Why Is the Wealthy Young Lady O Like That? - Chapter 5

The course schedule for the second semester of sophomore year was actually very full, but since it was already June, the teachers had begun wrapping up classes one after another, leaving the students enough time to review for finals week.

Xu Siran finished two courses this week. After her last class on Friday afternoon, she planned to return to the dorm first, then go to the library and stay there until closing before returning to the nearby apartment complex to rest.

Unexpectedly, the situation changed. She had just packed up her notebook and tablet and left the dorm with her bag on her back when she received a call from her Omega mother.

Looking at the caller note, she answered the call and turned around, her shadow melting into the green shade beneath the parasol tree.

“Hello, Siran.”

Xu Siran thought of the preliminary divorce edition · hot violence plan she had drawn up and felt a little guilty. Even her voice became a bit more obedient. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

On the other end of the phone, Qin Shan asked gently, “Siran, are you done with class?”

Actually, as early as the beginning of the semester, Xu Siran had sent her mother her class schedule for this term. It was already long past the end time of her last class now. That meant her mother had not looked carefully at her schedule—or perhaps… had never even opened it.

It would be a lie to say she was not disappointed. But over the past two years, she had also come to understand many things. So she answered softly, “…Mm.”

“You’re done with class? Then when are you coming home?” Qin Shan asked again.

Xu Siran asked in confusion, “Aren’t you all not home this week?”

Qin Shan seemed to pause for a moment before saying, “Not back to Shengxi Yufu. Back to Shujin Liyuan.”

?! Xu Siran froze, then instinctively asked back, “She isn’t there, so I still have to…” As she spoke, her voice lowered, because she suddenly remembered that the other party’s meaning last week had indeed been that they were to live together. It was only that she had been busy studying this week and had not thought about moving again.

“You’re already married. Of course you have to live together. Didn’t Eldest Young Lady Ni also take you to Shujin Liyuan?” Qin Shan reminded her in a teaching tone. “Even if Eldest Young Lady Ni usually isn’t there, as her wife, you still have to live there.”

Xu Siran did not understand this whole set of rules. After hearing it, she said nothing. Her thin back was as straight as the parasol tree.

After a moment of silent thought, only when Qin Shan reminded her gently once more did Xu Siran answer in a low voice, “…Mm. I know.”

Just in case, Qin Shan asked again, “Do you understand what Mom means?”

“Mm.”

Qin Shan seemed a little more at ease, and there was a smile in her voice. “Good. When you have time, come home. Mom will make something you like to eat.”

“…Mm.”

It was not what she liked to eat at all. Every time, they could never remember what dishes she preferred. Just like how she actually did not like eating softshell turtle meat much, yet the last time she went home, her mother had picked up a piece for her. And during the whole meal, that was the only dish her mother had picked up for her.

Through the gaps between the branches and leaves, Xu Siran lifted her eyes and looked at the slowly setting sun. Then she turned off her phone and walked away.

She did not go back to Shujin Liyuan right away. Instead, she still went to the library according to her plan. After organizing and finishing her end-of-course assignment in the library, she left and went to the back street to eat a bowl of shredded chicken cold noodles with a bottle of soy milk.

After settling dinner, she went back to her rental apartment to pack, filled one suitcase, and only then hailed a car to Shujin Liyuan.

By the time she arrived at Shujin Liyuan, it was already ten at night. She took the exclusive elevator upstairs. After unlocking the door with her fingerprint and entering, Xu Siran still felt unfamiliar and unaccustomed.

Auntie Pei had already gone off work. As an all-purpose smart butler at the forefront of technology, 1585 turned on the entire home’s smart system for her the moment she entered.

“Siran! Have you eaten dinner? Do you want me to cook you a bowl of noodles?”

Most home robots nowadays could basically complete all kinds of housework. Xu Siran was a little curious and looked it over as she asked, “I already ate. But why noodles?”

A pile of document titles appeared on 1585’s square display screen. Xu Siran looked closely and realized… they seemed to be online novels, such as The Cold-Faced CEO and Her Little Childhood Sweetheart, Rebirth: The Days I Stopped Being the CEO’s Wife, The Cold and Ruthless CEO’s 365 Days of Demanding Love…

1585 even explained, “It’s not only humans who like reading web novels. We robots have to keep up with the times too! And this robot butler’s owner just happens to be an outstanding and fabulously wealthy CEO, so of course I read some CEO novels!”

A little question mark popped up over Xu Siran’s head. She asked softly, “So what does that have to do with making a bowl of noodles?”

