X
Join our Discord server and get release updates for every novel you follow.
Join the ServerWhen Ji Xiao carried Liang Fei home, Liang Fei immediately spotted Chen Shuhui rubbing his waist. He struggled to get down, scurried to the sofa, and grabbed Chen Shuhui’s hand.
“Dad, I’ll massage you!”
Chen Shuhui smiled and shook his head. “No need. You just got home—go wash your hands first.”
Ji Xiao put down his backpack and headed to the kitchen to cook.
Unable to refuse Liang Fei, Chen Shuhui lay face down on the sofa, letting the boy work on his back.
Liang Fei knelt on top of him, gently kneading his waist. “Dad, is it too hard?”
“No, it’s just right,” Chen Shuhui said with a smile, his eyes half-closed. “Xiaofei, did Dad Che carry you all the way home just now?”
“Yeah.”
Chen Shuhui cursed inwardly.
‘What a beast.’
‘His waist strength is incredible.’
Ji Xiao made a simple meal of three dishes and a soup.
After dinner, Ji Xiao told Chen Shuhui to take Liang Fei out for a walk while he went to the supermarket to settle a few days’ accounts.
Black Cat: “Fu Ying went to the hospital. He wants to get a medical report and then call the police.”
Ji Xiao: [Did they find anything?]
Black Cat: “It’s weird. The hospital couldn’t find anything. He says he’s in excruciating pain, but they can’t figure out why. Boss, didn’t you say you broke his bones?”
Ji Xiao: [If I said you’re a stupid cat, would you believe it?]
Black Cat: “…”
Since Fu Ying had the nerve to harass Chen Shuhui, suffering a bone-breaking pain was the least he deserved.
Black Cat seemed amused. “He went to several hospitals and even checked into the men’s clinic. The doctors all said everything was normal, but he insists he’s useless, hahaha.”
A smile crept into Ji Xiao’s eyes. [Did the doctor suggest he see a psychiatrist?]
Black Cat nodded frantically. “Mm-hmm, the doctor said if he really can’t perform, it must be psychological. It’s killing me.”
Ji Xiao finished the accounts, withdrew some money, and headed home.
He lit a cigarette, sat on a bench, crossed his legs, and spread his arms. [In another life, won’t I ever get to live peacefully?]
Black Cat whispered, “Yeah.”
Ji Xiao smoked a cigarette in silence, watching the father and son in the distance, his expression unreadable.
Liang Fei spotted Ji Xiao from the slide and shouted, “Dad, Dad Che is smoking!”
Chen Shuhui looked over and frowned. “Less—”
“I’m not eating it myself! Today my deskmate gave me a pack of cookies, and I think I should give something in return.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need! The supermarket is just across the street—I can see it from the gate! Sister Xiaoju and the others know me too.” Liang Fei ran off. “Dad, you go tell Dad Che to stop smoking. I’ll be right back!”
“Xiaofei!”
Chen Shuhui watched his hurried figure, suspecting that the boy might grab more than just chocolate—maybe even sneak a snack or two.
He sighed softly and walked toward Ji Xiao.
When Ji Xiao saw him coming, he stubbed out the cigarette on his own. “Xiaohui…”
“I’m not saying you can’t smoke, but you should cut down.”
“Alright, I’ll smoke less.” Ji Xiao stood up and looked toward the gate of the residential area. “Where’s Xiaofei going?”
“He said his deskmate gave him cookies today, so he wanted to get some chocolate from your supermarket as a gift.”
“Mm.”
Chen Shuhui walked side by side with Ji Xiao and said softly, “Call your cashier and tell her not to let Xiaofei take whatever he wants. I’m afraid he’ll get spoiled.”
“Okay, I’ll say it in front of him later.”
“He’ll throw a fit…”
“He wouldn’t dare.”
Chen Shuhui chuckled. ‘He actually would dare.’
Liang Fei seemed to have forgotten the shadows of the past; he was becoming more lively every day.
Ji Xiao and Chen Shuhui entered the supermarket.
Ji Xiao glanced around and asked, “Xiaoju, where’s Xiaofei?”
Xiaoju was the sweet-voiced cashier.
She looked puzzled. “Xiaofei? I haven’t seen him.”
Chen Shuhui’s face changed color.
Ji Xiao frowned slightly. [Cat?]
