Parasitism

Wang Xiaoxia was still smiling gently. Even at her age, she didn't look very old, and her whole manner was soft and gentle.

"These two kids just aren't as sensible as your Xiao Hao," Wang Xiaoxia said, then changed tack. "But I still think you can't be too strict about these things. As long as they don't lose themselves in play and neglect their ambitions, a little entertainment is fine."

"Oh, no, that won't do. The experts online all say these things are raging floods and savage beasts. You can't touch them."

Second Aunt spoke with utmost seriousness, then patted her son's shoulder with pride. "Mine is in college now, and I still strictly control how much time he spends on his phone. When he comes home for vacation, I take it away at ten every night."

Chen Lu looked at the boy and suddenly felt a little sorry for him.

Then he suddenly noticed Second Aunt's gaze and realized she was looking at him.

Second Aunt stroked her son's head, glanced at Chen Lu and Chen Mo, who were playing on their phones, and said, "Xiao Mo's in high school now, right? You really need to keep her on a tight leash. When mine was in high school, I didn't let him look at a phone even once.

"But this child made me proud. He got into a first-tier university last year."

Chen Mo was at a loss for words. How had she caught a stray bullet while lying down?

"Xiao Mo, you should follow your cousin's example," Chen Guanglin remarked casually.

To his surprise, Second Aunt grew even prouder at once. She pointed at Chen Lu. "You're her older brother, so you should set a good example for your sister too! Spend less time on your phone and study more! You can't slack off in college either!"

Chen Mo wrapped her arm around Chen Lu's and smiled. "My brother's great. He's a really good example."

Second Aunt was unconvinced. She took a sip of water and asked, "Where does Xiao Lu go to school?"

Chen Lu cleared his throat. "My school... it's nothing special. Just Yuhang University. It's close to home."

"..."

An awkward silence immediately fell over the group around the coffee table. Chen Mo exchanged a glance with Chen Lu, as if praising how well they'd worked together.

However you looked at it, Yuhang University was a top-ten school. Saying you went there was something to be proud of.

Chen Lu looked at the boy beside him. His expression still hadn't changed much, and no one knew what he was thinking.

He was a pitiable person too, treated by overly controlling parents as an extension of their own dreams. He had drunk the poison called "it's all for your own good" and become a puppet on strings.

As for his hobbies and dreams? No one cared, not even he himself anymore.

Before long, Second Aunt and her family found some excuse and left.

Chen Guanglin and Wang Xiaoxia returned to their room. There was no telling what they were packing.

Chen Mo shook Chen Lu's arm. "Bro, you're the best."

Chen Lu smiled at her. "You're disgusting."

He wasn't falling for it. If things followed their usual course, Chen Mo was about to ask him for money.

"Mom! My brother said I'm disgusting!"

"Chen Lu!"

Wang Xiaoxia's roar came from the bedroom.

Chen Mo smiled faintly at Chen Lu, as if she hadn't just tattled on him. "Bro, I want to see a movie. Could you sponsor me a little?"

"No money."

"If you don't, I'll spill the beans about you chasing Sister Yuqing! She's Uncle Mo's daughter, you know. He's so good to us. How could you bring yourself to make a move on her?"

Chen Mo drew a hand across her throat, imitating Ding Xiu from Brotherhood of Blades, and muttered, "I can live off this secret of yours for the rest of my life."

Now that the occasion requiring a united front had passed, the two had returned to their usual way of getting along.

"Go ahead and tell them. I've given up anyway." Chen Lu's expression dimmed somewhat.

Chen Mo froze at that and hurriedly put a hand on his forehead. "You don't have a fever. Are you serious?"

When Chen Lu nodded, Chen Mo stopped fooling around. She sat beside him, staring blankly at him as if she had only met her own brother for the first time that day.

As his sister, she knew better than anyone how much Chen Lu had liked Mo Yuqing these past few years.

It was precisely because she knew so well that she was so astonished now.

Chen Lu gave a wry smile and said no more.

Just then, the master bedroom door slowly opened, and Chen Guanglin and Wang Xiaoxia came out carrying suitcases.

They were both wearing sunglasses and had their arms around each other affectionately.

"What are you doing?" Chen Lu asked.

"Going on a trip," Wang Xiaoxia replied matter-of-factly.

Chen Lu's voice grew anxious. "Why didn't you say so earlier? I haven't packed anything."

He didn't even know how many clothes he had at home that were fit to wear out.

"Why would we tell you earlier? We never said we were taking you."

"Huh?"

