Chapter 137: My Mother-in-law called!

Liar—Shen Xiyan didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.

You know perfectly well that you’re coveting my girlfriend, and I should still treat you politely?

A man’s magnanimity shouldn’t be wasted on things like this.

Be too generous, and who knows, you might end up wearing a green hat one day.

Mm…

Even though Qin Sheng wasn’t his girlfriend yet, Su Hao wasn’t exactly an innocent kid either.

Tricking a brat—Shen Xiyan felt even less guilty about that.

But when it came to fools, that’s when Shen Xiyan started feeling deeply sinful.

Seeing Su Hao’s utterly bewildered face, Shen Xiyan began to reflect.

What’s going on with this country, why am I lost in thought, and what’s the main point here.

Cough, cough! Sorry… wandered onto the wrong set.

Shen Xiyan started questioning his own character, deeply disappointed in his moral standards.

He wasn’t this scheming before—how could he bully a kid?

Can he still call himself a male idol?

After running through this entire self-reflection process, people still had to keep up the act.

No choice—he’d promised Su Jin to handle this.

Su Hao hadn’t caught on yet, mainly because he’d assumed from the start that Lin Ci was his girlfriend.

But when he finally figured it out, it would be total “social death.”

At that point, there’d be nothing left to say—Su Hao wouldn’t want to see him ever again.

Afterward, Qin Sheng asked for a few small grills.

She was eating what the boss grilled while enjoying the fun of cooking her own food.

Only Qin Sheng had this kind of “leisurely interest” among the group. Shen Xiyan hadn’t planned to join her, but seeing her do it alone seemed out of place, so he joined in.

“Xiyan, here… try my abalone.”

“Not interested.”

“Come on, have a skewer Try it”

“Can’t you eat it yourself?”

“I want you to eat it!”

“Come on eat it let me feed you, okay? Ah—”

“Ah—~”

Qin Sheng pressed closer and closer.

“I’ll do it myself, thanks.” Shen Xiyan had no choice but to politely take it.

“Aiya! Why are you being so polite with me?” Qin Sheng scrunched her brows, looking displeased.

Shen Xiyan was silent for a moment, took a bite, and frowned: “It’s not cooked through. Keep grilling!”

“Oh~~” Qin Sheng immediately beamed with joy.

Shen Xiyan:

You all saw it. It’s not that I’m unreasonable, she’s the one whose brain isn’t working.

Is this supposed to be funny?

This scene couldn’t help but make the others—guys silent, girls in tears.

The girls, at least, were used to it.

Compared to how Qin Sheng used to just grab Shen Xiyan and kiss him at the drop of a hat, this was already pretty restrained.

But Su Hao… well, even if he was slow, now he was definitely getting it, his face a mess.

Xiyan…

Have a skewer.

Eat it.

Let me feed you, okay?

Heavens above, there must be something wrong with my hearing—how did Qin Sheng’s vibe fall apart like this?

Director, did you run out of budget?

What happened to the High-cold attitude?

When he saw Qin Sheng acting all pitiful, bargaining with Shen Xiyan just to get him to try her (grilled) abalone, Su Hao felt like his whole world was collapsing.

Qin Sheng—was she… acting cute?

He quickly shifted over a seat, lowered his voice, and asked, “Sis… what’s going on with them?”

“You still don’t get it?”

“But he…”

Su Jin looked every bit the gentle big sister with her caring eyes for her little brother, sighing, “I never said Lin Ci was his girlfriend. You’re the one who’s got ‘likes Qin Sheng’ written all over your face. They were just teasing you.”

Teasing… teasing me?

That jerk!

Su Hao left, covering his face, not looking back at all.

Qin Sheng puffed out her cheeks and laughed, “What’s up? He’s not eating anymore?”

“He’s got a bit of high blood pressure right now, probably going home for some medicine,” Su Jin laughed and clapped her hands.

Under Lin Ci and Wenwen’s puzzled looks, she explained the whole thing, “Well, this is good—he probably won’t come looking for me for a while… totally crushed!”

