Chapter 2

Shen Xiao was the first to step inside, with the others following suit. Shen Yu trailed at the very end, stealing glances at his tall, straight-backed figure.
Initially, she hadn’t felt particularly intimidated by this major antagonist. After all, they had never met before. The book described him as arrogant, unruly, and domineering, yet relatively kind to her, his adopted sister. With that preconception, she hadn’t been afraid, in fact, she even thought she could discuss moving out with him. But after witnessing the scene outside just now, she gained a deeper understanding of Shen Xiao: this man was absolutely, unequivocally not to be trifled with!
The book only briefly touched upon their relationship, mentioning that Shen Xiao was amiable toward her, willing to give her pocket money, and not overly strict. However, it never detailed their day-to-day interactions or how Shen Xiao behaved at home. Whenever he appeared in the story, he was always picking fights, acting high and mighty, as if he wanted to trample everyone under his feet. As a villain, he was undoubtedly the most dedicated.
Shen Yu thought it would be better to bring up the topic of moving out when he was in a good mood. But with someone as moody and unpredictable as him, when exactly would that be?
Though her mind was racing with thoughts, Shen Yu maintained a facade of obedience and meekness on the surface.
As soon as Shen Xiao entered the house, he swiftly took off his formal jacket and casually tossed a pair of cufflinks onto the coffee table. Then, he sprawled lazily onto the sofa. Finding his long legs uncomfortable when bent, he simply propped them up on the table, wiggling his feet. He turned his head toward her and said, "Always looking so timid. Come here and call me 'brother.'"
Shen Yu: “…”
Uncle Li, standing beside her, noticed her hesitation and gently nudged her, signaling for her to go over.
So Shen Yu took two steps forward and obediently called out, "Brother."
Shen Xiao chuckled, patting the spot next to him. "Come sit. Anything bothering you lately? Spill it, cheer me up."
Shen Yu: “…”
Was that even human language?!
Though she desperately wanted to take off her shoe and smack him in the face with it, she took a deep breath and restrained herself. Instead, she lowered her head and went to sit beside him.
They were so close that with just a soft breath, Shen Yu could catch the faint, crisp scent of his cologne.
Shen Xiao continued to wiggle his feet, turning to look at her. His sharp gaze lingered on her face for a long moment before he frowned disdainfully and said, "That pair of glasses must weigh two pounds. Your nose bridge is collapsing under them. And this hairstyle, this chubby face, shouldn’t you consider some plastic surgery? Don’t worry, I’ll cover the cost."
Shen Yu: “…”
Suddenly, she understood why the original owner of this body had such deep-seated insecurities. It must have been the result of being constantly criticized and belittled by him!
Speaking of which, Shen Yu couldn’t help but feel resigned about her current appearance. The original owner had severe nearsightedness, with lenses so thick they were terrifying. Instead of thinking about how to treat her eyes, she just wore a pair of old-fashioned, black-framed glasses that covered most of her face. Perhaps she chose such large frames because she thought her face was too round.
Besides the severe nearsightedness, the original owner was also slightly overweight. Yesterday, Shen Yu had deliberately weighed herself at the pharmacy near her school, she was 170 cm tall but weighed a staggering 150 pounds!
Shen Yu felt that the author's physical description of the original owner was completely unreasonable. With such an appearance, how on earth did she get accepted into the acting class of the film academy? Were the interviewers all severely nearsighted?
As a classical dance major, Shen Yu had always been extremely strict about her body, fat-to-muscle ratio, flexibility in various areas, and so on. Even years after graduation, she still practiced for an hour every day to maintain her body in peak condition.
When she first transmigrated and saw this body, she was almost scared into fainting. After calming down, she comforted herself: being fat wasn’t the end of the world, it could still be salvaged. Every chubby person was a potential beauty; she just needed to exercise gradually, and she would eventually slim down.
Now, being openly despised by Shen Xiao like this, she couldn’t help but feel deeply frustrated once again.
So she protested softly, "I don’t want plastic surgery."
Shen Xiao sneered coldly and said nothing more.
Uncle Li, worried that if they continued talking, Shen Yu might end up in tears, and it wasn’t an exaggeration, as she had been reduced to tears several times before, spoke up, "Sir, Miss, dinner is ready. Shall we eat now?"
Shen Xiao nodded indifferently, "Let’s eat, then."
Shen Yu felt as if she had been granted a reprieve and quickly stood up from the sofa. Her overly agile movement made Shen Xiao raise an eyebrow.
The siblings had never been close and had no common topics to discuss. As long as Shen Xiao didn’t actively tease her, they could coexist in relative silence and harmony. Coupled with Uncle Li’s extraordinary culinary skills, the brief mealtime was actually quite relaxed and pleasant.
