When Ning Si Nian left for work, he actually hadn't gone to the company, but was hiding in an underground parking lot near the house, wearing headphones to listen in on the movements in his home. Zhao Jun stayed in the west residence to stare at the monitors, once Wei Xi Yan made the slightest move against Ning Wang Shu, he would immediately rush over to block him, and also send the video to the Ning parents on the other side of the ocean.
After putting on the headphones, Ning Si Nian was very nervous. His son's fearful look was permanently engraved in his mind, he was afraid of him suffering the slightest injury again. He concentrated all of his attention on the headset, thinking, as long as there were any abnormalities, he'd immediately step on the accelerator and return home.
The monitoring device was in his son's hollow longevity lock pendant, the quality was very clear. He heard Wang Ma repeatedly warn his son not to run around the house, the tone was very severe. His son didn't make a sound, then there was a long silence.
Ning Si Nian went from tense to numb, gripping the steering wheel, he maintained the same position until around 1 pm. When he'd almost turned into a stone statue, a clear voice came through the other end, "No, you can't play with this."
It was Wei Xi Yan's uniquely flat tone. Ning Si Nian immediately sat bolt upright, holding his breath, carefully distinguishing the hidden emotions in the voice. Unexpectedly, there wasn't the slightest trace of malice. Although his strong judgment ability told him this, he still put a hand on the start button, preparing to start the engine.
But before he could press down, the clear voice sounded again, still with the same flat tone, but the words were overflowing with unmistakable care.
"Use this to paint. Paint and poppy oil contain toxins, small baby can't touch it, you'll get sick."
Turns out, he was stopping his son from playing with oil paint. This was right, blameless.
Ning Si Nian let out a long breath, withdrawing his hand from the start button and resting his forehead on the steering wheel, exhausted. There was another burst of silence, when Wei Xi Yan talked again, he had already learned to calm down.
"Obediently put it on, so your clothes don't dirty." He was putting a bib on his son, so the paint wouldn't stick to his clothes. This was also blameless.
Ning Si Nian's brows twisted, he didn't understand if the young man he personally heard caring for his son, and the extremely irritable, aggressive man in Wang Ma's description was the same person.
He felt that either something went wrong, or the teenager was just good at pretending. But even if he pretends, wouldn't his son, the victim, know to stay away from him? He'd heard his son's light footsteps, clearly his son ran into his studio himself.
Ning Si Nian took off the headphones, shoved his hair back, and finally decided to go home.
When the car had barely arrived at the house, Zhao Jun came out from the west wing to welcome him, whispering, "Boss, you'd better look at the monitor yourself, maybe we were all wrong."
Ning Si Nian nodded, leaving him to dash upstairs, but he bumped into Wang Ma carrying his son. His son still had that extremely frightened expression, his big eyes were filled with tears, looking very fragile. In the audio, he almost never spoke, but the sound of the paintbrush rubbing against paper showed that his mood was very calm, it could even be called happy. How did he completely change by the time he returned?
Ning Si Nian's heart was even more doubtful. He took his son from Wang Ma, but was shocked when he resisted him, resentment filling his eyes.
Ning Si Nian suddenly felt strangled by heartache, he desperately wanted to find out what happened on this quiet day.
"Wang Ma, take the baby to the garden to look at the ducklings. I'll come out after I change my clothes." He handed his son to Wang Ma, then rushed to the study.
He impatiently turned on the computer and pulled up today's recording. All of the pinhole cameras followed Ning Wang Shu's movements and alternated angles. Wang Ma went out early to grocery shop, and Ning Wang Shu was left alone, sitting on the carpet, playing with his toys. His face was without the slightest expression, like an empty shell without a soul. He sat till noon, then the maid brought in lunch. She put it down and immediately left, she didn't even try to coax and feed him.
But Ning Wang Shu was very clever, he slowly ate his cake, then sipped his milk. Afterwards, he walked his short feet towards the direction of the studio.
Ning Si Nian's thick eyebrows unconsciously rose. If Wei Xi Yan had truly beaten his son several times, why would his son still take the initiative to look for him?
He restrained his worries, continuing to look down.
Ning Wang Shu walked to the door, stretching out his small head to peep in for a long time. When he saw that Wei Xi Yan was completely immersed in painting, he quietly walked over. Wei Xi Yan turned to pick up a brush, then one tall and one short person suddenly made contact.
As they looked at each other, Ning Si Nian also held his breath, his fists unconsciously clenching. He was terrified of Wei Xi Yan's mood going out of control and attacking his son. But that didn't happen, he very carefully avoided his son and picked up the brush to continue painting. His son's frightened mood instantly calmed down, his almost apathetic little face showing an astonished expression.
Those flickering eyes almost drove Ning Si Nian to tears.
The following was Wei Xi Yan stopping his son from playing with oil paint, gently helping him into a shirt, and affectionately rubbing his hair. When his slender hands withdrew, his son blankly touched his own forehead, his big eyes were sentimental.
Who could feel sentimental towards someone who beat them up? Ning Si Nian's taut nerves twinged painfully, he endured his throbbing heartbeat and continued looking down.
