No wonder Lu Yan had kept relentlessly chasing him for an answer.
Xia Siqiao did not finish the thought, but Fang Yuan could roughly guess the second half he had swallowed. He looked at him in amusement. "It's such a small matter. Since when does Little Xia get gloomy over something like this?"
Xia Siqiao raised his head, his gaze extremely serious. "From now on, I demand that we drink Nutrition Express."
They were very close to Jiangbei No. 5 High, and plenty of students in No. 5 High uniforms were eating nearby. Xia Siqiao's fame had not yet spread to the neighboring school. Many passing students secretly glanced at the exquisitely handsome, flamboyant boy, and several omega girls flushed red and looked ready to gather the courage to approach him. Seeing his displeased expression, however, they hesitated and gave up.
Fang Yuan laughed. "Fine. Whatever you say."
For nearly a week, whenever they had even a little free time, Fang Yuan used a combination of begging and dragging to haul them off to practice. The direct consequence was that whenever Xia Siqiao stepped onto the track, he felt as though Nutrition Express was surging through his stomach.
Xia Siqiao suffered in silence, his belly full of cloyingly sweet milk drink as he sprinted wildly with Lu Yan and the others while maintaining only a superficial truce. At last, he endured until the eve of the sports meet.
That weekend, Xia Siqiao decided to return to the original owner's family home and collect some clothes for the changing season.
Counting the time carefully, he had been in the book for more than a month without contacting the family of his own accord, and they seemed to have completely forgotten his existence as well.
The original owner's memories of his biological mother were not very clear. The few faint memories that remained were almost entirely of her cursing his biological father, Xia Yanzhang, and the mistress who had destroyed her family.
Perhaps resentment eventually turned into illness. His biological mother died when the original owner was very young. Then the despicable, shameless other woman she had cursed openly transformed into the legitimate Madam Xia, and the illegitimate son she shared with Xia Yanzhang–only one year younger than Xia Siqiao–became a precious young master everyone rushed to flatter.
Just like that, the original owner became the unnecessary person, always drifting outside the happy, harmonious family of three.
His father, Xia Yanzhang, was shrewd and calculating. He indifferently ignored a son whose aptitude seemed mediocre. His stepmother, Tao Wan, had honey on her lips and a knife in her heart. On the surface she cared for him attentively, while in reality she excluded him without leaving obvious traces.
As for his younger half-brother, Xia Jie, he was obedient and well behaved in front of their parents, but hostile and viciously sarcastic in front of Xia Siqiao, switching between his two faces with effortless skill.
Xia Siqiao was not the original owner. The original owner's feelings toward this family had been complicated, containing hatred, sorrow, and even humble, lingering hope.
Xia Siqiao had none of those feelings.
Qiao Siqiao calmly pushed open the door of the house.
The family of three sat happily together in the living room. Tao Wan and Xia Jie were watching a variety show, while Xia Yanzhang wore glasses and held up a financial newspaper.
Hearing movement, all three turned toward him. Tao Wan and her son froze briefly when they saw his neat short hair. Xia Yanzhang, however, immediately returned to his newspaper without caring, as though even one additional glance would be more attention than Xia Siqiao deserved.
Tao Wan quickly recovered and forced a smile onto her face, her voice sweet and sticky. "Xiao Qiao, why did you suddenly come home? You didn't tell Auntie in advance. If you'd said something, Auntie could have prepared dinner for you."
A magnificent crystal chandelier hung silently from the high ceiling over the living room. The villa's overwhelming, elaborate decoration was obviously Tao Wan's taste. The entire place had been renovated after the original owner moved out to live at school.
"I came to get some clothes. I'll leave once I have them." Xia Siqiao neither loved nor hated these people and had no desire to become entangled with this family of three.
There were no spare slippers prepared in the entryway, so Xia Siqiao simply walked inside wearing his sneakers.
"Brother, why aren't you changing your shoes? My mom spent a long time cleaning the floor." Xia Jie blinked and asked with feigned innocence.
