The Outsider

When human desires become overly inflated, even if one’s abilities match, they can still explode.

Mo Qingqing was clearly not Luo Shiya, and there were many things that the Mo family simply couldn’t know given their scale.

Watching Mo Qingqing leave in a daze, Luo Shiya curled her lips into a beautiful smile. She could already foresee Mo Qingqing’s future, but what did that have to do with her?

Life always moves forward. No matter how much you want to look back, time will only push you ahead.

Mo Xuan understood this deeply. A few days after the banquet ended, he had to return to school for a group project. As for Su Yanran, she no longer mattered to him as much.

What he needed to do now was not dwell on past lies but focus on what he should do in the future. Mo Xuan vaguely felt that Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi might have been controlling him a bit too tightly, but he didn’t pay it much mind.

For him now, it seemed that no matter what the two sisters did, he wouldn’t find it too excessive. In fact, he had grown somewhat… accustomed to it.

After a busy morning, the project seemed to be nearing its end. His mentor told him he didn’t need to come in the afternoon and reminded him to prioritize his studies.

The Capital had seen several snowfalls recently. The school had just cleared the snow, but today, flakes began to drift down again. Mo Xuan, with his hands tucked into his coat pockets, headed toward the cafeteria.

He hadn’t gone far when he heard hurried footsteps behind him. Instinctively, he turned around, and a figure immediately threw themselves into his arms.

“Brother…”

Luo Muqi looked up at him, her peach-blossom eyes filled with affection. Recognizing Luo Muqi, Mo Xuan was momentarily surprised before shaking his head with a wry smile. “I’ll be back this afternoon. Why did you come to the school?”

“I just happened to be passing by and wanted to see you.”

It was indeed a coincidence—a coincidence that she wanted to see Mo Xuan, and a coincidence that her car had stopped at Capital University…

Well, it could still count as a coincidence.

“You haven’t eaten, have you? Let me take you to lunch.”

Mo Xuan unwrapped his scarf and draped it around Luo Muqi’s neck. Feeling the warmth of Mo Xuan’s scarf, Luo Muqi felt an overwhelming sense of security.

Mo Xuan was like an antidote for her and Luo Shiya. Just feeling his warmth was enough to make her feel utterly at ease.

“Why didn’t you wait for me at home?” Mo Xuan smiled, holding Luo Muqi’s hand. “I’m free this afternoon and was planning to bring back some things you and the kids like.”

In truth… Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi didn’t have any particular favorites. If they had to name something, it would be whatever Mo Xuan bought for them or cooked himself.

“I missed you,” Luo Muqi said, leaning her head against Mo Xuan’s arm. “My sister went to the company for a meeting today. I was supposed to go too, but I didn’t want to…”

“…Be careful, or Shiya will scold you when she gets back.”

Mo Xuan sighed but only reached out to pat her head. Luo Muqi had always wanted to ask who was more important in Mo Xuan’s heart—her or her sister.

Or rather, who he loved more.

But after some thought, it seemed unimportant. From the moment they chose this outcome, the question had become irrelevant. Despite their obsessive and almost pathological love for Mo Xuan, they loved him so fiercely that they couldn’t bear to hurt each other.

When they were young, Luo Sheng and Shen Qingyun were often busy with work, so Luo Shiya spent most of her time with her, and vice versa.

Though both she and Luo Shiya wanted to know who held the top spot in Mo Xuan’s heart, they also didn’t want to know.

Perhaps, for them now, as long as Mo Xuan stayed by their side and never left, that was enough…

“Brother, I want to go to the amusement park.”

Mo Xuan was momentarily stunned, looking at her in confusion. Going to the amusement park in this weather…

“We have the kids at home, and your sister might come back at any moment…” Luo Muqi looked up, her gaze fixed on Mo Xuan. “Just for this afternoon, can you forget about the kids, forget about my sister, and just focus on me?”

Though he didn’t want to argue, this kind of thing… wasn’t exactly a first, was it?

