Chapter 4: Happy Home
"Why don't you go to Momo's room and play games."
Xun Sheng had no intention of playing chess. After he jumped two squares casually, his back stiffened.
Something was pressing on the instep of my foot, a soft and heavy lump.
The tablecloth covered his feet, and he calmly adjusted his sitting position to steady himself.
Yu Jingyuan understood what Xun Sheng meant. As soon as Xun Sheng finished speaking, his tight trouser legs loosened. After feeling that the person under his feet had stabilized his body, Yu Jingyuan stood up and blocked the table with his side.
"I remember there was a little trick in the card I sent you last year. I wonder if you've noticed it. I'll go to your room and take a look."
Xun Mo agreed readily and walked out side by side with Yu Jingyuan. She kept waving the fingers on her back, signaling Xun Sheng not to follow.
The footsteps faded away, and there was a thud under the table. Xia Cheng crawled out from under the table, covering her head. Feeling Xun Sheng's gaze, she hurriedly stood up.
"I'm sorry, brother. I didn't stand firmly and accidentally sat on your foot. Let me rub it for you."
She lowered her posture and placed her hands on Xun Sheng's instep. Xun Sheng couldn't avoid it, and felt strange all over. He bent down and held her hand, not forgetting to talk about business:
"What did you and Yu Jingyuan say in the study?"
"Just talking about the past."
"Why not talk in the living room?" he continued to ask.
Xia Cheng lowered her head and lied:
"Mom and Dad are always sad when they hear about the past. Now that I'm back, I don't want them to continue to be sad after hearing about it."
After saying this, the air was quiet for a while. Xia Cheng looked up and met Xun Sheng's pair of dark and moist eyes. There was no smile in them. His jaw was tense, as if he was thinking.
"When I came in, I saw him holding your shoulders."
"I almost fell down, and he helped me up."
"Just a little help?"
Xun Sheng bent down, grabbed Xia Cheng's wrist, and brought Xia Cheng to his side. His movements were too forceful, and Xia Cheng felt pain. She frowned and looked at Xun Sheng without any guilt. She held her breath slightly in disgust, unwilling to continue smelling the faint ebony scent on him.
"Brother, aren't you holding my hand now?"
The corners of her mouth rose, and her gaze fell from her wrist to Xun Sheng's face.
Xun Sheng didn't say anything else and looked back at her face. Neither of them gave in at all, as if they knew the other was pretending, but they tacitly agreed not to expose each other's disguise.
Finally, Xun Sheng stood up, and when Xia Cheng was forced to raise her arm as well, he shook her arm off heavily:
"I don't care what you want to do, but don't think about Yu Jingyuan. Being with him will hurt Xun Mo, hurt your family, and destroy this family."
Xia Cheng didn't know whether Xun Sheng believed it or not. She swallowed and was about to speak again, but when she heard these words, her throat suddenly felt as if it was blocked by cement.
"What if Yu Jingyuan doesn't like Xun Mo?"
"Then they should make it clear to the two of them that you absolutely cannot have anything to do with Yu Jingyuan!"
Xun Sheng left without even closing the door. Coincidentally, Yu Jingyuan and Xun Mo were coming downstairs, chatting about something along the way, each with a smile on their face. Xia Cheng stared at the wooden staircase they passed by, almost going crazy with jealousy.
Why is everyone so protective of Xun Mo? Why, what right does Xun Sheng have to think this place is his home? He's basically a bastard picked up from outside! Xun Mo is the same, with someone else's blood flowing in his body. A civet cat wants to be the prince?
She was clearly her parents' true child, yet she had endured so many years of hardship, starving, and sleeping with rats. They, on the other hand, had lived a life of peace and prosperity, and now they were banding together to exclude her?
Xia Cheng exhaled twice angrily, but at the same time as she was angry, she also felt deeply wronged.
She was so helpless that she didn't want to seduce Yu Jingyuan if she could.
But she had just returned and had no idea what was going on at home, she only knew that she had started a company.
Now Xun Sheng is his father's boss, and Xun Mo is his mother's close companion. Only she is nothing, with the added identity of a rich family's daughter, and she is anxious no matter what she does.
At first, she also wanted to get along well with them, but in this family, Xun Mo and she were simply incompatible.
Xun Mo is naive, but only those who are affected can feel how disgusting this naiveté is.
Parents have only seen the good side for a long time, so naturally they will not believe that the children they raised are bad people. One or two words of ridicule are harmless to them, just jealousy, and balance is all that matters.
But in Xia Cheng's view, this balance is biased, and inaction is sometimes a form of acquiescence and favoritism. Xun Mo must have enough confidence to speak rudely to Xia Cheng again and again.
Xia Cheng still remembers the first family dinner after she came back. It was at the old house. She met her grandparents for the first time. Thinking of her adoptive relatives, she couldn't help crying with them.
At the dinner table, grandpa and grandma told Xun Youdong to make compensation to Xia Cheng in front of everyone. Xun Youdong subconsciously answered:
"They are all my children. There is no need for compensation. Xia Cheng will have everything that Momo and Shengsheng have."
When grandma heard this, she was a little unhappy. She took off the bracelet on her wrist and put the glove on Xia Cheng's wrist.
The older generation had already objected to the couple's adoption, prioritizing bloodline over their son and daughter-in-law. But they were respectable people and wouldn't say it directly, as that would appear narrow-minded. So Xia Cheng felt caught in the middle, feeling uncomfortable.
On the way back, Xia Cheng stared at the bracelet, not knowing whether to put it on or take it off. He Qing looked unhappy all the time. When they got home, Xun Mo's eyes were red, and she asked if she was not obedient enough, which was why her grandmother always disliked her and her brother.
Xia Cheng didn't know how Xun Mo was coaxed into calming down. She only remembered standing at the gate like an outsider, hesitating and struggling, and finally said weakly:
"I'm going back to school first."
Xun Sheng nodded at her and arranged for the driver to take her back.
After returning to school, she hid the bracelet under the quilt and never wore it again.
Every time I see it, I find it ironic.
Thinking of this, Xia Cheng turned and looked at the chess table. She sat in her father's seat. Although she was obviously annoyed, she slowly put the chess pieces back into place until both black and white were standing upright. Then she picked up the king and held it in her palm.
"Chengcheng, why are you here?" Xun Youdong came back from a walk and stopped when he saw Xia Cheng passing by the study.
"Dad, I want to learn chess, too." Xia Cheng put down the black king and pointed at the books on the shelf, his eyes skimming over those on business management, negotiation strategies, and fairy tales:
"I also want to learn more."
"Okay, Dad will teach you some other day." Xun Youdong wore glasses and smiled. He would naturally not refuse his daughter's closeness, but he really needed to think carefully about how to teach her.
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