CH 13

Clouds form and dissipate, rolling into pleasing shapes and continue to change.

The warm afternoon sunlight passes through the branches of a sal tree, casting a wave of bright reflection on the shiny black convertible sports car.

Murong Jihua, leaning on the steering wheel, is counting his heartbeat, which is aligned with the ticks and tocks of the platinum-diamond watch on his hand.

A light breeze makes his eyelashes shiver slightly.

The bell tolls on time.

Another day, another school is out.

Students exit the school in small groups and in excited chatter.

The two people walking towards Murong Jihua backlit by sunlight almost feel like they have dazzling silhouettes.

Without looking, Murong Jihua already knows it must be Su Xiaomo and——

It’s not He Jünle, again?!

Where is He Jünle?!

The one holding Su Xiaomo’s arm is another girl with short hair.

They leave the school entrance as they continue their chats and chuckles. It is only when they approach the sports car that Su Xiaomo stops smiling and turns back into her slightly depressed, quiet self and sits down on the passenger’s seat without saying a word, waving goodbye to her ‘new friend.’

Murong Jihua does not start the sports car and instead, begins making an imposing pose where he sits, asking idly,

“You, were not a good girl. You were thirty seconds late leaving.

“… Le-gege’s adopted younger sister.”

“Oh?”

“Her name is Xüeru. She was uncle He’s adopted daughter, but after he passed away (TL: I thought he was in hiding from his debts?), Le-gege had only her as family. They treat each other indistinguishably from real siblings.”

“Oh… So a setting of deceased parents but with a younger sister and house in tow? Basic excuse for forming a harem. I tell you, little girl, believe him at your own peril. That damned bastard is definitely up to something. If they’d actually be pure brothers and sisters——”

“Uh, what? I didn’t hear you clearly…”

“… Never mind.”

He steps on the gas and pushes his sunglasses up to his forehead, asking ‘idly’ again, “where’s your Le-gege, then?”

Su Xiaomo replies, “even if you keep asking me about Le-gege, ‘I don’t know’ means I don’t know…”

“You damned woman, answering my questions is part of your responsibility now! Besides, what do you mean I keep asking. You better throw all the men besides me into the back of your mind!”

“… You’re the sugar daddy, keep being unreasonable.”

A light tap is followed by butler Cui’s voice from Murong Jihua’s embedded device in his right ear,

“Shaoye, according to our internal surveillance team in the school grounds, He Jünle did not appear at all the entire day.”

Murong Jihua furrows his brows slightly to ask, “he didn’t go brawl again, did he.”

“After we have learnt of that, I have already made contact with the North District subdivision of the Department of Transportation. According to CCTV and route tracking data, He Jünle left early on a taxi today.”

“Where did he go?”

“North District, Fourth People’s Hospital.”

“Fourth People’s Hospital? What is he doing at an hospi——”

Murong Jihua couldn’t finish asking because, as soon as she heard the phrase ‘Fourth People’s Hospital,’ Su Xiaomo has begun dragging on Murong Jihua’s sleeve with her right hand tightly.

“Oh no! Something must have happened… Please, please take me there, right now! Please!”

In an instant, countless options fly past Murong Jihua’s mind.

And he picked the most melodramatic and dog-blooded out of all those, to ask,

“After your family… fell from grace, you couldn’t have possibly had a terminally sick younger sister, and in order to save her you fell further into debt and was even fired for it, only to end up selling yourself to the late-night tea party to raise funds for her to treat her disease——

Could you?”

“No, it’s not like that!”

“?”

“He’s my younger brother!”

“… Is there a difference.”

“A younger sister has half a chromosome more than a younger brother!” (TL: Haven’t studied biology, so I have no idea what this means or whether it’s true)

“… … Oh.”

“Ok, ok! Xiaomo, calm down! I get it already, stop shaking before the car ends up in a ditch!”

“Hello? Cui Guanshi? Send me the VR GPS guiding system. Also, have the most high-class restaurant nearby prepare takeout of the highest quality and send it to the hospital door for me!”

When Murong Jihua, with eight boxes of deluxe takeout in his hands,

Chasing after Su Xiaomo who is practically flying through the stairs,

Skipping past the ‘closed for maintenance’ elevators,

Reaching Room 518, of the Fourth People’s Hospital,

On foot,

He happens to run right into He Jünle, who was outside buying lunch.

“Jiejie!” (TL: Older sister)

“Didi!” (TL: Younger brother)

“Uwuwu, I thought, jiejie made didi helpless again…”

“Uwuwu, I’m sorry, Xiaoqiu made jiejie worry again…”

While the lovely sibling drama is playing out in the patient’s room, the background objects known as Murong Jihua and He Jünle are staring down each other in front of the bed.

“Why are you here?”

“Why can’t I be here?”

“You knew about her hospitalised younger brother?”

“I did, and visits regularly too. Unlike a certain someone, who is so busy counting his pile of money every day, to care about Mo-er’s life, ho.”

“… Bu—”

But?

But what?

But isn’t this just a game world?

But don’t all the male leads in bossy CEO novels solve everything with money?

But don’t all the bossy CEOs cause physical and mental trauma to female leads in the first third of the arc?

Murong Jihua, looking at He Jünle’s cold expression, can’t help but feel like he’s been one-upped, completely, again.

No, he really is one-upped. There’s no question about it.

He grits his back teeth. Why wasn’t he as attentive to Su Xiaomo? When will he ever manage to capture her like this.

And, our Mr Outrageous here sure knows a lot about making advances on girls discreetly. He’s impressed.

——Until he notices the simple, poor man’s lunchbox in He Jünle’s right hand.

Ok, at least he’s got him beat in that!

He walks forth, to lightly tap on Su Xiaomo’s shoulder. Murong Jihua raises the eight deluxe takeout boxes in his hand, and gestures, saying,

“Now, your younger brother must be hungry. Let this gege feed him well.”

Xiaoqiu reflexively buries his head a little in his older sister’s lap.

It is an instinctive reaction from any creature when faced with danger.