He just broke up with his girlfriend and is already living with the devilish rich girl.

In the kitchen, the range hood was humming.

Zheng Yueyao gripped the kitchen knife, her movements much slower than usual.

The stitches on her rib wound had just been removed, and with each cut, the wound aggravated, causing fine beads of sweat to seep from her forehead.

Zheng Xingguang stood beside her, took the knife from her hand, and silently chopped the rest of the vegetables.

"Sis, you rest, I'll do it."

"Hmm... Xiao Guang is already helping his older sister with chores." She smiled and didn't refuse.

It took a long time to prepare a meal.

There weren't many dishes, but she did her best, and every dish was the kind of flavor her father rarely praised before.

The food was prepared and neatly arranged on the table.

The siblings sat at the table, neither of them touching their chopsticks, just waiting.

The soup noodles slowly stopped steaming, so Zheng Yueyao took it back to the kitchen to reheat it and put it back on the table.

"Uncle Chen said Dad has time to come home for dinner today, he should be here soon."

She glanced at the clock on the wall, as if trying to comfort herself.

Zheng Xingguang remained silent.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze falling on the gauze on his sister's forehead, where the stitches hadn't been removed yet, and he frowned slightly.

"Sister, you should stay in the hospital."

"It's nothing, just a minor injury, it won't make a difference."

Zheng Yueyao smiled and shook her head, her voice light and cheerful. As if afraid he would feel the atmosphere was too heavy, she added, "Father rarely comes back, we can't let him come back to eat takeout, can we?"

Zheng Xingguang gave a cold laugh.

"He actually arrived last night."

Zheng Yueyao's smile faltered for a moment.

Zheng Xingguang didn't look at her, but stared at the plate of ribs in front of him with his head down, his voice as calm as if he were stating a fact that had nothing to do with him.

"But he didn't even visit you in the hospital. To that man, is this still home?"

"Xiaoguang, don't say that."

Zheng Yueyao clutched the hem of her clothes, trying her best to maintain a smile.

"My father... has a lot of things to deal with. The city is in complete chaos right now, and he's the head of the expert team—"

Before he could finish speaking, the door opened.

Zheng Ningyuan walked in.

He was wearing a well-fitting dark suit, his tie was tied meticulously, and his leather shoes made a steady sound as they stepped on the floor of the entryway.

The slightly disheveled middle-aged man who sat on the back door steps last night is gone.

Standing at the door at this moment is one of the four war zone commanders of the Special Administration Bureau, whose brows exude an imposing and dignified aura.

This is clearly his home, but he acts like a leader who has come to inspect the work temporarily.

His gaze swept over the shoe cabinet in the entryway, over the coffee table in the living room, and over the three dishes and a soup on the dining table, his expressionless.

"Father."

The two siblings stood up.

Zheng Ningyuan's gaze first fell on Zheng Xingguang, paused for a second, and then turned to Zheng Yueyao.

"Your injury hasn't healed yet?"

Zheng Yueyao paused for a moment, then nodded vigorously: "Yes, yes, Father. The doctor said it will be fine in another week—"

"Yes, take good care of yourself."

After saying that, she turned around and walked straight to her room, leaving without looking back with the words, "I'm going back to change my clothes; I have a social engagement later."

"Huh?" Zheng Yueyao took two steps to catch up.

"But... I did it—"

The guest room door was closed.

Zheng Yueyao stood there, her outstretched hand still hanging in mid-air, before slowly lowering it after a while.

Zheng Xingguang sat back down in his chair, staring blankly at the closed door.

That room was basically unoccupied, but Zheng Yueyao still insisted on cleaning it every day.

She held a stubborn belief that as long as the room was still there, as long as the food was still being cooked, and as long as the house was warm every time he came back.

Then this place will still be a home.

After a while, the door opened.

Zheng Ningyuan changed his clothes and walked out, heading straight for the door. His gaze swept over the dining table, without glancing at his daughter who was still standing there.

"Father!"

Zheng Xingguang stood up, while Zheng Ningyuan stopped at the entrance without turning around.

"Tell me what's going on at the meeting tomorrow."

"This meal... was prepared for you by my sister despite her injuries."

The boy's voice trembled.

"She had seventeen stitches and almost died last night. She applied to leave the hospital early today and has been busy since this afternoon preparing this meal. Can't you even sit down and eat a bite?"

Zheng Ningyuan's voice was calm: "Then it can only be said that her perseverance was not used where it should have been."

The living room was so quiet you could hear the clock ticking.

Zheng Xingguang clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms.

Her thin shoulders trembled slightly, her eyes were red-rimmed, yet she stubbornly stared wide-eyed.

"What do we mean to you?"

Sitting opposite her, Zheng Yueyao hurriedly stood up, but because she moved too quickly, she aggravated her wound and bent over in pain.

"Hikaru...stop talking."

Zheng Ningyuan turned his head.

