Chapter 66 I Never Taught You to Lie

Chapter 66: I Never Taught You to Lie

After Shen Shiyan’s ankle fully healed and the swelling subsided, he returned to Yuncheng, and Shen Sicheng flew back abroad under Shen Ci’s reluctant gaze.

Song Qiuchi had messaged him two days ago, and Shen Ci hadn’t been idle in those two days. Shen Shiyan had asked Song Qiuchi to photograph the textbook content from the past two days’ lectures, and he taught Shen Ci the material without any physical materials in Canghai City. When Shen Ci returned to class, he hadn’t fallen behind at all; in fact, he tackled problems with even more ease than before.

Shen Ci rested his chin on his hand and sighed, puzzled over why someone who hadn’t been in school for four years could still remember middle school material so clearly, and in every subject.

The physics and math formulas that gave him a headache, Shen Shiyan could explain accurately without even looking at a picture, explaining clearly how each formula was derived.

In English class, after the teacher dictated words and had classmates correct each other’s papers, Shen Ci glanced over and saw Song Qiuchi had no mistakes. Just as he thought he’d get a perfect score on the dictation too, he heard Song Qiuchi chuckle softly and circle his last word in red.

“You spaced out, didn’t you? The teacher said ‘celebrate,’ but you wrote ‘congratulate.’”

Shen Ci looked at Song Qiuchi’s paper—it was neatly written with “celebrate.”

“I misheard it,” Shen Ci explained absentmindedly. During the dictation, he’d tried hard not to get distracted, but in the end, he couldn’t help thinking back to when Shen Shiyan dictated words to him in the hospital room. His spoken English was nothing like the teacher’s flat, emotionless tone.

When Shen Shiyan was working on foreign trade deals, Shen Ci would often sneak a listen during his online meetings. His voice was cool, his English pronunciation precise and crisp, with a casual, lazy lilt at the end that was really pleasant to hear.

He took back his dictation notebook, corrected the mistake circled in red, and listened to the teacher explain grammar.

Shen Rong, after getting punched by Shen Ci that day, grew even more hostile toward him. Though Shen Siyu had promised to make Shen Ci pay for it, Shen Rong felt he had to get his own revenge.

With Shen Shiyan not picking him up these days, it was the perfect chance. This time, he was smarter about it. After class, he wandered around the school for a bit, then followed behind Shen Ci.

The school uniforms were all white, and Shen Ci had tied his hair at the back of his neck, making him blend in with the crowd. Unlike elementary school, the middle school exit was at the west gate, leading to a short, tree-lined path that opened up to the parking lot. Shen Ci, as unhurried as ever, left school and stepped onto the path, where a few thugs hiding nearby, working with Shen Rong, covered his mouth and dragged him away.

With few students around, this little incident went unnoticed.

They dragged him all the way to a short alley near the school that was slated for demolition. The hand over Shen Ci’s face finally came off. Before he could speak, a slap landed on his cheek—not too hard. Shen Rong knew that during this time when Shen Shiyan was recovering, Shen Ci wouldn’t tell him about it, so he made sure not to leave marks on his face. He didn’t want Shen Shiyan to find out, because it would bring endless trouble.

Shen Rong wasn’t scared of Shen Ci, but he was scared of Shen Shiyan. He always felt that Shen Shiyan’s face had the same stern authority as their grandfather’s, and after losing to him a few times, a single cold look from Shen Shiyan made his heart shake.

Shen Ci’s cheek stung a little.

“Hurry it up,” Shen Ci said with a cold laugh. “I want to go home after you’re done.”

Shen Rong was stung by his careless attitude. He’d always hated Shen Ci’s calm attitude, which made him feel like a crude, wild dog that had never seen anything good or had anything nice.

Most of the time, Shen Rong did the hitting, targeting spots clothes could cover. After a dozen punches, Shen Ci didn’t make a sound.

Sticking to the idea of getting even and moving on, Shen Rong didn’t linger. He released Shen Ci, spat a few threats, and left.

This was the first time Shen Rong had guessed Shen Ci’s thoughts correctly.

