Chapter 71 - 71: Third Shen
Chapter 71: Third Shen
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
A child?
Shen Wan smiled, looking at him fearlessly, carefree as ever. “That has nothing to do with you.”
In the end, the man set down the water glass and medicine, sweeping his sleeves as he departed.
Shen Wan gave it only a glance before tossing the pills into the trash can. She didn’t touch the glass of water but managed to finish most of her breakfast. When the servants came to clean up, she was sitting in front of the vanity, drawing her eyebrows. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting diagonal rays across the floor. The young girl appeared fragile, but her profile exuded tranquility and grace.
The maid stood still, staring in awe. They often said that Third Lady wasn’t as beautiful as the First or Second Lady, but she felt that Third Lady was the most enchanting among them.
“What is it?” Her somewhat cold voice brought the daydreaming maid back to reality.
“Th-Third Lady, I’ve come to collect the dishes…” She spoke and acted at the same time, deftly completing her tasks. After finishing, she picked up the tray, lowered her gaze, and left the room.
Shen Wan finished drawing her eyebrows and added a touch of blush to her cheeks, masking the paleness on her face to give her a more natural appearance.
She changed into running shoes and went downstairs. As far as her eyes could see, besides the maid, there was only one person, Zhou Qingfu. The “master” of the household was nowhere to be seen.
“Third Lady, are you going out? Shall I arrange for a car to take you…”
“No need,” she said, then walked straight out.
Shen Wan jogged around the garden. After an hour, her sweat had soaked through her workout T-shirt. There was a slight discomfort between her legs, but she didn’t pay it much mind. In fact, Shen Qian didn’t need to give her contraceptives separately. Shortly after arriving at the airport, Shen Wan had found a pharmacy and bought emergency contraceptives, swallowing them with bottled water.
In her previous life, she hadn’t been able to have her own child. In this life, if she could, she wanted to experience the feeling of being a mother. But the prerequisite was that she had to be strong enough. Otherwise, how could she provide a stable environment for her child? Moreover, she hoped her baby would be the result of love, not an accident. So, even during her safe period, Shen Wan still took the medicine.
“Third Lady, you’ve been running for so long. Aren’t you tired?” Uncle Ding, while tending to the flowers and plants, occasionally paid attention to Shen Wan’s situation. He couldn’t help but speak when he saw that she had been running for nearly two hours without any intention of stopping.
How could she not be tired?
She was practically exhausted.
But this body was naturally weaker than an ordinary person’s. In her previous life, Shen Wan had stumbled on this issue, so she was eager to improve her physical condition. After her rebirth, she had been consistently exercising, mostly doing yoga in her room. Running so vigorously, covered in sweat like today, was a first for her.
Having finished the remaining half lap, she stopped and glanced at her wristwatch. It was precisely 120 minutes, neither more nor less.
At this moment, Zhou Qingfu led a man in from outside, and when Shen Wan took a look, she raised an eyebrow recognizing him.
“Third Lady,” Zhou Qingfu called out, bowing his head.
Shen Wan responded with a soft “Hmm”, but her gaze passed right through him and landed directly on the man behind. She was straightforward, bold, and openly curious. “Who’s this?”
Zhou Qingfu’s eyelid twitched, but before he could reply, the man chuckled lowly. His laughter resonated with a magnetic allure, inexplicably enticing.
“Is this the youngest daughter my brother just acknowledged? What’s her name?” The man massaged his forehead as if struggling to recall, but Shen Wan saw through the playfulness and teasing in his eyes with a single glance.
He was doing it on purpose.
“Shen Wan,” she answered herself before Zhou Qingfu could respond. There was no trace of neglect in her response, nor was there any embarrassment about not being remembered. From beginning to end, her clear eyes remained calm.
Yes, calm.
