Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Little Push

“Good… looking.” Yuan Xiaoling gave a slight shiver.

Bai Ling raised an eyebrow. “Seems like it’s really good, otherwise you wouldn’t have said it twice.”

Yuan Xiaoling kept her serious face; she had just been startled.

Your fault for sneaking up on me while I’m thinking. Who wouldn’t get startled?

“What TV show is so good?” Bai Ling sat down beside her.

“There’s a villain who kidnapped a beauty and wanted to do naughty things,” Yuan Xiaoling explained honestly, “but then got beaten to death with a frozen fish by his enemy.”

Bai Ling slightly paused, smirking at her. “Sounds somewhat familiar.”

Yuan Xiaoling innocently blinked. “That’s how it was on TV. If you don’t believe me, check it out yourself. The drama is called ‘Raging Storm.'”

You better not take it personally.

“So, what do you think the outcome of such a story would be in real life?” Bai Ling asked her teasingly.

“I don’t know about others, but you’ve definitely succeeded in doing lots of naughty things,” Yuan Xiaoling pitifully replied.

Bai Ling seemed satisfied with her attitude, nodded, and left.

Though she left, Yuan Xiaoling no longer had the mood to watch TV, pondering her unfinished weekly task heavily.

[Play a prank on the female lead once, making her experience the feeling of being deceived and teased.]

So as expected, considering Bai Ling’s current nature, what kind of thing would make her lose her composure?

The degree can’t be too high; if it’s severe, forget about wormwood, her life might not even be safe. If it’s too low, others won’t even care.

What should she do? It’s really troubling.

Yuan Xiaoling thought and thought all day but couldn’t come up with a good plan. In the evening, Bai Ling called her to the living room for dinner, saying someone came over.

The male head of the house, Zhang Shengkang, returned and specifically greeted Yuan Xiaoling.

“Student Yuan Xiaoling, I heard you’re also studying at Tianhai University and are in the same year as Shanshan. Remember to help each other out at school.”

It felt like one of those awkward conversations from WeChat with elders you’re not close to.

Yuan Xiaoling stiffened her little face, pretending not to hear. Bai Ling spoke up beside her, “Uncle Zhang, weren’t you still working? Why did you suddenly come back?”

“Isn’t it the May Day holiday? Of course, I have to come back,” Zhang Shengkang casually said.

But he was clearly still wearing his work suit, not even having time to change, obviously returning due to some urgent matter.

As for what that matter was…

“Xiaoling, I heard from your aunt that you have ideas about running a shop?”

Sure enough, as soon as they picked up their chopsticks, Zhang Shengkang couldn’t help but ask.

“Hmm,” Bai Ling picked up her rice bowl and answered indifferently, “I have this idea.”

Zhang Shengkang said, “That’s right. Xiaoling, you’re an adult now, already in university, responsible for your own life and with plans. That’s a good thing. Young people should leave their comfort zones and dare to explore.”

Yuan Xiaoling propped her cheek, thinking there would definitely be a “but.”

“But young people’s enthusiasm is good, sometimes it can also bring recklessness, especially in business which requires rich experience and steady patience. Xiaoling, you’re only in your first year of university. Perhaps it’s better to settle down for a few years before stepping into society.”

He picked up his chopsticks to pick food, trying to make it seem like this was just a casual conversation during dinner, not something he specifically came back to say. But halfway to his mouth, he realized he had his chopsticks upside down.

Bai Ling didn’t seem bothered at all, chewing slowly, finishing her food, putting down her bowl and chopsticks, wiping her mouth with a napkin, and then speaking:

“Indeed, Uncle Zhang, what you said makes sense. I’m not particularly enthusiastic about running a business either.”

Yuan Xiaoling hearing this, thought she’d definitely have a “but.”

“But…”

“Psst!”

She couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing.

“Hey,” Zhang Shanshan glared at her, “what are you laughing at?”

“It’s nothing, I’m playing a game and something funny happened,” Yuan Xiaoling pulled out her mobile phone, pretending to play seriously.

Zhang Shanshan persisted, “You weren’t playing earlier, you were just laughing…”

“64-strong captives line up!” Yuan Xiaoling shouted at her phone.

“…” Zhang Shanshan dared not speak anymore.

After they finished their antics, Bai Ling calmly continued, “But recently, I’ve acquired something special.”

Zhang Shengkang and Huang Ling’s attention immediately returned to her.

“What kind of thing?”

“Some inexplicable thing, but it made me more agile and gave me special abilities. I think it’s what’s known as spiritual awakening,” Bai Ling softly said. “Since I now have these abilities, I want to investigate what happened half a year ago. Maybe it’s related to our family business, so I want to look into it.”

After she finished speaking, Yuan Xiaoling secretly looked up and saw Huang Ling’s face go through a series of incredibly rich expressions.

Thought it was a joke → Hard to believe → Envious and jealous and unwilling → Scared.

Zhang Shengkang remained slightly calmer, showing only the first two reactions.

Zhang Shanshan was even worse, standing up quickly.

“How could you possibly…?”

“Anything is possible!” Yuan Xiaoling shouted and then pretended to be gaming, “Brothers, give it your best shot, we can turn this around.”

After half a minute, Zhang Shengkang finally recovered, trying hard to maintain a calm expression: “This truly… is astonishing. But for safety’s sake, why don’t you focus on school first, and deal with this during the holidays? Don’t let it affect your studies.”

Bai Ling seemed to seriously consider it and nodded, “That works. After all, next month is the holiday.”

Huang Ling couldn’t help but blurt out, “How could it be June already…?!”

“That’s how university students are,” Yuan Xiaoling put down her phone.

No more pretending, straight to the point.

After a brief silence, Zhang Shengkang forced a smile, “That’s fine, then this month I’ll help you sort out anything that needs organizing.”

“Okay, thank you, Uncle Zhang.”

After dinner, Bai Ling and Yuan Xiaoling went back to the room together, and the smiles on the faces of the people in the living room instantly disappeared.

“Dad, Mom,” Zhang Shanshan whispered, “we won’t possibly…”

Won’t really return everything, right? What about these fancy furniture pieces and the yard maintenance costs?

“You stay out of this,” Zhang Shengkang suddenly turned serious, “go back to your room.”

Huang Ling finally got smart for a moment and dragged her daughter away without further ado.

Zhang Shengkang sat alone for twenty minutes, then stood up and went to the balcony. Below the balcony was a meticulously manicured lawn and garden, where lush green leaves flourished under the summer sun.

After taking over part of the Bai family’s assets six months ago, the Zhang family moved here, extravagantly buying a villa with a garden.

A cold wind blew through on a sunny day, causing Zhang Shengkang to shiver. He made up his mind and dialed a number on his mobile phone.

Beep beep beep, beep beep beep, dial tone.

In the bedroom, Bai Ling hugged Yuan Xiaoling sitting by the bed, closed her eyes, and listened intently.

Under the perception of a fifth-tier mental-type ability, no spoken word could escape her notice.

Right…

“I mustn’t open my eyes until you promise not to make a sound.”

First, warn the big white rabbit in my arms.