When the boy’s fans in the group saw the photos, they had already cursed Shi Chen until he was utterly ruined in words. Chen Han said she was going to contact marketing accounts, and everyone supported her. So Chen Han did exactly what she said. She found several marketing accounts she frequently contacted on the messaging app and sent them the photos and title together.
Although Shi Chen had always been surrounded by scandals, because of that beautiful yet innocent-looking face of his, which stayed in the top three of the annual ranking of handsome male stars all year round, his popularity remained high. Although many netizens disliked his behavior, there were also many netizens who admired his looks through the screen.
As soon as the exposé titled “Vicious Wealthy Biological Father Abuses Child and Causes Mental Illness” was posted, its popularity rose rapidly. In less than ten minutes, it had already occupied one of the top three spots on the trending list.
“Someone previously revealed that his husband didn’t like him, so he took his anger out on the child. This counts as solid proof, right?”
“No way, no way. He can even do this kind of thing to a four-year-old child? Shi Chen is worse than a beast.”
“The child is so pitiful. Is this really his biological father? How much psychological trauma did he cause the child for him to secretly take the child to psychiatry? This is really too much.”
“A child’s childhood affects his future. Does what Shi Chen did count as illegal? Can someone knowledgeable explain?”
“Replying to the person above: the law is very vague on this boundary.”
“But how does he dare? Isn’t that Gu Huai’s child too? Isn’t he afraid Gu Huai will find out?”
“Exactly. Doesn’t Gu Huai care? He is still the young master of the Gu family, after all. If he were my child, my heart would ache to death.”
“Is there a possibility… that Gu Huai simply doesn’t know?”
“Exactly. They’ve been married for so many years and don’t even have a single photo together. Someone like Shi Chen loves showing off so much. If they were loving, how could he not show it off? It’s probably like the rumors online say: Gu Huai doesn’t love him at all.”
“The person above makes so much sense. Every time Shi Chen goes out, he’s alone. We’ve never seen Gu Huai at all!”
“So Gu Huai really doesn’t know, right?”
And so, a crowd of kind-hearted netizens began searching for Gu Huai’s social media account. After discovering that Gu Huai had not registered one at all, they frantically tagged the Gu Group’s official account, taking the phrase “acting bravely for a just cause” to its fullest extent.
The name Gu Huai was familiar to netizens. After graduating, he had taken over the Gu family’s business and led the Gu Group all the way upward until it became a leading domestic enterprise. His glorious achievements could be seen in major news outlets even by people outside his circle, so it was difficult not to know him.
At the same time, however, he was very mysterious. He did not participate in any interviews, nor were there any public traces of him showing his face. There was only one group photo from his university days. That photo was rather old, and although it was blurry, the man in it, with his tall, straight figure and extraordinary bearing, was unforgettable.
…
The comments online were unbearable to read, but at this moment, the main character of the news was sitting in a luxurious car, holding the little cub who had just recovered from illness in his arms while marveling at the car’s extravagance.
If he had not looked closely, he would not have known. Once he did, he was shocked. This seemed to be the kind of limited-edition luxury car mentioned on television, the kind of which there were only two or three in an entire country. Every detail was exquisite to the point of being flawless, and even the seat cushions seemed like treasures.
In the past, he had only seen such things on television. He had never thought that one day, he would actually sit inside one. It was truly comfortable.
“Young Sir, would you like to return to the villa, or go first to the nearby residence?” Butler Li sat in the front passenger seat and respectfully spoke to the man behind him.
Shi Chen immediately withdrew his gaze and was just about to speak with a serious expression when he suddenly reacted and instinctively asked, “Nearby residence?”
“Yes, Young Sir. Sometimes you don’t like staying in the villa, so you bought one residence each in the east, west, south, north, and central areas of the city. The closest one nearby is the central residence. Would you like to go there now?”
Shi Chen was so shocked that his mouth almost could not close.
Buying five houses in one city—no matter how rich the original owner was, he should not have thrown money around like this.
But he could not show too much surprise, so he immediately turned his face away and deliberately said in a tone that sounded a little unnatural but relaxed, “Then let’s go to the nearest one.”
“Very well.”
Shi Chen knew that even though he had transmigrated into a book, housing prices in the city center of a first-tier city were still absurdly expensive. He had thought it would at most be a large flat of two hundred square meters, but unexpectedly, when they arrived, row after row of three-story European-style villas nearly made his jaw drop.
The city center, a European-style villa, with a front yard and back yard. How much money would this cost?
Shi Chen instinctively swallowed and tightened his grip on little An’an’s hand.
Little An’an noticed Daddy had used more force and looked at him with innocent eyes. “Daddy, what’s wrong?”
Shi Chen laughed awkwardly twice. “Nothing, nothing. Let’s go in.”
“But you haven’t entered the password yet.” Gu An pointed at the password lock on the wall.
Shi Chen’s entire body instantly stiffened, and the corner of his mouth could not help twitching twice.
How would he know what damned password it was? Even if he had read this plot, the book had never told him what the password lock for this house was!
After freezing for a full three seconds, Shi Chen stiffly turned his head and looked at Butler Li with pleading eyes. “Well… if I said I forgot, would you believe me?”
