The White Lotus's Four-Step Routine

Li Yiyan found that deeply convincing. With his brother's brainless way of seeing everyone as an enemy, he really might pin everything on him. Then he would accuse his older brother of stealing his woman again, just like last time.

Li Yiyan let go and took a step back.

The sensation in Mu Yuqing's hand suddenly vanished. Her pale, fragile expression froze as she turned toward where Li Yiyan had retreated, one hand outstretched.

"Brother Li?"

Standing beside Shen Jingmo and watching the melodramatic scene unfold, Zhu Yu silently pulled out a bag of sunflower seeds and a plastic bag from his briefcase. He tore open the package and started cracking seeds.

"Crack, crack, ptoo..."

Shen Jingmo had been considering whether to turn around and leave when he suddenly heard the sound of seed shells cracking beside him. Turning his head, he saw Zhu Yu clutching his sunflower seeds like a little squirrel and feverishly cracking them, while still remembering to toss the shells into the plastic bag.

Watching the woman grope around in front of him, Li Yiyan could not bear it and reached out to support her again. Before he could get close, however, Mu Yuqing grabbed him once more.

"Oh-ho!" Zhu Yu shook his head as he cracked seeds. Just as he was enjoying himself, he suddenly felt a gaze fixed tightly on him.

Zhu Yu looked to the side in confusion and met the eyes of his powerful backer. He blinked blankly, then looked at the seeds in his hand. Was Shen Jingmo unhappy that he was eating alone?

Zhu Yu silently offered his sunflower seeds to him.

Looking at the seeds practically shoved into his face, Shen Jingmo expressionlessly reached out and pushed them aside.

Zhu Yu was not disappointed by the rejection. After all, with one less person eating, he could crack seeds for longer.

On the other side, Li Yiyan had withdrawn his hand again. Mu Yuqing could no longer take it and turned around, hugging Li Yiyan's arm. "Brother Li, please help me."

"Pfft..." Zhu Yu nearly choked on a sunflower seed.

Does this woman have X-ray vision? Both her eyes are clearly blind, yet every time she turns, she faces exactly the right direction. She even grabs exactly the right person. That's terrifying. Is this the protagonist's halo? Is the direction she asks for help from always right, no matter what?

Long black hair, a little white dress, and a pair of little white shoes... Does she really think she looks like some delicate white flower? If you walked out dressed like that on an overcast day, I'd genuinely faint from fright, okay?

What if that crazy bastard Li Yichen saw this scene? Wouldn't he explode on the spot?

Perhaps Zhu Yu had been a little too lucky. The moment he finished that thought, he heard a familiar furious roar.

"Mu Yuqing!!! You're seducing my big brother again!!!" Li Yichen rushed over and yanked Mu Yuqing away from Li Yiyan's arm.

Zhu Yu poured himself another handful of seeds. He had already planned to stop cracking them, but now that this crazy bastard had shown up, there was more drama to watch.

"Mu Yuqing, do you have any conscience? I treated you so well. Whatever you wanted, I gave you. Yet you still wanted to run away, and I paid off your debts for you!"

I spent money on you!

"I learned to cook for you!"

I became your housekeeper!

"I defied my parents for you!"

I got kicked out of my family for you!

"Why can't you see how good I am to you?"

Why do you treat me like a sucker?

Every time Li Yichen said a sentence, Zhu Yu could not help laughing.

"Pfft..." Shen Jingmo and Li Yiyan could not help laughing as well when they heard that. It hit too close to home; there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

"No, no, A-Chen, A-Chen, listen to me." Mu Yuqing threw herself into Li Yichen's arms, tears streaming down her face.

"A-Chen, you're a good person."

Step one of the white lotus routine: give him the good-person card first.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Zhu Yu nearly choked again. Shen Jingmo made a fist and lightly coughed into it, while his other hand patted Zhu Yu's back.

"It's all my fault. I'm not worthy of you."

Step two of the white lotus routine: humble herself.

"I only wanted to be with you when I was at my best. I didn't want to be with you when I had nothing, only for people to call me a parasitic dodder vine."

Step three of the white lotus routine: act strong.

"So, can't you wait a little longer for our bright future? A-Chen?"

The final step of the white lotus routine: ask vulnerably.

Sure enough, after only a few sentences, Li Yichen's fierce expression vanished. His eyes instantly reddened, and he pulled the woman in front of him tightly into his arms.

"I'm sorry, Xiaoqing. It's all my fault. I didn't know you were under so much pressure. I really love you. Don't worry—no matter what you want to do in the future, I'll support you."

Li Yiyan's mouth twitched as he casually grabbed a handful of Zhu Yu's sunflower seeds and began cracking them. Judging from this scene, what Zhu Yu had said earlier about his younger brother running into the deep mountains for this woman was not merely possible—it was extremely, no, absolutely certain.

Li Yiyan genuinely wondered whether his mother had eaten something wrong while she was pregnant with his little brother. Otherwise, how could he be this stupid?

Zhu Yu shot him a sideways look and silently hid farther behind Shen Jingmo. I haven't even offered you any, and you're already stealing my sunflower seeds.