Spoiled by a paranoid big shot since childhood. - Chapter 1

The first thing that assaulted his nostrils was a thick, acrid smell of burning.

The scent of scorched rubber and gasoline followed, and finally, a faint but pervasive, complex, and oddly sickening “meaty” odor hung in the air.

No one dared to dwell on where that “meaty” smell truly came from.

Because this was a scene of a horrific and devastating traffic accident.

The victim’s electric tricycle had been crushed into scrap metal, its wiring set ablaze. Amidst the flames, blood and flesh were scattered everywhere. The perpetrator’s Bentley, meanwhile, lay sickly on its side; only the driver remained, having been saved by the deployment of the airbag.

The overlapping wails of ambulances and fire trucks pierced the air, and the screams of onlookers were nearly uncontrollable. The surroundings were in complete chaos.

The halo of the streetlights and the flashing red and blue lights of the ambulances reflected off the shiny, pristine food cart like a beacon of death: cold and cruel.

In the midst of this pandemonium, a child, roughly six or seven years old, crawled out from under the food cart’s protective panel, stumbling as he emerged.

Xi Bei looked even more well-behaved than most children his age.

His porcelain-like face held a touch of bewilderment and confusion. He carefully bit his lip, his curled eyelashes dampened by misty tears. He stood there, looking lost, yet strangely pitiful.

Although his parents had taught Xi Bei that he should not run around when they were not nearby, the sound of the explosions outside was deafening. Many people were shouting and running to and fro, and… his parents hadn’t come back on time.

They had clearly told him that they were just going to move the tricycle they used to transport their goods back from across the street.

“…Hey! Whose child is this?! Why is he alone here? Where are your mom and dad?!”

The police officer smelled strongly of the acrid, burnt odor. His sleeves were rolled up, and he looked exhausted and furious, ready to scold the parents who had been so busy rubbernecking that they had lost track of their own child.

The officer gripped Xi Bei’s shoulder with a large hand and raised his voice:

“No gathering! Everyone, scatter! Whose child is this?! Come and see if anyone recognizes him!”

The crowd moved like a tide, flowing back and forth. A few long-time residents of Ganquan Road braved the approach.

But the moment they caught sight of him, they let out an involuntary gasp.

“…Oh my!”

The group looked at one another, their whispers sounding like the static on a television screen—sandy, dry, and unsettling.

“…This looks like… the couple from over there…”

“That young couple this is their child…”

Sensing the grip on his shoulder loosen, Xi Bei, who had a gentle temperament and felt no anger, turned his head slowly to carefully examine the “policeman uncle,” before speaking.

His soft, delicate voice roused the stunned, middle-aged man from his regret.

“Hello, Uncle Policeman. My name is Xi Bei. My father is Xi Jun, and my mother is Yan Li. They said they were across the street.”

Xi Bei obediently pointed toward the traffic accident scene, which was swarming with people.

“Over there,” he said.

The officer’s face turned ashen. A burst of static crackled from the walkie-talkie on his chest as a teammate’s voice came through:

“Captain! We’ve identified the victims. The male is Xi Jun, the female is…”

Before the message could finish, the officer quickly covered the microphone and barked, “Talk about something else first!”

“Oh! The perpetrator is the driver for the Chairman of Hexuan Corporation. The Chairman is currently on his way here. You…”

Crackle. The radio was cut off.

Although Xi Bei did not understand everything, he caught a strange and terrifying word: “Dead.”

Dead?

“…Uncle.”

Xi Bei seemed to realize something. His voice suddenly trembled, and the small child took a step forward, clutching tightly to the officer’s uniform:

“Uncle, where are my mom and dad?”

The police captain did not know how to answer.

A flash of pain and unbearable sorrow crossed his middle-aged face. After a second of hesitation, he told a kind lie:

“They… they will be back in a little while.”

The heavy stone in his heart seemed to lift, for the moment.

