Shi Youxi asked, "Sister, where's the back-to-school gift you prepared for me?"

"...Didn't you just refuse the teacher's gift? Why are you asking me for it now?"

Shi Youxi tossed the brooch to her, looking completely matter-of-fact, "I don't want anyone else's, I only want the one my sister gave me."

Mu Yiran: "..."

Is that considered a compliment?

And how come she gets turned into a dumping ground for unwanted gifts?

But Mu Yiran glanced at the expensive brooch and thought, "So be it, it's just a trash can. Maybe I'll get rich by picking up Shi Youxi's trash in the future."

However, Mu Yiran still refused to accept the gift.

Mu Yiran refused to use her first month's salary to buy gifts for her boss.

Besides… “Everything I’ve been making lately is for you, and it will all be given to the young master from now on.”

"Take these as your back-to-school gift."

When Shi Youxi heard her say "it's all yours," he felt pleased again, seemingly agreeing with her statement. He nodded and temporarily let Mu Yiran go.

He picked up the sketchbook, and the girl's serene face gradually appeared on the paper.

This picture book is almost empty.

He stopped writing, flipped through the pages, and found that every page was filled with drawings of Mu Yiran.

Shi Youxi turned to one of the pages. In the picture, a girl was wearing a bright red uniform, with shackles on her feet under her skirt. She was sitting in an iron cage, and for a moment she looked like a doll locked in a room.

Sitting opposite him, Mu Yiran noticed that he had stopped drawing and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Young Master, did you try to make me look better?"

She had seen Shi Youxi's painting of her. The boy had inherited Bai Shengsheng's artistic talent, and his painting skills were already comparable to those of college students at art academies. The Mu Yiran he painted looked like she had been given a level 10 beauty filter, so Mu Yiran had only asked about it casually.

Shi Youxi touched the shackles in the painting. He looked at the smiling face of the girl opposite him, smiled sweetly, and nodded.

"certainly."

"You look best like this, sister."

downstairs.

Alex was escorted to the door by the butler. Just before leaving, he turned back to the butler and said, "By the way, there are some changes to Xiaoxi's courses. I would like to discuss this with Mr. and Mrs. Shi."

The butler opened the door for him. "Sir and Madam have gone out and haven't returned yet. I'll let you know when they get back."

Alex wasn't too surprised. He nodded, smiled, and walked out the door. Before getting into the car, he glanced at the villa behind him and the quiet, deserted detached house next to it.

...

The day finally arrived for Shi Youxi to register for school.

Today is the school's opening ceremony, so Mu Yiran got up early to help Shi Youxi tidy up this and that.

She didn't have to do anything; the housekeeper had arranged everything she needed. All she had to do was help Shi Youxi with her styling.

And her hairstyle was done by Shi Youxi.

Debts must indeed be repaid.

On the first day, Mu Yiran changed Shi Youxi into more than a dozen outfits, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Now the tables have turned, and Mu Yiran is the one being dressed up. Sometimes, whenever Shi Youxi is in the mood, she has to change several outfits a day.

He played with the maid outfit in all sorts of ways. Like today, even though it was clearly him going to school, Shi Youxi insisted on dressing her up in a school uniform style.

It's full of morbid humor.

Mu Yiran, hoping to find relief by sending Shi Youxi to school, let him do whatever he wanted to her.

When she boarded the bus, a boy wearing the same international high school uniform was standing next to the door. Mu Yiran looked him over several times before realizing it was Shi Si.

"Are you... positive?" Mu Yiran blurted out.

Shi Si, wearing a mask that only revealed his eyes, looked up in confusion upon hearing her words, but quickly looked down again when his gaze met the girl's. "What?"

Mu Yiran then realized she had misspoke. After all, having experienced several years of pandemic, she subconsciously uttered this "jargon" when she saw someone wearing a mask.

There's no way around it; the memories of the dead are too powerful.

Shi Youxi pulled Mu Yiran into the car, saying, "Sister, let's hurry, we're going to be late."

Mu Yiran felt guilty for saying the wrong thing and got into the car without thinking about why Shi Si was wearing a mask, though she could guess why.

