"Don't bring him up, it makes me unhappy," Xu Chaomu said with a stern little face to Li Beiting.
Li Beiting laughed so hard his stomach hurt, it was the first time he had ever encountered such an interesting little girl.
Just then, the phone in the living room of their house rang, and after he put the basketball down, he walked over to answer it.
"Li Beiting, send Xu Chaomu back to me!"
The icy, stern voice startled Li Beiting; he thought it was someone else at first, but it turned out to be young master Shen.
"Look, Shen Chi, it's not my fault, okay? The girl was crying outside your house on her own, don't think I abducted her," Li Beiting quickly disclaimed any involvement.
"Send her over within five minutes, and I won't hold it against you."
"Alright, alright, whatever you, Shen young master, say," Li Beiting wiped his sweat.
"Don't say it was me who had her come back!" Shen Chi said coldly.
"Uh?"
Before Li Beiting could recover from his confusion, Shen Chi had already hung up the phone. Li Beiting held the receiver, unable to snap back to reality for a long time, Shen young master's manner of doing things was truly unpredictable!
Xu Chaomu, however, didn't cause any trouble for Li Beiting; she sat obediently on the stool, staring blankly around the large living room of the Li family.
Although Li family's living room wasn't as luxurious as the Shen family's, Xu Chaomu felt it had more warmth. At least, the family photos hanging on the wall were endearing.
Once, she too had longed for a perfect family; she had even asked her mother where her father was.
But her mother always remained silent, and later, afraid to make her mother unhappy, she never asked again.
In the future, she would not have a warm home anymore.
At that thought, she felt a bit of discomfort in her heart.
"Chaomu, I'll take you back," Li Beiting came over.
"Go where?" Xu Chaomu looked at him suspiciously, "I don't want to go back to the Shen family; nobody there is nice to me apart from Auntie Zhou."
"Your Auntie Zhou has been looking for you, she made several calls, worried you got lost," Li Beiting fabricated a lie.
"Auntie Zhou is looking for me?"
"Yeah, she was so anxious when she heard you were here, she asked me to take you back," he replied.
Xu Chaomu was moved, but then thinking of Shen Chi's face, she quickly shook her head, "I'm not going back, Shen Chi will eat me up without leaving anything behind!"
She had learned a new phrase while reading a comic book today: "eat up without leaving anything behind." Although she didn't know what it meant, every time the male protagonist said this to the female protagonist, the latter seemed scared.
Therefore, Xu Chaomu thought it was a powerful phrase, perfectly suitable for her current situation.
Pity that she wouldn't be able to learn such cultured things anymore, as all the books had been burned.
Li Beiting was taken aback at first, then burst into uproarious laughter.
Eat up without leaving anything behind... without leaving behind... behind...
Li Beiting laughed boisterously, "You can absolutely rest assured on that count, I vouch for my integrity, Shen Chi definitely has no interest in you!"
Not to speak of Xu Chaomu only being ten, even if she were eighteen and of age now, Shen Chi would definitely have no interest in her. After all, Shen young master likes Miss Bai Man from the Bai family!
"Is your integrity valuable?" Xu Chaomu expressed her doubt.
And later on, as it turned out, Li Beiting's integrity must have been eaten by a dog. Wasn't it said Shen Chi had no interest in her? Then who was the man who pinned her to the bed day and night, years later?!
"How could you doubt me, huh? Come on, I'll take you back to the Shen family; your Auntie Zhou must be dying of worry," Li Beiting said.
Xu Chaomu was also worried about Auntie Zhou; after all, she liked her very much, as Auntie Zhou always reminded her of her own mother.
When Li Beiting delivered Xu Chaomu back to the Shen family, Shen Chi was sitting at the dining table, leisurely enjoying his supper.
He patiently cut his steak into pieces, his movements ever so graceful.
When Xu Chaomu stood in front of him, he didn't lift his head.
"Ahem, Shen Chi," Li Beiting coughed lightly.
