When they arrived at Shen Xinglan's villa, Shen I cupped his face as he exited the car.
"Clean up the villa before picking her up tomorrow." Shen Xinglan shot him a sinister glare before walking inside.
Shen II looked at him expressionlessly, the word "despise" etched clearly on his face.
"Why are you looking at me?" Shen I opened his mouth, sounding aggrieved. "You guys were the ones who discussed this over on WeChat. You guys were also the ones who made me ask!"
"That's why we call you an idiot," Shen II replied shamelessly. "Remember what Boss said. Otherwise, wait to be sent to Africa."
Shen I spat in the direction of Shen II's back. "Dream on!"
At dawn on the next day, a series of knocks on her door woke her up.
"Open the door! Hurry up and open the door!"
She opened the door with a scowl on her face. Xia Mei charged in and nearly knocked her down.
"You damned illegitimate child, you dare ruin Sister Xia Wan's engagement!"
Now clear-headed, A Miao swiftly kicked Xia Mei on the knee. Xia Mei yelped in pain and fell to the carpet on her butt.
"You dare kick me?" Xia Mei climbed to her feet to grab A Miao.
A Miao dodged her hands. "I've warned you once not to let me hear such unclean words from your mouth."
"You wench! I'll beat you to death!" Xia Mei once again tried to charge at her.
Xia Wan, who had been hiding at the doorway to watch the show, appeared to have no intention whatsoever to enter the room. However, A Miao had long detected her presence. Seeing as Xia Mei was acting like a slighted woman, she hastily yelled,
"Come, people! Hurry up and come!"
Xia Wan stomped her feet. It would not bode well for them if their grandfather overheard them. She had no choice but to pretend that she had just run over. "Oh dear, Xia Mei! What are you doing?"
A Miao took the chance to hide behind Xia Wan, moving so quickly that Xia Mei did even touch a strand of her hair. Xia Mei brandished her hands while completely ignoring Xia Wan. Then she heard the latter's sudden screech.
"My face!"
Xia Mei jumped in fright. Only after hearing Xia Wan's cry, did she stop.
"Sister! Sister, are you okay? I… I didn't do it on purpose!"
There was a scratch on Xia Wan's face and a hint of blood seeped out from the wound.
"Wanwan!" Yao Lili, who had been rushed over after hearing all that noise, ran in. "Hurry, hurry and come downstairs. I'll put on the ointment for you."
Before she left, Yao Lili did not forget them both.
"You two should come down as well. I'll settle this with you later."
There was nothing serious about the wound on Xia Wan's face. After putting on the ointment, there was not even any need to bandage it. Even so, Yao Lili refused to let this slide and was about to open her mouth to give a good scolding when A Miao pointed at Xia Mei.
"She's the one who hit her. It has nothing to do with me."
"You dare say!" Xia Mei yelled angrily. "Had you not dodge it, I wouldn't have hit Sister Xia Wan!"
Yao Lili wagged her finger at them. "You two are such troublemakers. Stay far away from our Wanwan in the future."
"First Aunt." Xia Mei walked over to her. "How can you compare me with the ille… with A Miao. I really didn't do it on purpose. I'm also venting anger on behalf of Sister Xia Wan!"
Xia Wan cast a glance at her. She knew very well that Xia Mei was worried about herself.
Now that Xia Wan was marrying Bai Youran, Xia Mei had lost all hope of doing so. However… if this girl truly liked Bai Youran, she could think of a way.
"That's enough. I'm fine." She smiled gently at them. "Don't make things difficult for A Miao anymore. She'll be moving out very soon. If we want to meet her in the future, we'll have to go to Shen Xinglan's home."
Xia Mei's eyes widened. "How shameless! Cohabitation!"
A Miao had no mood to respond to her. She stood up and made a lazy stretch. "I'm going to take a bath." When she saw that Yao Lili and Xia Mei both try to stop her, she said,
"Shen Xinglan will be picking me up later. It's not nice to keep him waiting while I pack, is it?"
Leaving the three women stewing in anger and resentment behind, A Miao raised her head and smugly walked up the stairs.
"Ahhhhhhh!" The moment she entered her room, she wore an altogether different expression. "What to do? What to do?"
She did not want to go to Shen Xinglan's home but only death awaited her in the Xia family villa. Both roads led her to a cliff and the only difference was whether she would die sooner or later…
She continued to ponder and panic over this matter. By the time she recovered her senses, she saw that she had finished packing her luggage.
"Dear God!" She punched herself on the head. "What am I doing?!"
She swiftly pulled open her suitcase and was about to throw all the contents out when she heard the servant of the Xia family villa yelling from the door, "Miss A Miao, Mr. Shen has sent someone to pick you up!"
"... Fine. I have no choice."
When Xia Wan saw A Miao walking down the stairs, she smiled at the guest and said, "My sister is still young. If there are times when she acts insensibly, I ask that Mr. Shen overlooks her behavior."
A Miao shot her a strange look. Once again, she felt that this woman would be wasting her talents if she did not go into acting.
"Don't worry."
Mockery flitted across Shen II's eyes. Unlike Shen I, he had very little to say.
"A Miao, remember to invite us for tea when you're free!" Xia Wan was particularly courteous while beside her, Yao Lili and Xia Mei were expressionless.
A Miao waved her hand and walked out of the Xia family villa without even turning her head.
She did not want to ever return in her entire life…
"Let's talk!"
During the car ride, A Miao stared fixedly at Shen II.
One minute later…
"If I recall correctly, you aren't mute."
Two minutes later, A Miao placed her hand in front of Shen II's face.