One large and one small person stood side by side, one tall and one short artboard placed in front of them. The youth's canvas was blossoming starlight, and his son's canvas was a dense mass of color, it was impossible to guess what it was. But he was very happy with it, and even pulled the youth's clothes to let him appreciate his masterpiece.
The youth didn't speak, gently rubbing his hair to show praise. His son's eyes emitted an unprecedented light. He was clearly very happy.
Ning Si Nian didn't notice that he was also unconsciously smiling, the sharpness in his eyes had long been replaced by tenderness. He silently stared at the two people on the screen, only feeling that life was stable, and time was still.
But soon, Wang Ma's shouting broke the warm scene, and his son started trembling uncontrollably, his healthy red face instantly paled, revealing the expression of horror Ning Si Nian was familiar with.
Wang Ma appeared at the door, loudly shouting to bring Ning Wang Shu out, but Wei Xi Yan took two steps over and slammed the door shut. Miraculously, Ning Wang Shu, rather than being shaken, clung to Wei Xi Yan's thigh, his small face overflowing with worship and attachment, as if Wei Xi Yan was his hero.
Ning Si Nian was stunned, staring at the screen, his heart started sinking until it fell into a bitingly cold abyss. He faintly realized that he had been deceived. He clicked fast forward and saw Wang Ma frantically pounding the door, after the door opened, she boorishly dragged his son away, her ferocious expression revealing what kind of malice she was bearing towards his son.
Ning Si Nian immediately stopped fast forwarding. Wang Ma's vicious voice entered his ear – You're not allowed to follow that bastard Wei Xi Yan anymore, otherwise, I'll peel your skin! Not only is Wei Xi Yan a bastard, you're also a bastard. If you don't obediently listen to me, I'll throw you into the river to drown. Your dad has a new wife, he'll have many more children in the future. He won't care about you at all.
So that's it! This was how Wang Ma actually treated his child in private! Ning Si Nian's forehead veins bulged, he was angry enough to nearly lose his mind. At this point, if he couldn't see the truth, he was a complete fool.
Thinking of how he'd just handed his son to Wang Ma, Ning Si Nian suddenly got up and ran outside.
When Ning Si Nian returned home, Zhou Yun Sheng had quietly returned to his room. He switched on the AI and invaded Ning Si Nian's monitoring system in minutes. Zhao Jun worked very cautiously, in order to prevent idlers from snooping around, he even installed several cameras in Ning Si Nian's study and bedroom. Zhou Yun Sheng transferred his view to the study, stirring his coffee while enjoying Ning Si Nian's fluctuating complexion.
After looking enough, he took a small sip of coffee, then walked to the door, staring out at Ning Wang Shu watching the ducks with Wang Ma on the lawn. Ning Wang Shu's arm was being grabbed by Wang Ma, he stood in place, not daring to move, his small body trembling slightly, obviously extremely distressed inside.
If Zhou Yun Sheng was still villain Zhou Yun Sheng, he would surely be striding forward to twist off Wang Ma's neck. But he was now Wei Xi Yan, Wei Xi Yan's hands could only be used to paint, they couldn't be stained with blood.
Truly a pity … … he looked down and sighed. When he heard Ning Si Nian's urgent footsteps, he immediately turned back into the house.
When he bumped into Wei Xi Yan in the corridor, Ning Si Nian's expression was slightly stunned, and his heart was guilty and embarrassed. But his son was still in Wang Ma's hands, he didn't have time to think of other things. He hurriedly nodded and ran out to the lawn. He noticed that Zhao Jun was standing close by, watching Wang Ma like a hawk, and his heart strings loosened slightly.
Ning Wang Shu's head was lowered, his shoulders shrunk in, standing rigidly by Wang Ma's side. Wang Ma was cupping a yellow duckling, trying to use its soft fur to caress his cheek. His eyes were wide open in fear, it seemed like Wang Ma wasn't holding a lovely little animal, but a human eating monster.
He was frightened by the beatings, his courage to resist long dead. But his loved ones turned a blind eye to his suffering, even handing him over to the devil again and again.
No wonder he was full of resistance towards his father; no wonder he held a grudge against him; no wonder Wei Xi Yan merely closed a door, yet it was enough to produce such attachment and worship in his eyes.
Ning Si Nian's heart was repeatedly cut by these belated realizations, it was unbearably painful. At this moment, he almost couldn't help but shed tears.
However, in the end, he was the head of the Ning family, known as the 'cunning fox', a business overlord. When he reached his son, he had already tidied up his mood, smiling as he took his son and carried him into the house, saying lightly, "Look at you, playing around with all these dirty things, let Papa give you a bath. Wang Ma, you go make steamed egg pudding for the baby."
Wang Ma didn't suspect him, she put down the duckling and headed to the kitchen.
Ning Si Nian returned to the bedroom, carrying his son that no longer talked, nor smiled, nor cried, and firmly shut the door. He gently placed him on the bed, then squatted in front of him, his always solemn appearance revealed deep sadness and guilt.
"Baby, I'm sorry. Papa is so sorry." He kissed his son's forehead over and over again, but he could no longer see a trace of affection in his son's eyes.
Ning Wang Shu was extremely disappointed in his father, he was already completely numb.