Chapter 4: Harmonious Atmosphere

A flicker of surprise crossed Lu Yao’s eyes.

This scene had never happened in her previous life.

Back then, she had entered the Lu family villa because Mrs. Xu happened to come out of the villa and found her fainted at the security booth, and so she brought her inside.

But this time, Xu Yanran had driven out to look for her.

Could it be that her rebirth had changed everything?

Lu Yao’s gaze was complicated.

Did that mean everything that followed would change as well?

She pressed her lips together.

Seeing how desperately the other seemed to be searching for her, almost to the point of burning with worry.

She saw it, remembered it, yet all she wanted to say was one thing: “Serves you right!”

“We’ve been looking for you for three days straight. Don’t you know how to take the tram back?” Xu Yanran’s mind surged with the anger she felt whenever she recalled how Mrs. Xu had been scolding her constantly these past three days.

And it was all thanks to Lu Yao.

“Did you do this on purpose?” she accused Lu Yao with a barrage of questions. “You knew how worried we were, yet you came back so slowly! Do you know Mom cried nearly every day for three days straight because of you? Do you even have a heart?”

Did she want to drive them to death by worry?

“Yes, Sister Yaoyao,” Xu Xingyue, who had been following behind Xu Yanran, also stepped down from the car with a face full of concern and care.

“Mom was really worried about you. These past three days, she couldn’t eat or sleep well. We searched everywhere for you and couldn’t find you. You shouldn’t make Mom so sad.”

Lu Yao remained silent, merely casting a cold glance at Xu Xingyue. Who was really causing whom pain?

Wasn’t it all thanks to Xu Yanran that she had arrived so late?

Where did they get the nerve to blame her?

Xu Xingyue’s eyes gleamed as she mistakenly thought Lu Yao was pondering how to come up with an excuse, so she continued to speak.

But what she didn’t realize was that Lu Yao no longer had the patience to waste words with them.

Let them continue with their performance.

“Are you still blaming Dad and Mom for sending you to the countryside?” Xu Xingyue’s words implied that Lu Yao was ungrateful, that having taken fifteen years of her life away, she still dared to throw a tantrum over three years spent in the countryside.

How spoiled.

“I’m the one at fault. If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had to go to the countryside for three years. If anyone should be blamed, it’s me. Don’t hurt Sister and the others’ feelings,” Xu Xingyue continued.

“What are you doing, Xingyue?” Xu Yanran grabbed Xu Xingyue, who was about to kneel before Lu Yao, and then turned, raging furiously at Lu Yao.

“Lu Yao, what exactly do you want? Look at you, causing such a commotion the moment you return. Apologize to Xingyue immediately.”

This troublemaker couldn’t keep quiet even when looked at.

She was nearly unbearable.

Lu Yao's eyes flickered with mockery and pain — this was the so-called eldest sister who had always claimed she would protect her.

No, from the previous life itself, she had not been.

She had long since become Xu Xingyue’s “big sister” — and had nothing to do with her anymore.

What was she still hoping for?

Her calm gaze fixed on Xu Yanran as she spoke lightly, almost dismissively:

“I did nothing wrong. Why should I apologize to her?”

Who was responsible for her late return?

Xu Yanran!

Whether in the previous life or this one, she had chosen to abandon the penniless Lu Yao alone at the airport, handing her only an address, and now she had the nerve to question why she hadn’t come home sooner?

And to demand she apologize to Xu Xingyue.

Was she truly blind, or was she deliberately pretending not to see?

Could she not tell that all of this was Xu Xingyue’s doing?

Indeed, whether last life or this, Xu Xingyue’s little schemes had always worked on them.

She had always overestimated her place in their hearts.

“Sister Yaoyao, don’t hold a grudge against the eldest sister,” Xu Xingyue said with a triumphant look in her eyes, her voice soft with concern and persuasion as she reached to grab Lu Yao’s hand — but upon smelling the stench of dirt that clung to her, she quietly recoiled, only able to look at her with reddened eyes.

“Eldest sister was really worried about you. You don’t know that these three days you were gone, she drove out every day looking for you, even sending many people to find out your whereabouts. She hasn’t had a good night’s sleep. How can you get so angry at her over something as small as an apology?”

And besides, hadn’t Lu Yao been doing well all these years in the countryside? Why come back now?

Did she know how much she hated her?

Xu Xingyue lowered her eyes.

“I know you’ve never liked me,” she said with red-rimmed eyes, heartbreakingly continuing, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have left the Lu family, nor gone to the countryside. Don’t worry, when you come back, I won’t compete with you for anything. It’ll all be yours, as long as you stay. Otherwise, Mom will be very sad.”

“Look at you now. You’re not even worth half of Xingyue’s little finger.”

Sure enough, Xu Xingyue was truly part of the Xu family.

Considerate in every word and deed, always thinking of others and understanding.

Unlike Lu Yao, who had been clueless and pretentious all her life.

The contrast was as stark as heaven and earth.

Xu Yanran glared at Lu Yao, and seeing her still standing there motionless, she yelled angrily to urge her on.

“Hurry up and come inside with me. Don’t embarrass yourself here any longer. When we get home, if I find out you bully Xingyue or steal her things, I won’t let you off.”

Lu Yao’s eyes darkened, unwilling to argue with them.

She lowered her head and followed silently behind them.

In the living room, Mrs. Xu was worried about Lu Yao’s situation when suddenly she heard footsteps at the door and looked up.

Seeing who it was, Mrs. Xu was stunned on the spot.

“Yaoyao!”

Mrs. Xu’s uncertain voice echoed through the room, filled with confusion and disbelief.

Lu Yao no longer had the vibrant energy and youthful beauty she once possessed.

Her clothes were tattered.

Her complexion was sallow.

She was thin and frail, as if the three years in the countryside had aged her beyond measure.

That was Mrs. Xu’s first impression of Lu Yao.

“Madam Xu,” Lu Yao politely nodded in her direction, greeting her.

“Yaoyao, my Yaoyao!” Mrs. Xu could no longer contain her excitement and suddenly rushed forward to embrace Lu Yao tightly, weeping uncontrollably.

Lu Yao’s body stiffened.

In the previous life, when Mrs. Xu held her like that, her hands, clenched at her sides, eventually softened and reached out in response.

But this time, Lu Yao did not do so.

Her cracked hands remained firmly at her sides, not only refusing to respond but actively pulling away from the embrace.

“I’m dirty and smelly. Madam Xu, please keep your distance. Don’t catch anything from me.”

The peaceful atmosphere was shattered by Lu Yao’s blunt words.