System, are you messing with me? - Chapter 5: Chapter 5

Shu Ning continued to stand in front of the house a bit longer even after Sheng Rui had already long left. He had a sad and reluctant expression on his face when he turned around again and walked into the living room. Sheng Su had already left for the company so the only ones in the house were now Sheng Xi and the servants.
The boy slowly walked towards the big couch and sat down while hugging his knees. The servants that saw this scene felt some pain in their hearts by the wet eyes of the child that were beginning to fill with tears. But before they could accumulate he suppressed them again and instead buried his head deeper into his knees. It was really a sad scene to look at and the servants wanted to walk up to him and coax him but before they could act on that thought Sheng Xi walked towards the trembling youth with rage written across her face.
Shu Ning: "Alpha. Film and record our interactions from now on."
System: "See it as done. Just.... Be careful host."
Shu Ning could tell that the System was really worried for him but he could only roll his eyes at it because it was the System who brought him into this mess in the first place.
Sheng Xi came to a halt directly behind of Shu Ning and reached out her hand to grab onto his hair and pull his head up. The youth gave a yelp at the sudden pain and the suppressed tears rolled down his cheeks.
The woman frowned a forcefully turned the head of the boy so that he could look her into the eyes.
"Who gave you the right to act so pitiful. You are just an unwanted bastard. Let me show you who the master of this household is so that you know not to go against me again."
"Please M-Mother... ahh"
"Don't you dare call me that. How disgusting. You don't have a family here so stop acting like this place is yours."
Sheng Xi pulled the child of the couch and shoved him on to the floor. Shu Ning stayed lying on the ground until his dizziness left before he turned around again to look at the woman's face. Fear was written over his face and he was visibly trembling while he was pleading to his step mother. But that only made the woman even angrier and displeased. With a slap she hit the youths face, so that a red imprint appeared on the white skin.
"Let this be a lesson to you. If you dare act up again then I will make life a living hell for you."
After saying this the woman turned around again and walked away, leaving the crying child behind.
Shu Ning held his aching cheek and looked at the back of the wretch. Disgust washed over his heart and he continued to curse at her internally. On the outside though, he shakily climbed to his feet again and wobbled to his room. Shu Ning locked the door behind him and threw himself on the bed.
Shu Ning: "That hateful woman actually dares to hit me. I will make her pay hundredfold for this. She is so disgusting. I always feel like vomiting when I see her ugly visage."
System: "Is Host all right? Does it hurt? That woman is really to much."
Alpha worriedly jumped around his Host to make sure he wasn't heavily injured but Shu Ning just grew more annoyed. He pushed the glowing ball away from him and walked towards the mirror in the bath.
Shu Ning: "That wretch did quite a good job. With this kind of temperament it's just a matter of time before she is exposed."
The youth in the mirror had a hand print on his left cheek that looked especially red and swollen on the white and tender skin of the face.On top of that he had purple and blue bruises on his chin and neck. It was a real horrifying sight and coupled with the still wet and red rimmed eyes and the slightly trembling lips, it could bring out the paternal instincts of both woman and men.
Shu Ning put on a sad and vulnerable expression and asked Alpha to shoot a picture.
Shu Ning: "Excellent. Alpha, keep an eye on the wretch for me and record anything that would put her in a bad light."
After Alpha left to observe his target, the boy pulled out the mobile phone Sheng Rui had gifted to him just before. With this he accessed the internet and started to create an account on Weibo.
[I love strawberry cake: "Hello guys. I'm new here. I hope that I can make a friend somehow. #image]
Shu Ning chose a picture of Meng Yi sitting crossed legged on his bed and looking in the camera with his big round eyes to go with his message. He didn't believe to actually receive any kind of response in a short amount of time, so he shut of his phone again and hid it underneath his pillow to protect it from Sheng Xi's grasp.
While Shu Ning closed his eyes to take a nap a mysterious man, that wanted to stay undercover, used his side account on Weibo to forward the post making it spread like wildfire through his fan circle and beyond.
[Baby Brother's need to get spoiled: "So Cute and Lovely!" ~forward]
[White Riding hood: "Oh my Gosh. Big Brother is so right. Those big eyes and chubby cheeks. I will be your friend little baby. Come into sister's arms."
[Prince_1033: "Let me be your night in shining armor."]
[Nightingale: "I want to hug you little baby. You are so Cute and adorable!! I will definitely be your friend."]
[ Laozi Dozheng: "Want to be your friend +1."]
...
[Daydreamer the second: "Want to be your friend +1009"]
________
When Shu Ning woke up again he went downstairs to eat something in a rush and then stepped outside the doors into the cool evening air. It was still early in the evening, so the streets were bustling with people who just finished their work or their shopping.
