Fifteen thousand and fifteen

For Shen Wensheng, who was far from short of money, having a younger generation compete for his favor would not make him angry; on the contrary, it would bring him joy.

Especially after investigating Shen Xiaotang’s life over the years and recalling his eldest daughter, Shen Xinyi, who had passed away prematurely, Shen Wensheng felt a deep sense of guilt and tenderness toward her.

When Shen Xiaotang called him “Grandpa” and boldly asked for something, Shen Wensheng immediately laughed heartily and pulled out a black card under his name.

“All right, all right! Whatever you want, Grandpa will buy it for you!”

Shen Xiaotang took it with a bright smile and said loudly, “Grandpa, you’re so kind!”

Hearing that, Shen Wensheng laughed even more gleefully.

But while he was delighted, Shen Xingyan was both upset and bitter.

Despite having brought Shen Xiaotang back for some time, she had never spoken to him like that before!

Shen Xingyan couldn’t help but glare over, only to notice Yang Peiwen’s face growing even darker and more unpleasant. In an instant, he thought that Shen Xiaotang’s actions were brilliant, masterful, and simply perfect!

Having just been reunited with her grandfather, Shen Wensheng felt obligated to present a proper first gift. The black card he handed over had a limit of a full six million.

Yang Peiwen had intended to subtly flaunt her wealth to provoke Shen Xiaotang into throwing a tantrum, hoping that, like Shen Xingyan, she would reject returning to the old Shen family mansion. But unexpectedly, the plan backfired spectacularly on her!

Despite Yang Peiwen’s sour expression, Shen Xiaotang became even more spirited.

This gave Shen Wensheng a false sense of confidence. Smiling, after finishing his conversation with Shen Xiaotang, he immediately turned to Shen Xingyan and proposed taking Shen Xiaotang back to raise.

“Dream on!” Shen Xingyan was more than angry—he grabbed Shen Xiaotang behind him protectively, as if he wanted to drive both Shen Wensheng and Yang Peiwen away on the spot.

Zhou Ya also became alert and tense.

Although Shen Xingyan had been calling Shen Xiaotang a “brat” these days, Zhou Ya knew how much he truly cared for and cherished her. He was livelier than before, full of energy, and his loud roars spoke volumes!

Shen Wensheng was thoroughly angered by Shen Xingyan’s attitude, so he gave up arguing and instead coaxed Shen Xiaotang gently: “Xiaotang, would you like to come live with Grandpa?”

Shen Xiaotang gently patted Shen Xingyan’s tense back to soothe him, then peeked out from behind him and firmly refused in a crisp voice:

“I don’t want to go back with you! I don’t like that there are other people there, and they don’t like me either. Otherwise, why have they never come to see me? If they don’t even want to look at me, do they truly care? And what about my uncle when I’m gone? You’ve already pushed him out for those other people, and now you want to take me away from him too? You’re his biological father, how can you be so heartless?”

Her series of pointed questions stunned everyone present.

Shen Wensheng’s face visibly changed; though still displeased, a trace of guilt could be seen when he looked at Shen Xingyan, and he looked at Yang Peiwen with reproach and resentment.

No matter how much one blamed Shen Xingyan’s bad temper, the truth was that he couldn’t stand living in that household anymore.

Yang Peiwen naturally noticed this and looked over in disbelief—she had never seen such a sharp-tongued little brat!

When Shen Wensheng, his expression somewhat downcast, finally prepared to leave, Shen Xiaotang personally saw him out, chattering away: “Grandpa, Uncle has been very busy lately hiring many tutors for me! But when I have time, I will definitely come visit you!”

Of course, Shen Xiaotang had no intention of actually visiting, but if Yang Peiwen dared to try such tricks again, she wouldn’t hesitate to let the boomerang sting Yang Peiwen even deeper and harder.

“Uncle, losing your temper won’t help. You have to find her weak spot! The more she cares about something, the more we should target it and poke repeatedly! The more it hurts, the sooner she’ll learn not to reach out recklessly.”

