The matter had to start with the original self’s cousin.
Li Miao had a cousin named Li Cheng.
Since childhood, Li Cheng had been told by his family to give way to the young master of the main household, and he had always been overshadowed by Li Miao.
After more than ten years of frustration, he had finally gotten into Class A, only to find that Li Miao was still haunting him like a ghost.
“Li Miao has gone too far with you… don’t you want to teach him a lesson?” The special admittee looked at him with wide, round eyes.
That one sentence was enough to dissolve the caution in Li Cheng’s heart. Of course he wanted to. He wanted it more than anything!
“You know, Li Miao’s father is very strict with him…” Jiang Luo leaned close to Li Cheng’s ear and whispered a few words.
Li Cheng had never even thought about how someone like Jiang Luo, a special admittee, could know the ins and outs of the wealthy Li family. He only felt that what Jiang Luo said made perfect sense.
Finally getting a legitimate chance to teach Li Miao a lesson, Li Cheng immediately reported Li Miao to Li Shun’an for not doing his homework.
After hearing the news, Li Shun’an flew into a rage and ordered Li Miao to come home this weekend, no exceptions.
『If you ask me, Li Shun’an might as well give me some money.』 Early Saturday morning, Li Miao sat in the car sent by the main household, resting his chin in his hand and staring blankly ahead.
『Give me the money, and I’ll get him first place right away.』
The system, knowing Li Miao’s background and knowing he really had the ability, said nothing.
Li Miao felt a little irritated.
He had originally planned to spend the weekend carefully thinking about how to invest the 5 million he had gotten, but Li Shun’an’s phone call had completely thrown off his plans.
Not to mention that Li Miao himself had no emotional bond with the original self’s relatives. Just from the novel plot Li Miao knew about… this family probably did not care much about Li Miao either, did they?
Otherwise, why would they have let Li Miao live alone in a villa outside since childhood?
As he was thinking, the car turned into a courtyard, passed a fountain, and then entered a parking lot in the corner.
“Second Young Master, please.”
Li Miao got out of the car, adjusted his jacket, and studied the Chinese-style courtyard before him.
Good heavens. No wonder the original self was arrogant and overbearing. If he had known the Li family was this rich, he would have been even more arrogant than the original self.
The massive Chinese-style building looked like a monster with its mouth wide open. Li Miao stood there looking at it for a while, then lowered his eyes and smiled faintly before walking forward alone.
The Li family’s main household was headed by Li Shun’an. His wife was Best Actress Sang Yunhua, and they had three children in total.
The eldest daughter, Li Tinghan, worked in the family corporation and, if nothing went wrong, would be Li Shun’an’s successor.
The second son, Li Miao, ignorant and uneducated, arrogant and overbearing, was the little tyrant of Haishi that everyone sighed about.
The youngest son, Li Feng, had just started first grade this year.
When Sang Yunhua gave birth to Li Tinghan, both of them were still young and busy with their careers. But since she was their first child, Li Tinghan was still the one they poured the most effort into.
By the time Li Feng was born, Sang Yunhua had already retired from acting, and Li Shun’an had firmly secured his position as head of the family, reaching the stage where he could enjoy family happiness.
Only Li Miao, born when both of his parents were busy and yet never receiving much attention, had grown up all by himself like that.
The eldest was outstanding, the youngest was a late-life child, and only the second son, caught in the middle… had become the Li family’s one and only stain.
“Madam, the second young master is back.”
A woman in a qipao was standing by the window arranging flowers. At the words, she put down the branch in her hand and turned around.
Time does not defeat beauty. Twenty years ago, she had been the Best Actress pursued by countless noble sons, and now she was still beautiful.
“Little Miao.” The woman called softly.
“Mother.” Li Miao nodded slightly.
“Hey! What evil thing is this!” A little brat came running over in slippers, tapping away at the floor.
He was holding a short sword in his hand.
Li Miao had sharp eyes. That wasn’t a toy sword. The bronze hilt was inlaid with rubies; it was probably one of Li Shun’an’s collectibles, just not sharpened.
