Chapter 137: The Little Dirty Bun

Amidst the fireworks, a smile bloomed on Shen Chaoxi’s face.

It overlapped with the smile on the face of the young girl from ten years ago.

In the freezing, bone-chilling dead of night, she had found Shen Yuan, who still held a breath of life, amidst a pile of rotting corpses.

At that time, he was on the verge of death, buried beneath decaying bodies.

Yet when she reached out her hand, Shen Yuan seemed to freeze for a fraction of a second, gazing at her with tension in his eyes.

Shen Chaoxi had stepped over the corpses as if she felt no fear at all.

She stared into his peach-blossom eyes, which bore a striking resemblance to her own.

Ah, he looked like a little dirt-ball.

Clearly blessed with an exquisitely handsome little face, he would undoubtedly look like a fair and pretty boy once the blood and grime were washed away.

However, when she rescued him from that pile of bodies, his entire body was stained with blood and filth, making him look somewhat pitiful.

"Would you like to come home with me?"

That day was bitterly cold, and heavy snow seemed to be falling in flurries.

In the dark expanse, the only illumination came from a shattered streetlamp, leaning against a sea of blood built upon corpses.

The surroundings reeked of iron and decay, shrouded in a lifeless stillness.

Yet her voice was like a beam of light, casting a reflection in Shen Yuan’s gaze.

It felt as though destined by fate.

Shen Chaoxi had picked him up and brought him back.

She gave him the name A-yuan.

Since he was rescued by the eldest young miss of the Shen family, who would dare to easily utter a single word of dissent?

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, he was the young master of the Shen family.

Shen Chaoxi's own younger brother.

His status within the Shen family was no different from that of a true member.

And today’s fireworks, just like ten years ago, were mirrored in Shen Yuan’s eyes.

Suddenly, a coolness touched Shen Yuan’s pale, slender neck.

He lowered his gaze.

He saw Shen Chaoxi standing right before him, fastening a safety talisman around his neck. It was strung on a red thread, resembling a vintage silver plaque with his name engraved upon it.

On the reverse side was an extremely fine line of text.

*Peace and safety through all the years.*

"Elder Sister, what is this?" Shen Yuan’s fair fingers brushed against the characters carved on the back of the talisman.

He raised his eyes to look at Shen Chaoxi, who had lowered her head and was earnestly tying the red knot for him.

"I prayed for it for you up on the mountain. How is it? Pretty cool, right?"

Shen Chaoxi raised an eyebrow, glanced at his tense expression, and then lowered her head again to make sure the talisman was securely fastened.

"There."

Shen Yuan kept his head down, his long eyelashes trembling as his gaze darkened.

"Do you like it?"

Shen Chaoxi looked at the boy’s fair face illuminated by the fireworks. He was wearing a black short-sleeved shirt, long trousers, and soft short hair. His eyes reflected the image of Shen Chaoxi’s face.

"Mm."

As he touched the talisman hanging around his neck, a sudden warmth surged deep into his heart.

His cold, serene brows were knitted together, still maintaining the demeanor of an adult.

He didn't know when it had started, but Shen Yuan had grown rather disinclined to speak.

Yet it also seemed as though he had been this way ever since he was a child.

In front of outsiders, Shen Yuan was taciturn and unsmiling, bearing a gloomy yet refined face with his brows perpetually furrowed.

However, in front of Shen Chaoxi, he would always respond softly to her words.

Shen Chaoxi smiled. "Happy seventeen-year-old birthday, A-yuan."

The tips of Shen Yuan’s ears turned slightly red.

His gaze drifted downward, landing on a cake brought in by a Shen family servant and placed upon the long table in the courtyard.

On the table sat candles alongside a panda cake, with the words *a three-year-old child* written on top.

This reminded her of when she had visited her maternal grandfather's home in Dongguo long ago, and Shen Yuan had stared intently at a black-and-white panda for a very long time.

