Chapter 21

Chapter 21 I Don’t Want to Be Disliked by Xia Yuan!

Mei Fang was tutoring Xia Yuan in math in the living room.

Feeling that her math grades were lagging behind, Xia Yuan had put in a lot of effort, taking meticulous notes and not missing anything the teacher said.

Although these things were all child’s play to Mei Fang, he still explained them very seriously to Xia Yuan.

But time slipped away minute by minute.

Just as Mei Fang was worried about Lin You Xi’s situation, a clicking sound came from the direction of the bedroom.

Xia Yuan and Mei Fang both looked up.

“Did you hear that?”

Xia Yuan cautiously asked, “Is there someone else in the house?”

“No, you must have heard wrong…” Mei Fang scratched his head with a smile, “Maybe it’s just the wind.”

“But that’s not for sure…” Xia Yuan warned, “Mom said there have been burglaries nearby recently. Maybe our house has been robbed!”

“That’s impossible, absolutely impossible.”

Mei Fang waved his hands frantically, “If anyone were to steal something, they’d steal from your house. Why would they steal from ours? We’re so poor.”

“Now is not the time for jokes!”

As Xia Yuan stood up, she also pulled Mei Fang up, “Let’s go check…”

“No, no, no! I’ll go check alone.”

Mei Fang showed a very reliable and confident smile, “I’m a man. You should trust me. It’s dangerous if we get caught together.”

“Then… take this!”

Xia Yuan stood up and picked up a small folding stool from the corner of the living room, handing it to Mei Fang.

Mei Fang, with a mix of laughter and tears, took the folding stool to his parents’ bedroom. He found no sign of Lin You Xi.

?

Could it be…

Mei Fang went to the study, and indeed saw Lin You Xi staring intently at the computer screen.

“You crazy! Why did you come out again…”

“I have to finish this delivery… After this delivery, we can buy the cheapest nourishing soup.”

Although she said that having a child doesn’t significantly increase combat power and is not cost-effective, she herself clearly wanted a child.

“Games are important, but not as important as Xia Yuan!”

Mei Fang tapped Lin You Xi’s head and whispered, “If Xia Yuan finds out you were playing games at my house, we’re done for!”

“I—”

Lin You Xi was about to refute when Xia Yuan’s voice came from outside the door.

“Mei Fang… How are you? Are you okay?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong!”

“Really nothing?”

Xia Yuan’s voice was getting closer. Mei Fang quickly signaled Lin You Xi to hide, then slipped out and stopped Xia Yuan.

“Is there anything inside? Let me see…”

“Don’t look, don’t look!”

Mei Fang couldn’t stop Xia Yuan who insisted on entering the room, so in desperation, he shouted, “There’s a rat inside!”

“Aah!”

Xia Yuan was so startled that she immediately jumped into Mei Fang’s arms.

Mei Fang knew that Xia Yuan was always terrified of rats because her mother said rats carried diseases and touching them could cause skin ulcers.

“It’s fine… I think I chased it away.”

Mei Fang patted Xia Yuan’s head as she trembled in his arms. She slowly peeked inside after a while.

“But, we can’t let our guard down. If it bites books or wires in the study, it’s dangerous. We should check again carefully!”

“No, you’re my guest. I can’t let you take such risks.”

Mei Fang led Xia Yuan back to the living room, poured her a glass of orange juice to calm her down, and then comforted her calmly, “Let’s focus on our homework now. We’ll deal with the rat issue when Dad comes home—”

The moment Mei Fang finished speaking, the door key clicked.

It was Mei Lijun and Xiang Xiaoxia returning home with their daughter Mei Ya, excluding Mei Fang.

“Son! Did you miss your old dad? I heard you calling my name!”

Mei Fang felt as miserable as if he had eaten something disgusting.

Can’t you speak without making things happen?

“Sister! Sister! Give me a hug!”

Mei Ya, Mei Fang’s three-year-old sister, had recently turned three. As the second child and a girl, she was doted on by her mother Xiang Xiaoxia and always kept close. Her big eyes and chubby cheeks were very endearing.

She got along well with Lin You Xi and Xia Yuan. Seeing Xia Yuan, she immediately ran up for a hug.

While hugging Mei Ya, Xia Yuan smiled and greeted Mei Lijun and Xiang Xiaoxia:

“Uncle, Auntie, hello! I’m here again…”

“Oh, Yuan Yuan, good! But why are you still so polite? You should learn from You Xi. When she stays at our house, she acts like it’s her own home.”

“I… I’ll remember,” Xia Yuan nodded, “I should visit more often and not always rely on Mei Fang.”

Xiang Xiaoxia teased, “And what about piano lessons today?”

“Um… There were various reasons… Oh, right!”

Xia Yuan called out to her father, Mei Lijun, who was stretching and heading to the study, “Uncle Mei, don’t go to the study! Mei Fang said he saw a rat there!”

“Are we being invaded by rats?!”

Mei Lijun and Xiang Xiaoxia both stiffened at the news, “Really, Mei Fang? How big is the rat?”

I…

Can’t say it’s as big as Lin You Xi, right?

Mei Fang was now completely overwhelmed.

“I didn’t see clearly… Maybe it wasn’t a rat?”

Mei Fang pretended to be naive, “I don’t think there’s anything to see.”

“If it’s a rat, we’ll know once we go in and find out.”

Mei Fang could fool kids, but not adults. He could only wait silently for the judgment—

“Let me see… This place looks quite clean. Where’s the rat?”

Mei Lijun searched the study but found no suspicious traces. Mei Fang was surprised too.

When did Lin You Xi leave—

No!

Just as everyone was busy looking for the rat in the study, Mei Fang returned to his room. He looked around and then approached the wardrobe.

…

Mei Fang gently opened the wardrobe, and Lin You Xi’s fist came at him. Mei Fang was prepared and dodged just in time.

“What are you doing? You almost scared me to death.”

“It should be me who’s scared to death! What are you hiding in here for?”

“There’s nowhere else to hide! Hasn’t Xia Yuan left yet… The delivery will be over in ten minutes.”

“Forget about the delivery! My parents are back.”

Lin You Xi immediately frowned, “This is so troublesome. I might as well stay in your wardrobe for the night… I can play games secretly.”

“Forget it, forget it. You wish! Hurry up and come out. Let’s apologize to Xia Yuan.”

“No way! If Xia Yuan finds out, she’ll hate me… I don’t want that!”

While they were causing a commotion in the wardrobe, the door of Mei Fang’s room creaked open. Mei Fang and Lin You Xi stopped breathing.

Entering the room was the three-year-old Mei Ya. She looked at the scene before her, her little head filled with confusion.

“Brother… What are you doing? Oh, You Xi Sister is here too?”

“Oh, this…”

“I understand…” Mei Ya suddenly realized, “You two must be playing hide-and-seek, right?”

(End of Chapter 21)