Chapter 23: Time Bomb

"What?" Shang Ying thought her ears were playing tricks on her, repeating back to him, "Did you just say sorry to me?"

She immediately realized what Shang Yi was referring to, letting out a short scoff with an indifferent air.

"How can you blame yourself for that? Why take other people's mistakes and pile them onto yourself?"

"It was because of me that things went wrong," Shang Yi lowered his head even further, his voice so muffled it nearly faded away completely.

Watching him fall into a spiral of self-blame, his face darkening by the second, Shang Ying tried to open her mouth several times without knowing how to comfort him. To say it had nothing to do with him wasn't entirely true, but to say it was his fault. How could she possibly blame him?!

Besides, Shang Ying didn't know how to coax people at all. Normally, she was the one doing the scolding, only feeling satisfied once she reduced others to tears. The concept of "soothing someone" simply didn't exist in her vocabulary. After carefully tailoring her words for a good while, she finally came up with a decent line to comfort him.

"It was only because of you that I was safe. Otherwise, those guys would have beaten me up, so I should actually be thanking you."

"But..."

"Say one more word and I'll beat you myself."

Shang Ying shot him a glare. Shang Yi shut his mouth, though he still looked thoroughly unhappy.

"I'll beat you even if you're unhappy."

"..."

They arrived home two hours late.

The moment Shang Heng saw Shang Ying, he put on a stern, cold face and launched into a lecture.

"Coming home this late, where on earth did you go again?! Midterms are coming up soon, and I have no idea how you expect to keep playing around like this!"

"You don't know, huh? Fine, then I'll tell you..."

Shang Ying attempted to preach back to him with complete seriousness, only to be glared down into silence by Shang Heng.

‘Fine, she couldn't afford to provoke this old man right now.’ Once she bought a new cloisonné vase to replace the broken one, she'd stand tall and argue back with him with her head held high.

In the study.

Shang Heng sat in his chair, busying himself with official business while occasionally glancing up at Shang Ying sitting across from him to check her homework progress.

At first, he had merely checked her homework every evening. But after examining it closely, he discovered that every single problem Shang Ying did was correct. The other subjects were one thing, but the glaring issue lay with chemistry.

How could someone who couldn't even finish memorizing the periodic table get every single question right on a chemistry test paper?! It would be a miracle if that were genuine!

Consequently, Shang Ying was dragged straight into the study to do her homework under his personal supervision. Her phone was confiscated, leaving her no choice but to write her homework obediently, leaving blank spaces for questions she couldn't solve while waiting for Shang Heng to explain them one by one.

With just a single glance, he caught Shang Ying zoning out. He smacked her forehead with his palm, infuriated by her lack of effort.

"Zoning out again! How many times have you spaced out already?! Ten minutes ago you were staring at this exact same problem! If you don't know it, move to the next one. Stop wasting time sitting there!"

Shang Ying clutched her head. Knowing she was in the wrong, she couldn't help muttering back a couple of lines.

"I was thinking! Thinking, do you understand?! Not everyone can instantly spout answers like a genius, and I'm definitely not one."

Shang Heng let out a cold scoff.

"Of course you aren't. You're a genetic lottery failure, the single fool standing amidst a pile of geniuses."

‘Damn.’

Shang Ying wanted to talk back, but the moment her eyes landed on the cloisonné vase shards sitting on Shang Heng's desk, she gritted her teeth and swallowed her words back down. Watching her look like a mute eating bitter herbs made Shang Heng want to laugh.

‘Looks like breaking this cloisonné vase wasn't entirely in vain.’

Swallowing her resentment silently, Shang Ying flipped through her textbook trying to find a similar example problem. She couldn't resist taking a sneaky peek at the old man, only to get caught red-handed, forcing her to immediately pretend to be busy.

On the very first day she transmigrated here, Shang Heng hadn't been like this. Back then, he was stern, composed, and carried the exact, reserved demeanor of an elite family patriarch.

Ever since that argument, it felt like his two main energy channels had been unlocked. Sharp, insulting remarks poured out of him endlessly, backed by blatantly unfair treatment. If she had known that arguing would yield this outcome, she would have rather taken a simple scolding that day.

She could clearly distinguish between a simple scolding and an ongoing nightmare.

After tutoring Shang Ying's wooden chemistry head, Shang Heng felt more exhausted than working a full day. He was already middle-aged, with subtle signs of grey hair sprouting recently, yet he still had to suffer over a child attending high school.

