Jiang Que was puzzled, about to ask what was going on when Zhao Ruxin and Shen Qingxue, who had been focused on Shen Tazhi, followed Qi Qing’s gaze and looked at him standing behind He Yun.
“Oh,” Shen Qingxue exclaimed softly, her face turning slightly pale as she saw the small dark tentacles behind Jiang Que.
The dark tentacles behind Jiang Que moved slightly, slowly shifting to his back to shield themselves from Shen Qingxue’s view.
“Auntie Shen, don’t be afraid, I don’t eat people,” the five-year-old little boy stepped forward, smiling sweetly at Shen Qingxue.
Although he didn’t understand what Qi Qing and this Auntie were talking about, since it was mentioned by the Elder and they had to rely on them to leave, Jiang Que didn’t mind being obedient at this moment.
Despite the several small tentacles entwined around him, he still had the appearance of a cute child. Shen Qingxue was holding her own child and regretted her initial strong reaction upon seeing the well-behaved Jiang Que.
“It’s okay,” Shen Qingxue shook her head, “I’m not scared, it’s just… my first time meeting you, not that I dislike you.”
Jiang Que understood this was just a polite remark and didn’t dwell on it. He didn’t move forward, afraid of startling her, and returned to stand behind He Yun.
Qi Qiu, who had been tricked countless times by Jiang Que’s pretense of being good, silently rolled his eyes.
He’s always pretending to be good.
Zhao Ruxin remained calm throughout, perhaps mentally prepared to encounter various non-human creatures when he decided to seek out the Qishan Taoists. Seeing a little Jiang Que was still within his tolerance level.
He first picked up the still unconscious Shen Tazhi, then took He Yun’s large suitcase. “Let me take this. We drove here; I’ll take you down.”
Shen Qingxue also helped with the children’s luggage.
He Yun didn’t refuse. She held Jiang Que with her left hand, Qi Qing with her right, and with Qi Qiu beside her, led the three children down the mountain.
With Zhao Ruxin and Shen Qingxue joining them, their descent sped up significantly, and they reached the foot of the mountain before sunset.
Not far away was a large SUV, originally meant for Shen Tazhi to lie in, but now the unconscious Shen Tazhi leaned against He Yun, allowing space for the remaining three children.
The vehicle started, heading towards the capital city.
Three days later…
“Shen Qingxue, I’m here to find Qi Qing.”
A clear child’s voice sounded from outside. Without waiting for Shen Qingxue to come and open the door, Jiang Que had already passed the facial recognition scan and bounced into the Shen family’s old mansion.
Shen Qingxue hurriedly came out carrying a glass of chilled watermelon juice, smiling as she lifted the small Jiang Que in her arms. “Xiao Que, why did you finish school so early today?”
Jiang Que’s small tentacles wrapped around Shen Qingxue’s arm, with one already skillfully reaching out for the watermelon juice. Holding the glass, Jiang Que replied, “Hmm, it’s because today is Wednesday, they said kindergarten doesn’t have classes on Wednesday afternoons.”
“Kindergartens are like this now?” Shen Qingxue was surprised. “When your brother Zhizhi was in kindergarten, they had classes until three in the afternoon every day.”
Upon hearing Shen Tazhi’s name, Jiang Que, who was slurping the watermelon juice, looked up. “How is Zhizhi-gege doing now?”
“He’s much better now. Let me take you to see him,” Shen Qingxue’s face couldn’t hide her happiness.
She personally carried Jiang Que under the scorching sun through the garden. The household staff had all been dismissed when Qi Qing mentioned that someone had harmed Shen Tazhi, so Jiang Que didn’t need to worry about his tentacles being exposed.
Excitedly, he raised his tentacles to show Shen Qingxue, “Auntie, look, my tentacles have grown two centimeters longer today!”
Shen Qingxue earnestly praised him, “Really? Xiao Que, you’re amazing.”
She continued to chat with the child as she carried him into the house, and Qi Qing, who had heard the voices from afar, came out of the house.
Seeing Jiang Que being carried, she sighed. “Auntie, you spoil him too much. He can walk on his own.”
Once Jiang Que was placed on the ground, he childishly grabbed onto Shen Qingxue’s pant leg. “I want to be carried.”
