Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shen Xin’s features closely resembled Shen Dongjun’s. Years of indulgence in wine and women, coupled with his complete disregard for self-care, had left his complexion paler than most people’s and given him the usual middle-aged paunch.

Even so, he was hardly ugly. By ordinary human standards, he was even a pleasantly plump man with an agreeable face. The Shen family’s genes were clearly exceptional.

“Butler Zhu Yin?” Shen Xin had heard that a young and beautiful female butler had arrived at the Shen residence, so he had been prepared. Even so, when he saw Zhu Yin in person, her beauty stunned him for a moment.

After the amazement came wild delight.

He suppressed his excitement. Following a brief introduction, he dispensed with pleasantries and went straight to the point. “May I ask how much you earn as the Shen family’s butler, Miss Zhu Yin?”

“It’s all right.” Zhu Yin named a figure. The Shen family was immensely wealthy, and the salary they offered her was quite generous.

Shen Xin merely laughed.

He shook his head. “My younger son came of age last year. His mother bought him a car as a gift, worth this much.”

He made a gesture and smiled. “Butler, how long would you have to work to earn that much?”

Zhu Yin lifted her coffee and took a sip. The rich flavor made her eyes curve happily.

Shen Xin had chosen the café. He might be a lousy person, but he certainly knew his food, drink, and entertainment.

His gaze settled on the fingers curled around her cup. Everyone praised his daughter-in-law, Han Qingzi, as a rare beauty, but he shook his head. She was nowhere near the extraordinary woman before him.

Seeing Zhu Yin ignore him in favor of savoring her coffee, he did not get angry. He smiled and said, “You probably know my family’s circumstances. The Shen family has only one legitimate heir, Dongjun, and there has only ever been one Mrs. Shen: Dongjun’s late mother.”

When Zhu Yin finally looked at him, he gave her a confident smile. “One of my mistresses can casually spend several million on a gift for my illegitimate son. How much wealth do you imagine the Young Madam of the Shen family controls?”

“Would you like to become the Shen family’s Young Madam?”

Zhu Yin blinked.

So this was what he had been leading up to.

The more Shen Xin looked at her, the more pleased he became. Never mind that his son had disliked all the women he had found before; getting them past the old man had been difficult enough.

But Zhu Yin was different. Shen Xin had checked her résumé. Her education and abilities were outstanding, and she was so young and beautiful. Why would the old man place a woman like that beside his hot-blooded grandson unless he had something in mind?

He had probably had enough of Han Qingzi as a granddaughter-in-law too!

“Oh…” Zhu Yin finished her coffee in one gulp, then said slowly, “If I remember correctly, the Shen family already has a Young Madam.”

Shen Xin did not believe any woman in the world could resist such temptation. He smiled arrogantly. “You work for the Shen family. Can’t you see it for yourself? My son and daughter-in-law are a resentful couple. They’ll separate sooner or later.”

“I think you’re the one too old and blind to see clearly.” Zhu Yin’s face suddenly turned cold as she cursed him.

Caught off guard by the insult, Shen Xin could not react for a moment. He stared at her blankly.

Zhu Yin sat ramrod straight, her tone firmer than Shen Xin’s had ever been when reciting an oath at school. “The Young Master and Young Madam are clearly in love and utterly devoted to one another. As long as I’m here, they will grow old together!”

Shen Xin: ?

Zhu Yin looked at him with contempt. “You’re over fifty, yet every day you obsess over what goes on between your son and his wife. Is something wrong with you?”

Shen Xin felt that phrasing made him sound like some kind of pervert.

Wait. He came to his senses, and his face darkened.

“Zhu Yin, out of the goodness of my heart, I offered you unimaginable wealth. Don’t be so ungrateful!”

“Even Lily wouldn’t believe that.” Lily was the Shen residence’s large golden retriever, with a pair of large, gentle eyes. She was incredibly adorable.

Zhu Yin mocked him. “You’re incompetent, your own father has given up on you, and you’ve wronged your son. You’re afraid no one will support you in your old age, so you’re trying to stir up trouble through underhanded schemes.”

She shook her head. “Give it up. Shen Dongjun isn’t falling for it.”

Shen Xin’s face turned livid. As Old Mr. Shen’s only son, he had been flattered and indulged from childhood to old age. Never in his life had someone lectured him so bluntly to his face, least of all a junior.

