Chapter 1 First Encounter

Chapter 1: First Meeting

"Be good once you get there... be sweet-tongued... call him daddy..."

The cloyingly sweet voice Bai Cong squeezed from his throat turned Bai Ci's stomach, especially with those pawing hands still running through his long hair.

"Got it?"

Bai Ci kept up a docile expression, lowering his gaze and nodding meekly.

The Shen family car had been parked outside the orphanage for a while now. Reluctant or not, it was time to send him off.

Perhaps because Bai Ci was usually the most obedient, Bai Cong didn't notice how brisk and eager his steps were as he saw him off. Even the cold gun barrels of the bodyguards by the luxury car didn't slow him down in the slightest.

Car exhaust kicked up a little dust. Bai Ci took one last look at the words on the orphanage gate — Tongyao Orphanage.

The faint scent of air freshener in the car suppressed the slight acid reflux in his stomach. Bai Ci turned back, running his hand over the expensive leather beneath him, sneering inwardly.

Tongyao? More like the 'yao' for making money.

The Shen family held sway over more than half of Yuncheng.

Great families had the most rules, and the Shen family was particularly bound by numerous formalities and strict protocols. From the family head down to the servants, every aspect of clothing, food, and daily necessities was constrained by rigid regulations.

Shen Wenzhou waited outside the manor, leaning on a black ebony carved cane, coldly sizing up the child getting out of the car.

The clothes Bai Ci wore were already the best in the orphanage, hanging loosely on his frame and still somewhat ill-fitting.

"Take it off."

Before Bai Ci could even process the command, a black-clad bodyguard had already grabbed his arm and stripped his clothes off in a few swift moves.

Ragged clothes shall not enter the Shen family gate; only a cleansed body can show sincere intent.

Shen Wenzhou gave an almost imperceptible nod and uttered a single word: "Acceptable."

Standing there naked, Bai Ci didn't feel humiliated. He merely filed it away in his mind, vowing to take fierce revenge someday if given the chance.

The steward held a branch — Bai Ci didn't know what kind of tree it was, probably willow-like, with slender leaves.

The leaves lightly brushed his cheeks, then the steward circled around him three times. Before entering the gate, he also took a red candle and waved it up and down around him. The flickering candlelight reflected in Bai Ci's beautiful peach-blossom eyes.

The distance from the car to the manor gate was only a dozen steps, yet Bai Ci felt as if an eternity had passed. One final step remained.

Before crossing the high threshold, someone handed him a cup of cold tea, telling him to take a sip and hold it in his mouth, then pour the rest outside the gate.

The tea had a strong, astringent bitterness. Bai Ci didn't like it.

Shen Wenzhou had already gone inside, closely watching as every step was completed. Seeing Bai Ci's thin legs step over the threshold, his entire person now enveloped in the shadow of the Shen family, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Once you enter the Shen family gate, you are a member of the Shen family." Shen Wenzhou's face was terrifying, his hair and eyebrows white, devoid of any expression or human warmth. His voice held not a trace of warmth as he spoke to Bai Ci.

Before he could even reply, Bai Ci was taken away by servants to bathe and change. Every part of his body was scrubbed meticulously, as if not cleaning him thoroughly would sully the Shen family's doorstep.

His hair was long, past his shoulders, but without an order from the family head, Shen Wenzhou, no servant dared to touch his hair without permission. They merely washed and dried it, then dressed him in a set of red clothes.

The dark red shirt made his skin appear even paler. His neck was slender, long hair swept to both sides. His peach-blossom eyes held an extremely light hue, his lips also lacking color. Standing there, he resembled a male ghost with feminine features.

In truth, Bai Ci was only around ten years old. He himself wasn't sure of his exact age.

Tongyao Orphanage appeared on the surface to be a welfare institution, but in reality, it dealt in human trafficking. It only accepted exceptionally beautiful boys and girls, specifically supplied to wealthy families as playthings.

Bai Cong was cunning and scheming. Coupled with the fact that Yuncheng's police department and various forces were colluded with, making them practically useless, this illegal orphanage in a remote area had been operating for many years.

Bai Ci didn't know exactly how Bai Cong contacted the buyers. He only knew that every time someone was sent out, the orphanage's meals would improve a bit, because Bai Cong had sold someone for a good price again.

I must be the most expensive, Bai Ci thought as he was led deeper into the Shen family manor. After all, this was the Shen family, whose holdings accounted for almost 40-50% of the entire Yuncheng. They primarily dealt in energy technology, while also dabbling in dining, entertainment, real estate, and more.

He had been precocious since childhood. Before Bai Cong picked him up, at nearly ten years old, he had been begging on the streets to survive. When desperately hungry, he would even steal dog food from households that kept dogs.