Xi Bei nodded, looking innocent and well-behaved.

After receiving the answer, he stepped back slightly and bowed deeply to the officer.

“Thank you, Uncle.”

“Your name is Xi Bei, right?” The police captain’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “I’ll call a policewoman to come over… You go with her, okay?”

The neighbor aunties could no longer bear it. They pretended to wipe their eyes and turned away, but Xi Bei’s well-behaved yet stubborn voice still reached their ears.

“No need, Uncle.” Xi Bei shook his head, offering everyone a nervous but soft smile. “I’ll wait for my mom and dad to come back.”

“…”

The police captain pulled out his walkie-talkie. Perhaps because his own child was the same age as Xi Bei, his voice sounded extremely strained as he turned his head away:

“Send a female officer here! Take the child to the police station!”

“…Uncle.” The heart that Xi Bei had just settled leaped in alarm. He grew anxious, realizing that this uncle didn’t seem to understand what he meant: “Uncle, I want to wait for my mom and dad.”

“…Yes, it’s the child of that young couple.”

“Uncle, I want to wait for my mom and dad!”

The aunties erupted in a burst of screams. Before anyone could react to the atmosphere, they saw Xi Bei cleverly and nimbly squeeze through the gap between two women, rushing toward the small space beneath the food cart, stumbling in his haste!

Bang!

Xi Bei locked himself inside. Even though the crowd rushed forward to pound on the metal door, he kept his lips tightly pressed together, turning his back to them with his tiny body.

“…The police officer isn’t a bad person, Xi Bei, Uncle…”

“Good child, open the door, okay? You can’t hide by yourself…”

Through the narrow glass window, they could see that the fair-skinned child’s face was devoid of color. His eyelashes were matted with tears, making him look as pitiful as a mourning puppy.

His voice was trembling and choked with sobs, but it was resolute.

“I want to wait for my mom and dad to come back.”

On the other side of the city, inside a speeding Maybach on the elevated highway.

“…Was he drinking? No? Good. So he was driving normally and it was an accidental collision?! What is the situation?”

The man, his brows furrowed deep with lines, looked as enraged as an erupting volcano: “My company is already buried in work every day, and now someone pulls a stunt like this on me…”

He covered the microphone for a moment, reached out to tap the partition in front to urge the driver, his voice laced with suppressed urgency: “Faster!”

“…Forget it.”

Perhaps because he was preoccupied with the serious accident, Qin Yueyuan, the Chairman of Hexuan Corporation, sighed and hung up the phone. He re-instructed the driver: “Slow down, keep an eye on the road.”

The driver responded with trepidation.

“…”

Qin Yueyuan’s nerves were stretched thin. At a moment like this, the only thing he could do was divert his attention:

“…Yi’an, don’t read in the car; it’s bad for your eyes.”

Sitting beside him was an eight-year-old boy with startlingly pale skin.

Unlike most boys of that age who are prone to mischief, Qin Yi’an looked cold and calm. He showed no interest in the things that would normally pique an adult’s curiosity, as if life and death were mundane matters to him.

If anything, he looked like a beautiful, cold, and autistic child.

Hearing his father’s command, he paused before closing his book.

Qin Yueyuan hated it when things slipped out of his control. Seeing Qin Yi’an’s reaction, he curled his lips in satisfaction and began to interrogate his son, as if it were only natural:

“Did you attend your equestrian and piano lessons?”

“Yes.”

“The Xie family’s boy said he’d take you to see the tanks in a few days. You remember that, right? Make sure to socialize with him.”

“Yes.”

“Get rid of those dolls at home; they’re too effeminate. Whatever, your mother… keep them if you must, just put them in the playroom.”

“…Yes.”

“When you’re a bit older, I’ll take you to play golf. How about that?”

Qin Yi’an didn’t speak this time. He just lifted his face, his calm, bright, crystalline eyes resembling glass fixed steadily on Qin Yueyuan, as if in resistance.

