With that thought in mind, Song Yu sent exactly that.
[Song Yu: What do you mean? I feel like you're looking down on me?]
After waiting ages, he finally got a reply from Xie Sui.
[Xie Sui: It's not just a feeling.]
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck, was this what he was like once they got familiar? He preferred the poor little thing from the beginning!
Meanwhile, Xie Sui had already put away his phone with a smile.
A notification blinked, and an email appeared on his computer under the name "Xu Shien."
His gaze settled on it. His smile lingered, but took on a hint of coldness.
[Xu Shien: A Sui, I'm so happy you're willing to contact your aunt. What happened to your mother saddened our whole family. But so much time has passed that anything we say now is too late. Everyone misses you. Where are you now? Your aunt will send someone to bring you back to City A right away.]
Xie Sui lowered his eyes and smiled faintly.
Missed him? The Xu Family had considered his mother a disgrace to the family, cut all ties with her, and driven her out to fend for herself, never even knowing she had died. Now they were pretending to care and wanted to take him back. Presumably, they had already discovered that the bastard from back then was now the head of the Xie Family.
How ironic.
[Xie Sui: Thank you, Aunt, but please don't tell Grandpa and Grandma about me yet. I'll go back when I'm an adult.]
He hadn't contacted her to return to City A.
Xu Shien replied quickly.
[Why? Your grandparents would definitely be delighted. A Sui, you're fifteen now, right? Come back, and I'll arrange for you to attend the best high school in City A.]
Delighted about what? Having a pawn to help them latch onto the Xie Family?
Xie Sui's face was expressionless, his peach-blossom eyes deep and cold.
[Aunt, I... I'm a little scared. Let me get a little older before I go back.]
On the other end, his words abruptly brought Xu Shien to her senses. Right, returning too soon wouldn't be safe for Xie Sui. After all, Third Young Master Xie still had his first wife. Thinking of that woman's vicious methods, Xu Shien fell speechless for a moment before replying.
[Then I'll respect your wishes. Study hard, A Sui. Give me your bank account number, and I'll transfer some money first. If you need anything, just tell me.]
Of course Xie Sui wouldn't stand on ceremony, but he hadn't contacted this aunt of his solely for that. In this life, he would probably return to the Xie Family very early. Before that, though, he wanted to give them a gift.
[Aunt, I'll mail you something tomorrow. It's my mother's diary.]
Xu Shien froze.
Xie Sui's lips curved, icy and chilling.
[The Chengnan Club, ten years ago. I hope you'll investigate it thoroughly and get justice for my mother.]
Speaking of which, this aunt had played no small part in his mother meeting Xie Sinian and foolishly being deceived for so long. Xu Shien was both stupid and vicious. With her standing, she hadn't known Xie Sinian, who had just returned from abroad, either. Presumably, she had only wanted to help a married man ruin his mother, never imagining that the man was City A's renowned Third Young Master Xie. With Xu Shien's brains, she might even have thought his mother had gotten a good deal.
But on the other end, Xu Shien's eyes lit up! She had a suspicion, but didn't dare verify it, so she could only ask tentatively.
[A Sui, what you're talking about...]
Xie Sui could no longer be bothered to reply to her.
[You'll know tomorrow.]
The Chengnan Club, where Qin Qiuyun had brought people to abduct his mother back then, causing her a lifetime of nightmares.
In his previous life, he had personally sent Qin Qiuyun to prison. He recalled that final scene, when the normally haughty woman had blocked his car, fallen to her knees, and begged for mercy through uncontrollable sobs. Xie Sui touched his wrist, a flash of hostility crossing his eyes. Actually, at that moment... he had wanted to drive straight into her.
But now, living his life over again, his hatred for Qin Qiuyun was no longer so deep.
He only wanted to let them eat each other alive.
Grandma Meng's garden mostly grew jasmine. Its flowering season ran from May to August, with emerald leaves and pale white blossoms that looked all the fresher and more delicate after the rain.
Song Yu took the shears from the gardener and tried a couple of snips. After nearly giving the gardener a heart attack, he silently handed them back.
He returned to his seat and stared miserably at his test papers.
Other people had romantic afternoon tea dates in gardens. All he had was a conference with math, physics, and chemistry.
Actually, Song Yu hadn't intended to work this hard.
It was all because yesterday, his short-tempered Papa Song had finally learned about his school transfer. Flying into a rage, he had called straight from City A and given him a thorough dressing-down.
At the time, Song Yu had been lying in bed playing on his phone when he suddenly received messages from his older sister.
[Song Wanying: You're done for. Dad knows.]
[Song Wanying: Mom was going to cover for you and wait until you started school to tell Dad, but he came back to the country early.]
[Song Wanying: [lights a candle][lights a candle]]
Before Song Yu could reply, his phone rang.
Caller: Dad.
"..."
Song Yu.
As soon as he answered, the short-tempered President Song launched into a tirade.
"Song Yu, you've got some nerve! Think you can fly on your own now? You'd only just gotten out of the hospital, and you transferred schools and ran off to Jing City! Don't you know what condition your health is in?"
Song Yu: "..."
Sorry, Dad, I really don't know. Isn't this one of modern medicine's unsolved mysteries?
President Song: "And you teamed up with your mother and sister to lie to me! Do any of you still respect me as the head of this household?"
Song Yu had nothing to say. Hadn't he appointed himself head of the household?
President Song: "I'll explain the situation to your grandma in a moment. Pack your things and come back to City A tomorrow."
Song Yu panicked. "Don't, Dad!"
