Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Wha-what?

Hearing Lu Huan’s words, Lu Xiao let out an unconcealed laugh. “You tattled to Mother yesterday, didn’t you? And she didn’t reply? Well, she just sent me a message. She said I can handle you however I want, as long as I help you sort out this mess. She also told you not to message her anymore.”

As she spoke, Lu Xiao even pulled up her chat history with Lu Ge Wei to show Lu Huan.

This completely silenced Lu Huan, who had been about to argue.

’She never imagined Lu Ge Wei would actually wash her hands of her!’

Seeing her devastated expression, Lu Xiao continued, “Your brother-in-law and I have to go to work soon. You’ll be home by yourself. Someone will deliver food for you at noon. Your task is to clean the house in exchange for your room and board. Don’t even think about slacking off. I can choose whether or not to feed you. If you don’t believe me, feel free to test me.”

Lu Xiao’s tone was level, but her words were strict.

Lu Huan glanced at her and mumbled an acknowledgment, her head lowered. Her heart was racing with panic. ’If Lu Ge Wei has really abandoned me, then I’m truly at Lu Xiao’s mercy.’

Lu Xiao paid no mind to what Lu Huan was thinking. After breakfast, she left with Ares.

In the car, Lu Xiao said, “I need you to come with me to Earl Huai’an Mansion. When are you free?”

Regardless of her feelings about Lu Huan, the situation with Earl Huai’an Mansion had to be dealt with.

“Today works. I’m free whenever.” To him, anything involving Lu Xiao was his top priority.

Lu Xiao understood his eagerness and smiled. “There’s no need to rush. Since you’re free anytime, let’s go the day after tomorrow. It’s the weekend, plus we need to prepare a gift.”

’We can’t very well show up empty-handed to apologize.’

“I’ll take care of the gift.” There was no need for Lu Xiao to trouble herself with such things.

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you then. We’ll have the Earl’s Mansion reimburse us for it later.” She was already doing them a huge favor by handling the problem; there was no way she was going to pay for it out of her own pocket. ’Impossible!’

After Lu Xiao left, Lu Huan stared at the dirty dishes on the table and the mess in the kitchen, and her head started to spin.

As a female who had been raised in the lap of luxury, she had always been the one cared for, never the one doing the caring.

’But now, Lu Xiao was actually making her work for her food. It was an absolute insult!’

Still not ready to give up, Lu Huan sent another voice call request to Lu Ge Wei.

This time, Lu Ge Wei actually answered, though her voice dripped with impatience. “What is it?”

“Mother, Lu Xiao won’t feed me, she’s making me do chores, and she won’t even let me go to school! WAHHH… I want to come home, Mother!”

“Go home? What home? Do you have the nerve to come back before this is resolved? Or did you think I would solve it for you? Give up, Lu Huan. I will never bow down to Li Hua’an for your sake. Don’t even think about it. If Lu Xiao won’t solve it for you, then solve it yourself. And if you can’t, then you can just marry his son. You brought all of this on yourself. If you still want to fix this mess, then you will listen obediently to Lu Xiao. If you don’t want to, then do whatever you like. Just stop contacting me. I don’t have time to deal with your nonsense!”

With that, Lu Ge Wei ended the call.

Lu Huan was utterly dumbfounded. For the first time in her eighteen years as a female, she truly understood what it meant to be helpless.

As for Lu Xiao, she couldn’t care less whether Lu Huan was actually at home cleaning.

Because regardless of whether Lu Huan did the work or not, Lu Xiao could handle the situation however she pleased when she returned.

Lu Xiao ordered food for Lu Huan’s lunch.

She wasn’t so cruel as to deliberately starve her. ’A disobedient child is usually just one who hasn’t been taught properly,’ she thought, ’but education isn’t an overnight process.’

After finishing her morning’s work, Lu Xiao returned to the office just in time to hear Teacher Ai Li asking, “Did you all read yesterday’s update of *After the Main Husband Runaway*? I really think Morian doesn’t care anymore. Belle was being all lovey-dovey with her side husband right in front of him, and he didn’t even react! He even started secretly looking for a house. He’s planning to move out. I’m starting to believe he’s really determined to get a divorce.”

Teacher Sherry chimed in, “It’s hard to say. What if he’s just playing hard to get? Isn’t that a classic male tactic?”

“That’s what I thought at first, too,” Teacher Ai Li replied, “but seeing him house-hunting made me waver. We’ll have to wait and see, I guess. But if he’s serious, then all the things Belle is doing right now just seem arrogant. I have a feeling she’s going to have a total meltdown later. I can’t wait to see how the plot unfolds! Xiao, did you read yesterday’s update?”

Teacher Ai Li called out to Lu Xiao the moment she walked in, clearly not wanting her to miss the discussion.

Lu Xiao smiled and nodded. “I did. Morian is pretty brave. I don’t think he’s just bluffing.”

In the new Chapter from the previous night, Lu Xiao had written that Morian was looking for a house, preparing to move out, and also bracing himself for the penalties of divorce.

But while Morian was determined to get a divorce, Belle still believed everything he did was just an act to grab her attention, compete for her favor, and remind her of his existence. So she would deliberately flaunt her affection for her side husband and other husbands in front of him, pointedly giving him the cold shoulder. Afterward, she would even order him to clean up the mess.

In fact, after the Chapter was published, it wasn’t just the protagonist, Belle, who thought this way—many readers in the comments section felt the same.

A particularly active commenter, Miranda, was flooding the comments, insisting that Morian was just playing hard to get, using cheap tricks to win affection, and warning Belle not to fall for it.

Of course, for every faction like Miranda’s that sided with the female lead, there was another faction cheering for Morian to never look back, insisting he had to get a divorce to teach the female lead a lesson.

Needless to say, Lu Xiao’s comment section had been incredibly lively for the past two days.

*

When it was time to leave work, Lu Xiao got into Ares’s car and saw the gift he had prepared for their visit: two boxes of tea leaves.

It was a type of flower tea popular among the females of the Empire.

Lu Xiao had seen it at Lu Ge Wei’s home before.

“How much was this tea? Do you still have the receipt?”

“I do.” Knowing exactly why she was asking, Ares handed her the receipt.

Lu Xiao took it and glanced at the price. It was expensive, but that didn’t matter. ’Someone else is footing the bill anyway.’

When they got home, Lu Xiao opened the door and scanned the room. She saw that Lu Huan had been sensible enough not to wreck the place in their absence.

Curled up on the sofa, Lu Huan heard the door and looked up. “You’re back.”

She seemed a little down, but her arrogant demeanor was gone. With her face washed, the girl looked fair-skinned, clean, and quite pretty—almost well-behaved.

Seeing her like this, Lu Xiao found her much less grating.

“What did you do at home all day?”

“What else? I cleaned the rooms and tidied the kitchen,” Lu Huan retorted. “I didn’t slack off, I swear! I did everything you told me to do!” Her expression practically screamed, ’Now you have to feed me!’

It seemed she had learned her lesson, at least somewhat. To see this much progress in less than two days was quite satisfying for Lu Xiao.

“Then you can come learn how to cook later.” With that, Lu Xiao headed upstairs, leaving a dumbfounded Lu Huan in her wake.

“…” ’Huh? What did Lu Xiao just say?’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep