“Brother Xi～”
Gu Jianing’s eyes lit up when she saw Sheng Zexi. She called out to him and quickly stepped forward, linking her arm around his.
“Brother Xi, you’re back so soon?”
Sheng Zexi patted her hand, his usually sharp and unruly gaze softening unconsciously. “I came back right after the meeting.”
“What’s going on here? At this hour, weren’t you still sleeping? Did you dress warmly enough?” Sheng Zexi reached out, pulling her clothes tighter around her.
He even smoothed out her slightly messy hair.
Hearing this, Gu Jianing instantly got annoyed. Exactly! She had been sleeping, but someone had woken her up.
She hadn’t planned on getting up at first, but when the knocking on the door continued persistently, she had no choice. After all, she was worried it might be someone with an urgent matter.
But the moment she reached the door, she overheard a young woman outside claiming to be Sheng Zexi’s sister.
Gu Jianing immediately caught on.
Last night, Sheng Zexi had mentioned that among the cultural troupe arriving from Beijing, his stepsister was likely among them.
That was the first time Sheng Zexi had ever spoken to Gu Jianing about his stepmother and stepsister.
Sheng Zexi normally didn’t like talking about the filth in his family, but he was worried that once Fang Manping arrived, she would cause trouble and bully Gu Jianing, so he had given her a heads-up in advance.
From his account, Gu Jianing had already formed an impression of his stepmother and stepsister.
One was a hypocrite with a venomous heart beneath a kind facade, while the other seemed timid on the surface but was actually full of schemes, selfish and manipulative.
Either way, Gu Jianing had no good feelings toward these two.
Not only was this an annoying stepsister, but she also had the audacity to wake her up early in the morning. Knowing her own temper, there was no way Gu Jianing was going to let this slide.
So, the moment she opened the door, she dumped a whole basin of water on her.
Now, she pouted delicately and tattled, “Brother Xi, I don’t know who this person is, but she was standing outside our door, claiming to be your sister. But as far as I remember, mother-in-law only gave birth to you.”
Sheng Zexi immediately understood Gu Jianing’s intentions and played along. “My mother did indeed only give birth to me. However, after my mother passed away, my so-called father married a stepmother, and she brought a daughter with her.”
Gu Jianing acted as if she had just heard something astonishing, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes widening slightly as she looked at Fang Manping and let out a soft hum. “Oh, so she’s the daughter that stepmother brought in. That means she has no blood relation to you at all. How does that make her your sister?”
The husband and wife played off each other perfectly, tearing down Fang Manping’s facade and stomping on it. Fang Manping’s face burned with humiliation.
“What? She’s actually just the daughter of the stepmother? You don’t even share the same surname as Commander Sheng, so why did you tell me you were his sister?” Zhang Shuwan finally realized that she had been deceived by the young woman in front of her.
Now, she also understood why Gu Jianing had immediately thrown water at her and why her tone had been so harsh.
The daughter of the husband’s stepmother—what was there to be polite about?
Zhang Shuwan had seen plenty of stepmothers and stepsisters.
Sure, there were a few kind stepmothers out there, but she was willing to bet that seventy to eighty percent of them were bad.
She had seen too many cases where a father, after marrying a stepmother, turned into a neglectful parent, and countless times where stepmothers mistreated and tormented the children left behind by the previous wife—all while putting on a mask of false kindness.
Especially as women, they could all see it clearly. Yet the so-called father of the child either couldn’t see it or chose to turn a blind eye.
If all stepmothers were bad, could the daughters they brought along be any good?
In any case, Zhang Shuwan had no fondness for stepmothers or stepsisters.
At this moment, Fang Manping only felt her face burning with embarrassment. Facing Sheng Zexi’s scrutinizing gaze, she opened her mouth to explain, “Brother, I…”
As soon as she spoke, Sheng Zexi’s face darkened.
Fang Manping immediately remembered what Sheng Zexi had said before—don’t call him “Brother,” or he wouldn’t be polite to her!
Seeing his expression sink, she was so frightened that she quickly changed her address, “Sheng— Battalion Commander Sheng, I heard that you got married, so I came to see my sister-in-law.”
“You got married without telling your family. Uncle Sheng was very angry. He originally planned to arrange a meeting between you and Li Shuyao from the Li family.”
Her voice trembled slightly, but that didn’t stop her from trying to upset Gu Jianing.
The meaning behind her words was clear—Sheng Zexi had acted first and reported later. His father was displeased and did not approve of Gu Jianing. In fact, the family already had another ideal daughter-in-law in mind.
Sheng Zexi frowned. For the past two months, he had had no contact with the Sheng family in Beijing and was unaware of the situation there.
Of course, he had his own guesses about that man’s attitude.
It was precisely because he feared the man’s interference that he hadn’t informed him.
As for whether he was angry?
Sheng Zexi scoffed internally. If that old man could die from anger, all the better—it would be his way of atoning to his mother in the afterlife!
But what did this have to do with Li Shuyao?
A vague face surfaced in his mind. Sheng Zexi couldn’t recall much, only that the girl was a bit annoying.
Just then, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his lower back. The unexpected discomfort snapped him back to reality, and he turned to look at Gu Jianing beside him.
He saw his little wife with one hand pressed against his lower back, looking up at him with a faint smile on her lips.
But for some reason, that smile sent chills down his spine.
Gu Jianing lifted her gaze and glared at him.
What was this? Pei Wenjing had just given up on her feelings for him, and now a Li Shuyao appeared?
How many rotten peach blossoms had this man attracted?
Sure, she had the ability to deal with her husband’s unwanted suitors, but that didn’t mean she liked the trouble.
Gu Jianing looked at Sheng Zexi’s striking features and tall, well-built figure. Maybe… good looks really were a source of disaster.
Seeing Gu Jianing’s mild anger and feeling the sting on his waist from being pinched for no reason, Sheng Zexi’s expression grew even colder as he turned back to Fang Manping.
He didn’t hold back his sarcasm. “That’s my business. What does it have to do with you?”
“You’ve seen her now, so leave.”
“And from now on, whether you have a reason or not, don’t come to my door again. Also, don’t go around claiming to be my sister. Otherwise, even if I don’t personally deal with you, I imagine my mother would go looking for you—asking when she ever had another daughter.”
Fang Manping hadn’t expected Sheng Zexi to be so blunt. His last remark sent a shiver down her spine in broad daylight.
In the end, she could only take a long, hard look at Gu Jianing before fleeing in embarrassment.
As she left, she couldn’t help but wonder—Sheng Zexi had such a sharp tongue, and his personality could be awful at times. How did this woman endure it and even marry him?
But then she recalled how just moments ago, Sheng Zexi had been so gentle with Gu Jianing, carefully adjusting her clothes like a doting old husband, worrying about her catching cold.
Perhaps… this time, Sheng Zexi had really fallen for someone.
And this woman—she was truly beautiful. Even more beautiful than Li Shuyao. More beautiful than any woman she had ever seen.
Could it be that Sheng Zexi was also a man who cared about appearances?
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