President Song: "Begging won't help! You should've thought of this day when you went to Jing City without a word!"
Song Yu had absolutely nothing to say to a man going through menopause. Remembering the test papers from earlier that day, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. After a moment's silence, he said solemnly, "Dad, actually, I came to Jing City so I could study better."
President Song: "???"
On the other end was the silence before the storm.
Before he could explode, Song Yu hurriedly said, "Everyone in City A treats me like some fragile clay idol. My school wouldn't even let me attend PE, and they left me out of any physical work. I completely lost face in front of my female classmates. That seriously affected my mood, which in turn affected my study efficiency."
President Song: "..."
Song Yu: "In City A, there's you guys, plus all those uncles and aunts watching everything I do. Not only did I lose any chance to develop romantic-uh, friendly relationships with girls my age, I also lost my freedom of movement. People even watch me when I go to the library. That's too cruel for a fifteen-year-old who loves studying."
President Song suppressed his anger. "Every other word out of your mouth is studying! Do you love studying that much?"
Song Yu knew his dad was wavering. Playing the victim did work. He worked himself into the right mood, held his phone, and said softly, "Yes, studying makes me happy. And I've only been in Jing City for a little over ten days, but I've already made a really good friend. The first friend of my life. His grades are really good, and he's a good person too. We can improve together."
The boy's voice was clear and bright, like sunlight falling across rice fields.
President Song stayed silent for a long time.
Only the hiss of the connection sounded for a while.
In the end, President Song, who would rather die than lose face, sneered. "If you love studying so much, did you think about that when you scored 350 out of 850 on City A's high school entrance exam?"
Song Yu: "..."
Can't a poor student love studying?
Can't I suck at it and still love it?
Doesn't 350 count as a score?
President Song gave another villainous sneer. "You love studying that much? Fine. If you don't place in the top hundred of your year in Jingcheng No. 1 High School's monthly exam, get your ass back here!"
"Beep-"
Song Yu: "????!!!!"
What the hell?
Song Yu: "Dad, Dad, Dad-"
But all that answered him was President Song's merciless hang-up tone.
Song Yu frantically called back, only to be rejected over and over.
"Sorry, the person you have called is currently unavailable."
"Sorry, the person you have called is currently unavailable."
Finally, it even became:
"Sorry, the person you have called has switched off their phone."
Song Yu: "..."
He really felt like he'd been fucked over.
Just like that, his dad had unilaterally imposed a monthly exam agreement on him.
Fuck.
Song Yu had gone from halfheartedly working through test papers to specifically moving into the garden to study. No one could say he wasn't working hard. But knowledge he'd abandoned for so long wasn't something he could just pick back up. Before he even got to trigonometry, the Pythagorean theorem had already given him a splitting headache.
Song Yu put down his pen.
With his mood utterly ruined by the four brothers sin, cos, tan, and cot, he decided to vent his anger on Jingcheng No. 1 High School's forum.
He took out his phone, logged in, and opened the forum.
School was about to start, and new posts were appearing very quickly.
After Dad Song had forced that monthly exam agreement on him, and shitty math had tormented his mind for ages, Song Yu was now a walking gas cylinder, the reincarnation of the bars on the sports field-a born contrarian.
That day, one person took over No. 1 High School's forum.
[Starting high school soon. What cigarettes should I smoke to look impressive?]
12F Your Husband Brother Yu: Steal the principal's cigarettes and smoke them in front of him. Most impressive option.
13F: ???
14F: hahahahahaha
[Can I get into your school on looks with an entrance exam score of 287?]
2F Your Husband Brother Yu: No. I handed in blank papers and moved the principal with my courage. Can you do that, trash?
3F: Why does the person above seem familiar???
4F: Getting into our No. 1 High School takes courage. Repeat another year, little bro.
[[m] Weren't we g̷o̷n̷n̷a̷ be each other's angels? Why did you leave?]
3F Your Husband Brother Yu: Incompatible values. I wanted to be the "an," but you wouldn't be the "gel."
4F: Brother Yu, why is it you again?!!
5F: lmao waiting for a gel
[Bros, I've decided to hit on a girl on moyo. Her photos are my type, so I'm going to send a friend request in a bit.
How do you think I should send it? Should I introduce myself first?
A bit about me: average height, seven out of ten in looks, decent grades, a little basketball, a little guitar, a little piano, pretty good calligraphy, passable drawing.
So what should I write in the friend request?]
39F Your Husband Brother Yu: Wanna date online? I like sending money.
40F: Listen to Brother Yu.
41F: Listen to Brother Yu +1.
42F: I declare that Brother Yu is now my newest idol.
43F: As a girl, I have to say that request really speaks to my heart. The money doesn't matter. I just want to experience online dating [doge].
[Yesterday I told my boyfriend I had a fever of 40 degrees, and he replied, "Badass"...
I want to ask, is "drink more hot water" the only thing you straight guys know how to say to comfort girls? Is everything out of your mouths either "holy shit" or "badass"? Do you just not know how to love someone?]
4F Your Husband Brother Yu: Nothing I can do if that's how you want to think.
5F: ...Savage.
6F: OP, your examples are weak as hell. Look at Brother Yu for the ultimate straight-guy response.
7F: Brother Yu: Wherever an argument needs picking, I'll be there.
8F: Brother Yu may be late, but he never fails to arrive [doge].
The reactions of No. 1 High School's students fell roughly into three categories.
"Hahahahahahahahaha."
"?????????"
"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck." (Those he replied to.)