Chapter 10: The Chi Family

The atmosphere froze for a brief moment.

Ming Can’s lips twitched slightly.

She had expected Chi Xiao to brush her off, but she hadn’t anticipated him doing it so blatantly, spinning nonsense without hesitation.

“I see,” Ming Can nodded. “So, all those rumors about you must be just that—rumors.”

Chi Xiao didn’t respond.

After delivering that line, he reverted to his icy demeanor, his gaze drifting past Ming Can to idly scan the surroundings.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and Chi Xiao turned slightly to answer the call.

“Brother, are you coming back to Uncle’s place tonight?” Chi Yao’s voice came through the phone. “You have to come. Otherwise, I’ll be stuck eating with a bunch of elders, and it’ll be so boring.”

Chi Xiao: “I’m busy.”

Chi Yao, who had always been unrestrained around Chi Xiao, immediately started wailing: “No, you’re not! You’re not allowed to be busy! You can’t abandon me! Brother—”

His voice was too loud, and Chi Xiao frowned, holding the phone slightly away from his ear. “We’ll see.”

Then he hung up directly.

Beside him, Ming Can pursed her lips lightly, her gaze thoughtful as she watched him.

She had faintly heard a rather explosive “Brother” from the call, so she decided to ask Chi Xiao directly: “Do you know someone named Chi Yao? He’s my classmate, in the finance department at University B.”

Chi Xiao replied succinctly: “My cousin.”

So, Chi Xiao really was Chi Yao’s “over thirty, with kids running around” cousin.

The relationship between these two brothers didn’t seem great. The older brother looked visibly annoyed answering his younger brother’s call, and the younger brother not only screamed like a maniac on the phone but also spread wild rumors about his brother outside.

Ming Can found it somewhat amusing. Her eyebrows lifted slightly as she glanced at the person beside her: “You two look alike.”

Chi Xiao: “Hm.”

A short, clipped monosyllable, hummed through his nose, exuding an air of complete indifference.

Weren’t you the one who said you were “naturally talkative”?

Ming Can had been pampered and admired her whole life—when had she ever been treated like this? Especially since today, she had been the one initiating the conversation.

Just as she was about to lose her temper, Xu Jiayun’s voice suddenly called out from across the campus path: “Cancan! Sorry to keep you waiting!”

She jogged over to Ming Can, her face full of surprise as she greeted Chi Xiao: “Senior, you’re here too? Thanks for the ticket earlier.”

Chi Xiao nodded at her, a simple gesture that conveyed a greeting, a “you’re welcome,” and a farewell all at once. Then he walked away, leaving Xu Jiayun standing there in a daze, shivering slightly as she muttered, “So cold.”

Ming Can: “Makes me want to punch him.”

“I wouldn’t dare,” Xu Jiayun said. “What were you two talking about just now? From afar, I saw you standing together, and, wow, it looked like a celebrity photoshoot. I even took a picture.”

“?” Ming Can reached for her phone. “Delete it right now.”

“Hehe, no way.”

Xu Jiayun stuffed her phone into her bag and zipped it up. Ming Can lunged for the bag, and Xu Jiayun turned and ran.

The two of them roughhoused on the path, running for over a hundred meters before finally stopping, grabbing each other’s arms as they bent over, panting.

Xu Jiayun: “Have mercy on me, it’s just one photo…”

Ming Can: “I don’t want… a photo with someone like that…”

“A photo with Senior Chi Xiao is so rare,” Xu Jiayun straightened up, suddenly remembering something. “Oh, right, I saw a gossip post about Senior Chi Xiao on University A’s forum before. Someone took a photo of him and the department beauty from the Chinese department arriving at school in the same car. He’s never been seen with any other girls, so a lot of people speculated they were dating.”

“Oh.” Ming Can guessed that this “department beauty” was probably the girl she had seen earlier. She said with little expression, “They’re not dating.”

Xu Jiayun looked suspicious: “How do you know?”

Ming Can was stumped: …

She couldn’t exactly say she had just been asking Chi Xiao about it.

It would make it seem like she was way too interested in him.

“Just a guess,” she said, not waiting for Xu Jiayun to respond before quickly changing the subject. “The weather’s so nice today. What should we have for dinner?”

