Cry louder, I can't hear you.

"The young master is not here!"

Aunt Lin's answer was unusually firm.

Yun Qiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, her face remaining expressionless.

It's good that he's not here.

To be honest, she still didn't dare to see Shen Suwei.

"Qiaoqiao! You're back!"

Just as I stepped through the main entrance, a delighted voice came from the second-floor stairwell.

Yun Qiao looked in the direction of the sound.

Shen Shiyu, wearing a pale yellow floral sundress and with her long hair casually tied in a high ponytail, was running excitedly toward her.

"You haven't been back for a long time."

As soon as she got closer, she put her arm around Yunqiao's.

Yun Qiao gave a stiff smile and subtly pulled her arm out of her grasp.

Although Shen Shiyu is a very nice person, perhaps it's because Yun Qiao is a villainous supporting character that she doesn't like Shen Shiyu.

Why be so innocent and kind? It only makes her seem sinister and scheming.

Naïve and innocent as Shen Shiyu was, of course, oblivious to Yun Qiao's constant aloofness towards her, and continued to complain softly with a hint of grievance:

"I asked you to come back several times before, but you refused. I thought you were going to cut ties with the Shen family. You have no idea how painful it is for me to come back alone every time you don't come back to the Shen family!"

Yun Qiao knew why Shen Shiyu was upset.

Although Shen Shiyu is legally the second daughter of the Shen family, it is ultimately a blended family, and she has no blood relation to the Shen family. She always feels like an outsider and inevitably feels restrained when she is in the Shen family.

She felt that the only person who could understand this feeling was Yun Qiao. Because Yun Qiao, like her, was not a biological daughter of the Shen family, yet she also lived in the Shen family.

Therefore, on the first day that Yun Qiao was discovered by the Shen family to be the daughter of Yun Xiao and his wife and was brought into the Shen family, Shen Shiyu easily trusted her and regarded her as someone she could confide in.

Even though Yun Qiao had harmed her openly and secretly many times over the past five years.

But she knows nothing and won't believe it.

"I have something to ask you. Let's go to your room."

Yun Qiao bypassed Shen Shiyu and headed upstairs.

Although Aunt Lin said Shen Suwei wasn't home, it was already 7 p.m., and she was standing in the living room. It wouldn't be good if she bumped into Shen Suwei coming home from get off work later.

"Ask me what's wrong tonight. My brother wants me to go to his study."

"Your brother?!" Yun Qiao's voice changed. "Is he home?"

"Yes, I'm here."

Yun Qiao was stunned.

Aunt Lin said she wasn't here.

Shen Shiyu naturally took Yun Qiao's wrist and turned to walk towards the study. Yun Qiao snapped out of her daze and quickly grabbed her:

"You can go yourself, why are you dragging me along?"

"My brother heard you're coming back tonight and asked you to come along."

"How did he know I'd be back?" Yun Qiao paused, staring at Shen Shiyu. "Did you tell him?"

Shen Shiyu's expression clearly showed that she was feeling guilty.

She cleared her throat, her eyes darting around, "He just happened to hear it."

She dared not tell Yun Qiao the truth.

Shen Suwei happened to return from outside when he was on the phone with Yun Qiao.

He was about to go upstairs, but for some reason, he suddenly came back and said he wanted to talk to her about what would happen after she graduated.

In her nervousness, she had a sudden, bad idea: to call Yunqiao back and share the burden with her.

Actually, she wasn't sure if Shen Suwei had agreed to her suggestion of "letting Yun Qiao listen in."

When she hung up the phone, she asked him a question, and he just gave a faint "hmm".

That "hmm" should be considered an agreement, right?

Shen Shiyu reluctantly pulled Yun Qiao along, and soon they arrived at the door of Shen Suwei's study.

Looking at the tightly closed dark wooden door, she raised her hand and gently knocked twice:

"Brother, are you in there?"

The air was still for a few seconds.

