Chapter 21

Originally, he planned to stay at Four Seasons Cloudtop tonight, but now with his two younger sisters in tow, Zhong Ruanxing had no choice but to take them to Song Jinxing's big villa. This house was purchased by Song Jinxing after he returned to the country, and neither Song Wenyin nor Song Shuling had been here before, or rather, apart from Grandma Song, no other members of the Song family had come here.

On the way, Song Shuling moaned uncomfortably twice due to being drunk, so Zhong Ruanxing parked the car at the roadside and went to the pharmacy to buy some sobering medicine and stomach protectants. Watching his actions, Song Wenyin thought to herself: Brother Three is not as cold-blooded as Big Sister and Second Brother said, he is quite thoughtful.

"Have you been to a bar with Shuling before?" A low voice sounded in the car. Song Wenyin was startled back to her senses, stammered for a moment before replying softly: "This is the second time."

Zhong Ruanxing looked at the still youthful face through the rearview mirror: "What year are you in college?"

"Third year."

Zhong Ruanxing said: "Next time you go out to play in a bar, call a few more trusted friends, don't just go out with two girls, and don't drink anything given to you by strangers. Check to make sure it's okay before drinking anything that goes in your mouth."

Song Wenyin was a little surprised. She had thought Brother Three would warn her not to go to bars anymore.

Coming to her senses, she hurriedly nodded: "I understand, Brother Three."

Zhong Ruanxing asked again: "Does Shuling go to bars often?"

Song Wenyin pressed her lips together, looked at the girl lying in her arms, was silent for a while before answering truthfully: "Yes, she knows a lot of friends from different circles, sometimes she takes me along to play."

"You’ve seen where those friends of hers come from." Zhong Ruanxing said lightly: "If I hadn't gotten there in time tonight, you know what would have happened."

Song Wenyin turned pale when she thought of the scene earlier.

The little princess of the Song family had grown up effortlessly with everyone doting on her. Standing on the pedestal built by her elders, everything she saw was the prosperity of the world. She had never seen the dark side of society before. If Song Shuling hadn't secretly taken her out to play, those rogues would never have had a chance to say a word to her in their lifetime.

Her mother Song Si had a strict family education. She only gave birth to Song Wenyin, and had sent her to endless interest classes since she was little, to practice endless musical instruments, calligraphy, chess and painting. Her grades and skills in music, calligraphy and painting were all top-notch. She was raised strictly according to the standards of a rich young lady, and was the arrogant daughter of heaven that everyone looked up to. She was to take over Song Rushu’s position in the future.

Song Shuling should have been like this too.

But a child without parents is always different.

The rest of the car ride was silent. The car drove into the underground garage of the villa. After parking the car, Zhong Ruanxing also carried Song Shuling out of the car. She seemed to have sobered up a little, and looked up at Zhong Ruanxing when in his arms. Perhaps recognizing her own brother, she clawed and scratched like a disobedient kitten: "Who are you? Put me down!" Song Wenyin hurried over and pressed the private elevator button.

Arriving on the first floor, the empty living room was full of unopened large cardboard boxes, some furniture and ornaments that Zhong Ruanxing had purchased during the day.

Song Wenyin looked around curiously, feeling that this house was as cold as Brother Three, as expected.

Zhong Ruanxing put Song Shuling on the bed in the first floor guest room, then boiled some hot water to feed her medicine and used a wet towel to wipe her face and hands. Having experience taking care of Mother Zhong and Zhong You, her actions were also gentle. Song Wenyin watched on the side, feeling that the person in front of her was gradually separating from the image in her mind.

Indeed, one should not listen blindly to others. Clearly, clearly different from the cold-blooded demon king who does not care for people and feelings described by them!

After doing all this, Song Shuling finally fell asleep deeply. Zhong Ruanxing told the somewhat worried Song Wenyin, "You should rest too. You can sleep in any of the bedrooms on the first floor."

Song Wenyin asked, "Is she okay now? Will she throw up later?"

Zhong Ruanxing said, "She shouldn't. I'll sleep outside, I'll hear any movement. Go rest."

Only then did Song Wenyin leave.