He was only five years old! What’s wrong with wanting to be carried? His senior brothers and sisters used to love carrying him, even the Elder had carried him before!
Qi Qing: …
What a childish brat.
Shen Qingxue was very indulgent towards children, smiled, and lifted Jiang Que up again.
Shen Tazhi had always been mature, Qi Qiu and Qi Qing were like old souls in young bodies, only Jiang Que behaved like a real child. At the age of five or six, he was well-behaved, loved to act coquettish, and became especially clingy once he got close to someone, allowing Shen Qingxue to experience the feeling of being a mother again.
Jiang Que stuck out his tongue at Qi Qing while in Shen Qingxue’s arms.
Qi Qing couldn’t be bothered to argue with this kind of child, so she pulled Shen Qingxue into the house and closed the door.
Inside the room, Shen Tazhi was lying quietly on the bed.
Compared to three days ago when he looked pale and weak, his complexion had noticeably improved. Qi Qing said, “I’ve given him acupuncture four times. His body foundation is also good. We forced out the mother worm last night, so he should wake up in about two or three days. After that, continue following the prescription I gave you to help him recover slowly over the next half month.”
Shen Qingxue visibly breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s really great. If it weren’t for you all, I really don’t know what I would have done. Do you need any compensation?”
“No need,” Qi Qing waved her hand. “The Elder left us enough money before they left, and you helped us find a place to stay here. That’s already a big favor.”
Their house was found with Zhao Ruxin’s help, rented near the Shen family villa. As to why someone would be willing to rent out a high-end villa in this area at a low price, it must be due to the two of them assisting behind the scenes.
That was enough, and Qi Qing didn’t require any other rewards. She followed her master’s orders to come down the mountain, waiting for the opportunity after thirteen years; it wasn’t for making money.
Even if Shen Tazhi wasn’t Jiang Que’s “destined person”, she would have still helped if she encountered him, merely a matter of giving a few acupuncture sessions and prescribing some medicine.
Thinking about the “destined person” matter, Qi Qing couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Que, who was earnestly drinking watermelon juice in Shen Qingxue’s arms.
Would this kind of naive little brat who only knows how to eat really end up with a rich young master with such a dignified air? Qi Qing expressed deep skepticism.
Shen Qingxue wanted to say something, but Qi Qing interrupted her. “The most important thing now is to find out who placed such a malicious curse on Shen Tazhi. Do you have any clues?”
Shen Qingxue hesitated. “There are… some.”
She glanced at Jiang Que in her arms, then set him down, patting his head. “You stay here and keep your gege company for a while. Qi Qing and I need to go out and talk.”
Jiang Que nodded and moved a small stool from the side, sitting in front of Shen Tazhi’s window. He waved to Shen Qingxue, “You go, I’ll watch over the house here!”
His small tentacles also extended from behind him, waving to Shen Qingxue.
Shen Qingxue couldn’t help but smile, then gently closed the door behind her as she left with Qi Qing.
Click.
As the door closed, Jiang Que propped himself on the edge of the bed, staring at the sleeping Shen Tazhi in the middle of the bed.
Shen Tazhi’s appearance suited his aesthetics perfectly, even though he was unconscious with his eyes closed, preventing Jiang Que from seeing what his eyes actually looked like.
However, Jiang Que thought that a gege with such a cold appearance probably had a pair of very serious eyes, much like his father Zhao Ruxin.
The air conditioning was running in the room, but Jiang Que, being a child after all, couldn’t sit still for long after observing Shen Tazhi for a while. He wandered around the room, holding the empty cup and muttering to himself.
“I wonder what Qi Qing is talking to Auntie Qingxue about. She’s been so secretive these days, always whispering to various people behind my back. How annoying, just like the senior brothers and the Elder, never tell me anything, just send me to kindergarten.”
As he continued muttering, he strolled over to Shen Tazhi’s bedside.
“Gege, can you play with me when you wake up? Qi Qiu will be practicing swordsmanship, Qi Qing is always mysterious, Auntie is busy, and after leaving the sect, there’s no one left to play with me.”
It was just a casual complaint, not expecting Shen Tazhi to respond. After saying this, he ran to the other side of the bed to fiddle with the flowers on Shen Tazhi’s bedside.
