Chapter 259: Disagreements on Raising Children

Shi Youxuan did not know about such a matter; he had never mentioned it.

Originally, she had wanted to ask him if he had seen a doctor.

Later, she did not ask it out loud.

There was no need to ask at all; if seeing a doctor were useful, Zhu Yiwen would have done it long ago.

He was a person who did things with extreme meticulousness; such matters did not require a reminder.

However, if Zhu Yiwen were never to have his own children in the future, then he would certainly not let Shi Ran leave; if her daughter could not leave, where could she herself go?

She could go nowhere.

Shi Youxuan was like a deflated ball, slumping on the sofa: "I won't leave, you can rest assured."

"Good, I will certainly not treat you and your daughter poorly," Zhu Yiwen said.

……

She had originally thought that once this matter passed, it would be over, but Shi Youxuan soon discovered that life had still changed!

Three days later, at noon.

The servant attending to Shi Ran came over in a panic to report: "Madam, Madam, it's not good; the young miss heard that Alisha is dead, and she is incredibly heartbroken..."

"Alisha is dead? Who said that?" Shi Youxuan felt a throbbing pain in her head.

"The Head of the Family said so," the servant said.

It was indeed him, as expected.

In the past few days, Xuanran Company had been making constant moves, every one of them a major one; Zhu Yiwen had not even gone to his comfortable nest, busy every day locked in a battle of wits with Sheng Hanyu, enjoying it immensely.

But in his own country, on his own turf.

Zhu Yiwen had not gained any advantage, but instead suffered setbacks repeatedly, and even his temper was not as good as before.

But no matter what, he couldn't vent his anger like this!

Shi Youxuan went to comfort the child first, preparing to find Zhu Yiwen later to demand an explanation.

Before she even reached the room, she heard the little girl crying incessantly in the hallway, her voice hoarse; it looked like she had been crying for a long time.

"Xiaozhu, Xiaozhu, stop crying; why is my poor little one crying like this?" Shi Youxuan clutched her daughter in her arms, her heart aching.

The little one was sobbing, having already lost her strength, but upon seeing Mommy, it was as if she had been injected with vitality again—"Wah!" she wailed loudly.

Between sobs, her little mouth kept saying: "Mommy, they are all bad people, Daddy is also a bad person; they all said Auntie is dead... Can you tell me they are all lying?"

"Sob... Auntie isn't dead, sob, Auntie loves Xiaozhu the most; Auntie said she would take Xiaozhu to a very fun place to eat very delicious things..."

Shi Youxuan's head hurt even more.

Ever since "Alisha" left, in the little girl's conversations with her, eight and a half out of ten sentences were related to "Auntie."

Her ears had grown calluses from listening to it, and later it even became a conditioned reflex that she would get a headache whenever she heard the word "Auntie."

"Alisha" had only left, and the little one had already turned the house upside down without a moment's peace; now he had actually told his daughter that "Alisha" had died in a car accident...

There was no telling what kind of scene she would make this time.

But Xiaozhu wanted Shi Youxuan to prove that "Auntie" was not dead, yet she did not do so.

Shi Youxuan told her daughter that "Auntie" had indeed died; the dead could not return to life, and even if she cried, she would not come back to life.

"Alisha" could not come back, and since Zhu Yiwen had already said so, she could only follow his lead.

The little one cried for a while longer, then fell asleep crying in Shi Youxuan's arms.

Shi Youxuan placed her on the bed, had a servant bring a warm towel, and gently wiped the tear stains from her daughter's face.

Once she was sure her daughter was fast asleep, she left the child's room to settle the score with Zhu Yiwen!

"You went too far; how could you tell her that Alisha is dead?" Shi Youxuan roared at Zhu Yiwen: "Do you know how heartbroken Xiaozhu was crying just now? It broke my heart to hear her; it's not your biological daughter, so you don't feel the pain..."