“If you’re satisfied, that’s all that matters—hey! Wenwen, why are you snatching the meat I grilled? There’s so much the boss grilled!”

“I just want yours!”

“I haven’t even tasted it myself—don’t you know what ‘the fruits of hard work’ means?”

If it were anyone else, Shen Xiyan wouldn’t bother arguing.

But with Wenwen, Shen Xiyan just loved to act shameless—never like a proper big brother, fighting tooth and nail with his little sister for food, while Wenwen also never acted like a proper little sister, fiercely grabbing at the meat skewers her brother grilled.

Her small mouth couldn’t fit that much food, so she kicked him under the table in frustration, blaming him for fighting her for food.

In the end, Wenwen lost, and that skewer ended up in Shen Xiyan’s hand.

She simply lunged forward to bite it, but Shen Xiyan was even more shameless—he bent down and licked it first.

Seeing her last chance gone, Wenwen was furious and pinched her brother for dear life!

“What’s wrong with letting me have a skewer? What’s! Wrong! With that!”

“Sorry, sorry! I’ll grill you another one!”

“Grill!!!” Wenwen barked.

Rubbing his neck, red from Wenwen’s pinching, Shen Xiyan looked around.

“What do you all want to eat? I’ll grill it all together—now that the eyesore’s gone, even the food tastes better when you cook it yourself…”

Lin Ci was especially “considerate”: “Just grill Wenwen’s, or she might grill you if you don’t.”

Truthfully, Shen Xiyan’s personality was never this playful.

It only came out when he was with Wenwen; Lin Ci was long used to it.

It was one of the Orphan’s Survival Rules—someone had to keep Wenwen in a happy, carefree mood, and Shen Xiyan was that person.

But in Qin Sheng’s eyes, watching this, she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable.

She understood Shen Xiyan’s feelings for Wenwen, but whenever the siblings were together, she, as the girlfriend, always felt like an outsider.

Especially when shopping—Wenwen would cling to Shen Xiyan’s arm, and as the “sister-in-law,” Qin Sheng couldn’t really fight for his affection, right?

Otherwise, Xiyan wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.

Then what always happened was the shop assistant would praise, “Handsome guy, your girlfriend is really pretty.”

Once or twice is one thing, but year after year with no end in sight.

If you can’t stand it anymore, there’s no reason to keep enduring—so Wenwen and Xiyan had to keep some distance.

Getting married early was the right path—clinging to your brother all the time, what’s the point of that?

She casually grabbed one of the lamb skewers Shen Xiyan had grilled and stuffed it in her mouth, complaining, “You made this way too bland—tastes like nothing at all.”

“It’s your fault if I end up with a bird in my mouth!”

Shen Xiyan suspected Qin Sheng was flirting, but he had no proof.

Once he finished the skewer in front of him and downed his cola in one go, Shen Xiyan leaned back in his soft chair, belly bulging, and let out a long sigh.

Wenwen also finished her drink, gave an unladylike burp, quickly covered her mouth, then rubbed her belly with her other hand. Her eyes crinkled as she gave a satisfied little smile.

Lin Ci wiped her mouth: “How many days have you two not eaten?”

…Food always tastes best when you fight over it!

“I still have an abalone here, can’t eat anymore—want it?”

“…Give it to me.”

Shen Xiyan was just about to try Lin Ci’s abalone after Qin Sheng’s.

But Qin Sheng moved fast and intercepted.

“Xiyan’s abalone should be saved for later, right, Xiyan?” Qin Sheng shot Shen Xiyan a “come-hither” look. “Compared to charcoal grilled, boiled is still the best!”

The next second, Shen Xiyan sucked in a sharp breath as the back of his head got smacked hard.

If that had hit any normal guy, he’d be sweating buckets from the pain.

“Who was that!!”

“You all sure are taking it easy~~”

Qin Sheng frowned and turned to Song Wan, asking, “Why are you here?”

Song Wan tossed her phone over, her expression anything but friendly.

Qin Sheng caught it, glanced at the screen, then patted Shen Xiyan’s arm and said coolly, “Oh… turns out it’s a call from the mother-in-law.”