C6 Chapter 6

Saang Shijuan walked over to the couch and sat down, his face unreadable.

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked, “What did you do today?”

“Horseback riding this morning, swimming this afternoon, fencing in the evening,” Saang Yuxin answered without even looking up. His young voice was unusually cold as his pencil kept moving across the page.

Saang Shijuan nodded and glanced at the drawing. It was a dark, shadowy mess, and he had no idea what it was supposed to be.

A slight frown touched his face as he asked, “Want me to get you an art tutor for the evenings?”

Saang Yuxin let out a cold snort and curled his lip. “Forget it. The last female art teacher you hired almost ended up in your bed. I’m not interested in having some random woman turn into my stepmother.”

By now, Saang Shijuan was used to his son’s overly mature tone.

He gave a slight nod, then fell silent, turning over what he wanted to say next in his mind.

The room went quiet again.

Saang Yuxin’s pencil paused, and he lifted his eyes.

His big, round eyes were dark and glossy, like black pearls, but the emotion in them was almost icy.

He stared at Saang Shijuan’s sharply defined face and said flatly, “You want to talk to me about something?”

Saang Shijuan paused.

Sometimes his son’s intuition was honestly startling.

After a moment, he straightened up, laced his fingers together at his side, and spoke in a tone that sounded more like a negotiation. “How would you feel about me enrolling you in preschool?”

Saang Yuxin froze for a second, clearly not expecting his dad to bring up preschool again.

Still, he wasn’t particularly interested. Curling his lip, he said, “You know I don’t fit in with those childish little kids.”

“But sooner or later, you have to become part of the real world. You can’t spend your whole life hanging around butlers, maids, and private coaches at home.”

“So basically, you just want me to go to preschool?”

Saang Shijuan raised an eyebrow. He had been about to say that if Yu Xin really didn’t want to go, then he didn’t have to. But before he could, Saang Yuxin nodded.

Saang Shijuan froze, then the corner of his mouth twitched.

Boring?

He spent a fortune on the boy every single day, never asking him to become some elite prodigy, only hoping he’d enjoy himself. And in return, all he got was one word: “boring.”

Saang Yuxin set down his drawing board and got to his feet, heading upstairs.

“Where are you going?” Saang Shijuan asked.

“Didn’t you say I’m starting kindergarten? Then obviously I need to go to bed early tonight,” Saang Yuxin replied coolly. As he climbed the stairs, he called toward the maid’s room, “Mrs. Liu, I want to take a bath. Please run the water for me.”

Saang Shijuan closed his eyes and rubbed his brow helplessly. Why was his son acting more and more like a miniature grown-up?

Early the next morning, two or three little sparrows chirped from the dry branches, and the lawn around Xishan Villa had turned a little more yellow.

Saang Shijuan took Saang Yuxin and Steward Xie with him, and the driver set off for Sunshine Kindergarten.

After nearly an hour on the road, Saang Yuxin couldn’t help frowning. “Why is it so far?”

“Mm. I picked a more ordinary kindergarten for you,” Saang Shijuan said flatly, offering no further explanation.

The car stopped at the front gate of Sunshine Kindergarten. Saang Yuxin looked at the school, where paint was peeling off the walls in several places, and his frown deepened. His tone carried a hint of disdain. “This is the kindergarten you picked for me?”

“Mm.”

“Is your company about to go under?”

Saang Shijuan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“If it wasn’t, why would you send me to a place like this?”