Shen Xiaotang earnestly lectured Shen Xingyan.

Being so thoughtfully protected by such a small child, Shen Xingyan genuinely felt a warm glow in his heart.

Before he could express his feelings, Zhou Ya, who had been trying to suppress her laughter, suddenly burst out with a loud giggle.

The tender atmosphere was instantly shattered. The two, large and small, who shared similar features, exchanged looks of puzzled reproach.

The instigator, Zhou Ya, quickly apologized: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to!”

But it was hard to blame her—the image of the little adult earnestly educating the towering Shen Xingyan was both surreal and comical.

...

After dinner that night.

“How did it go?” Zhou Ya asked curiously as she saw Shen Xingyan holding a test paper.

Shen Xingyan wore a proud and smug expression: “Full marks in math, and very good results in Chinese too.”

Because the textbooks differed slightly between the two provinces, each subject’s tutors had prepared a set of test papers based on A City’s sixth-grade exams to gauge Shen Xiaotang’s progress on her first day.

Zhou Ya was surprised. “Xiaotang’s grades are that good?”

“Look for yourself.” Shen Xingyan proudly handed over the test.

As he said, Shen Xiaotang scored full marks in math and nearly full marks in Chinese.

Especially the essay; the Chinese tutor had praised Shen Xingyan at length: “Flowing naturally, seamless, and perfectly integrated!”

In short, it was powerful, well-structured, and coherent.

Although Shen Xiaotang had skipped many classes, to reach any real proficiency was no easy feat. With only elementary-level Chinese and math knowledge, how could it be difficult for her?

Only English was somewhat pitiful.

But that was understandable—rural English education was generally inferior to that in the city. In A City, English was introduced starting in first grade, but in Lanshan County of Y Province, it only began in third grade.

Shen Xiaotang was quite perceptive. Seeing Shen Xingyan in such a good mood, she leaned in: “Uncle, can I just take English tutoring every day?”

Shen Xingyan rolled his eyes: “No!”

Shen Xiaotang was reluctant: “Why? I did so well in Chinese and math!”

Shen Xingyan coldly tapped the test paper on the table: “Don’t get cocky or complacent, got it? Just because you’re doing well now doesn’t mean you don’t have to study later. Your attitude has serious issues and must be corrected!”

“Uncle, our little family boat is capsizing!”

Pouting, Shen Xiaotang hugged the little black kitten recently brought home and stomped upstairs.

Watching her deliberately make noise as she went up, Shen Xingyan snorted in satisfaction and shouted after her: “You ungrateful little brat, the family boat is capsizing already? I’m telling you, throwing a tantrum won’t help. Study hard at home. Every night, I’ll check in with Guoguo!”

When Zhou Ya contacted Sun Jian, he was extremely cooperative, only requesting that Shen Xingyan arrive as soon as possible. So that night, she accompanied Shen Xingyan to fly to G City, where the “Wenxi” film crew was currently shooting. Meanwhile, Qian Guoguo was left at the villa to keep Shen Xiaotang company.

Qian Guoguo was very willing to do so.

Shen Xiaotang was already twelve and more mature than most children, so she didn’t need much care. Most importantly, Shen Xingyan had increased her monthly allowance by fifteen thousand!

As Shen Xiaotang angrily climbed the stairs, she suddenly turned, black eyes fixed on Shen Xingyan: “Who’s ungrateful? Deduct ten bucks. I did a fortune-telling for you, Uncle. Don’t go wandering around outside late at night.”

Shen Xingyan was puzzled: “Nonsense. Who would wander out late at night with nothing to do?”

Shen Xiaotang snorted: “Don’t ignore the advice of elders, or you’ll suffer losses.”

Shen Xingyan was speechless: “What elder?”

Shen Xiaotang argued confidently: “There’s an order to knowledge; the wise can be teachers. Since I can be your mentor, how can I not be an elder?”

