Chapter 31: The Shen Family (1)

By the time they reached home, the two old folks from the Shen Family had already returned from their walk. The elders merely asked where they’d been and didn’t question them further. They just exhorted Shen Jingbin to sleep a little earlier.

The next day, Shen Jingbin woke up first thing in the morning and tidied herself up, before following Old Master Shen to the stadium.

The contestants participating in the competition this year were all pretty good. Shen Jingbin sat at the judging panel with Old Master Shen, watching the competition for the entire day till she felt dizzy. In the end, she managed to pull through to the end of the competition with great difficulty.

As they were planning to leave the stadium and head home, Old Master Shen was unexpectedly stopped in his tracks by one of the event’s organizers.

The organizer had a tall, skinny, and rather attractive young lady accompanying him. As he stood in front of Old Master Shen, his face expressed his intention to curry favour. The organizer wanted to say something, but he stopped short and held his tongue as he looked towards Shen Jingbin who was standing beside Old Master Shen.

It took Shen Jingbin but a moment to figure out what was going on. She consciously took her things and stood to the side, pretending not to have seen the look of displeasure in her Grandfather’s eyes.

She had no rights in commenting on matters of this kind, so she couldn’t do anything about it even if he was unhappy.

Domestic competitions were never lacking in schemes, but it wasn’t so bad in the beginning. After all, people were still simple and honest back then. However, as time went by, many competitions gradually became more reliant on the amount of influence one had, rather than one’s own ability. However, she didn’t expect that even this competition would stoop to such lows.

One had to know, that much of the reason behind why she chose to withdraw from the competition that year was due to the many schemes that took place behind the scenes, and the lack of sincerity from the organizers.

Regardless of how she performed, there would always be a few people who’d appear out of nowhere, saying that she’d relied on Old Master Shen to get to where she is today.

She wasn’t bothered about these rumors and slanderous words, but Old Master Shen was different.

Rumours that were repeated would gradually become fact. No one could guarantee whether the Old Master’s reputation would take a hit due to the these baseless claims.

That young lady standing beside the organizer was rather attractive and left a bit of an impression because of that. It seems like she’d participated in a match today as well. However, Shen Jingbin felt that the young girl’s strength was only middling. The young girl also conformed with the norms of society, so there wasn’t anything particularly outstanding about her. She’d probably face some difficulties if she wanted to be ranked in the current competition.

Shen Jingbin reckoned that the person in question knew it as well, so she decided to approach the issue by having an affair with a member of the judging panel.

Old Master Shen didn’t have a pleasant expression on his face.

As it should be, because he couldn’t stand seeing these things the most. He was already giving them a lot of face by not washing his hands of everything and just leaving.

Shen Jingbin watched the three of them attentively from afar as she unconsciously kicked the small rocks on the ground. During this time, a black car silently drove up behind her and stopped beside her.

The driver pressed his car’s horn so suddenly that it gave her a fright.

Who was this uncivilized person who went around randomly honking their horn as they pleased?!

She was standing in the pedestrian area, so she glared a little resentfully at the car that appeared from god knows where.

The person inside the car wound the window down bit by bit, revealing a handsome face.

That face actually belonged to Zhao Chengning.

Zhao Chengning held the steering wheel with one hand, while the other leaned against the window. He leaned his head out of the window and looked at her, a faint smile playing at his lips. He then asked, “Is it over? My old man booked a table at Fragrant Goose Restaurant and wants to invite your family over for a meal. Uncle Shen and my old man are inseparable once they start chatting, so he let me come over to pick you guys up.”

Shen Jingbin peered inside the car, finding it a little strange that he was there alone. He was a guest, so how could Granny and the rest let him pick them up? On top of that, he was a foreigner in this unfamiliar place. Wasn’t he afraid of getting lost?

“You’re here by yourself? What about Shen Jingchen?” Shen Jingbin asked.

“Grandmother Shen originally wanted him to come along with me, but he said he was feeling lazy after leaving the house, so I left him at the cafe next to Fragrant Goose Restaurant. Anyway, I have a navigation system, so I won’t be a burden.”

“... How hasn’t he died from being so lazy…” She muttered to herself.

Zhao Chengning chuckled and looked in Old Master Shen’s direction. He then asked, “What’s going on at Grandfather Shen’s end?”

Shen Jingbin shrugged, “Good and evil are crossing swords… Wait here for a bit.” After saying that, she raised her voice and shouted at Old Master Shen, “Grandfather, Zhao Chengning has come to get us!”

Old Master Shen heard this and leaned his head to the side. He glanced at the both of them, then turned his head back. After saying something to the people in front of him with an unhappy face, he turned around and walked towards Shen Jingbin and Zhao Chengning.

The organizer bid farewell to Old Master Shen with a wave of his hand and a forced smile on his face, and the young lady who stood beside him suddenly had an extremely unpleasant look on her face. With her good eyesight, Shen Jingbin saw the young lady’s mouth twitching as if she were cursing under her breath over something.

She really was like a spoiled princess who started lashing out at others when things didn’t go her way.

Walking to the side of the car, the Old Master immediately opened the door and sat inside without saying a word. Shen Jingbin looked in the direction of the organizer and the young girl, smiling at them out of courtesy. After that, she squeezed herself into the car.

Once they sat snuggly in their seats, Zhao Chengning started the car and slowly set off.

As they were in a pedestrian area, Zhao Chengning drove very slowly. When the car passed by the organizer and the young lady, she caught a glimpse of the young lady glaring at her with a furious expression on her face.

Shen Jingbin felt that this situation was kind of funny and shook her head. She then leaned back in her seat and wound up the window, the young lady’s charmingly indignant face slowly disappearing from her line of sight.

Since Old Master Shen was in a bad mood, Sheng Jingbin and Zhao Chengning didn’t say a single word. The three of them sat in silence throughout the entire ride.

As they were about to reach Fragrant Goose Restaurant, Shen Jingbin caught sight of Shen Jingchen who was dispiritedly standing at the restaurant’s entrance.

When the car came to a halt, she immediately got down and jogged to his side. In the spirit of humanitarianism, she reminded him out of the kindness of her heart, “Grandfather isn’t in all that good of a mood. You better watch your behavior, otherwise be prepared to have him lose his temper at you. Especially if he sees your sloppy appearance and that deadpan look of yours."

Shen Jingchen shuddered when he heard this. His eyes immediately widened and he straightened his back, giving off the appearance that he was very spirited. When Old Master Shen walked past him, he let out a loud snort and looked at him with an expression that said, “Don’t pretend. I’ve seen through your antics already.”

Shen Jingchen immediately looked as if he were a deflated ball.

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