You Said It Yourself

As soon as Huo Huan stepped outside, he saw a whole group of children—the ones who usually played with this child.

Seeing Huo Huan obediently come out when called, the children thought he was fairly docile. How could he have gained the adults' attention before them? There was clearly nothing remarkable about him.

His own father did not like him, he had arrived in shabby clothes, and he was covered in injuries. If he had not returned to the Huo Household and put on the clothes they had prepared for him, he would have been no different from some country child.

"Let's play leapfrog. It's fun. Put your hands on the ground, and then we'll see whether we can jump over you."

Before they could get Huo Huan's answer, another child's voice arrived first. "You can't bully him."

The children looked at the well-dressed Shen Zhuo and all said they were not bullying Huo Huan, only playing with him. Had Shen Zhuo never played leapfrog before?

Shen Zhuo truly had not played it before, so he told them to demonstrate it for him first. Only then would he know whether it was really just a game.

After returning to the Shen Household, everyone had spoiled Shen Zhuo, and he had become much bolder. So even surrounded by so many children, he was not afraid.

The children laughed and demonstrated it for him. After jumping several times, they said, "See? We told you it's just a game."

Shen Zhuo was not fooled. "Then why did you tell him to be the vault as soon as he came over? You weren't playing rock-paper-scissors like you did just now."

"Were you planning to make him be the vault the whole time? You wanted to bully him, didn't you? You can't bully him."

Huo Huan looked at the child standing in front of him. He was even shorter than Huo Huan—did he dare come out without being afraid of getting hit? Besides, Huo Huan did not need anyone's help.

"Go away." Huo Huan stepped in front of Shen Zhuo as he spoke. He did not need anyone standing in front of him.

Shen Zhuo had not expected Huo Huan to be so irritating. He was helping him, all right? Yet Huo Huan was telling him to leave.

Shen Zhuo said angrily, "I'm not leaving. You can't fight or start a conflict. I won't let them bully you, and you're not allowed to get angry either."

Huo Huan frowned. This child was really overbearing. What did he mean, Huo Huan was not allowed to get angry? He could get angry whenever he wanted, okay? What did it have to do with him?

Before they could finish arguing, the children suddenly ran away. Only when Huo Huan saw the large dog rushing out did he understand what they were trying to do.

Leapfrog had merely been a guise for playing. Their real goal had probably been to let this dog out to bite him.

Perhaps they were even more vicious. Maybe they had planned to forcefully press him to the ground while they were playing leapfrog, leaving him no chance to run.

They just had not expected that he would not play with them at all. Huo Huan glanced at the short-legged, short-armed child beside him. "Why aren't you running?"

Shen Zhuo was a little stunned. They had actually let a dog out to bite someone? That was too much. Even if Huo Huan let a dog bite them in the future, they would deserve it. They were awful.

Shen Zhuo and Huo Huan both ran as fast as they could. Suddenly, Shen Zhuo's foot slipped, and he fell, rolling several times. Fortunately, he rolled down to a lower spot, and the dog did not come after him.

Shen Zhuo remembered Huo Huan. He was still being chased. Shen Zhuo endured the pain in his foot, stood up, and picked up stones to throw at the dog. He deliberately chose big ones. He would knock it out.

Huo Huan knew Shen Zhuo had fallen, but he did not know him, and the dog was chasing him, so he focused on escaping first. He would deal with Shen Zhuo later.

Who would have thought that he would suddenly hear the dog yelp, along with the sounds of stones striking something and hitting the ground?

When he turned around, he saw Shen Zhuo standing below the slope, constantly throwing stones at the dog. Enraged by the blows, the dog charged toward Shen Zhuo.

Shen Zhuo was furious. Why would this dog not get knocked out? Seeing it come toward him, he wanted to run, but his foot hurt. He felt that he might be done for.

Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncles—Zhuozhuo was going to be bitten by a big dog, boohoo. Shen Zhuo lowered his head, tears pattering down.

