Listening to the kid rattle off a whole string of things he didn’t want to hear, Lu Huaiyu couldn’t help clicking his tongue.
“You’re getting awfully chatty! If you don’t want to do it, then forget it!”
“How do you keep missing every opportunity I give you? Did you feed your high IQ and EQ to the dogs?”
Xie Changyu silently added from the side: Feed what to the dogs? You fed them to that toad of yours!
Of course, he didn’t dare say it aloud. He could only mutter it secretly in his heart.
Xie Tangning answered without hesitation. “I want to! I want to! Big Brother, you have to keep your word!”
“My Chinese grades may be at the bottom of the class, but I’m a walking Chinese phrase dictionary. Hurry up and get ready for my barrage of sweet talk!”
Lu Huaiyu pretended to straighten his pajamas, carrying himself as though he were adjusting a bespoke designer suit.
“Ahem~ Go ahead! I’m all ears!”
Xie Tangning cleared her throat, preparing to show off the size of her vocabulary.
But Xie Changyu, who had been watching the big and little one getting along so harmoniously, was not happy. His little mouth immediately started chattering at his older brother.
“Big Brother, you’re playing favorites! Why do you increase Xie Xiaoning’s allowance just because she says a few nice things to you? Why don’t I get a reward?”
“I don’t care, I want one too! I can say nice things too—better than her!”
Seeing the words “If you don’t agree, I’m going to start making a scene!” practically written all over his brother’s face, Lu Huaiyu’s wicked side surfaced at once. He shot him a provocative look.
“With that mouth of yours, which looks like it’s been smeared with deadly poison, what nice things could you possibly say?”
“Listen to yourself. Do you honestly believe what you’re saying?”
Xie Changyu tossed aside his potato chips, wrapped both arms around his brother’s arm, and began to wheedle shamelessly.
“I don’t care~ I want it! Tell Brother Lin not to schedule any more work for me, please~ I just want to have a proper vacation~”
“Big Brother~ Please, please, my wonderful Big Brother~”
Xie Tangning, that little squirt, slid smoothly into the act as well. She hugged Lu Huaiyu’s other arm and shook it vigorously, joining her second brother in begging.
Sweet words poured from her mouth as if they were free. The two siblings nearly sweet-talked Lu Huaiyu into a complete puddle.
As it turned out, when younger siblings acted cute, Lu Huaiyu’s soul floated away.
In the end, all three parties were satisfied.
One got a bigger allowance, one managed to push off two jobs, and one experienced a complete spiritual elevation.
…
The Xie Family Estate
It was already past eleven at night, yet not a single one of the old folks in the house had gone to bed.
Especially the oldest of them all, who had lived for nearly a century. At that very moment, Old Master Xie was watching a short drama projected onto the enormous television in the house.
He was completely engrossed, with a schedule even more disciplined than that of young people.
The butler who had always looked after him at the old residence was sitting beside him, watching too.
When Grandma Qi Rou and Grandfather Lu returned from outside, this was the scene they walked in on. Lu Wenhua instinctively asked, “What short drama is Old Master watching this time? Is it any good?”
Old Master Xie was so absorbed that he didn’t even turn his head, afraid he might miss an exciting moment.
“The newly released I Can’t Make It as a Rich Heir, So Let Me Live in a Mansion and Drive a Luxury Car Instead. It’s pretty entertaining. Want to watch a bit?”
Lu Wenhua walked over with Qi Rou. “Sounds like one of those ridiculous wish-fulfillment dramas. We can watch a couple of episodes.”
Old Master Xie shifted to the side and made room for them.
And so, the four little old ladies and gentlemen sat down and began watching the over-the-top fantasy drama together.
While eating oranges that Lu Wenhua had peeled for her, Qi Rou enthusiastically discussed the plot with Old Master Xie and the butler.
After Chen Linmei and Grandpa Xie finished an emergency video conference with the overseas branch upstairs, they came down and saw this harmonious scene.
Xie Heng'an instinctively asked, “How are you all so free? Da Yu is appearing on a show, while Qiwu and Xiao Xun have flown overseas again.”
“Didn’t they dump all the company’s affairs on you?”
Lu Wenhua stared at him as if he had said something strange. She glanced at the clock on the wall and was silent for two seconds before answering.
“I hope you realize that it’s eleven o’clock at night. I’m not some overworked CEO from a short drama. What kind of sane person is still working overtime at eleven?”
Chen Linmei clicked her tongue. She felt that the old man who had asked such a question had clearly lost his mind. She rolled her eyes at him.
“What’s wrong with you? Isn’t it just like the boss being away on a business trip for a few days? The company can’t function for just a few days without him?”
“Do you think all the employees and board members are just dead weight? I don’t know what part of your body you used to come up with that question!”
“From now on, don’t tell people you know me when you go out. We’ve both lived most of our lives—we can’t afford to lose face like that!”
With that, she shook off Xie Heng'an’s hand and went straight to the seat beside Qi Rou.
Xie Heng'an: “…”
Grandpa Xie rubbed his nose and explained without the slightest embarrassment, “I’d just finished a meeting and my brain was fried!”
Whoever works overtime is crazy!
Because of the time difference, and because the matter had been urgent, they had been forced to hold the meeting after ten at night.
“Oh, by the way, have you seen the trending searches? If you haven’t, it’s probably better not to look. Especially you, Dad!”
After saying this, Xie Heng'an deliberately glanced at Old Master Xie. The old man was getting on in years, and he was afraid that seeing all the nonsense on the trending list would anger him so badly that his brittle old body would fall apart.
Old Master Xie glared at him unhappily. “Do you think I need you to worry about me? I’ve fought those vile haters through countless rounds!”
“Five against one, and I won!”
The moment the old man said this, all the other little old ladies and gentlemen immediately looked at him with admiration.
“Impressive, Old Master!”
Chen Linmei gave Old Master Xie a thumbs-up. “Not bad, Dad. Who would’ve thought that with those failing old eyes of yours, you could still take on five people at once?”
The old man proudly stretched out his neck. “That’s because I’m still going strong in my old age. I type faster than those young people!”
“I nearly smoked the keyboard, you know!”
The butler remained silent at the side, though he grumbled furiously to himself.
What do you mean, you type fast? You were practically talking like a telegraph machine while the young employees you dragged over from the estate did the actual typing until their keyboards nearly smoked.
The butler didn’t expose him, but that didn’t mean Xie Heng'an—the unfilial son—would let him off.
He gave a couple of snorts, chose a seat as far away from his father as possible, and began running his mouth.
“Oh, please, keep bragging! With your failing eyesight, you’re trying to tell us you nearly smoked a keyboard? I bet the keyboard was just sitting there laughing at some Qing-dynasty antique who wanted a massage!”
“With that mouth of yours, which runs like a telegraph machine, if you’d really typed and posted those comments yourself, your account would’ve been banned a hundred times over!”
“You definitely bullied some poor sucker into acting as your ghostwriter!”
His bragging had been exposed by his own unfilial son without the slightest hesitation. Old Master Xie was so furious that his beard stood on end, and even the short drama in front of him had lost its appeal.
“Unfilial son! Bring out the family law! Today I’m going to teach this brat how to speak like a human being!”
Xie Heng'an shrugged indifferently. “Since when did our family have a family law? Old man, have you finally been driven crazy?”
The Xie family may once have had family rules, but after one devil of a descendant after another came along, those rules were probably burned by some damned fool long ago.
How else could they have survived to this day?
