NOVEL WEB 10: Give a Push
“It’s… it’s interesting.” Yuan Xiaoning trembled slightly.
Bai Ling raised an eyebrow: “It must be very interesting indeed, otherwise you wouldn’t have repeated it twice.”
Yuan Xiaoning kept her face straight. She had just been startled, that’s all.
It’s your fault, appearing out of nowhere when someone is thinking. Who wouldn’t tremble?
“What TV program is so interesting?” Bai Ling sat down beside her.
“There’s a villain who kidnapped a beautiful woman and wanted to do naughty things to her,” Yuan Xiaoning reported truthfully, “But then he was found by his enemies and beaten to death with a frozen fish.”
Bai Ling was slightly stunned, then looked at her with a cold smile: “That sounds a bit familiar.”
Yuan Xiaoning blinked innocently: “That’s how it’s shown on TV. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself. The drama is called something like ‘Wild Ride’.”
You shouldn’t take it personally.
“Then what do you think the ending of such a story would be in reality?” Bai Ling asked playfully.
“I don’t know about others, but you’ve already successfully done many naughty things,” Yuan Xiaoning said pitifully.
Bai Ling was somewhat satisfied with her attitude, nodded, and left.
The person had left, but Yuan Xiaoning no longer had the mood to watch TV. Thinking about her unsettled weekly task, her mood grew heavy.
[Do one prank on the protagonist, make her experience the feeling of being deceived and tricked.]
So as I said, with Bai Ling’s current mentality, what kind of thing would actually affect her?
If the degree is too high, forget about punishment, she might lose her life. If it’s too low, others won’t care at all.
What should be done? It’s really headache-inducing.
Yuan Xiaoning thought and thought, but couldn’t come up with a good idea even after thinking for a whole day. In the evening, Bai Ling called her to the living room for dinner, saying someone had arrived.
The man of the house, Zhang Shengkang, had returned and specially greeted Yuan Xiaoning.
“Ah, Yuan Xiaoning, I hear you’re also studying at Tianhai University, and you’re in the same year as Shanshan. Remember to help each other out at school.”
It had the feeling of a distant elder trying to make conversation on WeChat.
Yuan Xiaoning kept her face straight, pretending not to have heard. Bai Ling beside her spoke up: “Uncle Zhang, weren’t you still at work? Why did you suddenly come back?”
“Isn’t it the May Day holiday? Of course I had to come back.” Zhang Shengkang said casually.
But he was clearly wearing his work suit, not even having time to change clothes, obviously having rushed back for some urgent matter.
As for what matter…
“Xiao Ling, I heard from your aunt that you have ideas about running a shop?”
There it was. Just as he picked up his chopsticks, Zhang Shengkang couldn’t help but ask.
“Mm,” Bai Ling picked up her rice bowl, answering calmly, “I have that idea.”
Zhang Shengkang said: “I see. Xiao Ling, you’re an adult now, already in university. It’s good that you have responsibility and plans for your own life. Young people should leave their comfort zone and bravely venture out.”
Yuan Xiaoning rested her fragrant cheek on her hand, thinking there must be a “but” coming.
“But you know, while young people’s enthusiasm is good, it can sometimes lead to rash decisions, especially in business matters, which require rich experience and steady patience. Xiao Ling, you’re only in your first year of university. Perhaps it would be better to immerse yourself for a few more years before stepping into society.”
He picked up his chopsticks to get some food, wanting to make it seem like a casual dinner conversation, not something he had specifically come back to discuss. But as the food reached his mouth, he realized he was holding the chopsticks backwards.
Bai Ling wasn’t in a hurry at all. She first finished chewing the food in her mouth, put down her bowl and chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and then spoke:
“Indeed, Uncle Zhang’s words make sense. I’m not very passionate about running a business either.”
Hearing this, Yuan Xiaoning thought she must have a “but” too.
“However…”
“Pfft!”
She couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
“Hey,” Zhang Shanshan looked at her unkindly, “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing, I’m playing a game. Something happy happened.” Yuan Xiaoning took out her phone, pretending to hold the screen with both hands.
Zhang Shanshan persisted: “You clearly weren’t playing just now, you were laughing…”
“Top 64 prisoner, fall in!” Yuan Xiaoning shouted at her phone.
“…” Zhang Shanshan dared not speak anymore.
After they finished their commotion, Bai Ling calmly continued: “But I recently acquired some special things.”
Zhang Shengkang and Huang Ling’s attention returned to her.
“What things?”
“Some indescribable things, but they’ve made me more agile and given me special abilities. I think it must be the so-called spiritual awakening,” Bai Ling said softly, “Since I now have these abilities, I want to investigate the events from half a year ago again. It might be related to our family’s assets, so I wanted to get involved.”
After she finished speaking, Yuan Xiaoning secretly raised her head and saw a series of rich expression changes on Huang Ling’s face.
Thinking it’s a joke → Disbelief → Envy, jealousy, and unwillingness → Terror and fear.
Zhang Shengkang was slightly more composed, only showing the first two.
Zhang Shanshan was even worse, standing up with a whoosh, very quickly.
“How is that possible, how could you…”
“Anything is possible!” Yuan Xiaoning shouted, then pretended to be playing a game, “Come on, brothers, let’s work hard, we can turn this around.”
After about half a minute, Zhang Shengkang finally came to his senses, trying hard to maintain a calm expression: “This is really… a shocking matter. But to be safe, you should still focus on your studies first. We can discuss this during the holidays, to avoid affecting your academics.”
Bai Ling seemed to consider it seriously, then nodded: “That’s fine, after all, the holiday is next month.”
Huang Ling couldn’t help but exclaim: “How come it’s in June…?!”
“That’s right,” Yuan Xiaoning put down her phone, “That’s how it is for us university students.”
No more pretending, directly confrontational.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Shengkang put on a smile: “Alright then, I’ll look into it this month, see if there’s anything that needs to be organized.”
“Mm, thank you, Uncle Zhang.”
After dinner, Bai Ling and Yuan Xiaoning returned to the room together. The smiles on the faces of the people in the living room instantly disappeared.
“Dad, Mom,” Zhang Shanshan said softly, “We’re not going to…”
We’re not really going to return everything, are we? What about these high-end furnishings, and the maintenance costs for the yard?
“Don’t concern yourself with this,” Zhang Shengkang suddenly darkened his face, “Go back to your room.”
Huang Ling finally showed some quick thinking and pulled her daughter away without another word.
Zhang Shengkang sat alone for twenty minutes, then got up and went to the balcony. Below the balcony was an exquisite lawn and garden. Under the summer sun, the green leaves of the plants were in full bloom.
A gust of gloomy wind blew under the clear sky, making Zhang Shengkang shudder. He made up his mind and dialed a number on his phone.
Ring ring ring, ring ring ring, beep.
In the bedroom, Bai Ling embraced Yuan Xiaoning, sitting on the edge of the bed, closing her eyes and listening intently.
Under the perception of a Level 5 mind system, all spoken words were exposed.
Oh, right…
“Don’t make a sound before I open my eyes.”
First, warn the white rabbits in her arms.