“Xiao Feng! Don’t be naughty!” Sang Yunhua stopped Li Feng, but her tone was gentle, with no real scolding in it.
“Hmph! You’re the one who made Dad angry!” Even though he was still little, Li Feng’s gaze at Li Miao carried a faint hostility.
Li Miao couldn’t be bothered to pay him any attention. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned sideways against the wall.
“Come up.”
A stern voice rang out. Li Miao looked up and saw a middle-aged man standing in the second-floor corridor. That should be Li Shun’an.
Only Li Tinghan was absent. At this hour, she should have been at the company.
Li Miao walked upstairs, and Li Shun’an turned and went into the study.
“Father.” Li Miao stood in front of the desk.
“You still know how to call me father?” Li Shun’an slammed the table, his authority obvious even without anger. “Look at how outrageous you are! Having your deskmate write your homework for you? How did you even come up with that?”
He just came up with it that way. Li Miao was willing, Shen Yu was willing… what was there to make a fuss about?
But Li Miao only stood there with his eyes lowered, his expression unreadable, saying nothing.
At a time like this, silence was best. Otherwise, this lecture would never end.
Besides, in the plot, the original self was indeed ignorant and uneducated, arrogant and overbearing. It really did not look good, so taking a few scoldings was deserved.
Li Miao lowered his head and counted the wood grain on the floor.
“You can’t even do such simple homework… what future do you think you’ll have?”
“Look at your sister! Born to the same parents! Why can she be so outstanding!”
Li Miao picked at his ear. The system could clearly sense the host’s mood plunging sharply and hurriedly tried to stop him. 『Don’t. Calm down, Li Miao, calm down! This is just what the plot needs, they’re all paper people, don’t…』
“…If I’d known this would happen, I should never have had you in the first place!”
But it was already too late. Those words were like a knife, cutting the thread of reason in Li Miao’s heart. He lifted his head and looked straight at Li Shun’an. “How much effort did you put into Li Tinghan, and how much did you put into me?”
“Shouldn’t have had me? You really shouldn’t have. Was my birth something I could decide? If you weren’t ready to raise me, why did you have me at all?”
“Yes, you already have an accomplished eldest daughter and an obedient, adorable little son. I’m the only extra one, right? If that’s the case, why bother having me in the first place?”
Li Shun’an slammed the table again. “You!”
Seeing the father and son about to start arguing, the study door was pushed open and Sang Yunhua hurried in. No one knew how long she had been listening outside.
“Alright, alright. It’s already so hard to see each other once…” Sang Yunhua stood between them as the peacemaker. “Little Miao, you too. Don’t be so unreasonable.”
Li Feng, still so small, stood in front of Sang Yunhua, looking at him with hostility.
Three against one. Clearly the closest people in the world, yet between them there was anger and hatred, and not a trace of love.
“Unreasonable?” Li Miao raised an eyebrow and curled his lips. “What does reasonable mean? Growing up alone in a villa outside, never costing you a single ounce of effort… wasn’t that reasonable enough? The reasonableness you keep talking about? No one ever taught me that!”
Li Miao’s gaze turned cold. “Since you didn’t care about me for the first ten-plus years, then don’t bother with me from now on!”
He was clearly speaking to Li Shun’an and his wife, but as he said it, the system somehow felt that Li Miao was looking through them at someone else.
“You really are trying to rebel!” Li Shun’an stood up and pointed at Li Miao, his fingers trembling with anger.
Li Miao let out a sneer, turned around, and left.
Their first meeting with the Li family ended badly.
『H-host…』 In all the days since it had come here, this was the first time the system had seen Li Miao’s expression this terrible.
Li Miao sat by the roadside outside the Li family’s old mansion, pulling at the grass beside the road.
『I’m fine.』
Li Miao raised his head and looked into the distance.
Scenes flashed back in his mind… dim rooms, endless arguments, and the sound of beer bottles shattering.
He should have realized it long ago. He, Li Miao, was destined to be unloved.