Chapter 16

Finally realizing that something was wrong with the person in front of her, Chenmian turned her head away to avoid Lin Langli's touch.

"Why should I have to work so hard to win your favor? You're not sincere at all; you're just playing with me!"

Lin Langli frowned, provoked by the word "play". He turned cold and stared at Chen Mian, trying to find the intention to seduce him on her face.

But no, Chenmian glared at him with red eyes, stormed back to her room, and slammed the door shut.

Lin Langli remained in the living room, staring at the silent bedroom door, motionless for a long time.

How strange, he's become so strange because of Shen Mian. He suppressed the inexplicable throbbing and restlessness in his heart, feeling a sense of bewilderment.

Back in her room, Chenmian took a shower, crawled into bed, and checked her phone. First, she switched accounts and logged into the forum, only to find that the post she had made had indeed been deleted and her account had been banned.

Relieved, Chenmian switched to her chat with Shen Ci. She typed out the message, deleted and revised it, and finally only sent one sentence: "What do you mean?" But there was only silence on the other end.

Shen Mian was furious. They had only made up for two days over such a trivial matter, and Shen Ci was already causing trouble for him.

Moreover, Shen Ci didn't say a word to him about holding a family recognition ceremony at the birthday banquet. Did she completely forget that there was such a person as him in the family?

She liked Lin Langli so much; after so many years of friendship, Shen Mian thought Shen Ci was closest to him.

Hmph, nothing special.

He stared at the chat box and blinked slowly, then removed Shen Ci's pinned profile picture and looked down at the other profile picture below.

After hesitating for a moment, Chenmian sent a pouting, crying emoji.

She assumed the man was busy working, but shortly after, Shen Jinshan replied: "Mianmian, what's wrong?"

Chen Mian stared at the message for a long time until his eyes ached. Only his older brother cared about him and loved him. It seemed like it had always been like this since he was a child. Back then, when he didn't want to take his medicine, he would sneak into Shen Jinshan's room, and his older brother would hold him in his arms and coax him. If he didn't want to take it, he didn't have to, and his older brother would even cover for him.

As I reflect on these things in my sleep, I suddenly realize that I really need a hug right now.

The next morning, Shen Mian was still half asleep when he asked his roommate to call in sick for him. After waking up, Shen Mian called a car and went to Shen Jinshan's company.

At this time, Shen Jinshan was in a meeting. His assistant led him into his elder brother's office. Shen Mian lay on the sofa, legs crossed, waiting for Shen Jinshan to return.

Half-asleep, Shenmian felt someone touching her hair. She opened her eyes groggily and saw Shen Jinshan sitting beside her, wearing a charcoal gray suit with two buttons undone at the collar of his shirt. His face was handsome and aloof.

Seeing that he was awake, the chill dissipated, and Shen Jinshan asked with a smile, "Mianmian, don't you have classes today?"

Chenmian whispered, "I took the day off today."

"What grievance did you suffer this time?" Chen Jinshan paused in touching his hair and leaned forward slightly. "You skipped class and came here instead."

Shenmian grasped her brother's fingers in her palm, her eyes stinging, and said, "Brother, yesterday some pervert tried to bully me, he touched me inappropriately, Shen Ci scolded me, and Lin Langli even said that I was seducing that person before..."

"Bullying you?"

The mention of this dormant man filled her with uncontrollable hatred, and now, facing Shen Jinshan, she felt a surge of grievances: "Someone I had previously rejected blocked me, tried to touch me and kiss me, and said a lot of disgusting things to me."

Having just returned to school, Shen Jinshan never expected that Shen Mian would encounter such a thing. He didn't suspect that Shen Mian was deliberately seducing others.

Chenmian, this younger brother, never looked up to anyone else; there were very few people who could catch his eye.

Before Shen Jinshan could comfort her, Shen Mian continued, "This is all because of Lin Langli. Because of his return, people who didn't dare to treat me like this before have gained confidence and feel that their families will abandon me. It's all because of him."

After much thought, Chenmian still harbored resentment towards Lin Langli. Seeing that Shen Jinshan's expression softened slightly, Chenmian got up and snuggled into the man's arms.

Shen Jinshan looked down at the boy in his arms, paused for a moment, and then said, "No, Mianmian, your family won't abandon you, at least your brother won't."

"Who is it? Mianmian, how do you want to deal with it? Your brother will teach it a lesson for you."

Chenmian listened with complete satisfaction, without doubting whether it was true or false.

She rested her head against Shen Jinshan's neck, put her other hand on her brother's shoulder, and mumbled, "Brother, you're the best to me. Brother, your future lover will definitely be very happy."

Remembering Lin Langli's attempts to sow discord yesterday, she obediently advised, "Brother, I don't want you to do anything for me. Shen Ci has already beaten that person up for me. If you teach him a lesson again, it will be against the law."

Shen Mian's maturity at this moment surprised Shen Jinshan slightly, but what the man felt more at this moment was the difficulty in dealing with Shen Mian's actions.

Chenmian was no longer a toddler, and this posture was actually inappropriate for them. But Chenmian leaned softly against him, looking relaxed, and he ultimately did not push her away.

In the evening, the driver took Shenmian back to her residence. Shenmian decided to follow Shen Jinshan's advice and try to get along well with Lin Langli, at least on the surface.

Unexpectedly, as soon as she opened the door, she found Lin Langli sitting on the living room sofa, with all the curtains closed and only a floor lamp on.

Shenmian couldn't see the other person's face clearly. He was in the light, while Lin Langli was in the dark. This situation, where he could be looked at at will without his knowledge, ignited an unnamed fire in Shenmian's heart.

