“Is that you?” Liang Wengao stared in disbelief at the figure from behind, who looked every bit the hyper little sister.
(Bet you didn’t see that coming! Surprise or what?)
Liang Sheng slowly turned around, her expression rigid. “Who? Who’s Liang Sheng? I don’t know that person.”
She really wanted to flee this galaxy overnight.
Liang Wengao clapped a hand over his gaping mouth. “Oh my God!”
Seizing the moment, Liang Sheng bolted from the trouble spot.
Great. This wildly energetic outfit had even frightened her doting Old Father half to death.
Liang Sheng plopped down annoyed on a stool by the dining table, her hands resting on the surface as her fingers drummed a rhythmic beat on the wood. Sigh. She never should have agreed to come—it was all Liang Jin’s relentless wheedling.
Fortunately, aside from their family, everyone else was used to her getup. They even cheered and cooed, exclaiming how pretty Liang Sheng looked.
Liang Wengao entered the restaurant just then, gawking foolishly at his precious daughter.
Liang Sheng’s heart sank. Surely her dad wasn’t one of those types who recognized his daughter only by her looks?
“Daughter dear…” Liang Wengao approached Liang Sheng slowly.
He reached her side, where she sat on her little stool, looking up at her Old Father.
Ugh. From this death-angle view, her handsome-uncle dad instantly morphed into a greasy middle-aged guy.
“Oh, my precious baby girl!” Liang Wengao cried out and scooped up his slender daughter in a hug. “How is my daughter this cute? How can she be so adorable? How can she be cute like this!”
Liang Sheng, age seventeen, cause of death: asphyxiation.
Sure enough, in the eyes of a doting daughter-con, his baby girl was the cutest thing in the universe, no matter her appearance.
Liang Jin stood behind the father-daughter duo, hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh.
Dinner began, and Liang Sheng eyed the parade of aunts and great-aunts serving the dishes with eager anticipation.
First up: pig blood sausage.
Mmm! Yes! Liang Sheng swallowed hard. Ever since transmigrating into this brainless harem romance novel, she hadn’t tasted pig blood sausage. Seeing it now made her mouth water like crazy.
Second: radish cake stewed with fatty pork.
Eh… Liang Sheng had zero appetite for that. Just the sight of fatty meat made her want to hurl.
Third: Kidney beans and potato stewed ribs.
This was acceptable. Liang Sheng nodded slightly in approval. Truth be told, for a dedicated carnivore like her, only the hefty rib chunks met her standards.
Fourth: pork skin jelly.
She preferred the brown, soy-sauced kind over the plain white stuff, which always felt a bit cloying. Dipped in soy sauce, though, it was refreshing enough. But too much, and nausea crept in.
Fifth: lamb soup.
Liang Sheng had craved this for ages—especially with cilantro, chopped scallions, and a splash of fragrant vinegar. That flavor was pure bliss~
A mishmash of other dishes followed: stir-fried peanuts, edamame, and a few bottles of beer.
The relatives enthusiastically urged Liang Wengao to drink, but how could he? One glance at his wife’s stony face sent him shivering. He instantly set down his beer bottle.
His younger brother, however, lacked such sharp eyes. He cracked open a bottle and chugged away.
Liang Jin and Liang Sheng, blood-related cousins through and through, simultaneously glanced at Uncle Liang Wenying’s wife beside him. Whoa! Her face was pitch black.
The two girls exchanged a look and instantly understood: Uncle Liang Wenying was in for it tonight.
Liang Jin wasn’t used to the gaminess of the lamb soup, so Liang Sheng “reluctantly” took over the bowl she’d already sipped from. She grabbed the fragrant vinegar nearby, poured some in, sprinkled on a pinch of scallions and cilantro, and dug in with relish.
Back in the day, she’d have chomped a whole green onion for maximum flavor.
“Sister Liang Sheng, that’s the one I drank from,” Liang Jin said, her cheeks flushing as she pointed at the lamb soup Liang Sheng was devouring. She meant well with the reminder.
Liang Sheng kept her head down, not even glancing up. “I know it’s yours. So what? You said you didn’t like it and were gonna toss it. Might as well let me have it—I’m a Three Good Student who hates wasting food.”
Liang Jin nibbled her fingernail, a shy pinch to her expression as she squirmed. “B-but, S-Sister Liang Sheng, it’s the one I drank from… D-don’t you mind me?”
Liang Sheng barely lifted her head for a glance before diving back in. “Why would I? You’re my own cousin! We’re family, sharing the same blood. No reason to mind you.”
Just because we’re family? Liang Jin’s heart plummeted.
“Besides,” Liang Sheng pulled out a napkin and wiped her greasy lips, “even if you weren’t my cousin, I wouldn’t mind you. We’re tight like that, right? You’re such an adorable girl—why would I ever mind?”
Huh? Liang Jin’s blush had faded, but Liang Sheng’s double flirtation reignited it fiercer than before.
Ding~ Favorability increased.
“Liang Jin’s Favorability toward Liang Sheng: 136”
Staring at her cousin’s cute, mischievous face—so much like her own—Liang Sheng suddenly had a wild idea.
“You know…” Inwardly, Liang Sheng addressed her own Favorability System, Akino Kazuko. “If I and this adorable cousin Liang Jin of mine, ahem! You get it—wouldn’t that feel like doing myself (beep—civilized language, dear readers, fill in the blank) to myself?”
“You…” Akino Kazuko chuckled helplessly. This Host of hers couldn’t go a day without driving the car.
“I think you should give it a shot. What if, like in those Overbearing CEO novels, afterwards, she falls for…”
“No, no, no way!” Liang Sheng cut her off righteously, straightening up. “That’s against morals and ethics! I, Liang Sheng, model citizen, would never do anything so against my principles!”
Akino Kazuko burst out laughing. “You knew I’d say something like wild romp? That’s your dirty mind talking. I was gonna say ‘you’d fall for yourself’—I wasn’t thinking what you were!”
Dang, played.
Liang Sheng’s brain whirred around the corner. Aha! Got the comeback.
“I never said what I was thinking, so how’d you know? Looks like you’re the one with the naughty thoughts.”
Akino Kazuko was speechless. How, after living so long, did she lose a lip battle to a little girl?
As the girl and System bantered inwardly, Liang Jin suddenly let out a yelp.
“What happened?!” Liang Sheng shot to her feet.
Tears welled in Liang Jin’s eyes as she stuck out her pink little tongue. “Sister, it got burned so bad here…”
Liang Sheng leaned in close. “Come on, let Big Sis blow on it for you.”
