"Such a busy person you are, making everyone wait for you to eat."
Xingyu had been hungry for a while, but Xu Huaishen had insisted she wait for Xu Lingjing to return so they could all eat together.
Xingyu refused to listen. She picked up her chopsticks, ready to shovel rice into her mouth, when Xu Huaishen sighed gloomily, "Don't you want Lingjing to listen to you anymore?"
Xingyu didn't even look up. Her gaze remained fixed on the table as she picked through her favorite dishes, saying nonchalantly, "He already listens to me perfectly well now."
"Is he doing it willingly?"
"Even if he weren't, I wouldn't care. As long as I have fun bullying him, that's all that matters. Hmph-hmph." Xingyu offered a smug, cunning smile.
"…Xu Xingyu, do not eat. Wait for your brother to return. We eat when the whole family is together; that is the rule."
"…Who is family with him!"
Xingyu dropped her chopsticks, sat back on the sofa with a huff, crossed her arms, and glared viciously toward the door, her lip curling in irritation.
After a while, Xu Lingjing finally returned. He looked as if he had hurried back; his fair neck was flushed and damp, with beads of sweat tracing the contours of his protruding veins.
Xingyu didn't care at all about the trouble he had gone through to get back.
Sweat? Let him sweat more.
Tears? It would be even more fun if he cried forever.
As she watched television, she said in a mocking, sarcastic tone, "Wow, our busy man is back!"
Xu Lingjing’s hair was slightly disheveled, damp strands sticking to his pale forehead. In that moment, he looked like a cold moon submerged in water—drenched, possessing a captivating, breathtaking beauty that was now all the more apparent.
Xu Lingjing caught his breath for a moment before silently looking toward Xingyu, who was huddled on the gray-blue sofa. She was sitting barefoot, resting her chin on her hand, which was propped against her knee. She glanced at him with a mix of irritability and laziness, her face full of impatience.
Xu Lingjing bit his lip, forcing a crimson flush of blood back into it, and replied with a gentle temper, "I'm sorry, I'm late."
He had recently sold a program to a corporation, but the machinery had run into issues, requiring him to go to the industrial park in person for troubleshooting. The industrial park was remote and far away; it had been easy enough to get a taxi on the way there, but there were no cars available for the return trip.
The bus station wasn't far, so he walked there to catch a bus to the suburbs. But the villa area was unreachable by taxi, and the Xu family driver, who had been sent to pick him up, had broken down halfway there…
While he was waiting for repairs, Xingyu had called, threatening him in a chilling tone to hurry back, or she would die of hunger and return as an evil spirit to haunt him, crouching by his bed every night to scare him…
With only two kilometers left, he had simply run the rest of the way.
Xu Huaishen glared at Xingyu, then turned to Xu Lingjing with a gentle expression. "Go take a shower and change your clothes before coming down to eat. We aren't in a hurry."
"Understood." Xu Lingjing nodded and walked upstairs.
"Sigh~"
Xingyu lay back against the sofa, looking lifeless, her body draped over the upholstery like a soft, limp puddle of cat-sludge as she stared blankly at the ceiling.
"Can't you show any concern now that your brother is home?"
"I won't!" Xingyu was incredibly stubborn. He didn't deserve it!
"Was your trip to the balcony just now to call and threaten Lingjing, forcing him to rush back?" Xu Huaishen narrowed his eyes.
"I was just showing my concern for him~"
"..."
The living room fell silent again, save for the echoes of a trashy, melodramatic rural soap opera, which Xingyu was watching with great interest.
Xu Huaishen sighed. "Sigh, it’s a terrible thing to be without the love of one's family. Who knows? Maybe one day Lingjing will be lured away by some other young girl."
Xingyu responded distractedly while watching the TV. "You’re too late with your worries. Before long, you’ll have another daughter-in-law. She’ll be so gentle and kind that everyone will love her, and only I, the wicked daughter, will be abandoned by everyone and die a miserable, wretched death."
Xu Huaishen’s face darkened. "What kind of nonsense is that?"
"Hmph, it’s true! They’re the overbearing CEO and the sweet, delicate wife, and I’m the wicked supporting character. I naturally have to make his life miserable while I still can."
Xu Huaishen felt his composure slipping under the provocation of his own daughter. "You really should watch fewer of these bizarre dramas..."
"Hmph~ believe what you want."
Xu Huaishen felt awkward. How could he believe that?
