Chapter 10 - The younger brother who shook his tail enthusiastically.

Seeing that Meng Shixuan had returned home, Housekeeper Zhang smiled, hurriedly went to greet her and took her coat.

Taking advantage of the time Meng Shixuan used to change her shoes, Housekeeper Zhang couldn't help complaining to her: "Miss, that girl Zhong Youyou went to school today. When she went out in the morning, she was so fierce. You didn't see it, but it seemed like she had changed into a whole other person. I suspect that that silly girl is very ambitious, she could really pretend before!"

The servants of the Zhong family, headed by Housekeeper Zhang, very attentively served the treasured young miss, Meng Shixuan. After all, Sir and Madam were not in the villa most of the time, and Zhong Xiyou always had a ‘strangers stay away’ look on his face all day. Meng Shixuan was gentle and courteous, and communicated more with them.

Meng Shixuan glanced towards the second floor, with no expression on her face: "Are you tattling? Didn't I tell you not to unnecessarily gossip with me."

"It was I who forgot." Housekeeper Zhang quickly slapped her mouth, her eyes rolled and she bent down to put Meng Shixuan's shoes into the shoe cabinet, and said, "Miss, there is a plate of fruits in the kitchen. Would you like some?"

Meng Shixuan walked straight to the second floor: "Is Xiyou back?"

"He’s back, he came back early!" Housekeeper Zhang followed after her, smiling from ear to ear: "When he came back, he was even holding a few pink toys. It must be prepared for Miss’ birthday. He is now in the shower."

Birthday? Meng Shixuan took out her phone and looked at the calendar. Her birthday was in 10 days, but Zhong Xiyou actually started preparing gifts so early? Meng Shixuan's slightly knitted brows gradually loosened and she couldn't help but laugh. Her younger brother really spoiled her. No wonder he was so weird this morning, he was probably afraid of being discovered by her.

She immediately became happy, walked to the door of Zhong Xiyou's room and knocked briskly on the door twice.

No response. There was the sound of splashing bath water in the room.

Meng Shixuan intended to leave, but she was really curious. A few years ago, Zhong Xiyou gave something ingenious for her birthday. What will he give this year? Housekeeper Zhang is a country bumpkin and she couldn’t really tell you anything. She only knew that it was a pink toy. Could it be a limited edition SD doll?

Meng Shixuan pursed her lips and opened the door with a smile and walked in.

She saw that there were two huge gift boxes on the bed in Zhong Xiyou's bedroom, and there was even one as tall as a person standing beside it. The packaging was exquisite and even the boxes themselves were very beautiful. Meng Shixuan gingerly walked over, smiled and unpacked one of the boxes on the bed. She was so pleasantly surprised at the first sight of it!

It wasn’t just some doll, but a hand-made little raccoon stuffed animal, lying in the box in a cute manner, wearing a pink cloth skirt. At a light touch, it felt very good and soft, as if filled with soft sand, making it hard for people to resist burying their face in it!

A gift that can arouse the hearts of girls in an instant!

How did Xiyou know that she liked this? It seems that he has worked hard.

Meng Shixuan was overjoyed. Naturally, she wouldn't put it down and took the doll out of the package.

*

Zhong Xiyou saw this scene as soon as he came out after taking a shower, putting on a bathrobe and wiping his hair. He suddenly felt anxious and rushed over in two to three steps, even throwing the towel on the ground: "What are you doing?!"

Before Meng Shixuan could hug the doll in her arms, it suddenly disappeared from her hands. Zhong Xiyou was flustered and he exasperatedly snatched the doll from her hands.

Meng Shixuan was startled and a little embarrassed: "What are you so stirred up for? Isn't it for me?"

Zhong Xiyou was about to die from anger! After school, he ran to a lot of handicraft shops and finally found these few dolls that he thought second sister might like. He wanted to secretly bring them back and see how second sister would react. If second sister didn’t like it, he would not deliver them and would find something else to give to second sister to make her happy.