The flowers must have been brought by someone visiting, and Jiang Que didn’t know the variety. He stood on tiptoes, carefully examining and playing with them, creating stories for each flower.
“You’re Little Beauty, and you’re Little Handsome, childhood sweethearts,” Jiang Que said to the two flowers placed together.
He struggled to pick up another flower and inserted it between Little Beauty and Little Handsome. “You both went to kindergarten together, and one day, a transfer student named Little Red came to the kindergarten.”
“Little Red is a witch, she loves to break up good friends, and she can…”
As Jiang Que continued, he lost his balance and bumped into the table. He pouted, rubbing his sore arm, “I’m not playing anymore.”
After taking a big circle around the room, he returned to his small stool, continuing to stare at Shen Tazhi lost in thought.
“Gege, if you wake up, will Auntie Qingxue stop liking me so much?” he whispered softly. Jiang Que was just being affectionate; he wasn’t foolish. It was quite clear to him that a large part of Shen Qingxue’s affection for him stemmed from her feelings for Shen Tazhi.
If Shen Tazhi woke up and didn’t like him, then no matter how much Shen Qingxue favored him, she would eventually distance herself from him.
Jiang Que murmured softly, “I won’t compete with you for your Mom. I hope you won’t dislike me when you wake up. I can be your friend, share some snacks with you.”
He was chatty by nature, always restless, and talking to himself when alone had become a habit. Consequently, Jiang Que didn’t notice that Shen Tazhi’s fingers, which had been lying quietly on the bed, had moved slightly.
Jiang Que continued to ramble, “I can also share novels with you, but I only brought three out with me. The rest are all left back at the sect, and now I can’t go back in. When we can return in the future, I can take you to find the novels I’ve hidden.”
“Can you accompany me to kindergarten? I can also accompany you to go to middle school, but Little Teacher Lulu said my tentacles must be hidden before I can go out. You have to help me hide my tentacles.”
“Also, although I promised to share snacks with you, you can’t eat too much. I…”
“…What snacks?”
A hoarse question sounded in Jiang Que’s ear.
Not realizing it, Jiang Que casually said, “The snacks Auntie made.”
The next moment, he suddenly bounced up, shocked to see Shen Tazhi, who had opened his eyes at some point, lying on the bed.
“When did you wake up?!”
The eyes of the handsome brother were as sharp as he imagined, sharp and piercing, but now they were filled with fatigue and resignation.
“Probably… before you started talking about Little Beauty and Little Handsome?” Shen Tazhi replied.
Jiang Que: ?!?
Trembling, Jiang Que asked, “How much do you remember?”
Shen Tazhi smiled gently, his gaze naturally passing over Jiang Que’s anxiously twisted little tentacles.
“Not much.”
Jiang Que breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Tazhi added, “When I was unconscious, I still had some awareness. I remember almost everything.”
Jiang Que: ?
Re…member…ed.
In other words, from the first encounter, Shen Tazhi remembered everything Jiang Que said when they were alone in the room?
Looking at the stunned child, Shen Tazhi felt mischievous and added, “Weren’t you by my bedside yesterday saying you felt lonely and wanted a brother? Why aren’t you calling me gege now?”
Jiang Que fell silent.
Jiang Que took two steps back.
Jiang Que gathered his strength.
He burst out of the room and hugged Qi Qing, who was talking with Shen Qingxue, and burst into tears.
Qi Qing looked at Jiang Que in surprise, “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
Shedding tears, Jiang Que shook his head and choked out, “Shen Tazhi woke up.”
Shen Qingxue immediately stood up to go see Shen Tazhi, but in the meantime, she also tried to pick up Jiang Que, who was crying for some unknown reason.
In an unprecedented move, Jiang Que managed to dodge Shen Qingxue’s embrace. He held onto Qi Qing and continued crying, “I don’t want gege anymore, Shen Tazhi bullies people… sniff, sniff, I want you to be my gege.”
Mocked upon waking up for secretly listening to his stories, he hated Shen Tazhi!!
Qi Qing: …
Firstly, she’s a girl.
Secondly, she’s half a month younger than Jiang Que.
Nighttime.