However, it seemed like the first time Luo Muqi had actively said something like this. Mo Xuan looked at her in a daze, his voice gentle as he asked, “Muqi, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I just want to have you all to myself for a while…” Luo Muqi smiled. “Don’t ask me anymore, Brother. Just come with me, okay?”

When Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi subtly influenced Mo Xuan’s mind, they had selfishly planted the idea that he would listen to them. Over time, Mo Xuan had become almost unable to resist any of their requests.

Of course, if there was anyone in the world who truly wouldn’t harm Mo Xuan, it was probably Luo Shiya and Luo Muqi—and, well, their children.

Perhaps their love was pathological and heavy, but if they had to choose between themselves and Mo Xuan to take the fall, the knife would ultimately only stab themselves.

They just… wanted Mo Xuan to stay by their side forever…

“Alright, let’s go then,” Mo Xuan said softly, pulling Luo Muqi into his arms and gently brushing his forehead against hers. “Were you always this willful in the past?”

“Only with you…”

Luo Muqi wrapped her arms around Mo Xuan’s neck as snowflakes drifted down from the sky. Their faces slowly drew closer.

What should have been a beautiful, romantic kiss in the snow was abruptly interrupted by a surprised call…

“Mo Xuan, is that you?”

As the saying goes, hanging pants under flowers ruins the scenery. A few passing students had already pulled out their phones. Couldn’t they have waited until the two had finished kissing before shouting?

Mo Xuan frowned and turned around, while Luo Muqi’s eyes turned a deep crimson. Though she could now kiss Mo Xuan whenever she wanted, having the moment ruined left her in a terrible mood—a very terrible mood.

However, Mo Xuan hadn’t expected that the person who called out to him was none other than his second sister, Mo Yingying.

Mo Yingying had come to Capital University hoping to get lucky, but she hadn’t expected to actually run into Mo Xuan. She was about to speak when she noticed the terrifying, dangerous look in Luo Muqi’s eyes as she stared at her with a chilling smile.

Even if she hadn’t recognized Luo Muqi as the second princess of the Luo family, that crazed expression alone made Mo Yingying suck in a sharp breath.

It was as if Mo Xuan wasn’t holding a person but some kind of monster in human skin.

“What are you doing here?” Mo Xuan was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone from the Mo family to come looking for him. “If it’s about Old Master Mo’s funeral… shouldn’t it already be over by now?”

Mo Yingying, who had always been arrogant, now looked utterly exhausted. Qin Ni was still in the hospital, and Mo Qingqing had completely checked out.

As for her younger sister, she was no help at all.

Old Master Mo had been hastily buried, but now the Mo family was in complete disarray. After selling her shares, Mo Qingqing had stopped managing the company and rarely returned home. Mo Yingying had resigned and joined her mother’s jewelry company, while her father remained in a coma, and Mo Jinpeng was now a wanted criminal.

After much thought, no matter how reluctant she was, she had no choice but to come to Mo Xuan. It wasn’t that she looked down on him as she had in the past—it was that she truly felt ashamed.

“I came… to ask you to come home…”

Mo Yingying knew that Mo Xuan had sold his shares to her eldest sister, and there was nothing she could say about that now. If she were in his shoes, she might have made the same decision.

“I know Grandma passed away…” Mo Yingying genuinely regretted it now. “Mom’s left ear is deaf, Grandpa is gone, and Dad is still… Mo Xuan, I know you hate us, but given the current situation, could you just come home to see Mom and Dad?”

The moment Mo Yingying saw Luo Muqi, she guessed that the person “keeping” Mo Xuan was likely Luo Muqi.

If Mo Qingqing had been there, she would have been even more shocked. At the banquet, Mo Xuan had been so close to Luo Shiya, and now he was kissing Luo Muqi in the snow—though the moment had been interrupted.

“I won’t go back,” Mo Xuan said calmly, looking at Mo Yingying. “You kicked me out in the past, so I’m an outsider now.”

“The same goes for you—you’re outsiders in my heart.”

“Tell me, as an outsider, do I need to care about you? And similarly, as outsiders in my heart, do I need to care about you?”