1585 had not expected that a young university student like her did not read web novels at all, so it explained again, “It’s like this! In every CEO novel, there’s always a relationship-warming scene where the protagonist comes home late at night after work, and the CEO, who basically never enters the kitchen, clumsily prepares a fragrant bowl of noodles for her~”

After hearing this, Xu Siran felt as if she had been hit by deadpan humor. Maybe 1585 could become friends with that service robot at the Civil Affairs Bureau.

“All right, thank you.” She curved her eyes. “But no need. I’m not hungry. Good night. I’m going to rest.”

“Okay. Good night, sweet dreams!”

Xu Siran randomly chose a bedroom. The curtains automatically opened. Through the window, she could see the night view of Nanhu Wetland Park. The park was a stretch of quiet black, with colorful night lights glowing at intervals. From a distance, the places where the light came from looked like little glowing mushrooms.

Every bedroom came with its own bathroom separated into wet and dry areas. After taking a shower, she changed into the cotton pajamas she had brought, dried and blow-dried her damp long hair, and left only one reading lamp on.

Aside from clothes and personal items, she had also brought a few books.

She pulled one out and brought it to bed. After reading for a while, she fell asleep.

The mattress was as soft as down, but perhaps because she was in an unfamiliar environment, she did not sleep peacefully. She dreamed on and off all night, opening her eyes in a daze, then closing them again and continuing to sleep. Because of that, she woke up at six in the morning.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and was still sleepy. Once again, she buried herself in the pillow and blanket, rolled around a few times, then flipped herself up like a fish.

This time, Xu Siran did not keep sleeping. She changed clothes, washed up, got out of bed, and turned right toward the gym in front.

There were quite a few gyms near school too, but she basically never went. When she wanted to exercise, she would go to the field to run or to the sports hall to play badminton.

The indoor gym had complete facilities. After thinking for a moment, she started a treadmill and kept adjusting the speed and incline according to how well she adapted.

Because the indoor temperature was suitable, like early autumn after mountain rain, and she had not brought sportswear when she came over last night, she wore a thin shell jacket over a short-sleeved shirt.

After exercising for forty minutes, she was covered in sweat. So she simply took off the jacket and ran a while longer in only the black short-sleeved shirt underneath.

After finishing her stretches, she pulled two tissues from the tissue box nearby and wiped herself down. Then she got a cup of water from the dispenser and drank it before picking up her jacket, preparing to put it on and return to her room to shower.

After pushing the door open and going out, she went around the corridor toward her bedroom. Unexpectedly, the door to the study on the other side suddenly opened. The person who came out was not 1585, nor was it Auntie Pei, but… Ni Jia, who had returned at some unknown time.

Caught off guard as they came face to face, Xu Siran clutched her jacket, her dark, round, moist eyes staring without blinking. She looked at her blankly like this, crashed for two seconds, then came back to herself and reacted. In a small voice, she said,

“…Morning, Ni—” She almost called her Miss Ni again. Just as it was about to slip out, she thought of the matter of changing how she addressed her, pursed her lips, hardened her heart, and called, “…Sister.”

Ni Jia looked at the person before her. It was clearly a rather intimate and close form of address, but it was not hard to sense the bit of nervousness hidden within it. Just like the day they got their certificates, the other party had been so nervous that she did not dare look at her, nor dare move closer to her.

Was she very frightening?

Or was she truly that creepy?

She answered, “Mm. Morning.”

Hearing her accept it, Xu Siran secretly let out a sigh of relief. According to her personality, what would probably follow was an extremely awkward silence between the two of them. But! She had already made her decision and drawn up a plan, so she had to put it into action as soon as possible in order to strive for the other party to bring up divorce sooner.

It was just… a little embarrassing.

The other party was dressed very professionally right now, in a silk satin blouse and black skirt. Her long black hair was half tied up, and the silver-rimmed glasses on the bridge of her nose had been replaced with gold half-rimmed glasses, making her look even more noble and distant. Compared with Xu Siran’s short-sleeved shirt and casual pants, they were practically two completely different styles.

Xu Siran thought and thought. Countless words churned back and forth on the tip of her tongue, then receded. In the end, she squeezed out one sentence.

“…Sister, did you come back last night?”

“Mm.”

“Me too.” Xu Siran asked again, “Then are you going to the company now?”

“I’ll go after breakfast,” Ni Jia answered.

