Chapter 8

Shang Junyu did not answer immediately, but looked at Shen Yue first. He knew that no matter what he did, Shen Yue would help protect him, because Shen Yue liked him. What's more, Shen Yue owed him this.

He liked seeing Shen Yue suffer because of him. This was the price Shen Yue had to pay for forcing him to stay by her side.

But to Shang Junyu's surprise, this time Shen Yue remained silent. She did not try to take the blame for him like before. She did not even look at him or show any expression, as if everything happening around her was unrelated.

Come to think of it, Shen Yue's brother did say earlier that after Shen Yue came home from school, she hadn't said a word.

But Shang Junyu always felt he occupied a special place in Shen Yue's heart. No matter how aloof she was with others, she would never let go of him. So he did not answer and just waited for Shen Yue to make excuses for him.

Anyway, if Shen Yue didn't help him and he got punished, she would feel even worse than him.

Shen Yichen had seen his share of ups and downs in life. With one glance, he could discern Shang Junyu's thoughts. This further strengthened his resolve to completely remove the Shang family from Shen Yue's life.

The Shang family had already benefited too much from the Shen family and had developed a sense of entitlement without proper boundaries.

He pulled Shen Yue behind him, shielding her completely, and spoke bluntly to Shang Junyu, "Don't look at Shen Yue. I'm talking to you."

At this moment, Shang Junyu's parents came up obsequiously. They knew Shen Yichen was now the one in charge of the Shen Corporation. Their tone became more cautious as they said, "Young Master Shen, could there be some misunderstanding here? We know our Junyu is not good at expressing himself, but deep down he genuinely cares for little sister Yue. Isn't that right, Junyu? If there is any misunderstanding, please explain it clearly to Young Master Shen."

Shang Junyu looked over at Shen Yue again instinctively, but she was blocked from his view by Shen Yichen's protective stance.

This was the first time since Shen Yue had "latched onto" him that Shang Junyu found himself in such a predicament.

He knew Shen Yue's parents were much more powerful than his own parents. He knew he needed Shen Yue's favor to maintain his current lifestyle. He also knew the things he did were wrong. But Shen Yue always forgave him, so over time he started feeling he was in the right.

Now faced with Shen Yichen's questioning, he did not dare to answer.

Seeing him remain silent, Shang Junyu's anxious parents grabbed his wrist tightly as if threatening him. "Hurry and answer Young Master Shen. It's very rude of you not to."

But Shang Junyu still did not speak. Losing patience, his father slapped him hard across the face. "You monster! How could I raise a child like you? Tell me, are those allegations true? You've committed a grave sin! Kneel down now. I'm going to beat you to death!"

Shen Bin rubbed his aching forehead and stopped Shang's father. He walked up to Shang Junyu and asked in a deep voice, "Shang Junyu, as a man you should have the courage to own up to your actions. I always thought you were a good kid, which is why I allowed Yue to get so close to you. I'll ask you once more - did you do those things?"

Although Shen Bin had withdrawn from his high position, when he was serious, he still exuded an awe-inspiring aura that suffocated people.

Shang Junyu had never experienced anything like this. Usually when his parents scolded him, it was just physical pain. But now facing Shen Bin, he felt true fear from the depths of his heart for the first time.

On instinct, he chose to evade the question. "It was Shen Yue who told me to do it."

At this moment behind Shen Yichen, Shen Yue's eyes widened in shock. I never told him to do that!

But considering her previous fondness for Shang Junyu, she probably would have taken the blame at this point to prevent his punishment.

Sensing Shen Yue's movement, Shen Yichen wisely grabbed her wrist to restrain her so she could not interfere.

Understanding his signal, Shen Yue obediently stayed out of it.

Hearing Shang Junyu's words, his parents breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it was on Shen Yue's instructions, things were fine. They knew Shang Junyu would never dare defy their orders.

"Elder Brother Shen, you see, this is just a misunderstanding. We can ask Yue for details once she recovers."

Hearing this, Shen Yichen scoffed. Everyone's eyes turned to him.

"It's believable that Shen Yue gave him money. But would she instruct him to deliberately leave spiked food in the cafeteria to poison others? Would she tell him to secretly spread rumors and lies?" After his questions, Shen Yichen did not give the Shangs a chance to defend themselves. He simply turned to Shen Bin and Xu Zhilian and said, "Dad, Mom, nothing they say is truthful. I'll leave it to you to deal with them."