Black Cat: “No danger.”
Ji Xiao: [Give me directions.]
Black Cat: “Okay. Turn left out the door…”
Ji Xiao grabbed Chen Shuhui’s hand and walked out. “Don’t worry. He’s probably just playing nearby.”
“Yeah.”
Chen Shuhui agreed, but his expression remained troubled.
Following Black Cat’s guidance, Ji Xiao led Chen Shuhui to a residential area five hundred meters away and went straight in.
Chen Shuhui, anxious, looked left and right.
“Don’t worry, he’s over there.”
Chen Shuhui looked where Ji Xiao pointed and indeed saw Liang Fei. When he saw the fierce-looking man crouching in front of Liang Fei, he quickened his pace. “Xiaofei!”
Ji Xiao recognized him.
It was the muscle man.
The muscle man spotted them, stood up, and tried to run.
“Stop!”
The muscle man turned around, his face twitching. His fierce expression softened. “I… I didn’t do anything, really.”
Chen Shuhui let go of Ji Xiao, rushed over, pulled Liang Fei to his side, and raised his hand to hit him but couldn’t bring himself to do it. “Didn’t you say you were going to the supermarket? How could you follow a stranger?”
‘He went into someone else’s neighborhood!’
Ji Xiao stared at the muscle man. “Want another beating?”
The muscle man stepped back. “I didn’t do anything! I even gave him money!”
Liang Fei subconsciously touched his pocket.
Chen Shuhui looked at Liang Fei in disbelief.
Ji Xiao’s gaze fell on Liang Fei, his expression cool. “Did you really take his money?”
“No.” Liang Fei took out a ten-yuan bill from his pocket and threw it on the ground. “He forced it into my pocket. He said if I didn’t take it, I’d be disrespecting him. He’s big, and I’m small—I couldn’t fight back, so I just accepted it. Dad, I didn’t take the money.”
Chen Shuhui glared at the muscle man. “What exactly are you trying to do?”
The muscle man said aggrievedly, “I didn’t do anything! I was just trying to bribe the boss’s son.”
Chen Shuhui: “…”
Ji Xiao: “…”
The muscle man bent down and picked up the ten yuan. “Your supermarket is the only one nearby with a good selection. But your cashier won’t let me in. It’s really inconvenient for me…”
Liang Fei nodded. “Right, right! He said if I gave him money, I could ask Dad to let him back in.”
Ji Xiao: “Is that so?”
The muscle man clenched the money. “What else would it be?”
He had once thought about teaching them a harsh lesson to make them fear him.
But he had accidentally let it slip to his wife, and he almost lost her because of it. How would he dare do anything reckless?
It wasn’t easy for him to find a wife!
His wife was about to come back. If he dared to cause any trouble, he might never see his wife and child again.
The more he thought about it, the more wronged he felt. “I didn’t do anything! Why won’t you let me shop at your supermarket? You’re open for business—how can you refuse a customer?”
Ji Xiao gave a cold laugh.
The muscle man instinctively stepped back. “Okay, so I tried to take advantage of the return policy that day, but I didn’t actually get anything! And you beat me up—it hurt for days!”
Ji Xiao knew that if it hadn’t been for him but the original owner, the situation would have followed the original plot.
Although Qin Che’s cowardice was partly to blame, the muscle man’s behavior was also despicable.
Ji Xiao said coldly, “My supermarket doesn’t serve you. It’s my shop, and I decide who to serve.”
The muscle man spat, “As if I care! I’ll just go to a farther store!”
Ji Xiao lifted his foot.
The muscle man quickly backed away, turned, and ran.
Ji Xiao cast a cold glance at Liang Fei, took Chen Shuhui’s hand, and strode back.
Liang Fei was stunned for a moment, then chased after them.
“Dad! Dad! Wait for me!”
Until they got home, Ji Xiao and Chen Shuhui didn’t speak to Liang Fei.
If Liang Fei hadn’t run fast, he would have been locked out.
Liang Fei’s eyes turned red, and he almost started crying. “I really didn’t take his money!”
Chen Shuhui, who had been tense, couldn’t help but slap the table. Ji Xiao stopped him and patted his hand.
*Smack!* The sound was especially loud.
Chen Shuhui was startled. “What are you doing?”