The lights were on in the Shen residence, with He Yun and Shen Qingxue busy in the kitchen, and Zhao Ruxin cleaning the house. They were preparing dinner to celebrate Shen Tazhi finally waking up from his coma.
Jiang Que squeezed between Qi Qiu and Qi Qing, looking aggrieved as he complained, “Shen Tazhi is mean. He mocks me, he eavesdrops on me telling stories. I don’t want him as my gege.”
Qi Qiu and Qi Qing followed along with his complaint, “Yes, yes, it’s all his fault. Don’t let him be your gege.”
Jiang Que pursed his lips, “No, I want a gege.”
Qi Qiu: …
He looked at Qi Qing in despair.
Qi Qing gave him a stern look, signaling him to continue with the original plan.
Qi Qiu, staring at the little troublemaker in front of him, reluctantly said, word by word, “It’s okay, I’ll be your gege.”
After observing him for a moment, Jiang Que decisively refused, “I don’t want that.”
Qi Qiu: ?
Jiang Que: “I want a handsome gege, and you’re not handsome.”
Qi Qiu’s fists clenched.
This crybaby is looking for a fight!!
On the other side, Shen Qingxue came out of the kitchen, looking at the sulking Jiang Que, then glanced at the bewildered Shen Tazhi, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
She couldn’t resist patting Shen Tazhi’s head, “Even though Jiang Que is a child, he has his pride. You went and teased him. Look at him now, all upset.”
Shen Tazhi raised his hands in surrender, “I’ve been surrounded by his muttering for three days while unconscious. Waking up, I wanted to see which kid was such a chatterbox. Turns out he’s quite cute…”
“You can’t bully him,” scolded Shen Qingxue. “You made him cry, now you have to comfort him.”
Shen Tazhi smiled helplessly, “Alright, I’ll comfort him.”
Just now, Zhao Ruxin had a talk with him in the study.
Even though he had some level of consciousness while in a coma, coupled with his father’s conversation, Shen Tazhi now had a rough idea of the current situation. Therefore, he didn’t show too much surprise when faced with Qi Qiu and Jiang Que’s tentacles coming to greet him.
He wasn’t afraid either; he had even encountered the legendary gu worms. What fear could he have of non-human creatures?
Moreover, rather than calling them non-human creatures…
Shen Tazhi couldn’t help but glance at the slender tentacles swaying behind Jiang Que.
The tentacles hadn’t grown the white suction cups yet; they were currently transparent gray, with faintly visible intricate white circles inside. Hence, from a distance, the swaying tentacles actually looked more like slender cat tails.
…Rather than non-human creatures, it was more accurate to say it resembled a cat with an extra tail. Just a bit too many tails.
Shen Tazhi chuckled at his own analogy.
Jiang Que was almost comforted, but he heard laughter in the distance. When he looked up, he saw Shen Tazhi sitting in a wheelchair at the kitchen door, smiling at him.
Jiang Que: …
Sniffling, Jiang Que continued to drop his little pearls of tears.
Shen Tazhi’s smile froze on his face.
He managed to make someone cry again before comforting them. Was there still a chance to comfort them now?
Qi Qiu and Qi Qing tried to comfort Jiang Que but failed. In the end, He Yun stepped in, taking away the helpless Qi Qiu and Qi Qing, and pushed Shen Tazhi next to Jiang Que, letting the two kids have some time alone.
Jiang Que, who was crying alone, heard the sound of the wheelchair. He immediately turned away and refused to look at Shen Tazhi.
Shen Tazhi is so annoying, he no longer liked Shen Tazhi.
“Um…” came the clear voice of the young man from behind.
After drinking some water and recovering his voice, Shen Tazhi’s hoarseness had disappeared.
Jiang Que paused.
The voice of the handsome gege was indeed as pleasant as he had imagined. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to dislike Shen Tazhi.
“Want some chocolate?”
Shen Tazhi’s next words made Jiang Que freeze in place.
He silently turned around, wiping away the tears from his face. “What chocolate?”
Shen Tazhi was Shen Tazhi. He couldn’t let his dislike for Shen Tazhi get in the way of chocolate.
Seeing that Jiang Que was willing to turn back, Shen Tazhi breathed a sigh of relief and handed a large box of chocolates that he had just taken out of the fridge to Jiang Que.
