Chapter 23

Realizing that she had grabbed her sister-in-law’s hand, Feng Shaoyun reflexively tried to pull back, but was suddenly caught by Sheng Xia, who tightened her grip slightly.

The girl widened her eyes, slowly giving up resistance, her heart beating wildly.

Sheng Xia’s hand was clearly soft, but when she held onto her, it felt particularly warm and powerful.

As if drawing courage from her, Feng Shaoyun’s usually numb black eyes flickered slightly. She took a deep breath and finally calmed down, but her ears were bright red.

So, her third brother didn’t want to avoid her just now and hurry her upstairs, but… he knew that she would feel anxious and uncomfortable when her routine was disrupted?

Was her third brother caring about her?

Thinking like this, Feng Shaoyun instinctively tightened her grip on Sheng Xia’s hand, mustering the courage to turn her head and look at Feng Shaoyu.

Although Feng Shaoyu couldn’t see her sister’s eyes because her bangs were too long, he could clearly feel that she was looking at him.

Being ruthlessly exposed by Sheng Xia, he finally realized and hurriedly walked up to Feng Shaoyun. “I’m sorry, Shaoyun, that’s not what I meant. I just thought you might not be used to coming downstairs at this time and i was a bit worried.”

In the past, Feng Shaoyun would stay in her room and resist any contact with others. However, once her routine was broken, she would anxiously hide in the studio and draw, ignoring everyone’s attempts to persuade her.

Therefore, if it wasn’t for Sheng Xia always trying to pull Feng Shaoyun out forcefully, no one would have forced her. They respected her habits and were unwilling to trouble her, even if they were worried.

Perhaps, as Sheng Xia said, they thought this was caring and considerate towards her.

It was only now that Feng Shaoyu realized, belatedly, that it wasn’t the case.

“I didn’t expect you to come down because you were worried about me…” His gentle voice was cautious, “It’s all my fault. Can you forgive me, Shaoyun?”

Feng Shaoyun blinked quickly, pursed her lips, shook her head lightly, and then nodded.

“Shaoyun means she won’t be uncomfortable and forgives Uncle.” Feng Xuran, who was gradually becoming familiar with her sister’s body language, stuck her head out to help explain, then said to her uncle seriously, “Since Auntie forgives Uncle, I forgive Uncle too.”

Feng Xuchen chimed in, “Me too! Me Too! I forgive Uncle!”

“Great, thank you Shaoyun, Ranran, and Chenchen.” Feng Shaoyu suddenly smiled, his peach blossom eyes full of tenderness. “Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow morning, okay?”

The twins’ eyes lit up immediately, showing happy smiles. Uncle didn’t really leave, and he promised to try to come home and have breakfast with them!

Although Feng Shaoyun did not respond, she secretly held Sheng Xia’s finger and shook it slightly, seeming to express her happiness.

Watching the two siblings with similar features, even the curve of their smiling lips was very similar, Sheng Xia supported her chin and lazily yawned.

She had always said that the Feng family members were interesting, each with their own issues. They stubbornly misunderstood each other, refused to explain, and even seemed clueless.

Well, that’s quite something.

As Sheng Xia returned to her room to prepare for bed, the sound of zipping and zapping suddenly rang in her mind, as if the system was trying to boot up repeatedly.

She couldn’t help but reveal a smug smile, clapping her hands and throwing flowers: ” System, you’re finally awake? Do you know how long you’ve been sleeping? Our mission is already completed, and the plot has ended! Aren’t we amazing?”

The system, which finally appeared with beeps: [Really?]

It was just trying to fix the kernel CPU time, and the plot had already ended?!

“Yeah, you weren’t here, so I had to complete the tasks myself. It was really difficult,” Sheng Xia earnestly teased. “You know, you missed a whole 18 episodes of the drama!”

System: […]

Realizing the host was teasing it, it immediately amplified a horn in her mind until Sheng Xia obediently shut up, then tried to figure out what had happened during its short circuit.

However, upon investigation, the system was shocked: [What happened? You’re back already?]

[How was everything resolved? You didn’t mess things up, did you??]

“How could you say that, System? Am I that kind of person?” Sheng Xia complained, feeling wronged. “You finally come back, and instead of showing concern for me, your first reaction is to interrogate me? Am I still your precious host?”

System: […]

It instinctively apologized: [I’m sorry, but it’s because I short-circuited accidentally—wait, but my crash was clearly caused by the host!]

How could it have short-circuited if the host hadn’t made it cry? Why was it still the one apologizing in the end??

Sheng Xia innocently blinked, pretending not to hear.

Having grown accustomed to the host’s unreliability, the system just complained feebly and then deflated: [Forget it, let me see what happened… Wait, you guys sent the assistant and the partner to the police station?!]

Sheng Xia put on an innocent face: “That was done by Little Uncle, nothing to do with Xiaxia.”

She was telling the truth; she only exposed the truth, leaving everything else to Little Uncle. In any case, the Feng family knew what was going on and would definitely not let those people off the hook.

The system continued…

【Character collapse value returning to normal… This is really dangerous, host, you have no idea how serious it was when it exceeded the limit before. We really can’t continue like this.】

【The cooperation between the Shi family and the Feng family has broken down… sigh, this was expected, but it doesn’t affect the plot points.】

【The daily tasks of making things difficult for Feng Shaoyun have also been completed… but something seems off.】

…

…

During the entire summer, Sheng Xia listened with one ear and let it out the other, lying comfortably in bed, even thoughtfully covering herself with a blanket.