But when Qin Yueyuan looked closely, he seemed to see nothing at all.

Qin Yueyuan emphasized, “Learning these things is useful for inheriting the family business. When you grow up, there will be more for you to learn. If you are outstanding, people will naturally come to you for marriage alliances, and then you will…”

The pages in Qin Yi’an’s hands made a sharp crackle.

Though he was only a boy, he possessed a stillness far beyond his years.

He interrupted his father’s words, saying coldly: “We’re here.”

The police sirens outside were wailing. The crowd had blocked the area completely. The scene of the crash was a chaotic mess of fire and debris. Even from the faces of the passersby, one could see the horror of the accident. If not handled well, it would surely have a massive impact on Hexuan Corporation after all, it was the Chairman’s private driver, and the accident happened while he was en route to pick up the Chairman.

Qin Yueyuan’s hand paused in mid-air. A second later, he reached for the door handle, quickly straightened his suit, and stepped out with a composed expression. He glanced back at Qin Yi’an and commanded in an unquestionable tone: “Stay in the car, the driver will…”

Qin Yi’an’s gaze did not fall upon his father. Instead, it landed far away, on a food cart bathed in the red and blue flashing lights.

There were people surrounding it, seemingly trying to force open the panel under the cart. They finally managed to pry it open, and a policewoman with slender arms reached in to pull out a small, tear-streaked child.

The moment Qin Yi’an saw that “little milk bun,” his eyes flickered.

“No.”

He refused.

He would not stay in the car.

“No?!”

Qin Yueyuan’s tone was slightly exaggerated.

But he had no time to reason with the child. After weighing his options, he decided that taking the child with him would better foster the image of a good father and a good Chairman. So, he gritted his teeth and instructed Qin Yi’an to stick to his side.

With every step they took forward, Qin Yi’an’s eyes grew brighter.

The sounds around them were loud and chaotic, but he was able to capture the information he wanted.

“…Good child, listen to the policewoman and come out, okay? We aren’t bad people; you have to go somewhere else to find your mom and dad…”

“Yeah, yeah, Xi Bei, come with us, okay? Don’t cry.”

…

“Who is that? The victim’s child? …Tsk, what a pity. What a cute kid. He isn’t even crying loudly; he’s just sitting there so obediently saying he wants to find his mom and dad.”

“Yeah, I heard he doesn’t have any relatives. That means this kid doesn’t even have grandparents. What’s going to happen to him?!”

“Is he going to an orphanage?! But the kid is seven already; the chances of being adopted are slim…”

“After a car accident like this, this kid is a stray…”

“No one wants him… so pitiful!”

…

“Is this the Chairman of Hexuan Corporation? Is this your young master?”

Qin Yueyuan nodded quickly: “Yes, yes.”

“You’ve seen it too, regarding this accident, we…”

Suddenly, a slightly immature child’s voice interrupted their conversation.

“Him.”

Qin Yi’an said.

The distraught Qin Yueyuan froze for a moment. The surroundings were deafeningly loud. Even the police officer frowned and lowered his walkie-talkie, following the direction of Qin Yi’an’s finger.

Xi Bei’s face was stained with tears, his curled eyelashes dampened. His baby fat had not yet faded, and his full lips made him look even more exquisite. Even though he was just standing in front of the dilapidated food cart, he looked like an expensive, delicate doll in a display window.

“…Xi Bei, the victim’s son,” the officer said, puzzled. “What about him?”

“No one wants him?”

The officer frowned, feeling uneasy. He wanted to say the child was ill-mannered, but convinced himself that a child’s words carry no malice. He looked at the equally stunned Qin Yueyuan to the side and raised an eyebrow:

“It appears so for now.”

Qin Yi’an’s demeanor seemed to shift entirely.

On his pale face, those glass-like eyes were exceptionally bright.

He displayed a determination never seen before, his small face taut, as he said calmly:

“I want him.”