After leaving the Qin household with her plush Stitch tucked in her arms, Xie Tangning proceeded to act out, without missing a single detail, everything the brothers had just predicted.
The two brothers, having successfully predicted their little sister’s behavior, couldn’t help bursting out laughing. Their laughter left Xie Tangning utterly bewildered.
“What are you two laughing at? Have you suddenly lost your minds?”
“We’re not laughing! You must have seen wrong!”
“The world of advanced adults is something an intermediate minor like you could never understand~”
Xie Tangning: What kind of lunatics are these?!
“You two didn’t secretly do something bad behind my back, did you?!”
Receiving their little sister’s suspicious stare, Xie Changyu began cheerfully changing the subject. “Come on, come on~ Isn’t Monkey Bro next?”
Lu Huaiyu was also afraid their little sister would seize the opportunity to make a fuss, so he pitched his voice high and played along.
“Er Yu’s right. It’s almost dinnertime, so we’d better hurry there and back~”
The two brothers immediately started pushing Xie Tangning toward the car, giving her no chance to keep pressing them.
After Lu Huaiyu and Xie Changyu took Xie Tangning around to mock all her friends who still hadn’t finished their homework, it was already past six.
Fortunately, their whole group lived relatively close to one another. Otherwise, even with another two hours, they probably wouldn’t have managed to make the rounds to so many friends’ homes.
When Dad Xie saw the three children who had clearly gone off somewhere to fool around, he instinctively asked, “Where did you three go off to? Ningning, weren’t you supposed to be catching up on your homework?”
Xie Yanxun was sitting on the sofa, counting the spoils he and his wife had brought back from their date. Delicate little gifts covered the entire table.
Xie Tangning bounced over in a few quick hops, plopped herself down beside her father, and began sharing her proud—well, more like shameless—deeds with him.
“Dad, hurry up and praise me! I’ve been super disciplined this summer and finished my vacation homework ages ago!”
“I was the very first one among all my friends to finish it~”
Listening to the girl brag so proudly, Xie Yanxun nearly failed to hold back his laughter.
Where did Xie Tangning get the nerve to call herself disciplined?
The only reason she had managed to finish the homework she privately called her “summer assignment from hell” before school started was because her big brother had supervised her during the early stages—or, more accurately, threatened to cut off her allowance!
But he absolutely couldn’t say that out loud. If he did, Xie Tangning would throw a fit and make a scene.
“Our Ningning is such a good girl. So, to reward our super-disciplined little princess, Dad brought you a beautiful emerald bracelet~”
Xie Yanxun was clearly an expert at placating children. He took a custom-made bracelet out of one of the little gift boxes.
“It’s so pretty! Dad, you have such great taste. No wonder they call you Old Xie with the impeccable eye!”
For some reason, that compliment made Xie Yanxun feel inexplicably guilty, but it didn’t stop him from accepting it with complete confidence.
“Of course. Dad has always had excellent taste. It’s just that the three of you insist on falsely accusing me of having terrible judgment!”
“Pfft—hahahahaha!”
“Big Brother, did you hear that? Dad says he has good taste? That there’s nothing wrong with his eye?”
“Where does he get that confidence? This is killing me! Hahaha~”
Xie Changyu clutched his stomach as he laughed. Once he had laughed himself weak, he simply draped half his body over Lu Huaiyu and asked him the question.
Lu Huaiyu didn’t even bother pretending anymore. His face was full of mockery.
“Dad really has gone to great lengths to make his beloved family laugh!”
“He’s even willing to throw away his dignity. In that respect, Er Yu is obviously the one who inherited it from you!”
How could Xie Yanxun fail to hear the brothers’ sarcasm? He responded with a savage glare that said everything his mouth didn’t, and said it very rudely.
Then he turned to look at his exceptionally tactful and sweet-talking daughter, only to find Xie Tangning holding back her laughter so hard that her face had gone red.
“…”
So no one loved him anymore, huh?
A bunch of little ingrates!
Seeing their father suffer a crushing defeat, Xie Changyu laughed even louder.
“Dad, do you see now? No one in this family believes you have good taste—not even your supposedly sweet and thoughtful Xie Xiaoning!”
“That bracelet is obviously Mom’s choice. With your taste, do you really think you could pick something this elegant, exquisite, and perfectly suited to our little sister?”
“You’d be lucky if you didn’t come back with one of those chunky red-and-green bead bracelets, yet you still have the nerve to show off that lousy taste of yours!”
Once someone had started, Lu Huaiyu joined in, his little mouth spewing poison.
“Dad, the only time you ever showed good judgment and taste was when you fell in love with Mom at first sight!”
Xie Tangning decided that she absolutely could not let her sweet-and-considerate persona fall apart, so she didn’t say another word.
It definitely wasn’t because she was afraid of provoking her beloved father into cutting her allowance!
Definitely not!!
After being ridiculed in turn by his two sons, Xie Yanxun angrily threw a cushion at them.
“Get lost! Just looking at you two brats irritates me!”
Lu Huaiyu and Xie Changyu burst into another round of laughter. Truly, they were model sons.
“Dad’s lost it! Xie Xiaoning, hurry up and record this!”
“We can play it back for Dad as a memoir when he’s old!”
Old Master Xie had apparently returned at some point. He had watched the entire show from the entryway and now added his own poisonous comment.
“Remember to turn on the beauty filter~ His face already bears the marks of the passing years. He won’t look good without one!”
Xie Tangning instinctively replied, “Great-Grandpa, I turned it on ages ago!”
Xie Yanxun: “???”
Was today some kind of personal disaster day for him? The younger ones being shameless was one thing, but what was going on with his own grandfather, who was supposed to be closest to him across the generations?
Receiving his favorite grandson’s questioning stare, Old Master Xie calmly said, “People have to learn to face reality!”
“The wrinkles at the corners of your eyes are all vivid strokes painted across your eventful life!”
“So please, don’t despise your wrinkles!”
His policy was simple: respond to the question with something completely unrelated and tease his grandson while he was at it. What harm could there be?
As the old saying went: anger can make you look ten years younger!
Whether that saying was nonsense or wisdom, well, that was beside the point!
“What are you all talking about so happily? Why are you talking behind my back? Are you ganging up on me?”
Lu Qiwu came downstairs from above and opened with exactly that line.
In reality, she had been eavesdropping from the second floor for quite some time. Her husband being surrounded by four people was far too entertaining to miss!
It could only be said that no one in this family was innocent—not even Lu Qiwu.
The moment Xie Yanxun saw his wife, he forcibly squeezed out two tears.
“Sweetheart, they’re bullying me! The old and the young are all bullying me. I’m so pitiful~”
Lu Qiwu indulged him, pulling him into her arms and beginning to comfort him.
This time, the three younger ones and the one old one became the targets of the joke.
Xie Tangning was sitting right beside the couple. Watching the two of them cuddle, her entire face seemed to say: Who am I? Where am I?!
Lu Huaiyu stepped forward, pulled his little sister away from the affectionate couple, and headed straight for the dining table.
Grandma and Grandpa, as well as her maternal grandparents, wouldn’t be showing up before dinner tomorrow. Since everyone who was supposed to be there was already present, it really was time to eat.
“Forget about them. Let’s go eat.”
Halfway there, he couldn’t resist turning around and adding, “You two watch yourselves. Every day, you put on scenes that aren’t suitable for children!”
When Xie Changyu and Old Master Xie passed by, they each tossed in one last jab as well.
“Big brother’s right—the two of them together are old enough to be our great-grandpa!”
“And they really should’ve remembered there are minors present!”
