Chapter 34 SJC
The one down there—it was him.
But the date of birth listed above was three years older than him.
Shen Jinnian recalled the personal information Gu Yan had registered at school. It clearly stated that he was only a year older than Shen Jinnian.
And his birthday wasn’t in October—it was in December.
Still, he didn’t completely trust the old man’s guess. After all, the children’s birthdates were largely based on rough estimates, which weren’t very accurate. As for the children’s parents, that was even more uncertain.
Shen Jinnian accepted the little slip of paper and thanked the young monk.
In the afternoon, when the old man woke up, Shen Jinnian went to his room alone without Gu Yan. He asked a few questions about parallel worlds, like whether the baby might suddenly vanish and return to their original world.
The old man told him…
Space has a self-repairing ability. A child suddenly disappearing is considered an anomaly, but the world will automatically correct it.
Just like how things mysteriously disappear and then suddenly reappear nearby—it’s not that they traveled through a parallel dimension and came back, but rather that space and time patched up the glitch themselves.
Shen Jinnian more or less understood.
In short, he had gained a precious child for nothing.
And in the other parallel timeline, his other self would also have an identical child.
Shen Jinnian looked at the baby in his arms with complicated feelings.
Seeing Shen Jinnian's worry, the baby stretched out his little hand to hug his neck, rubbed Shen Jinnian's side face with his tender little face, and whispered softly in his ear: "PaPa~"
It seemed to soothe Shen Jinnian's emotions.
Shen Jinnian’s heart softened instantly at the sound of that word. He tightened his arms around the child, and the warmth of the baby’s skin smoothed over the mess in his heart.
In that moment, his resolve to raise the child became firm as a rock.
He thanked the old man. Then quietly left a few ten-thousand-yuan bills on the table.
At 4:30 p.m., he brought the child and Gu Yan back with him.
Gu Yan tried several times to speak to Shen Jinnian, but was ignored each time—Shen Jinnian pretended to be asleep. Left with no choice, Gu Yan gave up and remained silent.
The entire three-hour ride was completely quiet.
By the time they returned to the city, it was around 8 p.m.
This time, the hotel wasn’t fully booked, so Shen Jinnian naturally didn’t share a suite with Gu Yan.
Gu Yan knew he was currently being disliked, so he didn’t push his luck or ask for trouble. He quietly booked the room next to Shen Jinnian’s.
Still, he brought Shen Jinnian a dinner as usual. After all, with a kid in tow, there was no way Shen Jinnian had time to go out and get food.
And as it turned out, that was the right move.
With a cold face and a sharp tone, Shen Jinnian bit out a clear and proper, “Thank you,” showing the line between personal and professional matters. Then immediately slammed the door shut.
In the midst of the cold war, the fact that the other person was even willing to speak was a good sign.
Gu Yan touched the bridge of his nose, nearly smashed by the door, and turned back to his room in satisfaction.
The baby in the room saw Shen Jinnian coming back, pointed at the door with his little finger, blinked his big black and white eyes, and murmured in a baby voice: "Pa! Pa!"
“We’re ignoring him. He’s a bad guy.”
Shen Jinnian handed the baby a milk bottle.
The little one shook his head seriously. He pointed at the door again, then at Shen Jinnian, and after struggling for a bit, finally squeezed out a strange sound: “PaPa… Lai… PaPa!”
“Didn’t I already give you milk?”
The baby shook his head again and tried hard to recall what Gu Yan had taught him: “Lai! Lai!”
Shen Jinnian didn’t understand. As far as he remembered, the baby had never said that word before.
But it wasn’t a big deal—babies often babbled nonsense anyway.
After feeding the baby dinner, he removed Gu Yan from his block list just long enough to transfer the cost of the meal. Then promptly blocked him again.
He didn’t give Gu Yan a chance to speak at all.
—
Early the next morning.
Without informing Gu Yan, Shen Jinnian took the baby and headed home alone. Without his archenemy around to pollute his line of sight, his mood was significantly better.
The road home was especially smooth, and they arrived before noon.
The living room was unusually quiet, with only the morning news replay playing on the TV.
Shen Jinnian glanced around while changing his shoes and called out, “Aunt Chen, are you here?”
“You’re back, Mr. Shen!” the nanny called out from the kitchen, rushing out without even removing her apron.
Seeing Shen Jinnian holding the baby, she was overjoyed. She quickly took the child from him and urged him to rest.
A moment later, unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked, “How did the Old Master say the baby was doing?”
“The baby’s fine,” Shen Jinnian said as he slumped onto the sofa and grabbed an apple to fill his stomach.
The nanny cooed at the baby while smiling. “That’s great. As long as the little one’s healthy.”
Shen Jinnian was too tired to talk anymore.
Knowing it wasn’t easy for him to take the baby out for the first time, the nanny sensibly didn’t ask anything further and let him rest.
Only the news anchor’s sleep-inducing voice remained in the background.
