"No. We absolutely can't just bluff our way through this."
Compared to 037's panicked outcries, Lu Xiaoxiao was much calmer.
She said, "With Gu Sipei's personality, there was never any getting around this. Even if you skip it this time, he'll definitely come looking again later. If we don't resolve the problem, it'll keep coming back. We might as well fool him properly this time."
After soothing 037, Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and looked up at Gu Sipei again.
"I just thought being too introverted wasn't doing me any favors. Am I not allowed to change for the better?"
"Since you know I'm only the Lu family's adopted daughter, Mr. Gu, you should be able to guess that Lu Jiaoyue coming home would make me feel a little threatened, shouldn't you?"
"I was afraid my family would grow to dislike me, so I wanted to make my personality more likable. Is that wrong, too?"
"If you think that behavior is abnormal, then how do you think I should deal with this anxiety over my place in the family, Mr. Gu?"
"Oh, instead of working on myself, I should secretly plot against Lu Jiaoyue. Would that seem normal to you?"
At that point, Lu Xiaoxiao gave a cold laugh, her words growing more assured with every sentence.
Although both she and 037 knew that secretly plotting against Lu Jiaoyue was the most natural course of events in the Original Novel, Gu Sipei didn't know that.
And Gu Sipei certainly wouldn't want to see her turn against Lu Jiaoyue. With that argument, even if she hadn't dispelled his suspicions, he couldn't openly keep criticizing her.
But Lu Xiaoxiao still didn't think that was enough. Seeing a more contemplative look in Gu Sipei's eyes after what she'd just said, she pressed