Chapter 44: Chapter 44 It Doesn’t Matter If You’re One Short

He shook his head at Xia Wenjue, “Forget it, big brother, it’s no use saying anything now; he won’t listen. Let him figure it out for himself.”

Xia Wenjue hesitated for a moment but ultimately nodded. He patted Xia Wenyan’s shoulder and slowly said, “Since you don’t believe what we’re telling you, go investigate it yourself, and don’t live to regret it.”

“…”

Xia Wenyan’s brows remained furrowed; he couldn’t understand how his high-ranking brother could be duped by someone.

Just what was Lu Zhaozhao’s deal?

It seemed he would have to meet her himself!

Not long after lunch was finished, Lu Zhaozhao gave her prepared gifts to the people of the Xia family.

Since Xia Wenyan had stayed in his room the whole time, Lu Zhaozhao had no choice but to visit his room.

She stood in front of Xia Wenyan’s room door, holding the gift bag in her hand, hesitating for a moment, contemplating whether to give it or not.

She could clearly sense Xia Wenyan didn’t like her and probably wouldn’t even want her gift, and she equally didn’t have a good impression of a drug abuser.

As Lu Zhaozhao was hesitating, Xia Wenyan’s door suddenly opened.

“Uh…”

The two stared at each other in a stalemate until Xia Wenyan broke the silence, “You… is this for me?”

His gaze landed on the small gift bag Lu Zhaozhao was holding.

He had been Xia Wenjin’s brother for many years and realized… he had never received a gift.

So was this the method Lu Zhaozhao used to capture the hearts of his brothers?

Thinking this, Xia Wenyan eyed the item she was holding warily, as if facing a great enemy.

“Um… this gift is indeed for you,” Lu Zhaozhao said, though she didn’t hand over the small bag.

His extremely resistant demeanor was hard to ignore.

“Since you’re giving it to me with sincerity, I might as well accept it.”

“If you feel too reluctant to accept it, then forget it.”

Both spoke at the same time, their completely opposite words instantly making the atmosphere awkward.

The air grew so silent it was suffocating.

Lu Zhaozhao really couldn’t stand the tension and awkwardly nodded at Xia Wenyan before turning to leave.

But she had barely taken two steps when she felt her hand sink.

Looking down, she saw Xia Wenyan gripping the gift bag tightly.

“Since you’ve given it, there’s no taking it back.”

Lu Zhaozhao’s brows slightly arched as she noticed his neck flushing.

Feeling Lu Zhaozhao’s gaze, Xia Wenyan awkwardly touched his neck, “I just thought it wouldn’t be right if the other three accepted and I didn’t.”

Even as he said this, his hand showed no sign of letting go of the gift bag.

Lu Zhaozhao couldn’t help but smirk; so her fourth brother was actually a tsundere.

And he didn’t seem as bad as she had imagined.

She chuckled softly and handed him the item, “I thought you hated me and wouldn’t want anything I bought.”

Xia Wenyan’s brow instantly furrowed, “I don’t hate you. I’m just annoyed that others have been treating Wen Jin badly ever since you came to the Xia family.”

He glanced at Lu Zhaozhao and took a very elegant black headscarf hairband from the gift bag.

“`

His chestnut hair color matched him well.

His eyebrows rose slightly as he added another sentence, “I’ve heard about the issue between you and Wen Jin before. As long as you don’t bully Wen Jin anymore, I don’t mind being your brother.”

“I do mind.” Lu Zhaozhao stretched out her hand and yanked back the handkerchief headband and the gift bag from Xia Wenyan’s hands.

She raised her hand and tossed the handkerchief headband back into the gift bag, “I won’t be giving the gift anymore.”

Lu Zhaozhao said, turned around, and was about to leave but was directly blocked by Xia Wenyan.

He looked at her with a puzzled face, completely unaware of which sentence had just offended her, “Why suddenly not give it?”

Lu Zhaozhao glanced at Xia Wenyan and said indifferently, “I’m not in the habit of snatching brothers from others, nor do I need to force someone to be my brother, so let’s just forget it.”

Xia Wenyan’s character was still under her evaluation, and now that he was wholeheartedly believing in Xia Wenjin, there was no need for her to actively seek discomfort.

She actually didn’t expect much from the Xia brothers’ treatment of her, after all, Wen Jin was their sister who had lived with them for 20 years.

At best, she was just an outsider.

Yet Xia Wenjue, Xia Wenqing, and Xia Wenmo treated her the same as the Xia Family’s parents, giving her a warmth of family affection she had never felt before.

This was already enough.

Xia Wenyan’s doubtful gaze stared at Lu Zhaozhao, “Aren’t you going to explain the issue between you and Wen Jin?”

Lu Zhaozhao suddenly let out a light laugh, her bright eyes meeting Xia Wenyan’s, and she retorted with a question instead of an answer, “Even if I explained and told you I didn’t bully her, would you believe me?”

“…”

Xia Wenyan was instantly at a loss for words.

Because Lu Zhaozhao was right, even if she explained, he would choose to believe Xia Wenjin.

Lu Zhaozhao shrugged knowingly, “So there’s no need to explain or not to explain. Plus, I already have three brothers, missing one of you won’t matter.”

“!!!”

Xia Wenyan suddenly felt a heaviness sink into his chest, an indefinable emotion swirling in his heart, making him exceedingly oppressed.

His gaze followed the gradually distancing Lu Zhaozhao, feeling as if he had lost something important.

Xia Wenyan stood still, recalling the pair of eyes Lu Zhaozhao had used to quietly watch him, his heart trembled slightly, had he done something wrong?

As evening approached, the sky gradually darkened.

Lu Zhaozhao lay on the bedroom sofa with her laptop, occasionally tapping into the search engine for information related to illegal drugs.

Although she hadn’t spent much time with Xia Wenyan, she always felt that his appearance was far removed from the term “drugged up.”

If Xia Wenyan truly was innocent, then his death was probably not as simple as an accident, right?

Lu Zhaozhao was deep in thought and completely unaware of Song Sinian entering the room.

“What are you doing?” His low voice resonated in the room, making Lu Zhaozhao’s eyes light up suddenly.

She looked up at the entering Song Sinian, her eyes instantly smiling with warmth, “You’re back, Mr. Song!”

“Hmm.”

Song Sinian walked straight over and kissed her on the lips.

This had become a habit of Song Sinian’s in the past few days, each time he came home he would take the initiative to kiss her, to hug her.

It was probably because she mentioned that this behavior was quite common between spouses, so Song Sinian had directly quantified it following “regular etiquette”?

Lu Zhaozhao didn’t think much of it and quickly adapted.

She put aside her laptop and stretched out her arms, waiting for Song Sinian’s hug.

Lu Zhaozhao’s overly cooperative demeanor made a flicker of emotion cross Song Sinian’s eyes, which was then immediately submerged in his gaze…

“`