“Yesterday, the Central District Court of our city ruled on the defendants Zhu Si and Gou Ming for crimes including drug trafficking, illegal detention, intentional injury, robbery, and concealing criminal proceeds. The court sentenced Zhu Si and Gou Ming to death, effective immediately. The remaining eight…”
Hearing the string of crimes, Shen Jinnian looked up at the TV in shock.
The scene had just switched to the court trial.
At a glance, he recognized the two men sentenced to death—they were Pighead and Blondie, the same thugs who had assaulted him that day!
Shen Jinnian straightened up in his seat.
Memories he’d tried not to think about surged back like a tide, replaying frame by frame like a movie—everything that happened that night.
He remembered how he had torn off his own clothes and thrown himself into Gu Yan’s arms, even tried to take a bath together… That part, thankfully, had been stopped by Gu Yan.
Shen Jinnian really couldn’t understand.
It made sense that he’d acted without awareness because of the drug, but what about Gu Yan? Why had he gone along with it? Shouldn’t the proper thing have been to call the police and hand him over?
He didn't dare to think about it. He drank a big sip of ice water with a red face and curled up on the sofa to clear his mind.
—
He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when a sharp ring of the doorbell dragged him out of his nap.
Still groggy, Shen Jinnian grabbed a blanket and lazily climbed off the couch.
It was the meal he had ordered a few days ago.
The delivery guy had arrived twenty minutes early and apologized profusely. “Sorry, sir, it’s my first day on the job. I mixed up the order sequence and delivered yours early.”
“No big deal. Just be careful next time.”
Still half-asleep, Shen Jinnian quickly took the dinner and sent the man off.
Just as he was about to lie back down for another nap, the doorbell rang again.
This time, he was actually annoyed.
Grumbling, he shoved his feet into slippers, stomped to the door, and yanked it open—before even seeing who it was, he started snapping: “I already said it’s fine! Why are you so eager to get scolded again?!”
Gu Yan, who had just rushed back by car, was instantly bombarded with a full round of scolding and stood frozen on the spot.
When Shen Jinnian finally registered the familiar face in front of him, he realized he’d lashed out at the wrong person.
But seeing Gu Yan’s face only made him angrier. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you and the baby,” Gu Yan said.
“In your dreams,” Shen Jinnian retorted and started closing the door.
Gu Yan suddenly reached out, using his old trick of wedging his hand in the doorframe to stop it from closing.
“You said you owed me a favor,” Gu Yan said confidently, knowing Shen Jinnian wouldn’t dare slam the door on him. “You said I could cash it in within three months. And you also said—Shen Jinnian always keeps his word.”
He had come today to collect that favor.
But the date of birth listed above was three years older than him.
Shen Jinnian recalled the personal information Gu Yan had registered at school. It clearly stated that he was only a year older than Shen Jinnian.
And his birthday wasn’t in October—it was in December.
Still, he didn’t completely trust the old man’s guess. After all, the children’s birthdates were largely based on rough estimates, which weren’t very accurate. As for the children’s parents, that was even more uncertain.
Shen Jinnian accepted the little slip of paper and thanked the young monk.
In the afternoon, when the old man woke up, Shen Jinnian went to his room alone without Gu Yan. He asked a few questions about parallel worlds, like whether the baby might suddenly vanish and return to their original world.
The old man told him…
Space has a self-repairing ability. A child suddenly disappearing is considered an anomaly, but the world will automatically correct it.
Just like how things mysteriously disappear and then suddenly reappear nearby—it’s not that they traveled through a parallel dimension and came back, but rather that space and time patched up the glitch themselves.
Shen Jinnian more or less understood.
In short, he had gained a precious child for nothing.
And in the other parallel timeline, his other self would also have an identical child.
Shen Jinnian looked at the baby in his arms with complicated feelings.
Seeing Shen Jinnian's worry, the baby stretched out his little hand to hug his neck, rubbed Shen Jinnian's side face with his tender little face, and whispered softly in his ear: "PaPa~"
It seemed to soothe Shen Jinnian's emotions.
Shen Jinnian’s heart softened instantly at the sound of that word. He tightened his arms around the child, and the warmth of the baby’s skin smoothed over the mess in his heart.
In that moment, his resolve to raise the child became firm as a rock.
He thanked the old man. Then quietly left a few ten-thousand-yuan bills on the table.
At 4:30 p.m., he brought the child and Gu Yan back with him.
Gu Yan tried several times to speak to Shen Jinnian, but was ignored each time—Shen Jinnian pretended to be asleep. Left with no choice, Gu Yan gave up and remained silent.
The entire three-hour ride was completely quiet.
By the time they returned to the city, it was around 8 p.m.
This time, the hotel wasn’t fully booked, so Shen Jinnian naturally didn’t share a suite with Gu Yan.
Gu Yan knew he was currently being disliked, so he didn’t push his luck or ask for trouble. He quietly booked the room next to Shen Jinnian’s.
Still, he brought Shen Jinnian a dinner as usual. After all, with a kid in tow, there was no way Shen Jinnian had time to go out and get food.
And as it turned out, that was the right move.
With a cold face and a sharp tone, Shen Jinnian bit out a clear and proper, “Thank you,” showing the line between personal and professional matters. Then immediately slammed the door shut.