He never expected that Meng Shixuan would hug it before second sister even saw it!

Zhong Xiyou was livid. He tried to calm down and finally said, "It wasn't for you. I just took a shower and haven't gotten any clothes on, so you should get out."

...Zhong Xiyou had never used this indifferent tone to force her out the door before.

*

Meng Shixuan was in complete disbelief. She stared at Zhong Xiyou, trying to read any sort of expression on his face.

She felt very discomfited, but she still smiled with great difficulty and joked: "Why? Do you have a girl you like? You didn't even tell sister."

Zhong Xiyou stuffed the toy back into its packaging. His face was unhappy, and his tone was very blunt: "Eldest sister, I will give you another gift on your birthday."

Meng Shixuan furrowed her brows: "You have always called me sister, why are you suddenly calling me eldest sister? Isn't it too unfamiliar?"

Zhong Xiyou used to call Meng Shixuan jiejie (姐姐) which means elder sister, older sister, sister; now he’s using dajie (大姐) which means big sister, elder sister, older sister. It’s a more polite term of addressing a girl or woman slightly older than the speaker

Zhong Xiyou didn't even lift his eyelids, and said, his words laced with irony, "Isn't there a second sister?"

Meng Shixuan's face suddenly stiffened. From morning till now, Zhong Xiyou seemed to have a sudden change in personality and his attitude towards her now is not only just indifference and alienation, there was even some faint condemnation and hatred.

Zhong Xiyou has always pampered and protected her for all these years, but he suddenly acted like this, without rhyme or reason. She finally got a little angry and walked towards the door with a cold expression: "Then you don't have to give any gifts for my birthday, just send some Zhong Youyou."

She slammed the door shut.

Anyone could see that she was fuming. Housekeeper Zhang cautiously angled her neck at the stairs and watched while the people downstairs heard the movement and didn’t dare to make a sound.

But after a long while, there was no movement in Zhong Xiyou's room and he didn’t eagerly chase after her and apologize like Meng Shixuan expected!

Seeing that Meng Shixuan finally left, Zhong Xiyou couldn't help throwing the gift box on the bed into the trash can. He was extremely depressed. The gift he had prepared with such difficulty was tainted. Does it make sense to give the unwrapped gift to second sister?! Thinking of this, he raised his voice and shouted: "Butler!"

The butler hurried upstairs, rushed past Meng Shixuan and entered the room: "What's the matter, young master?"

Zhong Xiyou pointed to the door: "Change the lock to my room."

Hearing this, the expressions of several servants outside in the corridor changed and they subconsciously looked at Meng Shixuan. But they were met with Meng Shixuan's already pale face. She composed herself and walked downstairs, unable to stop her nails from digging into her palms.

*

Meng Shixuan slammed the door of her room, sat down to drink water, and it took a long time for her to suppress the sadness in her heart. After a while, Housekeeper Zhang knocked on the door and said, "Young Miss."

Meng Shixuan took a deep breath and adjusted her expression: "Come in."

As soon as she came in, Housekeeper Zhang had a hesitant expression. Meng Shixuan was fed up at seeing it and frowned, "What is it, just say it."

Housekeeper Zhang finally spilled about everything that happened in the morning. To be honest, she has served the Zhong family for so many years and has never seen Zhong Xiyou treat the Young Miss so badly! So indifferent, so rude, as if she was a stranger! What's even weirder was that he was acting so good to Zhong Youyou, that wild girl in the morning! In the past, the little Young Master unquestioningly stood on the side of the Young Miss and he would protect her no matter what happened, but now, it really looked like he had been given some potion by Zhong Youyou!

Meng Shixuan's face was sullen and her brows furrowed even more, but she said nothing.

Housekeeper Zhang couldn't help but soothe her: "Young Miss, Young Master is probably possessed by a ghost for a while. It's useless to get angry with him. It's better to wait for Sir and Madam to come back and talk to them. At that time, I will help you too."

