Chapter 10

Eat shit, you bastard!!!

Jiang Lisheng cursed furiously in her heart as she charged forward, swinging the bag of pig dung.

The bag loosened, her wrist flicked with the motion, and the freshly collected dung splattered all over his upper body. Jiang Lisheng even deliberately raised the bag toward his face, the stench spreading in all directions, with some of it drifting into Huo Bai’s nose and onto his lips.

So satisfying!

This “heavenly maiden scattering dung” move was pure bliss!

The sudden assault of excrement left Huo Bai completely disoriented, momentarily forgetting what he had intended to do.

His steps seemed to have taken root in the ground, his whole body stiff and immobile. He stared blankly with wide eyes, feeling as if he were submerged in a vat of dung, the indescribable stench enveloping him and triggering a gag reflex.

Huo Bai wiped his face, and the moment he saw the sticky substance on his fingertips, he instantly drew in a sharp breath.

“Brother Huo Bai, you…” Jiang Nuonuo hadn’t expected this outcome either. “Are you okay? Ugh…”

What was meant to be a word of comfort immediately turned into a gag reflex.

Jiang Nuonuo covered her mouth, visibly embarrassed, but she genuinely didn’t want to get close to Huo Bai. Her expression awkward, she cautiously stepped back.

Huo Bai’s mind went blank, a buzzing noise ringing in his ears.

His sharp eyes locked onto Jiang Lisheng, and the moment his emotions reached the breaking point, they completely ignited—

“Jiang Lisheng! Are you insane?!”

Jiang Lisheng stuck to her character persona, clutching the bag in her hand, looking innocent and uneasy. “I’m sorry, Young Master Huo, I twisted my brain for a moment… I mean, I twisted my ankle. Don’t be mad, I’ll help you wipe it off.”

After speaking, she pulled a tissue out of her pocket and swiftly wiped at him.

The coarse, scraping sensation on his face made Huo Bai suck in a sharp breath. He violently flung Jiang Lisheng’s hand away, his thick brows furrowed. “What the hell did you use to wipe me?!”

Jiang Lisheng glanced down—

Oh no, sandpaper.

Wrong item.

She let out a sheepish chuckle. “Sorry about that, Young Master Huo, I really didn’t mean to. How about this—take off your clothes, I’ll wash them for you.”

This was exactly the line the sweet and delicate female lead always used after spilling coffee or food on the domineering CEO.

Jiang Lisheng felt she was maintaining her character persona perfectly. She was, without a doubt, a qualified female lead in an abusive romance novel.

The system, having witnessed all her absurd actions, responded with: [……6.]

Upon hearing her words, Huo Bai suddenly let out a cold laugh.

The chill in his gaze became almost tangible, like blades slicing toward her, but Jiang Lisheng remained unfazed, her face still the picture of innocence.

“Wash it? Sure.”

Huo Bai curled his lips into a smirk, and to her surprise, actually started undressing.

First, he tossed his denim jacket to the ground, then took off the white T-shirt now soaked in pig dung, and strode toward Jiang Lisheng with the shirt in hand.

Huo Bai closed in step by step, his expression suddenly turning vicious. “Use your mouth to wash it for me!”

With that, he moved to shove the shirt directly into her face.

What a joke.

Did he think Jiang Lisheng couldn’t see through such a petty trick?

She clearly remembered that the second soul to enter her body had been a female general from ancient times. Although that general wasn’t highly educated, her martial skills were formidable.

During her seven years in prison, that general had become an unmatched fighter. And although Jiang Lisheng had only been a drifting soul at the time, she had still picked up a few basic moves just by watching.

Still, in order to stay true to her character persona, she couldn’t show too much.

She feigned a casual sidestep to dodge, then swept her leg toward his lower body and immediately stumbled back weakly, crying out, “Ah—Young Master Huo, you scared me!”

Huo Bai had already been charging at full speed.

Momentum, combined with the sudden loss of control underfoot, threw his balance completely off. He staggered forward a few steps, barely managing to steady himself—only to step right onto a patch of wet cement. That was the last straw. His body pitched forward, and with a loud clatter and thud, Huo Bai went face-first straight into the pigsty construction site.

The scene was a bit unbearable.

