Chapter 20 – Neighboring Big Sister (Part 10)

—

Back in the bedroom—

Wen Ye returned to bed and gently pulled Jiang Jiang back into his arms, where she was still half-asleep and hugging the blanket.

“Mmm… you’re back?” Jiang Jiang murmured, struggling to open her eyes.

She had to admit—

…This young man sure had stamina.

˶ᵒ ᵕ ˂˶

“Mm,” Wen Ye hummed softly. After hesitating a moment, he told her about what had just happened.

After all, they came looking for Jiang Jiang. He couldn’t let her love for him make him arrogant enough to hide things.

Jiang Jiang: “……”

Jiang Jiang: “…Do they think I run a charity or something?”

They had a father and a mother, and yet they came asking her to sponsor them?

She rubbed her eyes and sat up from Wen Ye’s embrace, looking completely dumbfounded.
“Do I look like someone who just casually adopts other people’s kids like some gullible fool?”

Wen Ye couldn’t help but chuckle softly, his fingers gently brushing through her sleep-mussed hair.
“Because you even took in a ‘deadweight’ like me, they probably think you’re soft-hearted.”

“How is that the same thing?” Jiang Jiang poked his chest.
“I found you, so you’re mine.”

Then, realizing how possessive that sounded, she quickly added,
“—Of course, only if you’re willing…”

Wen Ye grabbed her finger and pressed a reverent kiss to it, his voice soft and warm:
“Mm. I’m yours, and I’m willing.”

Jiang Jiang felt her fingertips burn.

Now fully awake, she thought for a bit and said,
“They bullied you. I don’t like them. But if you think they’re pitiful…”

“…I don’t.”

Wen Ye’s tone grew unusually firm:
“You’re too soft. If you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile. If they really latch onto you, you must not help them.”

Jiang Jiang: “?”

Jiang Jiang: “…What the hell are you saying? I was about to say, if you think they’re pitiful, you can get out.”

She had a bit of morning temper.

But in Wen Ye’s eyes, she only seemed more real and vivid.

“My bad. I misunderstood, that’s on me,” he said with a laugh, taking her hand and lightly slapping it against his face.
It didn’t hurt at all—just felt like teasing.

Jiang Jiang sensed something was off, glared at him, then pulled the blanket over herself to go back to sleep.

A lovely young woman wrapping herself up like a silkworm cocoon.

Wen Ye couldn’t help but poke the blanket cocoon.
“Don’t suffocate in there. You sleep a bit more. I’ll go make breakfast.”

—

But once he left the room, the warmth on his face disappeared like the tide.

He pulled out his phone, sent a few messages, and then quickly deleted them.

He wasn’t a malicious person, Wen Ye thought.
He just wanted them to experience everything he once endured.

Those people who always thought they were more deserving of love than him—
should be able to handle it too, right?

—

By the time breakfast was over, Jiang Jiang heard that the house next door had already been sold.

But since they rushed the sale, it was heavily underpriced.
Through the peephole, she could see Chu Keyong’s miserable expression as the contract was being signed.

She couldn’t help but laugh.

“If you want to see it that badly, just go out and watch,” Wen Ye said.

Jiang Jiang waved him off. “Forget it. Barefoot people don’t fear the ones wearing shoes. If we provoke them too much, they might come and cause trouble.”

That “we” greatly pleased Wen Ye.

What he feared most was Jiang Jiang thinking he still had lingering feelings for that family next door.

Truth was, he wanted nothing more than to pack that family up and toss them into the trash—
the further from their memories, the better.

—

Wen Ye’s household registration had already been removed from the Chu family.
The non-interference agreement was also signed under the mediation of the neighborhood committee.

It wasn’t difficult.

After all, Chu Keyong had always treated him like a piece of sticky gum he couldn’t get rid of.

But now that things were falling apart and he was stretched too thin, he actually thought of Wen Ye.

Even though he’d always resented this stepson, who had no blood ties with him and had caused others to gossip about him being some “stepfather sucker.”

Still, he had to admit—when Wen Ye was around, at least the chores got done.
And in the early years, the kid even worked part-time jobs and gave the money to Wen Shulan.

Of course, that money always ended up in his pocket.

“…We shouldn’t have let him go,” Chu Keyong muttered.

Wen Shulan, who was packing, trembled when she heard those words.

While no one was watching, she shakily took out her phone and sent a message to a certain number.

The moment it showed “sent,” she turned her head and silently shed tears.

—

“You’ve got a notification on your phone,” Jiang Jiang said.

“Probably just spam,” Wen Ye replied casually while setting up a cat tree for Tangtang.

Jiang Jiang didn’t like snooping on other people’s phones either, but she said,
“Might be someone important. You should check. I’ll finish setting this up for Tangtang.”

Tangtang had gotten noticeably chubbier lately—thanks to her orange cat genes, no doubt.
Her little round face and bright beady eyes were absolutely adorable when she rolled across the floor.

“Alright.”

Wen Ye took the towel she handed him and wiped off some sweat, then picked up his phone and glanced at the screen.

Immediately, his smile faded.

Sweat-damp bangs drooped over his eyes, making it hard for Jiang Jiang to read his expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing,” Wen Ye said as he pushed his hair back, revealing his smooth forehead. His expression was already back to normal.

These disgusting matters…
He’d handle them himself.

No need to dirty Jiang Jiang’s ears with them.

Wen Ye locked his phone and slipped it back into his pocket like nothing had happened.

Then he crouched down and took the screwdriver from her hand.
“This part of the cat tree needs extra support. Tangtang’s been gaining weight lately.”

Jiang Jiang shot him a suspicious glance but was quickly distracted by the mischievous orange cat.

Tangtang was pawing playfully at her loose hair, having the time of her life.

“You little rascal,” Jiang Jiang giggled as she scooped her up.

—

In this remote and chaotic little town,
it wasn’t hard to make someone like Chu Keyong—who was already disliked—disappear.

Three days after moving into their new rental, he never came home again.

Wen Shulan felt conflicted—

On the one hand, she was glad.
With him gone, there’d be no more mysterious debts suddenly dumped on them.

But on the other hand, their only source of income was gone too.

She was softhearted by nature.
She couldn’t bear to let her young stepdaughter go out and work at such a young age,
so she could only take on multiple part-time jobs herself.

She was getting older, though, and now had rent and two children to care for.
Even though they still had some leftover money from the house sale after paying off the debts,
that bank card had been given to Chu An by Chu Keyong—
and she didn’t have the heart to ask her stepdaughter for it.

A girl should have a little money of her own, she told herself.

She could only console herself that way.

—

Just then, she received a transfer notification from an unfamiliar bank account.

The transaction note had only three characters:

“Thank You Fee.”

…What the heck?

She stared, stunned.