Raised by A Considerate Fighter Chapter 3

Everyone present, relatives, neighbors, people from the Shen family, including Owen, had not expected that things would turn out in this direction.
The person who was most unexpected was Jian Xiaolin.

He has been a quiet kid since he was young, never chattering like other kids, and has grown up stumbling and stammering until now. After going to school, he is still the most taciturn one in the class. But at this moment, his dark, rarely emotional eyes finally rippled, revealing a little bit of the ignorance and confusion that should be there at this age, and he called out in a hoarse voice: "...Aunt?"

The voice was too weak and was scattered in the dry and cold air when the wind blew. It was so faint that no one could hear it except Owen, who was standing with his back to the light.

"You can't just leave like this!" Simon rushed over with a note and a business card in her hand, still crying and shouting: "It's easy for you to say that. You are rich people, so you think you can buy a life with money. No way! That's a life, my brother's life!"

Samuel immediately said: "That's not what Mr. Shen meant, and I just told you that if you have any difficulties in the future, you can..."

"Don't say those empty words!" Henry pushed Special Assistant Song away and said in unison with his wife, "Looking for you? Aren't you just an employee? What if you quit or get laid off? Who should we look for? What's the use of what you say?"

Samuel had been with Shen Changqian for five or six years since he entered Shen's at the age of 25. With his strong professional skills, he worked his way up from a specialist in the board office to the chairman's special assistant. He had dealt with business storms of all sizes, but this was his first time dealing with such a shrewd and unscrupulous person. At this moment, he could only reiterate his position: "Shen's values   its promises the most, and---"

Simon interrupted him again: "If we believe what you rich people say, wouldn't we celebrate Chinese New Year every day? You want to buy a life with a box of money? How can this be justified in the world!" After saying that, she changed the subject and started to cry again, "My poor brother---"

Although human beings do not share the same joys and sorrows, Owen's attitude was always warm and peaceful. Moreover, since the other party was Simon's relative, he remained self-restrained and polite: "What do you think, or what efforts do you need us to make? As long as..."

"Didn't I just say that?" He Zhou rushed over from the main hall door. He was not big, but his sly aura was no less than his parents. He pointed his hand into the mourning shed and said, "You can leave if you want. Take him with you. His parents are gone. Why should our family raise a child for others?"

"What a sin!" The people who had been watching nearby couldn't stand it anymore and muttered, "That's your uncle's son, your cousin! How can family members talk to each other like that..."

"What's my last name and his last name? How can we be a family?" He Zhou cursed back, "My parents said that our family's money will be used to support my sister and me to go to school and to help me get married. Why should we support him?"

Speaking of money, Simon stopped howling and rushed over to He Zhou, directly rummaging through He Zhou's bulging pockets, "What's in there? Didn't I say you can't take the money? You loser!"

The mother tried to stop her and her son tried to stop her. Another girl from the He family came over to stop them and the scene became chaotic.

Henry held the box of cash tightly and refused to let go, and issued an ultimatum: "Let's talk straight. We'll take the money. You owe me a life, so it's due! But you can see that I have two children at home, four mouths to feed. I don't have the means to raise another one, a boy! How much money can he get from studying for more than ten years? How much money will it cost to build a house for him and start a family in the future? That's a huge sum. My He family doesn't owe them the Lin family!"

"Master, look at this..." Special Assistant Song hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Should we give them more..."

Owen shook his head lightly.

He knew what was going on with this family. They were poor, greedy, and indifferent. No matter how much money he gave them, it would be the same. And the problem was not the money. Even if he gave more, how much could he really spend on the child? Living under someone else's roof, the child was innocent. Who could guarantee that he would have enough food and clothing, be safe, and have a good character in the future?

From this perspective, the sentence "Grow up well" just now is just a joke.

Owen has been working very hard for the past ten days since he returned to China. Shen Changqian is still lying in bed, but the operation of the group cannot be stopped. According to Shen Changqian's instructions, he first dealt with some difficult problems of the company, and then started to hand over work. He also returned to Philadelphia, USA to handle academic procedures. He has been tossing around these days almost without sleep, and he also has to comfort his mother. Now, the accumulated fatigue of these days finally shows a little in the chaos.

Owen pinched his brows, took out his phone, walked aside and dialed Shen Changqian's private number.

Given the current situation, it is necessary for him to seek his parents' advice.

It was Clara who answered the phone. Owen called "Mom". Clara said "Hey" and asked him in a gentle voice if everything was going well.

Owen pondered for a moment, and then briefly explained the current situation, saying, "I think I need to ask Dad's opinion on this matter."

Clara was silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, then she sighed heavily and said, "Wait a moment."

After a while, he heard Shen Changqian's voice, still hoarse, but less weak than a few days ago, and asked: "How is the child...now?"

Owen thought about the words and said briefly: "Not very good."

After another long silence, Shen Changqian asked in a deep voice: "Will the funeral be held tomorrow?"

"Yes." Owen said.

"We have to let the child go, don't break the old rules." Shen Changqian's voice paused for a second, then sounded again, "Then... bring him back first."

Owen was stunned for a moment, frowning slightly: "Dad?"

