The man pulled himself out of his memories and looked at the little chick in the coop, frantically running in circles as it tried to get out.
He reached through the bars, pinched its little beak, and scolded it,
“Stupid thing. So annoying.”
“Brother, you’re back!”
Wen Shiqing came out of the house. The moment she saw Xie Yucheng, her eyes lit up, as though they were hiding tiny stars.
Although Xie Guoli and Yang Ying had never registered their marriage, and she and Xie Yucheng had no blood relation whatsoever, she had called him “Brother” since she was little. She was so used to it that she felt calling him that somehow made her closer to him.
Xie Yucheng slipped his hands into his pockets, still wearing that same cold, indifferent expression.
“Mm.”
He took a few steps toward her. At 188 centimeters tall, he seemed especially imposing beside her petite 160-centimeter frame.
Xie Yucheng suddenly remembered what Wang Changlin had said about her being “innocent and beautiful.”
His dark eyes casually swept over her a few times.
Hmph. What’s so pretty about her? Wang Changlin must have something wrong with his eyes.
Under his stare, Wen Shiqing’s face turned red. She lowered her long eyelashes, her fingers unconsciously twisting together.
“Brother, why did you come back?”
She knew he usually didn’t come home unless he had a reason.
Xie Yucheng snorted, his thick black eyebrows lifting slightly.
“This is my home. Am I not allowed to come back?”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“What? You want to drive me out so you can completely take over my home?”
“Brother, don’t say that.”
Xie Yucheng gave her a sinister glance before striding into the main room.
Xie Guoli wasn’t in the living room.
He was sick and lying weakly on the bed in his bedroom, his face yellow and sallow.
After greedily eating an entire plate of edamame the other day, he had spent three whole days vomiting and suffering from diarrhea. Now he looked like a dehydrated vegetable, shriveled and limp.
The room wasn’t very brightly lit.
Yang Ying filled his thermos with warm water. After taking his medicine, he lay back down and asked weakly,
“Is that Yucheng who just came back?”
“Yes. He’s in his room packing clothes. Looks like he’s going out of town again. I’ll ask him to come see you.”
Xie Guoli shook his head.
“Forget it. Let him go. As long as he comes home once in a while so I know he’s doing well, that’s enough.”
While her mother wasn’t paying attention, Wen Shiqing slipped into Xie Yucheng’s room and quietly closed the door behind her.
His room wasn’t very big. There was just enough space for a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.
Wen Shiqing’s room was right next door. Originally, it had been one large room, but later Xie Guoli had built a wall down the middle and divided it into two bedrooms for them.
“Brother, are you leaving again?”
“Something wrong?”
Xie Yucheng smoothly pulled off his black T-shirt with one hand and rummaged through the wardrobe for clothes.
His skin was a warm honey color. He had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with strong, well-defined lines running down his back.
“Nothing. I-I don’t have my exam until the end of September, so I’m free these days. Can I go with you? Brother, I really want to take a trip somewhere.”
“Wen Shiqing, are you asking to get yelled at?”
He turned around and tossed the clothes in his hand onto the bed.
Wen Shiqing’s eyes seemed to have been burned. She quickly looked away, yet she couldn’t resist stealing another glance from the corner of her eye.
His broad chest and clearly defined muscles were striking, followed by a firm, powerful eight-pack abdomen. With every breath he took, the muscles shifted subtly, revealing the strength and vitality of his young body.
She lightly bit her lower lip and gathered her courage.
She stepped forward, grabbed his arm, and gently shook it.
Her cool fingertips sent a faint sensation across his skin.
Xie Yucheng’s brow twitched almost imperceptibly.
“Brother, just take me with you. I can help you. I promise I won’t cause any trouble.”
Her voice was soft and low, almost weightless, carrying a pleading tone.
Xie Yucheng suddenly remembered something from several years ago.
At the time, he had just graduated from high school. His father had arranged for him to work at a company driving a heavy truck, and it had been his first time leaving home with a travel bag.
He hadn’t even made it out of the courtyard when thirteen-year-old Wen Shiqing had wrapped both arms around his waist, clinging to him like chewing gum.
“Brother, where are you going? Take me with you!”
Yang Ying had come over and tried to pull her away, but she couldn’t get her loose.
Furious, she had knocked Wen Shiqing twice on the head.
“Your brother is going to work. Why are you following him? You’re always clinging to him. You’re annoying him to death, don’t you know?”
Back then, Wen Shiqing had been young and shamelessly persistent.
She had refused to let go of Xie Yucheng.
In the end, Yang Ying had forcibly dragged her away and beaten her with the sole of her shoe.
Even after Xie Yucheng had walked a long distance away, he could still faintly hear her crying.
“Brother, please. Take me with you, okay?”
The little girl from years ago had now grown into an eighteen-year-old young woman.
Perhaps because she had grown up, she was more reserved than before. She was shy, easily embarrassed, and even somewhat afraid of him.
Xie Yucheng lowered his eyes to the slender, pale hand holding his arm.
His throat moved slightly.
He pulled his arm free and sneered.
“I’m going to work, Princess. If you’re bored out of your mind, go play with your little friends. Don’t get too close to me and cause unnecessary trouble. I’m terrified of that vicious stepmother of yours.”
“Brother, I’ll tell Mom I have a way to deal with it. She’ll definitely let me go. I’ll handle Mom.”
The man’s cold, gloomy eyes settled on her.
His expression darkened.
“Do you not understand plain human language?”
The girl lowered her head and slowly released his arm.
She sniffed softly, standing there helplessly.
“I need to change my pants. Are you planning to keep standing here and watching?”
Wen Shiqing stared into his eyes, desperately trying to find something hidden within those dark depths.
Xie Yucheng deliberately looked away from her unwavering gaze.
“You really want to watch?”
His hand rested on his belt buckle, and the corner of his mouth curled lazily.
“Fine.”
The next second—
Wen Shiqing’s eyelashes trembled.
Her ears and neck flushed, her fair skin suddenly turning bright red as though she had broken out in an allergic reaction.
She immediately turned her back to him, her heart pounding like a drum.
She suddenly remembered something from years ago, when Xie Yucheng had just started high school.
One day, she had seen him wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts, diving into the river with several boys his age. They had been splashing around in the water like carp.
She had sat by the river waiting for him so they could walk home together after he finished swimming.
Who could have expected that when Xie Yucheng climbed out of the water, dripping wet, one of the boys behind him would play a prank and quickly yank down his shorts from behind?
And Wen Shiqing had been sitting only two or three meters away.
Her eyes had been fixed directly on him.
She had seen everything she should—and shouldn’t—have seen.
At the time, Xie Yucheng had yanked his shorts back up while turning around and cursing,
“Damn it! Wang Changlin, you bastard! I’m going to kill you!”
Even now, whenever Wen Shiqing remembered that scene, she couldn’t help wanting to laugh.