Rebirth from the Ashes

Shen Zhanglin sighed in his heart and felt extremely uncomfortable. He glanced at Shen Zhangqing and noticed that his little brother’s eyes had turned red at some point.

It had been a while since the name was brought up.

They always had faith that so long the missing person was alive, they would be found, yet it was hard not to think about the possibility of something bad happening after 17 long years.

Shen Zhangqing’s heart clenched. His son had been missing for 17 years and was still not found. He blamed himself for this. It was hard for him not to think about his son because how could he not? However, all he could do was bury the thought deep in his heart.

He thought Zhifei would be as sensible as Xiao Yu if he were here because after all, his son had always been sensible since he was in the womb.

The two men in the kitchen were silent. The conversation between Du Juan and Yu Jinping had moved on to Song Wenye’s audition. They were also talking about Su Ruowan.

Du Juan knew that Su Ruowan was the adopted daughter of the Su family. However, she was surprised to learn that Su Ruowan did not have good manners and was not attractive at all. Du Juan could not explain why the Su family had decided to kick Xixi out and give all their love to the adopted daughter instead.

On second thought, she was glad that Xixi was kicked out of the Su family. Xixi had been the daughter of the Shen family since day one and they could not be bothered about Su’s possessions and influence at all.

A group of youngsters was playfully chatting in the living room.

“Toffeecito, come to your godmother.” Song Wenye teased Toffeecito with a cat toy.

Toffeecito did not even look at Song Wenye. It snuggled up on Fu Qingxuan’s lap and was not bothered to move as it casually licked and groomed its fur like it was at home.

Even Pei Xu failed to get Toffeecito’s attention with its favorite canned cat food, let alone the cat toy because it seemed to be looking for someone specifically in a wheelchair.

Fu Qingxuan did not take much pleasure in it either. Toffeecito ignored everyone in the room, including him, as if his lap was just a prop. He reached out to pet Toffeecito again but was slapped and hissed at.

“Haha. Xixi, what’s wrong with Toffeecito?” Pei Xu was amused by Toffeecito’s behavior.

Although Toffeecito went to Fu Qingxuan, the hissing showed that it did not want to get closer with him.

“Toffeecito is shy around strangers.” Deep down, Shen Xi knew it was that very spot that Toffeecito fancied sitting on and not on Fu Qingxuan. She knew the cat just liked to sit on that spot, regardless of whether it was Fu Qingxuan or not.

The moment Fu Qingxuan entered the house, Toffeecito quickly jumped onto his lap. Perhaps it had mistaken Fu Qingxuan for his brother as there were too many people in the room.

She did not know why Toffeecito stayed in that spot.

Those who were ignored by Toffeecito were relieved when it snarled at Fu Qingxuan.

“Come here for a moment, Xixi,” Shen Zhangqing called out from the kitchen.

Shen Xi stood up and ran into the kitchen. She stopped after two steps and warned Fu Qingxuan, “Be careful with the claws, don’t provoke him.”

He was already immobilized so it would be better for him to not get any new injuries.

Fu Qingxuan frowned and gave Shen Xi a defiant look before reaching out to pet Toffeecito then quickly pulling away. He repeated this several times. Fu Qingxuan was astonished by Toffeecito. It was kind to him during his last visit, so how could its temperament change in just a few months. Not only did its size grow, but its temperament grew as well!

Toffeecito protested with an angry and loud meow before jumping off of Fu Qingxuan’s lap to play with Song Wenye’s cat toy.

Pei Xu looked at Fu Qingxuan’s funny face and laughed hysterically. “Hahaha! Are you happy now? You wouldn’t stop teasing him.”

Fu Qingxuan looked at Toffeecito bitterly. ‘You cranky little thing! How could you still be rude after running away from me?’

Toffeecito was undoubtedly Shen Xi’s cat because their tempers bore an uncanny resemblance.

Song Wenye raised his eyebrows at Fu Qingxuan victoriously, playfully teasing Toffeecito with the cat toy. It was an adorable sight to see the chunky cutie following Song Wenye around.

Shen Xi had two pieces of sweet and sour pork while she was in the kitchen.

Shen Zhangqing put eight little bowls of dishes with a bowl of soup on a tray, then looked at her and said, “Send these to the neighbor’s house.”

Shen Xi’s eyes widened and looked at him in disbelief. ‘What has gotten into Old Shen today? All this time he had been worried about her going next door.’

Shen Zhangqing did not notice her reaction and lamented, “He has trouble with his legs, so we just help out whenever we can.”

Shen Xi was rendered speechless.

Oh, damn.

Old Shen must have misunderstood something.

He must have treated Uncle Jin Yu as his brother now.

What a beautiful misunderstanding though, it would be better this way and this makes it easier for her to go to his house next time.

Yu Jinping chuckled. Her husband was finally at ease. It was true that the neighbor could use some help since he was all by himself. Judging from the looks of the driver, he did not seem like he could cook and they must have been having takeaways.

Shen Xi was happy she would not need to be under Old Shen’s watchful eyes when heading next door. She even called Toffeecito on her way out.

Toffeecito was eating the canned cat food next to Pei Xu

Toffeecito saw Shen Xi leaving the house with a handful of things and it quickly ran after her. A second ago it was still eating the cat food next to Pei Xu.

Pei Xu was rendered speechless as he saw Toffeecito taking off like a gust of wind and leaving the cat food in his hands.

This ungrateful little thing could surely outrun a rabbit. The canned food was never as good as a call from Shen Xi.

Toffeecito was indeed a sprinter as it went well ahead of Shen Xi. It skipped the wall this time, leading Shen Xi the way to the neighbor’s house.

Shen Xi wondered if Toffeecito was actually a dog in disguise. The cat’s friendliness was odd enough.

Uncle Jin Yu was all alone in the house. Kun Lun left after dropping him off.

Shen Xi carefully placed the dishes on the dining table.

“How could I finish all these by myself?” asked Jin Yu.

Shen Xi smiled, “My dad said these are for you. My uncle is a very famous chef from our hometown and these are different from what you have eaten here. Try them out.”

“Express my thanks to your dad for me,” said Jin Yu with a smile.

“Don’t worry about it. My dad said it is not easy for you to live on your own and I am here to help out,” said Shen Xi.

Jin Yu’s smile was gentle and loving. He wondered when he would find his family and if he had a daughter as sweet as Shen Xi.

Shen Xi arranged the bowls of food nicely for him, before grabbing Toffeecito and ready to leave. “Uncle Jin Yu, leave the dishes as they are, I’ll clean them later.”

Jin Yu nodded. “Xixi, that friend of yours in the wheelchair, does he have any misunderstanding about me?” Jin Yu blurted as Shen Xi was about to turn around and leave.