Chapter 12: The Good Days Are Coming to an End

Lu Yao pretended not to see it.

What did this warm reunion of a family of three have to do with her?

Was Xu Xingyue trying to show off or provoke her? Perhaps she had the wrong person.

“Sheng Hai, how is the company doing now? Is everything alright?”

Mrs. Xu set down her handbag, lifted the scarf, and handed it to the maid standing nearby. With a concerned voice, she inquired, “Has the funding issue been resolved?”

Mrs. Xu had been deeply worried about this matter these days.

She had been running here and there, gathering information from many wealthy socialites.

Yet in the end, the other side either ignored her or shut her out completely.

This had left Mrs. Xu increasingly irritable recently.

The smile that had just appeared on Mr. Xu’s face froze for a moment after Mrs. Xu’s question.

Everyone understood clearly that the company’s problems could not be solved overnight.

Without investments from the Huang family and other companies, it was all just empty talk.

But Mr. Xu found it difficult to say this in front of Lu Yao, an outsider.

He lowered his head in silence for a moment, then lightly patted Xu Xingyue’s arm, glanced at the unmoving Lu Yao beside them, and slowly spoke.

“You two children, please go back to your rooms first.”

Mrs. Xu noticed that he was sending the two children away and realized this matter was certainly not as simple as she had imagined.

Her beautifully arched brows immediately furrowed into a line.

Lu Yao welcomed this. The family of three was sweetly reunited, and it was indeed awkward for her, an outsider, to stand there.

Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Xu had something to discuss, Xu Xingyue was unwilling to let Lu Yao off so easily.

Lu Yao had been staying at the Xu residence for some time now.

Xu Xingyue had yet to assert her claim over Lu Yao.

She couldn’t just let her have things for free.

“Yao Yao, Sister, come with me to my room for a little tour,” Xu Xingyue said, a mischievous gleam flashing in her eyes.

Lu Yao opened her mouth but hadn’t yet reacted when Xu Xingyue quickly pulled her along.

There was no chance to reply.

Only when the door slammed shut with a bang did Lu Yao manage to pull her hand free from Xu Xingyue’s grasp.

“What does Miss Xu mean by this?” Lu Yao frowned.

She had been at the Xu house for nearly half a month, and during these seven days, she and Xu Xingyue had maintained a strictly hands-off relationship.

Suddenly being dragged upstairs—was she scheming something again?

After all, in her previous life, after returning to the Xu family, Xu Xingyue had secretly set many traps for her.

It was rare that in this life, Xu Xingyue had only just now spoken to her.

“Yao Yao, Sister, are you still angry with me?”

Xu Xingyue pouted, deliberately lowering her head before Lu Yao with a pitiful expression.

“I know it was wrong to send you to the countryside in my place, but… but that was my parents’ decision. I couldn’t persuade them.”

Of course, even if she could have persuaded them, she wouldn’t have been foolish enough to really go to the countryside.

In the end, Lu Yao had to take her place and go through the labor reform there.

Surprise flickered in Lu Yao’s eyes, as she hadn’t expected Xu Xingyue to bring up that matter again before her.

“It’s all in the past. Why bring it up now?”

“Feeling guilty?”

Her calm gaze fixed unblinkingly on her, wanting to see what she was really after.

She didn’t believe that was all Xu Xingyue wanted to say.

Probably she didn’t know how to start a conversation, so she deliberately mentioned this as a prelude to smoothly open up about what was to come.

“No, Sister Yao Yao,” Xu Xingyue shook her head, blushing as she defended herself, “I just feel very guilty because of the countryside thing, so I want to make it up to you.”

“Make it up to me?”

Lu Yao felt as if she had misheard and looked at her with interest.

“Did the sun rise from the west today?”

Xu Xingyue actually said she wanted to make it up to her?

“You think I came back to steal your things, so you’re here to declare your claim?”

Xu Xingyue’s little scheme was plainly written all over her face.

Did she think Lu Yao couldn’t see through it?

What compensation?

To her, it was just an excuse.

“Don’t worry, I’m not interested in your things, and neither is the Xu family.”

In her previous life, she might have cared about everything about the Xu family.

Cared about their opinions and feelings toward her. But having been through so much and living again, Lu Yao no longer had expectations for the Xu family.

If Xu Xingyue liked and cared so much, she could have it all.

So why drag her along?

Wasn’t that just boring?

Xu Xingyue hadn’t expected Lu Yao to so easily see through the little thoughts buried in her heart.

Her face suddenly flushed red.

Yet she didn’t explain.

“Sister Yao Yao, how can you think that way about me?”

She was indeed afraid that Lu Yao’s return would take away all the attention from the Xu family meant for her.

She, Xu Xingyue, was the true daughter of the Xu family.

The genuine heiress.

And Lu Yao?

Just the daughter of a housekeeper, with an alcoholic father.

What right did she have to compete with her?

What qualification did she have to fight with her?

But Xu Xingyue didn’t say this in front of Lu Yao.

She knew very well this was not the time to tear their relationship apart.

“Sister Yao Yao, I can see that Mom and Dad still care about you very much,” Xu Xingyue said, forcing down her anger and speaking ingratiatingly.

“Can you stop being upset with them, stay peacefully in the house, and get along well with us?”

After all, it wouldn’t be long before she left the Xu family.

That was what Mrs. Xu had said to her before.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have let Lu Yao live so peacefully in the Xu house.

Ha!

Lu Yao smiled.

When Xu Xingyue had falsely accused her of stealing in their previous life, why hadn’t she talked about getting along well?

When she had cried with red eyes to make the Xu family misunderstand her, why hadn’t she spoken of harmony?

And now she came to talk about getting along well—didn’t she find it laughable?

Did she really think she was still that fool from the last life?

Did she think she would believe a few casual kind words?

“They are your parents,” Lu Yao said calmly, looking at Xu Xingyue.

“If you want to get along well with them, that’s your business. What does it have to do with me?”

To the Xu family, she was nothing but an outsider.

“And you, don’t pretend in front of me anymore, Xu Xingyue. The truth is, you were secretly wishing I’d die early in Baiyan Village.”

This was what Xu Xingyue had said to her face in their previous life.

Otherwise, how would she have known the dark side beneath Xu Xingyue’s usual pitiful and fragile act in front of the Xu family?

Xu Xingyue did not expect Lu Yao to see through her heart so easily, and panic flashed in her eyes.

“I... I didn’t.”

She whispered a denial, but it sounded weak and unconvincing.

“You know very well whether you did or not, Xu Xingyue,” Lu Yao said calmly, lowering her arms.

“Heaven sees all, and retribution will come.”

Soon enough, the Xu family would face their reckoning.

No, in fact, it had already begun.

But Lu Yao didn’t say this in front of Xu Xingyue.

“I believe it won’t be long before these good days no longer belong to you.”