The bright, even sunlight fell on everyone's face in the room, and Aunt Xu's face was filled with joy and delight.
She wasn't really sure about her assumption at first, since her niece didn't seem like the romantic type Xu Minjun described. But to her surprise, Xu Shiyue gave her the most obvious reaction she'd ever had since she said that.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Xu immediately perked up and offered Xu Shiyue some particularly "thoughtful" advice: "Since you and Miss Lu are so close, why not make it a done deal?"
"I heard from Minjun that Miss Lu was also interested in you, Shiyue, back in school, wasn't she?"
Aunt Xu Er took this idea very seriously. She leaned close to Xu Shiyue and spoke to her in a deliberately lowered voice, as if she had reached some kind of consensus with her and were plotting something behind the backs of those outside.
"Actually, there's no need to spell things out. If we just go along with it half-heartedly, it'll be fine. Even if Lu Shize doesn't agree, he'll have to."
Aunt Xu spoke softly, finally bringing this shameful conspiracy to an end.
She raised her head, her eyes filled with a cunning and sophistry, and looked at Xu Shiyue as if seeking praise, only to find that Xu Shiyue had her eyes lowered and did not give her a glance.
Suddenly, Aunt Xu felt a chill creep down her spine. She asked cautiously, "Shiyue, are you listening?"
“Of course,” Xu Shiyue replied.
She raised her eyelashes slightly to look at Xu Minjun sitting on the sofa beside her, and said meaningfully, "I was just wondering how you would react if someone used such a trick on your daughter, Second Aunt?"
She really overestimated these people's bottom line; she thought this person could give her some good ideas.
Only people like these could come up with something so despicable that it skirts the edge of the law.
It's really unnecessary to give them another chance.
Upon hearing Xu Shiyue's words, Aunt Xu's expression changed abruptly, and she immediately changed her tune, saying, "I was just giving you a suggestion... I was just about to remind you of the following."
"Is that so?" Xu Shiyue narrowed her eyes slightly, her face, which was propped up on her cheeks, looked like she was smiling.
"Yes, yes." Aunt Xu nodded repeatedly, frantically trying to salvage the situation. "Although this method is very effective, it's not exactly respectable and comes at a price. Shiyue, you should really think it over."
Upon hearing this, Xu Shiyue lowered her eyes thoughtfully and said, "I remember my second uncle once said something to me in the hospital room: 'You can't get what you want without paying a price.'"
"So, they're giving me back what rightfully belongs to me, under the guise of doing it for my own good, and giving me this idea. Does my second aunt think that anything she did today can compare to the 'price' my second uncle paid back then, and be enough to make me change my mind?"
The sunlight fell gently on Xu Shiyue's face, her raised eyes calm yet turbulent.
Xu Shiyue spoke calmly, yet each word was laced with hatred. Her seemingly indifferent question, like smoke, surged into Aunt Xu's throat, causing the drifting white mist to expand and spread, choking her violently.
This child remembers everything.
This also includes that fire accident that was so perfectly staged.
A chill, colder than the winter air outside, rushed into Aunt Xu's fingertips. A sense of terror made her instinctively want to beg for mercy: "Shiyue, we...we are a family connected by blood. From now on, we will each go back to our places and do our jobs. The future of the Xu family will be even better than it is now, don't you think, Shiyue?"
Aunt Xu's voice trembled: "Your second uncle already knows he was wrong before. He asked me to return these to you, and he has more than just these to return. Your second uncle is now very regretful..."
Even though the sun is rising, the shadow on the wall has fallen by half an inch.
Aunt Xu's already humble figure bent even more over, but before she could finish pleading for mercy, Xu Shiyue interrupted her: "Do you regret not disregarding family ties and driving me to my death, or do you regret not driving me to my death and instead falling into my trap?"
Xu Shiyue's words had lost their initial subtlety, and her questions became somewhat aggressive.
She made no attempt to hide what she had done, and her questioning tone sounded somewhat cold.
Aunt Xu, like a snake suddenly dangling its seven-inch fin, suddenly fell silent, her words, which had been flowing endlessly just moments before.
