Chapter 37

Shen Lihuan also noticed that the man wasn’t carrying anything—just a mobile phone and a baby.

Logically speaking, for such a young child who still needed milk, anyone taking them out would at least bring some formula and diapers. Yet this middle-aged man had brought the baby outside without even a bottle of formula. That was too suspicious.

Before long, the infant drowsily opened his eyes, his tiny mouth quivering as if about to cry. Shen Lihuan immediately reached out and covered You Changqing’s ears. The next second, a sharp wail pierced the air.

“Waa! Waa! Waa!”

You Changqing had been puzzled about why Lihuan covered her ears, but when she heard the baby’s cries, she couldn’t help but smile. She leaned against Shen Lihuan’s shoulder, her heart racing at this unintentional display of tenderness.

The middle-aged man calmly put his phone back into his pocket, gently rocking the baby while murmuring, “Oh, oh, don’t cry.”

It was unclear whether the baby was hungry or had soiled his diaper, but despite the man’s coaxing, his cries remained shrill and pitiful. The sound grated on the man’s nerves, and his face showed clear impatience.

The other passengers were all drawn to the commotion. A young mother sitting behind the man, holding her own five-year-old daughter, leaned forward with concern.

“Big brother, I think the baby might be hungry. You should feed him something—don’t let him go hungry.”

The man responded nonchalantly, “It’s fine. He’ll stop crying after a while. Besides, I left in a hurry and didn’t bring any formula.”

“That’s not right, big brother. Babies this young can’t go without food. No matter how rushed you were, you should’ve at least brought his milk.”

The young mother looked at the man with disapproval. As a mother herself, she couldn’t stand seeing a baby go hungry.

While they spoke, Shen Lihuan kept a close eye on the man’s expression. When the baby cried, there was only impatience in his eyes—no urgency, no distress. That wasn’t the look a father should have for his own child.

Her heart tightened with unease.

She pulled out her thermos from her bag and said, “Uncle, I have warm water here. Does anyone on the bus have formula?”

The man looked up at her, his gaze lingering on the pretty young girl before him. Then, as if disgusted by something, he shot Shen Lihuan an irritated glare.

“That’s right! Does anyone have some formula for the baby?” The young mother turned to the other passengers for help.

“I don’t have any.”

“Me neither.”

“My formula is for my parents—it’s elderly formula. I don’t think it’s suitable for a baby.”

“I have some! My baby is also a few months old. I just bought some formula at the baby store, and I have a bottle too.”

The passengers were not indifferent; they responded promptly. In the end, a good-natured man with a thick smile retrieved a can of formula and a baby bottle from his shopping bag.

“That’s great! Now the baby won’t have to go hungry.” The young mother exclaimed in relief.

“Uh… I’m getting off soon, so I’d rather not trouble you all.”

The middle-aged man hesitated, declining their kindness.

“How can you say that? The baby can’t wait! Just listening to his cries makes my heart ache. Big brother, don’t be polite with us.”

The young mother’s eyes widened in exasperation upon hearing that the man intended to let the baby go hungry. What kind of father was this? Babies were fragile—they cried when they were hungry, cried when they were uncomfortable, cried when they were sick, and even cried when they were simply unhappy. A baby’s cry should be met with urgency, but instead, this father remained indifferent. Meanwhile, she, a mere bystander, was more anxious than he was.

Without further hesitation, she sprang into action. Since the bus was crowded and still moving, she placed her daughter in her seat and stood up. Turning to the passengers at the back, she called out, “Everyone, pass the formula and bottle forward, please! Good deeds will be rewarded.”

The passengers cooperated willingly, passing the can and bottle forward, one person at a time, until they reached the young mother.

At the next stop, the kind bus driver made a brief pause so she could prepare the milk.

Shen Lihuan and You Changqing didn’t just stand by idly—they assisted in mixing the formula. The young mother praised them repeatedly for being kind-hearted girls. Her daughter, leaning over the seatback to watch her mother work, suddenly piped up, “My mommy is also a kind and beautiful lady!” Her words filled the young mother with both joy and pride.

Once the bottle was ready, the young mother gently placed the nipple in the baby’s mouth. He latched on immediately, sucking hungrily. The wailing finally ceased.

As the bus resumed its journey, the formula can was passed back to the kind-hearted man.

Throughout this entire process, the middle-aged man simply cradled the baby, occasionally murmuring a half-hearted lullaby. At one point, he even took out his phone to send a message. Despite the baby crying until his face turned red and his voice grew hoarse, the man never once showed real concern.

This indifferent attitude made Shen Lihuan furrow her brows deeply.

“Uncle, how old is the little one? Has he been named yet?” she asked, feigning curiosity.

The man put his phone away and thought for a moment before replying indifferently, “About five months. His name is… uh, Dundu.”

He couldn’t even say the baby’s name right away…

“Uncle, were you in such a hurry to take the little one out? Where are you headed? You even forgot his formula.” Shen Lihuan continued probing.

