As the siblings were about to leave, Chen Xiwan couldn't help but speak up:
"Oh, Xiaoxiao, aren't you taking the vodka you wanted?" Her expression was concerned, but her tone carried a subtle disapproval. "Actually, it's better for girls to drink less alcohol, especially strong liquor like this. Even if you want to drink it, make sure you're in a safe environment.Chen Xiwan's words were subtle, almost implying that she frequently visited unsafe places.
"Um…"
To be honest, Lu Xiaoxiao had almost forgotten about this after waking up. She glanced at the vodka, then at her elder brother, feeling inexplicably guilty.
[I was just making up that I wanted vodka, help! The strongest alcohol I've ever drunk in my life is even watered-down baijiu!]
"She's not taking it." Lu Xunli frowned. "I don't want my sister drinking this kind of alcohol."
His tone was somewhat stern. Chen Xiwan was stunned for a moment before lowering her eyes and saying softly, "Okay… are you too tired today? You should go back and rest early.Seeing Chen Xiwan's disappointed expression, Lu Xunli ultimately felt a bit reluctant. After hesitating, he softened his tone and added:
"Thanks for humoring her antics today. If there's any jewelry you want to buy later, just send it to me and I'll get it for you."
Lu Xiaoxiao secretly rolled her eyes, utterly speechless.
[Why is he so eager to be a sucker? I wish the country would assign me such a Love-Obsessed boyfriend too.Feeling his sister's disdain, Lu Xunli coughed discreetly and immediately quickened his pace toward the door.
As the two walked further away, Chen Xiwan's expression gradually darkened behind them.
She had an ominous feeling that something wasn't quite right.
Could it be… that Lu Xunli already knew something?
No, that's impossible. She had been very discreet, and her family would cover for her. There's no way she'd be exposed so easily.
But just to be safe, she needed to lay low recently and coax Lu Xunli even better.
While thinking, Chen Xiwan opened her contacts. Her finger hovered over a number for a long moment before finally pressing it.
"Hello, about that thing you mentioned last time… please prepare some for me."
The car remained silent on the way back.
In Lu Xunli's memory, since Lu Xiaoxiao reached adulthood, it had been a long time since they had spent this much time alone together.
The girl in his memory seemed frozen at a much younger age – back when Lu Xiaoxiao was lively and cheerful, and enthusiastic about getting close to every family member.
Perhaps because she was adopted, she had always been somewhat insecure, often displaying obvious people-pleasing behavior.
When exactly did Lu Xiaoxiao become increasingly quiet and increasingly disconnected from them?
Maybe it started after one of Lu Yubai's particularly excessive pranks, or perhaps after hearing that clues about the Lu Family's biological daughter had been found.
Well, truth be told, he couldn't remember the exact timing.
It wasn't until Lu Xunli discovered he could hear Lu Xiaoxiao's inner thoughts that he suddenly realized – his sister had already become someone he didn't really understand much earlier.
If not for this miraculous ability suddenly appearing, he didn't know when he would have become aware of this fact.
Lu Xunli's attention seemed to have been absent from this non-biological sister for quite some time.
At this thought, he suddenly felt a strong urge to talk to Lu Xiaoxiao, yet couldn't figure out how to start a conversation.
After pondering for a while, Lu Xunli abruptly blurted out a word of thanks: "Xiaoxiao, thank you for helping your big brother with this errand today."
Hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiao glanced at him and waved her hand dismissively: "Big brother, you're being too polite. It was just delivering something, not troublesome at all."
Lu Xunli fell silent for a few seconds before coming up with a more suitable topic to expand upon: "How have you been getting along with Lu Yubai lately? Is he still bullying you?"
[Bully me? He couldn't possibly bully me. I'm the one who could bully him if I wanted!]
Though she thought this in her heart, Lu Xiaoxiao still played the victim verbally: "Same as always. Yubai always gives me such fierce looks whenever he sees me!"
"Is that so? Then next time we meet, I'll scold him for you," Lu Xunli said with a faint smile before asking further, "How much do you know about his affairs?"
"To be honest, I've recently heard some rumors about him at school. It seems he's had some conflicts with classmates, though I'm not sure if it's true or not."
"As you know, that kid Lu Yubai always treats me like an elder, guarding against me as strictly as he does against our dad. He never tells me anything, so I thought you might have heard something."
Lu Xiaoxiao was momentarily stunned and began recalling the original plot.
Her memory of this segment wasn't very clear, but she vaguely remembered that there was a particularly withdrawn and eccentric classmate in Lu Yubai's class who ruined Lu Yubai's confession scene to the class belle. Since then, this classmate had been ostracized by Lu Yubai and his circle of friends.
It wasn't that they actually did anything particularly terrible to him, but rather Lu Yubai underestimated his own influence, inadvertently pushing that classmate into an abyss.
Coming from a wealthy and influential family, Lu Yubai was extremely popular in class, always being the center of attention wherever he went.
Precisely because of this, whenever Lu Yubai showed even the slightest dislike toward someone, those wanting to curry favor with him would launch what they called a "righteous crusade" against that person.
Some weren't even simply trying to gain favor—they just wanted to find someone to bully to vent their malice.
"Bullying him is justified because he went too far and even offended young master Lu before!"
See? Such a ready-made and reasonable excuse!
After thinking for a few seconds, Lu Xiaoxiao decided to give Lu Xunli a direction.
She said: "Yubai dislikes me, so he wouldn't tell me about school matters. But I did hear that he has some friends who like to form cliques, which might be influencing him somewhat."
[Form cliques? That's putting it mildly. This kid is practically the school bully already. A group of people bully classmates in his name, and this foolish boy still thinks they're being loyal brothers.]
[Sigh, he's utterly foolish. If someone sold him out someday, he'd probably still happily count the money for them!]
After hearing Lu Xiaoxiao's inner thoughts, Lu Xunli's expression turned serious.
Though he had only heard these few words, it seemed the actual situation might be more severe than he had imagined.
Lu Xunli decided to schedule a meeting with Lu Yubai's homeroom teacher soon—he couldn't just stand by and watch his younger brother go down the wrong path.
Afterwards, Lu Xunli inquired about Lu Xiaoxiao's recent situation, and the two chatted intermittently until they soon arrived at the Lu Family residence.
As soon as they entered, they noticed Song Zhilan's eyes were slightly red, as if she had been crying.
Lu Xiaoxiao, puzzled, asked: "Mom? What's wrong?"