The old man closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He truly never thought a day like this would actually come. After mulling over the situation more, the old man opened his eyes and looked at Zi Shu. "You know what it means to let others know about her. It will cause an uproar, and even the government will get involved. We have to wait until she fully awakens and can take care of herself before we can let the public know anything. My suggestion is to keep staying where you are at. I will have a few people come and guard the place. As for her school..."
"She can't leave school! You have no idea how hard our little Xiaxia has worked to get this far. She is at the top of her class! She can get into a great university. If not for those damn kids of ours being so greedy and fearing little Xiaxia will take over the household, she would not have to suffer as she has! This is all your fault too!" Zi Shu was in tears. If her husband would just put his foot down earlier on, none of this would have happened!
"You think I want Xiaxia to suffer!? She is all I have left that is connected to Fei'er! I had planned to leave the whole damn family to her. But if I show this, do you think the rest of them will let her off!? I rather her suffer a little and still be alive, so when the time comes, she can laugh it all off! But who would have thought that brat Shen Chen to be so greedy that he even went as far as to cause a usurp in the company! Now all I can do is leave the little bit of what I have left to Xiaxia. Even then, this is done through my own private lawyer, who those bastards don't know about. They are only taking care of you and me because if they don't, they'll lose face!
"I never thought I would raise such a bastard son! And his brothers are no different. Look at that little bitch Shen Bai who Shen Xu raised. She has it out for Xiaxia all because her father put her up to it! Ever since those idiots have taken charge of the family, they have done nothing but lower its value. In just five years, our stocks have dropped by 50%!" The old man yelled.
"Yi, what do we do? I do not remember raising our children like this..." Zi Shu had tears rolling down her cheeks. Her kids used to be so wonderful and well behaved, but once they grew old, they were seen as a nuisance and were shoved out and only held the name of the family. They were now too old to be able to do anything. Even the company takeover by their eldest son was done legally.
The old man, Shen Yi, let out a sigh. He was once a tyrannical businessman, but since his daughter passed, he fell into a deep depression. He passed the company over to his eldest son to take care of while he went into retirement. But Instead of helping him manage the company, his son used his depression against him, asking him to sign a document for the company, which turned out to be legal papers signing Shen Yi's company shares over to Shen Chen. At the time, Shen Yi was in such a depressed state that he did not realize what he was doing until he got a call from the company asking what he was doing. By then, it was too late! He had even used his own thumbprint to seal the deal!
"Just watch after Xiaxia. I will get my people to pick up a bunch of hats for her to wear as well as a strap to hold her tail up. I will also talk to the school to have them allow her to wear baggy clothes. Luckily it is getting closer to winter, and the days are colder, so her wearing a hooded sweatshirt and hat will work. I will need you to personally go with her to school tomorrow and make sure everything is settled. Just in case one of our sons somehow finds something out, we can at least use the Zi family as backing." Shen Yi let out a long sigh. He couldn't believe there would be a day he would need to rely on his wife's family name. But if it meant helping his granddaughter, then his old face was nothing. He would throw it out the window if it meant helping her.
"I will head home then. Old man, be careful at the house. You should know I worry about you every day. Make sure you are testing your food..." Zi Shu wiped her eyes and stood up. She hated to have to say these types of things, but the truth was the truth. Their kids no longer cared about family bonds. Soon the family will turn into a battlefield where their sons and their families will battle it out. Yet the one person who had nothing to do with it all they won't leave alone either.
"Don't worry. I will not let myself die just yet. Not until I see Xiaxia get married off to a good family. Only then… Only then will I be able to pass on without regret. As for the Shen family… I gave up on it a long time ago. Shu, be sure to tell Xiaxia about her real roots and about what our family once was. She will need to know in order to better protect herself later on. You know our entire history and what is to come. When she fully evolves and grows her ninth tail, she will never have to worry about anyone in the world. I just hope she can make it until then. Also, I will send someone over with the manual. Have her read it and tell her to only use it at night. Go home before Xiaxia thinks something has happened to you." Shen Yi smiled at his wife before taking another sip of tea.
Zi Shu nodded and kept everything Shen Yi had just told her in her mind. She would make sure things went smoothly. No matter what she would not let any harm come to her granddaughter.
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"Ahh! So bored! If I wear something baggy no one will find out about my new looks right?" Shen Xia looked down at her freshly brushed and dried tail and began pondering how to conceal it when an idea came to mind. "I know!"
Shen Xia ran to her room and to the little clothing rack that had many clothes on it, most of which were oversized. She pulled off an old hoodie that was three times her normal clothing size and a pair of baggy pants, a belt and a baseball cap. Shen Xia quickly got changed. She looked in the mirror and felt this worked out well. Although one pant leg seemed a bit bulkier it was not very noticeable unless one actually looked closely or lifted her sweat shirt that went down to almost her knees. "Haha! I am a genius! Now I can go down to the store."