After hearing He Wenyu’s words, the Luo siblings remembered what Mother He used to do and said helplessly after exchanging glances, "Why don’t you pick the one you like the least?"
"Don’t you think wearing this will be seen as showing off?" He Wenyu pulled out a red cotton-padded coat.
"It’s good, better let them think you’re showing off, save the trouble of them finding fault." Luo Qianqian curled her lips.
"You’ve learned to be bad," Luo Shufan’s hand rested on his sister’s head, but in the end, he couldn’t bear to scold her.
"It’s not being bad, it’s standing up for justice. When Heroine He is in trouble, how can her BFF just stand by? I have to be ready to take a knife for her," Luo Qianqian said with a sunny smile, but her half-closed eyes were dark. Such family members, she thought, if she encountered them, how unbearable that would be.
"Exactly, from now on, this Heroine will protect you," He Wenyu said, boasting with no sense of direction after hearing Luo Qianqian’s words. She considered herself a heroine.
"Do you think we should deliberately bring something nice to cause trouble?" Luo Shufan said, "Carrying something with a strong smell of good food, considering the size of your cousin, he must love to eat."
"That’s not my cousin, I don’t have a brother like that," He Wenyu said, feeling annoyed whenever her cousin was mentioned. She was too embarrassed to say that the foreign chocolate a colleague brought for He’s father to give to the kids was all snatched by that pig. She didn’t even mention it to avoid making Qianqian crave it: "That’s just a pig, from now on let’s call him ’Brother Pig’."
"You make me think of Lord Kong Ming, a famous wise man; could you please not insult that surname?" Luo Qianqian pouted her mouth: "At least pigs can eat meat, this one is like a garbage collection site, just eating without contributing, at least pigs are useful, but he’s not even worth a penny."
"Pff~ Only you would think of that, a garbage collection site, haha, that whole family is like garbage, lazy, greedy, and wanting something for nothing," He Wenyu scoffed, continuing to look for something useful.
"What you’re talking about is termites, just waiting to eat themselves to death, then without any support, they will slowly die," Luo Qianqian took out her mobile phone to send a message to Bai Yixian.
"Rice bugs, my family is all about rice," He Wenyu said with a smile, her face turning a bit icy: "I hope I don’t have to deal with such in-laws in the future."
"Aren’t you thinking too far ahead?" Luo Shufan rolled his eyes; even at his age, he hadn’t thought about it, children these days mature so early, he thought, looking at his sister, who didn’t seem to have thought that much.
Luo Qianqian opened her mouth but didn’t speak. She couldn’t bear to dash He Wenyu’s hopes for the future. She certainly didn’t want to say that the future in-laws He Wenyu had in mind in her previous life were even worse...
"Qianqian, you carry it, Xiao Yu alone is too risky," Luo Shufan couldn’t bear to let his sister take the risk, but the oppressive atmosphere in the house these past few days told them that if they didn’t act, the family would fall apart, so they could only let the two kids take a risk: "Remember, the moment they come out, immediately call me, and I’ll go to the police station to find Zhang Ye." In the corridor not far from the police station, Luo Shufan entrusted the two with a heavy heart.
Luo Qianqian looked at the transparent plastic bag her brother had prepared, filled with brightly colored red, blue, and green packaged snacks, her cheeks uncontrollably twitched.
"Don’t worry, we’re small and fast," He Wenyu patted her chest, saying earnestly.
"Be gentle," Luo Qianqian hurriedly stopped her. The cotton coat had tears the three of them had ripped earlier in the morning, and it could easily reveal the cotton stuffing if handled too roughly; it looked inconspicuous now because it had been taped with clear tape. They just needed to tear it open when they ran downstairs later.
"Oh, oh, oh, I forgot," He Wenyu gently brushed over the clear tape, wearing a face full of apologies.
"Be careful," she warned. After all, it was a bit of a struggle to run down from the top floor.
"Don’t worry, I will protect Qianqian," He Wenyu said, patting Luo Shufan’s arm like a big sister.
After greeting Luo Shufan properly, Luo Qianqian hid her phone in her sleeve, with Luo Shufan’s number on the standby screen, ready for a call. The two exchanged a solemn nod and then headed upstairs. Panting from the climb, Luo Qianqian stood between the sixth and seventh floors at the turn of the staircase, ready to run first, and cradled the snacks in front of her for all to see.
Without any words and just a nod, He Wenyu caught her breath and knocked on the door:
"Who is it?" The door opened to reveal Cong Xin, who was immediately upset upon seeing He Wenyu, "What are you doing here?" She refrained from getting physical, considering Sun Ailing was still in detention.
"This is my place. I’m here to retrieve some things. Qianqian’s TV is broken; we’re taking ours back," He Wenyu replied with a cold snort, ready to enter.
"What do you mean your place? This is my home! Get lost, you liability," Cong Xin said, attempting to close the door.
Luo Qianqian smiled, shouting, "Xiao Yu, let’s go home and study, shall we? With so many snacks, what does it matter what we watch?" she said, patting the bag in her hand, creating a rustling sound.
"Snacks?" As expected, the hefty kid came running out at the mention of snacks, pushing open the door.
"What are you doing? These are Qianqian’s!" He Wenyu blocked the fat kid, heeding Luo Qianqian’s words, and did not stand in front of the stairs to avoid an accident.
"Grandma, I want that," He Juncai pointed at the snacks in Luo Qianqian’s arms, his face full of greed.
"Alright, alright," Sun Ailing readily agreed with a smile, then yelled at Luo Qianqian, "You liability, hand over the snacks right now! Don’t you see my grandson wants to eat them?"
"Why should I care about your grandson? Why would I give them to you just because you want them? Who do you think you are? You’re not my grandma; why should I listen to you?" Luo Qianqian admired her own ability to be so unruly and wilful at that moment, considering it the peak of her acting career.
"Worthless thing, hand them over!" Cong Xin said as she advanced to head downstairs.
"Xiao Yu, go grab the TV. They only want the snacks, not the TV," Luo Qianqian said in a pretended hurry as she watched Cong Xin stepping aside from the door.
"Who dares!" A bigger and bulkier man appeared at the door, pushing both the fat kid He Juncai and Cong Xin outside. It was He Guo, who had been watching TV inside and had complained about the cold.
"Dad, I want that!" He Juncai quickly pointed to the snacks in Luo Qianqian’s arms when he saw his father.
"Then go ask for it," He Guo said indifferently, then turned to He Wenyu, "You little debtor, tell your dad to pay the heating bill soon."
"She won’t give it to me," He Juncai said, sounding aggrieved.
"Then why don’t you go take it?" With a slap across his back, He Guo’s hefty hand landed on his son with a ’pia’ sound, and Luo Qianqian thought the noise was too sickly sweet; the flesh must have bounced several times.