Chapter 4 Was it a coincidence or was it…

The Shi family mansion had stood in its place for ages, but it still possessed an imposing aura to it.

The charm of this house was not inferior to those of luxury houses designed by well-known designers. No matter day or night, every side and corner of the house revealed a heavy sense of historical influence.

At night, it became even more mysterious.

At this moment, in a small room, two children shut the door.

The servants from afar did not dare say much when they saw it. They left the corridor as if they had not seen anything.

Although the young master has been married for several years, he has never had children. On the other hand, the second young master had children just after getting married. The two siblings were the next generation of the Shi family. They were basically spoiled by the old lady and the pair of husband and wife of the second branch.

The newcomer was the child of the third young master who ran away from home in the past. In the beginning, they were also prepared to treat them with respect since he was still a master in any case. 

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After a while, Shi Cong and Shi Hui returned to their senses. Why were they afraid of a little kid? He wasn’t even as terrifying as their uncle. Their gazes then became threatening.

Shi Qi said, “What are you doing?”

His voice carried a dry hoarseness.

Shi Hui curled her lips. His voice sounded really unpleasant. She patted her brother’s shoulder.

The two had grown up spoiled since they were young. Compared to Shi Qi who struggled to eat a meal a day, Shi Qi was a lot smaller than Shi Cong who was of the same age, evidently showing that he grew up malnutritioned and in poverty.

Shi Cong immediately understood the meaning of his sister and giggled.

A few days ago, he and his sister learned that a new child had arrived at the house. The servants also informed them that he was the child of their third uncle. Where did he ever have a third uncle? Third uncle had left the house long ago.

This boy must have come here to compete with them for the family property. Ever since he was young, Shi Cong heard his mother say that his uncle had no children, and because of that, the Shi Family would belong to him in the future.

The two rushed towards the bed and effortlessly climbed on top of it.

Shi Qi frowned slightly, dragging the quilt hard. Having not expected him to do this, Shi Cong and Shi Hui slid off the bed and fell to the floor.

After tumbling down, Shi Hui flared up in anger. Climbed back up in one breath, she glared at Shi Qi in bed, “Are you crazy?”

Shi Cong was a little fatter than her so he rose from the ground a little later than his elder sister and cried with a red face: “I’m definitely going to teach you a lesson today!”

Shi Qi looked at the two indifferently.

It was clear that they had angered him first, but now that he had made a counterattack, it had become his fault to bear.

From the bottom of his heart, he really didn’t like this Shi Family.

…

Entrance of the main residence.

Shi Shanjin had just finished visiting the old lady and had returned from the cottage. He swiftly walked along the path steadily as the servants from the gate greeted him reverentially.

These two days had kept him busy. Thinking about the old lady’s matter, he casually asked: “Is Shi Qi in the room?”

The servant took the coat and said carefully: “Yes, Master Cong and Miss Hui have just entered.”

Though the words ‘have just’ were used,  in reality, more than ten minutes have passed since their arrival. The servant had no idea what was going on inside the room nor did they dare to enter inside and see.

Hearing this, Shi Shanjin furrowed his brows.

Shi Cong and Shi Hui were siblings. Shi Hui was nine years old and Shi Cong was seven. They were the only two children of the next generation of the Shi family and were arrogant and willful on most days. 

Shi Qi had been residing at the residence for two or three days already and he had not seen them take the initiative to find him. Why did they suddenly decide to visit him today?

He didn’t believe that these two children had any good intentions towards Shi Qi.

Of course, Shi Qi probably wouldn’t allow himself to get picked on easily too.

Shi Qi’s room was on the corner of the third floor.

The door to it was closed tightly, and the soundproofing was good, so no movements could be heard from the outside.

Shi Shanjin pushed open the door, strolled inside, and made sure to produce a heavy noise as he stepped inside. 

Hearing the noise, Shi Cong turned his head around and his face immediately paled in response as he tugged his sister.

Shi Hui was currently taking pleasure in her antics and shook off his hand. “What? Can’t you see I’m busy. Quickly hit him!”

“What are you busy with?” Shi Shanjin inquired.

Shi Hui immediately froze in place and did not dare to move.

The sound of footsteps approaching from afar, struck the hearts of Shi Cong and Shi Hui like a hammer, a slight cold sweat seeping at the tip of their noses.

Shi Shanjin swept them a glance and saw Shi Qi pressed underneath the two, and said coldly, “Are you not getting up!”

Shi Cong and Shi Hui reacted immediately and got up, obediently lowering their heads and standing on the side. Inside, they imagined themselves tearing Shi Qi’s dead corpse into a thousand pieces.

Shi Shanjin looked at the two children who pretended to be well-behaved at this moment with anger bubbling up in his heart.

He and his wife have no children and he usually treated his brother Shi Shanshen’s two children leniently, but he never expected that they would bully their own brother. Even if Shi Qi had yet to have been registered in the family, he didn’t think that they would actually be so bold to this extent.

He scolded: “Is this what the Shi Family’s teaching has taught you?”

Shi Cong and Shi Hui looked pale in this moment, their calves quivering in fear.

This uncle was most terrifying when he got mad. They were not afraid of their parents, nor their grandma, but were most afraid of him. They could already predict that punishment would be delivered to them later on.

“Uncle, it was his fault first–” Shi Hui tried to quibble back.

Before she could even finish her words, Shi Shanjin looked at her coldly, and put her words back into her mouth. “Do you think I’m blind?”

