Chapter 3

"You still dare to scoff?" "Hmph~" "You!" Xu Huaishen felt a breath block in his throat, unable to go up or down. He would be angered to death by her sooner rather than later. Xu Xingyu greatly appreciated the somewhat ferocious look on people's faces when they were angry. She smiled and blinked provokingly at Miguang, who was watching quietly from the side. "I!" Xu Huaishen was practically dying of exasperation, his fingertips trembling. "Xu Xingyu! Where did all those years of learning filial piety to your parents go?" Pardon her, but she had never learned any. As for respecting parents and honoring teachers, her greatest specialty was defying the whole world. Xu Xingyu wanted to say something more, but then she had a second thought—maybe he really was the father figure of this body. Puffing out her cheeks and frowning with her bright eyes, she managed to hold back the retort that sprang to mind. How annoying! Where did this meddlesome old man come from? Fine, she wouldn't bicker with him for now. She would tickle his nerves again once he was in a better mood. Hehe. Seeing his well-behaved daughter's unconvinced expression, Xu Huaishen laughed out of sheer fury. Knowing her very well, he figured she had probably cursed him up and down in her heart countless times already. She was like a little firecracker—lit by the slightest spark and exploding recklessly without a care in the world, ready to hurl abuses even at him. It felt as if a heavy stone were pressing down on his chest, leaving him stifled, helpless, and somewhat short of breath. Miguang was someone he had picked up by the side of the highway during a business trip when she—no, when he was five years old. He had originally intended to help him contact the police to find his parents and relatives, but upon questioning by the police, he learned that the little boy's mother had passed away, his father had remarried, and his stepmother was a wealthy woman who disliked the baggage her husband had brought along. To win the wealthy woman's favor, his father had repeatedly abandoned him outside on purpose. Once, he even left him alone by the rising tide at the beach, telling him to wait there for him to return. If a passerby hadn't spotted him, Miguang might have been washed away by the waves. In just those three-plus short hours of interacting with the little boy, a surge of tender affection had welled up in Xu Huaishen's heart. Moreover, he found the boy to be exceptionally intelligent, speaking in an orderly manner and showing not a shred of timidity despite having experienced so much abandonment. Pitying his ordeal and thinking that his own daughter had also lost her mother at a tender age—while his job required him to travel all over the country, dragging her along to frequently transfer schools and leaving her with hardly any friends around—he had been struck by the idea of adopting him. Naturally, he had discussed it with his daughter. At the time, his daughter had been very happy to agree upon hearing that she would have another playmate. Never had he imagined that on the very day Miguang was officially brought home, Xu Xingyu would completely flip the script and refuse to acknowledge him. She sat on the carpet, abandoning her toys, and clutched her stomach while crying her lungs out. "Daddy, how could you bring an illegitimate child home? He looks even older than me. You cheated on mom before I was even born, wah wah wah. Mommy, daddy doesn't want me anymore, wah wah wah! Only mom is good in this world, a child with a mom is like a treasure, a child without a mom is like a blade of grass. A child without a mom is like a blade of grass." Miguang had stood right behind Xu Huaishen, watching with a blank expression as the cute, tender little girl wailed loudly. Shocked into a violent twitch of his brow by Xu Xingyu's sudden false accusation and loud weeping, Xu Huaishen stood there with dark lines all over his face, forced to crouch down and coax her gently. Later on, Xu Huaishen had thought that once Xu Xingyu grew up a little, she would become sensible and realize Miguang was merely adopted rather than an illegitimate child, and their relationship would improve. Yet he never expected that Xu Xingyu would stubbornly persist in viewing herself as the pitiful, delicate heroine of a romance novel whose family fortune was being usurped, while he was the poor scholar who had cheated during his marriage, and Miguang was the deeply malicious, wicked second male lead trying to snatch her inheritance and even murder her. ... This perception was so stubborn that Xu Xingyu and Miguang had reached a state of utter incompatibility. There was nothing he could do. In the end, Xu Huaishen did not adopt Miguang. Instead, he registered Miguang's household registry at a friend's house, having his friend adopt him, and only transferred Miguang's registry out once he reached adulthood. Miguang lived in the school dormitories throughout middle school and high school, and the two children rarely crossed paths. It wasn't until their freshman year of college that the two of them ended up at the same university. And they were admitted into the exact same special college. Unlike other majors in the school that had specific professional courses, this college required students to study all science courses. Furthermore, students did not need to go to different classrooms according to the schedule; instead, there was a dedicated classroom where professors came to lecture them. They primarily studied physics, chemistry, computer science, and mathematics. As long as they passed the college exams before the summer vacation at the start of their junior year, they could proceed directly to a doctorate. Xu Huaishen had thought that once Xu Xingyu went to college, she would stop taking romance novels seriously, but he never expected that in this matter, she was practically like an NPC injected with hardcoded settings, still treating Miguang as her half-brother with malicious intentions. She bullied him at school and even tried to snatch his spot when doing experiments. If he hadn't stopped her at home—forget it, he couldn't stop her anyway.The medical kit arrived, but just as the maid was about to hand it to him, Xu Xingyu turned hostile again. "Don't you dare give it to him," she said coldly.