"You can stay there for one more night. Don't let the child suffer at this time. Tomorrow... bring him back first."

After hanging up the phone, Owen pinched his brows helplessly. After being a favored child for twenty years, this was the first time he knew what it meant to be in a dilemma.

In fact, even if Shen Changqian didn't tell him to, he wouldn't be able to leave peacefully given the situation tonight.

The crying continued not far away. Simon cried and complained to her relatives and neighbors. Some people advised her, some stopped her, some told her to think more positively, and some said that she was being cold-hearted. Owen did not go forward to comfort her. He went straight back to Xiao Simon, squatted down again, looked at him straight, and asked: "Do you have to stay here all night?"

Xiao Simon's reaction was still a little slow. He looked at him with his dark eyes and nodded for a while. Owen wanted to say something to him, but he took the initiative to ask, "Did my father really exchange your father's life?"

The word "change" is inappropriate in any case, but facing such a small person, even though Owen has always been rational, he cannot speak out the so-called "truth" at this moment.

After a long time, Owen said: "Yes, it was your father who saved my father, so I want to thank you."

At that time, eight-year-old Simon could not understand the huge difference between the words "replace" and "save". According to common sense, he was the one who was most qualified to cry and vent, or even express resentment, throwing tantrums or punching and kicking the person in front of him, just because his father died for this person's father. As a child, he could express his emotions in any way he wanted.

But Simon didn't.

When his father was still alive, he would always tell him, "Son, when you grow up you must be a good person, kind-hearted, and not have so many evil intentions, and Dad will be satisfied." After going to school, what was written in the textbooks and what the teacher taught on the blackboard gave him a clearer understanding of his father's words.

So, Simon sniffed and just asked: "Is he doing something brave and righteous?"

These four words are the best interpretation an eight-year-old child could think of for the sudden loss of his father.

Owen obviously didn't expect him to ask this question. He was silent for a moment, and then gave a positive answer: "Yes, it was a brave act. Your father... is a hero."

Simon nodded slowly, then lowered his eyes, but said nothing more.

Shouting and burning paper ash filled the cold air of the mountain village. Such a night was destined to be depressing. Owen strode out of the mourning shed and gave a closing statement to the still mad Simon and his wife. He asked the child to mourn his father first, and when everything was done, he would take the man away.

After he said that, Simon stopped making a fuss. As if she was afraid that he would go back on his word, but also as if she didn't believe him, she asked, "Then, then if you took it away...will you return it to us?"

What kind of family is this? Owen's slightly cold eyes swept across the few people, without saying a word, and turned away from this absurd farce.

It was impossible to leave, but staying one night would cause more trouble. Owen leaned against the car body and didn't want to talk, just looked up at the scattered stars in the sky. After Samuel learned about the next arrangement, the first thing he did was to find a place to stay. There were six of them on this trip, two cars, and the subordinates could make do with one night, but Owen, who had just returned home, was afraid that he couldn't make do.

There must be no place to live in the village. There is a hotel in the town, but it is not a formal hotel. It is located on the side of the national highway and provides a place for passing truck drivers to rest. The only county-level hotel is in the county town, next to the county government. Although it does not have any stars, it can be considered clean. It is just that the distance is too far and it takes more than two hours to drive there.

Owen's shirt was still on the child. Samuel took out a coat from the car and told him about the hotel. He asked, "Master, look..."

After being in the night wind for a long time, his arms and fingers were numb. Owen put on his coat and said in a tired and stiff voice: "Don't bother. Just stay in the car for one night."

"How can that be possible!" Samuel was a little embarrassed, "We can both talk about it, the key is you..."

"Not that pretentious." Owen said.

After he said this, Samuel could no longer persuade him, so several people got in the car and drove to an open space a little further away. The heater in the car was on and the temperature rose quickly. Owen took off his coat and leaned back in the back seat. His body was actually tired, but his mind could not relax. This was an old habit he had developed over the years of drawing and designing. The more tired he was, the less sleep he could get.

Flipping through the photo album on his phone, he looked at the design drawings one by one. The last rendering was the work he created before returning to China. The creation of artistic conception, landscape axis, spatial connotation, site function... every detail of the design is a painstaking effort, from the concept manuscript to the plane design to the three-dimensional formation, the combination of Chinese and Western gardens, the collision and fusion of the designer's creative ideals and personal concepts... even the German mentor, who is known for his strictness, couldn't help but praise him, "In me the tiger sniffs the rose."

And this sudden change has broken more than just the peace of the family? As Shen Changqian was seriously injured, he applied to the college for delayed graduation and returned to China to handle the internal affairs of the group... Even though he had thousands of mountains and rivers in his heart, in the end, he was left alone to appreciate them in the dim night of this mountain village.

It was late at night, and the time on the phone screen showed it was past midnight. Samuel had fallen asleep in the front passenger seat. The night in the mountains was so quiet that it seemed as if no one was there.

Only in the small courtyard not far away, there was a faint light.

Under the light, there should be a thin and taciturn child, lying alone in the cold night sky.

Owen pressed his swollen and painful temple, put away his phone, and got out of the car with his coat in hand.