She understands what puberty and its associated adolescent delusions.

On the way, Shi Youxi held Mu Yiran's hand and kept saying: "You have to answer his calls anytime, and wait for him at the school gate until he finishes. You can't leave him for even a moment."

Finally, under Shi Si's repeated urging, Shi Youxi got out of the car and entered the school, looking back every few steps.

With tears in her eyes, Mu Yiran waved goodbye to the boy's retreating figure, then turned around and urged the driver to go for a drive.

The driver turned around with a grin and said, "2000 dollars per trip."

They pinned Mu Yiran down and killed her in the back seat.

...

Shi Youxi parted ways with Shi Si in front of the auditorium. Shi Si was already in eighth grade and did not need to attend the opening ceremony for new students. Boys skipped grades, and coupled with his short stature, he stood out among the well-developed middle school students from Europe and America.

Shi Youxi sipped the coffee in her cup, which Mu Yiran had mixed with half a cup of milk, neutralizing most of the bitterness.

Shi Youxi drank very slowly. In the past, he would always drink coffee in one gulp as if it were a task to be completed, and he only felt that it was bitter.

He never questioned his mother about why he did these things, because his father told him that as long as he obeyed and did what his mother asked, she would be very happy.

When his mother is happy, it seems like she loves him very much.

Even though he never liked coffee, even though he hated bitterness.

But this one is different.

Every bite tastes different.

Is it because of my older sister that things are different...?

Shi Youxi was enjoying his drink with a puffed-out face when a sudden force shoved him from behind. His shoulder was pushed hard, and the glass slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor. Warm liquid splashed onto his trouser leg.

"Sorry... Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Shi Youxi?" A male voice with a rooster-like crowing voice came from behind.

Shi Youxi glanced at the coffee on the ground, turned around indifferently, and a chubby boy stood behind her.

The boy was a head taller than him, and his face was covered in acne, making his features appear squeezed together by the flesh on his face.

Shi Youxi had never seen such an ugly person.

"Shi Youxi, you actually came to school? Can your delicate body handle this? Didn't you say you were sick? Are you cured? You won't infect me, will you?"

Shi Youxi stared at him expressionlessly, without saying a word. The boy thought he had scared him, and his expression became even more smug: "I just saw a woman bring you here. Is she your family's new maid, or your dad's wife?"

The boy's chubby face made his eyes appear as slits, obscuring the growing violence and disgust in Shi Youxi's eyes.

"I told you so, that woman was dressed so provocatively, she was obviously—"

Who are you?

"....."

The boy was incredulous; he had been talking for so long, and Shi Youxi still didn't know who he was.

"...I am Bao Huiyi."

Shi Youxi extended his hand and smiled.

Bao Hui also thought that he had hit the nail on the head and felt guilty. He hated Shi Youxi's arrogant and condescending attitude. Even his parents had to try to please this kid because of the Shi family.

Now that Shi Youxi has come to the school, he's going to teach this kid a lesson on how to be a good person.

He took her chubby hand in his, saying, "As long as you behave yourself from now on and listen to me like my dog, I won't tell anyone about you buying a wife—"

Before he could finish speaking, his hand was gripped tightly, the flesh of his hand pinched red. The boy holding his hand smiled slightly, a gentle and obedient smile on his face: "Then please guide me in the future."

Bao Hui was surprised that Shi Youxi, who looked so thin, was so strong. He couldn't pull his hand back no matter what he did. His face turned red, and he reached out his other hand to push Shi Youxi.

However, before he could even touch him, the boy let go and fell backward, landing on the ground in an instant. His handsome face crumpled, and his phoenix eyes filled with tears: "Why did you push me? I don't even know you."

Bao Huiyi had never seen such a vicious performance in his life.

He realized what was happening and tried to pounce, shouting, "Fack, you grabbed me first!"

The fleshy figure moved slowly, and before it could even touch Shi Youxi, the tall man who suddenly appeared grabbed her by the collar and swung her around.

Bao Hui also lost his balance, landing on his bottom and looking up with a pained expression.

Standing beside him were a middle-aged man and the dark-skinned boy who had just pulled him, with a blonde girl standing next to them.