The maid’s hand froze in mid-air.

Xu Huaishen was genuinely angered by Xingyu. She had injured someone and wouldn't even let them be bandaged—it was too vicious. He glared at her.

Xingyu, naturally, did not notice. She was staring fixedly at Lingjing, as if looking at an enemy from a past life who had flayed her alive.

Unable to vent his frustration, Xu Huaishen suppressed his anger and turned to command the maid: "Auntie Wang, give the medical kit to the young master."

"Young master, please, let me bandage that for you," Auntie Wang said. She had cared for Xingyu since she was born; no matter how bad the girl’s temper was, she always felt Xingyu was a sweet child at heart, but she felt deeply for this boy as well.

Lingjing seemed accustomed to her hatred and unreasonable behavior; there was no emotional fluctuation on his face. He wore a crisp, white school uniform, his pale eyelids slightly lowered, masking a third of his dark pupils. He looked aloof and detached, like a desolate cedar atop a high mountain—cold, austere, and meant only to be admired from afar, never touched.

Lingjing did not take the household medical kit. Instead, he shook his head slightly, his voice as pleasing as jade striking against jade. "No need. It’s just a shallow scratch; it will heal quickly."

He lifted his arm to show her the thin red mark that had already stopped bleeding. On his jade-white skin, the minor injury was glaringly obvious, yet he didn't care in the least.

After Auntie Wang was put at ease, Lingjing looked at Xu Huaishen. "Uncle Xu, I’m heading to school now."

"Not eating breakfast?" Xu Huaishen knew he was still biased toward Xingyu and felt a twinge of guilt, but he also felt genuine sympathy for the boy.

"It’s fine. I never eat breakfast in the morning." He silently bypassed the shattered glass on the floor and left the main hall.

Xingyu was a heartless demon. She sat lazily in her seat, chin propped on the back of her hand, and watched Lingjing’s retreating figure. She curled her lips into a wicked smile, the long, narrow corners of her eyes curving upward like a fox brimming with malice.

Well then, for the days ahead, she would make sure to torment him properly. This was what he asked for, after all.

The air suddenly went quiet. Xu Huaishen looked at his daughter, who showed not a shred of remorse, feeling both angry and helpless. His voice dropped. "You drove your brother away again. He didn't even eat."

Xingyu didn't like being spoken to that way. She sat up straight, gripped the edge of the table to reason with him, and tilted her neck back, defending her innocence with a straight face. "No, don't pin this on me. He said himself just now that he doesn't eat in the morning. Whether I provoke him or not, he wasn't going to eat anyway."

Xu Huaishen’s face turned cold. He was fed up with his "little darling." He dropped the subject and stood up to head to work.

"You stay home today and reflect. I’ll call the school to ask for leave for you. Don't go. You can go back to school only when you’ve properly reflected on your behavior."

Just as he turned to leave, he heard a soft, clear mutter: "Heh, reflect, reflect... reflect on what? Since when is not going to school a punishment? You still have to support me anyway."

Xu Huaishen stumbled, but he forced a calm facade and left.

Miguang had only heard the legends of the Lord Demon before. Rumor had it she was irritable and petty, possessed immense combat power, and had a razor-sharp tongue. Those who provoked her not only suffered physical harm but were forced to endure repeated, devastating psychological trauma.

Because of this, she was a terrifying figure across the three realms that everyone avoided.

He had assumed it was just hearsay. After all, the Lord Demon was so exquisite and beautiful; when she smiled, her eyes curved like a brilliant galaxy—more beautiful even than a perfect, flawless Angel. She couldn't possibly be an irritable, walking bomb.

After witnessing this scene, he realized she was truly sharp-tongued and vicious; the rumors hadn't exaggerated or maligned her in the slightest.

Hearing Xingyu call his name, he couldn't help but shiver.

*Please, don't scold me. Wuuu.*

Yet, when she was alone, Xingyu seemed like a different person. She curled her petite frame into the soft chair, cradling a warm glass of whole milk with both hands, sipping it slowly like a kitten.

Perhaps she enjoyed the taste; she pressed her canine tooth against the rim of the glass and squinted in contentment, two sweet, intoxicating dimples appearing at the corners of her mouth. "System, transmit the plot to me."

*Wow, she's so well-behaved and cute.* Miguang was instantly bewitched again.

He flew around frantically inside the System Space, like a moth losing its way in the light, flapping his wings and trying to clear his head.

*Don’t be deceived. The host is a demon, not an Angel!*

*She is a demon.* *She is a demon.* *She is an Angel... wuuu, so cute.*

After sitting in the hall and receiving the plot transmitted by the system, Xingyu finally understood her identity in this world, as well as the story arc Lingjing was destined to experience.