My Youth Began With Him

“Tiantian, you’re… still up?”

“I’m scared.”

Wearing a white cotton sleeping gown, Tiantian walked slowly to Shen Mingxi’s side on bare feet.

“Why didn’t you put on shoes? It’s cold on the floor.” Shen Mingxi glanced at the child’s feet and frowned.

“I had a nightmare, Uncle Shen.”

“What’s up?”

Not in the mood to talk to the kid, his tone was dismissive.

But to his surprise, Tiantian walked over and sat on his lap, leaning her small body on his wide chest.

“Uncle Shen, I had a scary dream… I dreamed my mom died. Her face was covered in blood and she kept yelling for help.”

If it was in the past, Shen Mingxi wouldn’t show any reaction.

After all, he didn’t care about Huo Yanyan anymore.

But tonight…

Tiantian’s words made him shiver violently.

“Uncle Shen, are you okay?”

Tiantian looked up and saw Shen Mingxi’s dark expression; she asked innocently.

“No… Nothing. It’s just a dream. Don’t be afraid.” As he said the words, Shen Mingxi felt turmoil inside.

As Huo Yanyan’s daughter, Tiantian might have some special connection with her mother.

“Uncle Shen, I want to call my mom… I feel bad that I was rude to her… After all, she’s my mom and she loves me… Do you mind?”

The request caught him by surprise.

“No… I don’t.”

“Can I use your cellphone? Mine is out of power and is recharging in my bedroom.”

“Okay.” Shen Mingxi picked up his phone from the desk slowly and handed it to Tiantian.

Tiantian dialed Huo Yanyan’s number and it went through, but no one answered.

It seemed Huo Yanyan had left her cellphone in her house when Bao’s people dragged her out.

“Huh? That’s strange… Why isn’t my mom answering the call? Is she asleep?”

“Maybe…”

Shen Mingxi had a strange look on his face.

“Uncle Shen, you are not mad at me for missing my mom, right?”

“No.”

“Good. I’ll call again tomorrow. Uncle Shen, you must go to bed now.”

Then she kissed his cheek and ran back to her room barefooted.

In the whole process, Shen Mingxi looked numb.

He hadn’t thought how he’d face Tiantian after this thing; after all, Huo Yanyan was Tiantian’s last family member in the world.

Now that her mother was dead, Tiantian was an orphan without parents or grandparents.

Tiantian had only him in the world now…

He felt it was a cruel thing to a kid of seven years.

He couldn’t sleep during the night, struggling with guilt and common sense. On one hand, he felt he did the right thing by killing Huo Yanyan; on the other hand, his act made Tiantian an orphan, taking the last family member from her.

He didn’t know that Tiantian had walked out of his study with a weird smile on her lips.

She was still young and had no ability to know the whole process, but she had known Shen Mingxi would get rid of her mother.

From his expression tonight, he should have done it.

Tiantian called her mother just to confirm it. Huo Yanyan would never leave a call unanswered even in the middle of the night.

The only explanation was that she was dead.

– In South Hill Manor –

After receiving the video, Gao Ran arrested the gangsters and knew the whole thing through interrogation.

He called Qin Chu immediately.

It was 5 AM.

“Chu, Huo Yanyan was killed.”