Xia Yanchun pouted, patted her butt as she got up from the chair, and glanced back at Huang Shengqi. "You can sit here."
With that, she dashed over to Shen Nian's side and plopped down on a plastic stool at the food stall.
"Did I say you could sit? Get up."
"I'm sitting. Auntie told me to treat this place like my own home."
"Talk about overstepping your welcome."
Huang Shengqi was dumbfounded. No one had told him the guy next door was Xia Yanchun's "little brother."
And clearly, they weren’t blood-related—yet they were this close.
Good thing he hadn’t acted rashly. His earlier exchange with Shen Nian hadn’t been confrontational, or he’d have made a complete fool of himself.
Even so, Huang Shengqi wasn’t exactly thrilled. This kind of intimate bickering, whatever the relationship between Xia Yanchun and this guy—whether he was a brother, a bestie, or the boy next door—left no room for him.
He smiled wryly, then turned and headed inside. Might as well play Naruto. The Will of Fire was better than chasing girls anyway.
Anyone who disagreed could eat a couple of Tailed Beast Bombs.
Outside, only Shen Nian and Xia Yanchun remained, chattering away.
Huang Shengqi? She couldn’t care less. As for "little brothers," Shen Nian was the only one who counted.
After all, he was the one who’d actually called her "sis."
Night fell.
The family gathering wrapped up quickly, and everyone returned home.
Shen Nian went inside to help clean up the dishes. Once they were done, Shen Yue dragged him back outside to admire the moon.
Both families were chatting happily under the night sky. Mid-Autumn Festival was all about gathering, talking, and playing cards.
Their families had been close for three generations—closer than many blood relatives. Their ancestors had been friends, and Shen Nian once heard Shen Shi say that if Uncle Xia had been a girl, they’d have been betrothed as children.
Arranged marriages like that were common in their grandparents’ era. These days, free love was the norm, and childhood betrothals were rare.
Otherwise, he’d have been stuck with that troublemaker Xia Yanchun.
Damn. That would’ve been a nightmare.
The adults talked among themselves, while the kids did their own thing. Shen Yue lounged on a plastic chair, scrolling through her phone. Xia Yanchun had been there earlier but had since disappeared.
Shen Nian opened his system tasks and rubbed his chin. The hidden mission was still there—he needed to find clues for the remaining two items.
Five points of Luck was seriously tempting.
With that much luck, he wouldn’t expect to win the lottery, but at least his Meituan coupons could stack higher.
Ideally, a full 25-off-20 deal.
If it couldn’t even do that, what was the point?
Crap. Now he was fantasizing about becoming a dark cultivator and stealing luck from little girls. That was something he’d genuinely crave.
Broke? Just spam Pinduoduo. Order 25-off-20 takeout every day. If all else failed, spend a little on claw machines and resell the prizes on Xianyu. Anyone who wouldn’t envy that was a saint.
"Cut some for everyone. Here’s watermelon!" Xia Yanchun emerged from the house carrying a plate of sliced watermelon, toothpicks sticking out, offering it to everyone.
Except Shen Nian.
"Hah, Xia Yanchun’s the best. Unlike someone in my family who wouldn’t even cut the honeydew in the fridge," Shen Shi praised her while throwing shade at Shen Nian.
This ungrateful son deserved it—he didn’t even treat his old man like his old man anymore.
Xia Yanchun covered her mouth and chimed in, "Exactly!"
"Are you an idiot? Dad’s just being polite, and you’re taking it seriously?" Shen Nian smirked, openly scolding Xia Yanchun in front of Wen Zhining and Xia Herui—standard procedure for him.
"Pfft."
"What if I wasn’t being polite?" Shen Shi said flatly.
"Calling the cops. Biological father colluding with outsiders to bully his own son—this counts as domestic abuse. I need 200 yuan to recover."
"HAHAHA!"
Everyone dug into the watermelon Xia Yanchun had cut. She finally made her way to Shen Nian, plopping into the empty chair beside him and nudging the plate closer so he could help himself.
Shen Nian propped his chin on his hand, inhaling the faint scent of her shower-fresh skin. "You showered?"
"Yeah, just a quick one."
The girl was in a good mood after her bath, not in the mood to bicker. Even when Shen Nian deliberately scooted his chair closer and shamelessly tucked her hair behind her ear in front of everyone, she couldn’t bring herself to get mad.
The night sky was clear, dotted with stars and a full moon—a picture of reunion. Shen Nian’s fingers were warm, brushing her ear and sending a ticklish shiver down her spine. Her hair wasn’t long, but it was soft, and the strands kept slipping over her face.
She always found it annoying, but Shen Nian fixed it for her multiple times a day.
She almost felt her heart flutter. Good thing her defenses were high—no way she’d fall for Shen Nian. Really.
"I’m sneaking into your room tonight. Leave the window open," Shen Nian whispered in her ear.
"No way."
"How bold!"
"What do you even want? I’m planning to read."
"Then I’ll read with you. Let’s grind till 2 a.m., then go for a run at dawn."
"Psycho." Xia Yanchun scowled.
What kind of maniac exercised early on a holiday? Sleeping in was the only correct choice.
Shen Nian was a certified villain, so of course he’d wake up early. Made sense.
Still, she had to admire his discipline—jogging every morning, even on breaks. She could never.
Had he always been this strict with himself?
Shen Nian reveled in her scolding, letting his hand "accidentally" rest on the arm of her chair, his pinky grazing hers.
"!"
She nearly jumped.
For a second, she thought he was about to touch her again. Her heart raced, and she barely stifled a yawn.
"Knock it off."
Xia Yanchun shot him a glare. She saw right through him—this was his slow-boil-a-frog tactic, testing her boundaries bit by bit.
She’d warn him not to waste his time. She was smart. Smart people didn’t play frogs. Someone else could be the frog—not her.
But if it was just this much… she could tolerate it. He was on the whitelist.
Because.
She’d always indulged him.
"What if I said it was an accident?" Shen Nian said solemnly, as if it were the truth.
"Oh, so you ‘accidentally’ moved closer, ‘accidentally’ reached over, and ‘accidentally’ brushed my hand? Why don’t you ‘accidentally’ buy a Xiaomi SU7 while you’re at it?"
"Good. You shouldn’t believe me, because I don’t either."
Shen Nian grinned. Xia Yanchun wasn’t mad. Success.
"Even r/Idiots wouldn’t take you."
"Insulting me? Sleep with one eye open tonight." Shen Nian pointed at her like a Husky declaring war.
"Hmph."
Xia Yanchun smirked triumphantly, basking in the safety of having four parents around. What could Shen Nian even do?
She straightened up, chest puffing slightly, the watermelon tasting sweeter than ever.
·
This makes up for yesterday’s update—5k words!
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e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