He had heard others say that everyone meets their own retribution in life, and now he could see it clearly. Shang Ying was his retribution, forcing him to experience the agonizing pain of educating a child in his middle age.

After finally finishing the tutoring session, he had to head out for a business engagement.

"Stay home obediently. Read your books tonight and review the material to be covered tomorrow. I'll check it when I get back."

Shang Ying pouted her lips.

"Got it."

Shang Heng frowned upon hearing her mosquito-sized voice.

"Louder!"

"GOT IT!"

Living room, dining table.

Aunt Zhao and several other servants had already laid out the dishes. Ning Wanyuan sat in a seat next to the main chair, offering them a gentle smile.

In the eyes of most servants in the Shang family, this mistress was gentle and considerate, easy to serve without making trouble. A rare, excellent employer. Furthermore, she was virtuous and kept the household running in perfect order.

Although wealthy families had endless complex affairs, they all felt Ning Wanyuan had done more than enough as a stepmother. Thus, whenever they heard the Eldest Miss speaking aggressively to her, they secretly felt the Eldest Miss was far too unreasonable.

Occasionally, when chatting with Ning Wanyuan about this topic, Ning Wanyuan would even make excuses for the Eldest Miss. Where on earth could one find such a good stepmother?

Dragging her body, riddled with holes from chemical attacks, downstairs, Shang Ying found the others already seated, merely waiting for her arrival to begin dinner.

The moment she sat down, she felt thirsty, so she naturally instructed Shang Yi beside her.

"Go pour me a glass of warm water."

Shang Yi nodded, obediently getting up to fetch a glass of water and setting it by Shang Ying's hand.

Taking in this entire scene, Ning Wanyuan lowered her head to eat a bite of vegetables. ‘When on earth had the relationship between these twins improved? Hadn't she successfully made Shang Ying despise Shang Yi before?’

Recently, Shang Ying's temper had grown increasingly strange, gradually slipping out of her control. An inexplicable trace of unease surfaced deep in her heart. ‘No, she had to find a way to bring the situation back into her controllable realm.’

Thus, she ladled a bowl of soup and set it in front of Shang Ying, her smile so tender it could practically drip water.

"Yingying, some new clothing styles have arrived at the boutique. How about Auntie accompany you to buy some tomorrow?"

Ning Wanyuan had observed over the past few days that Shang Ying had been wearing her school uniform to school consecutively, a situation that was virtually impossible in the past. She presumed Shang Ying had grown tired of her existing clothes, which was why she devised this excuse to take her shopping.

Unexpectedly, without even raising her head, Shang Ying uttered two words.

"Not going."

The smile on her face froze for a second before returning to a natural state.

"Since you don't want to go out, I'll just have them deliver the items to the house then. Little Yi's portion can be brought over together."

The moment these words were spoken, the hand Shang Yi used to hold his chopsticks tightened. Without making a sound, he withdrew his hand, not a single trace of emotion drifting across his dark, composed face.

Deep inside, he was terrified. If Shang Ying was a ticking time bomb, then Ning Wanyuan was the person setting the timer. He was filled with dread that in the very next second, Shang Ying would explode, throwing a tantrum as she demanded why Ning Wanyuan was being just as good to him as she was to her.

Immediately after, Shang Ying would look at him with the exact expression and look he wished least to see, declaring that the person she hated most was Shang Yi. And today, he had almost gotten Shang Ying into serious trouble, making it impossible for him to forgive himself.

Before coming into this world, they were together. They were clearly the closest people to each other. One cradle, one room. They had been together continuously, capable of understanding each other's thoughts without needing words or eye contact.

Yet later on, Shang Ying would reveal a look of utter disgust whenever she merely laid eyes on him. At times, he hated himself too. Hated that his own intelligence made Shang Ying unhappy.

He wasn't greedy. He didn't need his sister to treat him well. As long as she didn't look at him with those eyes and stopped fiercely resisting his presence, it would be enough, because they were fundamentally one entity.

He yearned for them to return to the way they used to be, yet he didn't want them to revert to how things were right before.

Ning Wanyuan stopped eating, quietly waiting for Shang Ying's outburst. She had administered a colorless, non-toxic poison. One capable of instantly turning Shang Ying into an enraged, violent little beast.