Xu Minjun, who had been watching from the sidelines, couldn't hold back any longer and stood up to question, "Xu Shiyue, why did you have to be so harsh? My mother is your elder, can't she even be humble and subservient to you like this?"
Hearing this arrogant voice, Xu Shiyue's eyes curved into an even wider smile.
She stroked the jade bracelet on her wrist, her words even colder than before: "This is your mother's freedom, I have no right to interfere with her."
Xu Minjun immediately retorted, "So you're saying... you won't let our family go? Xu Shiyue, are you really such a heartless and ruthless madwoman who would even kill the last of her family members left in this world?!"
The bright sunlight shone through Xu Minjun's barely perceptible confidence as she struggled to maintain her composure.
Her heart was pounding, and she had to strain to utter the goading remark.
She thought Xu Shiyue would immediately deny it.
Or perhaps they were provoked by their own words and began to consider family ties.
Yes, she's only nineteen years old, so she's probably still naively concerned about the family's reputation.
Besides, wasn't it in the same way that her uncle was controlled by her father?
But Xu Shiyue did not.
Xu Minjun watched as Xu Shiyue got up from the table and walked step by step to her.
The expression on the man's face did not change in the slightest; in fact, it revealed a silent sense of satisfaction: "My sister has become much smarter lately."
The raised hand blocked the sunlight falling on Xu Minjun's face, and the well-defined fingers ran through the long hair hanging beside her face.
Xu Minjun heard the soft sound of hair being rubbed between her fingers, and Xu Shiyue's voice: "It seems that it is still necessary to trim your hair regularly."
In an instant, Xu Minjun felt as if her heart had fallen from the eighteenth floor of a building.
With a thud, it fell and smashed to pieces.
A cold wind swept through the living room, and the sunlight seemed to have nowhere to land, turning all its way into the living room.
The huge floor-to-ceiling windows brought in all the rare, warm winter sunlight, which spread cozy across the carpet.
"It's possible to simply copy a pirated version of Xu Shiyue's health monitoring system, but it would take some time to research it."
“But host, I don’t understand. We’re leaving soon. Even if we install a monitoring system on Yuanzi, we won’t be able to get back if something happens to her.”
Qiuqiu landed on Lu Shizhen's head, looking at Yuanzi who was lying in her arms, and pondering the task Lu Shizhen had given her.
Lu Shizhen sat cross-legged on the carpet in front of the French windows, holding Yuanzi and looking at the gene sequencing and physical examination reports sent by the pet hospital last time. She said, "Our Yuanzi is not in good health. We're just afraid of the worst. We'll try our best to come back when the time comes."
Lu Shizhen's tone was very relaxed, but her slightly droopy eyes betrayed her.
She didn't want to make plans early, but there were many things she had to start planning for.
As they were discussing this, they saw Aunt Xu and Xu Minjun walk out of the reception room under Li's watchful gaze.
The mother and daughter were increasingly frustrated, and they no longer had the energy to maintain the obsequious demeanor they had when they first entered the house.
Lu Shizhen watched from afar, feeling more disgusted than anything else, but also a sense of satisfaction at seeing the villain suffer a setback.
Her gaze followed Li Chao's gaze toward the entrance hall, and she inexplicably felt that someone was standing behind her.
A shadow fell over her, and Lu Shizhen turned her head to see Xu Shiyue standing behind her at some point.
She seemed to be looking at me, but her dark eyes were somewhat unfocused.
Lu Shizhen was startled and blurted out, "What's wrong?"
Xu Shiyue subtly focused her gaze and calmly replied, "Tinnitus."
Upon hearing this, Lu Shizhen immediately became anxious: "Tinnitus? How could you have tinnitus? Are you feeling unwell? Have you been too tired these past few days...?"
As Xu Shiyue listened to the series of questions that came out of this person's mouth, her previously cold eyebrows curved up again and again, and her voice became gentle: "No, it's just that I've been wearing headphones for too long."
Lu Shizhen remembered that when Xu Shiyue mentioned tinnitus to her in the car last time, she took off her earphones.
The long hair falling beside her ears was warm, and the memory was like a tinder that instantly ignited the warmth left on her fingers.
Lu Shizhen paused for a moment, then hugged Yuanzi in her arms, trying to cover up her misunderstanding, and said, "Then, then you should bring her less often in the future."