While they were eating, Xu Huaishen suddenly recalled Xingyu’s words. His gaze shifted, and he looked toward Xu Lingjing, his tone amiable. "Lingjing, do you have a girl you like right now?"
Xu Lingjing paused and looked up at Xu Huaishen.
Xingyu didn't even lift her head; she was clumsily peeling a shrimp. Lacking patience, she discarded everything except the meat in the abdomen, and after struggling for a long time, she had only managed one bite...
When Xu Huaishen wasn't home, she would order Lingjing to peel them for her, but whenever Huaishen was around, she deliberately kept her distance.
Perhaps she just wanted to toy with him and didn't want Xu Huaishen to think they had become close.
Xu Lingjing shook his head. "Not yet."
Hearing this, Xu Huaishen said gently, "That’s fine. When you meet a girl you like, you can tell me. I won’t stop you. The children of our family don’t need to enter arranged marriages, and we don’t care about family background. As long as the feelings are sincere, that’s enough."
Xu Lingjing bit his lip. "Understood." He picked up a shrimp and, wearing gloves, peeled it with slow, deliberate precision. His movements were fluid and clean, appearing both elegant and pleasing to the eye.
After arranging the perfectly peeled shrimp neatly on a plate, Xu Lingjing pushed it silently toward Xingyu.
Xingyu had already completely given up on the salt and pepper shrimp and was busy eating her rice porridge.
Suddenly noticing the plate of shrimp beside her hand, she looked at her own messy, ruined plate, then back at Xu Lingjing’s, and gritted her teeth. "Are you trying to humiliate me for being unable to peel a shrimp?"
Xu Huaishen naturally noticed the interaction, and he felt pleased.
In the past, his daughter had despised Lingjing, and his adopted son had been equally indifferent toward her. He wasn't stupid; he could see that their relationship was finally showing signs of improvement, which naturally delighted him.
He hadn't expected, however, that Xingyu would always view Lingjing’s attempts at kindness as having ulterior motives...
Xu Huaishen set down his chopsticks and looked at Xingyu with some severity. "Xu Xingyu, your brother was kind enough to peel those for you, yet you maliciously speculate about him. Is this how you should behave?"
"Who knows~"
The System remained silent. It was clear the Demon had eaten the grapes peeled by the Lord God at noon… yet now she was turning around and denying everything…
"Xu Xingyu!"
Xingyu covered her ears, refusing to listen. After a long while, she let go and gave Xu Huaishen a cunning wink. "Then, if I have a boyfriend I like, can I bring him home too?"
The System shrieked, [Ahhh! Lord Demon, who are you interested in?]
[Shut up! I’m not interested in anyone! Who is worthy of me? Hmph.]
The System clutched its heart, which felt like it was about to jump out. [You said it so suddenly, I thought you had someone you liked.]
Xu Lingjing slowly raised his head and stared at Xingyu with a blank expression, his pitch-black eyes so dense that the depths were invisible.
Xu Huaishen didn't pay much attention. "Who do you like? The son from the Lin Family?"
[Which son from the Lin Family? Who is the Lin Family?]
The System: [The guy from the setup who you're supposed to like, Lin Yanning. He wants to marry into the family, cheat you out of your inheritance, and leave you with nothing. But it’s a shame—before he could even touch your fortune, you’d already squandered it all...]
[Oh, I see. So, if I toy with a scoundrel like that until he's dead, will my destiny get worse?]
The System desperately wanted to point out that the only scoundrel here was the Demon herself.
Rumor had it that wherever she passed, she would snatch the candy from children’s mouths and stomp it into the ground. Even the dogs tucked their tails, and the cats didn't dare show their heads.
[...]
Xingyu felt aggrieved and blinked her eyes pitifully, her voice as soft as a wispy cloud. [I can’t even make deals with people since I arrived in this micro-world. Can’t you even satisfy me with this little thing?]
Her beautiful, innocent face was a killing move. Even though she was a bad egg, the System softened. It muttered, somewhat helplessly, [I suppose it's allowed.]
As Xingyu bargained with the System in her mind, Xu Huaishen assumed her silence was an admission.
He sighed. "I’m not trying to stand in your way, but he really isn't suitable for you. His father is a 'phoenix man'—he married an only daughter from a wealthy family, then remarried immediately after his first wife died in childbirth. The boy was born only three months after the first wife passed—isn't that adultery during marriage? If the foundation is crooked, the structure will be too. Do you think a man from a family like that can be a normal, good man? You are spoiled and willful; you should find a man who will pamper you."