Shen Xingyan glared: “Hah! You want to be my mentor?”

As the nephew and uncle bickered again, Zhou Ya interrupted: “Ayan, it’s almost 8:30. We should hurry and pack up.”

*

The flight was at 10:30 p.m., a two-and-a-half-hour journey.

Just after 1 a.m.

“Teacher Shen, you’ve finally arrived!”

Assistant Xiao Wu, who had been waiting at G City airport for a long time, showed obvious excitement upon seeing Shen Xingyan.

The car sped through the dark night.

Xiao Wu, driving in the front seat, kept stealing glances backward.

In the backseat, Zhou Ya and Shen Xingyan exchanged uneasy looks, sensing something was off.

In just half an hour of driving, Xiao Wu had glanced back at Shen Xingyan at least five times.

“Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, Nam-myoho-renge-kyo…”

Suddenly, a chant sounded, startling Zhou Ya and Shen Xingyan.

Who sets their ringtone to that?

Xiao Wu answered the call: “Almost there! We’re already on our way back…”

The tense atmosphere in the car grew even more strange and uneasy.

After two hours, Shen Xingyan and Zhou Ya finally arrived at the filming location in Longquan Town, Qin County.

The car stopped in front of the largest hotel in Qin County.

From a distance, a group of people were already waiting. When Shen Xingyan got out, Sun Jian excitedly grabbed his hand and wouldn’t let go:

“Teacher Shen, it’s so great you came to help!”

Shen Xingyan was bewildered: “It’s my duty…”

He was only here to fill in for the male lead and shoot a scene.

Sun Jian looked eager: “Teacher Shen, what do you think?”

Shen Xingyan was confused: “Director Sun, aren’t we supposed to sign the contract first? And it’s past three in the morning, not three in the afternoon!”

Sun Jian caught on—payment first.

Shortly after, in the crew’s assigned third-floor room, Sun Jian had a prepared contract rushed over.

Shen Xingyan silently inquired with Zhou Ya, who nodded after carefully reviewing it.

The contract had been preliminarily discussed beforehand; not only was it fine, but the terms were better than expected—there was nothing to complain about.

Since they intended to cooperate, once the contract was confirmed, Shen Xingyan signed.

Upon signing, Sun Jian again looked expectant: “Teacher Shen, what do you think?”

Fine.

Although a bit tired, Shen Xingyan maintained professionalism: “What scenes are we shooting tonight?”

Sun Jian shook his head: “None, none at all.”

Because of the crew’s recent eerie and disturbing incidents, the night shoots were suspended.

Shen Xingyan was puzzled: “Then why the rush? Couldn’t it wait until tomorrow?”

Sun Jian was about to agree but noticed Shen Xingyan frowning. After thinking, he bit his lip: “Alright, we’ll follow your lead.”

“Teacher Shen, you must rest well tonight after your journey.”

Though anxious, Sun Jian couldn’t make them work immediately after arrival. Besides, since they had been summoned, if something happened tonight, Shen Xingyan would have to intervene anyway.

*

Though the hotel rooms in the small county were far less luxurious than those in A City, as Qin County’s best hotel, they were acceptable overall.

“Ya, don’t you feel something’s off?” After they were alone in the room, Shen Xingyan finally spoke.

“A little,” Zhou Ya admitted. “Forget it, rest well tonight. Thinking too much won’t help. I’ll try to figure it out tomorrow.”

Shen Xingyan nodded.

After Zhou Ya left, Shen Xingyan prepared to shower.

Before stepping into the bathroom, he habitually checked the room and moved to draw the curtains. As he glanced casually, his eyes caught something—a dark, fuzzy “ball” swiftly flying past.

The next second, realizing what it was, Shen Xingyan shouted in fright: “Ghost!”

That was no fuzzy black ball.

It was unmistakably a woman’s head with long black hair shaped like a ball!