Butler Li blinked. “Young Sir, are you…”
Shi Chen immediately took over the words. “My head was damaged in the fall earlier.”
Yes, that excuse. Beautiful!
Worry appeared on Butler Li’s face. “Sigh, if I had known, I should have had your head checked today as well. That was my oversight.”
“We can talk about that later. This password—can you open it?”
“I don’t know either. You usually don’t tell us your passwords,” Butler Li said awkwardly.
Shi Chen gave an “oh” and suddenly felt regretful. A three-story European-style villa—he had still wanted to see what it looked like inside. What a pity.
“However!” Butler Li suddenly thought of something.
Shi Chen looked at him with bright eyes.
Butler Li said, “You usually tell Sir your passwords. Why don’t you call and ask him?”
Sir? Gu Huai?
In the book, the original owner was a character who loved him to the point of madness while also being hated by him. If Shi Chen called now, would Gu Huai think he had ulterior motives?
But Shi Chen looked at the little cub. From his eyes, he could tell that the child also wanted to go in. It would take at least two hours to return to the villa from here. They might be able to endure it, but the little cub might not. He had only just recovered from illness and needed more rest.
After weighing it quickly, Shi Chen took out his phone. He soon found Gu Huai pinned at the top of his contacts and called him.
A long ringing tone came from the phone. Shi Chen waited and waited. Just when he thought the other party had no intention of answering, the call was unexpectedly connected.
“Hello?”
From the phone came a deep, slightly hoarse, magnetic voice.
Shi Chen inexplicably felt that it sounded pleasant.
But the man clearly did not have much patience for him. “If you’re not going to speak, I’ll hang up first. I still have matters to handle.”
Shi Chen immediately stopped him. “Don’t, don’t, don’t. I have something. I have something.”
“Speak.”
One word, concise and clear.
Shi Chen hurriedly said, “Do you know the password for the lock on the European-style villa in the central district?”
Afraid that the other party would think this was an excuse to deliberately talk to him, Shi Chen took the initiative to explain, “Don’t misunderstand. I hit my head yesterday, and I can’t remember some things clearly. Butler Li said you knew the password, so I called to ask.”
After the words fell, there was a long silence.
Shi Chen found it truly strange. Just now, Gu Huai had said he was busy and had something urgent to do, but now he would not even answer.
Was this the strange logic of rich people?
Fortunately, three seconds later, the man said calmly, “7698.”
“Oh, all right. Tha—”
Before he could finish speaking, the other party hung up first.
Shi Chen looked at the call that had been inexplicably ended, and the small favorable impression he had gained because the voice sounded pleasant instantly vanished.
What kind of person was that!
Shi Chen pressed the password one digit at a time according to what Gu Huai had said. When he pressed confirm, the door opened automatically.
Good. Gu Huai had not lied to him.
When Butler Li saw the password he had entered, he exclaimed in surprise, “So Young Sir’s password is your birthday and Sir’s birthday.”
Shi Chen’s foot, which had been about to step inside, paused. “What did you say?”
“Hm? Have you forgotten this too? Sir’s birthday is July sixth, and yours is September eighth.”
Shi Chen: !!!
“You take little An’an inside first. I’ll come in shortly.” Shi Chen smiled and pushed the two of them in.
Watching the two walk inside, Shi Chen went back out, pressed the option to change the password, and changed it to the password he had commonly used in his previous life.
Using birthdays? Pathetic simp.
Although the European-style villa was a little smaller than the previous villa, it was still unbelievably huge for the three of them to live in. However, the original owner had rarely brought Gu An here before, and his room had not been cleaned for a long time. Shi Chen simply let the little cub share a room with him.
Gu An looked at Shi Chen in surprise, unable to hide the excitement in his eyes. “Daddy, really? I can really sleep with you?”
Shi Chen unceremoniously pinched Gu An’s cheek. “Of course. You’re this small. Shouldn’t you sleep with Daddy?”
“But before, you weren’t willing to sleep with me. You said children have to be independent.”
“That was before. You’re only four. This is the age when you should be spoiled.” Shi Chen said gently, “All right, there’s no nanny here. Little An’an, what do you want to eat? Daddy will cook for you.”
Gu An felt overwhelmed by favor. Not only could he sleep with Daddy, Daddy was even going to cook for him.
Shi Chen raised his brows slightly. “What’s wrong?”
Gu An pressed his lips together and smiled especially shyly. “No… nothing. An’an likes anything Daddy cooks.”
“Good.” Shi Chen rolled up his sleeves, planning to show little An’an his cooking skills.
Although they did not often come here, because it was in the city center, errand delivery was especially convenient. In less than twenty minutes, the groceries he had bought were delivered. Butler Li watched the child outside while Shi Chen cooked in the kitchen.
In his previous life, his family circumstances had not been good, and he had become independent very early. He had learned to cook around the age of fourteen. By now, although his cooking skills could not be called divine, making several tables of lavish dishes was absolutely no problem.
However, Gu An had only just recovered from illness and could not eat anything too oily or too spicy, so Shi Chen specially made several light, home-style dishes. He called Butler Li over, and the three of them sat around a round table to eat.