"What do you mean, 'huh'? We're spending time alone as a couple. Why would you come along and get in the way?" Wang Xiaoxia kissed Chen Guanglin on the cheek.

Chen Guanglin was wearing sunglasses, so his eyes couldn't be seen. The corners of his mouth curled up. "Stay home and behave yourself with your sister."

Chen Lu was dumbfounded. "You called me a few days ago and urged me to come home! You even said I didn't care about the family!"

And now I've only just gotten back, and you two are going off to spend time alone together??

"Didn't you just say that was a few days ago?"

"..."

Chen Lu slumped onto the couch and said nothing more.

I'm tired. Let the world end.

Chen Mo seemed to have known all along and had already slumped down from the start.

The children were just accidents.

Wang Xiaoxia tidied the coffee table and looked up at Chen Lu. "Oh, right. Don't sit around doing nothing these next few days. Go with your sister and find her a tutor. She's been having too easy a time commuting to school every day, and I can't stand to watch."

Chen Lu paused, then suddenly remembered something. "My friend has been looking for a part-time job lately. Can I let my friend try?"

Wang Xiaoxia gave him a light smack. "Chen Lu, what's wrong with you? Why don't you teach her yourself? Wouldn't it be better for you to earn that money? It's several hundred yuan an hour!"

Chen Lu was horrified. She might as well kill him rather than make him teach Chen Mo.

Although Chen Mo got good grades and was quick-witted, she was just too unreliable.

The money he earned wouldn't even cover the cost of treating his high blood pressure afterward.

"Don't you know what your daughter's like? I'd rather pay for her tutor myself than teach her! Otherwise I wouldn't even live to see payday!"

Wang Xiaoxia patted her son's head, smiling with great satisfaction.

"Good, it's a deal. We'll deduct the cost of her tutor from your living allowance. Let your friend come and try."

The front door slammed shut, leaving only two unwanted children in the living room.

Although Chen Guanglin and Wang Xiaoxia had always been like this, the two still had mixed feelings.

"How did you get on Mom's bad side?" Chen Lu asked irritably.

Chen Mo shook her head with an innocent look. "My grades only slipped a tiny bit."

"How much is a tiny bit?"

"Just a dozen or so places."

"In the whole school?"

"In the class."

Chen Lu was so angry he laughed. "What have you been doing lately?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing, really. I just didn't do well on this month's exam. I told Mom there'd definitely be no problem if I performed normally next time, but she wouldn't believe me." Chen Mo sprawled on the couch in a Ge You slouch, propping both legs on the coffee table, looking as though she had nothing left to live for.

A few seconds later, she suddenly sat bolt upright and wrapped her arms around herself. "Wait, is that classmate of yours a guy or a girl? You're not going to sacrifice my beauty for the sake of your friendship, are you?!"

"First of all, nobody's interested in you," Chen Lu said, holding up one finger. Then he held up a second. "Second, she's a girl."

"Lastly, little sis, you really have no shame."

Chen Mo froze. This was the first time in her life she'd heard Chen Lu mention a girl other than Mo Yuqing.

Who on earth was this person?

And why had her brother suddenly given up pursuing Mo Yuqing?

What on earth had happened?

In just a few seconds, Chen Mo had imagined an entire TV drama full of love, hate, passion, and grudges.

"What exactly happened between you and Sister Yuqing?" Chen Mo asked tentatively.

Chen Lu didn't answer her question. He walked slowly toward his room.

"I'm tired today. Tomorrow I'll go to the movies and the mall with you, and then you'll tell Mom nicely that you're willing to let my classmate tutor you.

"It's not like you really need a tutor anyway. It doesn't matter who teaches you."

That night, in an ocean-view room at a hotel.

Wang Xiaoxia looked at the chandelier overhead and murmured on.

Middle-aged couples seemed to have endless things to talk about at this hour.

"Guess what Xiao Lu talked to me about tonight?

"Honestly, he actually asked me how much we were planning to pay.

"Although I was already planning to pay the market rate even if it was his friend, I'm still so mad that he's siding with an outsider."

Wang Xiaoxia yawned as she continued, "But Xiao Lu wasn't wrong to do that. We're not the sort of people who'd try to pay less just because the person coming is a college student or his friend."

Chen Guanglin listened silently to his wife's complaints without expressing an opinion.

From the moment the word "classmate" popped out of Chen Lu's mouth, he'd felt that the matter wasn't so simple.

A while later, just as Chen Guanglin was about to fall asleep.

Wang Xiaoxia suddenly sat up.

"Wait! Could it be a girl?!"