Tao Wan hurriedly pretended to smooth things over while quietly adding fuel to the fire. "It's fine. If he doesn't want to change shoes, he doesn't have to. I'll just mop it two more times."
Xia Yanzhang remained sitting with one leg crossed as he read the newspaper. A dissatisfied snort escaped his nose. "No manners."
On the television, the variety-show guests were laughing exaggeratedly to maintain the program's lively atmosphere. Xia Siqiao did not look to either side and walked straight upstairs carrying his schoolbag.
The original owner's bedroom had the worst natural light in the entire villa. Tao Wan had once described it pleasantly as the quietest room in the house and therefore best for his studies.
The room itself was not small, and its decoration was simple. Miscellaneous objects lay scattered across the desk and floor, the original owner's handiwork from the last time he left. It looked almost exactly like the dormitory room Xia Siqiao had found when he first transmigrated–so cluttered that there was barely anywhere to step.
Perhaps because the room faced away from the sun, or perhaps because no one had lived there for so long, the air carried a faint smell of mildew.
It felt like an entirely different world from the bright, immaculate living room downstairs.
He casually wiped down one corner and put his schoolbag there, then walked to the balcony and opened the window. A slightly cool autumn breeze slowly drifted inside, dispersing much of the mildew and oppressive stuffiness.
Following the original owner's memories, Xia Siqiao went through everything in the room.
The original owner's room looked cluttered, but there were not actually many useful things. There were clothes for all four seasons, sports-star merchandise typical of a teenage boy, and a secret-crush diary accompanied by many secretly taken photographs of He Pei.
Pah.
Xia Siqiao casually threw them into the trash, raising a thin layer of dust.
He pulled a large wheeled suitcase from the wardrobe, then dug the packing bags he had prepared out of his schoolbag. After several trips back and forth, it did not take long before he had nearly emptied the entire room.
Xia Jie pushed the door open without knocking. After closing it behind him, he leaned against the door panel and said with a grin, "Brother, why are you packing so many things? It looks like you're planning never to come back."
Xia Siqiao remained expressionless and unmoved by the mockery. For a moment, Xia Jie could not tell what he was thinking.
He continued with the same cheeky smile. "You've changed a lot this time. I almost didn't recognize you. I think if you work hard enough, maybe Dad will finally look at you differently and show you a nicer face."
Xia Siqiao had been standing partly sideways to him. Hearing this, he slowly turned his head. His striking, beautiful brows drew together slightly, and in Xia Siqiao's clear pupils, Xia Jie saw his own current posture reflected back at him.
"Xia Jie, put away those petty little tricks. They don't work on me."
In Xia Jie's memory, Xia Siqiao had always been stupid and cowardly. What Xia Jie enjoyed most was watching him become helpless and flustered. But the Xia Siqiao before him now looked at him with contempt and complete disdain, as though Xia Jie were the idiot congratulating himself for being clever.
Xia Siqiao's dismissive attitude provoked Xia Jie's anger. He did not realize that beneath it was also a trace of fear because the situation was slipping out of his control. With a dark expression, he stepped forward and kicked the suitcase hard.
Although Xia Jie was one year younger, he had already presented as an alpha and possessed a strong physique and enviable natural aptitude. His kick sent the heavy suitcase crashing onto its side, and the contents rolled across the floor.
Xia Jie raised a brow and looked at Xia Siqiao provocatively.
Xia Siqiao lowered his eyes to the mess, calmly put down the clothes in his hands, and walked toward him one step at a time.
Then he casually reached out and grabbed Xia Jie by the collar.
Xia Jie did not take the movement seriously. He almost wanted to laugh at Xia Siqiao for overestimating himself. After all, the Xia Siqiao in his memory had been cowardly and weak. Xia Jie could casually retaliate and shove him hard enough to make him stagger.
But Xia Siqiao suddenly exerted force and slammed Xia Jie directly against the wall. The impact was brutally strong, producing a loud crash of body against wall. Only then did Xia Jie belatedly try to break free, only to discover that Xia Siqiao had him completely restrained and he could not move at all.