Returning to the Villain Omega's High School Days - Chapter 18

As soon as they arrived at the neighborhood, Su Jin impatiently opened the car door and hurried upstairs.

Su Xingheng carried her schoolbag for her and, still fairly polite, waited in front of the house until Xie Ning got out of the car before entering the courtyard with them.

Xie Ning had held Su Wan on her lap the whole way and had not complained at all. When she got out of the car, she held Su Wan’s hand and frowned. “Wanwan, my leg’s numb.”

Su Wan’s hand was very cold. The moment it touched Xie Ning’s, she tried to pull back. But seeing that Xie Ning could barely stand steadily, she had no choice but to take the initiative to support her, holding one of her arms with both hands.

“Wanwan,” Xie Ning limped forward step by step, saying sweetly to her, “you’re such a good person.”

There was no extra expression on Su Wan’s face. She lowered her head, as if she had not heard what Xie Ning said.

Behind them, Uncle Ling parked the car and carried the plush toy down from the front passenger seat, following after them.

Xie Ning walked very slowly. Logically speaking, if her leg was numb, it should have recovered after walking a couple of steps, but she was still holding Su Wan’s hand. With her other hand, she pinched Su Wan’s thin arm and sighed emotionally. “Wanwan, you’re really thin. Eat more, okay?”

Su Wan was not used to being this close to people. She gave an “mm” and made no other response.

Xie Ning added, “If you were my little sister, I’d definitely feed you until you were nice and plump.”

Su Wan said, “Getting fat isn’t good.”

“It’s not good if other people get fat, but if you get fat, it’ll be just right.” As Xie Ning said this, she lowered her head and started examining Su Wan’s chest. Her gaze was open and blatant, clearly and brazenly observing her cup size.

Su Wan looked down at herself. She was indeed a little underdeveloped, unable to even fill out the school uniform. She tugged at her jacket, but this movement only made it look more like she was trying to cover something up, making the area at her collar look even flatter.

Originally, this was not anything much. But she had just witnessed Xie Ning in the car. When the car started moving, she had crashed into Xie Ning’s arms. Xie Ning’s jacket had been open, and beneath the shirt was real softness, absolutely not something propped up by a bra.

Su Wan was a little envious and sighed secretly.

Those tiny movements and emotions of hers were all taken in by Xie Ning. Xie Ning thought she was adorable and even continued chatting about this topic, lowering her head to say softly by Su Wan’s ear, “For you, gaining another ten or twenty jin wouldn’t be a problem at all. The Su family’s food isn’t good. Come to my house. My house has lots of delicious things.”

Su Wan wondered what exactly this meant. Was Xie Ning really, as others said, so deeply in love with Su Xingheng that she even wanted to curry favor with an insignificant person like Su Wan?

She felt a little depressed, but this was the only explanation she could come up with… Thinking more deeply, Xie Ning might be trying to win her over in order to deal with Su Jin.

If that was the case, then Xie Ning was rather smart. She had seen that Su Jin and Su Xingheng’s relationship was not ordinary and had made precautions in advance.

Su Wan gave no reaction. She did not want to participate in any struggle unless she had a foolproof and certain chance of victory.

She would absolutely never do something like become someone else’s cannon fodder, but she could pretend not to understand while understanding perfectly well.

She was already sixteen and saw human relationships very clearly.

Seeing the two of them whispering behind him, Su Xingheng urged them, “Hurry inside! Everyone’s waiting!”

Su Wan released Xie Ning’s arm and quickly followed behind Su Xingheng into the house. Xie Ning came slowly behind them.

The Su family’s living room was lively. Nanny Zhang opened the door for them, and the moment they entered, they saw Xie Qingliu and the other children sitting on the sofa eating snacks and watching TV. Xie Ning’s father, Xie Minxian, and Su Xingheng’s father, Su Yuanfu, were sitting outside on the large balcony, smoking and chatting merrily. Su Xingheng’s uncle was there as well.

The women were playing mahjong in another room. Xie Ning’s stepmother Jiang Qin was among them. She was smoking, and when she saw Xie Ning, she only lifted her head for one glance before continuing to draw tiles. Fang Lingyu, on the other hand, seemed much more enthusiastic. She called out, “Xie Ning, Wanwan, you’re here. Xingheng, go change your clothes first, then greet your classmates.”

Su Xingheng acted as if he had not heard and rushed to the sofa to play with the others.

Xie Ning, meanwhile, nodded to them.

Among the table of women, only Fang Lingyu carried a kind of beauty untouched by worldly smoke and fire, completely different from Jiang Qin’s world-weary charm.

The way she looked in a qipao made Xie Ning think of how Su Wan looked after she turned thirty. It made her think of their farewell kiss in that rented room… lips and teeth touching, like drinking sweet rain, yet also as if a lifetime had passed between them.

Xie Ning licked her lips. Her heart felt itchy.

Right now, Su Wan had not yet grown into her beauty. Her skin was dark, and her features were not outstanding, so everyone, including Fang Lingyu, failed to realize that Su Wan was actually a beauty in the making.

She had inherited her mother’s bone structure, skin as smooth as jade. Those eyes, after being tempered by time, would only become clearer and brighter, enough to make one fall in love at first sight.

Even that innate elegant temperament of theirs seemed carved from the same mold.

Compared to Fang Lingyu’s empty appearance, Su Wan also had a scholarly air, making her seem steadier, with inner grace and intelligence.

Xie Ning had to admit that some women in this world truly became more charming the more mature they grew.

It was completely different from her own fleeting, world-toppling beauty.

