"You lied to me, I can understand that. You didn’t want me to know you were back, I can accept that... But aren’t you guys in cahoots? Aren’t you together? What exactly is your relationship? What in the world do you want to do?"
"Can you promise me one thing?" the old man looked at Lu Siyu and asked.
"Isn’t that a bit ridiculous? You haven’t given me any reason or explanation, not a single promise... and then with a sorry, you expect me to do something for you?" Lu Siyu was truly amused by the old man’s nerve.
"Just pretend you never saw me, just pretend you never saw Tang Fei." The old man pleaded earnestly.
"You answer me one question," Lu Siyu said. "You answer this question, and I’ll agree to do this favor."
"Is Tang Fei my brother?" Lu Siyu asked in a deep voice.
The old man had disappeared and took her brother with him...
Now, the old man was back, and Tang Fei appeared. Wasn’t his identity becoming obvious?
"Yes." The old man answered decisively.
"...You’re lying. If he is my brother, why would you hide your relationship?"
"Because, I’m a person disliked by the Royal Family," the old man explained. "I don’t want him to suffer with me, to take such a big risk."
"No," Lu Siyu shook her head. "You want him to marry the Princess... You’re seeking revenge for the Tang family?"
The old man looked at Lu Siyu in surprise and asked, "How do you know about this?"
"You skulk around in my uncle’s yard and don’t come out, Tang Fei is closely related to Zhong Yu and Xiu Xue... Do you want to undermine the Royal Family from the inside?"
"Yes." The old man nodded, admitting it. "We have to do something. So, no matter what, you must keep this secret for me... No one can know he’s related to our family."
"I understand." Lu Siyu nodded and said, "I will interact with him as a normal classmate would."
"Mm, just naturally, as usual."
"But have you ever thought, what if the plan fails? If the Royal Family discovers his connection to our family... what then? How will you protect him?"
"One step at a time, there will be a way."
"Anyway..." Lu Siyu’s gaze was firm as she looked at the old man. "No matter what methods you use, no matter what it takes, you must make sure he stays alive... He’s my only brother."
"We’ll try our best," the old man said.
He would try his best, he had to.
Revenge was always a double-edged sword.
How could you expect to hurt others without getting hurt yourself?
Lu Zhiyong came over with a plate of sliced roast meat and, seeing that a big bottle of champagne was already empty, complained, "You two drank way too fast, didn’t you? I haven’t even finished cutting the meat, and you’ve downed the whole bottle? Didn’t you save any for me?"
"You’ve hidden away so much good wine, just bring out a few more bottles, don’t be stingy," Lu Siyu said.
"Yeah, bring out a few more bottles," the old man chimed in. "The meat’s just been served, how can we eat without wine?"
Seeing his daughter and Lu Zhiyong bantering, the old man’s face also rarely revealed a smile.
This was the life he dreamed of, but unfortunately, he could only push it away with his own hands.
The further, the better.
"Alright alright, I’ll get two more bottles. Tonight, there’ll be plenty of meat and enough wine," Lu Zhiyong said cheerfully.
He was happy for his brother and niece that they could sit together to drink and chat.
Who wouldn’t want a family to live together in harmony?
Unfortunately, his brother had chosen the hardest path to walk.
When Tang Fei returned, Little Fatty was busy in the kitchen.
Hands flustered, face covered in grease.
Tang Fei stood at the kitchen door, watching Little Fatty’s clumsy antics, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Ah, brother, you’re back?" Little Fatty turned around and said to Tang Fei, "I’m cooking... I figured our big brother hasn’t come back yet, he must’ve been held up, so I thought I’d make dinner ready for when you return, so you can have something warm to eat..."
"It’s burnt," Tang Fei said.
"The eggs in the pan are burnt."
Only then did Little Fatty realize that the eggs he was frying had turned into black char.
"Oh no..." Little Fatty hastily lifted the pan from the stove and said, "Don’t worry, I eat burnt stuff, I’ll fry you a new one..."
"Let me do it," Tang Fei said.
He took the frying pan from Little Fatty’s hands, dumped the burnt egg into the trash, and asked, "Why don’t you use the cooking robot?"
"You always said that food made by robots doesn’t have the taste of home cooking, right? I also think it doesn’t taste good... so I wanted to try it myself. Seeing how easily big brother does it, when I try it myself... I realize it’s not the same at all..."
"Everyone has their specialization," Tang Fei said. "How many years have I been cooking? How many times have you actually cooked?"
He skillfully fried a few eggs and then put on a big pot of noodles, saying, "Let’s have something simple tonight."
"No worries, no worries, having noodles and eggs is nothing simple at all," Little Fatty cheerfully said.
He liked noodles and fried eggs, so to him, this meal was far from simple.
Tang Fei and Little Fatty each had a bowl of noodles, dipping into some Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, slurping their meal down.
Tang Fei didn’t have any fried eggs, and after finishing his bowl of noodles, he said to Little Fatty, "I have more things to do, you wash the bowls."