Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Even in an unfamiliar environment, Shen Gali could precisely locate an empty room, go in, and enjoy lying down for a nice half-hour.

Uncle Li came to call him, saying it was almost time to head back and prepare dinner.

After sleeping, Shen Gali felt even more exhausted. As he went downstairs, it felt like the ground beneath his feet had turned into dough, fluffy and unreal.

Just as he reached the door, he suddenly heard someone calling "Li Li, Li Li" from behind.

Turning his head, he saw his adoptive father waving and jogging over.

Uncle Li tactfully stepped aside and closed his eyes to rest and conserve energy.

"Is Li Li leaving now?" His adoptive father asked reluctantly after catching his breath.

Shen Gali nodded.

"Then... when will you come back next time?" His adoptive father asked cautiously.

Shen Gali initially wanted to save the effort and simply reply "I don't know," but seeing this middle-aged man, who had run after a son who wasn't biologically his own, completely losing his dignity, he suddenly felt a flicker of sympathy.

He rarely bothered to think seriously, but this time he did, and said, "If you call me, I'll come back."

His adoptive father nodded eagerly like a chicken pecking at grain, rubbing his fingers together nervously. After a long moment, he pulled a bank card from his pocket and handed it over. "Li Li, this is some of Dad's private savings. The PIN is written on the back. Don't hold back on anything you want to eat or buy. If it's not enough, just ask."

Shen Gali didn't move or want to take it. It wasn't his money, after all.

Thinking his son was just being shy, the adoptive father simply shoved the card into the pocket of Shen Gali's pants and added, "If your husband treats you badly, don't endure it. Dad will definitely—mm—beg him not to do that to you."

Shen Gali: ?

That's not how he expected this to go.

After saying goodbye to his adoptive father, Shen Gali leaned against the window, eyes half-closed, his mind occasionally drifting to the bronze face of the original owner's adoptive father.

For once, he felt a hint of curiosity about a stranger.

"Brother! Brother, wait for me!" Just as the car started, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from outside.

Without looking, he knew who it was.

"Uncle Li, drive quickly."

Uncle Li: "But Young Master Lanqing..."

Shen Gali: "I owe him money, and he's here to collect it. Uncle Li, hurry."

Uncle Li silently glanced in the rearview mirror and stepped on the gas.

Shen Lanqing stopped in his tracks, standing alone in the filthy exhaust fumes, his eyes filled with moisture.

The car cruised smoothly along the main city avenue, the street scenes blurring past, gradually turning into black dots until they vanished.

"Uncle Li," Shen Gali suddenly spoke, "What is my adoptive father's name?"

This was the first time he had been curious about someone's name.

Uncle Li: ?

How could someone not know their own father's name? Oh, it's the arrogant, self-centered Shen Gali—well, that explains it.

"Mr. Shen's father's surname is Gong, his given name Yuan."

Shen Gali was puzzled: "Why is my surname Shen while his is Gong?"

Uncle Li: ...

How was he supposed to explain this?

"Because your mother's surname is Shen."

Shen Gali was confused.

Although in today's society many young people don't care which parent's surname their child takes, twenty-two years ago, the social trend generally favored the father's surname, didn't it?

Hmm... at dinner, it was the stepmother who sat at the head of the long table and entertained the guests. The adoptive father seemed to barely speak, always doing things cautiously, following the stepmother's lead.

A live-in son-in-law?

That was a possibility.

After thinking for a while, Shen Gali felt tired, closed his eyes, and slept.

Seeing that Shen Gali stopped pressing, Uncle Li secretly sighed in relief.

Poor Mr. Gong, being a live-in son-in-law gets no respect, especially in a big family like this. Ah—

*

At Nan Liujing's house.

Uncle Li cleared his throat and opened a black hardcover notebook: "Mr. Shen, today's dinner menu. Main staple: steamed rolls. Main dishes: cherry foie gras and stir-fried broccoli. Soup: blackfish soup. Dessert: stewed papaya with snow fungus."

Shen Gali finished listening and closed his eyes.

Pretend to be asleep. He had to pretend to be asleep.

"Snap!" Uncle Li closed the notebook with one hand. "Mr. Shen? Was the menu clear enough? Do I need to repeat it?"

Shen Gali didn't move or make a sound.

"Mr. Shen, pretending to sleep won't work. You must prepare dinner before the young master returns home. You have two hours." Uncle Li smiled, his face full of wrinkles.

