“All right, then you stay home obediently and don’t run around, okay?”
She patted his head, then symbolically added an insulting threat.
“If you dare run away, I’ll break your legs and make sure you suffer a fate worse than death.”
The corners of Jiang Xun’s lips lifted. He seemed completely unfazed by her threat and instead asked, “When will you be back?”
Li Wu tapped him on the head with her finger and said condescendingly, “Jiang Xun, you have no right to ask about my affairs.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the System prompt appeared in Li Wu’s mind:
[Plot transition successful.]
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Jiang Xun’s expression remained calm. At least to Li Wu, he seemed even gentler than yesterday.
She remembered what Little Butter had said.
The male lead, Jiang Xun, was actually a very gentle, kind, and easygoing person.
If he hadn’t met her…
Li Wu couldn’t help feeling aggrieved again. She could only take things one step at a time.
A while later, a Rolls-Royce slowly drove out through the gates of the villa.
The man stood on the balcony, his gaze fixed intently on the direction in which the Rolls-Royce had disappeared.
Only after the car vanished at the end of the road did he finally withdraw his gaze.
He raised his hand, his long, fair fingers touching the tracker around his neck.
It seemed as though it still carried the warmth left behind by her fingertips.
[Li Wu.]
[Then who exactly has the right to?]
The car slowly drove onto the elevated highway. Just as Li Wu was about to call her nominal fiancé, her phone rang.
The caller ID displayed two characters: [Li Shu].
The Li family was quite complicated.
After Li Wu’s father, Li Zhenhai, lost his first wife, Lin Wanqiu, he married his second wife, Bai Meilin, the following year and later had a son with her, Li Shu, who was Li Wu’s half-brother.
The siblings were only a year apart in age. Although they didn’t get along particularly well, Bai Meilin treated Li Wu like her own daughter, pampering her from childhood to adulthood without ever treating her differently.
The original Li Wu had genuinely liked this stepmother.
As soon as the call connected, Li Shu’s voice came through. “Sis, where are you?”
“I’m getting ready to go on a date.”
“You still have the mind to go on a date? Grandpa’s in the hospital. Hurry over.”
With that, Li Shu hung up. Not long afterward, the hospital’s location was sent to Li Wu’s phone.
Li Wu checked the time of her original appointment. She still had enough time, so she quickly told the driver to turn around and head to the hospital.
The old master of the Li family was already ninety years old. At his age, he had accumulated numerous chronic illnesses, and although he had a private doctor looking after him, he still had to go to the hospital from time to time.
When Li Wu arrived at the hospital, she discovered that the entire Li family was there.
“Dad, Mom, where’s Grandpa?”
When Bai Meilin saw Li Wu arrive, warmth filled her eyes as she stepped forward and took Li Wu’s hand. “Wu Wu, your grandfather is fine now. He just fell asleep.”
Li Wu breathed a sigh of relief.
Bai Meilin asked with concern, “Where have you been these past two days? I called you, but you didn’t answer.”
Only then did Li Wu remember that.
When she had first transmigrated, she hadn’t even looked at her phone, putting all her attention into dealing with Jiang Xun.
But her mindset was different now.
She regarded this unfamiliar world as a survival game.
And these people were all NPCs.
So lying came naturally to her.
“I went on vacation with Michelle and didn’t notice my phone.”
Before Bai Meilin could say anything, Li Zhenhai interrupted her coldly. “What kind of behavior is that for a young girl, being out all day and never coming home?”
Li Wu turned her gaze toward her “father,” Li Zhenhai.
Li Zhenhai was Jiang Xun’s biological father, yet the two of them didn’t look alike.
Just from their appearances, no one would have guessed they were father and son.
Li Wu secretly guessed that Jiang Xun probably took after his biological mother more.
While Li Wu had her own thoughts, the Li couple had plenty of thoughts of their own.
One played the good cop, while the other played the bad cop.
“Wu Wu is already grown up and has her own things to do. Young people these days value freedom and democracy. You just can’t bear to let go of your daughter.”
“Democracy? She’s practically turning the whole world upside down. She hasn’t been to school for days and spends all day fooling around with that group of useless friends of hers. Other than spending money, what else can she do? I’d thank heaven if she were even half as sensible as Xiaoshu.”
“She’s a girl. Don’t be so harsh on her. Naturally, she should be spoiled a little.”
At first glance, Bai Meilin seemed like an exceptionally qualified stepmother, even more indulgent toward her daughter than Li Zhenhai, her own father.
