“What do you mean by that, miss?”
Seeing the white-clad woman fiercely attacking his younger sister, Han Rubing quickly turned to block her powerful palm.
“Xiaoyu is mine.”
After coldly stating this, she launched another strike towards Han Rubing, who was protecting Han Rushuang and Meng Xiaoyu.
As Han Rubing faced the incoming attack from the white-clad woman, she focused and began to counter.
In an instant, the two figures, one blue and one white, intertwined in the small room.
Meng Xiaoyu was held tightly in Han Rushuang’s embrace, her eyes fixed on the intense battle between the two, and she couldn’t help but think, “This is like a live-action martial arts film! It’s so much better than watching it on TV.”
Just as Meng Xiaoyu was marveling at how much more exciting this live performance was compared to the television version, Han Rushuang, who was holding her protectively, was coldly eyeing Yan Rumei, who was not far from them.
Yan Rumei, however, seemed completely unfazed by Han Rushuang’s wary gaze, lazily sitting on a stool and watching the fierce fight unfold with an amused expression.
“Hey, you two, stop fighting!”
After watching Han Rubing and the white-clad woman named Ye go back and forth in the small room without a clear winner, Meng Xiaoyu finally spoke up.
Although her voice was not loud, it successfully caught the attention of the two combatants, as well as the other two in the room.
Looking at the four pairs of eyes now on her, Meng Xiaoyu lowered her head and weakly said, “I’m really tired; I want to sleep.”
After saying this, she raised her head, looking pitifully at the others.
Meng Xiaoyu was speaking the truth; she had just glanced at the solar-powered digital watch on her wrist, which showed that it was already two-thirty in the morning.
For someone like Meng Xiaoyu, who preferred to sleep early and wake up late, this was far too late, and she was struggling to stay awake.
Hearing Meng Xiaoyu’s words, the four of them were momentarily speechless.
However, despite their silence, Han Rushuang couldn’t bear to see the pitiful expression on the girl in her arms, so she wrapped her arms around Meng Xiaoyu’s waist and started to walk towards the door, intending to take the now yawning girl back to the inn to rest.
But before she could take three steps, she was blocked by the cold-faced Ye in white.
“Xiaoyu is mine; I won’t allow you to take her away.”
The cold voice and forceful tone made Han Rushuang frown, and her expression grew even colder.
As Meng Xiaoyu, who had been yawning in Han Rushuang’s embrace, felt the chill emanating from the two, she shivered slightly.
“Oh? Since when did my little one become yours?”
Han Rubing, looking at the white-clad woman blocking her sister, smiled alluringly at Meng Xiaoyu.
Seeing Han Rubing’s enchanting smile and hearing her seemingly directed question at Ye, but actually aimed at herself, Meng Xiaoyu wanted to boldly shout, “I belong to myself!”
However, when she saw the three pairs of eyes staring at her intently, she lost her courage and fell silent.
“Xiaoyu, come over here.”
After a brief standoff between the two sisters, Ye, noticing Meng Xiaoyu trapped in Han Rushuang’s embrace, spoke again, her voice a stark contrast to the earlier coldness, now filled with warmth.
Taken aback by Ye’s sudden change, Meng Xiaoyu was momentarily confused.
“What’s going on? Weren’t you just coldly confronting Sister Rushuang? Why are you suddenly focused on me? This kind of mood swing isn’t right! And please, don’t look at me with that overly sweet expression; it can easily lead to misunderstandings! Can’t you feel the temperature around Sister Rushuang dropping several degrees? And isn’t Sister Rubing’s smile becoming increasingly dangerous? Fine! Even if you don’t mind the cold or the danger, what about me? I do!”
After mentally venting her frustrations about Ye, Meng Xiaoyu glanced up at Han Rushuang, who was still radiating coldness, and at Sister Bing, who was standing beside them with an alluring smile.
Seeing Han Rushuang’s increasingly frosty expression and Han Rubing’s dangerously charming smile, Meng Xiaoyu felt tears welling up again, thinking, “Sister Rushuang, please stop making it colder; I really hate the cold! And Sister Rubing, please don’t smile so seductively; it’s really creepy!”
“Xiaoyu, come over here.”
After waiting a moment and seeing no response from Meng Xiaoyu, Ye repeated her request, her expression even more tender than before.
Hearing Ye’s words again, Meng Xiaoyu felt a bit annoyed and lifted her head to say, “Please stop calling me; I’m really not your little Xiaoyu, we aren’t close at all!”
But when she met Ye’s extremely gentle expression, the words she intended to say were swallowed back down.
“A gentle older sister!”
Meng Xiaoyu couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, completely forgetting the potential punishment she might face from Han Rubing’s sisters, and instead, she was lost in admiration for the gentle demeanor of Ye before her.
Noticing Meng Xiaoyu’s infatuation with the white-clad woman in front of them, Han Rushuang’s eyes flashed with a complex emotion, and her grip around Meng Xiaoyu’s waist unconsciously tightened.
It wasn’t until the slight pain in her waist jolted the daydreaming Meng Xiaoyu back to reality that she snapped out of it.
“Sister Rushuang?”
The slight discomfort in her waist brought Meng Xiaoyu back to her senses, and she turned to look at Han Rushuang, who was frowning deeply, her lips pressed tightly together, and her gaze distant, lost in thought.
Since arriving in this world and meeting Han Rubing’s sisters, this was the first time Meng Xiaoyu had seen Han Rushuang like this, which made her wonder why the usually aloof Sister Rushuang was showing such an expression.
It also stirred a dull ache in her heart; she didn’t like seeing Sister Rushuang look like this.
That feeling was painful, and as she thought about it, Meng Xiaoyu reached out to gently smooth the furrowed brow of Han Rushuang.
Just as Han Rushuang was lost in her own feelings of disappointment and unease, feeling the gentle touch on her brow, she looked down to meet Meng Xiaoyu’s slightly worried expression.
Instantly, the unease and disappointment that had been lingering in her heart vanished without a trace, and she silently scolded herself for feeling such insecurity and loss.
“Xiaoyu would never leave me and my sister, and we will never let her go, not ever.”
With this thought, Han Rushuang’s brow relaxed, and her tightly pressed lips formed a gentle curve.
