Shang Xi held her son's hand as they walked downstairs. The werewolves cheerfully greeted her, and she smiled back at each one.
When they arrived at the long dining table, a small incident occurred.
"I don't want to sit next to the head of the household anymore, Shang Xi. Let's not switch seats." No matter what, Black Tail did not want to switch - sitting next to the head of the household at meals put too much pressure on him.
"I see," Shang Xi smiled easygoingly without prying further. She turned to Yellow Tail beside her, "Shall we switch then?"
"No, no, no," Yellow Tail shook his head vigorously like a rattle drum, his large ears swaying back and forth with his shakes, the tips accidentally hitting Shang Xi's arm.
He immediately felt a sharp, overbearing gaze fall upon him.
Trembling, he slowly raised his head, only to see the head of the household seated at the head staring at him intently, his eyes sharp and cold. Although the head of the household was still in his human form with black short hair and a black shirt, Yellow Tail vaguely saw a huge, ferocious wolf shadow behind him.
Yellow Tail shivered, as if being strangled by the neck, barely managing to choke out, "Then...then, Shang Xi, don't delay the cub going to school. Hurry and sit down to eat..."
Shang Xi had no choice but to go to her old seat next to Gu Wen.
Like the werewolves, she didn't want to sit here either.
Gu Wen looked at her deeply for a moment before placing the cub in his lap as he sat down. He cut the meat into small pieces to feed the child.
Baby Shang took a sip of milk and a bite of beef, his eyes curving into happy crescents. His small wolf ears on his head twitched slightly from time to time - he was clearly enjoying the food immensely.
"What do you want to do tomorrow?" Gu Wen asked the cub gently, while raising his eyes to glance at the woman beside him who was engrossed in messaging on her phone.
His lips thinned slightly.
Was she chatting with Rong Wen?
He didn't know about Rong Wen's existence before. From what he saw now, it seemed like they had been keeping in contact. When he was at work and when they weren't picking up or dropping off the cub, did she meet up with Rong Wen frequently?
At lunch, the cub ate at school while he went out to eat with his friends. What about her?
Did she...eat with Rong Wen?
Thinking of this erased his appetite entirely.
The three of them got in the car and headed out.
Left behind on the plates was half of the basketball-sized chunk of meat.
"This is the first time I've seen the head of household not finish his meat," Black Tail remarked in surprise.
In the car, Shang Xi chatted with her son and messaged back and forth on her phone during lulls in their conversation.
Her fingers were slender and fair, with a red scratch on the back of her hand - scraped by a rose thorn yesterday. It didn't hurt much; scratches like these were a common occurrence.
Baby Shang was distressed that his mom was hurt, applying ointment for her from time to time.
Like right now, he held her hand in his arms, spreading white ointment on it.
Shang Xi was surprised, "Baby, you brought the ointment with you too?"
"Mm," Baby Shang nodded seriously, eyes lowered in concentration as he applied the ointment to his mom's hand. Finally, he even blew on it twice.
Shang Xi was touched by her child's thoughtfulness, her heart melting into a puddle. She pinched his chubby cheeks, happiness flashing through her eyes, "Thank you, baby."
Sitting across from them, Gu Wen watched mother and son but was clearly excluded from their warm, happy atmosphere.
She started messaging again.
Replying to...Rong Wen's messages.
Knowing this, the things in Gu Wen's heart started churning violently. After forcibly suppressing them, an ominous green light flashed through his dark eyes for a moment.
The innate possessiveness werewolves held towards their mates was acting up.
Even though Shang Xi had his child, and they had been intimate, she wasn't his mate. Yet now, right in front of him, she was sweet-talking with another man!
Sensing something off, Baby Shang's small ears twitched as he looked up at his dad warily.
He felt...his dad's scent had grown stronger, making him instinctively uncomfortable.
"Dad?" He frowned, voicing his confusion.
Gu Wen closed his eyes briefly before opening them again to reveal his usual dark orbs.
He said, "Sorry."
The werewolf's possessiveness had forced him to reveal his domineering hunting aura. He must have lost his mind since the cub was here too.
Shang Xi didn't notice anything amiss. She glanced curiously between father and son - why did Gu Wen suddenly apologize?
But she was only curious, not probing further.
After sending Baby Shang into school, it was just the two of them left in the car.
Gu Wen's gaze fell upon the two centimeter scratch on the back of Shang Xi's hand as he spoke slowly, "Shang Xi, I have a lot of money."
???
So?
Caught off guard by this abrupt statement, Shang Xi looked at him strangely.
What, showing off his wealth?
Gu Wen's gaze moved from her hand to meet her eyes earnestly, "I've said before that you're the cub's mother. My money and resources can be shared with you."
He meant this sincerely, not with ulterior motives.
Not like her so-called desire to buy her off with material goods last night, then keep the cub.
He was serious - he could give her anything she wanted.