The study faced the hills of Nanhu Wetland Park. On the mountain peak, there was a pavilion and an ancient tree. Through the window, Xu Siran could see a row of little birds nestled along the eaves of that pavilion, like small black dots connected into a long line.

This reminded her of the first principle of hot violence—

Sharing and outputting every detail, just like a little bird that kept chirping and fluttering nonstop.

…And so, she considered how she should start. Because she was not exactly an outgoing and cheerful person. When she was little, she could even be considered shy and bashful; only when she grew a little older did she become a little more cheerful and bold.

But! Doing these things still tested her threshold for shame too much, especially when the person standing in front of her was… the imposing Eldest Young Lady of the Ni family.

Thinking that the other party was also the disciplinarian of the family, the one who upheld strict rules and punishments and used family law on the younger generation, Xu Siran wondered how much it would hurt when ruler and whip fell. There were also many rumors about the other party… Xu Siran really was a little afraid that the other party would punish her later by making her reflect behind closed doors or locking her up.

However, there was still nothing scarier than not divorcing and continuing to live a life full of resistance, rejection, and even all kinds of things she hated doing.

Her thoughts twisted and turned a thousand times. She took a deep breath in her heart, revealed an obedient, shallow smile, and said in one breath without pausing, “…Okay. I plan to study at home today. In the morning, I’ll first work on the group presentation assignment for my Introduction course, then do a practical course design. After a lunch break at noon, I’ll organize last week’s end-of-course materials and notes and have an online class meeting with my classmates. In the evening, I’ll review and finish writing the award speech for the AI design team competition.”

After saying that, she felt it was not detailed enough and added, “Sister, this team competition is a national league. The participants include undergraduates, master’s students, and PhD students. Our team won first prize, and among the three first-prize winners, we were the only undergraduate team.”

Her eyes were opened very round, and the corners of her lips curved up. Ni Jia saw the little pear dimples on both sides of her mouth and discovered that she seemed to have suddenly become a little… happy.

This was also the first time she had said so much in front of Ni Jia. There was no nervousness or fear. Although it was a little stiff and serious, like when she had read the marriage vows, she was very obediently telling Ni Jia about her plans for the day.

Ni Jia answered, “Mm. I know.”

? Did this answer count as reaching the standard of “a little unable to stand it”? Xu Siran thought.

In her view, the degree of hot violence rose gradually, and the other party’s level of being unable to stand it should also reveal itself step by step.

After a brief struggle, Xu Siran felt that this answer from Eldest Young Lady Ni should have reached the degree of being a tiny bit unable to bear it. Mm, I know. She only said she knew, with no desire to explore or learn anything else, nor did she expand on any other topic.

Wasn’t that exactly a tiny bit unable to stand it and wanting her not to continue speaking?

Xu Siran was extremely pleasantly surprised. She had not expected that her first attempt would reap results beyond expectations. She was a little happy. In Ni Jia’s eyes, it looked like the curve at the corners of her eyes rose even more, and the dimples at the corners of her lips became a little deeper, turning from a little happy to even happier.

Just then, 1585 happened to pass by, and a brilliant smile appeared on its display screen: ^—^

“Good morning!” it said.

Xu Siran lowered her eyes to look at it. “Good morning.”

Seeing this, 1585 changed into a somewhat serious character expression. “Siran, you sweated during exercise just now. Remember to go back and wipe yourself dry. This can prevent catching a chill and getting a cold. Also, according to the latest national Residents’ Sports and Health Guide, after you dry your sweat, you should still wait a while before taking a shower!”

Xu Siran knew this. “Mm. I know.”

A while later, after Xu Siran washed up and came out again, Ni Jia was already gone. She let out a sigh of relief and began eating the exquisite breakfast that filled the entire table.

There were honey char siu puff buns, black truffle shumai, fragrant steamed taro cakes, two-color cabbage shrimp dumplings, and so on. Because they were delicious and very suited to her taste, she ate until she was a little stuffed. She sat on the aerial terrace and looked at the scenery for a while before preparing to go to the bedroom to read, study, and do homework.

Seeing that she was about to leave, 1585 asked what she was going to do. After she answered one by one, 1585 said again, “Siran, the room on the right is your study. Studying there is more comfortable and convenient than studying in the bedroom! There are lots of books there too.”

Xu Siran understood. “Okay, then I’ll go there.”

“Mm! Do your best!”

Xu Siran carried her laptop bag and schoolbag into the study on the right. During the day, the scenery outside the window was truly beautiful. The vast, emerald wetland park was like a smooth length of green silk. She looked for a while, then sat down at the desk and began studying with her mind free of distractions.