Shen Bin closed his eyes. Now everything was clear. It was his oversight that caused Yue's suffering. "Please leave," he said coldly.

Hearing Shen Yichen's words and Shen Bin's order to leave, the Shangs knew it was over for them. The days of relying on the Shens were at an end. And whatever punishment awaited Shang Junyu at home was no longer Shen Yue's concern.

Seeing the matter resolved, Shen Yue prepared to return to bed. But Shen Yichen grabbed her by the wrist again, altering her fate once more.

"Dad, Mom, I plan to reshuffle Yue's teachers and principal. Her learning environment also needs rectifying. Let her rest at home until everything is settled."

Shen Yue's face lit up with gratitude. Elder brother! You're the best! I'd love to rest at home!

"Yue is a girl, unlike us brothers. Her feelings are more delicate. You should pay more attention to her emotional state in the future."

As soon as Shen Yichen finished speaking, Xu Zhilian burst into tears. "Yichen, I know I haven't been a good mother. You boys were always so independent that I didn't need to worry. I wrongly assumed Yue was the same. I've failed my duty as a mother!"

Seeing his wife in tears, Shen Bin was also deeply grieved. "Dear, it's not your fault. It's mine for overlooking Shang Junyu's intentions and letting Yue suffer."

Shen Yichen sighed heavily. In his eyes, what Shen Yue truly lacked was companionship. Her loneliness made her susceptible to the empty promises of a silly boy.

He was always busy with work and seldom home. His second brother was even worse, traveling all over the country for shows. His third brother hadn't been home in five years, only sending back trophies and medals.

His fourth brother was obsessed with research. The fifth only cared about his own interests. Meanwhile, the parents were lost in their own world. The house affairs were left to the housekeeper and auntie. The family environment was surely a factor in how Shen Yue turned out.

"Spend more time with her. I'm going back to work." Shen Yichen had already lost too much time today for Shen Yue's matter. He had to return to the office now.

Shen Yue was very grateful to this elder brother who had won her rest time. She happily went back to bed.

Over time, Shen Yue finally understood why Shen Yichen wanted her to pretend she couldn't speak.

Not speaking was great! She didn't really know how to interact with her parents nowadays anyway. With her brother's imposed persona, no matter how silent she was, it wouldn't seem strange.

Whenever she didn't speak, her parents would tell her to rest, and once she was in bed, no one would disturb her happiness of playing on her phone! This was the life she had dreamed of!

That day, Shen Yichen, who rarely returned home, saw Shen Yue lying motionless on the bed playing on her phone as soon as he walked to Shen Yue's door.

The family was afraid that something might happen to Shen Yue if she was alone in the room, so they didn't dare close her door these days.

Shen Yue was immersed in the joy of playing on her phone at the moment and didn't notice Shen Yichen's arrival at all.

Just as a text message came in, and she had just opened it, the phone slipped out of her hand.

Shen Yue looked up and saw it was Shen Yichen. She didn't know why she suddenly felt a little guilty. After all, if Shen Yichen knew she was fine, then she wouldn't be able to get the chance to play alone by pretending to be uncommunicative.

Before coming back, Shen Yichen already knew that Shen Yue had been staying in bed all week except for going to the toilet. She even refused to go anywhere else to eat and insisted on eating in bed.

Shen Yichen originally thought he had misjudged at first and Shen Yue really had a psychological problem. So he was thinking of coming back to take a look and take Shen Yue out for a walk. He didn't expect to see Shen Yue lying happily on the bed as soon as he got back. Shen Yichen instantly felt he was being wronged.

He was just about to reprimand her in a brotherly manner when Shen Yichen suddenly saw the content of the message on Shen Yue's phone and immediately became serious.

"Are you going to see Shang Junyu?"

Shen Yue was puzzled. What was big brother talking about as soon as he got home?

"Why would I go see Shang Junyu?"

Shen Yichen observed Shen Yue's expression carefully and only relaxed a little after making sure she was not lying. "Well, don't pay attention to Shang's family."

Shen Yue clenched her hands into fists and placed them on her chest. "Yes, big brother!"

Shen Yichen was amused by Shen Yue's sudden performance, and his previous displeasure from seeing the message also dissipated a little.