After the meal, Shen Xiao put down his chopsticks and instructed Uncle Li, "Wash some cherries and put them in the living room. I’m going upstairs to take a shower first."
Uncle Li glanced at Shen Yu before nodding to Shen Xiao, "Of course."
Only after Shen Xiao left did Shen Yu get up to help Uncle Li clear the table, something she had been doing frequently these past few days, and Uncle Li was almost used to it.
As she absentmindedly placed the dishes into the dishwasher, Uncle Li, while washing the cherries, asked her, "Your frown is deep enough to trap a fly. Something on your mind? Were you really bullied at school?"
Shen Yu waved her hand dismissively, "It’s nothing."
Seeing the vibrant, fresh cherries in the bowl, Shen Yu felt a craving and reached out to sneak one, but Uncle Li slapped her hand away, saying, "Don’t touch these. They’re for the young master. If he finds out you stole one, he’ll be angry."
Shen Yu: “…”
Was he really that stingy? Couldn’t she even have one cherry??
After slapping her hand away, Uncle Li casually handed her an apple, "You can munch on this instead."
Shen Yu took the apple and stared at it in disbelief, thinking, The favoritism here is way too obvious!
Before Shen Xiao came back down from his shower, the doorbell rang. Uncle Li handed her a small bowl of cherries to take to the living room while he went to answer the door.
Shen Yu carried the cherries to the living room, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately resisted the temptation to sneak one. After all, she was currently playing the role of a timid little bunny, and she had to maintain that image without breaking character.
Uncle Li soon brought in a man who appeared to be around Shen Xiao’s age. He wore half-rimmed glasses, looked refined and scholarly, and carried a briefcase.
"Secretary Du, please have a seat. Sir is taking a shower and will be down shortly," Uncle Li said.
So this was Shen Xiao’s assistant. It seemed they were going to discuss business.
Shen Yu quickly finished her apple, thinking she had nothing else to do, and was about to get up and return to her room when Uncle Li stopped her. "Wait a bit before going upstairs. No need to come back down again later."
Why would she need to come back down? Was there something else she needed to do?
Shen Yu was utterly confused and was about to ask for clarification when she saw Shen Xiao casually descending the stairs in a loosely tied bathrobe. His hair was still dripping wet, and he roughly toweled it off before sweeping the strands away from his forehead, revealing sharp, striking features that exuded an almost arrogant confidence.
Upon seeing him, Secretary Du opened his briefcase and said, "Boss, I’ve drafted the agreement for that piece of land. Please take a look and see if there’s anything that needs to be added."
Shen Xiao waved his hand dismissively. "Just read it to me. I can’t be bothered to read it."
After saying this, he leisurely walked over to the sofa and sat down, then patted the spot beside him again, saying to Shen Yu, "Come here."
Shen Yu looked at him warily. For the first time, she realized that in the face of a lunatic, she had absolutely no fighting power, she was utterly defenseless!
Don’t get angry, don’t get angry. I’m just a cute little bunny!
After mentally preparing herself, she resignedly sat down beside him again. This time, the scent of his cologne was gone, replaced by the fresh fragrance of shower gel.
Signaling Secretary Du to begin reading the document, Shen Xiao picked up the bowl of cherries from the coffee table, carefully selected one, and held it to her lips, commanding, "Here, open your mouth."
Shen Yu: “…”
What was this lunatic trying to do? Feed her cherries?
When she didn’t respond after a moment, Shen Xiao impatiently tapped the cherry against her lips, his expression darkening as he said, "Eat!"
Feeling both baffled and a little scared, Shen Yu obediently opened her mouth and ate the cherry.
Watching her chew the cherry obediently, with a drop of red juice occasionally seeping from the corner of her mouth, Shen Xiao finally broke into a satisfied smile, as if he had witnessed something amusing. "Good girl, keep going."
And so, against the backdrop of Secretary Du reading the document, Shen Xiao continued to feed her cherries one by one, a smile playing on his lips.
The more Shen Yu ate, the more creeped out she felt. Earlier in the kitchen, Uncle Li had stopped her from eating the cherries, saying Shen Xiao would get angry. Yet, in the end, they still ended up in her mouth, only this time, it was the lunatic feeding them to her. But why? Was feeding her cherries fun? What was the point?
Distracted by these thoughts, she accidentally bit down on both the cherry and his finger, and with considerable force at that.
Shen Yu: “…”
Uncle Li and Secretary Du: …
Shen Xiao’s eyes widened in surprise, and he let out a delighted laugh. "Ha, little thing, finally learned to bite, have you??"
Shen Yu: “…”
Why did his tone sound like he was talking to a pet?
Wahhhh… Mom, I want to go home. There’s a pervert here!!