After breakfast, she refused Black Tail's offer to drive her. She drove her own 100,000 yuan car and took her son to the shop.
Black Tail drooped his tail in disappointment and went back to the house, saying “Master, Shang Xi said there was some kind of child safety seat in her car that our cars don’t have, so she didn’t let us drive her.”
Gu Wen was about to go to work. Hearing Black Tail’s words, he glanced at Dai Cen next to him: “You go take care of it.”
“Yes.”
The cub was too fragile, his bones weren’t fully developed yet, so it was indeed necessary to install a seat in the car for safety.
.
In the car.
Baby Shang sat in the child safety seat, swinging his little short legs, and asked in a soft voice, "Mom, is Fu Bao here too?"
Shang Xi kept her eyes on the road and said, "Yes, you can play with her later. You haven't seen her for a long time and miss your little sister, right?"
Fu Bao was her friend Nan Si's little daughter, three and a half years old.
She had been too busy taking care of her sick son these two weeks to manage the shop. Nan Si was a full-time housewife and lived in the community behind her shop. Two years ago, she would often come to her shop to play. Over time, the two became familiar with each other.
Seeing Shang Xi working hard these past two years, Nan Si volunteered to help watch the shop, saying she would come and sit in the shop to take orders when she was free, to earn a little money.
Earning money was secondary. Not opening the shop for half a month would have a huge impact and she could lose regular customers.
Shang Xi couldn't hire people on such short notice, so she agreed, saying she would pay Nan Si a salary.
Although Nan Si said it was not necessary, Shang Xi insisted on paying her.
After parking the car and heading to the shop with her son, Baby Shang's little nose twitched. He said, "The bad uncle is here too."
"Oh? Is that so?" Shang Xi poked his little nose and said to herself that her son's sense of smell had always been great. She used to dismiss it, tsk tsk, turns out he was a little wolf cub.
Sure enough, the closer they got, the clearer she could hear a fierce male voice coming from the shop.
The "bad uncle" her son referred to was Nan Si's husband, Luo Zhong.
At that moment, Luo Zhong's angry voice came from the shop: "You've been selling flowers for her for half a month. It's only right that you get paid for it. She doesn't want the money? She thinks you're a sucker she can take advantage of? If you don't ask for it, I will!"
"I didn't say she didn't want the money! Luo Zhong, don't say it like that. I just brought Fu Bao with me and came to open the shop and take some flower orders when I had time. I didn't make much in a day. Now Baby Shang is sick, it's not easy for her to take care of the child alone. I don't want to bring up money."
"Why don't you want to bring it up? Are we rich? Of course, you haven't worked for years, so you think money is easy to earn!"
Nan Si pursed her lips, also angry: "Back then when I said I would work and you would take care of our child, you felt it was shameful and refused. And think about how much Shang Xi has spent on clothes and toys for our child. How can you ask for this little money shamelessly!"
Luo Zhong sneered coldly: "You're pretentious. You think highly of yourself. People see you as a fool to take advantage of. I see taking care of the child has made you stupid too. Now you’ve even given birth to a stupid daughter!"
Nan Si's little daughter Fu Bao was three and a half years old. She was squatting there motionless looking at the roses, a thin little girl in this stifling environment. Seeing this, Shang Xi sighed.
"I don't want to argue with you anymore. Shang Xi said parents shouldn't yell or argue in front of the children, and close the door if you fight so the kids can't see. Look at your volume, even kids who aren't stupid could be scared stupid by you."
Luo Zhong glanced at his daughter and said angrily, "There must be something wrong with your genes. Who doesn't say she's stupid now? Fortunately our son is not stupid, otherwise you would have ruined my whole life."
Nan Si gave a bitter laugh, eyes red. She pointed to the door and said, "Get out. I don't want to see you right now. Don't disgrace yourself here in my friend's shop."
Luo Zhong stared at her for a moment: "If you don't take the money, I will come for it."
"Like hell you will! Are you a beggar that you have to ask for it!" Nan Si slapped the wrapping paper on the table, unable to tolerate it any longer. "I can only come to the shop when I'm done with housework. Don't worry, I haven't neglected my duties at home."
Shang Xi was standing outside with her son, unsure whether to go in or not.
It would be awkward for everyone if she went in, but not going in didn't seem like a solution either as things were escalating.
Baby Shang held her hand and stepped forward, wanting to go inside.
He pursed his lips and said, "Fu Bao is in there."
Her son's words were like waking someone from a dream.
That's right, Fu Bao was still inside. The oppressive environment was surely like hell for such a young child.
Adult awkwardness didn't matter, the child was the most pitiful one here.
She immediately took her son's hand and walked right in the shop.
Seeing her, Nan Si was startled: "Shang Xi, you're here?"
Luo Zhong didn't say anything.