The image was downright ugly.

Jiang Lisheng frowned, her lips twitching as she struggled to find the right words. Her expression was complicated. “…Young Master Huo, I was just joking earlier. This pigsty was only meant to house Xiao Jiang the pig. Were you really planning to fight him for it?”

That fall had knocked something loose in Huo Bai’s brain.

Now he lay stinking and half-naked in the cement pit, unable to get up. It turned out that when anger reached a certain level, a person could become incredibly calm.

So calm, it was like being dead.

“Brother Huo Bai—!”

Jiang Nuonuo cried out in alarm and hurried over in small, quick steps. She instinctively wanted to help him up, but the moment she saw the cement and pig dung smeared across his body, she hesitated and stopped.

“Brother Huo Bai, are you alright?” After showing concern for Huo Bai, she turned and glared at Jiang Lisheng. “Jiang Lisheng, how could you treat Brother Huo Bai like this? You’re being way too much!”

Yes, yes, she was too much.

If Huo Bai ever ended up constipated, it would probably be her fault for not producing enough anti-diarrhea meds.

Jiang Lisheng muttered to herself internally, but kept her expression innocent. “Nuonuo, how could you say that about your sister? You know I come from a humble background and I’ve always been clumsy with things. Besides, I didn’t do it on purpose. You young masters and ladies act like I’ve committed a crime just for working around you.”

One of the workers, focused solely on the job, finally spoke up, “Young man, you’d better get up quickly. If you wait any longer, that cement will dry.”

“Brother Huo Bai, I… I’ll help you up.”

Jiang Nuonuo hesitated for a long while.

In the end, the bond of childhood friendship overcame her disgust toward the pig dung. She braced herself and was just about to reach out to help.

But Huo Bai avoided her hands and slowly climbed out of the filthy cement pit on his own.

His carefully styled hair, once slicked back with wax, was now a complete mess. Gray-white cement covered him from head to toe, his entire face caked in thick sludge, leaving only his eyes visible—clear and sharp, burning with a fierce and intense rage.

“Jiang Lisheng, you’ve crossed the line.”

His tone was cold, and anyone could guess what he was about to do next.

That sentence made a flash of glee flicker across Jiang Nuonuo’s eyes. She stepped aside, waiting to watch the show unfold.

Jiang Lisheng didn’t speak either.

She knew Huo Bai was the type to hold grudges—petty and vindictive.

He was overly sensitive, quick-tempered, and the privilege of his family background and handsome face had wrapped him in a halo. All his ugliness and cruelty were hidden beneath that glow.

But the truth?

The truth was that once you stripped away that halo, he was nothing—a vile man rotten to the core.

Jiang Lisheng had died several times, each death marked by the arrival of another soul into her body.

She had personally witnessed how Huo Bai transformed from a rebellious youth into a lawless madman. The school bullying he had inflicted on her in the early days was nothing more than a warm-up. After experiencing her own demise again and again, there was no way Jiang Lisheng could ever follow the plot and fall in love with him.

How ridiculous. With just one line from the author—love can heal all wounds—every bit of the female lead’s trauma was brushed away.

But why should Jiang Lisheng have to accept that?

[Ding!]

[Main storyline completed. Current progress: 10%.]

Fine. So it’s complete now?

Jiang Lisheng curled her lips into a faint, ambiguous smile.

“You just wait,” he said, standing before her with a gaze full of condescension. “I won’t let you off.”

Just as Jiang Lisheng was about to make a move, a voice interrupted her next action.

“Who is it you’re not letting off?”

All three of them turned to look behind Jiang Lisheng.

Jiang Ansheng had just returned from class, his backpack still slung over one shoulder, not even set down yet.

When he saw the utterly disheveled Huo Bai, who looked so filthy he was nearly unrecognizable, Jiang Ansheng narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”

Jiang Nuonuo glanced left and right, then quietly tattled, “Brother, it’s Brother Huo Bai. Because of Sister…”

“Oh.” Jiang Ansheng wasn’t interested in hearing the rest. He stepped forward and positioned himself in front of Jiang Lisheng, sizing up Huo Bai with a slightly raised brow. “Performance art?”

Jiang Ansheng’s thought process had always been different from most people’s.

