An Siyao: Take Home

Xia Yu grabbed Hu Lianglu's arm, took out the medicine from the doctor, unwrapped the bandage, and rewrapped the girl's wound.

His hands were steady, showing no signs of anxiety or panic.

After tying the bandage, Xia Yu looked at Hu Lianglu and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Hu Lianglu replied.

"Be careful with this hand." Xia Yu patted the girl's head and continued walking towards the door.

As he opened the door, he felt that Hu Lianglu's goodwill had decreased.

He quickly stopped and turned around to look at Hu Lianglu.

Her goodwill returned.

He turned back towards the door, but her goodwill decreased again.

So, she didn't want him to leave.

Xia Yu weighed his options: should he agree to stay with Hu Lianglu and completely ditch Xu Youxiang, or leave Hu Lianglu and go back to video chat with Xu Youxiang?

He first pondered the strangeness of Hu Lianglu's behavior today.

"How did you cut your hand?" Xia Yu asked.

"I accidentally cut it while playing with a knife." Hu Lianglu's voice was low, as if forced to speak by Xia Yu.

Xia Yu didn't believe her. If it was an accidental cut, how could it be such a big wound? Was it a knife that could cut through iron?

When he sensed something strange, he decided that staying to observe would be the best option. Moreover, her goodwill had dropped too much.

Xia Yu thought for a moment and realized that this seemed like a good opportunity, a good chance to bring Hu Lianglu to An Siyao's place.

He bent down and picked up Hu Lianglu.

"What are you doing!" Hu Lianglu looked fierce.

Xia Yu knocked on her head without answering her question, "Behave."

Carrying Hu Lianglu, he went downstairs.

The driver, who was chatting with his girlfriend on his phone, quickly said goodbye and opened the car door for Xia Yu.

When being stuffed into the car, Hu Lianglu tried to resist but Xia Yu pinched her face, causing her to calm down.

Once the two were in the car, the driver closed the door and went to his seat.

"Back to the villa." Xia Yu said.

"Yes." The driver stepped on the accelerator.

Driving on the main road, the driver observed through the rearview mirror. Hu Lianglu still had her head turned, staring out the window with a reluctant expression.

As for his own lady, she had a smile on her face, seemingly very happy.

It was natural for her to be happy, after all, she had brought a beautiful girl home. How could she not be?

The driver remembered the last girl who had been brought to the villa, Xu Youxiang. Xu Youxiang had stayed in the villa for less than a year before she couldn't bear the torment. Relying on her own efforts and talent in the internet field, she had proven her worth and was kept safe by the master.

How long could this girl hold on? Would she be as lucky as Xu Youxiang and have useful talents?

The driver felt uneasy, as if waiting for the girl was a life of perpetual imprisonment.

By the way, the last one the lady brought home had disabled legs. He thought the lady had some special hobbies. But this one seemed normal.

At this moment, the driver noticed Hu Lianglu's bandaged arm.

Taking a deep breath, the driver dared not indulge in wild thoughts anymore.

He told himself that he was just a machine for driving.

With a blank expression, the driver drove the car to the villa's gate without turning his head and opened the door for An Siyu.

Xia Yu entered the villa holding Hu Lianglu.

The maids in the villa were shocked to see their young lady carrying a girl home.

Yu Ningmeng, who was dealing with files in her room, was called out.

"This is?" Yu Ningme looked at Hu Lianglu.

After putting Hu Lianglu down, Xia Yu held her hand knowing that she felt uneasy in this unfamiliar environment. At the same time, he had already become her support.

"This is a friend named Hu Lianglu," Xia Yu introduced Hu Lianglu. "Arrange a room for her."

Yu Ningmeng recognized Hu Lianglu early, as Xia Yu had asked her to investigate before. She thought Xia Yu might have wanted to do something to the girl. But now it seemed that he was actually doing something for her.

Perhaps it was Xia Yu taking the initiative, not leaving any chance for others.

Putting aside her curiosity, Yu Ningmeng asked Hu Lianglu to follow her, but Hu Lianglu didn't listen to her.

It was only when Xia Yu started to move that Hu Lianglu followed him.

After showing Hu Lianglu her room, Xia Yu knew that his plan to abduct her had basically succeeded.

Thanks to this incident, for some unknown reason, Hu Lianglu seemed unwilling to part with him. Thus, she could be easily taken to the villa. If it was the previous Hu Lianglu, she would not have gone home with a stranger or would have tried to sneak away.

