In the quiet room, the warm morning sunlight shone through the gaps in the European-style curtains onto Tang Ning's fair face on the bed. The bright light caused the woman's brows to furrow instantly.
Feeling the warmth of another person pressed against her back, Tang Ning's thick, long eyelashes trembled slightly, but due to her exhaustion, she couldn't fully open them. She only moved her soft, pink fingertips slightly before falling into a deep sleep again.
When she had fully slept and woke up again, she was all alone in the huge bed.
Tang Ning didn't take it to heart, since it had always been like this before.
After she finished washing up and changing her clothes, she went downstairs and looked down to see Xu Sinian sitting at the dining table, intently and seriously reading the newspaper.
His aloof and ascetic demeanor made it seem as if the fierce and ruthless man from last night had nothing to do with him.
Tang Ning paused only slightly before continuing her walk down the path.
Xu Sinian, as if only then hearing her movement, turned around immediately. "You're up? Come and have breakfast..."
"Um."
Tang Ning responded and walked straight toward the dining table.
As she got closer, she realized that the seat Xu Sinian had arranged for her that morning was right next to him. You see, they used to sit at opposite ends of the long table, and it wasn't uncommon for them to go through an entire meal without exchanging a single word.
Xu Sinian, on the other end, noticed that Tang Ning had taken notice of the different seating arrangement, and his lips pursed slightly involuntarily. Only when he saw her sit down nonchalantly to his right did a barely perceptible smile appear on his lips.
Xu Sinian's current favorability rating: 62.
Upon noticing the change in favorability rating, Tang Ning raised an eyebrow slightly. She felt that perhaps the original owner's impression of Xu Sinian was slightly off...
It seems that he doesn't feel the slightest bit of love for her, as she thought.
As soon as Tang Ning sat down, the servants of the Xu family, one after another, very quietly placed breakfast in front of her and Xu Sinian.
Then Tang Ning noticed that Xu Sinian adjusted the positions of the breakfast side dishes with a remarkably natural motion.
Now, what's laid out in front of her are mostly flavors she likes.
This is quite interesting...
But Tang Ning seemed not to notice. After quietly finishing her breakfast, she left for a short while. When she returned, she was holding a box in her hands.
Upon seeing the box, Xu Sinian's heart skipped a beat, and an irrepressible sense of anticipation rose within him.
The next second, the man, whose face was calm, saw Tang Ning place the box on the table, extend her finger, and gently push it in front of him. With her other hand supporting her chin, she smiled and said, "Here, your gift."
Xu Sinian looked up, reached out and took it, then opened it.
It really is a Louis Vuitton watch.
With just one glance, Xu Sinian tightened his grip on the box slightly. After shifting his attention away from his watch, the man gently closed the box and smiled warmly and politely at Tang Ning, "Thank you."
"You're welcome……"
Noticing that the other person's favorability rating had increased a little, Tang Ning subconsciously looked up at the large grandfather clock behind the man, a flash of surprise crossing her eyes. "I didn't expect it to be this early already. I thought it was still very early!"
As she spoke, Tang Ning looked at Xu Sinian beside her and asked curiously, "I remember you usually leave very early. Don't you have any work to do today?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Sinian swallowed back the words "I'm about to leave" that were already on the tip of his tongue, and instead asked, "Not for now, is there anything I can help you with?"
"If not, why don't you come with me to Rong Changxiang to get my clothes made? Didn't you promise to make me a couple more outfits? I don't really like Rong Changxiang's tailors coming to my house; I'd much rather browse their shop. Besides, I've been so busy these past few days, I'm feeling really bored, and I just want to go out and have some fun..."
"good."
Tang Ning had barely finished speaking when Xu Sinian had already agreed.
Having received an affirmative answer, Tang Ning asked him to wait a moment and then went upstairs again. After all, she was now a celebrity, and she needed to dress up nicely before going out. Don't underestimate the newspapers these days; they can report even the slightest thing.
