Chapter 29: Give My Mother’s Relics Back to Me!
Seeing that the man didn’t want to pay him any attention, Liang Sheng grew even more anxious: “Say something! I still need to go back and take care of Grandpa! Where are you taking me? I don’t have time to go shopping with you and your secretary now!”
Living another day meant being one day closer to death. He only wanted to do what he wanted in his few remaining days; he didn’t want to waste any more time with those who hurt him!
“Shut up. You’re noisy.”
The man finally turned to look at him, but it was with an extremely cold sentence. He continued to turn the steering wheel, driving toward the distant seaside.
Liang Sheng finally reached his limit. Staring at the man, he bit his lip and questioned, “What exactly do you want to do?”
Even though he was very angry, he didn’t shout. Perhaps out of a habit of being submissive, when he got angry, the corners of his eyes turned red and his brow furrowed, making him look more like a pitiful little cat that had been bullied.
Shen Xingyu caught a glimpse of him in the rearview mirror. His originally gloomy face brightened slightly. A Liang Sheng who wrinkled his nose and turned his head in anger actually gave him a different feeling. He couldn’t quite describe it, but it was… especially cute, making one want to tease him.
Shen Xingyu was startled by this sudden thought. A surge of embarrassment hit him. He felt he must be going mad—how could he think this sallow man, who was always moping, was cute?
He took a deep breath, pushing away those messy thoughts, and replied flatly:
“Watch the sea with me.”
Liang Sheng froze for a moment. He hadn’t expected the other to say that and was extremely shocked. After all, he knew that Shen Xingyu suffered from a severe case of hydrophobia; he had always avoided the ocean. Why was he suddenly asking him to accompany him to watch the sea today? Was it because he was in a bad mood…
Or was he still brooding over the misunderstanding between him and Xie Zhengran?
Liang Sheng would always instinctively worry about the man’s emotions. Even though he knew Shen Xingyu was emotionally detached and never showed joy or sorrow, he couldn’t help but meddle.
Seeing him staring with that sorrowful gaze, like he was looking at a patient, Shen Xingyu felt he disliked that kind of gaze intensely. The trace of good feeling toward his little wife instantly vanished.
“What is it? Unwilling?”
He asked with a cold, hard tone.
Liang Sheng shook his head, bit his lip, and asked softly: “Aren’t you… afraid of the ocean?”
Being confronted with his most vulnerable weakness, Shen Xingyu’s face instantly darkened, and his tone became even sharper and colder: “When was I ever afraid? Do you know that you are very annoying like this?”
Liang Sheng lowered his head, a look of hurt and grievance flashing across his face.
“I’m sorry, I talked too much…”
He said softly, and tears began to fall, splashing onto the back of his hand. It was cold and very uncomfortable.
Afraid that the man would see him crying and dislike him even more, he hurriedly turned toward the car window. Supporting his face with his hand, he secretly wiped them away, letting the sea breeze blow against his face to dry the tear stains.
Shen Xingyu naturally saw him crying and felt a bit agitated. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had said something too harsh.
But once his temper flared up, he wouldn’t lower himself to coax anyone; it would be a loss of face.
Forget it. Anyway, Liang Sheng would act like nothing happened once he finished crying. He didn’t need to care too much about the other’s emotions.
Besides, if it weren’t for seeing how much Liang Sheng longed for the ocean—how he had been staring longingly at the sea on their way here yesterday—he wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of driving all the way over here and wasting time!
Liang Sheng bit his lip hard until he tasted the metallic tang of blood before finally letting go.
Why… why did he have to meddle again?
Whether Shen Xingyu was well or afraid had nothing to do with him, right? The feelings between them had long ago turned into fragments, just like that photo.
Liang Sheng, oh Liang Sheng, you really are bringing this on yourself. Why do you have to care about him, why do you have to be so good to him? Why are you just unwilling to give up…
He questioned himself piteously in his heart but found no answer. In the end, he could only convince himself it was because he loved Shen Xingyu.
The car slowly stopped on the beach. Shen Xingyu got out, a navy-blue trench coat wrapping around his tall figure, the hem fluttering in the sea breeze.
The sunlight was a bit piercing. He took out his sunglasses from his pocket and put them on, looking up at the sky. The weather was very good—blue sky, white clouds, and the deep blue sea was rippling slightly. Waves crashed against the reefs, and occasionally a few seagulls flew past with high-pitched, clear cries.
Unfortunately, Shen Xingyu was in no mood to appreciate the scenery.
He gazed at the surging, grand ocean in the distance. The giant waves made him involuntarily remember the scene when he was seven years old, being thrown into the sea by his stepmother.
The clear blue sea in his eyes suddenly turned into a dark tsunami—raging wind, torrential rain, and terrifying waves. At seven years old, his small body had already been battered by the giant waves, struggling piteously within them, feeling as if every bone in his body was about to be crushed.
And that wicked woman stood on the boat, smiling brilliantly at him. Beside her was his biological father, who didn’t dare to breathe, watching with his own eyes as his seven-year-old son was swallowed by the ocean.
His mother was of low status—a waitress at a bar. Due to an accident while his father was dead drunk, she had become pregnant with him.
Shen Qianxun hadn’t known at the time. It wasn’t until his mother was heavily pregnant and found Old Master Shen, unwilling for the child she was carrying to be nameless and bullied, that she threatened her way into the Shen family.