Suddenly, Shen Chunhang became interested and began to scrutinize the girl in front of him. She was very slender, but taller than both Shen Yan and Shen Ru. Because of this, her legs appeared exceptionally long. She wore sporty shorts, looking casual and lazy, like a fresh lotus swaying in the breeze, elegant and poised.
Perhaps because she had just finished her exercise, her petite face glistened with sweat beads, her cheeks were flushed, her breath was uneven, and under the blazing sun, her skin appeared exceptionally fair. While her features might not have been as delicate as her two sisters, her eyes shone like stars that had fallen from the sky, deep and brilliantly radiant.
While Shen Chunhang was scrutinizing her, Shen Wan didn’t shy away from sizing him up either.
The man was very young, appearing to be not yet thirty. He wore a beige polo shirt with light khaki casual pants. Standing at 180 cm tall, he didn’t have conspicuous muscles, but he didn’t give off the impression of being weak or a pretty boy. Instead, he looked like a dashing young man from the human world, one who had roamed through a profusion of flowers without getting a single leaf stuck to him.
His features bore some resemblance to Shen Qian’s, and when he smiled, it was as refreshing as a spring breeze, but there were differences. If Shen Qian was an ambitious man who used warmth as a protective shield, then the man before her was a cunning old fox dressed in a refined exterior!
Shen Zongming had three sons. The eldest, Shen Chunjiang, and the second, Shen Chunting, were both biological sons of the original Madam Shen, the first wife of Old Master Shen. Now, the third son, Shen Chunhang, the man before her, had a different origin. His mother initially was a mistress outside the household. She became pregnant when Old Master Shen was 45 years old, and as a result, she eventually became Shen Zongming’s second official wife. Unfortunately, their happiness was short-lived, as she fell ill and passed away not long after living a peaceful life. Nevertheless, Shen Chunhang was recognized as the legitimate Third Master of the Shen family, and no one dared to insinuate that he was the child of a “mistress”.
Perhaps because he was born in their later years, Shen Zongming had always indulged his youngest son. Additionally, when Shen Chunhang was born, Shen Chunjiang and Shen Chunting were already in their twenties and didn’t see this little brother as a threat. The little guy, with his sweet words and endearing ways, constantly called them “Big Brother” and “Second Brother”, so they both cherished him.
Ironically, it was Shen Chunjiang and Shen Chunting, the biological brothers, who had competed and fought since childhood, their relationship not as harmonious as it might appear on the surface.
In any case, if one were to ask who in the Shen family was living the most carefree life, it would undoubtedly be this young master. Thinking about her previous life, during the most intense period of struggle between Shen Wan, Shen Qian, and Shen Ru, Shen Chunting couldn’t stay out of it either. Only Shen Chunhang leisurely sat by, enjoying his quarterly dividends and living freely around the world without concerning himself with the company’s internal affairs.
Honestly, Shen Wan envied him quite a bit.
“Wan? Which ‘wan’ is that?” The man leaned in, his smile full of charm.
She calmly replied, “The ‘wan’ that resembles ‘female official’.”
“Oh…” The man elongated his tone, almost as if he were talking to himself. “So, the term ‘female official’, suggests something like ‘clear and elegant’, signifying graceful demeanor and good character. Is that what it means?”
Shen Wan looked at him in surprise.
“The term ‘female official,’ when read, seems to convey ‘clear and elegant’…” This was the definition of the character (Wan)” found in the Shuowen Jiezi. Shen Wan had researched it as well, but she hadn’t anticipated that he would effortlessly provide the same interpretation.
Indeed, besides being the Third Master of the Shen family, Shen Chunhang was also a postdoctoral researcher in the Chinese Language and Literature Department at B University. He was a national treasure-level scholar in Chinese language and literature. As the founder of the Rising Academy and the head of the Rising Foundation, he had a high reputation in both the academic and philanthropic circles.
Shen Wan nodded. “But you haven’t told me who you are.”
“Little girl, you should call me Third Uncle.” He said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out something, then tossed it directly to Shen Wan. “A little gift for our first meeting..”