She didn't want to see unfounded speculations about herself in the newspapers tomorrow.
As Xu Sinian watched Tang Ning's figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, he gently waved his hand. Ah Sheng, who was waiting on the side, immediately came over. After listening to Xu Sinian's instructions, he immediately walked out.
A short while later, the car that had been parked there for a long time started up.
Xu Sinian, still sitting in his wheelchair, turned his gaze back to the box containing the watch that Tang Ning had given him.
He was a little confused. Why would Tang Ning change like this out of nowhere? Was it because Tang Yin had aroused her possessiveness, or had something else happened?
After all, the only time she ever showed aggression towards him was when Tang Yin Song gave him the scarf...
Thinking of this, Xu Sinian kept stroking the box with his fingers, his eyes flickering, perhaps even he himself didn't know what he was thinking.
About an hour later, Tang Ning and Xu Sinian stepped into Rong Changxiang's shop.
Shopping, shopping, of course we have to go shopping.
After taking her measurements, Tang Ning was delighted to see the beautiful clothes hanging in the store and began to try them on one by one. However, no matter which one she wore and asked Xu Sinian for his opinion, his answer was always the same: "It looks good," without any originality.
Tang Ning was somewhat helpless, but Xu Sinian's expression remained so sincere and earnest that even her anger seemed like she was being unreasonable.
As soon as she entered the fitting room, Tang Ning's eyes lit up with interest, as if she had thought of something.
Not long after she went in, Xu Sinian, who was waiting outside, heard Tang Ning's troubled voice coming from the fitting room.
Are you still outside? If you can, could you come in and help me?
Upon hearing this, Xu Sinian immediately looked up, pushed his wheelchair into the fitting room, and then saw Tang Ning pointing to the zipper beside her, "Could you help me zip this up? I think I can't quite get it up..."
Upon hearing this, Xu Sinian immediately saw a patch of white flesh. The man's eyes deepened slightly, and without saying a word, he reached out to help the woman who was half-squatting in front of him slowly pull up the zipper without any hesitation or obstruction.
As soon as he zipped the zipper all the way up, Xu Sinian grabbed Tang Ning's arm and pulled her into his embrace with just a little force. Beneath his palm was her slender waist, without an ounce of excess fat...
The man lowered his head and kissed Tang Ning's rosy lips, his voice hoarse as he said, "You did it on purpose..."
Hearing this, a smile quickly spread across Tang Ning's eyes, and she slowly stood up. "Does this outfit look good? I've decided that I'll take this one, and all the ones I just tried on, okay?"
"……good."
Xu Sinian paused slightly, then replied with a smile.
After he finished speaking, his gaze never left Tang Ning.
He didn't understand, he really couldn't figure out what she was thinking right now.
Because he could see clearly before that she felt either hatred or disgust towards him, or at best, indifference. Even in bed, she couldn't hide the reluctance and pain in her eyes...
But now, she has become like a cloud in the sky, the moon reflected in the water, elusive and unfathomable...
This suddenly stirred a sense of amusement within him.
Xu Sinian lowered his eyes slightly and gently rubbed his fingertips together.
Xu Sinian's current favorability rating: 66.
Tang Ning's lips never left her lips curled up when she saw the change in the man's favorability towards her again.
She realized that the original owner's feelings were inaccurate. She felt that Xu Sinian treated her like a pet, but Tang Ning felt that Xu Sinian was like a dormant volcano. As long as you could pry open his hard shell, you could see that the bottom was full of scalding magma.
He liked the original owner of the body, but he didn't want anyone to know his feelings, including the original owner.
This is likely related to the upbringing Xu Sinian received from a young age and his complex family environment.
There were rumors that the chilling poisoning incident involving the Xu family was orchestrated by Xu Sinian, the only remaining beneficiary of the system, and that he personally administered the poison.
After all, his father, Xu Yingkai, had already begun to dislike his disabled son in every way.