Ji Xiao lifted his hand and examined it disapprovingly. “Your hand is red. If you had slapped the table, you would have been crying from the pain.”
Chen Shuhui: “…” Don’t mess around—I’m supposed to be angry.
Ji Xiao rubbed his hand.
Chen Shuhui shook his head, withdrew his hand, and looked at Liang Fei. “Don’t you know what you did wrong? This isn’t about the money.”
Liang Fei blinked. “Is it because I followed him?”
“Why did you go with him?”
“I didn’t go with him!” Liang Fei ran over and hugged Chen Shuhui’s leg, rubbing his eyes as if to wipe away tears, looking very wronged. “As soon as I left the neighborhood to go to the supermarket, he picked me up and carried me away. He covered my mouth and told people I was his son. Boohoo, Dad, I was so scared.”
Chen Shuhui’s heart softened.
“Scared?” Ji Xiao’s voice was icy. “If you were scared, you wouldn’t be so articulate. If you were scared, you would have burst into tears the moment you saw us.”
Liang Fei looked up with red eyes. “I did cry! Look!”
“I think he bribed you into going along,” Ji Xiao said. With Black Cat’s help and the surveillance cameras outside both the neighborhood and the supermarket, he learned the whole story immediately. “You left our neighborhood. How far is it from the security booth to the supermarket? If you had really struggled and cried, could he have carried you away so easily? He must have been coaxing you with money the whole time.”
Chen Shuhui bent down and peeled Liang Fei’s hands away. “You lied?”
“I didn’t lie!” Liang Fei’s tears streamed down fiercely.
Ji Xiao: “No, you didn’t lie. You just didn’t tell the whole truth. He stuffed the money into your pocket, but you wanted to take it, didn’t you?”
Liang Fei cried even harder, sitting down on the floor and wiping his eyes. “My parents used to give me allowance. But you don’t give me a single cent. All the kids at school have money to buy snacks, but I don’t. Boohoo.”
Chen Shuhui’s lips trembled. “If you wanted an allowance, you could have told me…”
He had assumed Ji Xiao was giving him money. He had completely forgotten about it—had never given him a cent.
Ji Xiao mercilessly picked him up and forced him to stand facing the wall. “Reflect on your mistakes here. Once you understand what you did wrong, you can go to bed.”
Liang Fei’s eyes widened. “This is corporal punishment!”
“You won’t stand? Then I’ll punish the father for the son,” Ji Xiao said coldly. “Chen Shuhui, go face the wall.”
Chen Shuhui: “?”
Ji Xiao gave him a look. “Go ahead.”
Chen Shuhui silently went to face the wall.
Liang Fei shouted, “You’re too much! Dad didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Right, he didn’t. But you did. And since you won’t accept punishment, I have to punish him.” Ji Xiao sat on the sofa, crossing his legs. “I can’t control you, but I can control your dad. I’ll punish him not just this time—every time you mess up, I’ll punish him.”
Liang Fei was so angry he stopped crying.
He grabbed Chen Shuhui’s hand. “Dad, let’s go home. Let’s not live here anymore!”
“Go?” Ji Xiao laughed. “Your dad loves me. He can’t bear to leave. Even if I hit him or scold him, he won’t leave.”
Chen Shuhui: “…”
“You’d even hit and scold him?” Liang Fei tugged at Chen Shuhui. “Dad, let’s go!”
Ji Xiao raised an eyebrow. “Xiaohui, do you want to leave?”
Chen Shuhui pulled his hand away and faced the wall expressionlessly. “You’re right. I love you. I won’t leave.”
Liang Fei: “…”
Ji Xiao nodded in satisfaction. “Then you stay there and face the wall. When your son figures out his mistake, you can go to bed.”
Chen Shuhui: “…Okay.”
Liang Fei wanted to cry but also felt angry. “Qin Che, you big villain!”
“Curse me one more time, and tonight I’ll give your dad an extra beating. Go ahead, keep cursing.”
“…” Liang Fei clamped his mouth shut, afraid to say another word.
Black Cat muttered softly, “Beat him? With what? With your little bird?”
Ji Xiao: “…” He barely kept his expression straight.
[Shut up.]
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Escaping the Psycho? You Were Hypnotized Into Her Doting Little Wife! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Escaping the Psycho? You Were Hypnotized Into Her Doting Little Wife
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