"What are you crying for?" Huo Huan's voice suddenly sounded. Shen Zhuo wiped his tears, and once his vision was no longer blurred, he saw Huo Huan standing above him.

Shen Zhuo looked around and asked where the dog was. Huo Huan said he had knocked it out while folding the folding fruit knife hidden behind his back.

Shen Zhuo held out his hand to Huo Huan, asking him to pull him up. Looking at Shen Zhuo standing below, Huo Huan asked, "Why did you follow me out? Why did you throw stones at the dog?"

"I couldn't let them bully you. The dog was still chasing you. If I didn't throw stones at it, it would have bitten you soon." Shen Zhuo's voice still carried the tremble of someone who had been frightened into tears.

Huo Huan looked at Shen Zhuo for a long while. "From now on, you won't let anyone bully me? You'll stand up for me and stay by my side like you did today?"

Shen Zhuo thought about it, then nodded heavily. It was so pitiful when Huo Huan was bullied. Then he would turn bad again. Taking revenge on the person who bullied him would not be enough—he would have to take revenge on that person's entire family, using an especially terrifying method.

"You said it yourself." After saying that, Huo Huan reached out and pulled Shen Zhuo up, then carried him on his back toward the banquet hall.

When Shen Zhuo had said earlier that no one was allowed to bully him, Huo Huan had thought it was funny. What use could a little brat like him possibly be?

Besides, it might have only been a passing interest. Once Shen Zhuo realized he could not manage it at all, he might feel embarrassed and blame Huo Huan instead.

Huo Huan had not expected him to dare throw stones at the dog. He could have simply hidden there. He and Huo Huan had no relationship and did not even know each other.

He had heard that family call him Little Zhuo or Zhuozhuo, while his uncle was usually called Young Master Shen. They should be from the Shen Household, so the one on his back should be called Shen Zhuozhuo.

Shen Zhuozhuo had said himself that he would not let anyone bully Huo Huan from now on and that he would stand on Huo Huan's side. Then he had to keep that promise in the future, no matter the circumstances or their ages.

After today, his knife would be confiscated. He had painstakingly smuggled it in, hiding it in the inner compartment of his schoolbag. He had only intended to use it in the face of extreme danger, but at least it had saved Shen Zhuozhuo, so it was not a loss.

Anyway, he was fairly capable in a fight. He had to thank the rough, mixed-up environment where he had lived before for teaching him these things.

If he had not been afraid of causing trouble and getting thrown out, he would have fought back that afternoon. Although there were many of them and they were fat, he might not have won, but he would not have lost either. At the very least, he could have made every one of them hurt badly.

That dog belonged to the granduncle of the main branch. Though Huo Huan had only stabbed it, he would probably still have to pay a price.

Who told him to secretly bring a knife? He did not even know what the situation would be like in a moment. Before Huo Huan could finish thinking, he ran into the Shen family members who were searching everywhere.

Shen Zhuo was usually very obedient and never ran around. He was also a child of the Shen Household, so no one had expected anyone to bully him.

Shen Can had not expected Shen Zhuo to run outside. He and Su Nanxing had only gone to say a few words before planning to return, and they had even asked someone to watch him. Yet this still happened.

Shen Can was not the only one filled with guilt; Su Nanxing felt terribly guilty too. When could he not have gotten acquainted with someone? He had truly lost his mind. No matter what, he should have taken the child to Xu Qingqing first.

Xu Qingqing and Shen Yu also felt they had done something wrong. They had habitually left the child with Shen Can before going out to socialize, but Shen Can had matters of his own as well.

They had also kept thinking that Shen Zhuo was obedient, but they had forgotten that no matter how obedient he was, there would always be bad children.

The Shen family's search caused quite a commotion, and most people noticed. Once they noticed, how could they possibly not help search? Of course they would feel too embarrassed not to.

So everyone joined the search. Now, seeing Shen Zhuo being carried on someone's back and looking as though he had cried, everyone felt that something big was bound to happen today.