The warm yellow light from the living room shone on his face, but it couldn't warm those two gazes.

He looked at his two children as if they were two action reports that did not meet expectations.

"You are my children, but until you are worthy of the Zheng family name and worthy of taking over my position and responsibilities, you are nothing."

"Have you ever done anything that befits a father?"

"If you dislike us so much, why did you bring us into this world in the first place!"

"Hikaru!"

Despite the excruciating pain, Zheng Yueyao rushed over, hugged her younger brother's waist, and pushed him back forcefully.

The boy struggled for a moment, but was eventually pushed back into the chair by his sister.

Just then, she felt a sharp pain in her ribs.

Looking down, I saw a small red stain had seeped into my white shirt.

But she gritted her teeth and didn't make a sound. She quietly turned her body to the side to cover the bloodstains and forced a smile as she looked at her father.

"I'm sorry, Father! Xiao Guang... he's under too much pressure because so many of our compatriots have died in recent operations, so—"

Zheng Ningyuan's gaze lingered for a moment on the red stain that had seeped into his daughter's waist, but only for a moment.

Then he reached up, adjusted his glasses, and gave a cold laugh.

"Take your anger out on the enemy, and you, get back to the hospital right now."

When you're done, turn around and leave.

The two siblings sat at the dining table, neither of them speaking.

The soup had stopped steaming, and a thin layer of oil floated on top.

After a long pause, Zheng Yueyao finally picked up her chopsticks and broke the silence in a relaxed tone.

"Come on, let's eat. Your sister has been cooking for a long time."

She picked up the best-looking piece of pork rib and carefully placed it in the bowl opposite her, her voice light and cheerful: "Xiao Guang, don't you love the pork ribs your sister cooks the most? Eat them while they're hot, they won't taste good when they're cold."

"Sister..." Zheng Xingguang held the chopsticks without moving, his head down.

"Sorry, I just..."

"It's fine."

Zheng Yueyao smiled, picked up a piece, put it in her mouth, and chewed it vigorously.

"Those are things I wanted to say too."

"It's just that my sister isn't as capable as you; she always swallows back what she's about to say."

"Hmph, I feel so much better knowing you can curse that old geezer for me."

Zheng Xingguang's lips curved slightly at her amusement, but the smile vanished in an instant.

The two siblings began to eat in silence, their chopsticks making a soft sound as they touched the rim of their bowls.

No one mentioned what had just happened again, but the gloom in their hearts, like the increasingly heavy rain outside the window, spread and wouldn't dissipate.

After finishing their meal, Zheng Xingguang insisted on taking his sister back to the hospital.

When the nurse came to change the dressing, she lifted the gauze and saw that the wound had split open.

The nurse gasped, but Zheng Yueyao just smiled and waved her hand, saying it was nothing, she had just moved a little too roughly.

When Zheng Xingguang left the hospital, it was already close to 11 p.m.

My sister will stay at the hospital for observation tonight, while I plan to go to the office to review the recent action reports.

The cars and people on the street became blurred in the rain, and the reflections of neon lights were shattered in the puddles.

This made the street, which he had walked countless times, suddenly seem extremely unfamiliar.

He suddenly felt very annoyed.

Too many people have died these days.

Senior Brother He Yuan, seven members of the Third Execution Team, and eight people in the Fifth Squad.

The faces in the canteen whose names he could recognize, and the comrades he had competed against on the training field.

It's all because of that damned beastly breath. Why did it turn out like this?

He is eighteen years old this year.

An A-rank operator, ranked in the top ten in all subjects of the Sword Control Technique Comprehensive Assessment, achieved excellent results in the practical application of talismans, and never fell out of the top three in the Barrier Construction Theory Class.

When others mention Zheng Xingguang, they say, "Commander Zheng's genius son."

But that man never looked him in the eye.

This can't go on.

If something like last night were to happen again, he would still be just as powerless.

He could only watch helplessly as his sister was pierced in front of him.

They can't even control their own emotions.

He stopped and realized he had walked into the door of a 24-hour convenience store.

White light shone through the glass doors onto the wet sidewalk.

He closed the umbrella and, as if possessed, pushed open the door and went inside.

He walked up to the counter, stood there for a few seconds, and then said, "Boss, a pack of cigarettes, please."

"What kind of cigarette?"

"Um... well, a pack of cigarettes."

"What kind of cigarette?"

Zheng Xingguang opened his mouth, and a rare look of difficulty appeared on his handsome young face.

"I've never smoked before. Do you have any... recommendations for beginners?"

Snapped--

A box of chewing gum was slammed onto the counter.

"I recommend you try this; it tastes similar."

Zheng Xingguang was stunned. He looked up and saw the pale fluorescent light above the counter shining directly on the man's face.

During the day, the man stared at him blankly.

That face was still pale, and there were still several pieces of gauze on it.

The two people stared at each other across the counter for several seconds, their faces expressionless.

"Brother-in-law?"

"?"