Tang Xin’er returned to her room, took a few sips of the spiritual spring water, tinkered around in the research lab inside her spatial dimension for a bit, and then took a nice, long nap.
Meanwhile, Zhao Meifang was in a frantic rush on her way to work. Arriving at her workplace, she immediately apologized profusely to her boss before being assigned to her duties. Even while working, her mind remained completely scattered.
With Zhou Youyou’s wedding only two months away, how on earth were they going to manage the final payment? And where was the money for the wedding banquet supposed to come from?
Given the standards of the bride’s family, this wedding had to be a grand, high-profile affair. By their rough estimates, it was going to cost several hundred yuan.
Coupled with what the police had said that morning, Zhao Meifang felt entirely hopeless. Yet, her precious son simply had to get married.
Her head felt like it was about to split open with stress, while back at home, Tang Xin’er and Zhou Yaozu had both enjoyed a wonderful, peaceful sleep.
Thump, thump, thump.
Hearing knocking on her bedroom door, Tang Xin’er opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling, groaned irritably, and rolled over. She had zero intention of getting up.
Presumably realizing she wasn’t going to get up and open the door, Zhou Yaozu escalated straight to kicking it. “Tang Xin’er, stop playing dead in there! Get your ass out here right now and make me lunch!”
Tang Xin’er pulled her blanket up to cover both ears, refusing to listen to another second.
Ignoring her didn’t stop him; the noise outside only grew louder.
“Tang Xin’er, did you drop dead in there?”
“If you don’t open this door right now, don’t blame me for not being polite!” Having woken up from a full nap and with a solid breakfast still fueling him, Zhou Yaozu was currently brimming with energy.
Tired of listening to his screeching, Tang Xin’er lost all desire to sleep and simply slipped straight into her spatial dimension.
The space was equipped with modern smartphones and computers, so she casually fired up a video game and lost herself in the rush, a wide grin of excitement spreading across her face.
Outside, Zhou Yaozu hammered on the door for ages without any response, growing increasingly furious. He backed up and slammed his foot against the wood with all his might. “Tang Xin’er, are you trying to starve me to death, you damn bitch?!”
Even with his high energy levels upon waking, pounding on a solid door for half an hour had started to wear him out.
When a final kick produced zero reaction, Zhou Yaozu stomped over to the sofa, collapsed onto it, and began cursing a blue streak. “I’ll give you a few minutes! If you don’t come out and open this door, you’re going to pay for this!”
Though Tang Xin’er was busy gaming inside her space, she could still catch muffled snatches of the noise outside.
Hearing Zhou Yaozu throw a tantrum and act like he owned the world, Tang Xin’er rolled her eyes and refocused on her game. At that exact moment, she successfully took down an in-game boss, cheering happily as she slammed her hand on the table.
Because Zhou Yaozu had taken a nap earlier, Tang Xin’er ended up playing several rounds back-to-back, thoroughly enjoying herself.
After resting for nearly half an hour and nearly dozing off again, Zhou Yaozu still hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her coming out to cook. His temper boiled over entirely.
“Tang Xin’er, I’m counting to three!”
Determined to give her one final warning, Zhou Yaozu stood outside the door and yelled out his countdown.
However, even after he finished counting down to zero, not a single sound came from inside. Snapping completely, he stomped over to the storage room next door and began tearing through it, tossing things aside with a loud clatter.
Pricking her ears at the commotion, Tang Xin’er wondered what the little idiot was up to now.
Was he actually going to try picking the lock?
Just as that thought crossed her mind, Zhou Yaozu emerged from the storage room wielding tools, marched right up to her door, and slammed his foot against it again. “Refusing to cook for me, huh? I’m going to smash this door open and beat the living daylights out of you today!”
In his hands, he held a hammer and a chisel, while a thick wooden club—roughly the thickness of a child’s arm—rested against the wall nearby.
Once he smashed the lock open, he intended to grab that club, storm inside, and teach Tang Xin’er a lesson she would never forget.
So what if she was his half-sister? Zhao Meifang had always doted on him above everyone else. Even if he actually beat her up today, their mother wouldn’t say a single word against him.
Besides, she was the one who refused to cook for him first! And she had the nerve to play dead inside!