Xu Jiayun, being pulled along by her, muttered under her breath: “You’re acting really weird today…”

–

In the affluent neighborhood beyond the South Fifth Ring Road, the garden of a villa was filled with children sitting on the lawn, chattering and eating around a table.

Zhao Zihao had received many birthday gifts, most of which were electric toys like race cars, laser swords, and Transformers. When he opened the gift box from Ming Miao, revealing a pile of fluffy animal tails inside, the surrounding children burst into laughter:

“What is this? Hahaha!”

“Such a funny gift! Are we playing cosplay or something?”

“Ming Miao, why did you think of giving these? They seem like something girls would like.”

Hearing so much ridicule, Zhao Zihao’s smile instantly faded.

Turning his head, he heard Ming Miao say with a serious expression, “Fluffy tails are so cute. Why can’t boys like tails too?”

“Exactly, exactly,” Zhao Zihao chimed in, repackaging Ming Miao’s gift and placing it on top of the gift pile. He added with a straight face, “I think this gift is pretty good.”

[I love tails the most! This is amazing! Tonight, I’m going to try each one on, ahhh!]

Zhao Zihao’s inner thoughts were bursting with excitement. Ming Miao rubbed his ears, noticing that Zhao Zihao’s face was flushed red, as if he was struggling to hold back his emotions.

Unlike Mom.

She could scream wildly in her heart while appearing completely calm and composed on the outside.

The sun was setting in the western sky, casting a brilliant glow over the garden, outlining the buildings and plants with a golden edge.

Ming Miao sat on a chair, looking around as if searching for something.

Zhao Zihao was always surrounded by people, and it took Ming Miao a lot of effort to drag his chair over and squeeze next to him. He asked, “Zihao, where’s your dog?”

It was a promise from two weeks ago. Zhao Zihao had said that if Ming Miao could cure his dog’s illness, he would become good friends with him.

Zhao Zihao finally remembered and asked, half-doubting, “You really know how to treat dogs?”

Ming Miao: “Can I go see it first?”

“Sure,” Zhao Zihao nodded, pulling Ming Miao to his feet. “I’ll take you.”

Finally, he can hear what the dog has to say!

Ming Miao was beyond excited. Dogs were his favorite animals, and his biggest dream was to understand what they were saying. Unfortunately, ever since he had traveled to this world and gained his superpower, he had never had the chance to encounter a dog.

The other children followed Zhao Zihao and Ming Miao as they left the lawn and headed to the dog’s dedicated room at the back of the villa.

In the corner of the room, curled up in a dog bed, was a strong, middle-aged black German Shepherd named “Dashuai” (Handsome).

His fur was shiny black, and he looked up lazily at the group of children entering the room, letting out a couple of weak whimpers before lying back down.

“Dashuai has been like this for a while,” Zhao Zihao explained. “The vet said there’s nothing wrong with him physically, but he’s just in a bad mood.”

As Ming Miao activated his superpower targeting Dashuai, he approached the dog bed and gently patted Dashuai’s head.

Zhao Zihao: “Wait! Dashuai can be really aggressive with strangers!”

The other children were startled to see Ming Miao daring to approach and touch a dog that looked like a big black wolf. They stood frozen, jumping up and down as they called for him to come back.

Zhao Zihao ran over, only to find that Dashuai showed no aggression toward Ming Miao at all. Instead, the dog nuzzled his hand affectionately, whimpering nonstop, completely unlike his usual imposing self.

[This human smells nice, I’ll nuzzle, nuzzle, nuzzle… but not as nice as Little White’s butt… Ah, Little White, I miss you so much. It’s been so long since I’ve licked you. My owner won’t let me go find you, my heart hurts so much, wuwuwu…]

Ming Miao: …

German Shepherds really are highly intelligent animals. Their inner monologues are so complex, completely different from the other animals he had translated before, who only cared about eating, pooping, and drooling!

Zhao Zihao was amazed: “He’s not being aggressive with you at all. He must really be mentally unwell.”

Ming Miao: “He’s heartbroken.”

“Huh?” Zhao Zihao didn’t believe it at all. “He’s the cold and ruthless Dashuai. How could he possibly be heartbroken?”

Ming Miao, like a detective, asked: “Has he been acting strangely recently?”