Why does this person like to use the common areas of the house so much?

But it's all for the best, saving him the trouble of knocking on the door to make overtures. After several changes of mind, Chen Mian finally put on a smiling expression and went up to strike up a conversation.

"Lin Langli, why aren't you back in your room? Are you waiting for me?"

He spoke softly, using the same sycophantic tone he used before. Even Chen Mian felt disgusted saying such self-delusional words, but Lin Langli turned to look at him after hearing it: "Chen Mian, you didn't go to class during the day, where did you go?"

"Did Shen Ci ask you to ask this?"

"……no."

"I wasn't feeling well during the day, probably because I was frightened yesterday, so I went out for a walk to clear my head." Hearing the denial, Chen Mian was a little frustrated, but she quickly composed herself and hesitantly sat down on the other side of the sofa. "Lin Langli, if I behave myself from now on, could you please not let your family kick me out?"

Lin Langli didn't listen carefully to Shen Mian's words. He only felt that when Shen Mian sat down not far from him, a faint fragrance wafted over, mixed with the scent of perfume that clearly belonged to a mature man.

What did I do to make it stay on my body for so long, so thickly?

"Lin Langli, do you really want to get rid of me?"

The drawn-out, soft voice rang out again. The young man snapped out of his daze, staring maliciously at the person in front of him, and realized that Chenmian was once again feigning pitifulness and innocence.

He couldn't help but sneer inwardly: "Dad and I have discussed it, and we both want to be recognized as ancestors. You are the only son in the Lin family, so after the recognition ceremony, I will take you back to pay respects."

Chenmian leaned forward, grabbed the young man's shirt, and asked, "Will my household registration be transferred out?"

Lin Langli stared at the hem of his clothes that had been tugged, his brows gradually relaxing: "I don't know."

Chenmian lowered her head, looking dejected and weak, which was pitiful. Lin Langli couldn't help but recall that when they ate together, Chenmian always picked and chose what she ate, and would leave after eating very little.

"Lin Langli, do you really hate me?" Seeing that the other party didn't mind her getting close, Chenmian cautiously moved even closer.

“I apologized to you but you won’t forgive me. I want to move back but you won’t agree. Yesterday you even teased me by saying that I need to behave myself so you’ll like me more. What do you want from me? Can you give me a straight answer? I promise I’ll do whatever you ask.”

Lin Langli's expression softened slightly: "I've said it before, you've been sincere to me, and I will forgive you."

"Really?" Her watery eyes stared at him. Under Chen Mian's focused gaze, Lin Langli awkwardly hummed in agreement.

The next day, Chenmian brought home a cat from the pet store.

When Lin Langli returned from get out of class, he saw the fluffy thing in the living room. After taking a closer look, he realized it was a cat. It looked like a burnt marshmallow, with a round face and big eyes. It was wearing a beige bib and looked rather clumsy.

"What is this, slumber?" Lin Langli asked in a hoarse voice.

Chenmian sat on the floor, playing with the cat, and replied loudly, "It's a cat, Golden Spot! Isn't it cute? It looks like a loaf of bread. Do you like cats?"

"I don't like it." Lin Langli turned his face away. "Your pets will make the house dirty."

Sleepy: "The cat isn't dirty, and a cleaning lady comes every week to clean, so don't worry."

He picked up the cat again, trying to put it in Lin Langli's arms. "You said yesterday that I wanted to be sincere to you, but we don't usually have much interaction. It doesn't seem right to knock on your door and make small talk, so I bought a kitten. We can take care of the cat together, and then I can see you more often."

Lin Langli remained unmoved, his body still stiff. The cat touching his forearm was warm and fluffy, but his attention was completely focused on the sleeping cat in front of him. The boy's mouth moved slightly, and his eyes and brows showed the joy of having a cat.

Shenmian really has no sense of boundaries. It's one thing for her to act like a young couple with Shen Ci, but she brings a cat back and wants him to raise it together. Does she want them to play house and be cat parents?

He stared blankly for two seconds, and seeing that Chenmian was still trying to let him hold the cat, he finally loosened his arms and pulled the kitten into his arms.

Chenmian held his arm, her fingers resting on Lin Langli's bare, muscular upper arm, and stared excitedly at the cat: "It's so cute, I saw it the moment I walked into the pet store."

He added, "However, although I bought it, I didn't ask for your opinion, I'm really sorry. So, Lin Langli, I've decided to give you the chance to name the kitten. Should it have your surname or mine? No, both our surnames are fine."

Chenmian was already extremely conflicted, and Lin Langli couldn't help but stare at the boy upon hearing this.

Isn't it really a change of strategy from targeting him to seducing him?

Chenmian nudged his arm to urge him on.

Looking again at the fluffy cat in his arms, Lin Langli's gaze drifted to the boy in front of him, and he uttered two words: "Mianmian".

"..." Chenmian was angry. "Lin Langli! How could you do this!"

Lin Langli showed no remorse and corrected, "Small bread."

Slightly satisfied, Chenmian scratched the little bread's chin, then picked up the cat and took it back. She made a deal with Lin Langli: "Lin Langli, I ordered an automatic litter box online, but it won't arrive for another two days. How about we each scoop the litter box one day a week for the next few days?"

As she spoke, she leaned against Lin Langli again, continuing her conversation naturally, her voice slightly raised at the end, just like when she was with Shen Ci before—

Lin Langli tensed up. He couldn't help but wonder if Shen Ci had abandoned him and was looking for someone else.

Does she really think she can get away with this by using such a coquettish tone?

A note from the author: