After the Early-Deceased White Moonlight of a Wealthy Family Returns (GL) - Chapter 36

Shen Yanchen never expected to be this unlucky.

Following his father’s instructions, he had gone upstairs to socialize. He spent half the day making small talk with a group of greasy middle-aged men and their children, forcing a smile the entire time. When he returned right on schedule, he had the item corresponding to the color his father had found for him. He took the elevator and headed back; up to that point, everything had gone smoothly.

But then some random lowlife came out of nowhere, drunk and stumbling, and spilled a glass of wine all over his clothes. To maintain his dignity, he went to change his clothes before completing his task. When he came back out and reached into his pocket, the bowtie his father had given him had vanished into thin air.

Someone had stolen it.

Shen Yanchen didn’t know who was plotting against him, but his priority was to find another item of the same color.

As he wandered around the venue, his eyes suddenly landed on Shen Zhirou’s earrings. The emerald-green pendants sparkled under the lights.

“Give me your earrings,” Shen Yanchen said as he walked up to her, sounding completely entitled. In his view, everything Shen Zhirou currently possessed did not belong to her; if one were to settle the accounts, she owed everything to his family.

Shen Zhirou asked, “Are you looking for this color?”

Shen Yanchen didn’t bother with nonsense. “Earrings.”

Shen Zhirou rarely smiled at him, but she smiled now.

“Shen Yanchen, I won’t give them to you,” she said. “There’s plenty of green here; go find another source.”

Shen Zhirou walked away as soon as she finished speaking. Shen Yanchen was fuming; he cursed the ungrateful woman in his heart and turned back to frantically search for something else.

Before he could find anything, the bell announcing the end of the game rang out clearly.

“Shen Yanchen, you haven’t turned in your item yet,” someone shouted. “Couldn’t find it?”

“Yo, Chen-ge, that’s not like you.”

“Draw lots! Draw lots!”

Shen Yanchen was hoisted up by the rowdy crowd. Having no choice, he pulled a punishment card with a grim face.

“Into the sea for thirty seconds,” the host read the words on the card, clearly enjoying the chaos. He shouted to everyone present, “Go, go, go! To the deck!”

Shen Yanchen was a good swimmer; he had jumped into the sea for fun before. He didn’t take the punishment seriously until he stood on the deck and looked out at the silent, black expanse of the ocean.

Fish-attracting lights shone around the ship. The rolling undercurrents let out muffled moans in the night, and fishing boats far on the horizon cast out bright nets.

“What’s wrong, Chen-ge? Scared?” A “friend” teased beside him. “If you’re really scared, just tell the brothers. At most, I’ll jump for you!”

“Scared my ass! The word ‘fear’ isn’t in my dictionary!” Shen Yanchen steeled himself. “It’s just jumping into the sea. Just you wait!”

To be safe, even for a dare at night, one had to wear a lifebuoy. Shen Yanchen took off his jacket in front of everyone, grabbed a lifebuoy to fit around his waist, and turned to face the pitch-black water. As the wind blew past, the skin all over his body shuddered.

Shen You’an had no interest in these kids’ death-defying games. Humans were always like this: they craved excitement when life was peaceful, but once the apocalypse hit and every step was dangerous, everyone began to crave peace.

“It’s the middle of the night—aren’t they afraid something will happen?” Shen You’an asked.

Meng Dongdong said, “It seems to be an old tradition. Every year, two or three people end up soaking in the sea, and nothing has ever happened.”

Shen You’an: “…”

Unbelievable.

Why are the youth nowadays playing more and more crazily? She remembered ten years ago, the most extreme thing she’d heard of was a street brawl. Having no interest, she glanced over twice and then looked down to fiddle with her phone.

Meng Dongdong hated Shen Yanchen; seeing him suffer now made her incredibly happy.

The onlookers formed a circle, cameras out, flashbulbs focusing on Shen Yanchen. His legs were weak, but he couldn’t retreat. Standing at the edge of the deck, Shen Yanchen took a deep breath.

While he was still mentally preparing himself, one of his “brothers” kicked him in the butt and said loudly, “Buddy, I’ll help you out!”

Splash—

Shen Yanchen fell into the sea.

The night sea was freezing. Shen Yanchen shivered.

Thirty seconds…

He gripped the lifebuoy, his heart pounding so hard it felt like it would leap out of his chest.

“Is time up yet!” he shouted at the top of his lungs after counting a few numbers to himself.

“What’s the rush, Chen-ge? I’ve got the stopwatch right here. It hasn’t even been ten seconds. Hang in there a bit longer.”

Were thirty seconds always this long? Shen Yanchen didn’t know. He only knew he was soaking in the sea, his whole body frozen like a block of ice. In the darkness, he vaguely felt the surrounding water ripples change. He couldn’t see what was in the sea, but his intuition told him danger was coming.

“Enough! Enough!” he screamed.

“Chen-ge, don’t worry, it’s really not enough,” his friend replied casually. “Endure a bit more, ten more seconds.”

“It’s really enough!” Shen Yanchen shouted in a breakdown. After he finished shouting, he saw a few swimming dark shadows nearby, illuminated by the faint lights of the ship. His screaming throat abruptly went silent, and his breathing froze. Shen Yanchen’s nose twitched; he could faintly smell blood. Looking at those dark shadows again—with those sharp dorsal fins, what could they be but sharks?

