The Spoiled Little Beauty is Always Abusing the Protagonist [Quick Transmigration] 9

Chapter 9: The Spoiled Villain in a Period Novel 9

The night was deep.

With the arrival of autumn, the crickets also emerged, their restless chirping filling the quiet night.

The elderly in Wang Family Village went to bed early. Before ten o’clock, a large swath of lights had already gone out. After sending Butler Fang off with a fawning smile, Wang Xingguo fumbled his way back to his house in the dark. His already irritable mood was made even worse by the chirping of the crickets.

He walked into the house and saw his son, Wang Zhi, crossing his legs and cracking melon seeds, acting as if nothing had happened. Anger surged from his heart. He strode over to him, slammed his hand on the table, and snapped, “What on earth did you say to that young master?”

To think it would lead to Butler Fang himself coming to him and saying a bunch of things about self-respect and status—he hadn’t understood a single word! He also had no idea what Wang Zhi had done wrong.

Wang Xingguo could only tell that it was serious.

He leaned on the table. Seeing Wang Zhi’s indifferent expression, he slapped him on the shoulder. “Speak up!”

“Say what?” Wang Zhi’s head was still aching from the fall. He irritably brushed off Wang Xingguo’s hand, turned around, and continued cracking melon seeds. “What’s the matter? I didn’t do anything. I just chatted with the young master. Is there a problem with that?”

Wang Xingguo said, “What did you chat about?”

“I asked him if he wanted to eat roasted sweet potatoes. That’s it, nothing else.” Wang Zhi said it so convincingly he almost believed it himself, as if his lewd desires for Shu He didn’t exist, as if he, like the rest of Wang Family Village, just wanted to curry favor with Shu He. “Being nice to him is good for our family, isn’t it? Who knows what he was thinking.”

Wang Xingguo frowned.

Hearing it like that, it really didn’t seem like a big deal. Then what was Butler Fang reminding him about?

Wang Xingguo naturally wouldn’t dare to imagine that his son would have such wicked thoughts. He was still a little suspicious. “Really?”

Wang Zhi didn’t even look up. “Mm.”

“I’ll believe you this once, but don’t go hanging around that young master anymore.” Fearing that Wang Zhi would unintentionally anger him, Wang Xingguo warned him repeatedly, “His family is rich, big shots from the Capital. We can’t afford to get involved with them. But… someone else can.”

Wang Zhi’s melon-seed-cracking paused.

He turned to look at his father. “Who?”

“Your cousin.” His brother’s daughter, a university student no less, and pretty too. “She’ll definitely be back for the New Year. Your cousin is so good-looking. We’ll have her try to get close to him then.”

Wang Zhi was a little annoyed.

But he couldn’t say anything. His cousin was indeed good-looking, on par with the big stars on TV. It was just that she was too arrogant. After going to university, she looked down on everyone. He had never liked being around her.

“Aren’t you afraid she’ll mess things up too?” Wang Zhi said, as if considering the bigger picture. “What if she says the wrong thing and angers the young master?”

“Then that’s her problem. It won’t affect us,” Wang Xingguo said, rubbing his hands together. “If it works out, then things will be different.”

Wang Zhi spat. “What about Xu Nongqing hitting me today? Are we just going to let that slide?”

“What else?” Wang Xingguo retorted. “You want to hit him back? Regardless of whether the young master helped him this time, he still has rich parents. Even if they don’t care about him… it’s better to leave some room for maneuver.”

What if he made a comeback one day?

Wang Xingguo had already experienced this kind of loss with Xu Nongqing’s father once. He naturally didn’t want his son to experience it again.

Wang Zhi felt aggrieved. He lost his appetite for melon seeds, stood up, and left. “I’m going to bed.”

—

The next morning, the autumn wind howled.

Just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Butler Fang took the letter and left for the Capital by car. After he left, the task of waking Shu He up for breakfast naturally fell to Xu Nongqing.

But Xu Nongqing was an early riser.

