“Is that your little brother? Why does he look so aggressive?” Zhu Niao whispered into Liu Xie’s ear.
“Probably because he just said the kind of thing I should be saying,” Liu Xie didn’t even try to avoid it and waved sweetly at Liu Anran.
Liu Anran, now dressed in a freshly changed suit jacket, took a deep breath.
“You’re supposed to be the guest of honor tonight, at least on paper. And here you are, hiding by yourself?”
“Aren’t you the one who told me to come hang out with my dormmates?”
Liu Xie deliberately put on a pitiful, teary-eyed expression, which made both Zhu Niao and Ye Qingchang momentarily freeze mid-bite.
Then came the stomach-churning nausea.
Liu Xie had really adapted fast—she was already using her new cuteness as a weapon to gross people out.
“That’s not what I… I didn’t mean…”
Liu Anran looked genuinely bewildered.
At that moment, he realized that, unconsciously, he’d once again mistaken the current Liu Xie for the older, male version of her.
This Liu Xie was much more delicate—he really shouldn’t expect so much from her anymore.
He could just shoulder the burdens alone.
“Never mind. Is the food good?” he asked, suddenly softening his tone.
Liu Xie blinked in surprise.
“Did you hit your head or something?”
She’d intentionally tried to disgust her sweet little brother, but Liu Anran had responded in a completely unexpected way.
“Eat well, drink well. If anything happens, just call me.”
Without acknowledging her stunned face or sarcastic words, Liu Anran turned and left to mingle with the other guests.
Liu Xie stood there, frozen.
Then she stiffly turned her head.
“Niao, am I dreaming?”
Zhu Niao responded by slamming a fist into her waist.
“Ow! What was that for?” the blonde girl winced, clutching her side.
“Did it hurt?” Zhu Niao asked, fist still raised.
“Yes!”
“Then you’re not dreaming.”
“Well, yeah, I gotta admit…” Ye Qingchang, standing beside them, rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“Your brother really feels like he’s got two different faces. Compared to when he walked in earlier, he looks way more human now.”
“He’s Usually Worse Than an Animal,” Liu Xie Said, Utterly Confused.
“I believe that,” Zhu Niao raised a finger.
“Happens in a lot of family dramas. Once the older brother’s out of the picture, the younger one steps up and takes responsibility.”
“That actually makes sense,” Ye Qingchang agreed.
“No, that’s not it.” Liu Xie shook her head.
“My brother had already been gradually taking over the family business. I never did anything useful to begin with. But then why is he suddenly not being a sarcastic jerk to me anymore?”
Zhu Niao and Ye Qingchang both turned to her with synchronized looks of contempt.
“So, what you’re saying is… as the elder sibling, you’ve just been making your younger brother act like he’s the elder brother all this time?” Ye Qingchang asked.
“Uh… well, they say the capable should do more.”
“I totally get now why he used to mouth off at you,” Zhu Niao chimed in.
“If I were him, I’d mouth off too.”
“You two are totally biased against me.” Liu Xie looked aggrieved.
“It’s just that I’m good at spending money and not making it. I was simply letting the more suitable person take the role.”
Neither of them had the energy to argue further—after all, this was venturing into family drama territory.
They kept their criticisms focused strictly on Liu Xie herself.
“That fake-cute act you pulled just now? Disgusting as hell, man.” Zhu Niao resumed eating.
“No idea where it came from,” Liu Xie replied cheerfully.
“My brain just clicked and out it came. If it disgusted you, then it worked perfectly.”
“That wasn’t a compliment.”
Liu Xie pretended not to hear and began picking out the tastiest items from the table, setting them aside neatly on a plate.
“What are you doing?” Zhu Niao leaned in curiously.
“Picking out the good stuff. Once the crowd thins, I’m grabbing some takeout containers.”
Liu Xie gave her a big thumbs-up.
“Grab a few extra too. I want to bring some back for the dorm leader to try.”
“Second Bro, you’re a man of honor.” Zhu Niao clasped her hands together in mock reverence and took out a fresh plate to start selecting dishes herself.
She was nearly full anyway—might as well pack up some food and head home to sleep.
The three of them stuffing their faces was pretty conspicuous at a high-end banquet like this, which might’ve been why barely anyone came over to talk to them.
