Сhaptеr 17: Quitе thе Арpetite.
Li Мusi drоppеd Jing Ge off аt thе Li rеsidеnсе and lеft.
With thе уеar-end аpproaсhing, vаrious wоrk mаttеrs рilеd up аll аt оnce, disruрting his usuаl routinе.
Jing Ge even sеcrеtly wonderеd if the рeорle at his сompanу hаd lоng bеen turned intо humаn skin соcoоns by him.
Li Ying, with а nose likе a dog’s, sniffеd around hеr, making a fuss as shе did: “Sis, уоu sneаkеd off to eаt at Рizzа Hut!”
“…”
“I cаn smell pizzа, pаstа, аnd beеf tapаs,” Li Ying exсlаimеd, “and creamy mushroom chiсkеn soup!”
Jing Ge was lеft sрeechlеss.
Сalling it a dog’s nose was an understatement.
In the end, Jing Ge gave her the Psyduck toy and promised to take her out for a meal next month after getting her paycheck, finally managing to calm her down.
Having waited for her, Li Ying hadn’t bathed yet. Jing Ge checked her homework and told her to take a bath first before coming back.
Although Li Ying was restless in her sleep, compared to the beheadings in her dreams, Jing Ge would rather be kicked and punched by Li Ying.
At least it was the scent of a living person.
After painstakingly correcting Li Ying’s messy arithmetic, which looked like it had been chewed by a dog, the bedroom door was knocked from outside.
Jing Ge teased, “You’ve learned to be polite now? Just come in.”
There was no movement for over ten seconds.
Jing Ge paused, slipped on her slippers, and walked toward the door. Lately, she’d been startled by the slightest noise, fearing scenes from horror movies. She observed carefully as she pulled the door open.
It wasn’t Li Ying outside.
It was Li Zhan.
He stood there, blocking the light from the hallway, looking down at her: “In your eyes, I’ve always been impolite, haven’t I?”
“…”
Her mood, like weather shrouded in gloom, suddenly turned heavy.
Li Zhan spoke lazily: “Didn’t you want to stab me to death? I’m here. Go ahead, stab me.”
The emotionally charged words from the phone call earlier in the day felt like a slap, hitting Jing Ge right in the face.
Leaving her utterly humiliated.
If the Jing family hadn’t gone bankrupt, she could have naturally lost her temper at Li Zhan.
But the Jing family was bankrupt, and they were being propped up by the Li family.
Everyone was reminding her.
She was no longer the young lady.
She no longer had the right to lose her temper at Li Zhan.
“Speak up,” Li Zhan said impatiently. “Do you want to die with me?”
Jing Ge turned her face away, uttering three flat words: “I’m sorry.”
“…”
Li Zhan’s previously relaxed, mocking expression suddenly darkened.
His attitude turned cold: “Are you free tomorrow?”
“No,” Jing Ge replied. “I have to go to the market with the manager to source goods.”
Li Zhan: “The day after?”
Jing Ge: “With the New Year approaching, I have to visit clients with the manager to deliver holiday gifts.”
Li Zhan sneered: “The day after that?”
Jing Ge: “I’m going home.”
Li Zhan stared at her, his gaze icy: “What do you mean, going home?”
“Uncle Li and Aunt Man are coming back the day after tomorrow,” Jing Ge said. “Then I can go home.”
“…”
In her tone, Li Zhan heard a sense of relief.
She didn’t want to stay at the Li residence.
She liked everyone in the Li family. The only reason she didn’t want to stay was him.
Furious, Li Zhan laughed coldly: “You’re spending the New Year here this year.”
“…” Jing Ge stared wide-eyed. “Why?”
Li Zhan replied with extreme malice: “Because I feel like it. I’ll call your dad later. He’ll agree.”
Jing Ge was visibly on the verge of breaking down.
She had endured for so long, hoped for so long, just to go home sooner.
Yet, with a single offhand remark from Li Zhan, her path was blocked.