Since pretending to sleep wouldn't work, Shen Gali slowly sat up weakly and rubbed his temples: "Sebas, I have a headache. How about ordering takeout tonight?"

"Mr. Shen, would you like me to call the family doctor for a thorough check-up?"

Hearing the phrase "thorough check-up," Shen Gali recalled the painful days spent in the hospital.

Completely defeated, he slowly stood up.

"Uncle Li," he said softly, "you'll still help me taste the dishes tonight, right?"

Uncle Li replied respectfully: "Yes, it's my duty."

After saying that, Uncle Li's eyes sharpened.

Something was wrong.

Something was definitely off.

Shen Gali entered the kitchen, while Uncle Li fished out his phone and dialed the family doctor, his voice trembling: "Hello, I need to schedule a gastroscopy in two hours."

Meanwhile.

It was a period of strict censorship by the broadcasting authorities, and artists were behaving more obediently than ever, with recent Weibo trending topics mostly consisting of trivial daily news.

Until that man's name appeared in the trending list:

#Shen Gali, suspected of marital infidelity.#

It all started with a post from a gossip magazine:

"Our staff received a screenshot of an anonymous chat, from someone claiming to be Shen Gali's affair partner after marriage, the new husband of the Nan family. They said Shen Gali sent them numerous explicit photos, which will be publicly released at midnight tonight. Stay tuned [smile]."

The gossip magazine often paid high prices for private secrets of celebrities and influencers to attract attention. At least eighty celebrities and influencers had their careers ruined because of them. Whenever they posted something, celebrities would tremble in fear.

Seeing that this incident had nothing to do with them, those celebrities and influencers heaved a sigh of relief and jumped into the gossip frenzy.

In the age of entertainment, it wasn't just celebrities who were entertained; the scandals of wealthy families had also become fodder for people's idle chatter.

Especially when the main character was Shen Gali, who had always had a terrible reputation.

"Finally! SJL has met his match!"

"Why wait till midnight? Office workers need their sleep! Don't be a jerk—release them now so we can eat our gossip and go to sleep."

"Nan Liujing deserves it. I used to sympathize with him, stuck in a wheelchair so young, but why did you marry Shen Gali? Birds of a feather flock together, you don't get it."

"Sympathize with him? They're both bad news. Want to know how Nan Liujing's mother died?"

"An evil person paired with a disabled one—in a way, that's a fun ship to follow, hehe."

"Previous commenter, now we have the ultimate drama: evil, disabled, and the other man. Exciting, isn't it?"

"SJL's cheating is only natural. Who would want to stay with an ugly, old, crippled waste of a person? Marrying him was pure business—each takes what they need."

Perhaps life had been too uneventful lately, and netizens were thoroughly enjoying the gossip. The saga of the wealthy family's feud climbed from seventh to first on Weibo's trending list, becoming the center of conversation.

Shen Gali was sitting at the counter, his head and face covered in flour, kneading and shaping a lump of white dough while a book on how to make flower rolls lay beside him.

He didn't get it.

A lump of dough, even if carved into flowers, would eventually be digested into glucose in the stomach. Why go through the trouble of shaping it? Did they think it would turn into diamonds inside?

The instructions were too complicated, and he couldn't understand them.

He'd just wing it.

He stretched the dough—twisted it—and threw it into the steamer basket.

*

The doorbell rang once, and Uncle Li quickly put down his newspaper to answer.

Standing at the door were the driver and Nan Liujing in his wheelchair.

Nan Liujing wore a dark blue suit, his shirt snow-white, a black tie with silver patterns held in place by a diamond tie clip. His sharp eyes were cold as ice, and his words were even frostier:

"Where's Shen Gali?"

The driver, too scared to even breathe, muttered, "I'm off," and made a quick escape.

Sensing trouble, Uncle Li assumed Shen Gali had done something terrible and quickly tried to cover for him: "Mr. Shen is in the kitchen preparing dinner for you, the young master. Should I go call him?"

Nan Liujing adjusted his shirt sleeve peeking out from his suit cuff, his fingers idly stroking the gem cufflink, his tone icy: "We'll talk after he's done making dinner. Push me inside first."

Between the scandal and the dinner, he was in for double punishment.

He wanted to see what excuse Shen Gali would cook up this time.