A slight rustling sound came from the study.

"Come in."

It was Shen Suwei's voice.

Yun Qiao involuntarily shuddered.

My mind is a mess:

[He hates me so much, will he yell at me when he sees me later?]

System: [Host, don't scare yourself. In the past five years, when has Shen Suwei ever scolded you?]

He didn't verbally curse, but his eyes were filled with venom!

system:【……】

The door opened.

Yun Qiao snapped out of her daze and hurriedly followed Shen Shiyu inside.

Shen Suwei's study, like the person himself, gives off a similar feeling.

Cold. Somber. Cold and unapproachable.

A dark solid wood bookshelf occupies an entire wall, stretching from the floor to the ceiling, densely packed with books and documents.

The owner must have obsessive-compulsive disorder; the books and folders on the shelf are arranged neatly and meticulously, even the color of the spines seems to have been deliberately arranged.

The heavy curtains were half-drawn, blocking out the night. The overhead light was off; only a desk lamp was lit.

Shen Suwei sat behind his desk.

He wore a dark gray shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms, revealing a section of lean and muscular forearm. Two buttons were undone at the collar, and the shadow below his collarbone rose and fell slightly with his breathing.

Well... she's actually quite sexy.

But the premise is that you can ignore his powerful aura that keeps strangers at bay.

He was looking down at something, and when he heard them come in, he didn't immediately look up.

He turned the page of the document slowly and deliberately.

Shen Shiyu suddenly spoke:

"...Brother, Yunqiao has arrived."

Yun Qiao turned her head and looked at Shen Shiyu in disbelief, almost wanting to strangle her.

If you're just going to say hello, why do you have to specifically mention her name?

But Shen Suwei had already looked away from the documents on the table and looked up at them.

The moment Yun Qiao met those eyes, she felt all the blood in her body rush to her feet.

[Oh, this is terrifying! I'm going to seduce him! I'm going to die...]

System: [Host, I've told you not to scare yourself. Have you forgotten? Four years ago, you forcibly kissed him, and nothing happened, right?]

That's because he knew I did it unintentionally; now I'm intentionally violating him. How can those be the same thing?!

I don't know if it's because of the lighting, but I always felt that Shen Suwei's eyes held something indescribable.

Was it because she didn't greet me?

To build a good relationship with him now, you definitely need to give him a heads-up.

Yun Qiao hesitated for a moment, just about to speak, but then she encountered a new problem.

Shen Shiyu calls him "brother," what should she call him?

Call my name?

That felt rather impolite.

Should we call him "brother"?

Shen Suwei wouldn't let her call him "brother".

She had shouted it a few years ago, but he had a cold face at the time:

"I'm not your brother, don't call me that."

and so.

After a moment's consideration, Yun Qiao tentatively called out:

"Mr. Shen, it's been a long time."

Shen Shiyu whispered to her, "Why are you calling them so politely? Didn't Mom and Dad tell you to call them Mom and Dad? You should call them brother."

Yun Qiao had grievances she couldn't express, all because Shen Suwei wouldn't allow it.

"Please sit down."

Shen Suwei finally spoke.

But it's just two words.

There were no titles or pleasantries.

I don't know who I was talking to.

Shen Shiyu sat down comfortably in the chair in front of the desk, and tugged at Yun Qiao's sleeve, gesturing for her to sit down as well.

Yun Qiao sat down stiffly, her buttocks barely touching the chair, her back ramrod straight, and her hands neatly placed on her knees.

"Brother, you said you wanted to talk about what happens after we graduate, what exactly did you mean?"

"Have you eaten yet?" Shen Suwei suddenly asked.

Shen Shiyu paused for a moment, then nodded: "I just ate."

Shen Suwei did not answer, his gaze seemingly sweeping over Yun Qiao.

Yun Qiao kept her head down and didn't speak, trying to minimize her presence.

She didn't think Shen Suwei was asking her that question.