Chapter 4

Suddenly, Sheng Mumu came downstairs, with a calm expression on her face as she walked towards the home theater room on the first floor.

There wasn't the slightest hint of displeasure in her expression.

Qi Shaobai watched her out of the corner of his eye.

Sensing Qi Shaobai's gaze, Sheng Mumu turned her head to the side. When her eyes met Qi Shaobai's, she suddenly held up her hand, extending her index finger and pinky to make the metal horns gesture.

She then casually strolled into the home theater with her hands in her pockets.

Qi Shaobai: "..."

Seeing this scene, Wei Zhaonan was surprised and nudged Qi Shaobai with his shoulder.

"Damn, your stepmom is so cool, she even knows the metal horns gesture?"

Qi Shaobai was stunned for half a second before contemptuously spitting out two words from between his teeth:

"Childish..."

After Sheng Mumu closed the door of the home theater room, she sighed nostalgically as she looked up.

Back in the day, she was also a rocker girl who loved going to music festivals and watching live performances.

In the blink of an eye she was twenty-eight, finding herself in an unfamiliar world.

It felt so unreal!

The walls of the home theater room were lined with thick soundproofing material. Once the door was closed, the sounds from outside became faint. No matter how loud the music was outside, it could not disturb her.

Thinking back to Qi Shaobai's bewildered gaze as she passed through the living room, she somehow found it rather amusing.

Tsk, a punk kid is still a punk kid, with all his emotions written on his face.

Just thinking that this boy would grow up to become the stoic and taciturn male lead in the future, she suddenly felt a sense of humor that was hard to describe.

The joy of a cultivation-themed story had arrived all at once.

But then her smile froze as her expression became solemn.

She suddenly recalled an important plot point from the book—

When Qi Shaobai first developed feelings for the female protagonist, the first supporting character to come out and stir up trouble was his high school classmate. She kept creating misunderstandings between the male and female leads.

The biggest misunderstanding was that during high school, a group of friends had gone to Qi Shaobai's house to hang out. The supporting character took advantage of Qi Shaobai being unaware to slip something into his drink and get him drunk. She then pretended to have been taken advantage of by his drunken state.

Qi Shaobai was fooled, and from then on felt an inexplicable sense of responsibility towards the supporting character.

Sheng Mumu hadn't finished reading the book. Up until halfway through, the supporting character was still making trouble, constantly using their past to coerce Qi Shaobai into taking responsibility for her.

Sheng Mumu faintly felt that something was off.

Could it be that this plot point that was glossed over in the original book was happening today? Just now, the black-haired girl with braids who had timidly called Qi Shaobai "Brother Qi"—from her appearance, she was a perfect match for the supporting character's description.

As Sheng Mumu thought this, she slowly pressed down on the door handle of the home theater room.

Like a spy, she quietly observed through the crack in the door.

She saw the black-haired girl sneakily take out a packet from her pocket, then cautiously look around.

Even though the home theater room was in a corner that was not easily visible, Sheng Mumu still nervously broke into a sweat.

Shortly after, the girl inconspicuously sat down next to Qi Shaobai.

Just as Qi Shaobai turned his head to chat with Wei Zhaonan, her hand stealthily moved above his glass on the table.

Sheng Mumu's heart tightened.

It really was today!

This dogblood plot point that had caused misunderstandings between Qi Shaobai and his future girlfriend for at least dozens of chapters was happening right before her eyes.

Perhaps in the original storyline, there were no adults home at the Qi house today.

But since she had transmigrated into this world and seen these punk kids, she could not just sit back and do nothing.

Otherwise, people might say that the vicious stepmother had intentionally turned a blind eye and allowed her stepson to do something wrong.

Sheng Mumu suddenly thought of Qi Mo's stern and impressive face that was capable of intimidation without anger.

She could almost see herself being kicked out after this incident came to light.

No way, she had just become a wealthy madame of a prestigious family yesterday!

If she was swept out because of this, wouldn't that be a huge loss?

In the living room.

After finishing his conversation with Wei Zhaonan, Qi Shaobai turned back around.

He casually picked up the glass in front of him and tilted his head back, just about to drink it.

"Qi Shaobai—"

A slender figure dashed out from the home theater room, loudly calling out his name to interrupt him.

Qi Shaobai stopped his actions and glanced over, lifting his eyes.

Seeing Sheng Mumu suddenly appear, the corners of his eyebrows ticked up slightly.

Hmph, she's finally unable to keep pretending to be a gentle mother.

Is she going to yell at me in front of everyone?

A self-deprecating yet unsurprised laugh slipped from Qi Shaobai's lips.

His voice was rebellious yet lazy.

"What is it?"

Sheng Mumu came up with a clever plan on the spot. As she spoke, she blew out some air as if she had been burnt by something spicy.

"I just ate spicy duck tongues, my drink is finished. Water, give me your water." Qi Shaobai was stunned.

He had been prepared to get chewed out, but had not expected Sheng Mumu to come find him because she needed water after being burnt by spicy food.

Everyone else also focused their attention on Sheng Mumu, completely baffled.

They were a little surprised that Qi Shaobai and his stepmother's relationship didn't seem as bad as they had assumed.

The lady was so cute, like a child she had come to find him for water after being burnt by spicy food. Her manner of speaking to Qi Shaobai seemed natural and casual. The two of them appeared to have quite a good relationship.

Qi Shaobai was awkward for a few seconds, but still handed over the glass that he had not drunk from yet.

As Sheng Mumu took the glass, her peripheral vision drifted towards the black-haired girl.

The girl's hands were clenched tightly into fists. She was biting down hard on her lower lip with her gaze fixed intensely on the glass. She looked extremely nervous.

Sheng Mumu was now mostly certain of her judgment—there must have been drugs put into the glass.

She sniffed at the glass, deliberately putting on a confused expression as she asked Qi Shaobai:

"Is this beer you're drinking?"

Hearing this, Qi Shaobai leaned back lazily into the sofa and casually responded:

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

The Qi family didn't have any rules against 17-year-olds drinking beer, right?

Without answering him, Sheng Mumu waved her hand and walked towards the kitchen, lightly tossing over her shoulder:

"Your dad doesn't like me drinking, I'll just go to the kitchen and get some iced water."

This allowed her to bring the glass to the kitchen in a natural way.

Qi Shaobai was puzzled.

With suspicion, he furrowed his brows.

His dad, who had always been calm, composed, unconcerned with others, and was like a money-making machine without emotions—

Would actually care about such minor issues as whether someone else drank alcohol or not?

Seeing this, the other people in the living room couldn't help but laugh and tease.

"Qi Shaobai, your stepmom is so interesting. She's a full grown adult but still came to find you for water after being burnt by spicy food, hahaha."

"Your stepmom seems to have a good relationship with your dad. She doesn't drink just because your dad doesn't like her drinking, wow."

"Feels like I just got force-fed dog food?"

Amidst everyone's back and forth banter, Qi Shaobai gazed at Sheng Mumu's retreating figure with complex emotions.

This time, he did not talk back to their jokes.

Sheng Mumu chose not to expose the truth in front of everyone.

Firstly, because she was worried—since she had transmigrated into the book's world, the storyline might have already changed. She couldn't be certain the plot point would definitely happen, so making false accusations would be bad.

Secondly, she didn't want to put on a detective performance in front of these bratty kids, when she just wanted to be a relaxed and wealthy madame.

It wasn't until Qi Shaobai's friends had left that Sheng Mumu knocked on the door of his room.

Qi Shaobai lazily opened the door to see her standing outside. His brows ticked up.

"What's up?"