Chapter 11: One Slap, Three Soothing Pats

“Is this what Madam Xu wanted to talk about?” Lu Yao was surprised inwardly but kept her expression calm. She had thought the matter to be about an arranged marriage with the Huang family. After all, in her previous life, barely a month after returning to the Xu household, they had proposed such a match.

Madam Xu nodded, “Don’t you think it would be inconvenient to stay with Aunt Wu?” She spoke with great consideration. “The bed on the second floor is larger, and there’s a private bathroom and dressing room. It’s far more suitable for a young lady like you.”

She was trying so hard to be thoughtful. Lu Yao thought she should understand her intentions and not hold a grudge anymore.

“I’m small and slender. Aunt Wu’s room has a single bed; there’s no inconvenience at all.” She declined Madam Xu’s kindness—it was more than she could bear.

“Yao Yao!” Madam Xu was exasperated by Lu Yao’s stubbornness. She had gone to such lengths—what more did she want?

“Madam Xu, I have some matters to attend to. If there’s nothing else, please excuse me.” Lu Yao was tired of continuing the pointless conversation and sat back down to sort through her vegetables.

She didn’t want to accept Madam Xu’s kindness only to be cut down by the Xu family the next moment.

Aunt Wu, standing nearby, was also helpless seeing Madam Xu so frustrated. She had privately advised Lu Yao to move upstairs, explaining that the corridor room was unsuitable and could cause rheumatism or colds. But Lu Yao had firmly refused, so Aunt Wu had stopped pressing.

Madam Xu’s rejection was expected, not surprising. But this stubbornness brought no benefit to Lu Yao and might even anger the Xu family.

Frowning, Madam Xu saw Lu Yao was resolute about staying in the corridor room. She gave up trying to persuade her and left the kitchen in a fury.

The next afternoon, Mr. Xu returned from work and froze upon seeing Lu Yao sitting in the living room. He hadn’t expected a stranger unrelated to the Xu family to be there.

Then, as if recalling something, he regained his usual composure.

“When did you come back?” Mr. Xu asked calmly, stepping forward as if Lu Yao had merely returned from buying snacks at a small shop. There was no warmth in his voice, only a frown.

He clearly disapproved of her current appearance and attire.

“On the seventh of the month,” Lu Yao replied respectfully. “Would you like some tea, Mr. Xu?”

In her previous life, Mr. Xu always liked Aunt Wu to make him tea when he came home from work. That habit seemed unchanged. The moment he sat down, he instinctively looked for the tea tray and cups.

Fortunately, Lu Yao promptly handed him the freshly brewed tea, saving Aunt Wu from being called out from the kitchen.

“Are you upset?” Mr. Xu regarded her with a probing gaze.

To him, this daughter had no blood relation. It was complicated—on one hand, she was raised by them since childhood; on the other, she was the culprit who had separated them from their biological daughter for fifteen years.

It would be false to say he didn’t harbor some resentment.

Three years had passed, and her attitude towards him was no longer warm or affectionate. She didn’t even call him ‘father,’ growing distant, which stirred his displeasure.

She wasn’t really a Xu by blood and didn’t even know how to address him properly.

“Since you’re back, stay home properly,” Mr. Xu said softly, sipping the tea she had brewed. “You’re still my daughter, Lu Shenghai’s daughter. You don’t need to be so formal.”

“No need, Mr. Xu,” Lu Yao declined. She didn’t want his charity. What she had now was already more than enough. She dared not ask for more.

She was fully aware of their true intentions. Their kindness was better left to themselves to digest.

Mr. Xu frowned at her resistance. “Still sulking? When will you be as magnanimous and sensible as Xingyue?”

No wonder the whole family disliked her and agreed she should go replace Xu Xingyue in the countryside.

Just liking to seek trouble for herself.

Lu Yao lowered her eyes and smiled bitterly. What did it mean to be sensible and magnanimous? Twice in two lifetimes, she had taken Xu Xingyue’s place in the countryside. Was that not being sensible?

She had endured six years of hardship on her behalf without resentment. Was that not magnanimity?

Was she really such a petty person in Mr. Xu’s eyes?

No wonder when the company was in trouble, the first thought was to replace her with someone who could restore vitality.

They truly held no regard for her.

Still dissatisfied, Mr. Xu continued, “Look at you now—neither human nor ghost, dressed like that, how do you look like a lady from a wealthy family?”

“Hurry and change. Don’t embarrass yourself in front of me.”

If outsiders saw this, they’d think the Xu family was mistreating her.

Lu Yao remained calm and unmoved, refusing to change her clothes. She stood there without a word.

“Shenghai, you’re back?” At that moment, Madam Xu entered holding a black clutch, dressed in a green qipao with white mink fur draped around her shoulders and neck, striding in with Xu Xingyue, breaking the awkward atmosphere.

“Dad!” Xu Xingyue’s eyes sparkled with delight when she saw Mr. Xu in the living room. She moved lightly like a swift swallow, not even putting down her pink handbag before running to his side, sitting down and clinging to his arm coquettishly.

In the previous life, just like Lu Xingyue, she always sought comfort and affection from Mr. Xu whenever she returned.

Mr. Xu would always caress her head like a loving father.

But now that scene belonged to someone else, no longer hers. A sudden wave of bitterness welled in Lu Yao’s heart, and red strands shimmered in her eyes.

“Why didn’t you go to school today?” Mr. Xu smiled as Madam Xu and Xu Xingyue returned from outside the living room, no longer cold or disdainful as he had been with Lu Yao, but filled with a father’s tenderness and indulgence, gently stroking Xu Xingyue’s hair.

Raising her face, Xu Xingyue said innocently and brightly, “Dad, you’re home, so I wanted to spend more time with you.”

She naturally noticed Lu Yao standing stiffly to the side, looking like a mere wooden figure. Before they came in, Lu Yao must have been scolded by Mr. Xu, she thought with a hint of triumph.

“You little sly one,” Mr. Xu teased, rubbing Xu Xingyue’s nose affectionately. “You have the sweetest mouth in the family.”

Xu Xingyue giggled, nuzzling closer to Mr. Xu’s arm, then cast a provocative glance at Lu Yao.

So what if you’re back? There’s no longer a place for you in the Xu family.