Chapter 4: The Love‑Brain Illiterate Son

This matter, speaking of it, is a long story; one or two sentences can't explain it clearly.

Then three sentences.

……

So, then.

Shu Shu learned the full story from Shu Lingchen's hesitant explanation:

It turned out that when Shu Shu left so suddenly, unable to contact other relatives, and Shu Lingchen strongly resisted going to a children's welfare institution or foster family, the property management of the residential complex had been taking care of him all along.

But this care was ultimately only temporary.

Just as the property management was worrying, a young nanny from the owner's household across the building volunteered: "Anyway, I have nothing to do after work each day; looking after a kid can't be that troublesome—I'll just do a good deed, it's no big deal."

……

Shu Lingchen said: "It was Chu Auntie who raised me; she's a good person, but she married poorly—her husband gambled, owed money, and ran away, debt collectors came to the door threatening Chu Auntie and Chu Chu to pay up——"

Shu Shu raised her hand and asked: "Wait a minute? Who is Chu Chu?"

Chu Lian, Chu Auntie's daughter.

Shu Lingchen silently pointed at that Maotai selfie.

"I couldn't bear to see them living in fear every day, so I let them stay at our place to escape the debt collectors." At that time he was in sixth grade of elementary school.

Shu Shu asked again: "Then why are you renting a place to live now?"

It was in his second year of junior high when Chu Auntie suddenly said she and Chu Chu would move out, saying that as a girl, Chu Chu couldn't always stay in a boy's house—it was inconvenient.

"As a grown man, I certainly couldn't let a girl suffer, and Chu Auntie's health isn't good either—she can't keep going back and forth—so I volunteered to move out."

After hearing this, Shu Shu nodded slowly, unfazed:

"Oh~~ So, to put it simply: a gambling dad, a frail mom, a broken her, and then you with your bursting saintly heart?"

Seeing Shu Shu show no sign of anger, Shu Lingchen breathed a sigh of relief, then put on a proud expression as if thinking his action was super cool and seeking praise: "Yes."

Shu Shu raised her hand and gave Shu Lingchen's forehead a big flick.

"You big-headed idiot, Shu Lingchen, your brain's filled with cement! Don't you see that the nanny mother and daughter just want to seize the house, deliberately making up an excuse to kick you out?!"

"…… Ah, how could that be? Chu Auntie and her family are just temporarily staying."

Hmm, temporarily staying.

Who temporarily stays for six or seven years!

Shu Shu opened Chu Lian's all selfies posted on the tieba again, zoomed in on the upper right corner, and showed Shu Lingchen: "See anything?"

If they were just temporary lodgers, how dare they casually flaunt the homeowner's belongings so blatantly, as if they were their own?

Shu Lingchen then said: "Just some selfies of a little girl—I've seen them all, even liked them, and didn't notice any problem."

Shu Shu took a deep breath, then showed Shu Lingchen the replies in the thread insulting him as a poor loser clinging to Chu Lian's wealth.

This Chu Lian lives in Shu Lingchen's mansion, flaunting its furnishings, yet still tries to paint Shu Lingchen as something!

Shu Lingchen snorted: "A bunch of trash; I can't be bothered to argue with them."

…………

Shu Shu fell completely silent, turning her head to look around.

"Mom, what are you looking for?"

"Rope." Shu Shu said: "A rope that can let people start over, then strangle you little idiot!"

Shu Lingchen shrank back: "You're not misunderstanding, are you? I moved out on my own initiative; Chu Auntie and her family never mentioned anything……"

Until now.

Shu Shu finally confirmed it.

Her son must have been fed ten tons of stupidity drugs by that nanny.

You can't communicate with an imbecile.

So Shu Shu chose to go into the kitchen, pick up a kitchen knife, and head outside.

"I'm going back to Yujingyuan right now to hack those two to death!"

Truly, the world has gone to the dogs: the nanny's daughter becomes an Eldest Young Lady while the homeowner turns into a poor loser!

Upon hearing this, Shu Lingchen hurriedly stopped Shu Shu: "Calm down!"

"Move aside."

"No, you can't hurt Chu Chu and Chu Auntie!"

Shu Shu lifted her head, seeing the tension and protectiveness in Shu Lingchen's eyes.

——Her son likes Chu Lian.

But he just confessed this afternoon and got rejected, didn't he?

