Too Much Hostility

When Bo Miao saw how strongly her family opposed her relationship, her nose twitched and her eyes reddened. The tears came at once. She was just dating someone! Did they have to treat her like this?

[Oh, look. The second brother made his little sister cry. Go comfort her already.]

Sister-in-law, I think it was your thoughts that made her cry. Who wouldn't cry after learning their boyfriend was a two-faced liar? Bo Zhe fell silent.

Bo Hanmo pressed a hand to his forehead. Her crying made his hands itch.

[Oh dear, it couldn't be helped. Being cannon fodder is hard enough, but who knew something even worse was waiting?]

The Bo Family: Exactly! Why did they have to be cannon fodder? Could she have read it wrong? o(╥﹏╥)o

Bo Hanmo: I'm alive and well right now. That means I just have to avoid it.

[Not one person in the Bo Family is sharp. They're all fools.]

The Bo Family: That's going too far.

Bo Miao: Don't make it worse.

Bo Hanmo: ...Don't forget, you're one of us.

[Let me see. Looks like Bo Miao isn't the only one who'll cry over love. Bo Zhe will too. Tsk. Can't there be a single exception? Is money not appealing enough? Is shopping not fun enough? Why can't any of you be sensible, like me? Keep crying and I'll take ugly photos of you. Whenever I'm unhappy, I'll pull them out for a laugh.]

Bo Miao's crying had Fang Yao thoroughly frazzled. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, and she quietly picked up her phone.

Bo Miao: Hic...

The Bo Family: She's impressive, all right. Now Bo Miao would stop crying, and their ears could finally have some peace. (´▽`)ﾉ

Bo Zhe had wanted to speak up for ages, but their grandfather had kept him in check. Now he finally had his chance. Picking up where Fang Yao had left off, he said, "I don't see any harm in investigating him. If we've misunderstood him, we'll find a way to make it up to Chen Shengtian. If it's true, I strongly suggest you break up with him. Why keep a man like that around—to collect your corpse? If you disagree, say so instead of trying to win an argument by crying. I stopped crying when I was five. If you're already crying your heart out over a relationship, are you going to force our hand with tears every time something like this happens?"

Bo Hanmo: If I remember correctly, you cried your way through childhood, kid.

-_-||

Bo Miao: I wasn't crying my heart out. Second Brother, stop making things up about me! [○･｀Д´･ ○]

Bo Miao wanted to cry again, but she was afraid Fang Yao would take an ugly photo of her. And what was with her second brother's strange embellishments? She had no choice but to hold back her tears, refusing to let even one fall.

[If I hadn't just seen what really happened, you might've fooled me, kid.] Fang Yao's mouth twitched as she listened.

Old Master Bo covered his face when Fang Yao exposed Bo Zhe's claim.

Bo Zhe: Sister-in-law...

Bo Miao covered her mouth and laughed. It really took her sister-in-law to handle him.

Her tears giving way to a smile, Bo Miao sniffled. She still sounded a little aggrieved. "Since you all insist, fine. I trust Brother Tian, so investigate him if you want. But I want to see what you find at the same time you do."

Otherwise, you'll hide anything good to break us up and show me only the bad.

The Bo Family silently rolled their eyes together. They weren't that awful, okay?

Bo Hanmo nodded. "Fine. We were wrong. I'll provide the money for your business venture. But your allowance is confiscated from now on. You wouldn't want him to say someday that using your allowance to fund his business was like tossing a few coins to a beggar, would you? In that case, you might as well build a business from scratch with him."

When Bo Hanmo spoke, his words sounded so convincing that Bo Miao found herself obeying her eldest brother without thinking.

Only after the bank card for her allowance was in Bo Hanmo's hands did Bo Miao come to her senses. I could just stop giving Brother Tian my allowance. I can still spend it myself.

Bo Miao opened her mouth to ask for the card back, but Bo Zhe saw through her.

"That's our Miao Miao, always listening to Eldest Brother. Whatever he says goes. Not like me—no matter what I say, Miao Miao thinks her second brother is being unreasonable."

Bo Miao's attention shifted. She glared at Bo Zhe while the rest of the Bo Family secretly gave him a thumbs-up. Nicely done.

Bo Zhe smiled smugly. Of course.

[I thought the little rabbit might finally stand up for herself, but that's it?!]

Bo Miao smiled awkwardly. She hadn't expected this either.

Bo Hanmo looked helplessly at Fang Yao. He had finally managed to calm Bo Miao down. Could Fang Yao please stop undermining them?

Fang Yao had no idea what Bo Hanmo was thinking. She was too busy enjoying the gossip.

[It couldn't be helped. The silly girl got all excited when Chen Shengtian said he wanted to start a business from nothing. That scheming boy led her along step by step until she offered him the money herself. He refused, and she practically forced it on him.]

The Bo Family: !!!! What?

Bo Miao gave her family a dopey grin under their stares.

[That scheming boy kept casually telling her the family property and shares shouldn't all go to Bo Hanmo. Bo Miao should get some too. He said that if they didn't give her any, it meant the Bo Family favored sons over daughters. Normal families weren't like that. He made the Bo Family sound abnormal.]

The Bo Family narrowed their eyes at Bo Miao. She waved her hands. Brother Tian had said that, but she'd argued against it at the time.

[Luckily, the silly girl didn't believe him or fall for that trick. But...]

Hearing Fang Yao defend her, Bo Miao straightened her little frame. Then Fang Yao's "but" made her shrink right back down.

Bo Miao: Sister-in-law, I'm begging you. Finish what you were saying! (✧ω✧)

[The silly girl said she should let her family know she was dating someone. That scheming boy told her the Bo Family was restricting her freedom. She was a grown woman, yet she couldn't even decide for herself whom to date. Had she never smoked, gotten into a fight, hung out at an internet café, or stayed out all night? ...Wasn't he pushing Bo Miao and her family onto opposing sides and starting a war between them?]

At first, Bo Miao looked as though she agreed. As Fang Yao's thoughts went on, she slowly fell silent. By the last sentence, she was stunned. Those words were meant to turn me against my family?

Maybe there was too much information and Sister-in-law got it wrong. Brother Tian didn't mean that, did he? She thought he'd made a good point. She really hadn't experienced any of those things. Her eldest brother and the others wouldn't even take her to bars.

Her friends all said a youth without rebellion was incomplete.

[Then the silly girl took out her bank card, put it in front of that scheming boy, and told him that wasn't true. She said Bo Hanmo gave her lots of allowance and so on. Of course that boy set his sights on her money.]

[Hmm... About all that rebellious stuff, isn't it possible that most female university students in their twenties from ordinary families haven't done any of it? Some families are strict even about allowance because they're afraid their daughters will fall in with the wrong crowd.]

[Girls who aren't cared for are the ones who end up doing those things.]

That last sentence left Bo Miao reeling. Was... was that true? Then her friends weren't cared for?

(:з"∠) You're only thinking about your friends? Has it occurred to you that they might not be real friends?

Her best friends: We never said anything like that! [○･｀Д´･ ○]