"You rest on the bed. I'll be in the room just down the hallway," Xia Yu tried to go back to his room to chat with Xu Youxiang. Although he couldn't video chat, he could still text.

But Hu Lianglu's goodwill began to decrease.

With no other choice, Xia Yu sat by the bed, and Hu Lianglu obediently lay on it.

Witnessing Hu Lianglu's attachment to her new home, Yu Ningme wondered what kind of situation this was.

What had Xia Yu done to make her act like this?

This hadn't happened with Xu Youxiang before.

Yu Ningmeng left the bedroom, puzzled.

In the bedroom, Xia Yu took out An Siyu's phone, logged into his QQ account, and sent Xu Youxiang a message.

Xu Youxiang had deleted him, so the message couldn't be sent.

Tossing his phone aside, Xia Yu decided to wait for some time before trying again.

He looked at Hu Lianglu on the bed, who was also looking at him.

After staring at each other for five seconds, Hu Lianglu reached out and held his hand, slowly closing her eyes.

Five minutes later, Xia Yu looked at the sleeping Hu Lianglu, who still refused to let go of his hand, and touched his chin with his other hand.

Did Hu Lianglu cling to him because she was hurt, or was she hurt because she wanted to cling to him?

Thinking about her abnormal injuries, Xia Yu felt that it was the latter.

He frowned slightly.

As a fierce dog meant to protect An Siyu, it was acceptable to be fierce and irritable, but being clingy was not allowed.

What if one day she sees him being intimate with An Siyu and stabs him?

He still had to continue observing for a while and make some corrections.

He picked up his phone and started watching videos out of boredom.

At twelve o'clock, he called Hu Lianglu to have a meal. After finishing the meal, they sat together in the pavilion in the backyard.

He grabbed hold of Hu Lianglu's arm and began to question her, "You deliberately hurt your hand."

His tone was calm, not a question, but a statement.

Hu Lianglu turned her head away, instinctively avoiding the subject.

She lied: "No."

"I know you did." Xia Yu moved closer to Hu Lianglu's body, took her into his arms, and stroked her hair. "You don't have to do things like this; if you want to act spoiled, just act spoiled normally."

Xia Yu felt that after Hu Lianglu's body stiffened for a while, it softened.

She wrapped her arms around Xia Yu's waist and buried her face into his chest.

At the same time, her goodwill towards him increased slightly, surpassing that of the Feng sisters.

Satisfied with stroking Hu Lianglu's back, Xia Yu thought that all he needed to do was correct some of her minor bad habits, and then he could hand her over to An Siyao.

As her goodwill towards Xia Yu increased, Hu Lianglu became even more clingy to him, holding hands everywhere, inseparable, even sleeping together at night.

Yunu Ningmeng thought Hu Lianglu was a pervert who was peeking at her sister Yao Yao's body, and followed her for a while until she was sure that Hu Lianglu was only purely dependent and not in heat, then she relaxed.

The next morning, Xia Yu got up from the bed, greeted An Siyao in his mind, and then got out of bed.

His movement woke Hu Lianglu on the bed, who immediately opened her eyes.

"I'm going to wash up; you keep sleeping," Xia Yu said.

Hu Lianglu got off the bed and grabbed Xia Yu's hand: "I'll go too."

Xia Yu could only take her with him to the washroom.

After washing up and having breakfast, Xia Yu gave Hu Lianglu a laptop, trying to get her to watch TV dramas for fun and not pester him, but she still followed him around.

This made Xia Yu feel a headache.

Being clingy like this was definitely not a good thing; he had to find a way to solve it.

However, he didn't want to solve it now, as he had promised to visit Wen Ziyin in the afternoon.

Wen Ziyin was different from Xu Youxiang; Xu Youxiang could be coaxed back, and it was just about accompanying her. But Wen Ziyin had taken the initiative to invite him, and there might be important plot-related stuff.

Xia Yu still wanted to complete the task of guiding Wen Ziyin's life and earning star shards to see what those star shards were.

He accompanied Hu Lianglu until noon, then secretly sent a message to Yunu Ningmeng on his phone when Hu Lianglu wasn't paying attention.

Aunt Ning, can you stay by my side this afternoon until nine o'clock without leaving?

After saying that, Xia Yu sent a photo of An Siyao saying "please" as a request.

After sending it, he realized that he seemed to have unconsciously used the coquettish Level 2 again.