After completing the group presentation assignment, she suddenly realized something. She picked up her phone, opened the messaging app, and found Ni Jia, whom she had added last week.

They had added each other’s contact information last Tuesday. At the time, after adding each other, there had been no follow-up. A whole week had passed without even one message.

Thinking of those fiery hot violence chat methods online, Xu Siran typed: [Sister,] then deleted it. After deleting and changing it several times, she first sent a sticker as an opening.

[(knocking on door.jpg)]

Then she moved into the main topic: [Sister, I finished half of my morning plan. The group presentation assignment is done!]

That was not enough. She continued typing: [Next is the practical course design I told you about. This assignment is a bit difficult, so I plan to go over the courseware and papers again first.]

[(working hard.jpg)]

After editing and sending these, she was still worried it was not enough, so she forced herself to make conversation: [Oh right, breakfast this morning was really good. Sister, did you like it? There were a few dishes in there that I know how to make too!]

Okay. This should be about enough.

She put down her phone, pulled up the courseware and papers, and after browsing through them once, core drive diagrams emerged one after another in her mind. She opened the specialized E4Victri software and used the next hour and a half to hand in a perfect design answer.

The retro pendulum wall clock across from her had already chimed twelve o’clock. She closed her laptop and opened the messaging app on her phone again. Ni Jia had not replied, but that did not stop her from continuing to chirp away.

[Great! I finished the course design!]

[All of this morning’s study tasks are done. It’s already twelve. I’ll continue studying after lunch and a lunch break.]

[If I can finish all my arrangements early this afternoon, I plan to read the astronomy book I recently subscribed to that just came out.]

[Sister, what are you doing right now?]

[(good noon.jpg)]

Meanwhile, on the other side, inside the huge conference hall on the sixty-eighth floor of Yuanlong Group’s Central Building, everyone seated around the long, solid-wood lacquered conference table was silent as cicadas in winter. In their eyes, there was worry, nervousness, awe, or fear in varying degrees.

The meeting continued. As another manager reported on important matters regarding Yuanlong’s cross-border acquisition, Ni Jia, who sat at the head of the table, glanced at the phone vibrating with incoming messages. Her private number only had friends and family, but none of them would message her for no reason during work hours.

Another faint vibration sounded. It happened to be the five-minute break after an hour and a half of the meeting. She picked up her phone. After seeing who had sent the messages, there was still not much ripple in her eyes.

She tapped into the chat page. Large stretches of text messages and a certain kind of cartoon sticker entered her sight, and at the bottom, it showed that she had received another new message from the other party.

[Sister, I finished half of my morning plan. The group presentation assignment is done!]

……

As she browsed all the way down, she saw that the latest message was a photo. The other party had taken a picture of the lunch Auntie Pei had made. The composition was very pretty, followed closely by a text message.

[Sister, this is today’s lunch. What are you eating?]

The other party was still typing, the messages popping out one by one: [Eat lunch even if work is busy! Otherwise, you’ll easily get stomach problems.]

[Change of plans. This afternoon, I’m going to read for a while first before reviewing!]

She was like the most attentive good student in class, the kind who would raise her hand to answer questions, reporting to Ni Jia everything she had completed and not completed that morning.

She even reminded her to rest properly and remember to eat.

…Was Xu Siran this obedient? she thought.

Most of the younger members of the family were mischievous. The elders in the clan would usually reward children who were a little better behaved. Ni Jia was six years older than her, and since their marriage, she had not given her any gifts.

The meeting was about to begin. Without thinking for too long, she typed a reply—

When the vibration of the reply sounded, Xu Siran was eating wasabi shrimp balls. She quite liked this dish. One bite of rice, one bite of food; her cheeks were puffed full as she ate.

She put down her bowl and chopsticks, took a sip of orange juice, and picked up her phone.

It was indeed Ni Jia’s reply.

[In a meeting.]

[(Transfer ¥10,000,000.00)]

?!!

What was this? What did it mean?

Xu Siran pondered it. Beside her, 1585 was playing a romance movie, and it just so happened to reach a scene where a supporting character, feeling somewhat irritated, transferred money to a passerby to settle the matter and keep the peace.

A flash of inspiration struck. All at once, Xu Siran figured it out!

Holding her phone, she curved her lashes and smiled.

So the hidden meaning behind Eldest Young Lady Ni’s strange transfer was that she was impatiently expressing that she was very busy and Xu Siran should stop bothering her.

Wonderful! Hot violence really worked!!!