Shi Hui shut her mouth and stood together with her younger brother without moving a muscle. She felt unreconciled on the inside and the two of them lowered their heads and secretly shot daggers at Shi Qi.

Shi Qi rose silently from the ground without saying a word, disgust flashing through his eyes.

Shi Shanjin naturally saw their movements, but did not expect the two children to be ignorant of their wrongs. He thought to himself. What a waste of their education.

He looked at Shi Qi, “You two, go to the study and kneel, Shi Qi as well.”

As soon as these words came out, Shi Cong and Shi Hui finally felt frightened. Tears quickly gathered in their eyes, whirling around in them, and threatening to fall.

They didn’t dare to refute, and only followed him to the study with pale faces.

The servants who saw this scene as they were passing by, lowered their heads.

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ: :･ﾟ✧:･ﾟ✧

News that the young master had brought the two siblings into the study immediately spread in the mansion.

“They’ll probably get punished today.”

“I think the new Young Master Qi won’t speak. If Master Shi hadn’t interfered, I wonder what would’ve happened?”

The voices of argument came to an abrupt halt at the arrival of a woman.

Several people who were originally talking, quickly stood at the side, before one of them went up and lowered her head, greeting “Second Madame.”

The woman threw her bag to her, fiddling with her nails as she asked, “Where’s Cong’er? Doesn’t he always come to welcome me?”

The servant inwardly cursed, but couldn’t refuse to respond to her so they hardened their skin and answered. “Master Cong is being punished in the study…”

Yang Man was the wife of Second Young Master Shi Shanshen. She was the most prosperous international actress in recent years, born with a gentle and pleasant appearance, and graceful figure. However, her wandering eyes were always brimming with titillating temptation.

Naturally, it was impossible to marry into the Shi family by relying solely on the identity of an actress. The Yang Group behind her was naturally the main point.Although it was true that Shi Shanjin was the current wielder of the Shi family, but without her husband, it was impossible for the days of the Shi Family to be smooth sailing.

Hearing the servant’s words, Yang Man frowned. What had happened?

Shi Shanjin’s study was located at the end of the second floor. She quickly ascended the stairs and saw that the door to the study was not closed. Normally, she would never go in without asking for consent, because she had no right to.

Today, however, was an exception.

From the outside, Yang Man could see that her son and daughter were forced to kneel with their heads down, their small bodies appearing even smaller on the ground. And at the side, the child who came out of the dilapidated place, was actually sitting on a chair.

She suppressed the fire in her heart and took a deep breath, knocking calmly, “Brother, can I come in?”

When Shi Cong and Shi Hui heard the voice of their mother, they looked up one after another, tears hanging in the corners of their eyes, and hope shone in them, but they dared not speak out.

Shi Shanjin said: “Come in.”

Yang Man frowned slightly, looking at him, “Big Brother, what did Cong’er and Hui’er do, that you had to punish them like this?”

Shi Shanjin’s expression remained unchanged when he heard her words, “As the elder brother, Shi Cong bullied his younger brother, and Shi Hui fanned the flames at the side. As their uncle, I have the right to discipline them.”

After being rebuked, Yang Man felt embarrassed. She didn’t have the complete knowledge of the entire situation so she glared at the person behind her fiercely.

The servant grumbled in her heart and quickly stepped forward to whisper all the things that had just happened in her ear.

After listening to her, Yang Man also started scolding the pair of siblings in her heart.

Why did her own two children look for trouble when there was none to start with? What future can a child from a broken home have? She had already told Shi Cong specifically that this family will become his in the future. Did the child even use his brain to think?

However, her son was only seven years old, so it was natural for him to feel impatient. As such, she could only swallow her anger back.

Shi Shanjin didn’t even think about how to punish his two younger siblings. He simply had them recite the Three Character Classic¹The Three Character Classic is a tenet of Confuscian teachings consisting of only 3 characters in each line..

Both siblings were relieved, assuming originally that they were going to be beaten. They had memorized this book countless times and opened their mouths directly.

Yang Man sat on a chair that was moved over for her, and waited for them to finish reciting while shooting daggers at the child on the side who appeared to be a little smaller in his chair.

After repeating the lines 5 times, Shi Shanjin told them to stop..

As though having been granted amnesty, Shi Cong and Shi Hui got up from the ground, and didn’t dare to do anything else, merely obediently apologizing to Shi Qi.

Shi Qi was sitting on a wooden chair, his bones pressed on top of it, making him feel a bit uncomfortable.

The two siblings said in unison: “Brother Shi, we’re sorry.”

He looked at the reluctant expressions of the two, pursed his lips, and without hoarseness in his voice, he responded. “It’s alright..”

With his pointed jaw lifted slightly.

Shi Shanjin cast him another glance.

After the apology, Yang Man and the pair of siblings left the study together.

Now that no words were being uttered inside the room, silence fell again.

The study was very large. Two wooden shelves were filled with books and resources, and the solid wooden pear blossom table had dark carved figures on top. All of which were sent by others and appeared very delicate.

Shi Shanjin laughed: “Which one do you want, take it for yourself.”

Seeing his eyes fixed on a piece of jade flat peach, Shi Shanjin felt strange.

Shi Qi didn’t seem to have yin yang eyes, so he shouldn’t know which of these things had a better qi, but as of this moment, the one he was looking at, actually had the best qi among them.

Was it a coincidence or was it…

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T/N: Nope, definitely not a coincidence my man. Shi Qi here is blessed with the male protagonist halo.