Xu Shiyue nodded and said nothing more.
The warm sunlight filled the entire large, empty living room instantly.
A person and a dog huddled together, a rare moment of warmth in the cold winter.
Yuanzi's light golden short fur flowed with a silk-like luster, and her ears never got angry no matter how much they were rubbed.
It lay there on Lu Shizhen's lap, listening to her silly yet hearty laughter. Besides its constantly wagging tail, its two black grape-like eyes were also shining.
Yuanzi really enjoys being with Lu Shizhen.
But who wouldn't like it?
Compared to the dark, venting hatred in the reception room and the cutthroat competition in the business world, Xu Shiyue preferred the restrained tranquility of the living room at this moment.
Only Lu Shizhen could bring her such leisure.
Seeing this, Xu Shiyue reached out and ruffled Yuanzi's hair, blending into the relaxed atmosphere. She also picked up the things lying on Lu Shizhen's lap: "What are you looking at?"
“Yuanzi’s medical examination report,” Lu Shizhen replied, then, as if remembering something, she looked up at Xu Shiyue and said, “By the way, there are a few things I need to tell you.”
Xu Shiyue asked in confusion, "What?"
Lu Shizhen picked up the medical examination report in her hand and talked about her discovery: "Look here, I just found that Yuanzi's index is not very high. In the future, it will be easy for it to develop some chronic diseases. You will have to take it for regular check-ups in the future."
"Also, the bones on both sides of its hind legs. This is a problem for this breed of dog. As it gets older, it may develop stunted growth. You need to pet it from time to time and correct its posture."
Xu Shiyue frowned slightly as she listened to Lu Shizhen's instructions: "Why are you suddenly giving me so many instructions?"
Lu Shizhen was stumped by Xu Shiyue's question and immediately felt guilty.
She knew her fate, but she had no way of telling anyone, especially Xu Shiyue.
The girl crumpled the paper in her hand and said with a hint of self-righteousness, "Because you are Yuanzi's owner! Don't think that just because you've inherited the Xu family's business in the future, you can ignore Yuanzi."
"Now that you've trained the dog, you have a responsibility to it, understand?"
Lu Shizhen spoke earnestly and seriously, and Xu Shiyue listened without noticing her hidden purpose.
She looked at the girl with her chin raised in her eyes, and at the tail wagging behind her, her gaze gentle and firm: "I understand."
"I will never abandon my dog."
Another heavy snowfall blanketed S City, covering the entire world in white.
A few plump sparrows rolled in the snow, startled by the car lights that appeared in the distance.
The car door opened and closed, and Lu Shizhen finally finished her first and last final exam of her high school career.
She dragged her tired mind home, mentally calculating that she should be able to get into the top fifty in her grade.
Probably...
Sure, it should be okay...
I'm not sure.
Having no experience with the unified examination, Lu Shizhen opened the villa door with a heavier heart than usual.
Unexpectedly, as soon as she opened the door, she was greeted by a deluge of colorful ribbons thrown in.
"Happy birthday, Zhenzhen!"
Happy birthday, sister!
"Happy birthday, miss!"
...
Various nicknames for herself flooded into Lu Shizhen's ears like colorful ribbons, pushing away all her worries about the exam.
Confetti and balloons intertwined, covering the otherwise monotonous living room.
Vibrant colors filled Lu Shizhen's vision. She was more sensitive to color than anyone else, and felt the intensity of the colors more intensely than anyone else.
She seemed to realize what she was doing, yet also seemed not to realize what was happening; her mind went blank.
At that moment, she saw Xu Shiyue walking towards her.
Time seemed to slow down deliberately, and the white skirt swayed in Lu Shizhen's eyes like blooming petals.
She watched as Xu Shiyue stood beside her and whispered her birthday wishes in her ear: "Lu Shizhen, happy birthday."
"Did you like this surprise?"
"Clatter".
Lu Shizhen couldn't tell if it was the sound of her own heart skipping a beat or the flashing lights of the points system.
She stared blankly as her points system, which had been flashing red, turned green. Xu Shiyue had given her a bonus that was enough to change the outcome.
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