"When I was in middle school, she felt that she had found a good man to spend her life with. They were about to get married, and the wedding date was set for the summer after my high school entrance exam."
"But on the night after my high school entrance exam, she suddenly packed our luggage and said she wanted to take me on a trip. Although it was sudden, I was still very happy. We drove away overnight. I asked her where we were going, and she said she didn't know. Let's go somewhere far away, to Tibet..."
"You must have known what happened later. We had a car accident and my mother died after failed rescue efforts. Then Shen Kaiping found me."
"Xie Duo? Xie Duo! Son!"
"Xie Duo, are you okay?!"
Suddenly, there was a fierce knock on the door. It was the voices of Xie Changqing and Li Wei.
The loud noise that erupted in the silence frightened Shen Antu so much that he shrank back. Xie Duo pressed him into his arms and said to the door, "I'm fine. You can go back."
"Is Shen Lin in there? Shen Lin, get out of here! You've already bullied my son like this, what else do you want to do?!"
The person in his arms began to struggle restlessly. Xie Duo frowned deeply and said, "Be more respectful! I want Shen Lin to stay here with me tonight. This is a ward, please keep quiet."
The outside of the house finally returned to peace. Xie Duo stroked Shen Antu's back soothingly, lowered his head and placed a kiss on the top of his head: "It's okay, don't be afraid."
"Yeah." Shen Antu tightly grasped the corner of Xie Duo's clothes.
Chapter 57 There is no safe path in the world
"Shen Antu? Where is Antu in the world? From today on, you will be called Shen Lin. For a boy, a name with a sharp tone is better."
Shen Antu can still clearly remember the scene when he first met Shen Kaiping.
The cramped carriage was airtight and light couldn't get in because the windows were all covered with black film. Shen Kaiping sat in the back seat, holding a dragon-headed cane in both hands. He didn't look very old, but his black hair was half silver. He was very thin, with sunken cheeks and long, thin eyes. He looked at people as if they were animals.
He was a paranoid madman, Shen Antu could see it at a glance. Although he was young, he had seen all kinds of things in the world. He knew that Shen Kaiping was very dangerous, just as Shen Kaiping himself said.
"If you listen, you'll have everything. If you don't, you'll be dragged to feed Ao Lie."
Ao Lie is an American bully dog raised by Shen Kaiping. He barks non-stop when he sees people, and bangs against the fence of the dog cage, making a loud noise.
Shen Kaiping has a life creed, which is to get the best of everything. If you can't get it, then pick out the best from the rest. This creed also applies to his descendants.
The son that Shen Kaiping was most satisfied with was the one born to his first wife. He was smart, lively, and cute. Shen Kaiping doted on him and was reluctant to let him do anything. It was said that he still needed servants to help him dress when he was in junior high school. Shen Kaiping protected him very well and made a will early on. After his death, everything he had would belong to this son. He was Shen Kaiping's best choice.
Later, this "best choice" died - Shen Kaiping's enemies kidnapped his wife and children. Negotiations between the two sides failed, and the enemies brutally killed them. Shen Kaiping lost the "best choice". After a short period of silence, he began to choose from the "remaining" children.
He found five boys in total, arranged in order of age: the eldest Shen Chao, the second Shen Yixing, the third Shen Lin, the fourth Shen Qi, and the fifth Shen Mingfei.
Each boy has his strengths, but at the same time, each of them has shortcomings that Shen Kaiping is dissatisfied with. For example, Shen Antu is smart enough and has good grades, but he has a gloomy personality. He was once described by Shen Kaiping as a "rat in the ditch." In short, no one can compare to the dead son.
"Just like raising a Gu, in order to pick out the best one, the five sons are put together and fight each other. Whoever survives to the end is the best."
Shen Antu's tone was relaxed and there was a smile on his face, but Xie Duo was so heartbroken that he hugged Shen Antu even tighter.
"In fact, among the five of us, the one who best meets Shen Kaiping's criteria is Shen Yixing. He even looks more like a big brother than Shen Chao. He has an innate temperament. How should I put it? He gives people the feeling of a leader. He is very reliable. As far as I know, his grades are also very good. Although he is younger than Shen Chao, he is one grade higher than him. But unfortunately, he is very resistant to Shen Kaiping."
It was not until later that Shen Antu found out that Shen Yixing was snatched away from his adoptive parents by Shen Kaiping.
Originally, Shen Kaiping was unwilling to acknowledge his illegitimate child, so among the women who had been with him, those who were capable raised the children themselves, like the mothers of Shen Chao, Shen Antu, Shen Qi, and Shen Mingfei; those who were not capable gave the children away or simply threw them away, like Shen Yixing's mother. As soon as Shen Yixing was born, she gave him to the woman in the next bed in the hospital whose child had died.
Shen Yixing's adoptive parents are ordinary working class people in a small city. They don't have much money, but they are very kind and have brought up Shen Yixing very well. Shen Yixing is very sensible and responsible at a young age. He has been the class monitor since elementary school and everyone likes him. Shen Yixing's life has been stable and smooth until the summer vacation of his first year in high school, when Shen Kaiping came to his door.
Shen Yixing lived a happy life. Neither he nor his adoptive parents wanted to leave each other. They rejected Shen Kaiping's request. So Shen Kaiping acted like a human trafficker. On the way to the cram school, he kidnapped Shen Yixing and took him back to City Z, and put him in a villa with four other boys.