319. Suspicious
2/11
Dinner was almost a carbon copy of lunch, with the only new addition being a plate of Cola Chicken Wings; the rest were leftover lunch dishes.
The diners at the table had no qualms about the leftovers. Black Bean was munching happily, bobbing her head and chomping on the chicken wings, her ears moving in rhythm with her bouncy body, while the chicken wing sauce smeared her face like a cute little calico cat.
Mom was engrossed in a game of Mahjong on her mobile phone with her bestie, occasionally lifting her head to chat with the uncle. Whenever she won a hand, she’d squeal with girl-like excitement, “I won! Look at my hand!”
The uncle would poke his head over for a look, nodding along, “Lucky you! Should we go buy a lottery ticket later?”
“That’s just a money trap.”
Mom giggled, going back to her Mahjong game, but then she glanced over at Ning Chu sitting across the table.
Ning Chu instinctively shrank her neck, nervously bowing her head over her rice.
So suspicious!
Even though everything seemed perfectly clean and innocent, the twitch of her nose gave her away, and Mom could still sniff out the remnants of a certain atmosphere surrounding her.
In such a hurry to leave in the afternoon, she must have gone out for a hot date with her little boyfriend!
Ning Chu was unable to withstand that scrutinizing gaze.
Though she hadn’t had any face-to-face interactions with Wen Yang that afternoon, the embarrassment of being found out by Mom made her heart race.
Even if she were still a boy, being caught out with a girl would make her blush… Much less now that she had become a girl herself a few months ago and had been discovered going out with a guy…
In front of Mom and her older brother, she still habitually placed herself in the role of a “younger brother,” and this identity made her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
“Mom, I’m full.”
Having only eaten half a bowl of rice, Ning Chu stood up.
“Sis! Why did you eat so little?” Black Bean looked up, seeing the small bowl still half full, and took on a lecturing tone, “Sis! Every grain is hard-earned!”
Lily was struggling alone at home, so it was indeed tough.
An odd thought crossed Ning Chu’s mind, and she blurted, “I have a small appetite…”
“Sis! Did you sneak out to eat something this afternoon?”
“!!!”
What?! How did you know I stuffed myself with afternoon tea?!
Ning Chu almost lost her balance, stumbling as she reacted.
“You didn’t even bring me any!”
Casting a furtive glance at her mother, who was holding back laughter, she realized that Black Bean’s “sneak eating” was meant literally, and she sheepishly deflected, “Next time, I’ll bring you some.”
Ning Yuan looked quizzically at Ning Chu’s retreating figure and asked, “What’s up with her today? Almost tripped over thin air?”
“She’s feeling guilty for not sharing the snacks!” Black Bean declared confidently.
The uncle looked equally puzzled but, being new to the family, wisely kept his mouth shut while Black Bean criticized Ning Chu for her selfishness, with only Mom laughing heartily.
Ning Chu didn’t even wipe her mouth before making a break for her room. She flopped down on the bed, her little legs swinging back and forth.
Living at home was definitely inconvenient…
She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips in disbelief, then froze, her face turning red as she jumped up to grab a tissue to wipe her mouth.
That sweet flavor still lingered on her lips!
No wonder, even after she took a shower to scrub off any traces, Mom still found out.
She should have brushed her teeth too.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Ning Chu pondered how to cover her tracks in front of Mom in the future.
Although she was technically a succubus, she had spent over twenty years as a man. Having Mom find out about her secrecy with other guys was just a tad too shocking.
“Ugh~ Why am I trying to hide? Instead of just… not doing it?”
Suddenly realizing the flaw in her logic, she muttered to herself, “But I am a succubus~”
Yeah, totally reasonable! That immediately convinced her.
“Sis~ I memorized that ancient poem! You gotta sign it later.” Black Bean burst in, peeking her head around.
“Already done eating?”
“Mom said to eat less at night; otherwise, we’ll get fat.”
“Oh~”
“Brother said he’ll take me shopping tonight! I want barbecue.”
“……”
Taking the textbook from Black Bean, Ning Chu remained sprawled on the bed, flipping through the pages.
The ancient poem was familiar; although this world had many differences from her previous life, the similarities were striking.
Listening to Black Bean stutter through reciting the five-character poem, Ning Chu lazily signed her name while asking, “What about the uncle? Is he staying over tonight?”
“Dad usually sleeps over and leaves the next day around noon.”
“Just as I thought~”
Mom’s priorities were so skewed—willing to let her biological son sleep on the floor for the sake of a guy!
And she dares to point fingers at me!
“Ning Xin! Are you done with the poem? Ask your sister if she wants to go shopping too.”
Ning Yuan’s voice called from outside.
“Sis, you going?”
“Not going, I’m a bit tired, feeling sleepy.”
That rental apartment was just a partition, and the walls were paper-thin. Worried about being overheard in the hallway or the neighboring room, she had to bite her pillow to muffle her sounds.
Even worse, seeing her keeping quiet, Wen Yang had seemed more excited and was going all out, even pulling out little toys… Who knows why that guy felt the need to bring toys over!
This made her more exhausted than ever before.
After a forced dinner, she had lain down for merely ten minutes and was already close to falling asleep.
“Okay, I’m outta here!” Black Bean dashed out, clutching her books.
“Close the door.”
“Okay!”
The ruckus outside settled down, and after a moment, when the front door finally closed, all she could faintly hear was the murmur of Mom and the uncle at the dining table.
Ning Chu yawned and put her legs up on the bed, rolling over and tucking the quilt into a long pillow, hugging it like an octopus.
With her eyes half-closed in a daze, she didn’t know how long it had been before she suddenly opened her eyes.
cr*p, she couldn’t sleep alone!
The more she lay there, the more awake she felt.
Though she was dead tired physically and mentally, sleep just wouldn’t come.
Especially now that she lacked a soft, warm cuddly pillow.
Picking up her phone to check the time, she finally realized that a whole hour had slipped by in her haze—8:30 PM already.
The commotion outside has ceased, and through the crack of her bedroom door, she could see that the living room was dark, the lights off, and the place seemed to be enveloped in shadows.
Yawning, she sat up and swayed her way toward the bathroom.
However, as she reached the door, with her hand resting on the doorknob, she suddenly halted.
Wait! What if Mom and the uncle were doing something… awkward? If she opened the door, wouldn’t she interrupt them?!
Immediately, she tiptoed, gingerly turning the doorknob and cautiously pulling the door open, peeping into her mother’s room.
“Not in here…”
Well, of course, she knew better than to mess around at home; Mom wouldn’t be clueless either.