After such an incident, her previous sleepiness was completely gone. After taking a shower and changing into loungewear, Zhong Ruanxing hugged a blanket and lay down on the living room sofa. It was almost 2 a.m., and Song Shuling seemed to be fine, so she didn't message Song Jinxing again, planning to tell him about it tomorrow morning.

Worrying about Song Shuling's condition all night, she didn't sleep well. When the alarm clock rang in the morning, Zhong Ruanxing was so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyes.

Yawning, she opened the fridge. Yesterday she had asked Ling Ding to stock the empty fridge according to her instructions, and it was now full of fruits, vegetables, meat, looking very satisfying. She took half a pumpkin and cooked pumpkin porridge, and also steamed some egg custard.

After washing up, Song Wenyin, who came out, was shocked by the smell of food: "Brother Three, you can cook too?"

She really didn't know if Song Jinxing could cook. Zhong Ruanxing put the pumpkin porridge and egg custard on the dining table: "I cook occasionally when I was abroad. Let's eat."

Song Wenyin looked at the closed door of the next room: "Is Shuling still asleep?"

She must be pretending to be asleep. Last night, worried that she wouldn't hear any movement, Zhong Ruanxing had left the door ajar instead of closed. But now it was locked.

Song Wenyin went over and knocked on the door: "Shuling, are you awake?" She twisted the doorknob and realized the door was locked from the inside. Song Wenyin knocked again: "Shuling, get up for breakfast. Brother Three cooked porridge. You drank too much last night, you need to drink some porridge now."

After knocking for a long time, there was no response from inside.

Zhong Ruanxing said, "That's enough, don't bother with her. Come eat."

Song Wenyin had no choice but to sit back down. She still had classes today. Before leaving, she cautiously asked, "Brother Three, don't tell my mom about last night, okay?"

Only after obtaining Zhong Ruanxing’s assurance did she feel at ease to leave.

After eating, Zhong Ruanxing cleaned up the kitchen, then sat in the living room to unpack those packages. No matter when, girls always maintain a love for opening parcels.

Adding a few decorative paintings, some more potted plants and flowers, replacing the pitch black coffee table with an artistic irregular round table, laying a carpet with simple patterns, placing an art calendar that flips pages automatically, the room immediately came more alive than before. After tidying up the cardboard boxes, she went out to throw out the trash.

There was a garbage collection point at the garden entrance, with cleaning staff coming to clean regularly every hour.

Unexpectedly, just taking out the trash, when she returned, she bumped into Song Shuling who had appeared in the living room. Seeing her, Song Shuling was also surprised. Apparently, hearing the sound of the door closing just now, she thought Zhong Ruanxing had left before coming out.

Looking again now, this face also had some differences from Song Jinxing's, it should look more like her mother's, with softer features. Song Jinxing's features were all sharp and chiseled.

It's just that the look in her eyes was not very warm, full of estrangement and vigilance.

Zhong Ruanxing didn't mind: "You're awake? Go eat."

Song Shuling still had that impatient expression about interacting with her, and walked away without a word.

Zhong Ruanxing grabbed her arm: "Where are you going?"

Song Shuling shook her arm twice but failed to shake her off. Somewhat irritably: "None of your business."

Zhong Ruanxing looked her up and down: "You're twenty-three now, right?"

Song Shuling frowned: "So?"

Zhong Ruanxing: "At this age, you're still so rebellious, you shouldn't be."

Song Shuling was both embarrassed and angry, and shook her hand violently twice: "Are you annoying? Let go!"

Zhong Ruanxing didn't listen to her, dragged the girl to the dining table and pressed her into the seat. "Eat first before leaving."

It looked like she couldn't get away without eating this meal today. Song Shuling was furious. She grabbed the bowl and guzzled down the pumpkin porridge, then slammed the bowl on the table, and said coldly: "Happy now?"

A phone suddenly stretched out in front of her.

It was playing the video recorded last night.

The tattooed man who had always shared her tastes, with snot and tears, said: "We lost a lot of money gambling recently, wanted to make videos to ask her for money."

"She's generous with money. We just need to flatter her a bit, and she will be eager to foot the bill."

"She thinks we treat her like a princess, but actually we just treat her like a cash cow, a silly rich girl who's easy to deceive."

Song Shuling's already pale complexion looked even worse.

She seemed to be provoked to anger, and suddenly grabbed the phone, viciously deleting that nauseating video.