I am a Chef in the Modern Era

Chapter 93: Milk Teethers

Translated by Crystal of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

When everyone was together, the time passed by quickly.

In the blink of an eye, it was Chinese New Year. Nearing a holiday like this, things got busier and busier for the Shen Corp. and the stuff that needed brother Shen or dad Shen to appear increased as well. Thus, after staying for a few days, brother Shen could only go back to H City first due to work. But after a few more days, everyone was preparing to go back as well.

Although mom Shen really liked the kids and wanted to live with them, she also knew that kids needed their own personal space. They could come and live with them once in a while but they shouldn’t overstay their welcome.

Also regardless of if they were welcomed or not, Lin ShuYi’s house was a bit small for the whole Shen family, even if for some it would be more than enough. Both the guest and master bedrooms were taken, but even then, there wasn’t enough space for the new caretaker. (A Yi, or Aunty) In the end, she went to live in old man Yang’s old house.

Good thing they didn’t mind the house being old. She was the first to wake up, making breakfast for the kids and the last to leave after doing a checkup on TaoTao.

Xiao Yu was really sad about mom and dad Shen leaving, so before they left, he kissed them all on the cheek as he hugged them close. Then, he hesitantly waved goodbye. As for the milk bun TaoTao, he was dead asleep in Lin ShuYi’s embrace. He didn’t even know that with one nap, grandma and grandpa would both be gone.

Aunty Shen didn’t want to leave either, so before she left, she gave TaoTao a kiss and gave the little gentlemen, Xiao Yu a kiss as well. After that, taking Alan’s hand, they walked to the car. But before they left, mom Shen rolled down the window to show a grief ridden expression, “No, no, I really can’t leave them behind. TaoTao, YuYu, come here and let grandma give you another kiss.”

Lin ShuYi couldn’t help but chuckle, “Once TaoTao gets a bit bigger, we can bring them over to play.”

Instantly mom Shen’s eyes lit up thinking it was a good idea. Then after some persuasion on dad Shen’s behalf, she finally left.

The house immediately felt empty.

Lin ShuYi placed the sleeping TaoTao onto the bed. Then he said to Aunty Chen, who was walking towards the kitchen to make meals for the kids, “Do you want to move over this afternoon? It’ll make taking care of them easier.”

Aunty Chen nodded, she didn’t have much luggage, just a suitcase, so she just needed to carry that over. Right now, anything concerning the food that the kids eat was Aunty Chen’s job. Since compared to the new dads, she was clearly more potent.

This also lessened Lin ShuYi’s burden since TaoTao was unlike other kids, he needed extra care. It wasn’t that Lin ShuYi was unwilling to provide that, but he clearly lacked the knowledge for it. Xiao Yu was already seven and when he was in the orphanage he was already attending school, so they didn’t want to delay that further. Other than Shen Fu homeschooling him, he was already starting to look into the nearby schools for Xiao Yu to attend after New Years.

Chao Yang Street was in the suburbs of S City so it wasn’t as populated and not as many schools. There were only two, one was the Chao Yang Street Public School another was a god-knows-who-operated-it private boarding school. There wasn’t anything to say about the public school, it’s facilities were decent and it was cheap. Every student were people born and raised on that street.

The private school was a personal investment to build a royalty like boarding school. Supposedly, when it was built, it garnered a lot of interest from the people who lived there. Supposedly the facilities as well as the education was top tier, and of course the price wasn’t cheap either. The students were all from the city (downtown) and sent here for the completely closed off studying environment.

Shen Fu didn’t know who built it even though he saw it before since he didn’t have a child at that time and didn’t care. Now, he had a reason to care. There was quite a few in the upper circle of S City but there was little who didn’t know of the Shen family, so it didn’t take any effort in getting this information. He just casually asked and got the answer.

It really was operated by a millionaire of the S City and had some business ties with the Shen family. All that meant was if Shen Fu wanted it, Xiao Yu could attend it anytime as long as he wanted to. However, Shen Fu was a bit hesitant since Xiao Yu didn’t look too interested in this private school.

“Do I need to live there?” Xiao Yu asked. Hearing that it was a boarding school and he could only go back home once a week, he wasn’t so willing anymore.

Shen Fu held onto Xiao Yu’s soft, squishy hands and said, “You can live at home if you like.”

He just needed to say the word.

However, Xiao Yu shook his head, “I want to make new friends in the new school. I don’t want to look different from everyone else.”

Those who were different found it harder to make friends, but if he wanted to fit in, then he could only go back once a week. Even though his house was so close.

Shen Fu smiled, “Then Xiao Yu wants to go to the public school?”