In the midst of the cold war, the fact that the other person was even willing to speak was a good sign.
Gu Yan touched the bridge of his nose, nearly smashed by the door, and turned back to his room in satisfaction.
The baby in the room saw Shen Jinnian coming back, pointed at the door with his little finger, blinked his big black and white eyes, and murmured in a baby voice: "Pa! Pa!"
“We’re ignoring him. He’s a bad guy.”
Shen Jinnian handed the baby a milk bottle.
The little one shook his head seriously. He pointed at the door again, then at Shen Jinnian, and after struggling for a bit, finally squeezed out a strange sound: “PaPa… Lai… PaPa!”
“Didn’t I already give you milk?”
The baby shook his head again and tried hard to recall what Gu Yan had taught him: “Lai! Lai!”
Shen Jinnian didn’t understand. As far as he remembered, the baby had never said that word before.
But it wasn’t a big deal—babies often babbled nonsense anyway.
After feeding the baby dinner, he removed Gu Yan from his block list just long enough to transfer the cost of the meal. Then promptly blocked him again.
He didn’t give Gu Yan a chance to speak at all.
—
Early the next morning.
Without informing Gu Yan, Shen Jinnian took the baby and headed home alone. Without his archenemy around to pollute his line of sight, his mood was significantly better.
The road home was especially smooth, and they arrived before noon.
The living room was unusually quiet, with only the morning news replay playing on the TV.
Shen Jinnian glanced around while changing his shoes and called out, “Aunt Chen, are you here?”
“You’re back, Mr. Shen!” the nanny called out from the kitchen, rushing out without even removing her apron.
Seeing Shen Jinnian holding the baby, she was overjoyed. She quickly took the child from him and urged him to rest.
A moment later, unable to hold back her curiosity, she asked, “How did the Old Master say the baby was doing?”
“The baby’s fine,” Shen Jinnian said as he slumped onto the sofa and grabbed an apple to fill his stomach.
The nanny cooed at the baby while smiling. “That’s great. As long as the little one’s healthy.”
Shen Jinnian was too tired to talk anymore.
Knowing it wasn’t easy for him to take the baby out for the first time, the nanny sensibly didn’t ask anything further and let him rest.
Only the news anchor’s sleep-inducing voice remained in the background.
“Yesterday, the Central District Court of our city ruled on the defendants Zhu Si and Gou Ming for crimes including drug trafficking, illegal detention, intentional injury, robbery, and concealing criminal proceeds. The court sentenced Zhu Si and Gou Ming to death, effective immediately. The remaining eight…”
Hearing the string of crimes, Shen Jinnian looked up at the TV in shock.
The scene had just switched to the court trial.
At a glance, he recognized the two men sentenced to death—they were Pighead and Blondie, the same thugs who had assaulted him that day!
Shen Jinnian straightened up in his seat.
Memories he’d tried not to think about surged back like a tide, replaying frame by frame like a movie—everything that happened that night.
He remembered how he had torn off his own clothes and thrown himself into Gu Yan’s arms, even tried to take a bath together… That part, thankfully, had been stopped by Gu Yan.
Shen Jinnian really couldn’t understand.
It made sense that he’d acted without awareness because of the drug, but what about Gu Yan? Why had he gone along with it? Shouldn’t the proper thing have been to call the police and hand him over?
He didn't dare to think about it. He drank a big sip of ice water with a red face and curled up on the sofa to clear his mind.
—
He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep when a sharp ring of the doorbell dragged him out of his nap.
Still groggy, Shen Jinnian grabbed a blanket and lazily climbed off the couch.
It was the meal he had ordered a few days ago.
The delivery guy had arrived twenty minutes early and apologized profusely. “Sorry, sir, it’s my first day on the job. I mixed up the order sequence and delivered yours early.”
“No big deal. Just be careful next time.”
Still half-asleep, Shen Jinnian quickly took the dinner and sent the man off.
Just as he was about to lie back down for another nap, the doorbell rang again.
This time, he was actually annoyed.
Grumbling, he shoved his feet into slippers, stomped to the door, and yanked it open—before even seeing who it was, he started snapping: “I already said it’s fine! Why are you so eager to get scolded again?!”
Gu Yan, who had just rushed back by car, was instantly bombarded with a full round of scolding and stood frozen on the spot.
When Shen Jinnian finally registered the familiar face in front of him, he realized he’d lashed out at the wrong person.
But seeing Gu Yan’s face only made him angrier. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see you and the baby,” Gu Yan said.
“In your dreams,” Shen Jinnian retorted and started closing the door.
Gu Yan suddenly reached out, using his old trick of wedging his hand in the doorframe to stop it from closing.
“You said you owed me a favor,” Gu Yan said confidently, knowing Shen Jinnian wouldn’t dare slam the door on him. “You said I could cash it in within three months. And you also said—Shen Jinnian always keeps his word.”
He had come today to collect that favor.
· · ────── ꒰เฆ·✦·เป꒱ ────── · ·
I accidentally posted chapter 35 instead of 34 today. sorryyy.
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