Fu Bao was squatting on the ground, blankly looking at the roses, a thin little girl in this suffocating environment. Even seeing this, Shang Xi sighed.
"Auntie Nan." Baby Shang didn't call him bad uncle but went straight to Fu Bao.
He squatted down and asked, "Fu Bao, when did you come over?"
Fu Bao reacted blankly for ten seconds, then slowly turned her somewhat vacant big eyes to look at him. Another ten seconds later, her eyes brightened slightly: "Shang Xi."
She still remembered his name after not seeing him for half a month.
Baby Shang murmured affirmation. He asked again: "Have you eaten?" He repeated: "Eat." Then he waited patiently without saying anything else.
Ten seconds later, Fu Bao answered: "Eaten."
Seeing this, Nan Si smiled: "Baby Shang is better now, that's great. I knew this child was destined for wealth and nobility, and wouldn't have any major illness or calamity."
"When did you get here?" She felt a little awkward.
"Just arrived," Shang Xi said casually as she took out her phone. "I'll open the shop again tomorrow. Thank you for helping me out this time. I'll transfer 4,000 to you on WeChat. Remember to accept it."
"Brother Luo, have you eaten?"
Luo Zhong gave a light cough. "Yes, I've eaten. You guys go ahead, I'm leaving first."
After Luo Zhong left.
Nan Si sighed, "You didn't just get here, did you? Don't listen to him. He's himself, I'm myself. Even if I worked normally for you, how could I earn 4,000 in half a month?"
Shang Xi patted her shoulder and said with a laugh, "Just pretend your sister Shang is rich. He's right that you should take this money." She smiled and started busying herself with the shop's affairs.
Nan Si's eyes turned red. "I don't want to argue in front of the kids either. I know it affects them a lot, but I have a bad temper. I can't help it."
Shang Xi removed the wrapping from a dozen red roses while saying, "It takes two to argue."
Their marital issues didn't lie solely with Nan Si.
Nan Si gave a helpless laugh. "True. So I don't know what to do. You wouldn't believe it, but he wasn't like this when we first got together."
When they were passionately in love, she accidentally bumped her leg in the living room and yelped. He was showering but rushed out to ask what happened, and it was winter then.
Now her tears were like the water in the sea, abundant and salty, worthless.
Useless.
She knew clearly their marriage was nearing its end. If she continued enduring for the child, she might spend her whole life like this.
But it seemed she didn't want to endure anymore.
She turned her back and shed some tears. "You probably won't believe it, but I've seen him love me before."
Shang Xi trimmed the ends of a dozen red roses and put them in a basin of water to revive them. She said gently, "Nothing unbelievable about that. People change all the time, every day. So...love can fade too, right?"
Nan Si: "So I'm really curious how those couples who are loving till old age do it. My husband and I were like this in just six years of dating and marriage. I dare not imagine those who have been together for decades."
She seemed obsessed: "Does such lifelong true love exist in this world? Where neither strayed physically or emotionally all those years."
Shang Xi thought for a moment and nodded: "It exists, I think."
She believed such true love did exist in this world, but she didn't believe she would be so fortunate to encounter it.
Now with a child, it was even harder to meet someone. Few men wouldn't mind her having a child, right?
But she didn't seem to care much about finding a partner presently.
She just wanted to earn more money to raise her child. To buy whatever she wanted for herself, eat whatever she craved without worrying about cost, afford medical treatment if she fell ill - that would be enough to satisfy her spiritually.
However, when she thought about how her son's worth was rocketing up now, this overnight change in his worth was something even she couldn't keep up with if she was riding a rocket, huh. Having such a rich father as Gu Wen, tsk, to be honest she was even a little envious.
The adults were busy with adult matters, talking about adult stuff.
The two kids were also busy with their own things.
Baby Shang looked at Fu Bao's little black palms and pursed his lips: "Come on, let's go wash your hands."
"...My hands?"
"Mm." Baby Shang took Fu Bao's hand and went to the faucet, turned on the water, "Like this, wash."
He was teaching her.
Fu Bao reacted for a moment, then slowly scrubbed her little hands.
"All clean now, let's go." Baby Shang turned off the faucet.
Fu Bao didn't move. She mimicked him and turned on the faucet, staring at the water gushing out curiously.
"Can't waste water." Baby Shang's little face became a little more serious, pursed his lips, and turned it off.
He pointed at himself: "Say thank you, I helped you, you should say thank you."
Fu Bao stared blankly at him.
Baby Shang persisted: "You have to say thank you, that's what a polite child does."
The two kids stared with big eyes at each other, one with a serious little expression, the other somewhat confused, for a full minute.
"Say thank you."
Fu Bao moved her mouth: "Th-thank you."
"Mm, you're welcome." Baby Shang nodded seriously, satisfied.
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