Xiao Yu looked up at Shen Fu with sparkling eyes, “Can I? Daddy?”

Laughing, Shen Fu picked him up and rubbed his soft hair, “Of course.”

He wanted to give the best to Xiao Yu but he needed to like them first.

When he returned at night, Shen Fu told this to Lin ShuYi while resting on his lap. He smiled and said, “Look, he’s much more mature than you give him credit for.” Not only that, even at his age he knew what he wanted.

Lin ShuYi looked up at Xiao Yu and TaoTao’s room then said, “But the moment I think why he’s so mature, my heart aches.”

Shen Fu reached up to pull Lin ShuYi and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, “Don’t worry, they got us now.”

The next day, Shen Fu and Xiao Yu went to the public school for an inspection. Although the environment was nothing compared to a private school, the focus on studying wasn’t lacking at all. The father and son combo’s eye-catching appearance also made them then center of attention right away. Hearing that this handsome boy was going to study in their school, everyone showed great interest and happiness. Everyone surrounded him to introduce themselves, hoping that this handsome little boy would have a good impression of them.

Shen Fu watched Xiao Yu get surrounded by the enthusiastic kids from afar and felt that his decision wasn’t without merits too. Those in the private school were pampered and sheltered children, they definitely wouldn’t show such enthusiasm. Neither Shen Fu nor Lin ShuYi cared much about how much he learnt and was more focused on him gaining more friends. That way he could finally step out of his overly conscious mentality.

They wanted Xiao Yu to throw a tantrum and be playful rather than being overly careful and ready to please everyone at a moments notice. So they settled down on the school and Xiao Yu could attend after the news years. When Shen Fu and Xiao Yu went to the school, Lin ShuYi had Aunty Chen bring TaoTao with him to the Xi Qin Restaurant.

Even though the two girls working at the restaurant had already seen TaoTao before, it was across from all those Shen family members who could only be watched from afar. Now that there was only the kid and the owner, they finally found their chance and rushed over to TaoTao, teasing him, carrying him and having a blast.

Even though they were unmarried, that didn’t stop them from loving such a cute and moe child.

With those two playing around with TaoTao, he didn’t couldn’t stop laughing, which attracted the attention of all the customers. They all wanted to know who’s kid it was.

That was when, coincidently Lin ShuYi walked out from the kitchen. The moment TaoTao saw him, he reached out and said, “Daddy~”

With a smile, Lin ShuYi raised TaoTao up and the little meat bun even gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. One could hear the customers’ jaws drop.

Seeing such a young owner for the Xi Qin Restaurant, most customers were in disbelief and only those who read the Weibo article knew a little bit more. Most couldn’t believe that Lin ShuYi could have opened a restaurant and be the head chef at such a young age. Now that the news just got around and they accepted it, there came a bigger news.

So the small owner who looked just around twenty was married and already had kids?!! Maybe it was just a mental thing but now that they took another look at the kid, he looked more and more like Lin ShuYi. Those who didn’t know the truth were in full shock and as for those who knew, they almost died of laughter.

When Shen Fu and Xiao Yu came back in the afternoon, TaoTao was chewing on his teether sticks, one in both hands. His baby teeth gnawed at the milk flavoured teether, making a grinding sound. They were very stiff, so he couldn’t get much out of it at all, but that didn’t deter him at all. He gnawed away at it happily. (Basically a dog biscuit chew toy thing for babies)

Hearing the noise from the door, he turned around to find his brother and his other daddy had returned. He was so excited that he almost jumped and reached out wanting his brother to hug him but seeing the teethers in his hands, he was reluctant to throw them away. So his happy face got all scrunched up. In the end, he looked at Xiao Yu and then looked down at his teether with a scrunched up expression, unable to decide.

That made Xiao Yu laugh but since he couldn’t completely carry TaoTao, he went over to kiss his cheek, “Brother’s back.”

TaoTao smiled to the point his eyes disappeared. He probably thought this was for the better as well since he could get kisses without throwing away his teethers.

Shen Fu furrowed his brows at the back. Why did he have a feeling that his meat bun was only close to Xiao Yu and Lin ShuYi but not him?

Then he saw TaoTao looking at him and waving his teether, “Daddy~ Eat~”

Seeing the teether dripping with drool, Xiao Yu couldn’t help it and laughed, “With how you ate this, daddy wouldn’t want it.”

With much deliberation, as if he understood, he very reluctantly handed over the one on his right that hadn’t been touched, “Eat~”

Shen Fu felt his heart melt and lifted his younger son up a little, “TaoTao is so cute.”

