TFRLTOP Chapter 102 Part 1

Chapter 102 — The Young Master’s Fake Little Sister 

◎ Too much of a waste to throw away—might as well keep raising her ◎

“Going back?”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go. Ugh, if I’d known, I should’ve just gone on that school trip.” Mingming looked utterly disappointed as she grabbed her little bag and turned to leave.

“Shao. Xin. Xi!”

A voice full of fury and clenched teeth roared from not far away.

Mingming jumped.

She looked up—

What the—!!!

Why the hell was Xiao Yunmu here???

Her mind buzzed. Her first instinct was to run.

Another roar came from across the way. “You dare run—try me!”

Mingming didn’t dare.

She shuffled over to him with a guilty smile. “Brother…”

She tentatively slipped her hand into his.

“What a… coincidence? Hehe?”

“You think this is a coincidence?” Xiao Yunmu’s face was cold.

“Explain. Why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be on the school trip?”

Mingming muttered defensively, “I said I was going on a trip… I never said it had to be with the school…”

“You said you wanted to join the school activity! That’s the only reason I let you go!” he yelled.

Mingming shrank her neck down. Did I really say that?

System: “Yes, you did. I can testify.”

Crap.

Xiao Yunmu pointed at her, shaking with anger.

“The second I take my eyes off you, you start causing trouble, don’t you—”

Mingming lunged forward and hugged his arm so hard he actually staggered. “I was wrong, I was wrong! Brother, just listen to me explain—”

“Let go!”

“No! Brother, don’t be mad! Getting angry is bad for your health! I know I was wrong, I’ll behave from now on.”

Mingming sounded downright human for once.

Xiao Yunmu didn’t believe her for a second. If he hadn’t rushed over, how long would she have stayed here? What had she come here for? Why did she purposely avoid him?

“So now you know how to lie? You told the school I wouldn’t let you go, told me you were going, and then you came all by yourself to a place you don’t know at all. Tell me—what exactly were you planning? Huh?”

He tried to pull his arm back, but Mingming clung like a koala.

Facing his interrogation, she obviously couldn’t tell the truth. So she went with vague complaints.

She pouted. “Can’t you just loosen up a little? I don’t have any freedom.”

Xiao Yunmu almost laughed from sheer anger. “Me? Too strict? Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused since you were a kid? I look away for one second and the boys are fist-fighting because of you. I blink and you’re sneaking off with some boy. And this time? Why? Did you come alone or with some guy?”

“I came alone! Alone!” Mingming squeaked.

Only then did his expression ease slightly.

He chalked all this up to teenage rebellion.

Maybe I really am too strict?

“I’m just afraid that if I stop watching you for one second, one day you’ll hand me a pregnancy test and drag home some blond kid telling me he’s your true love.”

“That won’t happen, that won’t happen…” Mingming protested. “Do you really think I’m that kind of person?”

Xiao Yunmu snorted. “I don’t trust you, but I trust men even less. With that tiny brain of yours, if you run into a clever guy, he’ll scam you down to dust. I’m preventing disaster.”

“…You don’t have to pretend I can’t hear you calling me stupid,” Mingming glared.

He gave a short, amused “heh.” “So you are capable of understanding.”

Mingming tried to restore her dignity. “Don’t change the subject! What I meant was—”

Xiao Yunmu lifted his eyes, giving her a cool look.

“What I meant… was that blond or whatever—I don’t care about them! You’re my true love, Brother!”

Mingming pressed a hand to her chest and dramatically began reciting, “Brother is the best in the world, brother’s girl is a little sprout—”

“Hmm?”

“—a little treasure…” she drawled, clinging to his arm and leaning her whole body against him. She lifted her chin with one hand, acting like a delicate flower bud. “Look how you’ve raised me—pale and slim and so adorable!”

Xiao Yunmu’s expression shifted, just slightly. He pulled his arm back and pinched her cheek. “Don’t hug boys like that. Ever heard of personal boundaries between men and women?”

Mingming saw he was softening and didn’t care about his scolding—time to strike while the iron was hot. “Brother, you’re the best! You and I are number one besties! Bi-heart! Saranghae! Ayi wash-railroad!”

“…Stop… whatever that is,” he muttered, eye twitching. “And stop flattering yourself. You’re not slim.”

Mingming instantly snapped. “You’d better take that back! I’m sparing you right now!”

When he didn’t correct himself, she leapt onto his back to fight him.

“Am I heavy? You can carry me just fine! Am I heavy??”

“I’m obviously skinny! Super skinny!”

Since she couldn’t see his face, Xiao Yunmu’s lips curled in a faint smile.

“Say I’m skinny! Or I’ll bite you!”

“Shao Xinxī, aren’t you getting a bit too bold? Do you realize the situation you’re in? I haven’t even forgiven you yet—stop pushing your luck,” he said coolly.

On his back, Mingming silently pouted. She’d really thought she’d gotten away with it.

“Brother…” she murmured against his neck.

“Mm?”

“Why… did you take me in back then?”

Xiao Yunmu shot back, “When did I ever ‘take you in’?”

Right. The Xiao family’s young master had never officially acknowledged the existence of this so-called illegitimate daughter. Mingming was basically just… staying in their house.

She paused, then rephrased, “Then why did you keep me?”

Xiao Yunmu was quiet for a while, looking unusually pensive—just when Mingming expected something like “I pitied you,” or “we were fated,” he instead said flatly:

“No real reason. I just felt raising a little meatball was kind of satisfying. If I threw you out, you’d probably shrivel into a skeleton. That’d be a waste. Might as well keep raising you.”

Mingming fell silent.

She stared at him. “Are you seriously f***ing serious?”

This was so absurd that she couldn’t stop herself from swearing.

“Watch your mouth,” Xiao Yunmu scolded sharply.

Mingming immediately deflated.

Internally: Is this man even human?!

Xiao Yunmu waited. She’d been quiet too long.

“Why’d you stop talking?”

“…I’m not fat,” Mingming grumbled.

Xiao Yunmu let out a low laugh.

On the way back, Xie Yunmu suddenly remembered he still hadn’t finished interrogating her.
“So what exactly were you doing here? What’s so fun about this place? If you wanted to go out and play, couldn’t you just tell me? You think I wouldn’t take you?”

Ming Ming’s eyes darted around. She couldn’t exactly say she was here to find the male lead—and what normal excuse could justify committing such a “crime against the crown”?