By the time Su Muyao finally came downstairs, putting on her carefully crafted act, the slap marks on Su Jingyi’s face had practically merged into one giant bruise.
The entire Su household had descended into complete chaos.
There were plenty of servants around, but everyone knew that the eldest young miss, Su Qian, was ruthless enough to dock people’s wages over the slightest disagreement.
Who would risk their paycheck?
This was the Su family’s own internal conflict. Let the Su family deal with it themselves.
Even the eldest young master hadn’t stepped in yet!
The only person having a great time was Su Qian.
The leash she had found was specially made for walking large dogs, and Su Jingyi couldn’t break free no matter how hard he struggled. Su Qian simply held onto the leash and unleashed a one-sided assault. When her hands got tired, she casually grabbed a tennis racket nearby and started whacking him over the head with it.
Thump! Thump!
“So? Still barking? Are you going to bark again?” she asked while swinging.
Su Jingyi’s head was already ringing from the beating. At this point, he could barely hear anything and could only keep cursing.
“You crazy woman! You’re completely insane!”
“Oh? Still stubborn, huh?”
Su Qian had absolutely no intention of indulging him.
She tossed aside the tennis racket, grabbed a golf club instead, and began smacking him across the backside with loud, rapid strikes.
Up on the staircase, Su Muyao was completely dumbfounded.
Her appearance had been carefully prepared.
Tears clung to her lashes, her long hair fell loosely over her shoulders, her face was pale, and her eyes were red from crying. She looked every bit the pitiful little white rabbit.
Among everyone in the family, Su Jingyi was the one most susceptible to this act. Every time he saw her like this, he would immediately pull her into his arms and then turn around to teach Su Qian a lesson without even needing Su Muyao to say much.
But now…
Su Jingyi didn’t have the luxury of paying attention to her.
He was currently getting beaten with a golf club, hopping and yelping across the floor like a monkey.
The funniest part was that Su Qian was still holding the leash attached to his neck, looking exactly like a street performer leading around a trained monkey.
And Su Jingyi was the monkey.
Just as Su Qian was getting into the rhythm of beating him, she happened to glance back and spot Su Muyao standing on the stairs.
A sly smile flashed across her face.
She immediately swung the club again, smacking Su Jingyi once more.
“See that, Su Jingyi? You’re getting beaten up over here, and your dear little sister is just standing there watching the show!”
The words sounded like they were directed at Su Jingyi.
In reality, they were aimed squarely at Su Muyao.
As expected, Su Muyao instantly felt a pang of guilt.
She was terrified that Su Jingyi would notice she had simply been “watching the excitement.” If that happened, she might lose the one brother who listened to her unconditionally.
Gritting her teeth, she forced out a sob in her delicate voice.
“Su Qian! If you’re angry, take it out on me! Don’t hit Third Brother!”
As she spoke, she rushed down the stairs and stretched out her arm to block the golf club.
In that split second, she had already worked out her plan.
A golf club was heavy.
Her skin was fair and delicate.
If it struck her, she would definitely be injured.
As long as she took this blow, everyone in the Su family would pity her—especially the very Su Jingyi she was “protecting.”
If Ji Yuhan found out, he would surely despise Su Qian even more.
And afterward, she could take photos of her injuries, post them on Weibo, and harvest a massive wave of sympathy.
One move, several victories.
Unfortunately for her, no matter how fast her brain worked, the person standing in front of her was Su Qian.
The moment Su Qian saw what she was trying to do, she laughed.
Trying to play tricks with me? Do you have any idea what it means to be someone who finished reading the entire novel?
As for Su Muyao’s little schemes, Su Qian would dare say she understood them even better than Su Muyao’s own father.
Just as Su Muyao charged over, Su Qian pulled back the golf club.
Then, with her other hand, she yanked sharply on the dog leash—
Swinging Su Jingyi’s face directly into Su Muyao’s outstretched hand.
Smack!
Everyone present froze.