TaoTao wasn’t scared in the least and smiled happily.

Shen Fu wanted to raise him higher but Aunty Chen stopped him, “Don’t do too much movements like this that’ll get him excited.”

Shen Fu obediently held TaoTao in his embrace instead, while TaoTao moved around, clearly wanting more. Shen Fu kissed TaoTao on the forehead and said, “Understood.”

TaoTao wasn’t a normal child, the stuff that a normal kid could play with his dad, he couldn’t enjoy. His surgery could only be done when he was at least five years old and this illness would impact his physical growth as well. He would grow up slower than other kids his age and that was why he couldn’t walk properly even being a year and three months old. The good news was that since his birth, he only had one major attack and that was when his illness was diagnosed. After that, the orphanage had controlled it pretty well, even his weight had been steadily increasing. Thus, before his surgery, they needed to be careful and not let him have any mishaps.

That night, Shen Fu voluntarily contacted Shen Yan.

On the other end of the phone, Shen Yan was seemingly asleep as his voice was husky and tired. “Hello? What do you need at the middle of the night.”

Shen Fu went straight in, “Does it take a lot to create a corporate charity foundation? On curing and treatments for congenital heart disease in babies.”

Brother Shen paused for a moment as his head cleared and asked, “Because of TaoTao?”

Shen Fu looked down and didn’t object.

Then, from the other side came the sound of his brother getting up and then Shen Fu heard the sound of his iPad unlocking. After a few moment he replied, “It’s not that hard.” Shen Fu didn’t say anything as he waited for his brother to continue. “You just need to send a request to the government and wait for it’s approval.’

Shen Fu then asked further, “What about the necessary documents? The Shen Corp. established it’s own charity before right?”

Brother Shen agreed before saying, “But do you want to use your name or the corp’s name?”

Before Shen Fu said anything, brother Shen chuckled, “If it’s under the Shen Corps name, I’ll invest more.” Knowing that he was going to say more, Shen Fu didn’t answer and predictably he continued, “But, how are you going to pay me back?”

He was very familiar with his brothers ways of taking advantage of someone’s misfortune, but he thought about TaoTao and let it pass this time, so, he asked, “What do you want me to repay you with?”

On the other end, brother Shen laughed out loud, clearly happy about knowing his little brother’s weakness. “Actually I already prepared everything and sent in the request, after I came back from S City.”

Shen Fu’s eyes widened and he said, unable to control his glee, “You really are my brother.”

Hearing his brother’s pampering, brother Shen only rolled his eyes, “I have my demands.”

“What are they?”

Brother Shen squeezed the paperwork in his hand and said, “It’s about time you come to Shen Corp and help me out, right? How long do you plan on loitering around for?”

Shen Fu was completely dumbfounded. If he knew this was his demand, he wouldn’t have agreed so easily, not in this lifetime.

A long time ago the Shen old man had wanted him to go work in the Shen Corp. He wasted a lot of effort but Shen Fu never agreed. Now, he walked right into it. Shen Fu felt the bitterness in his heart.

If he had said yes to Shen old man, he could still put it off, but this was Shen Yan. He probably had no way of escaping this one. Brother Shen had a hundred ways of dealing with his younger brother and Shen Fu was no match against him. Not only that, brother Shen had his hand on his Achilles heel.

Expectedly, hearing no response, brother Shen instantly changed his tone and let out a cold laugh, “You don’t want to? Then I’ll call right now to have Anna retract our request and decline all your request son half of the Shen Corp. As for a personal charity, you probably don’t have the money.”

Basically, if he didn’t agree, he’ll turn against him. Shen Fu almost wanted to swear* but they were real brothers so he couldn’t even do that. All he could do was hold it in and he almost got an internal injury from it.

(T/N is kinda like a yo mama joke but the swearing kind so he couldn’t say it cuz they have the same mom)

In the end, he could only back down, “Keep your word.”

Brother Shen smiled, pleased, “Don’t worry.”

Then he got hung up on.

Actually the request had been approved a hundred years ago and it was almost completed so there was no way he was going to retract it. Brother Shen was like an old fox. Even though it was something he wanted to do, he still managed to drag his brother down as a bonus.

As for why he wanted Shen Fu to come and help, the first being that he was really having a hard time alone and the second was...he was still alone, so if Shen Fu didn’t come back, he wouldn’t have time to date!!! How could this be fine if Shen Fu was showing off his wife and son!!

Zooming in on their sweet family photo to the max, brother Shen fumed at Shen Fu’s smile. There was no way he could swallow this one down. That’s what you get for showing off!!!