【…Everything is normal.】

【But now that things have been exposed early, with evidence already in hand, if they are sent in, how will the plot of the Feng family’s planned incident be completed?】 The system was distressed and worried, seeing the host’s leisurely appearance, couldn’t help but murmur softly, “Ah, knowing that the host is unreliable and yet craving enjoyment, I shouldn’t have told the host…”

“What did you just say?”

The system froze, quickly changing its tune: 【Nothing, I didn’t say anything, I’m just thinking of ways to remedy the situation!】

“In fact, I think it’s okay not to remedy it. Look, the only thing that has happened is that the incident of the little cousin being framed has occurred early, but the result is not much different, right?” Sheng Xia, with her eyes closed, persuasively said, “It’s just that assistants and partners have been sent in, the only difference is that the Feng family found out early and was not affected.”

Her voice was soft and considerate: “As long as the plot happens, the node is already stable. It’s just a slight deviation, it’s not like it hasn’t happened before, why should our dear system be so distressed?”

The system’s CPU was a bit overheated, but it faintly felt that something was wrong: 【But–】

“And, how can you blame me, System? We are partners in crime, how could we deliberately not do tasks and implicate you? Think about it, was the early plot caused by me? The sudden appearance of the Shi family has nothing to do with me, right?”

“It’s obvious that there’s something wrong with the Shi family. The plot has changed, it must be related to them.” Sheng Xia could feel it gradually wavering, her lips curling up as she sighed softly, “Instead of investigating them, you’re accusing me of being unreliable. Is that reasonable? Oh, my poor darling host must be so upset.”

【Is, is that so?】 The system was dizzy from this series of questions, stuttering suddenly. Thinking carefully, it did seem to be the case, feeling guilty, it apologized, 【I’m sorry, host, it’s my fault. I didn’t think of this, I misunderstood you.】

“It’s okay, who made you my darling System?” Sweetly coaxing the system into investigating the Shi family, Sheng Xia yawned lazily and fell asleep contentedly.

…

The Shi family.

“What did you say? Shi Cheng was arrested?!”

Upon learning that their plan had been discovered on the spot, Feng Shaoyun not only called the police but also provided irrefutable evidence, leading to the detention of everyone present.

Sheng Lanqiu’s mind went blank instantly, feeling dizzy and hearing a buzzing in her ears.

How could this be possible? Clearly in the dream, Feng Shaoyun fell into the trap easily without any guard against his assistants and partners around him! This time, they had bribed that partner in advance, acting according to the plan in the dream, so how could it suddenly be discovered and caught on the spot?!

She murmured in disbelief, “How is this possible…”

“You’re asking me how is this possible?” Shi Yulin’s face was particularly embarrassed, he was anxious and annoyed, throwing the book next to him to the ground, “I said we shouldn’t use such methods. Carelessness can lead to the breakdown of cooperation between the two families and easily offend the Feng family. But you didn’t listen, you even went to discuss it with dad!”

When Sheng Lanqiu mentioned that the assistant and the partner had ulterior motives, Shi Yulin felt it was unreliable, just saying to consider it first. As a result, not long after, he was removed from the negotiation and his cousin Shi Cheng was sent over.

And now, something had indeed gone wrong!

He glared at his wife, his face dark as he gritted his teeth, “Even if the plan didn’t succeed, it would have been fine if it wasn’t discovered. But now, we’ve been caught red-handed. This time, we were completely helping Feng Shaoyun clean out the traitors, and now we have to cede territory and compensate the Feng family. Are you satisfied?”

Listening to Shi Yulin’s discontented outburst, Sheng Lanqiu sat down on the bed, somewhat puzzled. Clearly, everything that happened in the dream had come true in reality, so it couldn’t just be this cooperation that went wrong, right?

If the plan and the people were not the problem, then there was only…

She suddenly looked up, grabbing her husband’s sleeve in regret, “It must be that our cousin accidentally left traces that let Feng Shaoyun discover something was wrong. I’m sorry, Yu, I just wanted to help you. I thought as long as we could complete this cooperation, Dad would definitely be satisfied and hand over the Shi family to you…”

Shi Yulin’s expression froze.

She bit her lip, feeling guilty and wronged, “Who knew he would choose our cousin and even say he was the most suitable candidate. Yu, I really didn’t mean it, and before, I thought you didn’t mind, I thought it was something you both had discussed. I’m really sorry.”

Upon hearing her gentle apology, Shi Yulin’s face suddenly became awkward.

Indeed, he hadn’t initially agreed, but after discovering that Feng Shaoyun’s trusted assistant and partner had been easily bought, he… wavered.

As Sheng Lanqiu had said, he had been dissatisfied with his role as the heir for a long time. Feng Yan had only taken over the Feng family for four years, but he had already sorted out the mess and led the Feng family back to the top of the circle.

And he was still just an heir, having to defer to his father’s wishes no matter what. Naturally, Shi Yulin was somewhat dissatisfied.

If he could truly seize the Feng family’s piece of cake through this, he could prove to his father that he was capable of taking over the Shi family.

However, whether in terms of his status or dignity, he couldn’t personally do such things. His cousin, on the other hand, was just an idle playboy, so even if the plan failed, it wouldn’t be too much to push the blame onto him.

Therefore, he tacitly approved of his cousin’s actions and even provided some help as a pusher.

Who would have thought… the plan not only failed halfway but also ended up being caught red-handed.

But ultimately, this was not his wife’s fault. It was just the Shi family’s greed.

Shi Yulin closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice, “I will handle the matters of the Shi family myself. Lanlan, in the future, don’t intervene randomly anymore.”

Sheng Lanqiu’s heart tightened, she answered hesitantly, and then carefully hugged him, “I’m sorry, Yu. I will never act on my own again. Can you forgive me?”