Chapter 23: Little Su Luo Is Unhappy

"My, my, look at our little genius! You're dancing so wonderfully," she said, though her expression betrayed her thoughts.

Hearing his aunt's praise, little Su Luo danced even more energetically, his moves growing increasingly bizarre.

Su Xingwan: "..."

She walked over and took the tablet he was watching, only to see a video of a group of middle-aged men and women dancing wildly in a public square.

Su Xingwan: "..."

She paused for a moment to compose herself before saying to the two little ones, "Babies, isn't it time for bed now?"

"...Oh."

Little Su Hua tidied up her crayons, and little Su Luo obediently stopped his dance.

Su Xingwan stood up, picked one of them up, and headed into the master bedroom. Once their winter coats were off, the two little ones scrambled into the soft quilts, rolling around. As soon as their aunt lay down, they quickly snuggled up to her, pressing close as they drifted off to sleep. Su Xingwan, who had found it quite awkward at first, had by now grown accustomed to it.

After the lights were out, the System suddenly spoke to its little host in his mind. It said deliberately, [Little host, your dancing is actually quite ugly. Your aunt was just teasing you.]

Little Su Luo opened his eyes in the darkness.

[You're lying. Auntie wouldn't do that.]

The System countered, [Hmph, I told you she’s a wicked woman. How could she possibly like you for real?]

Little Su Luo: [You’re a bad System, trying to say mean things about Auntie again.]

The System brought out its trump card: [If your aunt is so good, why hasn't she found your older brother and brought him back yet?]

Little Su Luo froze. His young mind couldn't quite process that.

Seeing its scheme succeed, the System gave a smug, triumphant smile. That’s it! He is destined to become a great villain; he shouldn't be living so cheerfully and brightly in his childhood. Doubting his wicked aunt is the right thing to do.

The System had always wanted to fulfill its villainous mission—to mold its little host into a budding antagonist—but the task had remained stalled since it bound with him. Since his aunt wasn't playing by the rules and wasn't abusing him as expected, the task of "villainous supervision" would have to be handled by the System itself. Being a heartless entity, its only goal was to cultivate the host and get the plot back on track.

Early the next morning, Su Xingwan got up to prepare breakfast.

She noticed little Su Luo looking listless and felt puzzled. From the time he woke up until now, he hadn't greeted her as he usually did. She walked over and felt his forehead. No fever?

Looking down, she saw that he had barely touched the breakfast she made. She couldn't help but ask, "Baby, what's wrong? Is the breakfast not to your liking?"

Little Su Luo looked at his aunt, shook his head, and remained silent, bowing his head to slowly eat the sweet porridge she had prepared. Throughout the rest of the morning, he remained dejected, neither playing with his toys nor dancing.

Little Su Hua also noticed her brother's strange behavior. She quietly ran up to Su Xingwan and asked, "Auntie, what's wrong with Brother?"

Su Xingwan looked toward little Su Luo, who was hiding in the bedroom, feeling even more confused. He had been so happy yesterday; why was he so wilted today? It was completely out of character for his lively personality.

By the afternoon, Su Xingwan had to head out. She took little Su Hua with her and called out to little Su Luo in the bedroom, "Baby, are you coming out with Auntie today?"

There was no response from the room.

Su Xingwan had no choice but to take little Su Hua along. She figured that the photoshoot she had scheduled with her senior, Yang Meng, would only take a few hours, and she would be back before dinner. Surely it would be fine for little Su Luo to stay home alone for a few hours?

The moment she closed the door, little Su Luo ran out of the bedroom, not even bothering to put on his shoes. He stared at the tightly shut door with wide eyes.

The System chimed in: [See? See? Your aunt revealed her true colors so quickly. She doesn't want you anymore.]

With a sudden wail, little Su Luo burst into loud tears.

"Auntie... Auntie..."

The System was flustered. It had no idea how to comfort a crying child. Little Su Luo displayed the immense lung power of a child, crying for half an hour straight. The System was driven mad by the sound and, in desperation, tried to soothe him.

[My little ancestor, please stop crying. You're going to be a powerful, intimidating villain one day. If anyone found out you were a crybaby as a child, you'd be so ashamed!]

But little Su Luo ignored it, sitting on the floor and continuing to sob.

Far away, Su Xingwan was still worrying about little Su Luo back home. Little Su Hua looked up at her and asked, "Auntie, are we really not taking Brother with us?"

Su Xingwan thought for a moment, then sent a message to Yang Meng to reschedule the shoot for tomorrow. After receiving his confirmation, she let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, let's go home now. Let’s get Brother settled first, and we can go out tomorrow instead, okay?"

"Okay!" A happy smile immediately lit up little Su Hua's face.

As they reached the front door, Su Xingwan heard the faint, whimpering sounds of crying from inside. She paused and hurriedly entered the passcode. The moment the door opened, she saw little Su Luo rushing toward her, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Seeing his red-rimmed eyes, the tears clinging to his eyelashes, and the runny nose, it was clear he had been crying for a long time. Her heart ached for him instantly. In all the time she had spent with him, this was the first time she had seen him cry.

She quickly grabbed a few tissues from the coffee table to wipe the tears and mucus from his face. Seeing Su Xingwan return, the System sighed in relief. [Finally, he stopped crying.]

Little Su Hua walked over to comfort him. "Brother, don't cry. Auntie didn't leave you behind."

Little Su Luo remained silent, his head lowered.

Su Xingwan asked again, "Baby? Were you unhappy today? Tell Auntie what happened. And remember, didn't Auntie tell you that you shouldn't bottle things up, and that you should speak your mind?"

"That's right, Brother. You can't be like me; Auntie really cares about you," little Su Hua added, mimicking her aunt by patting his head.

Little Su Luo looked up and finally spoke: "Auntie, when can you bring my big brother back?"

Su Xingwan froze. So, he had been unhappy all day because of his brother.

Hearing this, little Su Hua also looked at her aunt. "Auntie, I miss Big Brother too."

In truth, the two little ones had always missed their older brother, but they never dared to tell their aunt, fearing she would revert to the person she once was. In the past, whenever they mentioned him, the "bad" aunt would glare at them fiercely and say, "Your big brother isn't coming back, so give up that thought! If anyone else disobeys me, I'll sell you off too."

The two of them would huddle together, terrified.