Zhao Zihao thought for a moment: “A while ago, he mysteriously ran away once, but we found him in the neighborhood later.”

Ming Miao: “When you take him out for walks, does he always try to run off?”

“How did you know?” Zhao Zihao was stunned. “He used to be very obedient, but recently, every time we go out, he tries to run up the mountain. It takes a lot of effort to hold him back.”

Zhao Zihao’s family lived in a villa estate nestled halfway up a mountain, with several more prominent households further up.

At Ming Miao’s suggestion, Zhao Zihao agreed to let Dashuai out without a leash to see where he would go.

The sun had just set, and the eastern sky was darkening. After Dashuai ran out, a group of about a dozen children and four accompanying adults quietly followed him, turning onto the path leading up the mountain.

Dashuai ran quickly ahead, while the children panted and chased after him. Ming Miao, being the youngest and shortest among the boys, surprisingly outpaced the other kids by a large margin.

Zhao Zihao had been attending toddler fitness classes since he was two years old, and for four years, he had been the most athletic kid in his class—until Ming Miao transferred in. Now, even when he pushed himself to the limit, he could barely keep up with Miaomiao.

After what felt like an eternity, Dashuai finally slowed down and stopped in front of the villa at the very top of the estate.

The villas in the estate shared similar architectural styles and layouts. Earlier, when Ming Miao was at Zhao Zihao’s house, he had felt a sense of déjà vu. Now, standing here, that feeling grew even stronger. He was certain he had been to this place before.

The villa in front of them was larger than the others, and its usually tightly shut gate was now wide open, as if welcoming guests.

Dashuai barked excitedly at the courtyard and dashed inside.

The security guard tried to stop him but was too late, chasing after him into the property.

Dashuai barked as he ran, and soon, another dog’s barking echoed from the courtyard, as if responding to him.

Zhao Zihao grabbed Miaomiao’s hand: “You were right! You’re amazing!”

The other children also crowded around Miaomiao, chattering and asking how he had figured it out.

Miaomiao didn’t answer, just stared blankly at the building until Zhao Zihao pulled him through the gate.

“Why did we end up at the Chi family’s place?” Zhao Zihao’s father muttered, stepping forward to talk to the homeowners.

As dusk fell, a snow-white Samoyed appeared on the neatly trimmed lawn. The moment Dashuai saw it, he wagged his tail furiously and pounced on it, licking and nuzzling nonstop, instantly regaining his energetic self.

“What a chubby white dog, it looks like a ball!”

“Is that Dashuai’s girlfriend?”

“One’s black, the other’s white—what would their puppies look like?”

The children flooded into the courtyard, chattering noisily. On the second-floor balcony of the villa, two small heads popped out, peering down at the garden below. Soon, one of them couldn’t help but speak up:

“So, it’s your big black dog that’s been bullying our Xiao Yu!”

The little girl was as delicate as a porcelain doll, and beside her was a boy of similar age. Their features were strikingly similar, both exuding beauty and an air of arrogance.

The girl, wearing shiny black leather shoes, hurried downstairs and rushed into the crowd of children.

Miaomiao stared at her with wide eyes, then at the boy who followed her.

They looked so familiar. Had he seen them somewhere before?

“What are you staring at, shorty?” the girl snapped rudely at Miaomiao.

The other children were taken aback by the girl’s sudden rudeness. For a moment, no one spoke, and everyone looked at Miaomiao with concern.

Miaomiao remained calm.

Long before he started elementary school, his mom had worried that he might be bullied because of his young age and small stature, so she had taught him how to handle such situations.

Don’t defend yourself—counterattack.

Miaomiao: “I’m already in elementary school despite being this short. When you were as short as me, you were still crying in kindergarten.”

As soon as he finished speaking, silence fell over the garden for a moment, and then it erupted into chaos. Laughter, cries, and shouts mixed together, and even the two dogs joined in, adding to the noise.

Adults began rushing over to see what was happening. Meanwhile, unnoticed at the villa’s entrance, a dark gray Rolls-Royce Ghost slowly pulled in and parked in the open parking space.

The rear door opened, and the person inside, hearing the commotion outside, paused and turned to the person beside him with a smile:

“Brother, since when did your house turn into a kindergarten?”