The Shen family's ancestral residence was brightly illuminated at night.
The Old Master retired to his room early, while Yang Lan and Shen Yan sat on the sofa watching television.
Shen Chunjiang had spread out a document in his hands but kept glancing at his watch, visibly preoccupied.
Just as Shen Qian entered, he was called over.
"Dad?"
"Shen Wan went out in the morning and hasn't returned yet. Why don't you go out and look for her..."
"What's there to worry about?" Yang Lan interrupted him, "She's almost twenty years old, are you afraid she'll get lost?"
Shen Chunjiang's expression darkened, and his gaze turned stern.
He disliked being interrupted, and even more so disliked being contradicted.
Yang Lan sneered but wisely remained silent.
"Have you called her?" Shen Qian asked casually.
"I don't know her phone number." Shen Yan smirked, a gleam of mischief in her eyes.
Shen Qian glanced at his father.
Shen Chunjiang awkwardly avoided his gaze.
He didn't know either.
In the end, Shen Qian still left the house and drove to the city center.
Just then, his phone rang; an unfamiliar number. He answered it—
"Brother..."
City Center Hospital, second floor, surgery ward.
Shen Qian found room 206, lifted the doorknob, and gently pushed the door open.
On the hospital bed, a young girl with a pale face smiled at him.
A piece of gauze was affixed to her left forehead, faintly oozing red. She had abrasions on her cheekbone and the side of her neck to varying degrees.
The man's brow furrowed. "What happened?"
"A minor car accident."
"Minor?"
She stammered, "No broken bones, just some superficial injuries..."
Her implication was clear: Shouldn't this be considered minor?
Shen Qian gave her a nonchalant look. Shen Wan instinctively lowered her head, lips pressed together, resembling a child who had done something wrong.
The sound of chair legs scraping against the floor was followed by the man swiftly pulling a visitor's chair and settling into it. His eyes held a hint of fervor.
"Give me the full account of what happened."
Shen Wan raised her head, her pale face displaying a pair of clear, deep black eyes that sparkled like polished obsidian.
The contrast between black and white was stark.
The man's gaze flickered, a hint of danger briefly surfacing and quickly dissipating.
Shen Wan had carefully crafted her account. She shifted the narrative away from sacrificing herself for Zhou Chi and instead described a clash with a street racing gang that had seized her bag. The bag held a hundred thousand yuan in cash, which she had withdrawn from the bank that morning. Spotting a taxi in the vicinity, she had urged the driver to chase the gang, but his sluggishness irritated her. Growing impatient, she ejected him from the car and took the wheel herself, which ultimately resulted in the accident...
Considering her current situation, trying to pacify both the taxi driver and the truck driver was simply impossible.
Since she couldn't handle it alone, there was an easy solution: seeking "reinforcements".
And Shen Qian was undoubtedly the best choice!
What she couldn't do, he could effortlessly handle.
However, before that, she had to convince him to agree.
"... That's what happened." Shen Wan concluded and then naturally lowered her head. Her long black hair split into two parts, cascading over her shoulders, revealing a section of her snow-white neck. Delicate and fragile, it seemed like it could break with a gentle touch.
Shen Qian adjusted his sleeve, using it to hide the twitching of his fingertips, maintaining his usual expressionless demeanor.
"Is it worth risking your life for a mere hundred thousand yuan?" His voice was deep.
Shen Wan looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Isn't it worth it?" Her gaze faltered, a hint of sadness flickering in her eyes, and a trace of faint self-doubt emerged. "I... have never seen so much money before."
As she spoke, her fingertips clenched together.
A mixture of shame, embarrassment, discomfort, and unease formed a blend of emotions that felt nearly suffocating.
After a while, a soft sigh escaped the man's lips...
"This time, I'll let it go. Don't do something foolish like this again."
Shen Wan was puzzled. How could this be considered foolish?
Shen Qian could tell what she was thinking and couldn't help but show a hint of helplessness. "Is money more important than your life?"
She nodded, earnestly explaining, "Lacking money means no access to food, water, or shelter. People could face starvation, dehydration, or freezing to death. For those who have their basic needs met, life does hold more significance than money, as their survival is not immediately threatened without it. However, for those who are impoverished and struggling day-to-day, having no money is akin to losing their lives."
The man's expression turned slightly cold. "So, has the Shen family brought you to a point of struggling for basic necessities?"
Shen Wan's neck tensed as if his sudden sternness startled her. She waved her hands anxiously. "I didn't mean it like that..."
"Then why would you say something like 'having no money is akin to losing their lives'?"
"Because it's what I'm accustomed to."
Shen Qian unconsciously furrowed his brows.
"Bro, you have to admit that even though we both share the same surname, we're different," the girl said, pursing her lips out of habit. Her gaze drifted in the air, avoiding landing on the man's face.
"What's the difference?"
"Since your birth, you've been the young master of the Shen family, whereas I'm a second-generation member who joined later. Our educational backgrounds, personal refinement, beliefs, and thoughts inherently differ. It's like that bag with a hundred thousand yuan – it might be inconsequential to you, but for me, it's a substantial amount." The girl paused, her smile a mix of shyness and embarrassment, yet her eyes retained their clarity, akin to a sky after rain – so pure it could make others feel ashamed.
"I..." she continued, "I just feel it's a pity."
After all, it wasn't a hundred yuan or a thousand yuan; it was a hundred thousand yuan, enough to cover her expenses for three years of frugal living.
Shen Qian's eyes held a probing look, seemingly mixed with other emotions.
Shen Wan met his gaze, unflinching.
Held in a gaze, one filled with depth and mystery, the other as transparent as a mirror.
In the end, it was the man who surrendered first, letting out a sigh of resignation. "You'll get used to it over time."
Becoming accustomed to considering a hundred thousand yuan as a trifling amount, adapting to the role of the third young lady in the Shen family, and becoming accustomed to a life of privilege.
Shen Wan smiled and replied softly, "Alright."
As the IV bag ran empty, Shen Qian pressed the call button to summon a nurse. The nurse removed the tubing and then withdrew the needle, revealing a bruise on the pale skin of his forearm.
"How did this happen?"
The nurse glanced and responded calmly, as if used to it, "Her veins are too fine. We had to make several attempts before. It's not a big problem, the bruising will dissipate quickly."
Shen Wan gently shook her right hand and smiled at him. "Brother, it doesn't hurt at all. Really!"
Rather than easing, the man's brows tightened even more.
He just found the bruise quite conspicuous.
Seeing his reaction, the nurse chuckled and teased, "Big brother is quite concerned about his little sister. That's nice." With that, she gathered the empty IV bag and left the room, tubing in hand.
Shen Qian looked up inadvertently and collided with the girl's sparkling eyes.
"You..."
"Bro," Shen Wan interrupted him, her eyes filled with an intense and joyful adoration, "that's nice."
What's nice?
Is it a person, or something else?
Shen Qian didn't ask, and Shen Wan didn't say.
"Do you want some water?" His expression unchanged, a glint of something hidden flashed in his eyes, hidden from her view.
"Yes."
Shen Qian couldn't recall when he last helped someone drink water. His movements seemed a bit awkward, but he steadied Shen Wan and lifted her slightly.
"It's warm, take your time."
Shen Wan nodded.
After a few sips, Shen Qian asked, "Do you want more?"
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