The boy pushed himself through the stream of peoples until he reached a secluded area where he could rest. His bones were still aching from being shoved onto the hard ground and the swelling on his face hurt every time the cold air brushed past the sensitive skin. But that didn't bother the youth one little bit.
Shu Ning waited a while and finally he caught sight of a young man with youthful features and a cheerful smile on his face. He walked on the path going past Shu Ning while humming a joyful song.
After passing Shu Ning he suddenly stopped his steps and turned around to muster the youth standing at the road side. He looked him up and down before his eyes suddenly widened in bewilderment.
"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to be related to the Sheng family, Right?"
Shu Ning directly looked in the eye of the talking person and nodded his head.
"I knew it. You look very similar to Sheng Rui when he was still a little kid. My name is Wang Bao and I'm working under the boss of the Sheng company."
Wang Bao smiled brightly at the youth and stretched out his hand in a greeting. Shu Ning didn't say a word and just continued to stare at the stranger when his stomach suddenly grumbled. When he had left the house he had just grabbed something to eat in a rush so it was no wonder that his stomach was now complaining.
There was a short silence before Wang Bao broke out in laughter at the flustered expression of the youth.
"Pfft... Hahahaha. Seems like you are hungry. How about letting this Laozi invite you to dinner then? I'm a good friend of Sheng Rui, so you can just treat me as family."
Shu Ning smiled lightly and then followed Wang Bao to a private room in the same restaurant he met with Fan Li before.
The man in front of him was indeed who he had been wanting to meet. Wang Bao was a long time friend of Sheng Ruis who later started working for him because of family affairs, but the most important thing was, that he was very close to Meng Yi's father and had his unconditioned trust.
Shu Ning sat down on the couch and ordered lots of meaty dishes with the utmost devotion.  His eyes were practically sparkling from the excitement. Amused Wang Bao let the boy order what ever he wanted before starting the conversation again."
"I don't know your name yet, do I?"
"Meng Yi."
"Then I will call you little Yi from now on."
When Wang Bao called out little Yi just now Shu Ning stiffened visibly and his hands started trembling slightly. That reaction was of course caught by the still smiling man.
The youth calmed down his emotions again and lightly smiled at Wang Bao again.
"Uncle Bao. Can you tell me more about father and his youth?"
Wang Bao gently gazed upon Meng Yi and couldn't resist reaching out his hand and lightly petting the youth's hair.
"Your father was always a very difficult person in the past. He never listened to anyone's advise and that brought him into a lot of trouble. Did you know? He even liked to skip school a lot or play pranks on the teachers. Only because your grandparents continued to donate money to the school was he able to continue going there. He was a very rebellious child back then."
Wang Bao continued talking a lot about the past and all the pranks Sheng Rui had played in the past making Shu Ning laugh multiple times at the foolishness of his father. In such a harmonious atmosphere the two ate their food while the youth listened to the stories of Wang Bao.
Even though the food had already filled Shu Nings little tummy but he still didn't forget to order a strawberry cake afterwards. He has always liked sweets in his past life especially strawberry cake but because of his sister he had to hold back from his enjoyment because she didn't allow any sugary food in her house. So now that he could finally eat cake towards his hear content he didn't hold back.
"You must really like strawberry cake but it won't run away, so you can slow down a bit."
"Yes, I love this cake very much. It's so tasty. I even named my Weibo account after  this."
"You have Weibo? That's great, then let me add you."
Finally Shu Ning was able to add Wang Bao's Weibo and made this meeting  worthwhile.
After the two partet ways, Shu Ning hurriedly went back to the Sheng family's mansion to sleep. Wang Bao watched the youth hurry away and pulled out his phone to make a call. Those marks on Meng Yi's skin and his reaction to the name little Yi were just to strange.
"Wang Bao. Is something the matter for you to call me out of the blue."
The voice sounded slightly tired and horse but it was still easy to tell that it was Sheng Rui speaking.
"I just met with your second son Meng Yi. He is a very bright and cheerful child. But somethings do worry me.
Sheng Rui raised his eyebrows at the other end of the phone and pushed away all the files in front of him. He would give anyone his full attention that would mention his dear little baby.
So Wang Bao started to explain the situation and the marks he saw on the youth.
"Maybe I'm just worrying needlessly but those bruises were deffinitely in the shape of fingers."
Sheng Rui was silent for a moment before hitting the top of his table.
"Who would dare lay their hand on my family. Continue keeping an eye on my son while I'm out. I will try to get to the bottom of this as well."
Just like that Sheng Rui hung up the phone and Wang Bao was left in silence again. He heaved a heavy sight.
"Even if you didn't tell me, I would deffinitely look out for the child."
Wang Bao put away his phone again and at last made his way to his own apartment in a more heavy mood than before.