When Bai Ci first arrived at the orphanage, he didn't even know his own name. It was as if he had been begging on the streets since birth.

Bai Cong said his appearance was beautiful, with an otherworldly charm. Even at a young age, his expression was aloof and distant, and his skin was very white, much like the porcelain white jade screens in antiques. So, he named him Bai Ci.

Shen Wenzhou brought him to the ancestral hall. Rows of candles inside brightly illuminated the center, while the surroundings were dim. The Shen family ancestral tablets towered above, appearing very solemn.

Two rows of light yellow prayer mats were neatly arranged on the floor. On the mat slightly to the left of the center, a youth knelt stiffly, also dressed in red clothes and pants. Hearing people enter, the youth showed no sign of turning around. Bai Ci only saw his round back of the head and the slightly reddish soles of his feet.

Shen Wenzhou personally pulled Bai Ci over, making him kneel to the right of the youth. The two of them faced the Shen family ancestral tablets directly, their red attire resembling a wedding ceremony where the couple bows to the elders.

Someone approached from the side. Bai Ci didn't look, only stealing glances at the youth beside him with his peripheral vision. A gust of wind passed through the hall, causing the lamps and candles to sway. Bai Ci froze for a moment — he had never seen a face like that before; it could be called bewitchingly handsome.

People who had seen Bai Ci said he looked effeminate. That youth was completely the opposite — absolutely and utterly dashingly handsome. His features were sharply defined, his eyes and brows deep-set, his eyelashes long and straight. His tightly pressed lips had a distinct line; the cupid's bow wasn't high but was exceptionally sensual.

Shen Wenzhou walked behind him. After paying respects to the ancestors, he personally brought over the family register.

"Shen Shiyan, Shen Ci."

Shen Wenzhou called out their names as he wrote, never asking Bai Ci, having already changed his surname for him.

Shen Ci.

Fine. Whatever he was called didn't matter. It sounded much better than the surname Bai. Bai Ci — no, Shen Ci silently repeated his new name in his heart and quickly accepted this fact.

"Shen Shiyan shall be the head of the fourth branch. Shen Ci shall be raised under his care. Strictly adhere to the Shen family precepts. Do not cause any trouble."

Shen Ci was a bit confused. Who was raising him? Shen Shiyan? But he looked only about eighteen or nineteen years old.

On the way here, he had heard Bai Cong say he was bought back to serve as a household guardian.

Great families were superstitious. Shen Wenzhou was advanced in years and had suffered a serious illness this year. Coupled with stock market losses, he was filled with dread and spent a large sum to have someone perform a fortune-telling.

The fortune teller looked horrified, saying only that the Shen family might show signs of its great mansion collapsing in the future. It required a member of Shen blood, with eighteen being the optimal age, to live together with a boy whose birth characters were highly compatible until adulthood. Only then could this malignant energy be dispersed, ensuring the Shen family's safety and peace.

Shen Wenzhou's three sons were already adults. The eldest, Shen Siwen, was already forty-eight this year. Though he married early, he had been childless for many years. The second son, Shen Siyu, had one young son under his care; another was a daughter raised by his wife's family. The third son, Shen Sicheng, was Shen Wenzhou's child born in his old age. Now twenty and still unmarried, he seemed the most suitable candidate. But who would willingly sacrifice themselves for such a sordid affair?

The three sons were unwilling, and Shen Wenzhou was even more unwilling.

Others didn't know, but Shen Wenzhou knew: Shen Siwen wasn't the eldest. He had another illegitimate son, only a few months older than Shen Siwen. Such a scandal back then was enough to make Shen Wenzhou's position as family head untenable. He paid a large sum of hush money to make them get out of Yuncheng, and he never saw them again.

Clutching at straws, Shen Wenzhou had people search for those from back then. The woman he had the illicit affair with, who became pregnant, was now old and ill. The illegitimate son named Shen Sinian had long since established his own family and career, and had a daughter.

Shen Wenzhou was disheartened, already planning to sacrifice Shen Sicheng, when good news arrived.

Shen Sinian actually also had an illegitimate son on the side, named Shen Shiyan, exactly eighteen years old.

The Shen family, who could turn clouds into rain with a flip of their hand outside, whom everyone avoided like the plague, had now found an illegitimate son's illegitimate son to serve as a household guardian. Truly laughable.

Shen Ci didn't know what kind of dumb luck Bai Cong had. The randomly fabricated birth characters he provided happened to match Shen Shiyan's.

According to what Bai Cong told the Shen family, he should be eleven years old. Now he had to call the eighteen-year-old Shen Shiyan "daddy." Shen Ci thought for a moment and accepted it. After all, it was just a form of address.

Whatever. It was better than life in the orphanage. No need to go out begging. It was just calling someone daddy — no big deal.