ll still say my piece.”
Qin Kun put his arm around Su Siwen’s shoulder, and they both shook their heads.
“I know things aren’t easy for you right now, which is why you thought about sending Youyou away,” the old lady said, glancing sidelong at Shen Minyan standing nearby. She could tell he was wealthy, naturally able to provide Su Youli with a stable life.
“But you can’t just hand the child over without explaining things properly. Couldn’t you just talk to him nicely? Youyou is such a good boy, not the kind of kid who doesn’t understand reason.”
The men, feeling like mischievous high schoolers called to the dean’s office for a scolding, all hung their heads in guilt upon hearing Grandma Yang’s words. Su Siwen and Qin Kun had originally thought that Youyou was so dependent on them. If they kept telling him he was being sent to Beicheng, the little guy would definitely resist strongly. It might be better to just steel their hearts and let Shen Minyan take Youyou away first thing in the morning.
“Auntie Yang, we were wrong,” Su Siwen apologized sincerely.
He had been too impatient. Grandma Yang noticed his legs were a bit unsteady, yet he still stood straight. Her heart softened again. Sigh.
If they could possibly raise Youyou themselves, no one would want to send away such a caring, well-behaved little child. Grandma Yang’s earlier anger subsided quite a bit. She beckoned Su Siwen to sit down and said patiently, “Talk to Youyou properly. He’ll understand your difficult situation. What you did today, making him think you didn’t want him anymore.”
She glanced at Shen Minyan and said, “He was a child you took in. Now, if even you don’t want him, what is Youyou supposed to do in the future?”
“He’s still so young.”
Hearing this, Su Siwen’s eyes welled up with tears, his throat tight with bitterness. Yes. From the moment he was born, the little guy was stolen. Before Zhang Shun showed up, they all thought Su Youli was a child ‘abandoned’ by his family.
He was so young. He must have been so scared when Su Siwen thrust him into Shen Minyan’s arms. Su Siwen covered his face in pain, letting out stifled sobs. After finishing with him, Grandma Yang turned her gaze to Shen Minyan. The old lady frowned and wouldn’t treat him any more gently just because he was wealthy.
“You’re from Beicheng, right? What’s your name?”
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