“Here, open it and take a look?”
He remembered hearing Jiang Que muttering about wanting chocolate while he was in a coma. Coincidentally, there was an unopened box of chocolates in the fridge that someone had given as a gift, so Shen Tazhi decided to bring it out and give it to Jiang Que.
Jiang Que stared at the box of chocolates, almost as big as himself.
In the sect, he had only eaten chocolates that came in small packages within a box. He had never seen such a large box before.
Seeing Jiang Que looking puzzled, Shen Tazhi reached out, helped him peel off the plastic wrap, and then opened the somewhat heavy lid for the child.
“Wow.”
The moment the lid was opened, Jiang Que completely forgot about crying.
The box contained rows of exquisite chocolates, each with a different shape – there were white chocolates in the shape of strawberries, small square dark chocolates drizzled with chocolate sauce, hazelnuts on top, and heart-shaped strawberry-flavored chocolates.
It was Jiang Que’s first time seeing so many different types of chocolates. He looked up in disbelief, “Are these all for me?”
“Yes.”
Seeing his delight, Shen Tazhi breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “They are all for you. If you like them, I have more.”
“This time, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have mocked you. I won’t mention your previous mutterings again. Can you forgive me?”
With such a sincere apology, Jiang Que blinked his eyes, feeling a bit embarrassed.
“I wasn’t that angry anyway,” he whispered softly.
“I forgive you.”
Jiang Que picked up a piece of chocolate and first handed it to Shen Tazhi.
“Here, have some. I promised you earlier that I would share delicious snacks with you.”
Shen Tazhi took the chocolate from his hand, and only then did Jiang Que pick one for himself.
He carefully planned, “This one is for Auntie, this one for Qi Qing, this one for Qi Qiu, this one for me, this one for you, and this one for Auntie…”
Shen Tazhi smiled helplessly, “You don’t need to separate them like that. I have plenty more at home. Take them back with you. Each of you can have a box, okay?”
Jiang Que almost lost his balance, “Each of us gets a box?”
“Yes,” Shen Tazhi chuckled. “Are you going to kindergarten tomorrow? I should be able to move normally tomorrow and can even take you to kindergarten, okay?”
Jiang Que was stunned for several seconds before he reacted.
He immediately set down the chocolate on his knee, stood on the sofa, and hugged Shen Tazhi, who was in the wheelchair.
“Okay!”
Shen Tazhi held his waist, “Be careful not to fall.”
Jiang Que was still very excited, completely forgetting how angry he was before. He hugged Shen Tazhi tightly, with his tentacles wrapping around his wrist.
He leaned in close to Shen Tazhi’s ear and whispered softly, “Actually, I don’t dislike you. I was just embarrassed that you overheard what I was saying.”
The child rubbed his cute face against Shen Tazhi, just like a little cat being affectionate. “I really like you, I want you to be my gege.”
Shen Tazhi, with the child’s fluffy head nuzzling against him, hugged him in confusion. After a while, he looked at Jiang Que, whose eyes were sparkling with joy, and smiled.
“Well, I like you too.”
Surviving a great danger unexpectedly brought him a very cute… little cat-like brother.
Shen Tazhi held Jiang Que, feeling a bit sentimental, realizing that his luck wasn’t too bad after all.
In the distance, Shen Qingxue, who was setting dishes on the table, looked at the two children hugging each other and couldn’t stop smiling.
“They made up so quickly. I was worried they might fight. Truly, it’s a destined bond,” she remarked.
He Yun also felt emotional. “It’s the first time I’ve seen Jiang Que being so easily comforted. He can be a bit stubborn. The sect has spoiled him too much. I’m worried he might stumble in the future due to his stubbornness.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Shen Qingxue said, patting her on the shoulder. “He’s stubborn, but our little Tazhi is steady. They balance each other out perfectly. With us around, there’s no way they could stumble.”
Shen Qingxue chuckled, “You have no idea. Little Tazhi used to throw away love letters directly into the trash. He wouldn’t play with friends his age that I introduced to him. He could scare people to tears with his cold face. I thought he would be lonely forever.”
He Yun still had some concerns, but Shen Qingxue was delighted. “That’s great! I have two sons now. When they are together, I will definitely give Jiang Que a big red envelope.”
