Ruan Qing'an's leaden eyes darkened, but before Xia Hua's hand could strike, Ruan Chengzhi stopped her, saying, "Alright, Ruan Ruan is still young and doesn't know any better. Don't hit her so easily."

"But listen to what she's saying!"

Xia Hua cursed, but Ruan Chengzhi stopped her, which calmed her down a bit. She couldn't help but say, "Let Ruan Ruan think this through carefully. Would we really harm her?"

Ruan Chengzhi patted Xia Hua on the shoulder, then turned to look at Ruan Qing'an: "Ruan Ruan, just listen to your mother and don't worry about this matter, understand?"

"Dad, but—"

Ruan Qing'an frowned, and before she could finish speaking, Ruan Chengzhi had already sent her back to the bedroom. No matter how much Ruan Qing'an called out, he seemed determined to lock her in the room. Not only that, he even took away Ruan Qing'an's phone.

Until the bedroom door was locked from the outside, leaving only Ruan Qing'an in the bedroom, her expression turned slightly somber.

037: [I thought you could just draw your Tang sword and stab them, but it turns out—]

"Little System, am I that kind of person?"

We're saying, that's not necessarily true...

Ruan Qing'an chuckled: "You're overthinking it. Of course I have to keep things going, otherwise how can I provoke Song Xijun and push her to break through the limit of her affection?"

037 seemed to understand, but to avoid another round of mockery and attacks from Ruan Qing'an, she wisely kept quiet.

Meanwhile, outside the bedroom.

Ruan Chengzhi was responsible for calling Ruan Qing'an back, while Xia Hua went to the kitchen to call Song Xijun, who happened to be coming out of the kitchen.

Since they moved to an upscale neighborhood in the city center, the house is quite large and far from the bedrooms, so there's not much noise.

As Song Xijun walked out of the kitchen, she bumped right into Xia Hua: "Aunt Xia, is there something you need?"

“Xi Jun, come here, Aunt Xia wants to have a chat with you.”

Xia Hua was no longer the cold person she had been before; her smile was kind and gentle as she sat down on the sofa in the living room with Song Xijun: "Xijun, please don't take what happened before to heart, okay?"

"We're all family. Family members don't hold grudges overnight. It's just a talk, and once it's over, it's over, right?"

Hearing Xia Hua's hypocritical words, Song Xijun remained unmoved and withdrew her hand from Xia Hua's grasp: "Speak plainly."

Xia Hua felt somewhat embarrassed by Song Xijun's cold voice.

But she quickly recovered: "Hey, Xijun, I heard from Ruanruan that you and she both passed the school's preliminary selection, right? You have good grades and a sharp mind, and you have a long vacation this time, why don't you tutor Ruanruan a bit?"

To be honest, Song Xijun didn't mind this kind of thing. He was Ruan Qing'an's boyfriend, so naturally he hoped that she could pass the national competition exam and go with him to participate in the TIP International Physics Competition.

only……

Looking at Xia Hua's kind smile, Song Xijun inexplicably felt that this woman wasn't so kind-hearted.

His dark eyes, with their murky green depths, held an unreadable meaning. He suddenly said, "Of course, but there's only one spot available at the provincial level. You can be directly nominated without having to participate in the national competition. That might be different from Ruan Ruan's progress."

"Oh, is that so?"

Xia Hua frowned, somewhat displeased, but still said, "It's okay, Xi Jun. You're smarter, so you can definitely teach Ruan Ruan in time. You'll grow up together, so you can help each other out."

That was without any consideration of whether it would hinder Song Xijun's studies, or rather, Xia Hua didn't care at all. Ever since she changed Song Xijun's college application without any regard for the consequences, his existence has always been their stepping stone.

Song Xijun's fingers tightened little by little, almost digging into his palm. He should have gone to a better school; he was stuck in this school thanks to Xia Hua and the others...

A chilling hatred surged within the deep, dark green of his eyes.

Xia Hua, however, was completely unaware of this. Seeing Song Xijun fall silent, she couldn't help but say, "Xijun, what do you think? After all, it's not easy for you to continue your studies at school and pursue further education, right? University is quite expensive..."

"Okay, I agree. I'll start tutoring Ruan Ruan tomorrow. What do you think, Aunt Xia?"

Upon hearing Song Xijun's words, Xia Hua immediately smiled and said, "Good, good, good child. I thank you on behalf of Ruan Ruan. She must be very happy to receive your help!"

As Xia Hua spoke, she turned and walked into the bedroom, while Song Xijun sat there, squinting as he watched her back, his heart sinking slightly—he still hadn't seen Ruan Qing'an speak.

Could it be that she thinks the same way?

Unable to control her memories of her past life, Song Xijun still told herself that Ruan Qing'an had changed, as for Xia Hua and her husband who were doing the same things in both of their lives.

In the empty living room, only Song Xijun sat alone on the sofa. Under the bright light, he was clearly sitting in the light, but he looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

A chilling, malevolent aura, mixed with hatred, consumed everything.

He sighed softly, "I came back because I wanted to find a way to drag you all down to hell, Aunt Xia, Uncle Ruan."

...

The next day, Ruan Chengzhi went to work, while Xia Hua made plans to play cards with her girlfriends. Before leaving, she opened Ruan Qing'an's door and returned her phone with a kind smile.

Holding her phone, Ruan Qing'an questioned, "Mom, you didn't say anything to Song Xijun, did you? He's a very honest man."

Having heard it clearly, even 037 couldn't hold back his emotions.

[Oh, really? Song Xijun is "very honest"?]

Ruan Qingan countered, "Is there a problem?"

No problem, the previous male lead was also a kind person.

Nguyen Thanh An fell silent for a moment...

Hearing Ruan Qing'an's accusatory tone, Xia Hua frowned subconsciously, but still patiently persuaded her, "Ruan Ruan, be good. Is your mother the kind of person who threatens others?"

Ruan Qingan paused, then said honestly... it's not necessarily true.

Seeing that Ruan Qing'an was silent, Xia Hua thought that she had convinced her, so she continued, "In short, Ruan Ruan, you should trust your mother. Xi Jun agreed to it himself. You should learn from him."

"Okay, Mom."

"Alright, alright, Mom will head out now. Remember to study hard and let Xijun teach you properly. Don't be polite with him, absolutely not! The most important thing is that you study well!"

Xia Hua glanced outside, seemingly to make sure she didn't see Song Xijun, before lowering her voice and whispering in Ruan Qing'an's ear, "Remember, Ruan Ruan, we're family. Mom wouldn't hurt you, but Song Xijun isn't—"

What are you talking about?

Just then, Song Xijun's voice suddenly rang out.

A tall, slender young man leaned against the wall, his dark eyes fixed on them, seemingly having overheard much of what they were hearing.