"You can go now!" Shen Chi said indifferently.
"You... cross the river and demolish the bridge, don't you! At least invite me for a cup of tea." Li Beiting voiced his protest.
But Shen Chi, with his head down, continued to eat his own dinner. Li Beiting found it pointless to stay, so he glared at him and left the Shen Family. Well, just consider it a good deed for the day, Li Beiting consoled himself.
Xu Chaomu too glared at him, but her stomach betrayed her by letting out a loud "gurgling" sound, impossible to cover up.
She had not eaten anything all day, what now?
Shen Chi, on the other hand, seemed unfazed, eating his own food without so much as a glance at Xu Chaomu.
The steak emitted an enticing aroma, and together with the table full of dishes, Xu Chaomu really wanted to sit down and join in.
No, no, dying of hunger is a minor issue, but losing one's pride is another. How would she face the future?
So, Xu Chaomu walked past Shen Chi with her head held high and chest puffed out. But just a few steps later, the cold voice of someone behind her faintly rang out.
"Aren't you very capable? Why come back?"
"You think I want to come back? Aunt Zhou asked me to, I did it just so Aunt Zhou wouldn't worry. I don't want to see you!" Xu Chaomu retorted irritably.
Shen Chi sneered. A ten-year-old child really doesn't know how to read the room.
His mother, didn't like her at all.
Shen Chi fell silent, and Xu Chaomu paused. Actually, if he had said "Let's eat together," she would have reluctantly joined him for the meal.
But Shen Chi remained silent, and Xu Chaomu, grinding her teeth, had no choice but to climb upstairs on her own.
Her comic books were taken, and she had nothing to eat; Xu Chaomu felt that life here was worse than the orphanage. At least in the orphanage, she could set off firecrackers.
It was in the middle of the night when she was woken by hunger. Xu Chaomu, covering her stomach, whispered, "So hungry, so hungry," but nobody paid her any attention.
She turned on the bedside lamp and rummaged through everything looking for something to eat, but the cupboard was as clean as her face, empty.
The clock pointed to "1," signaling it was one in the morning.
The surroundings were silent, the only sound being the growling of her stomach.
Xu Chaomu had no choice but to sneak downstairs, hoping to find something to eat.
She didn't dare to turn on the lights, in case she was discovered... that would be damaging to her image.
Just as she was about to reach the bottom of the stairs, she saw a black silhouette sitting on the sofa!
The silhouette sat still, silent and motionless.
"Aahh!" Xu Chaomu screamed in terror as she clutched her head.
Who on earth sits there in the dead of night without making a sound, scaring her to death?
"Click," Shen Chi rose from the sofa and turned on the living room light.
Xu Chaomu took off running. Why was it him? What was he doing awake at this ungodly hour? If he found out that she came downstairs for food, she would be mortified.
Shen Chi caught her by the collar and yanked her down: "What are you wandering around for in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
"Oh, really? Hehe, I'm sleepwalking." Xu Chaomu forced an ugly smile.
She noticed that Shen Chi was sporting a dark expression, not looking too pleased. She didn't know who made him upset, but she was sure it wasn't her.
"Stop lying to me! There's food on the table, go eat it yourself!" Shen Chi let go of her.
All her little tricks laid bare, Xu Chaomu felt utterly embarrassed.
She had no choice but to cover her face and walk past Shen Chi to sit at the table and eat. The food was still warm, which felt miraculous to her. Did wealthy families have bowls and chopsticks that came with a self-heating feature?
Xu Chaomu was puzzled.
Shen Chi didn't sit back down; instead, he slowly ascended the stairs.
Xu Chaomu felt it would be rude not to show some concern, so she casually asked, "Why aren't you asleep at this hour?"
Shen Chi's steps hesitated for a moment, but without a word, he continued climbing the stairs.
Xu Chaomu felt like she was making a fool of herself, so she snorted, curled her lips in disdain, and continued to eat.