Jing Ge looked at him with reddened eyes, each word spoken with force: “You filthy pig who’s been rolling in pig manure!”After cursing him out, Jing Ge slammed the door shut with force.
It was as if she wasn’t closing a door, but slapping Li Zhan across the face.
Li Zhan was dumbfounded.
He was a stinky pig?
Li Ying, wearing her little pajamas, nearly rushed over, but upon seeing her brother there, she quickly turned around, trying to hide back in her room before he noticed.
Li Zhan narrowed his eyes. “Stop.”
Li Ying halted with a dejected expression.
Taking a few steps toward her, Li Zhan looked her up and down. “Sleeping with your sister again?”
“Why not?” Li Ying retorted stubbornly. “Sister agreed!”
Li Zhan: “Didn’t you see her dark circles?”
Li Ying: “That’s not my fault! She’s been having nightmares every night!”
“…Nightmares? What nightmares?”
“How should I know?” Li Ying was annoyed with him. “Why don’t you ask her yourself? You always call yourself her fiancé, but what responsibilities have you even fulfilled as a fiancé?”
At this point, Li Ying took a few steps back in disgust. “You stink!”
Li Zhan paused, then raised his arm and sniffed it.
It was the smell of perfume.
After Jing Ge had scolded him and stood him up, Li Zhan had gone out with a few classmates.
Foreign classmates shared a common habit.
Dousing themselves in lethal amounts of perfume.
So much that it lingered all over him.
No wonder Jing Ge had called him a stinky pig earlier.
Realizing this, Li Zhan inexplicably cracked a faint smile and said lazily, “Sleep properly. Your sister is tired from work.”
Li Ying thought she was seeing a ghost.
Li Zhan tilted his chin and asked pointedly, “What’s this thing?”
“Don’t you know Psyduck?” Li Ying clutched it tightly, afraid he might snatch it away. “Sister gave it to me.”
Li Zhan: “Did you ask for it, or did she give it to you?”
Li Ying: “…”
The little girl couldn’t hide anything. With just one glance, Li Zhan knew the answer and said impatiently, “Don’t take advantage of being a kid to snatch things your sister likes. She’s childlike too…”
“Stop lecturing me!” Li Ying argued back. “You talk so righteously, but every time it’s you who makes her cry!”
Li Zhan: “If you keep talking back…”
Li Ying rattled on: “You just use your power and force to bully her. Taking care of her like a child should be like how Uncle does—he takes her to Pizza Hut!”
As soon as she finished speaking, the darkness in the hallway and the non-existent cold air seemed to surge like a tsunami, overwhelming everything without any warning.
All traces of warmth vanished from Li Zhan’s eyes and expression.
“Pizza Hut?” His voice was faint, like a wandering ghost.
Li Ying didn’t want to answer him.
Li Zhan curled his lips slightly, but there was no hint of a smile in his eyes. “Tonight?”
Li Ying: “Obviously.”
Li Zhan: “Did she come back with Uncle?”
“Of course not,” Li Ying said. “Uncle is too busy. He just dropped Sister off and left.”
Li Zhan: “Was your sister… happy?”
Li Ying: “Of course. At least she wasn’t as lifeless as when she’s with you.”
At this point, Li Ying looked up at her brother under the dim light and sincerely reminded him, “Brother, be nicer to Sister. What if she doesn’t want you anymore and falls in love with Uncle instead? Then you’d be Sister’s nephew, and I’d have to call her Aunt…”
Before Li Ying could finish, even though she wasn’t good at reading expressions, she could see the increasingly sinister look in Li Zhan’s eyes.
Li Ying couldn’t help but step back, then abruptly turned and rushed into her room, locking the door from the inside.
It was terrifying.
She didn’t even know what she had said wrong, but she felt like her brother was about to chop her up.
The veins in Li Zhan’s neck twisted and throbbed.
So.Standing him up just to have a meal with Li Musi?
So she doesn’t fancy him, but instead has her eyes on someone from a powerful family that no one dares to provoke.
Her ambitions are big, and her heart is wild enough.