"What I mean is, you don't have to work so hard now."
But she was very guarded against him, not even accepting the cards he tried to give her twice.
As expected, wariness flashed through her eyes at his words as she rejected him outright, "I'm not working hard now. I'm living well, living a fulfilling life. Thank you!"
Gu Wen took a deep breath, frowning, "I'm not trying to buy you over now! The cub is yours."
Shang Xi didn't say anything, but her expression was full of distrust and guardedness.
Gu Wen suddenly felt that "giving money is more tiring than earning it."
The car had arrived at Qingfeng Flower Shop.
Shang Xi unbuckled her seatbelt and bid him goodbye before getting out of the car.
Watching her leave without looking back, Gu Wen remained sitting in the car, incongruously recalling her smiling brightly with many words for Rong Wen at the kindergarten that day.
To be precise, she was never stingy with her kindness and warmth towards anyone except him.
This was what he had asked for initially.
But why was he the one unable to bear it now?
On careful thought, she had never changed - always keeping her distance with the air of a passerby.
The one who changed was him.
Why did he change? He thought nearly self-deprecatingly.
Shang Xi was fully human. His current changes were like digging a pit for himself, putting himself in danger, and offering his neck to the knife.
His home had a river too. He was like the black rabbit, not wanting to jump into that river.
No matter how lively and alluring the other side seemed, he didn't want to jump.
Even if the yellow rabbit took her away, he didn't want to jump in.
Shang Xi was fully human - the very humans he detested and feared. His grandmother was still in the snowy mountains, occasionally mentioning his late grandfather in grief.
He would absolutely not let himself fall into such a pathetic state.
Compared to the anguish of his beloved mate one day leaving him for another's embrace, now he only felt loneliness - much better, wasn't it?
Unlike pure humans, pure humans would hold something back even when loving someone deeply.
Werewolves, however, would give their entire selves to their mate, like the so-called lovestruck-ness pure humans described?
They would keep their mate forever in their hearts - it was an unwavering choice, the one and only.
He would not jump into the river, to the other side.
At noon.
Meng Lai Mountain Manor.
In the massive treehouse private room, as usual, Gu Wen was having lunch with his friends.
Qin Ming, a manager from a neighboring province, had come again.
Qin Ming was a solemn werewolf with the righteous aura of a veteran human policeman. He disliked joking around and spoke directly without beating around the bush.
At present, he stared at Gu Wen and spoke up, "I just found out Blue Tail dared to come out of South Feng Court?"
Blue Tail, the unusually timid and lovable female werewolf from Nánfēng Garden, was once attacked by a fallen werewolf. Qin Ming saved her, and after that, the female werewolf fell in love with him.
Qin Ming was busy every day arresting and trying fallen werewolves. He was only thirty-three years old, still very young compared to the werewolves' lifespan of three hundred years or more. He had no time for love and could not accept her love.
So he sent Blue Tail to Nánfēng Garden, which could also be her sanctuary.
He still remembered when Blue Tail was first attacked by the fallen werewolf, she was traumatized and would cry at the slightest thing, which made him worry about her more.
So occasionally he would, like this, ask Gu Wen and check on how she was doing.
Gu Wen hmm'ed and said, "She found a job at a flower shop owned by a wolf mother."
At first it was agreed she would just help out, but a couple days ago when it was time for Qingfeng Flower Shop to pay wages, he saw Blue Tail happily holding banknotes and giggling quietly on the sofa, because Shang Xi had paid her wages.
"Is that so?" Qin Ming was a bit surprised, "I'll go see her later."
Gu Wen was silent.
Now it was noon, that woman was probably eating with Rong Wen. Rong Wen would know exactly what she liked to eat, what she didn't like, and her little dining habits.
Thinking this, looking at the few werewolves in front of him, he suddenly felt he had no appetite at all to dine with these uncouth older werewolves.
After the meal.
Qin Ming got up, "Well I'm going first."
Gu Wen paused, seemingly lost in thought. He said, "I'll go with you."
The two werewolves left the treehouse booth. When Qin Ming learned Gu Wen was also going to Qingfeng Flower Shop, he didn't ask anything either. He never liked prying into things or gossiping.
When they arrived at Qingfeng Flower Shop, it was already 1:30pm.
A brown-haired boy was busy outside the door holding boxes. He suddenly smelled something and sharply looked towards the street.
He saw the master of the house, who he hadn't seen for over ten days, and the provincial administrator Qin Ming, getting out of a car and walking over.
The next second, Blue Tail, who was helping inside, ran out holding half-wrapped red roses, her eyes red.
There's still another update, no need to wait, just read it tomorrow morning.
Darlings, read the second update in the morning, I'm not satisfied with writing just one update, it's 2am now and I'm sleepy, no use continuing to write, I'll revise and post after waking up refreshed in the morning, thanks for the support!
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