She looked forward to Su Wan growing up, as if looking forward to a rose she had planted with her own hands blooming into a magnificent flower.

She stood in the entryway for a few seconds. Uncle Ling came in carrying the plush toy, and several people in the room let out a “wow.” A girl stood up from the sofa and shouted, “Xie Ning, is this for me?”

“No.” Xie Ning narrowed her eyes, smiling. “Who told you to call my name directly?”

The girl’s name was Fang Manman. She was seven years old. Though young, she was very bold. She lifted her face and asked innocently, “What does that mean? I can’t call you Xie Ning?”

Xie Ning turned her head away and said to Nanny Zhang, who was tidying up, “Where is Wanwan’s room? This is the gift I brought her.”

“Xie Ning, you even brought a gift?” Fang Lingyu said from the next room while drawing mahjong tiles. “How nice of you, Xie Ning. Three bamboo—”

“Pong on three bamboo! One bamboo. I’m ready to win…”

Nanny Zhang led Uncle Ling. Fang Manman jumped down from the sofa and followed behind the adults, unable to resist curiously touching the plush toy.

Xie Ning slapped her hand lightly and scolded, “You have your own. This is Sister Su Wan’s.”

“I can’t even touch it?” Fang Manman said. “Mine at home isn’t this big. I like this one!”

“If you like it, ask your mom to buy you one!” Xie Ning made a face.

“Mom! I want a doll as big as Sister Su Wan’s!” Fang Manman ran from one side of the living room to the other to bother the people playing mahjong.

The person waiting to win could not stand the noise and almost lost her temper. Su Xingheng coaxed her, “Manman, just ask Su Wan to lend it to you. Don’t bother them while they’re playing mahjong!”

Hearing this, Fang Manman happily ran toward Su Wan’s room, but as soon as she saw Su Wan, she did not dare speak. She stood at the door and only looked, holding yogurt and slurping it through a straw.

Xie Ning regretted giving Su Wan such a big plush toy. Her room was pitifully small, with only a bed and a wardrobe. The window was a single pane, and the lighting was poor. The sky was not even dark yet, but the light in the room already had to be turned on.

This had originally been a storage room, temporarily converted into a bedroom.

Once that big dog was placed on the bed, half of Su Wan’s sleeping space was gone.

“Does your family not have a bigger room?” Xie Ning was very dissatisfied. “You live in such a tiny room? It’s not even as big as the bathroom in my bedroom!”

Her voice was not low. The boys in the living room paused, but no one discussed it.

Nanny Zhang’s expression was complicated. In a low voice, she said, “This room is convenient. It’s on the first floor, so there’s no need to run up and down. Besides, she likes it.”

“Is it that she likes it, or that you all think she likes it?” Xie Ning said. “I don’t believe the Su family has a four-hundred-square-meter house across two floors and can’t clear out one spacious bedroom for her to live in.”

Nanny Zhang lowered her head silently. Su Wan did not speak either.

Seeing Xie Ning act as if she were standing up for her, Su Wan found it very interesting and felt a little schadenfreude.

As long as she was not the one who took the initiative to bring it up, anything was fine, right?

Xie Ning liked stepping out on her behalf and wanted to use her to suppress Su Jin. Then Su Wan could also use Xie Ning to earn a little presence. It should not be a loss.

Unless… Xie Ning sincerely wanted to help her without any purpose at all.

Su Wan touched the big dog Xie Ning had given her. She liked it very much and was willing to squeeze into this small room with the big dog!

She still wanted to persuade Xie Ning not to interfere, not to wade into muddy waters, but Xie Ning left behind the sentence “I’m going to talk to Auntie!” and turned to leave.

On her way out, she nearly bumped into Fang Manman, but the child did not care. She ran out after her, then climbed onto the sofa and rolled into Su Xingheng’s arms.

“I’m so scared of her!” Fang Manman whispered.

“Scared of who? Scared of Xie Ning?” Xie Qingliu was peeling an orange and interjected.

“What’s there to be scared of about Xie Ning?” Fang Manman pouted and pointed toward Su Wan’s room. “Scared of her…”

When Su Wan was mentioned, Fang Manman’s younger brother Fang Songsong also became secretive and asked in a tiny voice, “Is she the one who wants to drive Sister Jin away?”

“She won’t,” Su Xingheng said, patting Fang Manman’s head. “With me here, I won’t let your Sister Jin leave this place.”

“We can’t let her succeed,” Fang Manman said seriously after hearing Su Xingheng’s words.

Xie Qingliu looked thoughtful. He set down the orange he had peeled completely clean, stood up, and walked toward Xie Ning.

“Sister, that report… are you planning to take it out?” Xie Qingliu asked softly.

“What would I take it out for?”

“You’ve already reached your differentiation period,” Xie Qingliu said, tugging at the corner of Xie Ning’s clothes and bringing her beneath the stairs, lowering his voice as much as possible. “Look at my mom. She’s waiting to see you make a fool of yourself.”

In the mahjong room, Jiang Qin drew a winning tile herself and calmly laid out her tiles. Her expression looked as if victory were already in her grasp.

Xie Ning said, “For the Su family to be engaged to our Xie family means they’re reaching above their station. If my differentiation is wrong, then this matter can only be the Su family’s loss. Su Xingheng is the one being rejected by me. Understand?”

Xie Qingliu did not comment. He was about to speak when, in the next second, he suddenly froze.

Xie Ning followed his gaze and looked over. Su Jin had appeared in the stairwell at some point. She must have been about to come downstairs and happened to run into the conversation between the Xie siblings.