"Miss A Miao, you can play with your phone if you're bored. Don't affect my driving."
"Who would have the mood to play at this time!"
A Miao once again approached Shen II, continuing her struggle to get him to talk. "Don't be like this. We can be considered acquaintances after all. Just tell me secretly what your Boss is planning."
Shen II shot her a glance before shaking his head. "I don't know."
"How could you not know?" A Miao became panicked. "You and that "I" stick to him every day!"
"That 'I'?" The mouth of Shen II's twitched. "Doesn't that mean that I'm 'II'…"
"Your Boss probably won't want to do this right?" A Miao made a slitting gesture at her throat.
This was the only conclusion that she could come up with after thinking hard for an entire night. Shen Xinglan would kill her to silence her and prevent the incident about the jade pendant embedded with a bronze mirror from being exposed.
Shen II became speechless. Had he known earlier, he would have Shen I pick up this woman. Those two would certainly share the same language.
No matter how A Miao questioned him, Shen II refused to speak. In the end, she finally sat down obediently after complaining about her thirst. Outside, rain began to fall.
One drop. Two drops. They slowly trailed downward on the car window, leaving behind streaks of water.
"I hate rainy days the most." A Miao reached out to trace her fingers on the window.
Shen II cast a glance at her and saw that her expression was full of desolateness and hesitation. He prepared to listen attentively, thinking that she had more to say. To his surprise, he saw A Miao closing her eyes and hug her knees in a fetal position.
She did not move.
She remained that way until the car drove into the compound of Shen Xinglan's villa.
"Boss, she's here." Shen I rushed in while concealing his excitement.
Shen Xinglan did not even move. He continued to read the documents in his hands while being seated in the living room.
Shen I curled his lips. "So he's not in a hurry now. Who's the one who rushed home early in the morning without even going for the meeting…"
"Please come in, Miss A Miao." Shen I made an inviting gesture.
A Miao took careful steps inside while dragging her shabby suitcase.
"Did you break your legs?"
A sinister voice drifted toward her. A Miao immediately took larger strides and swiftly took a seat opposite of Shen Xinglan.
"Okay. Let's get this over with as quickly as possible. What exactly do you want to do? Why are you getting engaged to me? Why do you want me to live with you?" "Why wouldn't you let me off?"
Shen Xinglan made a flick at his own thigh. "I'll only answer one question. Think carefully before asking."
A Miao secretly scratched the sofa. "Okay! Then why did you get engaged to me?"
"Your brain sure isn't enough to serve you." Shen Xinglan looked at her with a mocking expression. "You neither want to marry into the Bai family nor stay in the Xia family. I'll make good on my promise seeing as you've helped me."
The man raised his fine-looking tapered eyebrow. "You'll naturally not have to marry Bai Youran after getting engaged to me. Speaking of this, I'm the one who suffered a loss in this deal. After all, there's too large of a gap between us from the inside to the outside."
"What… What do you mean…"
"You're neither as good-looking nor as smart as me. How can you match up to me?"
A Miao blinked and then recovered her senses. "No, that's not the point." She began to yell, "What do you mean I won't have to marry into the Bai family if I get engaged to you? Did you plan this since the beginning?"
The man shrugged as he looked at her. "I've finished answering your question. We should be discussing your reward now."
"Shen Xinglan!" A Miao rose to her feet. "To hell with your discussion! Do you think I'm an idiot?"
What difference was there for her to get engaged to this man or the Bai family?! He had been playing her for a fool all along! A Miao dragged her suitcase and made an attempt to leave, but Shen I immediately stood in front of her.
"Step aside!" A Miao's expression was cold. "Or I'll call the cops and say that you people kidnapped me!"
The corners of Shen I's mouth twitched. Why did this girl's IQ fail her at the crucial point each time? She was their Boss' fiancee now. Who would believe that she was kidnapped?
"Get Auntie to add pig brain soup to her lunch every day so she can nourish her brain." Shen Xinglan's sneering voice came from behind her. A Miao swiftly turned around and glared hatefully at him.
"What exactly do you want?! What will it take for you to let me go?"
Shen Xinglan looked at her without expression.
"Miss A Miao, I advise you to sit down and have a good discussion with our Boss!" Shen I took the shabby suitcase off her hands. "I'll send your luggage to your room."
After calming down, they began their discussion again.
A Miao sat down. "I don't want to get engaged to you. Neither do I want to stay here. Please let me go."
"Are you sure?" Shen Xinglan asked leisurely, after taking a sip of coffee. "If you step out of my home today, people would immediately find out that our engagement has been nullified."
He smirked. "Do you know what that means?"
Shen Xinglan smiled when he saw A Miao staring at him with an alert expression. "It means that your grandfather, Xia Yongqiang, will immediately marry you off to someone else."
"An old man in his fifties or sixties, or a pervert…"
This thought immediately popped into A Miao's head.
"Then… Then don't publicize the nullification of our engagement? Can't you pretend for a bit?"
Shen Xinglan looked at her like he was looking at an idiot. "Fine. You may leave."
A Miao swiftly stood up but before she took more than two steps away, she returned and sat down.
"If I go out bearing the title of your fiancee, I'll either be tormented to death by all those women or manipulated by your business rivals." She sat on the sofa helplessly, shrinking a little. Shen Xinglan had correctly bet on the fact that she would not dare leave him. Since that was the case, she had no choice but to stay.
"I'll stay."
Shen Xinglan's gaze was unfathomable. "I'll consider that smart of you. Be good and stay here. Tell Shen I if you need anything."