You Changqing, knowing Shen Lihuan wasn’t the type to be nosy, found her persistent questioning unusual. She turned her suspicious gaze toward the middle-aged man.

The man’s eyes flickered, and he let out a long sigh. “I really had no other choice…”

“What happened, big brother? Maybe we can help.” The young mother asked.

“I’ve been poor all my life. It took me ages to finally marry a beautiful wife, and I just wanted a warm family. But for over ten years, she never got pregnant. At first, I thought it was her problem, but after a checkup, I found out it was me. We rushed to the capital for treatment, and after more than a year, we finally had our son—Dundu.”

“But who would have thought… after coming to the capital and seeing its splendor, my wife started looking down on me for not making enough money. She got involved with a man old enough to be her father.”

“When I confronted her about cheating on me, she asked for a divorce. But then she said Dundu was her child, that staying with me would mean suffering, and that she wanted to take him and marry into that rich man’s family. I’m already in my forties—this is my only son! If she takes him away, changes his surname, I’d have no descendants left! Even if I die, how could I face my ancestors?”

“So before my ex-wife comes to take Dun Dun away, I quickly took him and ran back to my hometown.”

The middle-aged man’s words drew sympathetic looks from everyone.

“Going by what you said, you really should take your son back home. Men are narrow-minded—who would be willing to raise another man’s child? Your ex-wife took your son to her new home, but I’m afraid others will see him as a burden and bully him.”

“A stepfather comes with a stepmother, and even more so when the biological mother has no means to support herself and has to rely on the stepfather. She might even treat the stepchildren better than her own child just to secure her place in the new household.”

Everyone discussed this matter, and the middle-aged man nodded vigorously. “Exactly! I’m just afraid my son will be mistreated in his stepfather’s home.”

“But Uncle, if you’re taking the little brother back to your hometown, why didn’t you bring any luggage with you?” Shen Lihuan pointed out the flaw in his story.

“Why are you asking so many questions, little girl?”

The middle-aged man couldn’t answer her and immediately flared up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Are you conducting a census or something? Do you want me to tell you my entire family history while I’m at it?”

“Uncle, why are you getting so angry? I just saw how cute the little brother is and was simply asking out of concern. There’s no need for such a big reaction, right?”

Shen Lihuan looked at him with a puzzled expression.

You Changqing, seeing Shen Lihuan being snapped at by the middle-aged man, glared at him. “You were the one who said you left in such a hurry that you didn’t even bring formula. If not for Lihuan kindly offering warm water, the little brother would still be starving. Instead of saying thank you, you’re yelling at people? Do you have any manners at all?”

The middle-aged man seemed to realize that he had overreacted. He grumbled under his breath, turning away from Shen Lihuan. Meanwhile, after finishing his formula, the baby started crying again, seemingly uncomfortable for some reason.

“Ugh, why are you so troublesome? You just stopped crying, and now you’re at it again.”

The middle-aged man, irritated by the baby’s cries, frowned deeply. Instead of comforting him, he threatened, “If you keep crying, I’ll throw you away!”

The baby, frightened by his fierce expression, cried even louder. The man actually reached out and covered the baby’s mouth.

“Uncle, what are you doing?! You can’t cover his mouth—he’ll suffocate!”

Shen Lihuan reacted quickly and pulled the man’s hand away. She was certain that this man was not the baby’s biological father—what kind of father would be so indifferent to his child’s well-being?

The middle-aged man glared at her angrily. “Why do you love meddling in other people’s business so much? This is my child. I can cover his mouth however I want. Even if I suffocate him, it’s none of your business!”

The other passengers: “…”

Initially, they had felt sympathy for the man—his wife had cheated on him, and now she wanted to take their son away. But seeing how he treated the child’s life as insignificant, they began reconsidering his words. He didn’t seem to care about his son at all; he only cared about having a son, about whether his bloodline would be cut off. Their impression of him soured instantly.

A young man sneered and said, “Wow, Uncle, you’re amazing. By your logic, parents who kill their children shouldn’t go to jail, huh?”

“I brought this child into the world—his life is mine to take back! I’d like to see who dares to stop me!”

The middle-aged man shouted, stiffening his neck.

“The law dares to stop you,” Shen Lihuan said firmly. “Even people who don’t know the law understand that killing must be repaid with life—that’s common sense. Being a child’s parent doesn’t give you the right to kill them. In Green Country, if a parent kills their child, they are sentenced to death.”

“Well said! I hate people who treat their children as their personal property—hitting them whenever they want, even killing them without a second thought.”

Someone expressed their indignation.

The middle-aged man hadn’t expected that killing one’s own child could lead to the death penalty. He shrank back, afraid of angering the crowd and getting beaten.

“Uncle, you said you only had this one child at over forty years old. Shouldn’t you cherish him even more? Why are you so impatient with him, covering his mouth and not caring about his life? Are you really his father?”