Su Jingyi’s face had crashed straight into Su Muyao’s palm, and somehow he had ended up getting slapped by her instead.
Holding his cheek, Su Jingyi stared at her in disbelief.
Su Muyao was equally stunned. She quickly hid her hand behind her back and shook her head frantically.
“Third Brother! I didn’t! I wasn’t trying to hit you…”
Su Qian released the leash and whistled.
Then she added fuel to the fire from the sidelines.
“Oh? Looks like the loyal lapdog got slapped!”
“Su Qian! You—!”
Su Muyao pointed at her furiously.
Su Qian responded by making a face at her.
“Careful, your expression’s getting twisted. Don’t forget your innocent white-lotus image!”
Su Muyao’s eyes widened.
She was so angry that she didn’t know whether she should lose her temper or keep pretending.
Nearby, Su Yichen quietly elbowed his second brother, Su Yanzhao.
“Hurry up and stop them,” he whispered. “How can you just let this happen?”
Su Yanzhao looked at him, his fox-like eyes narrowing as a lazy smile spread across his face.
“No thanks. I’m afraid of getting hurt too.”
His voice was light and casual, every bit the cunning old fox.
“Big Brother, you know my hands are very valuable.”
…
After Su Qian’s little performance, both Su Jingyi and Su Muyao finally behaved themselves.
Covering her face, Su Muyao burst into tears and ran back upstairs.
Su Jingyi was persuaded by the servants to return to his room and put ice on his swollen face.
Su Qian casually put the golf club back where she had found it, then turned to look at the two people still sitting at the dining table.
Su Yichen had already been taught his lesson earlier and was now acting as though nothing had happened, seriously instructing the servants to send some food upstairs for Su Jingyi and Su Muyao.
As for Su Yanzhao…
Su Qian looked him over thoughtfully.
The novel hadn’t spent much time describing him. She guessed the author probably wasn’t that interested in the scheming doctor archetype and had only included him to round out the cast.
The thing she remembered most was that after the original Su Qian’s body had been abandoned in the wilderness, the police had called the Su family.
Not a single family member had wanted to deal with her funeral arrangements.
In the end, it was Su Yanzhao—the brother with almost no storyline—who answered the phone and told the police he would handle everything.
Judging by this, maybe he’s one of the rare normal people in the book?
Still, Su Qian didn’t dare lower her guard.
That was, until Su Yanzhao smiled at her, adjusted his glasses, and said calmly,
“Are you full? After exercising, the body needs to replenish its energy. It’s a good idea to eat a little more protein.”
As he spoke, he picked up a piece of beef and placed it into her bowl.
Yep. Definitely a normal person.
Su Qian had always been generous.
She immediately flashed him a bright smile, taking the opportunity to fully appreciate the handsome face of this refined, black-bellied gentleman before returning to her seat.
“Thanks, Brother!”
She popped the beef into her mouth, then stopped the servant who was plating food for Su Jingyi and Su Muyao.
“Why are you giving them so much meat? Aren’t you worried they’ll get too much internal heat?”
She pointed toward the two untouched plates of stir-fried greens sitting at the far end of the table.
“There’s food left over right there. Just send those upstairs.”
The servants secretly glanced at the other two Su brothers.
Su Yichen pretended not to hear anything.
Meanwhile, Su Yanzhao simply smiled faintly and gave them a small nod.
The servants immediately picked up the two plates of vegetables and carried them upstairs.
That made Su Qian appreciate her “normal” brother even more.
She picked up her drink and raised her glass toward him.
A toast to normal people!
Su Yanzhao lifted his own glass of plain water in return.
“I haven’t seen Qianqian in quite a while. You’ve really grown up. Very good.”
He smiled at her, his expression almost seeming to say that she should have been like this all along.
The two of them silently clinked glasses and drank.
Meanwhile, the neglected Su Yichen awkwardly cleared his throat.
He quietly picked up his own glass and took a sip as well…
As if he were afraid of being left out by the other two.