Shu Shu sensed something was off, threw down the knife, then took Shu Lingchen's phone—and sure enough, at the top of his WeChat chats she saw Chu Lian.

She opened the chat interface; the latest conversation occurred after the confession ended:

Shu Lingchen: "Chu Chu, you rejected me because of that Shi Jin? Do you like him? 【hurt. jpg.】"

Chu Lian: "No, A-Chen, it's because you were too sudden today; I got a bit scared, didn't know how to react, sorry for hurting you—I only see Shi Jin as a class monitor; if you're angry, I'll never appear before you again. 【crying. jpg.】"

Shu Lingchen clearly panicked: "Chu Chu, don't—how could I possibly be angry with you? Today really was my fault; I was too rash, didn't consider your feelings!"

Chu Lian: "A-Chen, I don't blame you."

Shu Shu was stunned: "No, she forgave him?!"

Just then.

Chu Lian sent a new message, a screenshot of tieba content.

She said: "A-Chen, someone called you out on tieba; I clarified things for everyone. 【heart heart heart. jpg.】"

Shu Lingchen heard the notification, hurriedly snatched the phone back from Shu Shu's hand.

Seeing him moved, he replied in one sentence: "Chu Chu, you're really good." 【rose rose rose JPG.】 】

Shu Shu: "……"

She truly **convinced.

As it turns out, the real scammer is here!

Shu Shu grabbed Shu Lingchen's shoulders with both hands and shook him hard.

She muttered: "Stupid monster dumb ghost, get lost, stupid monster dumb ghost, get lost, leave my son's body, leave my son's body……"

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw on the desk in the "bedroom" that Shu Lingchen had tidied for her over a dozen books; taking a closer look, they were the ones she often read.

Her eyes lit up, and she immediately walked into the room.

"Are these all things you brought out from Yujingyuan?"

Shu Lingchen, recovering from dizziness, weakly nodded: "……Yes."

He originally just carried them around as a keepsake, because these books were the ones he remembered his mother always holding and reading.

Shu Shu flipped through the books, asking: "Do you have *A Brief History of Time*?"

"Ah?" Shu Lingchen scratched his head, completely bewildered: "Where would I get the time to pick up poop? Why are you making me pick up poop?"

……

Shu Shu's hand stopped moving; she stayed silent for a full ten seconds, then she lifted her head: "Shu Lingchen, just read a bit!"

Shu Shu only felt that she urgently needed a fast-acting heart pill.

Fortunately, she found *A Brief History of Time*, and then in a sandwich layer of one of its pages she saw what she was looking for.

—— a black gilded card.

She picked up the card and left.

"Mom, where are you off to again?"

Shu Shu, expressionless: "Oh, I suddenly feel that being reborn makes me easy to die of anger, so I decided to go back first, goodbye son, don't think about Mom; Mom will become a star in the sky always watching over you."

Then she flung the door shut and left.

Shu Lingchen: "???"

……

Half an hour later.

Shu Shu leisurely reclined on the imperial concubine chair in the presidential suite of a five-star hotel.

In her hand was the newly unpacked latest model fruit phone.

She opened a certain downloaded app.

The interface popped up a notification:

"Welcome back, esteemed black gold user."

One of Shu Shu's life principles—eggs must never be put all in one basket.

She has an account whose assets are managed exclusively by a group of professional managers, which can isolate debt and is not within the scope of inheritance.

This account doesn't recognize people, only the card and the service password.

Thirteen years have passed, and the money inside has multiplied who knows how many times.

Then Shu Shu simply went from being a rich lady to being a rich lady (plus version).

Although she ate four green rice balls in the evening, it didn't prevent Shu Shu from having another lavish seafood midnight snack.

She gnawed on the Australian lobster while thinking:

Her son had turned into a love‑brain sycophant plus illiterate, and this mother who "left" early bears a large share of the responsibility.

After all, it's her own child; she can't just abandon him like that.

Anyway, she has to rescue him, to turn him back.

The fruit phone beside her lit up, and two new messages popped up:

1, Ms. Shu Shu, your new ID information has been updated and certified, with a screenshot of the front and back of an eighteen‑year‑old ID attached.

2, Classmate Shu Shu, your enrollment procedures are complete; please arrive at An Shi San Zhong by 7:30 a. m. tomorrow to attend class.