Volume One, Chapter Seventeen: How Did Shang Linyuan Arrive So Quickly?

“Mommy, yesterday I saw on TV so many cases of children being trafficked, especially little girls as adorable as this little sister. What if she gets lost? Her mommy would be so heartbroken.”

Seeing Lu Xiaoman remain silent, Lu Mingxi earnestly tried to persuade her again.

Though Lu Xiaoman was worried about meeting Shang Linyuan soon, she couldn’t let her son see it on her face.

After thinking for a moment, she looked down and asked the little girl, “Xinxin, I heard you call for your mommy just now. Is your mommy somewhere nearby?”

“Mm-hmm.” Xinxin nodded.

Lu Xiaoman breathed a sigh of relief. “Then it would be faster if you call your mommy to come pick you up. Why don’t you tell Auntie her phone number?”

Xinxin pondered for a while and said hesitantly, “I don’t remember her phone number.”

Looking into the little girl’s pure and innocent eyes, Lu Xiaoman strongly suspected the child was lying.

She didn’t remember her own mother’s phone number but remembered her uncle’s?

It just didn’t sound believable.

“Then Auntie will take you to the broadcasting room to make an announcement. If your mommy is in this mall, she’ll definitely come looking for you. Right now…”

“Auntie, my mommy is buying a bag. She must have spent all her credit card limit. She doesn’t have money to compensate big brother for his robot…” Xinxin suddenly said.

Hearing this, Lu Mingxi’s eyes widened.

No money to compensate? That’s not acceptable.

“Mommy, let’s just wait for Xinxin’s uncle to come pick her up. Her mommy was too busy buying a bag and lost her. She’s not reliable at all. I don’t like a mommy like that.”

Lu Mingxi took the opportunity to flatter himself, “My mommy is different—beautiful and gentle, never lost me, and scrimps and saves just to buy me toys. She would never buy a bag and forget about me…”

Xinxin’s little face grew increasingly sullen beside them.

Noticing this, Lu Xiaoman quickly tugged her son’s sleeve to stop him from speaking further.

But Xinxin could no longer hold back and suddenly burst into tears again.

“Waaah…”

It must be said, Xinxin’s crying voice carried a powerful resonance.

Several passersby were already turning to look their way.

Lu Xiaoman coaxed the little girl for a long time but to no avail.

When adults are most heartbroken, they can’t take in any comfort, let alone a child just over four years old.

She had no choice but to pat down her pockets again and finally found a piece of candy.

The girl’s eyes lit up when she saw the candy and immediately stopped crying.

That was the second candy she had eaten today; she had only ever had two candies in her life!

Just as Lu Xiaoman finally relaxed, a straight and imposing figure suddenly appeared beside her.

She caught a sharp, cool scent of pine wood from his nose and her heart tightened.

How did Shang Linyuan arrive so quickly?

“Uncle!”

Xinxin, still sucking on the candy, called out and rushed into the newcomer’s arms.

“Uncle?” Lu Mingxi also exclaimed in surprise.

So the rich uncle Xinxin mentioned was this “Uncle”!

Lu Xiaoman could no longer pretend not to see.

She looked over at Shang Linyuan and saw his deep, penetrating gaze scanning toward her.

“Uncle Shang…” she greeted softly.

Shang Linyuan nodded slightly and withdrew his gaze, resting it on the little girl clinging to his leg.

“Is Shang Linwan still buying bags?”

The little girl nodded plaintively, looking at her uncle with hopeful eyes, silently begging for a hug.

But Shang Linyuan showed no intention of reaching out; he didn’t even bend down—clearly unwilling to hold the little girl.

Lu Xiaoman noticed that since Shang Linyuan arrived, Xinxin had become unusually well-behaved. Even such a young child seemed to fear him.

She recalled the three years she had lived with the Shang family in high school, when she had also been most afraid of this man. But she wondered how she had ever mustered the courage back then...

Those memories were unbearable now; all she wanted was to stay as far away from this man as possible.

“Let’s have lunch together,” Shang Linyuan suddenly said.

Lu Xiaoman’s heart skipped a few beats. She wanted to refuse but couldn’t think of a good excuse.

“Xinxin is my niece. Thank you for today.”

“It’s nothing. I just happened to be nearby… no need to… have lunch. I have other things to do later…” Lu Xiaoman hurriedly waved her hand, trying hard to decline the meal.

Shang Linyuan glanced at her but said nothing.

“Uncle, Xinxin broke my robot,” Lu Mingxi couldn’t understand his mother’s feelings and interjected at the right moment.

Although the robot was a gift from Shang Linyuan, since Xinxin had damaged it, she should compensate him.

“What happened?” Shang Linyuan asked his niece, looking down at her.

“I…” Xinxin was too scared to meet Shang Linyuan’s gaze.

Lu Xiaoman felt a bit sorry and smoothed things over, “The two kids accidentally bumped into each other, and the robot got broken. Xiaoxi’s robot… was it a gift from you?”

“Yes.”

So brief and to the point.

Lu Xiaoman cleared her throat lightly. “It’s too expensive. You shouldn’t waste your money on this. Xiaoxi, aren’t you going to thank Uncle… uh, say thank you?”

“Mommy, I already said thank you and even gave Uncle a kiss,” Lu Mingxi quickly clarified for himself.

A kiss… to Shang Linyuan?

Where was the kiss?

Lu Xiaoman’s heart fluttered, memories rushing back to that winter in her senior year of high school.

After school, she came home to find out that Mrs. Shang had gone to a temple for a week-long prayer, and Mr. and Mrs. Shang were traveling abroad.

The servants told her that Shang Linyuan had been in the study all day and hadn’t come out for dinner.

Carrying a tray, she cautiously knocked on the study door, but there was no response.

The Shang family study was off-limits; only the old butler was allowed to clean it, and she had never been inside before.

But that day, anxious, she pushed the door open.

Inside, she saw Shang Linyuan lying in the inner room, seemingly asleep.

She called his name several times with no reply, so she went over and saw his face covered in large beads of sweat, brows furrowed in discomfort.

She checked his forehead—it was burning hot.

She then called the family doctor, and after a flurry of activity, it was already late at night.

“Mr. Shang has internal heat attacking the heart, worsened by getting caught in the rain, which aggravated the cold. A few days of rest will fix it,” the doctor advised.

Internal heat attacking the heart?

Was the company facing some difficult problem?

Lu Xiaoman didn’t understand business, but she knew that Shang Linyuan had just taken over LR Group and must be under a lot of stress.

Worried he might have a fever again in the middle of the night, she planned to stay by his side all night.

In the late hours, Shang Linyuan began to mumble incoherently, repeatedly whispering a name.

“Manman…”

She heard it clearly—it was a woman’s name.

They say when a person is ill, the one they miss most is the one closest to their heart.

It was then she realized that Shang Linyuan had long been in love with someone else.

While wiping the sweat from his forehead, he suddenly grabbed her hand firmly, still murmuring that name.

Lu Xiaoman felt very uncomfortable and tried to pull her hand back in a rush.

But the next moment, a sharp pain coursed through her wrist.

It felt as if that iron-like hand was crushing her to pieces.