Chapter 263 Undercurrents
"Big brother."
Zhu Jinchao stepped out of Zhu Ning's arms and greeted Zhu Xingye obediently.
"Mmm." Zhu Xingye responded gently, raising a hand and beckoning her with his finger, "Come here."
She handed the things in her hand to Zhu Ning and walked over with Zhu Mingyue.
"Big brother." Zhu Mingyue stood in front of Zhu Xingye, still smiling, but the smile had changed slightly.
Zhu Xingye clearly sensed something was wrong, but he pretended not to know anything and naturally pulled her into his arms and hugged her.
Welcome home.
After hugging him, she turned to look at Zhu Jinzhao.
Zhu Jinzhao looked at him with a grin: "Big brother."
"Yes." He nodded and opened his arms to Zhu Jinchao. "Zhaochao, welcome home."
Without thinking twice, Zhu Jinzhao stepped forward and took the initiative to get into his arms.
He slowly tightened his arms and embraced Zhu Jinzhao tightly.
Zhu Mingyue stood to the side, her eyes, which had been full of smiles, suddenly turned somewhat gloomy.
She watched Zhu Xingye's movements, her hands hanging at her sides silently clenching into fists.
Zhu Xingye held Zhu Jinzhao tightly, unwilling to let go. Zhu Jinzhao felt a little awkward being held by him, so she secretly struggled a little in his arms, hoping he would understand her hint.
But instead of understanding, he tightened his grip on her even more.
Zhu Mingyue saw through his intentions at a glance and immediately called out loudly, "Big brother! Can we eat now? I'm so hungry!"
Zhu Xingye then reluctantly released Zhu Jinzhao.
“Okay.” Zhu Xingye smiled slightly and glanced at Zhu Mingyue. “The food is ready. You can eat as soon as you come in.”
"Great!" Zhu Mingyue grabbed Zhu Jinzhao's hand and pulled her to her side in a domineering manner. "Then let's eat quickly, I'm starving!"
"Okay." Zhu Ning walked past them with a cheerful smile. "I'll have Aunt Qing start the meal right now."
Zhu Mingyue: "Thank you, Second Brother!"
Then he grabbed Zhu Jinzhao and turned to leave.
Zhu Jinzhao was completely dazed and confused, unaware that Zhu Mingyue and Zhu Xingye had already started a war of words with their eyes.
The meal was eaten amidst turbulent undercurrents.
Zhu Jinzhao's seat was right next to Zhu Xingye's. While eating, Zhu Xingye kept putting food on her plate and peeling shrimp for her, only occasionally glancing at Zhu Mingyue, to prove that he was not deliberately showing favoritism.
But Zhu Mingyue knew exactly what he was thinking.
"Chao Chao..." She picked up a chicken wing and put it in Zhu Jinchao's bowl, saying in a low voice, "Can you do me a small favor?"
"What small favor?" Zhu Jinzhao asked in a similarly strained voice.
Zhu Mingyue: "No matter what I say later, you must answer me 'yes' or 'okay.' Understand?"
"Hmm..." Zhu Jinzhao nodded blankly, "I understand."
“OK.” Zhu Mingyue smiled at her, and the next second, she suddenly raised her voice.
"What? You suddenly don't want to eat shrimp anymore?!"
"..." Zhu Jinzhao stared blankly at her, "Yes, I suddenly don't want to eat anymore."
"Sigh..." Zhu Mingyue sighed regretfully, "It's probably because you've eaten too much seafood these past few days, so you're a bit tired of it."
“…Yes.” Zhu Jinzhao answered strictly according to her requirements.
"Alright." Zhu Mingyue pursed her lips helplessly. "Since that's the case, then I'll eat the rest of the shrimp for you."
After saying that, she took Zhu Jinzhao's small bowl and poured all the freshly peeled shrimp into it for herself.
On the other side, Zhu Xingye, who was still peeling shrimp, suddenly stopped.
"Hey, big brother!" Zhu Mingyue, unsurprisingly, set her sights on him. "Chaochao doesn't want to eat shrimp anymore, so give me all the shrimp you peeled later!"
“…Okay.” Zhu Xingye gritted his teeth and agreed.
Zhu Mingyue smiled maliciously: "Thank you, brother!"
Zhu Xingye glanced at her casually: "You're welcome."
"..."
Caught in the middle, Zhu Jinzhao looked at this one and then at that one, completely confused about what the two of them were doing.
“Hey,” Zhu Ning, who was across the long table, suddenly kicked Zhu Qian.
"What's wrong?" Zhu Qian turned his head to look at him.
He leaned closer to Zhu Qian, his backside tilting to the side, and asked, "Don't you think Mingyue's relationship with my older brother has been strange since she came back this time?"
"...Something's weird?" Zhu Qian frowned, his questioning gaze sweeping back and forth between Zhu Mingyue and Zhu Xingye, but he couldn't find anything strange about it.
"What's wrong? What's wrong with me?" he asked, puzzled.
While picking up some food, Zhu Ning muttered, "Ugh, I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong, but something just feels off."
"Huh?" Zhu Qian was completely bewildered by what he said.
He poked his head with the tip of his chopsticks, looking troubled, and said, "It feels like Mingyue has developed some hostility towards my elder brother, and my elder brother isn't as friendly towards Mingyue either."
“…How is that possible?” Zhu Qian rolled his eyes at him, completely disbelieving his words. “Even if Mingyue is hostile to you, she would never be hostile to Big Brother. And Big Brother would never be unfriendly to Mingyue, unless Big Brother has lost his mind.”
"Hmm?" Zhu Ning thought about it seriously and found it quite reasonable. "That's possible..."
"..." Zhu Qian curled his lips, completely speechless.
"Eat your food!" He put two crabs on Zhu Ning's plate, trying to shut him up from his mouth that only caused trouble.
Zhu Ning: "Oh."
It was already 8 p.m. when we finished dinner.
Zhu Jinzhao took her things back to her room, planning to take a shower first before video chatting with Shi Jing.
Shi Jing had been waiting for her since he got home, but she hadn't had time to pay attention to him because she had to deal with her three older brothers. Now that she was finally back in her room, she had to make sure to comfort Shi Jing, who had been waiting for her for so long.
"I'm going to take a shower now, and I'll video call you after I'm done." She held her phone, sending a voice message to Shi Jing as she walked into the bathroom.
Shi Jing replied instantly after listening to the voice message.
Okay, I'll wait for you every morning.
Wishing you a happy and well-behaved day today.
Shi Jing: Go take a shower. When you do, remember to check if the marks on your chest have faded. If they haven't, you'll have to wear higher-necked clothes tomorrow.
chest...
Zhu Jinzhao's cheeks flushed red the moment she saw those two words.
Immediately afterwards, some indescribable images surfaced in her mind...
"Chao Chao, I love you..." Shi Jing's hoarse voice echoed in her ears. She didn't remember whether she responded at the time, only that Shi Jing forcefully ripped open her collar.
A large expanse of smooth skin was exposed to Shi Jing's eyes. Shi Jing's breath caught in his throat, and he immediately opened his mouth and kissed her.
The delicate, frequent kisses rolled from her neck to her shoulder, then from her shoulder to her collarbone, and then all the way down.
Zhu Jinchao couldn't see Shi Jing's movements, but felt that his body's reaction was a bit strange.
After a while, Shi Jing released her, but her burning lips slid down again and suddenly bit her.
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