Bolstered by that line of reasoning, Zhou Yaozu felt completely justified. He walked up to the door and gave it two heavy thumps. “I’m about to break the lock! If you don’t want to die, you’d better open this door for me right now!”
With that, he raised the hammer and slammed it hard against the wooden door.
Hearing the commotion from inside her space, Tang Xin’er felt her heart skip a beat. She pinched the bridge of her nose, muttered a curse under her breath, “Damn it, what an absolute moron,” quickly exited the space, straightened her clothes, and strode over to pull the door open.
She genuinely hadn’t expected this idiot to actually resort to breaking and entering.
The only reason she opened the door wasn’t out of fear, but because she couldn’t afford to have her lock smashed beyond repair—otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to lock it securely in the future, cutting off her access to the private space.
As she yanked the door open, Zhou Yaozu’s downward swing of the hammer hit nothing but empty air.
He nearly stumbled face-first into the room, forcing Tang Xin’er to quickly step back twice so he could catch his balance.
Seeing her finally open up, Zhou Yaozu puffed out his chest with an arrogant sneer. “Thought you could keep playing dead, huh? Scared now, are you?!”
“Idiot!”
Tang Xin’er made no effort to hide her utter contempt. The insult pushed Zhou Yaozu past his breaking point; he instantly grabbed the heavy wooden club from the corner. “You won’t cook for me, and now you dare insult me? Today I’m going to show you who’s boss in this house!”
He raised the club high, preparing to bring it crashing down on her.
Moving with lightning speed before the club could land, Tang Xin’er sidestepped the blow, snapped her leg up, and delivered a brutal, dead-center kick straight to Zhou Yaozu’s groin.
“Aaargh!”
Zhou Yaozu let out a shrieking wail of pure agony. Dropping the club to the floor, he collapsed double, clutching his crotch as he howled nonstop.
Through wheezing gasps of pain, he managed to shriek, “Tang Xin’er, I swear I’m going to kill you!”
Seizing the opening, Tang Xin’er darted around him, sprinted across the living room, slipped straight into Zhou Zhigang and Zhao Meifang’s bedroom, and slammed the door shut, locking it securely behind her.
If she dared to kick him, she naturally had an escape plan ready.
By the time she locked herself away, Zhou Yaozu was still rolling in agony; catching a direct hit to the crown jewels meant he couldn’t even manage to stand up straight for the time being.
With a mischievous glint in her eye, Tang Xin’er pushed open the bedroom window and slipped straight back into her spatial dimension.
“Tang Xin’er, you heartless bitch! If you’ve left me sterile and unable to carry on the family line, I swear I’ll choke the life out of you with my bare hands!”
A steady stream of vile curses echoed through the house, while Tang Xin’er sat quietly inside her sanctuary, completely unbothered.
After roughly half an hour, Zhou Yaozu finally managed to recover enough strength to cling to the doorframe and pull himself up inch by inch.
Sweating profusely from the blinding pain, his face twisted into a demonic grimace of pure hatred as he brandished the hammer like a murder weapon.
“Tang Xin’er, hiding in there won’t save you! The second I get my hands on you today, you’re dead meat!” Having been spoiled rotten since childhood, Zhou Yaozu possessed a lawless, unbridled temper.
Not only had she repeatedly talked back to him all morning, but she had actually dared to assault his most sensitive spot.
There was no way in hell he was letting this go.
If he swallowed this insult, he wouldn’t even be human.
“Open this door if you’ve got any guts! You had the nerve to kick me, but now you’re too cowardly to face me?” Blinded by rage, his adrenaline fueled a massive surge of brute strength.
Inside her space, Tang Xin’er watched as Zhou Zhigang’s bedroom door began to splinter under the onslaught, chunks of plaster flaking off along the doorframe.
“Open up!”
“Open the damn door, you bitch!”
With veins bulging on his forehead, Zhou Yaozu kicked the door repeatedly while bringing the heavy hammer down squarely over the lock mechanism.
Hearing the sounds of destruction, Tang Xin’er stepped back out of her space.
“Who told you to try and hit me in the first place?”
“If I wasn’t already weak from blood loss and poor health, I would’ve kicked you hard enough to put you out of commission permanently!” Tang Xin’er taunted, purposefully stoking the flames of his anger even further.