Reborn in the 80s: My Whole Family Secretly Hears My Thoughts and Goes Wild with Success! - Chapter 57

“Zhiqiu, how could you say something so vile?”

Chen Can was first stunned that Shen Zhiqiu would swear, then realized she was cursing him. His face darkened instantly. “Shen Zhiqiu, what do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said.” Shen Zhiqiu glared at him. “Which word didn’t you understand?”

“Chen Can, if you truly don’t get it, I’d be happy to spell it out for you!”

“I’m not avoiding you because I’m scared to look at you or talk to you—I just don’t want to. To me, you’re no different from the filth in a toilet. You disgust me.”

“I disgust you?!” Chen Can jabbed a finger at himself, his face turning livid.

“Shen Zhiqiu, you’re the one who disgusts me! I treated you like royalty, held you in my palms afraid you’d break, cradled you in my mouth afraid you’d melt! And yet you had the nerve to play the innocent with me!”

“For months, all you let me do was hold your hand—I couldn’t even kiss you! But then you run off into the reeds with some random guy to do shameless things!”

“Thank god I caught you, or I’d have been fooled forever, never knowing what kind of person you really are!”

“And don’t think I don’t know about you and Yue Mingyuan—you two have been carrying on behind my back for who knows how long!”

Watching Chen Can’s hysterical outburst and listening to his accusations, Shen Zhiqiu felt not the slightest ripple of emotion. The moment he refused to hear her explanation, she had already erased him from her world.

“Chen Can, what about you and Shen Liya?”

“I—we—”

Under Shen Zhiqiu’s cool, piercing gaze, Chen Can floundered. “It wasn’t—”

He never expected her to bring this up. He thought she didn’t know.

“Zhiqiu, Shen Liya seduced me! I didn’t betray you, I—”

“Ha!”

Her mocking laugh cut him off. Chen Can froze. “Zhiqiu, what—what are you laughing at?”

“At your shamelessness.”

Shen Zhiqiu spoke bluntly. “Chen Can, if you’d just admit you wanted to have your cake and eat it too—that you liked Shen Liya as well—I might’ve respected you a little as a man.”

“Did Shen Liya tie you up? Force you? If you really didn’t want to, what could she have done?”

“Too spineless to own up to two-timing, so you push all the blame onto a woman. How impressive.”

Chen Can’s face burned with humiliation and rage. He jabbed a finger at her. “Shen Zhiqiu, what right do you have to judge me?!”

“Chen Can, you’re the one who came looking for this.”

“We could’ve gone our separate ways and lived our lives in peace, but you had to barge in and start a scene.”

“Honestly, how pathetic can you be, begging to be insulted?”

Not giving him a chance to retort, Shen Zhiqiu delivered a final warning. “Chen Can, if there’s a next time, I promise I’ll make it even uglier.”

“And I’ll go straight to your boss and curse you out in front of everyone.”

“Shen Zhiqiu, you’ve got nerve!”

Chen Can ground his teeth, then slammed his foot on the gas.

Instead of the dramatic exit he’d imagined—leaving her with nothing but a sleek car silhouette and a face full of exhaust—black smoke billowed from under the hood.

Panicked, Chen Can scrambled out of the car. Shen Zhiqiu cycled past him leisurely. “Still a terrible driver, I see. Maybe you should ask my Mingyuan for lessons.”

“Like hell I will!”

Chen Can kicked the tire hard. “Piece of junk! Even the car’s against me!”

“Ow—!” He’d probably stubbed his toe. Damn, that hurt!

Glancing back, Shen Zhiqiu saw Chen Can hopping on one foot, clutching the other.

Serves you right.

In high spirits, she arrived home to find Huo Jiusi pushing a stroller around the yard, with Yaya inside giggling happily.

“Aunt Shen!”

Huo Jiusi spotted her and wheeled Yaya over. The baby waved her tiny fists excitedly at her mother.

[Mom’s finally back! Yaya was so worried!]

[Did the bad man hurt Mom? If anyone bullies Mom, tell Dad! Dad will teach them a lesson!]

[When will I grow up? I want to protect Mom too!]

[Gotta drink more milk so I can grow faster!]

Yaya puffed her cheeks and shook the jade pendant on her chest. Huo Jiusi understood immediately. “Yaya, are you hungry?”

The baby waved her fist again. Huo Jiusi handed the stroller to Shen Zhiqiu. “Aunt Shen, can you watch Yaya for a sec? I’ll go make her bottle. Thanks!”

“This kid’s surprisingly polite,” Shen Zhiqiu chuckled.

Soon, Huo Jiusi returned with a small bottle. He deftly slipped the nipple into Yaya’s mouth, cradling the bottle at just the right angle as she drank.

Since moving in, Huo Jiusi had visited daily. Yaya had gone from resisting him to accepting his presence—now, she was completely used to him.

Their bond had grown steadily. Huo Jiusi could read Yaya’s moods and needs from her tiny expressions and gestures.

For instance, when Yaya finished the bottle and waved her fist, he knew she was still a little hungry. He promptly prepared another half-ounce.

After Yaya drained it, Huo Jiusi wiped her mouth with a soft cloth. “All full now?”

Yaya waved her fist—yes.

“Good job! You drank 20ml more than yesterday!”

Shen Zhiqiu lifted Yaya from the stroller to burp her, smiling at Huo Jiusi. “It’s all thanks to the formula you brought. She loves it.”

Huo Jiusi hadn’t just returned with a renowned foreign doctor for Grandpa Huo—he’d also brought a trove of baby supplies: formula, bottles, clothes, diapers, toys, the stroller…

Previously, Yaya’s formula had been imported from Hong Kong through Yue Minghui’s connections. Now, Huo Jiusi took care of everything.

“Yaya, I also got you rice cereal and some baby food. It’ll arrive soon.”

Huo Jiusi gently squeezed her tiny hand. “Grow up fast, okay? Then I’ll take you to my home to play.”

Full and sleepy, Yaya gave a faint fist-wave in response before nuzzling into Shen Zhiqiu’s shoulder, lulled by her mother’s scent.

Daytime was manageable, but at night, longing enveloped Shen Zhiqiu and Yue Mingyuan like a net.

Standing by their respective windows, gazing at the same moon, they sank helplessly into its grasp.

The next morning, Shen Zhiqiu received a call from the police station—Shen Daqiang and Wang Fengqin had also filed a report.

The moment she stepped inside, Shen Daqiang charged at her, hand raised to strike.