By the time Wen Chu finally walked out of the CET-4 exam room, it was already noon.
Listening to the people around her enthusiastically discussing the exam questions, she still felt a little dazed.
This was the best she had ever felt after taking CET-4, from before transmigrating until now.
She even felt a little smug.
A tiny CET-4 exam?
Wasn’t that easy to conquer?
In a good mood, Wen Chu finished lunch and returned to the dormitory.
The dorm was quiet.
Her roommates had all gone out, planning to do one final sprint before the CET-6 exam.
The moment she got her phone, she couldn’t wait to message Xi Liye.
【ChuChu Hiding: Teacher Xi, Teacher Xi!】
【ChuChu Hiding: Guess how I did on the exam? [Peeking.jpg]】
After sending the messages, she held her phone and stared at the screen without blinking.
The corners of her mouth refused to come down.
But Xi Liye might have been busy.
He didn’t reply immediately.
After the messages were sent, the chat box did not show the usual “typing…” indicator.
Wen Chu waited about five minutes.
The screen remained quiet.
She frowned slightly and sent another message.
【ChuChu Hiding: I finished the exam! It felt super good! [Spinning around]】
Still no reply.
Was he busy?
Or was he in the laboratory and unable to check his phone?
Wen Chu calmed down slightly.
Maybe it really wasn’t convenient for him right now.
She exited WeChat and planned to browse another app to calm her excited mood.
But her fingers refused to obey.
Again and again, they unconsciously slid back to WeChat to check the chat window.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty minutes.
Xi Liye still had not replied.
The little bit of excitement and pride in Wen Chu’s heart slowly deflated like a punctured balloon.
In its place came a faint sense of disappointment.
He had clearly said there would be a reward after the exam.
Even if he couldn’t give the reward immediately, at least…
He should reply to her message, right?
For some reason, Wen Chu felt a little angry at Xi Liye.
This was an emotion she never would have felt toward him when she had first transmigrated.
She put down her phone, lay on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Forget it.
She wouldn’t wait anymore.
Maybe he really was busy.
She told herself that and planned to close her eyes for a nap.
By the time she woke up, it was already three in the afternoon.
When she opened her phone and saw that Xi Liye still had not replied, the anger in her heart grew even stronger.
There was also a faint trace of grievance.
Xi Liye had never gone this long without replying to her messages.
Wen Chu was unhappy.
She didn’t even know exactly why.
Then she remembered her long-buried breakup plan.
Because of preparing for CET-4, she hadn’t acted troublesome toward him in a long time.
Perfect.
She would seize this chance and act up properly!
She would let him know the consequences of not replying to his girlfriend’s messages!
Taking a deep breath, she forcefully suppressed the small grievance and uncertainty in her heart.
Then she put on an unreasonable attitude and hammered the screen with her fingers, sending a string of message bombs.
After sending them, she threw her phone aside and decided not to look at it anymore, lest it ruin her mood.
Xi Liye had not ignored Wen Chu’s messages on purpose.
On the contrary, he was currently at the Xi family’s old residence.
The moment the car drove through the heavy iron gate symbolizing power and separation, Xi Liye’s usual calm indifference froze completely into ice.
This luxurious yet cold mansion carried most of the gray memories from his childhood.
And the continuing, irritating entanglements of his adulthood.
His childhood had not been spent happily beside his parents.
His parents were busy with their careers and away from home all year round.
They entrusted him to a nanny.
But that nanny had severe mental illness and secretly subjected him to long-term intimidation and abuse.
When he was seven, the truth was accidentally discovered by his parents.
After the shock, guilt, and rage came their belated attempts to make it up to him.
However, fate seemed to love making cruel jokes.
A few years ago, his mother unfortunately passed away in an accident.
Under the weight of grief and career pressure, his father soon remarried and brought home his current stepmother.
Entering the brightly lit yet suffocating living room, Xi Liye walked into the dining room.
His father, Xi Zhenbang, his stepmother, Mo Wanyu, and Xi Yunchuan were seated around the dining table, waiting for him to eat.
The three of them chatted and laughed.
As if they were the real family.
Xi Liye didn’t care.
After he sat down, Xi Zhenbang began speaking.
“Why did it take so many calls before you finally came back to eat?”
“No matter how busy school is, you should still come home occasionally.”
Xi Liye picked up the glass in front of him and leisurely took a sip.
“There was traffic.”
The excuse was simple enough to be perfunctory.
Xi Zhenbang choked at his attitude.
His expression darkened.
Mo Wanyu quickly smoothed things over, smiling as she served Xi Zhenbang some food.
“Zhenbang, let’s eat first. The food will get cold. It’s rare for Liye to come back, so he must be hungry too.”
Then she turned toward Xi Liye.
“Liye, try this soup. The kitchen specially simmered it for a long time.”
She was referring to a medicinal soup with a strong aroma.
When Xi Liye had been fed by that mentally ill nanny as a child, that smell had become mixed with the bleak memories of his childhood.
To this day, he still hated it.
Xi Liye didn’t even glance at the bowl.
“No need. Thank you.”
Xi Zhenbang looked at his eldest son, so impervious and incompatible with the entire family atmosphere, and anger rose again in his chest.
This son had never given him peace of mind since childhood.
Especially regarding his studies and career choices.
Suppressing his anger, Xi Zhenbang brought up another thorn that had been lodged in his heart for many years.
His tone was filled with obvious disappointment.
“In my opinion, you should have listened to me back then and studied finance!”
His voice unconsciously grew louder.
“What great future can medicine give you? Working yourself to death—can that compare to inheriting the Xi Group?”
Xi Liye was the only son of Xi Zhenbang and his first wife.
Xi Zhenbang had high expectations for this eldest son.
Even after remarrying, Xi Yunchuan was not his biological child, and he had no intention of having another child.
So deep in Xi Zhenbang’s heart, the future power and business empire of the Xi family were ultimately meant to be handed to Xi Liye, his blood-related son.
This was his obsession.
It was also the root of why he could not understand Xi Liye’s rebellion.
Beside them, Mo Wanyu and Xi Yunchuan’s expressions turned ugly.
Although they had long known Xi Zhenbang thought this way, and although Xi Yunchuan had never truly been raised as an heir, every time it was exposed so plainly, it still felt like tiny needles piercing their pride and ambition.
The gentle smile on Mo Wanyu’s well-maintained face stiffened for a moment.
She lightly held Xi Zhenbang’s arm and coaxed softly,
“Zhenbang, calm down first. Liye is still young. His thoughts may change over time. Let’s talk slowly. Don’t hurt your health with anger.”
Every time Xi Liye came home to eat, conversations like this always appeared at the dining table.
He had long since grown used to it.
So he continued eating without much reaction.
Xi Yunchuan, who sat to the side, did not dare say anything either.
After all, a year ago, he had been schemed against by Xi Liye and sent abroad by Xi Zhenbang.
Now that he had just returned, he was much more obedient.
The family dinner finally ended in a strange silence.
The moment Xi Liye put down his chopsticks and picked up a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth, Xi Zhenbang spoke in a low voice.
“Liye, come to the study after dinner.”
His tone was an order that allowed no refusal.
Xi Liye’s movements did not pause.
He calmly replied,
“Mm.”
He stood.
Without looking at Mo Wanyu’s hesitant expression or Xi Yunchuan’s thoughtful gaze, he followed Xi Zhenbang out of the dining room.
The heavy study door closed behind them.
Cutting off everything outside.