He turned his gaze back to the phone. The message was from Shang Junyu, but the tone was that of Shang's parents.

"Yueyue, can you come see Junyu? Since he left your home that day, he's been saying sorry to you nonstop, clamoring to atone. Now he hasn't eaten for five days. When we make him eat, he cries and throws a tantrum, saying he'd rather die than you not forgive him. Yueyue, you're a good child. Please save Junyu!"

Shen Yichen took out his own phone and took a screenshot of the message, then forwarded it to the tearful Xu Zhilian and the worried-looking Shen Bin.

"You didn't notice the little tricks of the Shang family after being home for so many days?"

After sending the message, Shen Yichen held Shen Yue's phone and asked her, "Are there any secrets on your phone that you don't want your parents or me to see?"

Shen Yue thought about it carefully. It seemed like there weren't any.

She usually just used her phone to shop, read novels, and rarely contacted others.

She used to chat with Shang Junyu before, but now there was no contact. "No."

"Just pretend you didn't see the previous message. I'll handle it."

Shen Yue was confused. It wasn't pretending she didn't see it, she really didn't see it!

Shen Yichen neatly took Shen Yue's phone and said to her, "I'll give you 20 minutes to get ready. I'll take you out to buy a new phone and eat."

Shen Yue immediately sat up and started getting ready. "Yay, eating!"

Shen Yichen chuckled softly and walked out, closing the door for Shen Yue.

He stood at the door, took out Shen Yue's phone, and opened the messages. In addition to the one Shang's family just sent, there were many messages from people without contact names. Most were apologizing to Shen Yue, hoping she could be merciful. Some were threats.

"Shen Yue, you better show up at school and see if I take care of you or not."

"You'd better hide at home for the rest of your life."

"A tattletale trash."

Shen Yichen forwarded all these messages to screenshots on his own phone while flipping through them. It seemed he hadn't struck hard enough these past few days.

What made Shen Yichen most speechless was still his own parents. They really didn't take his words to heart. Finally, Shen Yichen scrolled up and found that Shang Junyu had also sent messages to Shen Yue before.

"I'm wrong, I'm sorry."

"I won't do that again, please forgive me."

"Can you come pick me up for school tomorrow?"

"The students who bullied you before have stopped coming to school, and the teachers have been changed too. When are you coming back?"

"I'm really sorry, I was wrong, please don't ignore me."

"Shen Yue, if you keep ignoring me, I might die."

Shen Yichen sneered and closed the page. Learning bad things at such a young age and resorting to threatening suicide. Fortunately, he found out early.

In the end, Shen Yichen concluded that this family needed him.

At this time, Shen Yue had already dressed up and come out, still wearing the dress Shen Yichen bought for her that day.

Shen Yichen asked, "Why are you still wearing this?"

Shen Yue looked left and right to make sure no one was around before answering with a smile, "Because it's pretty."

The corners of Shen Yichen's mouth also curved up into a smile. He didn't expect the little girl to still be conscientiously pretending to be autistic. "I'll take you to buy some more later."

Shen Yue was about to respond when she saw a familiar figure appear at the top of the stairs and immediately closed her mouth.

Shen Yichen also understood what was going on after noticing Shen Yue's change.

He turned around and looked at the person coming. "Mom, I'm taking Shen Yue out for a walk."

Xu Zhilian was very surprised. "Does your sister want to go..." Before she could finish asking, Xu Zhilian saw Shen Yue obediently holding Shen Yichen's hand by his side.

"Compared to us, your sister seems to like you more."

"Shen Yue is just still a little afraid right now." Shen Yichen originally thought he wouldn't like hearing such words, but it actually didn't feel bad.

"Then I'll take Shen Yue out first."

Xu Zhilian's expression was a little disappointed. "I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yue panicked. If Mom went along, wouldn't she have to keep quiet again? Save me, brother!

Shen Yue squeezed Shen Yichen's hand hard, trying to convey her unwillingness. The corners of Shen Yichen's mouth twitched imperceptibly. "Mom, take a look at the message I sent you first. There are some things that shouldn't always be handled by me."

Xu Zhilian took out her phone and glanced at it, her face changed. She looked at Shen Yue with even more remorse. "Then you two have fun today. I won't go."

Shen Yue clenched her fists. Brother is awesome!