The original Li Wu could ask for the moon or the stars, and Bai Meilin would give her whatever she wanted without hesitation.
She had spoiled the original Li Wu rotten.
From childhood onward, no matter how much trouble the original Li Wu caused, Bai Meilin could always quietly clean up the mess for her, making the original Li Wu believe that as long as she had this “mother” by her side, she could run wild anywhere in the world.
She couldn’t study well? No problem, send her abroad.
She caused trouble overseas? No problem, bring her back home.
The Li family even donated enough money to build half a school and then stuffed her into an elite school just so she could muddle along.
The original Li Wu’s princess syndrome had been completely nurtured by her stepmother, Bai Meilin.
Yet, despite being foolish and malicious, the original Li Wu still believed that her stepmother, Bai Meilin, was the person who loved and spoiled her the most in the entire world.
And with the original Li Wu serving as a contrast, Bai Meilin’s biological son, Li Shu, appeared exceptionally outstanding.
Although he had been born into wealth, Bai Meilin did not spoil Li Shu. Instead, she had been particularly strict with his upbringing since childhood.
Li Shu studied well, was polite and knew his boundaries. After graduating from high school, he didn’t go abroad like other wealthy young men to obtain a prestigious degree for appearances. Instead, he relied on his own ability to get into A University, bringing honor to the Li family.
After standing there for only a few minutes, Li Wu had already figured out what was going on.
Spoiling a child was the same as destroying him.
Bai Meilin’s strategy was ruthless.
Li Wu listened absentmindedly as her parents lectured her for quite some time, until her phone rang again.
Her fiancé, Liang Siyu, had sent her a message saying he was waiting for her at the restaurant.
Li Wu picked up her bag and prepared to leave. “Dad, Mom, since Grandpa is fine, I have a dinner appointment, so I’ll be going.”
“Your grandfather is in this condition, and you still have the nerve to go out for a meal?”
Seeing his daughter behave like this, Li Zhenhai was so furious that he didn’t even know what to say.
Bai Meilin, however, asked with concern, “You still have to eat. Wu Wu, you’re meeting Siyu, right?”
Bai Meilin had a good relationship with Liang Siyu’s mother. She had been the one who brought the two families together in the first place, so she basically knew where Li Wu was at all times.
Li Wu nodded and hurriedly said goodbye.
Unexpectedly, when she reached the elevator, Li Shu followed her.
“Sis, I’ll walk you out.”
Li Wu glanced at this nominal younger brother, her attitude neither cold nor warm. After all, she wasn’t sure what role he played in the plot.
Once the elevator doors closed, Li Shu got straight to the point.
“Sis, have you taken a liking to Jiang Xun from our school?”
Li Wu immediately spat out the water she had just taken into her mouth.
“No, where did you get that nonsense? Who likes him?”
Li Shu smiled and asked as though he were joking, “Everyone at school is saying that you tried to confess your feelings to him and failed, so you turned around and started taking revenge on him, making trouble for him everywhere.”
Li Wu sneered, her face full of disdain. “What a joke. How could I possibly take a liking to that poor guy?”
Li Shu said, “Then you’re going a little too far. Our Li family is a respectable family, yet you keep targeting a poor kid from the countryside and even got him fired from his job. Oh, right, I also heard that he hasn’t been to school these past two days and hasn’t even asked for leave. You’ve pushed him this far, and if Grandpa hears about this, he might get so angry that he’ll kick you out of the Li family.”
The moment she heard the words “kick you out of the Li family,” Li Wu’s expression immediately turned cold.
She studied this good little brother of hers and suddenly thought that if the original Li Wu had heard those words, she would probably have panicked and flown into a rage out of guilt.
But she wasn’t the original Li Wu, so she smiled sweetly and shot back, “Li Shu, I don’t need to explain to you how Jiang Xun and I became enemies. And shut your mouth. Stop spreading rumors here. If my Brother Siyu hears you saying these things, he’ll be unhappy.”
“Of course. You’re my biological sister. Even if you kept a little boy toy outside, I wouldn’t tell my future brother-in-law. Sis, I’m your own brother, and I would never betray you.”
Li Wu snorted. “Good that you know.”
Li Shu narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming mysterious as he suddenly laughed.
“But, Sis, since you have a grudge against Jiang Xun, then go all the way and make sure he can never fight back. And don’t make Mom worry herself over your problems anymore.”