He was clearly the son of the first wife, which would be the eldest son in ancient times. But now his father wanted to divorce his mother and even wanted to pack them up and send them to the countryside. What kind of person was Xu Sinian? How could he possibly endure such humiliation? That's why he did such a vicious and outrageous thing.
Of course, people in Haicheng only dared to discuss this in private, and no fool directly asked Xu Sinian about it.
Therefore, the tragic poisoning case involving the Xu family remains shrouded in mystery to this day.
While others might not know, how could Tang Ning, who possessed the system, possibly be unaware?
When Xu Sinian's father, Xu Yingkai, first married his mother, the family was well-off, but not as wealthy as they would later become. However, as the Xu family's business grew, their influence also increased.
Money and power have always been the best aphrodisiacs for men!
He began to bring concubines into his home one after another. His wife was a young lady from a wealthy family who had been raised in seclusion in the old society. At first, she naively thought that it was because she had not given birth that her husband had taken concubines one after another in order to have offspring.
But after she risked her life to give birth to Xu Si, she found that she couldn't win back her husband's heart. The concubines, dressed in their finest clothes, came to her and flaunted their power.
It may not be visible on a woman's face, but the long-term oppressive living environment, coupled with postpartum depression symptoms, can be detrimental.
On the surface, she maintained the prestige of being the original wife, but in private, she began to teach Xu Sinian in a crazy and strict manner. The little boy was punished by kneeling, beating, scolding, and humiliation for any mistake.
However, she did not expect that raising Xu Sinian too well would arouse the jealousy of her wicked concubine, who plotted to make him break both his legs. Despite the overwhelming evidence, her husband still scolded her for not taking good care of the child, called Xu Sinian useless, and even considered divorcing her and kicking her and their son out.
How could a woman accept this? On the very night she learned of her husband's thoughts from that haughty concubine, the woman took care of Xu Sinian gently for the first time, smiled at him, and even cooked for him herself.
After watching Xu Sinian finish his meal, she turned around and swallowed a packet of poison, killing her husband and several concubines, including the bastard children born to them. However, because she had long harbored the will to die, she had only been putting on a brave face all these years. She also took the poison...
When the excruciating pain struck, only one thought remained in the woman's mind: No one can take my Si Nian away from me, no one can!
It can be said that, due to the influence of his parents, Xu Sinian appears strong and gentle on the surface, but in reality, he is stubborn, self-centered, timid, and insecure.
When you're not entirely sure about something, like the original owner of this body, you don't sense the other person's affection, you only feel their aversion.
Even if he liked her deeply, he would suppress his feelings, even hypnotize himself, and gradually withdraw them. Perhaps later in the story, even he himself couldn't distinguish what his original feelings were, but a voice inside him kept telling him that he no longer liked her as she was…
If a relationship requires both parties to go the distance, and each person has to take fifty steps to achieve its goal, then Xu Sinian is the kind of person who requires you to take ninety-nine steps before he will take that final step.
He has love and feelings, but if he's not sure, he'd rather suppress his feelings.
Thinking of this, Tang Ning, who had bought the clothes and was sitting in the car, turned her head to look out the window and saw a bright red thing.
"parking!"
Upon hearing this, Ali, who was driving, immediately slammed on the brakes. Xu Sinian noticed the excitement in Tang Ning's eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Candied hawthorn berries, there are candied hawthorn berries for sale outside, I want to eat some, wait for me a moment..."
As they were talking, Tang Ning pushed open the car door, got out, and then, like a child, happily stood in front of the old man carrying candied hawthorns. She smiled and took a skewer from his hand before returning to the car.
After taking a satisfying bite, Tang Ning immediately and generously offered the candied hawthorn to Xu Sinian's lips, asking, "Do you want some?"
The original owner loved eating candied hawthorns. When she was adopted by the Tang family, the first gift she received when she went shopping with her father was a candied hawthorn.