He got up before the sun was even up. By the time he had finished everything, it was still only six o’clock. Shu He was always fast asleep at this time, his long lashes resting obediently on his lower eyelids, refusing to get up before nine.

Xu Nongqing could only take advantage of the cool temperature before the sun came out to go to the fields and harvest some vegetables, then rush back before Shu He woke up, calmly creating the illusion that he had never left.

—Why go to all this trouble?

He asked himself.

Who knew.

But after doing it many times, the illusion was bound to be broken.

Shu He woke up early today. He called out for Xu Nongqing in a soft, sleepy voice for a long time without getting a response.

As he called, the sleepiness was chased away, replaced by confusion.

Shu He sat up dazedly in bed, a small cowlick sticking up on his head. The weather had been getting colder recently. He clutched the blanket with his slender white fingers, wrapping himself up, and asked the system in confusion: 【Brother 1, where’s the protagonist?】

The system, which was well aware of the protagonist’s movements, paused for a moment before replying: 【I don’t know.】

You don’t know?

Shu He reached out to get dressed, then got up and searched everywhere. He hurried back to the room to check his mechanical watch. The hands pointed to 7:45.

So early.

He didn’t know what time the protagonist usually woke up. He had always thought it was around the same time as him, but now it seemed it was even earlier.

How strange…

—

Whenever the sun peeked over the corner of the mountain, Xu Nongqing knew it was time to go back.

Before leaving, he caught a fish and placed it in a lotus leaf filled with water, planning to bring it back for Shu He to keep.

In the early morning, the wind was cool.

The water in the lotus leaf rippled in the breeze. The fish, in its narrow environment, flicked its tail, darting back and forth.

When he reached the door, Xu Nongqing pushed open the creaking old wooden door. He looked into the room and was slightly stunned for a few seconds.

Shu He was sitting on the edge of the bed, swinging his legs. He met Xu Nongqing’s gaze and deliberately asked, “Where did you go?”

Xu Nongqing reacted quickly.

He put down the vegetable basket, his voice faint. “To the fields.”

“Have you always been like this?”

“Mm.” He admitted it readily.

This was what Shu He didn’t understand.

He jumped off the bed and walked over to Xu Nongqing. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed the vegetable basket by the door. Inside, carefully cupped, was a lotus leaf filled with water, and in the lotus leaf was a gray fish.

The size of a finger.

Shu He’s attention was immediately diverted.

He squatted down in front of the vegetable basket, his almond eyes sparkling. “A fish.”

He carefully reached out and gently tapped the fish on the head with his fingertip. As if sensing the touch, the fish immediately wagged its tail like a puppy and nudged his head against him.

Shu He’s eyes widened in delight, a small dimple appearing by his lips. He looked up at Xu Nongqing and asked quietly, “You didn’t catch it to eat, did you?”

Xu Nongqing looked down at him, his gaze taking in the boy’s sparkling almond eyes. In those eyes, his own reflection was mirrored.

Xu Nongqing grunted in affirmation.

“This fish is mine now.” Shu He clearly liked it. He happily lifted the lotus leaf out.

Xu Nongqing got a basin and filled it with water for him to keep the fish. Shu He was surprised that he had given the fish to him so readily.

Shu He took the matter of raising the fish very seriously. He even wrote a letter asking his parents to send him an encyclopedia on fish-keeping.

But the mailman’s fixed collection time wasn’t until tomorrow. Shu He could only watch the fish in front of him carefully, clasping his hands together and muttering, hoping it wouldn’t die.

He touched the fish’s little head again before getting up to look at Xu Nongqing, who was picking vegetables.

Xu Nongqing glanced up slightly, as if he knew what he was going to say, and said calmly, “You said before that you would follow me wherever I go.”

Shu He tilted his head, thinking about the cause and effect of this.

So, was it because he was afraid of him following that he chose to go to the fields to harvest vegetables while he was sleeping?

Shu He asked this, but Xu Nongqing lowered his eyes and denied it:

“Because you can’t get up.”

“If you can get up at seven… you can come along tomorrow.”