He indeed had no intention of telling Shen Shiyan about this. He didn’t want to add extra trouble, especially after nearly losing Shen Shiyan. Naively, he wished Shen Shiyan would take him away from the Shen family, far from Shen Siyu.

Shen Ci dusted off his clothes and retied his hair. His body ached from the beating, but he maintained a normal walking pace as he hurried back through the path, found the driver’s car, and slipped into the back seat.

“Sorry, I left something in the classroom and went back to get it,” Shen Ci explained with a smile, silently praying the driver wouldn’t notice anything wrong.

“No problem, young master.”

Shen Ci sighed in relief and looked out the window. The sunset seemed to tinge the air with a warm yellow. He added another vivid entry to his grudge list against Shen Rong.

At home, he thanked the driver and, upon entering, checked his face with his phone in the hallway to confirm there were no injuries before pocketing it.

“What are you looking at?” Shen Shiyan’s voice came unexpectedly. He was leaning at the corner of the hallway, watching him with a calm gaze.

“Nothing, d-ddy. A branch scratched my face on the path,” Shen Ci said guiltily, quickly lowering his head to change his shoes, avoiding Shen Shiyan’s eyes.

Shen Ci’s mood was easy to read when he faced him. Though it seemed normal, Shen Shiyan still felt something was off. He hummed softly in acknowledgment and didn’t press further.

For the past two nights, Shen Ci had pestered him to sleep in the same room, citing two reasons: one, Shen Shiyan had been willing to let him sleep over in Canghai City, and two, Shen Shiyan’s right hand still had the steel plate and cast, making it inconvenient, so Shen Ci could help when needed.

Shen Shiyan couldn’t even come up with a counterargument like Shen Ci’s list of one, two, three points. He simply refused with four words: “No, not needed.”

Yesterday, Shen Ci had unhappily asked why he seemed like a different person since returning to Yuncheng.

Shen Shiyan only said he hadn’t changed.

Canghai City was Canghai City, Yuncheng was Yuncheng. Back here, the dream should end.

But today, after dinner, Shen Ci said nothing. He finished his homework, packed his bag, said goodnight, and headed to his room.

“Shen Ci,” Shen Shiyan called out.

Shen Ci tensed up instantly. He swallowed and slowly turned back, waiting for Shen Shiyan to continue.

“Come to the study and sign something for me.”

Shen Shiyan’s right hand made writing difficult, and he was never satisfied with his left-handed script. Shen Ci had volunteered to be his proxy, signing contracts and documents in a hand almost identical to Shen Shiyan’s.

Just a signature.

For some reason, the joy Shen Ci should have felt was mixed with a complex emotion—bitter and sour, clogging his chest, hurting more than his bruises.

He didn’t understand why he was being so dramatic. He was the one who didn’t want Shen Shiyan to know, didn’t want to burden him, didn’t want him to worry. Yet despite all that, he still felt a pang of sadness that Shen Shiyan hadn’t noticed something was off today.

“Okay,” he said, trying to appear normal, and followed Shen Shiyan into the study. He smoothly wrote “Shen Shiyan” on a new contract.

As he set down the pen to leave, Shen Shiyan stood up first and said calmly, “Who bullied you?”

Shen Ci froze for a long moment. The bitter emotion surged, his nose stung, and his eyes quickly reddened.

“No one,” Shen Ci said, sniffing and turning his face away.

“Shen Ci,” Shen Shiyan called his name a second time, his tone still flat. “I never taught you to lie.”

Shen Ci fell silent, a single tear falling.

Why am I so quick to cry?

He felt a bit pathetic. Staring at Shen Shiyan’s toes, he wiped his tears with his sleeve.

“How did you know?” His voice still carried a sob, and Shen Shiyan heard the deep grievance in that faint cry.

Shen Shiyan looked down at his knees and said, “You never wear long pajama pants when it’s hot.”

He paused, then asked softly, “Are there new bruises on your legs?”

It was a question, but Shen Shiyan stated it as a fact.

Shen Ci was completely stunned, but soon felt a tiny, tiny, tiny flicker of joy.