Going home for Chinese New Year, I squeezed onto a bus with three energetic young women.

"Fuck your brother!"

Li Jiaxin's carefree laughter came from the back row.

The girl leaned her entire upper body out of the seat and rested on the armrest between the driver and passenger seats:

"Just now, Old Xie was glaring at you with his beard puffed out, like he was about to hit you!"

"I can tell, you don't need to remind me." Bai Li rolled down a third of the car window, letting the early summer breeze dispel the lingering stuffiness in the car.

"If I were Xie Tianyun, I probably wouldn't be able to handle it either."

Li Jiaxin shook her head and slapped the edge of the leather seat in protest after hearing this.

"No way! Big brother is so kind, I really don't understand what that old Deng is complaining about."

Zhang Qian also came over.

"Exactly!" Zhang Qian said indignantly, completely siding with Bai Li.

"Look, the older brother is rich, and he's really good to his daughter."

"Even Zhao Donghai, the eldest brother's underling, has more influence than him! What does he have to be unhappy about?"

Bai Li turned on the turn signal, and the car merged into the main lane of the highway:

"Actually, from the perspective of elders, all those external conditions you mentioned are secondary."

He slowed his speech and casually turned on the soft music switch on the car stereo:

"Xie Tianyun himself is not short of money, and he has a deep foundation in Yun City."

"When he's in that position, he'll definitely put the children's happiness first."

Bai Li glanced at the two young faces in the back row through the rearview mirror.

"Try to put yourself in their shoes."

"If you become a mother, and the daughter you raised with such care is kidnapped by a frivolous, womanizing blond guy."

"The two of them stayed out all night. Aren't you worried?"

The two people in the back row were both speechless.

Following Bai Li's words, Li Jiaxin imagined the scene.

Less than two seconds later, she slapped her thigh hard:

"Of course not!" Li Jiaxin gritted her teeth.

"I'm going to get someone to beat that bastard to death! I'll break his legs!"

Zhang Qian nodded repeatedly, covering her mouth and chuckling to herself.

"Now that you mention it, I understand completely." Zhang Qian leaned back, sinking into the soft backrest.

Her eyes darted around:

"Big brother, I just made a decision in my heart."

"What decision?" Bai Li asked.

"When we have kids in the future, you'll be a ready-made negative example for the family!" Zhang Qian announced with a grin.

"I must tell my child that they absolutely must not follow your example!"

Bai Li was amused by these words.

"How did I become a negative example? I provide for your food and clothing, teach you acting, and buy you big villas to live in. Does that make me a negative example?"

Li Jiaxin quickly picked up the conversation.

"Yes, yes, yes! A child's education must be approached from two angles." She said sternly.

"Just let your child learn the good aspects."

"For example, be sincere and friendly to others, and act with integrity and honesty."

Li Jiaxin's style has changed.

"But there are two flaws you absolutely must not emulate!" She held up two fingers: "Being fickle! And being abstract!"

"I admit I'm a womanizer," Bai Li retorted. "Where was my behavior abstract?"

Zhang Qian and Li Jiaxin exchanged a glance and both burst out laughing.

"Brother, if you're not abstract, who is? I just remembered something."

"Just last month, we went to the fruit store to buy fruit."

Li Jiaxin gestured wildly as she began to describe the scene.

It had just rained that day.

"You were wearing loose gray sweatpants. We were picking out cherries over there, and you were standing by the checkout counter waiting."

"As a result, when the proprietress was settling the bill, she stared intently at your crotch for a long time."

"They insist you stole her sugarcane and hid it in your pants!"

When Zhang Qian heard this old story, she laughed so hard she almost fell over.

"Hahaha, yes, yes, yes!" Zhang Qian laughed as she added details:

"The proprietress turned green! She insisted on pulling down my brother's pants."

Li Jiaxin continued, "If we hadn't argued our case, the proprietress would have called the police and had you arrested!"

Bai Li's forehead was covered in black lines when he heard this.

My own equipment is all-natural and unprocessed, truly top-of-the-line.

"Ahem..." Bai Li cleared his throat, trying to save face:

"That's called exceptional talent. Is it my fault that the boss lady is naive?"

He followed up on this topic by asking a question:

"but."

"Since I'm both fickle and abstract," Bai Li glanced at the girls still laughing and joking in the back row, "then if I'm so bad, why are you two still so devoted to me?"

The laughter in the carriage stopped.

The music continues to flow.

Zhang Qian dropped her playful, smiling demeanor.

She reached out, across the chair, and placed her hand on Bai Li's shoulder.

"Brother, your strengths far outweigh these two minor flaws."

Zhang Qian's voice became softer, less boisterous than usual, replaced by a deep sense of dependence.

"Without you, we would have been unable to make a living long ago, and we might even be forced to pick up cigarette butts on the street to smoke."

Her fingers rubbed against Bai Li's fabric:

"I used to be unable to pay the rent and was kicked out by the landlord in the dead of winter."

"I was so hungry I couldn't stand it anymore, so I went to an internet cafe to mooch some cigarettes and instant noodles."

"It can't be like this now."

"They drive luxury cars when they go out, and live in huge villas like those in the Cloud Palace when they come home. You even spent money to make us actors in web dramas, and even accompanied us home to let us know we were safe..."

Li Jiaxin lay down next to Zhang Qian, her purple and blue hair intertwined.

This usually strong-willed, purple-haired girl with flowery legs was unbelievably obedient at this moment.

She looked intently at Bai Li's profile as well:

"Besides, it's too late to point out the shortcomings now."

Li Jiaxin pressed her face against Bai Li's backrest, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath of the succubus's fragrance wafting from ahead.

"We've already fallen in love with you. We can't live without you."

She murmured, revealing her true feelings:

"There's no way to extricate myself from this situation. Even if you were a heinous villain, we'd accept it. Let alone someone who's just a womanizer."

This kind of frankness is the kind of straightforwardness only a young, spirited woman possesses.

I don't understand what "playing hard to get" means.

As long as they are given a glimmer of light, they will cling to it tightly, willingly flying like moths to a flame.

Bai Li listened to these two heartfelt confessions without replying.

Ahead, the highway stretches to the horizon, and the midday sun shines unreservedly onto the windshield.

The wind howled outside the car window, while the interior was warm and cozy.

Bai Li held the steering wheel with one hand and spoke softly.

"That's just how feelings are. They never follow any logic."

He looked straight ahead and spoke calmly:

"Once you fall in love, you'll give everything without caring about anything else..."