She stopped abruptly, realizing she had said the wrong thing, but even if it was wrong, it had already been said; water spilled cannot be gathered up.

"I'm sorry, I was too anxious just now."

Zhu Yiwen did not pursue it, appearing not to care.

He only asked very calmly: "Have you finished venting your anger? If not, you can continue; I don't mind."

The more he said this, the more embarrassed Shi Youxuan felt.

"I've vented it; I really didn't mean it just now, but it's also wrong for you to lie to Xiaozhu." Her voice was much lower, but still audible.

Zhu Yiwen left his seat, stood in front of Shi Youxuan, placed his hands on her shoulders, and said to her eyes, word for word: "I did it on purpose; I wasn't joking with you that day. Every word I said was very serious. From now on, I am going to train Xiaozhu according to the standards of a Zhu Family Heir."

"As an heir, she must realize the cruelty of this world earlier than children of her age."

Shi Youxuan also stared intently into his eyes: "Are you saying you want to train Xiaozhu to be cold-blooded, heartless, and just like you?"

"You can understand it that way."

Shi Youxuan suddenly raised her volume: "No, I don't agree; Xiaozhu doesn't have that kind of personality, it's useless even if you try to train her!"

Zhu Yiwen retorted: "How do you know she isn't the personality I want? She is; it's just that your maternal heart is too soft, and you don't want the child to come into contact with the cruelty of this world too early. Whether you want to or not, you have to; you don't have the final say in this matter."

In front of Shi Youxuan, Zhu Yiwen displayed his overbearing side.

He not only told Xiaozhu that "Alisha" was dead, but also told her that "Alisha" had died particularly miserably, and that even her body had not been found.

The little one had a fever again that night, but this time the fever broke in one night.

After the fever broke, the little one seemed like a different person, neither crying nor laughing nor speaking.

Shi Ran's current state made Shi Youxuan very worried.

"Xiaozhu, shall Mommy take you out to play?"

Xiaozhu shook her head, showing no interest.

Shi Youxuan thought for a moment: "Let's go to the courtyard to climb trees; Mommy will catch you from below."

This "activity" of climbing trees had always been strictly forbidden by Shi Youxuan, but when "Alisha" was around, she would still secretly take Shi Ran to climb trees.

At first, she would get angry, but later, after seeing them both move as nimbly as monkeys, she would turn a blind eye and pretend not to know.

But this was the first time she had taken the initiative to offer to accompany her daughter to climb a tree.

Yet, even though it was the first time she had asked, Shi Ran did not give her any face.

The little girl not only shook her head, but also said as if taking an oath: "I will never climb trees again in the future, and I will be the good child that Mommy hopes I will become."

Shi Ran did indeed become a "good child."

At home, she just studied the piano and the computer.

As long as no one called her, she could sit there for an entire day!

Shi Ran was still a child under five years old; children that age usually didn't have much patience, and besides, Shi Ran wasn't a well-behaved child either.

The change was so great that it frightened her mother.

Even the kindergarten teacher gave feedback, saying that Shi Ran had been acting abnormally lately and suggested she pay more attention to the child's mental health.

Shi Youxuan began to try every possible way to coax her daughter, wanting her to change back to how she was before.

"Xiaozhu, tomorrow is a day off, shall we go to the amusement park?"

"No, Mommy, I have to study computer tomorrow. Auntie said that if I can finish learning level two in a year, she has a gift to give me."

After the little one finished speaking, she turned around and stared at the computer with rapt attention.

Her ten fingers flew, nimbly tapping on the keyboard.

Shi Youxuan leaned in to take a look and widened her eyes in astonishment.

Usually, she only knew that the little girl was learning computer, but she hadn't paid much attention, thinking that most of the time she was just playing games, and worried that the child was too young and would become nearsighted.

Now that she looked, she discovered that the little girl was already very proficient in using C programming language.

Good heavens!

Had she given birth to a computer genius?