Shu He didn’t want to.

He puffed out his cheeks, picked up The Complete Guide to Villainy, and sat down opposite Xu Nongqing. The system had said that to everyone else, this book would appear as blank pages, so he didn’t have to worry about being seen.

Shu He randomly flipped to a page, planning to follow its instructions to provoke Xu Nongqing into being more ambitious.

Got it.

He closed the book, his face serious. “Xu Nongqing, besides me, is there anyone else you particularly dislike?”

“…”

Xu Nongqing’s dark eyes fixed on Shu He’s beautiful face. The force of his hand pressing on the vegetable stem increased, his tone unreadable. “—Why besides you?”

Shu He was taken aback.

“Then… not besides me, is there anyone else you particularly dislike?”

Xu Nongqing didn’t speak.

He kept his eyes lowered, picking vegetables, as if he refused to continue the conversation, even when Shu He moved his chair to his side and deliberately whispered threats in his ear.

Bad protagonist.

Shu He muttered in his heart and stopped bothering him. He got up to look at his fish. At that moment, Xu Nongqing looked up again, his gaze on his slender back. He suddenly called out, “Shu He.”

As Shu He turned around, a thought vaguely flashed through his mind.

This seemed to be the first time the protagonist had called him by his name. Was he finally so angry that he couldn’t help but want to curse at him?

Shu He hid his hands behind his back, twisting them nervously, already imagining how he would counterattack with villainous flair if he was cursed at.

However, Xu Nongqing said nothing more.

He called his name once and then fell silent, leaving him baffled.

But that didn’t stop Shu He from using it as an excuse to say in an impatient, spoiled tone, “How ridiculous.”

Xu Nongqing lowered his eyes.

He was indeed being ridiculous.

He had lost his mind.

*

The next afternoon, the postman who delivered the mail brought a letter from the Capital, along with a large box.

After mailing the letter he had written yesterday, Shu He first opened the box.

Inside, he found a few books. They were the ones he had asked his parents to send, books about business. It was Shu He’s own idea; he planned to give them to the protagonist to lay the groundwork for his future rise.

The protagonist was so smart, he would definitely understand them.

Shu He stacked the books and set them aside. Then he took out a small violin. This wasn’t something he had asked for; his parents had said he could practice it in his free time. Shu He also put it aside.

Now for the grandest item.

Shu He’s cheeks were a little hot, his eyes sparkling. He solemnly took out the object that was folded at the very bottom, wrapped in a plastic bag.

The system watched and saw that it was a very cute plush pajama set. That alone wouldn’t have been enough to make Shu He so solemn. The key was that the pajamas were—in the shape of an animal.

A one-piece, with a tail and ears, and very fluffy.

Shu He immediately went to the bed to change. He took off the clothes he was wearing, then carefully slipped into the animal pajamas, put on the hood, and turned his head, trying hard to pull up the zipper on his back.

The tail hung down by his leg, the fur smooth and soft. His cheeks were flushed with happiness. Even though he was struggling with the stubborn zipper, he wasn’t discouraged.

System: 【…】

The system calmly took two pictures and, strangely, understood Shu He’s actions at this moment.

It was well known that Shu He was a child raised by monsters.

There were many interstellar races. Although humans were weak, they excelled in intelligence and still stood firmly at the top of the food chain.

Monsters, with technological intervention, could also take human form, but most were accustomed to maintaining their original shape. Thus—Shu He, raised by monsters, as the only non-fluffy human among them, was particularly prone to feeling like an outsider.

Perhaps it was his own idea, or perhaps his parents came up with it, but in any case, wearing such an animal costume could make Shu He feel like he was a little monster too.

He still couldn’t get the zipper up. He was finally a little discouraged and knelt on the bed, turning to play with his tail.

Creak—

A sound came from the door.

Shu He looked up, his eyes still a little moist from missing his fluffy parents. He looked at the tall man who pushed open the door and entered, and called out for help: “—Xu Nongqing.”

“Help me with the zipper.”