Nevermind, this is An Siyao's body; An Siyao's coquettishness has nothing to do with him.

Attracted by An Siyao's photo, Yunu Ningmeng quickly pushed away all the work and came to An Siyao's bedroom.

Xia Yu was about to head over to Wen Ziyin's place, but he didn't feel at ease leaving An Siyao alone with Hu Lianglu, so he called Yu Ningmeng along.

"Make sure not to leave." Xia Yu warned An Siyao and Ningmeng with a stern face.

Hearing Xia Yu's soft voice and looking into his watery eyes, the moved Yu Ningmeng nodded vigorously.

She wondered what Siyao was planning on doing. Was she suddenly in the mood to act spoiled?

Her thoughts were very beautiful, but reality was always cruel.

Yu Ningmeng saw that Siyao sat on the bed, pulling Hu Lianglu down to lie there as well. Siyao then let Hu Lianglu rest his head on her thighs, and began to hum a lullaby.

As Hu Lianglu slowly fell asleep, the bedroom quieted down.

Five minutes later, Yu Ningmeng clenched her fists.

So you called me over just to have me watch you show off your love?!

I didn't think you were that kind of person, Siyao!

Damn it, I want a thigh pillow too!

Yu Ningmeng wanted to leave, but remembering her earlier promise, she continued to stand there.

On the other side, Xia Yu, who had fully calmed down Hu Lianglu, arrived at Wen Ziyin's place.

After a moment of darkness, he saw the familiar desk in front of him.

On the desk was a manuscript written by hand.

Wen Ziyin's handwriting was delicate and beautiful, just like her.

The manuscript was a fiction draft, and Xia Yu picked it up to read without hesitation.

"Is this a new work?" he asked while looking at it.

"Wen Ziyin confirmed.

By this time, Xia Yu had already skimmed through the beginning.

It was a story set in an imaginary world about a prison guard and a detained princess from a neighboring country.

Wen Ziyin had only written the beginning, introducing the protagonist prison guard. The guard was originally a hooligan who used deception to obtain his position. His goal was to get close to the wealthy head matron and enter high society.

When the story reached the point where the prison guard met the imprisoned princess, there was no continuation. Below were many plot development outlines, showing that Wen Ziyin was stuck at this part.

This was a very obvious story, and Xia Yu could easily guess that the head matron was just a supporting character. The prison guard would have a poignant love story with the imprisoned neighboring princess, and there might be national struggles, factional struggles, and revelations about human nature mixed in. Wen Ziyin was likely stuck on what elements to add later in the story.

"How do you plan to write it?" Xia Yu asked Wen Ziyin.

"I don't want to write it anymore; I don't have the right feeling for it," Wen Ziyin replied.

Xia Yu didn't press her further, as it was normal to lose interest after writing just the beginning.

"What are we going to do today?" Xia Yu asked about the main matter.

"Go to the cemetery," Wen Ziyin replied.

A cemetery?

Xia Yu got up, went downstairs, and took a taxi to the city's cemetery.

The cemetery was large, located at the edge of the city, and was well planned by the government.

After buying some flowers and a small bottle of wine at a nearby shop, Xia Yu, following Wen Ziyin's guidance, arrived at a tombstone. It was Wen Ziyin's father's grave.

"Today is his death anniversary," Wen Ziyin said.

Xia Yu placed the flowers first, and then poured the wine in front of the grave.

With his hands clasped together, Xia Yu observed a moment of silence for Wen Ziyin's father.

After the task was completed, he felt that something was wrong.

What does Wen Ziying's father's death anniversary have to do with me? Why should I come to pay my respects?

"Let's go," Wen Ziying said again.

After putting away the empty wine bottle for the management staff to clean up, Xia Yu left the cemetery.

On the way back, Wen Ziying seemed to be muttering to herself in Xia Yu's mind, "I was actually really scared to come here."

Xia Yu didn't respond, knowing that Wen Ziying would continue, as it was more of a confession rather than a conversation.

"But there's no choice, I have to come here at least once a year, as well as in my hometown," Wen Ziying deliberately used 'hometown' to refer to Bian Guping.

Then, she fell silent.

Seeing that Wen Ziying didn't say anything for a long time, Xia Yu knew that it was time for him to chime in and push the conversation forward.

"Why?" he asked.

So Wen Ziying continued, "When I was little, she would always tell me that it was through her writing that she met my father. Although she stopped writing later on, she would still often read those magazines, and when she came across a good one, she would read it aloud to me..."