It could be said that almost as soon as Tang Ning saw candied hawthorns, she was infected by her body's instinctive joy and went downstairs to buy a skewer.
Xu Sinian had always been averse to sweets, finding them cloying. However, upon seeing Tang Ning's bright red lips and sparkling eyes, his refusal turned into a "yes."
So, the string of candied hawthorns was shared between the two of them without them even realizing it. After finishing, Xu Sinian savored the taste and even thought that the sweet and sour flavor was really quite good.
After finishing her candied hawthorn, Tang Ning watched the car drive towards the Xu family's house. She was wiping her sticky hands with a handkerchief when Tang Ning frowned slightly. "What's wrong? Are you going to take me home? I was thinking of asking you to go to a movie together, but you seem pretty busy. Okay, just drop me off at the intersection. I want to go to the movies; you go take care of your business!"
Tang Ning made all the arrangements directly.
Sure enough, as soon as she reached the intersection, she said goodbye to Xu Sinian and was about to open the car door and get out.
Unexpectedly, at that moment, her arm was grabbed by the man inside the car.
"etc……"
"Um?"
Tang Ning turned her head in confusion.
"I don't have much to do today, and I haven't been to the movies in ages, so I'll go with you..."
He was very busy today, the busiest he'd had in a month. He knew Tang Ning's arrangement was the most appropriate—she went to the movies while he handled his work—but the moment he saw Tang Ning get out of the car, a faint, lingering reluctance rose in his heart.
It was this feeling that made him involuntarily pull Tang Ning back as she was about to get off the bus.
Seeing the surprise in the woman's eyes, he couldn't help but feel a unique joy rise in his heart as well.
The two of them entered the movie theater amidst Ali's utterly dejected gaze.
After all, they're really busy, incredibly busy. With what I did today, they probably won't be able to get a full night's sleep for the next few nights.
I feel terrible.
Almost simultaneously, across the street from the perfume shop, Tang Yin stared blankly as her older sister and Xu Sinian entered the movie theater.
The look in her eyes caught the eye of the male classmate beside her, who wore round-framed glasses and plaid overalls. He was secretly delighted and immediately asked tentatively, "Tang Yin, do you want to see a movie? If so, I'll go buy the tickets right now!"
After hearing what her classmate said, Tang Yin hesitated for a moment, and the boy in overalls seized the opportunity and hurriedly went to buy movie tickets.
After Tang Yin and her male classmate entered the movie theater, she realized that their seats were coincidentally just two rows behind his sister. She could even see Tang Ning whispering something in Xu Sinian's ear with a smile if she looked down.
She couldn't understand when her sister and Brother Xu had become so close; they had always been so...
Tang Yin's brows furrowed even more.
She soon had no time to think, because a foreign film had started playing on the screen in front of her.
Then, without warning, Tang Yin saw a kissing scene in the movie, which made the girl's face turn bright red.
She never expected this movie to be like this!
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the male classmate next to her staring at her, and a feeling of embarrassment, shame, and humiliation she had never experienced before spread through her heart.
She regretted it; she regretted coming in to watch the movie. Who would have thought that her sister and Brother Xu would be watching such an indecent film?
But what Tang Yin didn't expect was that something even more embarrassing was yet to come, because she saw that Tang Ning, who was sitting below them, also turned around and kissed Xu Sinian.
Upon seeing this, Tang Yin's mind went blank, and her toes curled up.
How could she...?
No wonder my sister is so successful in Lidu...
Tang Yin subconsciously thought this, but when she realized what she was thinking, a wave of shame washed over her. Yet, she couldn't help but continue thinking about it, even involuntarily wondering if Tang Ning, when facing other guests at Lidu, also…
I wonder if Brother Xu knows this...
Lost in thought and feeling utterly confused, Tang Yin suddenly felt the young man beside her lightly touch her finger. Startled, she immediately jumped down, completely disregarding the situation, and shouted, "What are you doing!"
The next second, she met Tang Ning's calm and collected gaze...
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