Chapter 35
Xie Lian: “Flowers need nutrients. Because I give them the best nourishment, they always bloom brilliantly.”
Xie Mi: “Do you seriously not need to take your meds?”
Xie Lian: “Do you still remember what their nourishment is? You’ve seen it before.”
Xie Mi: “You do realize you were acting kind of unhinged just now, right? Who laughs like that—forcing the sound low from the throat on purpose?”
Xie Lian: “So you’ve forgotten. Do you need me to help you remember?”
Xie Mi: “I get it—you’re a yandere. So that creepy laugh just now, you were doing it on purpose? You were just pretending to be cool?”
Xie Lian finally couldn’t hold it in. His patience snapped, and he cut off this completely scrambled conversation, “Enough!”
The terrifying atmosphere he had worked so hard to build shattered instantly.
This time, it was Xie Mi who let out a deep, chilling laugh from her throat.
“So you really were just pretending to be cool.”
Xie Lian: “…”
Can’t bear it anymore, won’t bear it anymore.
He shoved aside a flowerpot, pressed a hidden switch, and a secret door opened. He pushed Xie Mi inside.
The stench of blood rushed out. Inside were all sorts of horrifying torture instruments, along with jars on the shelves containing organs of unknown creatures preserved in formalin.
Xie Mi looked around calmly.
Xie Lian stepped up behind her, his laugh eerie and sinister.
“Well? Does this jog your memory? Do you remember the first time you accidentally barged in here? The look on your face back then was…”
“Truly spectacular.”
His voice carried a faint tremor. Behind the reflective lenses of his glasses, his eyes glittered with excitement. The corner of his lips curled upward, his tongue sliding across them as though savoring the memory.
“Is this your secret base?” Xie Mi suddenly asked.
Xie Lian didn’t answer. He just stepped inside, picked up a bloodstained scalpel, and twirled it in his hand.
The blade caught the light, reflecting harshly against Xie Mi’s face.
She didn’t flinch. Instead, she slowly revealed an evil smile.
“Do you know why a secret base is called a secret base?”
Xie Lian stayed silent. The light flashed across her face again.
Xie Mi: “If you tell me, then it’s not a secret anymore.”
Still, he said nothing. The light began to flicker wildly.
Oh—his hand was shaking.
Xie Mi grinned wider.
“Tonight I’m going to tell Dad everything, blow your whole act wide open.”
Clang—!
The scalpel fell to the floor. Xie Lian finally panicked. He lunged forward, grabbing Xie Mi just as she was about to leave, “Don’t!”
The yandere boy wasn’t yandere anymore. His eyes were clear, almost stupidly so.
Sigh. Strip away the persona, and he was nothing more than a 20-year-old college student.
And college students… are the easiest to fool.
Xie Mi lounged on a recliner in the garden, sunbathing lazily with one leg crossed over the other.
“Little fool, juice.”
At her words, Xie Lian carried over a glass of juice, holding the straw up to her lips.
Without even looking, Xie Mi puckered her lips and bit down on the straw.
Seeing this, the corner of Xie Lian’s lips curved slowly.
The next second, a sharp slap! landed across his face.
“You think I didn’t see you put bug corpses in the juice?!!”
Li Miyan, who had been carrying fruit on the side, stiffened all over. She immediately put on a fawning smile, “You hit him, but don’t hit me, okay?”
Smack! Another slap landed, this time on her.
“Don’t flatter yourself, it was convenient.”
Now both little fool and big fool had taken a slap each. Clutching their faces, they stood behind her, staring resentfully at Xie Mi’s back.
Just then, the butler’s voice rang out from the hall.
“The master has returned!”
Xie Mi immediately dropped the juice and dashed out. Li Miyan and Xie Lian hurriedly ran after her, hoping to tattle first.
But before they could, Xie Mi slid dramatically across the floor, wrapping her arms around a leg and firing off words like a machine gun:
“I was once a daughter who loved her father deeply, yet was harmed by my stepmother and stepbrother. My stepmother bullied me, my stepbrother tormented me, and they drove me out of the house. Now that I have a second chance, I swear I’ll never let anyone drive a wedge between me and my father again!”
“Then should I transfer you 50 bucks to hear the rest of your revenge plan?” said the leg’s owner, his voice oddly familiar.
Xie Mi looked up, straight into Shen Yanqing’s smiling peach-blossom eyes, “…Teacher Shen?”
Xie Mi: “?”
Wait—she was hugging Shen Yanqing? Then where was her rich dad?!
Xie Zhengde stepped out from behind Shen Yanqing, his expression complicated, his usually stern face showing a trace of helplessness.
“You’re the first man the master has ever brought home,” the butler, Old Bai, commented to Shen Yanqing.
“Old Bai, quit with the jokes,” Xie Zhengde said.
Old Bai gave an “oh” and stepped back.
“Xiao Mi, get up, the floor is cold.” Xie Zhengde’s voice carried natural authority, the kind that came from being strict for years. “This is Mr. Shen, a guest.”
Xie Mi glanced at Shen Yanqing’s smiling face, then at Xie Zhengde’s stern one.
She stretched out her hand toward Xie Zhengde, “Dad, give me a hand.”
Hiss—
Behind them, Li Miyan and the servants gasped, staring at her in disbelief.
Xie Zhengde’s rarely changing face twitched slightly.
Shen Yanqing’s hand had already started to reach out eagerly, but before he could touch hers, it was brushed aside.
Xie Zhengde’s calloused hand firmly grasped his daughter’s small one and pulled her up from the floor.
Perhaps it was just an illusion, but there seemed to be a hint of softness in his stern gaze.
“You really never grow up.” His tone was calm, but the corners of his lips tilted upward ever so slightly.
Old Bai appeared for the third time, sighing in amazement, “It’s been so long since the master smiled like this.”
Xie Zhengde’s face darkened. “Old Bai!”
Old Bai made another “oh” and quickly retreated.
But Xie Mi had already seen it all, and her earlier deduction was further confirmed.
Her father truly was the type who said one thing but felt another. Beneath that severe exterior lay a heart that loved his daughter dearly.
Most likely, it was his poor communication skills—and her stepmother’s scheming—that had caused the original girl to always misunderstand him.
“Were the things you just said true?” Xie Zhengde’s eyes swept over Li Miyan and Xie Lian standing behind her, his expression growing darker.
Li Miyan panicked and immediately explained, “Of course not! You know she’s loved joking around since she was little. You know I’ve always treated her well—how could I ever bully her?”
“Oh? Really?” Xie Mi looked at her with a smiling squint.
Li Miyan’s eyes begged desperately for mercy. She nodded so fast it looked like pounding garlic.
“Of course! Just now I even cut fruit for you, didn’t I? From now on, whatever fruit you want, I’ll cut it for you.”
Xie Mi’s smile grew wider. “And what about Xie Lian?”
The boy froze, his face instantly darkening. He pressed his lips tightly together, clearly unwilling to give in.
Li Miyan swiftly kicked him hard in the backside. With a thud, Xie Lian dropped to his knees in front of Xie Mi.
“Him too, him too! He loves his sister the most, he would never bully her!”
Xie Zhengde’s sharp gaze swept over the two of them.
“It had better be that way.”
After that, Xie Zhengde and Shen Yanqing went off to the study to talk, leaving Li Miyan and Xie Lian kneeling in front of Xie Mi, rubbing their hands together like flies and pleading nonstop.
Old Bai made his grand third appearance, sighing, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen Madam and Young Master kneel so happily.”