Meng Shixuan's expression was very ugly: "I understand."

*

Housekeeper Zhang was talking when she suddenly heard the sound of a car at the door of the villa downstairs, so she hurriedly finished what she wanted to say to Meng Shixuan, and went down first.

She thought it was a visitor, but it was the "wild girl of unknown origin" Zhong Youyou who she had just been talking about. Zhong Youyou had gotten back by taking a taxi and brought many bags of things, big and small. Two servants at the door were helping her move them to the living room.

Zhong Xiyou had finished changing his clothes, and naturally heard the sound as well, and quickly went downstairs.

"Second sister, you are back!" Zhong Xiyou jumped downstairs, like he had completely forgotten about Zhong Youyou being cold to him after school. His expression perked up and he curled the corners of his mouth, a light sparkling brightly in his eyes.

Seeing Zhong Youyou had bought a lot of things, he also took some of the heaviest things from Zhong Youyou's hands and quickly ran upstairs to Zhong Youyou's room with his long legs, for fear that Zhong Youyou would not let him help her move them.

Zhong Youyou didn't like Zhong Xiyou, but she also found it laughable. Where was the indifferent and arrogant little young master of the Zhong in the original novel? This bearing is really too much of a lackey’s.

She watched as Zhong Xiyou delivered in a few big bags and then quickly rushed down the stairs in three steps, again snatching the rest from her hands, intending to take them all up.

Zhong Youyou really couldn't help frowning, quickly walked over, and snatched them back from Zhong Xiyou: "What are you doing, aren’t you bothered?"

It was not the first time Zhong Xiyou has faced Zhong Youyou's indifference. The previous few times, he felt like a needle pierced his heart. It hurt wherever he was pricked, but the more times he was rejected, the more he developed an immunity for it. He knew that it was impossible to form a three-foot-thick layer of ice in one day. If a day or two can make second sister have a good impression about him again, then what he has done to second sister in the previous fifteen years is simply too unforgivable!

impossible to form a three-foot-thick layer of ice in one day - Today's emotional break is not caused by one or two days (mtled from google search)

He swiftly went forward again and persistently snatched the package from Zhong Youyou's hands, raising his face and revealing a grin that showed his teeth: "It's not bothersome, not bothersome at all." With a look like that, if he had a tail behind him, he would probably be wildly wagging it.

"……"

Zhong Youyou simply didn't bother to pay attention to him. If he is willing to do the hard work, let him do it. She was happy to have two empty hands. So Zhong Youyou lightly snorted and under the stunned and shocked gaze of the servants in the living room, she put her hands in her pockets and entered her room.

After Zhong Xiyou put down the package, she quickly pushed Zhong Xiyou out.

"Bang!" The door mercilessly slammed shut in front of Zhong Xiyou’s face, almost hitting his nose. Zhong Xiyou touched his nose, then couldn't help but smile. His heart seemed to have finally lightened a bit. But he knew that this was far from enough.

*

In the corridor, Meng Shixuan, who had a panoramic view of all of this, bit her lip hard. Her lips turned white to the point that it almost bled.

Blu: Let me just complain here for a bit. Second semester of my Honours year is starting soon, but besides copy and pasting some relevant parts from my research proposal, I haven't written a single word on my thesis. It's hard to muster up the motivation. I only have 2 courses in the coming semester, but the assignments are insane. There are two 2,000 word essays, one 1,000 word critique, one report (word count unknown) and a symposium. Just the essays and critique add up to half of my thesis word count (which is 10,000 words)! Plus, I already need to start applying to universities for postgrad which everyone says is extremely competitive, especially for international students (because they have a smaller quota alloted to international students). Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Anyway, I'm done complaining. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. I'm not sure when I'll be back with updates, but I'll be back! I sincerely wish your second half of the year is smooth-sailing and doesn't drive you insane.