Eventually, they even split up to scavenge the venue for more food.
But of course, there’s always an exception.
Zhu Niao was fretting over the missing mousse cake.
Just then, an exclamation rose from nearby.
A small group had gathered, and through the gaps, it looked like someone had collapsed on the ground.
There was a glimmer of familiar golden hair.
Looking down, she suddenly noticed an extra piece of mousse had appeared on her plate.
Startled, she turned to see a man in formal attire wearing a polite, practiced smile—though in this setting, everyone was formally dressed.
“You’re Miss Liu’s friend, aren’t you?”
“Uh… yeah.” Zhu Niao blinked, her head full of question marks.
“I’m sure we haven’t met before. Otherwise, someone as beautiful as you would’ve been etched into my memory,” came the greasy pickup line.
First of all, complimenting Zhu Niao’s looks wasn’t going to get him anywhere.
Second, as someone who used to be a guy, she knew exactly what this kind of line meant.
Why did people like this always come after her?
Was she really that much of a femme fatale?
“I’m her roommate,” Zhu Niao replied flatly, quietly stepping back a little.
“Roommate, huh?”
At those words, the man’s expression subtly shifted from polite courtesy to something a little smug—like a gambler who thought he’d just seen through your bluff.
With an air of feigned nonchalance—but in Zhu Niao’s eyes, it was painfully deliberate—he pulled a car key from his pocket and twirled it a little.
She had no idea what brand it was, nor did she care.
“Don’t you find all this noise annoying?” he said.
“Personally, I prefer chatting with people I’m actually interested in.”
As he said that, his gaze landed squarely on Zhu Niao.
Then he stepped closer.
Zhu Niao frowned and instinctively backed away.
Unfortunately, there was a table right behind her.
She bumped into it, hitting her lower back and wincing in pain.
When she looked up again, the man’s false smile was still right there in front of her.
“So… what do you think?”
“Not much,” she replied coldly, with no effort to be polite.
“A girl like you—no connections, no background, just an ordinary university student—what makes you think this is your decision to make?”
His grin turned sharp and menacing.
Then he reached out to grab her hand—only for her to dodge it cleanly.
“You need to understand,” he sneered, “people like you only have one option when dealing with someone like me: be agreeable. 123
}{“P_0 Maybe today you get to enjoy a glimpse of the high life because of Miss Liu, but how long do you think that’ll last? Know your place.”
“I’m the kind of guy who rewards those who go along with me and makes life very unpleasant for those who don’t. Doesn’t matter if it’s her—or the people around her.”
“Even if you don’t care… what about your friends?”
He picked up a glass of red wine nearby and tried to hand it to Zhu Niao.
“Use your body to entertain me—that’s your worth. Don’t you get it yet?”
Just then, a familiar figure stepped between them, shielding Zhu Niao.
“Sorry, she’s not feeling well. Her partner’s already here to pick her up,” Ye Qingchang said calmly as she pulled Zhu Niao out of the situation.
“Partner?”
The man’s gaze shifted back to Zhu Niao, only to be met with her frantic nodding like a pecking chick.
“Well then, now I’m curious—what kind of outstanding man could possibly be worthy of such a beautiful young lady?”
Seeing he wasn’t about to drop it, Zhu Niao shot a desperate glance at Ye Qingchang for help.
But Ye Qingchang didn’t even look at her.
She turned her eyes toward the entrance of the banquet hall.
Zhu Niao, puzzled, followed her line of sight.
And there it was: the door to the hall had cracked open slightly, and a patch of yellow peeked through—sneaky and conspicuous.
It was a delivery helmet.
And under the helmet, peeking just as sneakily, was Gou Yu.
Zhu Niao let out a breathy laugh of disbelief.
All the tension drained from her at once.
Now she just wanted to take a photo of Gou Yu’s ridiculous expression.
“If you’re not feeling well, go home and rest,” Ye Qingchang said with a wink, handing over a paper bag. “Don’t forget your stuff.”
“Huh?”
Zhu Niao couldn’t recall having anything with her.
She glanced down and saw the desserts she’d packed up earlier, already neatly tucked into a takeaway box.
And just like that, a smile broke across her face, full of quiet relief.