Most outrageous of all, who was this woman? What standing did she have to criticize him?

Was she insane?

“Why am I criticizing you?”

Zhu Yin could not be bothered to continue the conversation. She stood and told him, “When you investigated me, didn’t you discover that I’m a shipper for the Young Master and Young Madam?”

Shen Xin: ???

Who the hell would investigate something like that?

More to the point, his son and that wife of his actually had shippers?

Zhu Yin paid no attention to Shen Xin’s state of mind in the private room. It was still early. She had taken the whole day off, and she could not waste it!

…

At the Shen residence.

Shen Dongjun listened to the information relayed by the private investigator.

The conversation between Zhu Yin and Shen Xin was reported back to him in full detail, without a single omission.

He was not surprised in the least that Shen Xin had said those things.

Shen Dongjun sneered. Year after year, that old bastard relied on the same contemptible tricks without improving in the slightest.

Zhu Yin’s words, on the other hand, had not merely shocked Shen Xin. Even Shen Dongjun was stunned for quite some time.

A shipper for him and Han Qingzi?

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Shen Dongjun did not doubt Zhu Yin’s abilities, nor did he believe the private investigator could hide from her.

If these words had made it back to him, the only explanation was that Zhu Yin had meant for him to hear them in the first place.

Only after sitting there for quite a while did he continue reading.

His butler had spent an impressively full day. At noon, she ate at a famous seafood restaurant. Afterward, she went to a themed amusement park, single-handedly dominated the game stalls, and won more than a hundred stuffed toys of every size along with a huge bunch of balloons. She hired four university students working part-time to carry everything, then rented a cotton-candy machine and stall so she could make free cotton candy for the visitors…

In the end, she gave away all the toys. He heard that every child in the amusement park had followed her around, asking to call her Mom.

Shen Dongjun: “…”

Once again, he wondered whether a person like that had really come to the Shen family to carry out some sort of scheme.

.

Shen Xin returned home with a dark expression.

Wen Qiuye brought him a glass of water, helped him sit on the sofa, then skillfully massaged his temples.

After that gentle sequence of ministrations, his expression improved considerably.

Of all Shen Xin’s many mistresses, Wen Qiuye had remained beside him the longest. He greatly enjoyed her gentle, attentive disposition, and the daughter and son she had borne him were his favorite children.

His elder daughter, Wen Jian, had gone abroad to study years ago and stayed overseas to work afterward. In recent years, she had rarely returned.

His younger son, Wen Zong, was nineteen and still in school.

Only after his mood improved did Wen Qiuye speak softly. “Zong called today. At the company, they only let him run errands. The work is exhausting, he isn’t learning anything, and by the end of each day his back and waist ache terribly. He feels so mistreated.”

Shen Xin glanced at her. “I told you before. He’s still young. He should stay in school and enjoy his youth. You were the one who insisted the boy was ambitious and asked me to send him to Shen Group for experience.”

Wen Qiuye sounded aggrieved. “I didn’t know they’d make him run errands every day without teaching him anything.”

Shen Xin scoffed. “What sort of people does Shen Group headquarters recruit? Even their interns start with master’s degrees from elite universities. Your son only got in through his father’s money and connections. What position do you expect him to have?”

Unconvinced, Wen Qiuye blurted out, “But Shen Dongjun joined the company directly under the old man back then…”

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she had gone too far. Sure enough, she turned to find Shen Xin watching her with a half smile.

“Qiuye.” He reached out and stroked his mistress’s well-maintained, still-smooth cheek.

Wearily, he pulled her hand away from him and said somberly, “Wen Zong is your child and mine, an illegitimate son who can’t even enter the Shen family genealogy. From what I’ve seen over the years, he doesn’t look likely to accomplish much. A lifetime free from worry about food or clothing is good enough for him.”

“No matter how much I dislike Shen Dongjun, I have to admit that he is the old man’s great hope and the Shen family’s sole legitimate heir. He is more capable than I am and can lead the Shen family farther.”

Only if the Shen family prospered could his own wealth and privilege continue.

His gaze swept across his mistress’s pale face, and he said gently, “A wise person knows their own limitations. Don’t covet what doesn’t belong to you. Understand?”