Wen Jing was still a college student with clear-eyed stupidity. All the cunning in him and the original owner combined probably amounted to less than a tenth of Bo Yan's.
In layman's terms, he was a few screws short.
The moment the clueless Wen Jing heard his sister had been bitten by a dog, he pressed her about where it was. "I don't remember the Bo Family keeping a dog! Sis, where did you run into this dog? It actually bit your neck! Any worse and it would've bitten your head clean off! No! I'm going to find that dog and stew it for your dinner tonight!"
As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and made to run outside again!
Wen Ning had no words. Caught between laughter and tears, she reached out and dragged him back again. "All right, all right, get back here. It was just some stupid stray dog. Where would you even look?"
Dragged back, Wen Jing looked at the blood seeping through the gauze on Wen Ning's neck and arm, and his eyes instantly reddened. "But, Sis-"
"It's just a little injury. I'm fine, aren't I? All right, don't be angry anymore, okay?" Wen Ning hesitated, then reached out and rubbed Wen Jing's head, her eyes curving into a smile.
Her parents had divorced early on, and before long, each had started a new family. Wen Ning had lived with her grandparents throughout her childhood.
By the time she was a little older and beginning to understand things, her divorced parents had given her a younger brother and a younger sister respectively.
Compared to her, her parents clearly loved their current children more.
The two children had grown up spoiled rotten. Not only were they bad-tempered, they had no respect whatsoever for her as their older sister.
Wen Ning disliked those two brats. When she was younger, she would argue with them, only to get a harsh scolding from her parents every time.
Once, her father had even slapped her over her younger brother, despite her not being at fault in the slightest.
Seeing her get hit, the five-year-old brat had hidden behind his father and pulled a face at her before darting away. He was positively asking for a beating.
Too angry to let it go, Wen Ning had smashed the limited-edition Transformers toy her father had just bought the brat before leaving.
The sky that night had been dark and heavy, with hardly any stars, stiflingly oppressive. Yet hearing the brat wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves behind her had felt utterly exhilarating!
After that, Wen Ning had practically stopped visiting her father unless it was a holiday or a special occasion, and gradually visited her mother less and less as well.
The year she turned eighteen and came of age, her grandparents passed away one after the other. From then on, her parents had kicked her back and forth like a ball, neither willing to set another bowl and pair of chopsticks at their table.
Wen Ning couldn't be bothered to take part in their arguments. After receiving her acceptance letter from Peking University, she had taken her suitcase and left the city she had lived in all her life, alone.
After graduating from university, she had lived up to expectations and landed an offer from a major tech company.
Perhaps time really could change everything. Or perhaps what changed everything wasn't time, but something more tangible, like the title of postgraduate from a prestigious university, or being an employee at a renowned company with an annual salary of nearly a million.
In any case, before she transmigrated into the novel, her parents would call every month to ask after her. Even the two brats who had been so nasty as children had started calling her Sis, though the way they said it sounded rather reluctant.
Wen Ning was a mature adult now, and she no longer held the past against them. She would simply drop by her parents' homes for a meal now and then. Every time the two brats saw her, they acted as though facing a formidable enemy, terrified she would steal their parents' love. Naturally, Wen Ning knew her parents still loved their current families more than her, but she was happy to let things play out. Making life difficult for those two brats was one of the few pleasures in her monthly life as a corporate slave.
So, all things considered, younger brothers and sisters weren't exactly good words in Wen Ning's book.
But...
The concern in Wen Jing's words wasn't feigned.
Even though Wen Ning knew it wasn't her Wen Jing cared about, but the original owner, it was hard not to feel a little tenderness toward this red-eyed younger brother who resembled a silly little puppy.
When she patted his head, Wen Jing ducked a little, though he didn't entirely escape her demonic clutches. Looking somewhat awkward, he said, "Sis, how many times have I told you? Don't touch my head. It'll make me shorter! It took me so much effort to grow this tall!"
Wen Ning burst out laughing. This was the first time she had ever heard that touching someone's head could make them shorter. "Okay, okay, I get it."
Despite saying that, she took advantage of his unpreparedness to give his head another couple of vigorous rubs.
So having an obedient little brother felt this good. His head was so nice to rub!
Wen Jing froze for a moment. He should have been hopping mad, but when he met his sister's smiling eyes, an inexplicable feeling stirred inside him. He kept feeling that something was off about his sister today, but he couldn't say what.
After Wen Jing drove the car into the underground garage, the siblings entered the elevator together.
As though only just realizing something, Wen Jing asked, "Sis, why did you suddenly come home? Didn't you say you needed to keep an eye on that... woman lately, in case she and her daughter tried to play tricks on my brother-in-law?"
Wen Ning's attention was entirely on that "brother-in-law," and she missed both Wen Jing's hesitation when he mentioned "that woman" and his reddened ears. Her first reaction was that Wen Jing meant Bo Yan, but she soon remembered that in her WeChat conversations with her brother, the original owner had unilaterally referred to Bo Xubai as "your future brother-in-law." Meanwhile, Bo Yan, his actual brother-in-law, had been referred to in their chat history as "bastard," "illegitimate son," and "that thing unfit for polite company."
So Wen Ning corrected him. "Wen Jing, don't call Bo Xubai your brother-in-law anymore. Your real brother-in-law won't be happy if he hears it."
Wen Jing: "?"
Wen Jing looked utterly bewildered. "Sis, I understand every word you're saying, but why don't they make sense together? What do you mean, my real brother-in-law? Didn't you say Brother Xu was my brother-in-law?"
"Did I?" Wen Ning said mildly. "Well, he isn't anymore."
Wen Jing was puzzled. "Why? Did you two have a fight?"
Then realization dawned on him. "I know! You must've come home because you had a fight with Brother Xu!"
For some reason, Wen Jing sounded a little anxious. "Sis, you can't do this. If you run home just because you fought with Brother Xu, aren't you giving that-that woman an opening?! What you should do now is guard him even more closely and find a chance to make up with him!"
Wen Jing rattled off a whole pile of terrible ideas to Wen Ning, even lowering his voice to say, "Sis, didn't you ask me for that drug the day before yesterday? If nothing else works, why don't you use it on Brother Xu? Once the raw rice is cooked, Brother Xu will definitely take responsibility for you. Anyway, Brother Xu and that woman haven't had their wed-ow! Sis, why are you hitting-ah! Aaaah! Sis, Sis, stop hitting me! I'll stop talking, I'll stop! It hurts!!"
The elevator doors opened, and Wen Ning chased Wen Jing all the way into the living room, beating him as she went. "What the hell goes through your head all day?! I already told you, he's not your brother-in-law! Not your brother-in-law! Just try calling him that again! I'm telling you, Wen Jing, your sister has some self-respect too! Bo Xubai looks down on me? Well, now I look down on him!"
Wen Jing fled with his arms over his head. Suddenly hearing his sister's last two sentences, he slammed to a halt, taking her Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms squarely on his back. His eyes were full of shock. "Sis, what did you say?!"
After chasing him all that way, Wen Ning was panting too.
She planted both hands on her hips and declared loudly, stressing every word, "I said-I! Don't! Like! Bo! Xubai! Anymore! Got it?"