{She glanced at the man’s abs. 4}

Just yesterday, she had been shouting at her mother’s estate, desperately hoping her sincerity would be understood.

Now, however, she was too scared to admit it and wished to push the blame away entirely. Other than her father, only she and her brother, Shen Qinian, knew the code. So the one who leaked it had to be one of them.

Forced into a corner, she looked toward her somewhat foolish but well-meaning brother for help. “It was my brother who told,” she said.

Shen Qinian, who had been eating waffles, suddenly found himself at a loss. At first, he tried to defend himself, “I didn’t… I didn’t tell anyone.”

But then he realized his explanation wasn’t convincing.

After all, between him and his sister, someone had to take the fall, and with Qian Xu gone, that person would have to be him. His plans to play Sudoku later that afternoon were completely disrupted, and he gallantly decided to take all the blame for his sister.

He couldn’t bring himself to meet his father’s eyes and nervously muttered, “Dad, I didn’t mean to.”

Shen Qinian, bending to his sister’s will, took responsibility for something he hadn’t done.

“Why?”

“You need a reason,” Shen Qi demanded, towering over his son, “Are you telling me that as my son, you just casually give away our home’s door code to others?”

Shen Qinian mumbled, “I thought… maybe Mom isn’t such a bad person.”

“Cheng Shuangyi gave you what, three jujubes and two pears?” Shen Qi wasn’t moved by his son’s weak tears. “And that’s all it took for you to willingly hand over the house code?”

He scolded sharply, “Do you realize that what you’ve done might cause me a lot of trouble?”

“Dad, I’m sorry.”

Shen Qinian buried his head even lower, hoping that his soft sobbing wouldn’t be heard.

“From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., you will stand facing the staircase and reflect on your actions,” Shen Qi pulled the chair from behind his son, not caring if he would fall awkwardly. He mercilessly ordered, “Go now.”

“Dad, actually I…”

Shen Qinian, intimidated by his naturally authoritative father, didn’t dare finish his sentence. He noticed his sister, Shen Qiyue, smiling slightly, relieved to have escaped. She sat comfortably in her chair and “pleaded” with their father, “Dad, it was just an accident. My brother didn’t mean to.”

She even used a new idiom she had recently learned to sound more sincere.

Shen Qi’s eyes darkened. He didn’t even bother to lift his gaze as his finger tapped the table briefly. “As for you, if you want to join him in punishment, go ahead.”

Shen Qiyue shook her head in terror, grabbed her bowl, and buried herself in her meal, not daring to speak another word.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about her father.

It became particularly apparent when she returned last night. For a moment, many figures flashed through Shen Qiyue’s mind. She was unwilling to make connections but had to admit that the person forcing her father’s demeanor to grow increasingly cold might very well be Qian Xu.

In the past, she could stand by and watch, but now, if she didn’t take action, she would definitely see her father drifting further away from her mother.

She had to come up with a plan.

Not long after Shen Qi left, she first decided to let her stubborn brother stop standing in punishment. As for him ignoring her and stubbornly blocking the most conspicuous spot, Shen Qiyue chose to ignore him.

Instead, she quickly turned on the television, which usually only played financial news, and started watching a somewhat interesting game show, though the babies on it didn’t seem very bright.

Suddenly, she had an idea.

She got up from the soft, delicate sofa and turned to her red-eyed brother, who was still standing, and proposed, “How about we participate in this variety show together?”

If she and her mother participated in this parent-child variety show, their father would definitely be able to see her stunningly beautiful mother and… her own clever self on the screen.