To cover up the scandal and prevent the Shen family from being shamed, the Old Master had no choice but to force Shen Qianxun to marry Sang Jingjing.
Shen Qianxun was dissatisfied with marrying a “bar girl.” He frequently beat and scolded his wife, and even doubted if the son born from that drunken night was truly his. He suspected Sang Jingjing had made him a “cuckold” just to climb the social ladder.
So later, when his own son was thrown into the sea by his mistress, he only turned a blind eye.
Many years later, Shen Xingyu could still strongly feel that suffocating pain, as if a large hand were choking his neck. He wanted to shout, but he couldn’t make a sound.
All around was only the dim color of the water, boundless and endless.
A small person bobbing in the vast ocean… that feeling of powerless struggle was like being pierced and stirred by countless fine, sharp needles; every cell throbbed with intense pain.
He could never forget that day.
The day he was closest to death!
It was also then that he developed his heart condition.
Beneath the sunglasses, his dark eyes flashed with fear and resentment.
The sea level in the distance was still calm, but his chest felt as if it were being pressed by a thousand-pound stone, making it hard to breathe.
Liang Sheng hadn’t dared to get close to him since getting out of the car. After all, the man had said in the car that he was “annoying,” so he didn’t feel the need to stay by his side or worry about his hydrophobia.
The sea breeze was quite strong, blowing so much that Liang Sheng couldn’t open his eyes. Messy strands of hair brushed against his brows, and his thin body shivered in the wind.
Even though he didn’t want to pay attention to Shen Xingyu, his gaze still couldn’t help but drift toward the man’s tall, motionless back in the wind. The sunlight stretched the man’s shadow long across the sand.
Shen Xingyu had been standing at the water’s edge for a good while. The tide washed over his boots and retreated, yet the man remained motionless, like his soul had been sucked away.
Liang Sheng told himself a thousand times not to care, but the thought that if his husband’s hydrophobia flared up and he fainted and fell into the sea, he wouldn’t be able to explain it to Old Master Shen.
Thinking this, Liang Sheng ultimately couldn’t harden his heart. He laboriously moved his feet and walked toward the man.
Just as Shen Xingyu’s consciousness was about to be swallowed by the ocean again, a clear voice suddenly sounded behind him, pulling him back from the nightmare: “What are you looking at?”
He snapped out of it, his vision clearing, only then realizing he was standing right at the shore.
The seawater had already submerged his boots.
Shen Xingyu was startled. The fear of water made him instinctively retreat several steps.
Seeing him finally snap out of it, Liang Sheng also breathed a sigh of relief. But seeing Shen Xingyu act as if nothing happened, he wondered if the man had overcome his hydrophobia. Or had he forgotten his fear along with his memories after the car accident?
At the thought of the car accident, he couldn’t help but feel sad. If he hadn’t insisted on eating the green rice balls from across the street, Shen Xingyu wouldn’t have been hit while protecting him…
The cold sweat on his forehead felt a bit chilly as the wind blew. Shen Xingyu took two deep breaths to ease the suffocating feeling.
He turned and saw Liang Sheng staring at him with eyes that looked wet and hot, making him instinctively frown: “What is it? Didn’t I tell you not to look at me like that?”
“It’s nothing.”
Liang Sheng blinked his dry eyes.
At that moment, a burst of cheering sounded nearby.
He looked over and saw a family of three playing on the beach. A young boy was running in front, laughing brilliantly, and his parents also had happy smiles on their faces.
Liang Sheng thought of his own family.
In the past, every summer, his adoptive mother would take the family to the seaside for a vacation.
During the day, they would pick up seashells on the beach, sunbathe, and drink coconut milk smoothies.
In the evening, they would even take a small yacht to watch the sunset.
At night, his adoptive father would cook a barbecue for them. His adoptive mother was a native of Nanshi and would make all sorts of delicacies with coconuts. After eating their fill, they would walk along the sea and set off fireworks.
Back then, it was so pleasant.
The scene shifted, and Liang Sheng was standing alone on the beach. Beside him was a husband who didn’t love him. He could only watch others’ happiness, as if it made him feel a little bit of happiness, too.
While Liang Sheng wasn’t looking at him, Shen Xingyu had been quietly watching him. To himself, the ocean meant fear, nightmares, and shadows. What did it mean to Liang Sheng?
Why was Liang Sheng so obsessed with the ocean?
While he was lost in thought, Liang Sheng suddenly remembered his mother’s relics and turned to look at the man anxiously.
Shen Xingyu also quickly moved his gaze away a second before their eyes met, acting as if nothing had happened.
Liang Sheng reached out his hand: “Give my mom’s phone and pocket watch back to me. They are my mom’s relics.”
“Are those things… very important to you?”
Shen Xingyu’s brow arched slightly. His hand in his pocket tightened. He was being a bit selfish; he didn’t want Liang Sheng to have anything else important or to miss anything besides him.
Not objects, and certainly not people.
Liang Sheng felt he was speaking nonsense and said anxiously: “Of course they are important! Those are the last things my mom left me!”
Translator’s Note:
- Green Rice Balls (青團): A traditional Chinese snack made from glutinous rice mixed with mugwort or barley grass, typically eaten during the Qingming Festival.
- 怪物 (Guàiwù): “Monster.” This is a significant word for Shen Xingyu, given his traumatic childhood where people likely called him that due to his social withdrawal or family scandal.
- Mistress (情婦): The source text uses this to highlight the dysfunction of the Shen family.
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