Shen Chaoxi had walked up behind him and teasingly asked with a smile,

"Well? Isn't the little panda cute?"

"Mm..." Shen Yuan had looked up. Naturally reserved and tight-lipped since childhood, he had a rare impulse to acknowledge it.

Yet upon meeting Shen Chaoxi’s smiling eyes, a trace of nervousness overflowed onto his face, and even his voice became muffled.

"It's a giant panda."

It was as if the words, rising from the depths of his chest, had been forcefully swallowed back down.

"Hm?" Shen Chaoxi had looked back at the bamboo grove in puzzlement, while the younger Shen Yuan outside the railing frowned.

"Such a tiny thing."

"Why are you acting like this at such a young age? There's no joy in you at all."

Shen Chaoxi had said with a trace of dejection, and purposely casting a sideways glance at Shen Yuan as if hinting at something, she reached out and poked her finger against a panda keychain hanging from the display rack by the bamboo railing.

Yet for some reason, there was a bit of dry mud on her finger, and the panda keychain was stained by her touch.

With an earnest look, Shen Chaoxi said, "Hmph, just like our A-yuan, a little dirt-ball."

Then, Shen Chaoxi tossed the soiled keychain right into Shen Yuan's hands.

"Elder Sister, I'm not..."

Shen Yuan frowned, subconsciously staring at the object in his palm.

He wanted to refute, but seeing the smile on Shen Chaoxi's face, he held back and did not interrupt her.

Time flew by in a flash, and so many years had already passed.

Looking at him, Shen Chaoxi suddenly remembered something.

"Stay right here and be a good boy."

With those words, she turned to leave, leaving Shen Yuan to frown as he watched her go.
Then, after waiting for about ten minutes or so,

Shen Chaoxi emerged carrying a bowl of longevity noodles.

She placed it right before Shen Yuan.

"There, dig in."

A-yuan's exclusive longevity noodles.

In the celadon bowl, the noodles emitted wisps of steam, topped with tender green vegetable leaves and a pan-fried egg.

Even Shen Chaoxi’s three older brothers only ever had dishes made *for* them, yet they had never once tasted anything cooked by her own hands.

Shen Chaoxi did not know how to cook.

Yet starting from many years ago until now—a full ten years—her culinary skills had improved considerably compared to before.

The Shen family servants looked on with smiles and envy in their eyes.

After all, everyone knew that the eldest young miss never stepped foot into the kitchen to cook.

Clearly, probably only Shen Yuan, this young master, was privileged enough to eat the noodles made by the eldest miss year after year.

Shen Yuan’s long eyelashes fluttered.

With Shen Chaoxi supporting his shoulder and gently pressing him down into a chair, she seated herself directly across from him.

As for the servants, once they placed the cake on the table, they quietly withdrew.

In the courtyard, the bright moon hung high, casting down a cool, silvery moonlight that illuminated the youth's face.

Before she knew it, the little child she had picked up had grown up this much.

Shen Chaoxi asked, "How is it? Is it delicious?"

Shen Yuan lowered his head, earnestly eating the noodles in his bowl, while Shen Chaoxi looked at him from across the table and asked with a smile.

She still remembered the first time she made longevity noodles for him; she had looked at him just like this, even though the egg had been completely burnt.

And the noodles themselves had been as hard as rocks, making them terribly difficult to bite through.

Yet Shen Yuan had actually claimed they were delicious. Hmph, if she hadn't tasted a bite herself later on, she might have actually been fooled by him.

Seeing him eat with such relish, she had truly believed her cooking skills were quite decent.

"Mm."

Shen Yuan responded in a low murmur.

His pitch-black eyes remained fixed on the noodles in the bowl.

His stomach felt warm.

In his entire world, Shen Chaoxi was his only family.

Watching him, Shen Chaoxi couldn't help but smile along.

However, Shen Chaoxi seemed to have forgotten that there was someone else who had gone out with her today.

Sheng Ting.