He either didn’t speak at all, or when he did, his words could make someone furious on the spot.

Even though Huo Bai was used to this about him, he still couldn’t help the sharp throb in his forehead when he heard Jiang Ansheng’s response. “This is Jiang Lisheng’s doing,” he said sarcastically, his tone full of mockery. “What now? Are you planning to act out some touching sibling bond and take her side?”

Huo Bai had a fiery temper, and this sentence was clearly him lashing out.

Jiang Ansheng didn’t get angry. His expression remained relaxed as he said, “If it’s a good thing, then I’d say we leave it at that.”

Huo Bai: “……”

Jiang Nuonuo: “……”

Jiang Lisheng: “……”

The system once again: [……6.]

A knot of frustration settled in her chest.

Before Huo Bai could explode, Jiang Ansheng frowned and added, “But Huo Bai…” He sniffed the air a few times. “Did you sneak a bite of dung or something? Your breath is really strong.”

It wasn’t an insult. His breath really was that bad.

Huo Bai: “.”

Huo Bai gritted his teeth and cursed, “Jiang Ansheng, go to hell.”

After shouting, he gave Jiang Ansheng a hard shove and stormed off, his stride full of fury, even his back radiating displeasure.

Jiang Ansheng blinked in confusion. As his gaze drifted to the pile of clothes in the corner, he froze—

He really had eaten shit.

“Brother, you don’t know how awful Sister was. She—”

“Nuonuo.” Jiang Ansheng once again interrupted her urgent desire to tattle. His dark eyes deepened. “Stop going around saying ‘Brother, brother, brother’ all the time. I almost thought we were raising a goose in this house.”

Jiang Nuonuo was momentarily speechless. “But… but Sister built a pigsty in the back garden.” She was nearly bursting with frustration. “How am I supposed to play the piano now?”

Jiang Ansheng was starting to get annoyed. “She built the pigsty in the back garden, not in your piano room. Why get worked up over a pig?”

It made no sense.

None of this made any sense.

Jiang Nuonuo wasn’t stupid. She could see clearly now—Jiang Ansheng’s heart had already tilted toward Jiang Lisheng.

Right now, all she had lost was a piano room and a back garden. But what about later? Would she lose even more?

Once the seed of unease was planted, it was hard to uproot.

Jiang Nuonuo, overwhelmed with frustration, burst into tears. She stomped her foot hard, then covered her face and ran off.

The sun was shining brightly. All the eyesores had left, and the world quieted down at last.

Jiang Lisheng felt completely refreshed—damn, she’d survived another day.

“Sorry, Master, got held up a bit. Let’s keep going.”

She slipped on her gloves and resumed working. To her surprise, Jiang Ansheng also put down his backpack and stepped forward to help.

One wall of the pigsty had already been successfully built. Watching how efficiently the two of them moved, Jiang Ansheng hesitated for a few seconds, then rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll help too.”

“It’s none of your business,” Jiang Lisheng said without even lifting her head. “Huo Bai was right about one thing. It’s been over a year. Whatever your reasons were, there’s no need for you to keep forcing yourself to act like we’re some close-knit siblings. It’s pointless. Not only is it disgusting for you, but I don’t want it either.”

Jiang Ansheng’s outstretched fingers froze midair.

The sun in August and September wasn’t harsh, its warmth gently blanketing the skin. Yet Jiang Ansheng felt a faint chill settle over him.

Jiang Lisheng spoke with complete calm.

He even noticed that not a single flutter from her lashes.

Indeed.

Jiang Ansheng had always been sharp-minded and naturally indifferent. Let alone sibling affection, he had always been emotionally detached even toward their parents.

If he hadn’t seen the truth with his own eyes, he would have continued down his chosen path, obstinate as ever.

But he had been dragged into this, and though it was Jiang Lisheng who was trapped, wasn’t Jiang Ansheng just as unable to escape?

“Jiang Lisheng, since you already know I used to be a piece of trash, then you’ll soon know whether I’m still forcing myself to play nice.”

He didn’t press the matter. He picked up his backpack from the side and turned to leave.

Just before walking off completely, he paused for a moment—

“I just want things to be a little easier for you. And a little better too.”