“Pull me up!” Shen Yanchen’s first reaction was to reach for the rope tied to his lifebuoy. “There are sharks! Pull me up!”

“Chen-ge, stop joking. Where would sharks come from here?” The friend scoffed. “Just endure for ten more seconds.”

“There really fucking are!” Shen Yanchen was nearly in tears. “Pull me! Pull me up!”

The friend realized something was wrong from the tone of his voice. He leaned over, shone a light down, and saw a school of sharks that had appeared out of nowhere circling Shen Yanchen. He was now like a piece of bait dropped from the boat; the observing sharks were prowling around him.

“Holy shit,” the friend was terrified. “There really are sharks!”

“Will someone actually die from this?!” someone in the crowd began to worry.

“Go get the adults!” someone else shouted.

In the chaos, no one actually touched the rope that could save Shen Yanchen.

Shen Yanchen fell into total despair. “Damn it, someone pull me!”

Just as a shark was about to open its mouth and bite his leg, a force traveled down the rope. Shen Yanchen’s heart, which was lodged in his throat, suddenly came back to life. He felt his whole body leave the water, and he desperately curled his legs upward.

When he climbed onto the deck using both hands and feet, Shen Yanchen saw the veiled girl shaking her wrist.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Shen Yanchen shook his head, his mind a total blank. His crotch went warm; urine mixed with seawater wetted the floor.

It was a total farce.

When Shen Run arrived, the way he looked at Shen Yanchen was like he was looking at trash. Without a word, he stepped forward. When Shen Yanchen opened his mouth to call “Dad,” revealing his teenage fear and longing for comfort, Shen Run gave him nothing but a vicious slap.

“You do nothing but embarrass me all day long!” Shen Run shouted in a rare display of rage in front of everyone. “Go change your clothes already!”

Shen Yanchen froze in place. He felt so cold. At this moment, the air temperature felt even colder than the sea.

As he was being escorted away by staff, he suddenly noticed the lowlife who had spilled wine on him was chatting and laughing with Shen Zhirou.

Shen Yanchen clenched his fists. In a flash, he felt he had realized something.

Shen Zhirou—!

“That scared me to death,” Meng Dongdong said, clutching Shen You’an’s arm. “Good thing your reactions are fast, An-jie, and you pulled the rope. Otherwise, Shen Yanchen would have been done for today.”

“Don’t you hate him?”

“Hating him is one thing, but I don’t want him to die.” Meng Dongdong was in disbelief. “Those were sharks! Sharks!”

“It’s really strange. Why were there so many sharks by the boat today?”

Shen You’an shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Maybe he just has bad luck.”

Her tone was normal as she spoke, and she even had the energy to pat Meng Dongdong’s back to comfort her.

No one knew that around the hull, a school of fish had suddenly appeared, pierced by some kind of sharp weapon and bleeding profusely. In the dark night, the color of blood and the sea merged into one.

With such a major incident on the boat, parents were all lecturing their children. The atmosphere that had been lively just moments ago instantly dropped to freezing point. It was no longer appropriate to continue the group party. Everyone dispersed in small groups for free activities.

Meng Dongdong pulled Shen You’an to return the high heels to the beautiful “Auntie.”

“Thank you, Big Sister.” Meng Dongdong had a temper, but she was always sweet-talked when coaxing people. “You’re really beautiful and kind-hearted.”

The beauty smiled lightly. “You’re very cute too.”

Meng Dongdong, smoothed over by the praise, let out a giggle, chatted for a bit longer, and then led Shen You’an to the cruise’s bistro.

Once they were far away, the beauty looked down and buckled the silver-blue high heels back onto her ankle.

“You certainly put a lot of heart into this niece of yours,” she said to the person who had arrived.

Ji Lan looked at the two disappearing figures and said with a smile, “I watched her grow up. Thanks for today. If there’s anything you need help with next time, just let me know.”

“No need for ‘next time’,” the beauty said with a beaming smile. “Miss Ji, how about coming to my lounge to watch a movie in a bit?”

Ji Lan curled her lips. “There’s a cinema bar on the 13th floor with good service. We can go there.”

The beauty let out a sigh. “Fine, I get what you mean.”

“Even if we can’t do anything else, just watching a movie is fine. Miss Ji, give me a hand and help me up?”

At the counter of the bistro, Meng Dongdong ordered drinks with practiced ease.

“In a bad mood?” Shen You’an sharply noticed the subtlety in Meng Dongdong.

“Not at all,” she denied flatly, saying petulantly, “Shen Yanchen made a total fool of himself; why would I be in a bad mood? An-jie, take a look, what are you drinking? My treat.”

Shen You’an looked over the drink menu and asked, “Are there non-alcoholic drinks?”

“You’re not drinking?!”

“No alcohol. I’ll order sparkling water to keep you company.”

“Fine,” Meng Dongdong pouted. “Then I’ll drink by myself.”

The bistro had a lot of character; a pianist was playing a tune—a melodious, winding blues with the elegance of jazz. The bartender was meticulously crafting drinks. Meng Dongdong fiddled with a music box ornament in front of her.

Shen You’an felt someone watching her. When she turned back, there was no one to be found.

At the small door of the bistro, two people were facing off.

Su Wu looked at the woman in front of her wearing a staff uniform.

“Shen Huaijin,” she said in a flat tone. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

“Let’s find somewhere else to talk?”