Chapter 77: Chapter 77: There Is a Girl in the Village Named Xiaofang

"Oh, Da Huang. You used to be Da Huang the male dog, and now you’re Da Huang the eunuch."

"See? It even sounds cuter. ’Eunuch’ is much better than ’male dog’."

Xue Rui brainwashed Da Huang for his own amusement, not caring whether the dog understood or not. The process had to be followed, after all.

He ruffled Da Huang’s head and had a sudden, strange illusion.

’Da Huang looked so much cuter now that his balls were gone—almost refined.’

"See? Now this pink collar will suit you perfectly. Don’t you agree?"

Da Huang let out a soft whimper, his tail wagging back and forth as if in response to Xue Rui.

"See? I told you you’d agree..."

...

In reality, dogs don’t understand human words, only tone.

When Xue Rui said all this, his tone was gentle, and he had a wide grin on his face...

In any case, Xue Rui felt that Da Huang had become much more obedient. At the very least, the dog’s attitude toward him had improved significantly;

Wherever he tugged the leash, Da Huang would follow. He wasn’t as stubborn as before.

Just as he was about to take Da Huang back to Lin Ruoxi’s place, he got a call from Xie Jianfeng, who told him about a dinner gathering that afternoon.

So, he leashed Da Huang and headed toward the restaurant.

"Da Huang, you just had surgery. I’m taking you out to a nice restaurant to help you recover."

Xue Rui gave a light tug on the leash and started walking in a different direction.

Da Huang, however, was not happy. He plopped his butt on the ground and stared intently at the entrance to the residential complex, as if searching for something.

Xue Rui paused and waited for a moment, thinking Da Huang needed to pee on the roadside again.

But in the end, Da Huang just stared blankly at the students in their school uniforms.

"If you’re not peeing, then let’s go." Xue Rui clicked his tongue and gave the leash a firm tug.

...

When they arrived at the restaurant, Xue Rui led Da Huang straight inside.

"Hello, you can’t bring..." The male waiter at the entrance stopped mid-sentence when he realized it was Xue Rui.

"Why’d you bring a dog? It’s not good if the customers see it."

The waiter’s respectful demeanor vanished instantly, and he spoke as if to a friend.

"I’ll go in through the back." Xue Rui grinned and slipped in through the rear kitchen entrance.

On his way, he ran into the head chef, Master Li, and said with a smile, "Master Li, boil two bull testicles for me."

Master Li was chubby and sat smoking by the back door. From a distance, he looked like a ball emitting smoke.

Hearing this request, he gave Xue Rui a strange look.

After glancing around, he leaned in and asked with a grin, "Got a girlfriend?"

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. ’Where is your mind going?’ He pointed at Da Huang. "It’s for the dog."

"Tch~ And here I thought it was something important. Just feed him whatever."

Master Li was disappointed he didn’t get any gossip.

"My dog just had his two balls removed. They say you should eat like for like to recover, so he needs to eat two balls," Xue Rui said seriously.

"You kid... you actually have a point."

Xue Rui left Da Huang with a waitress who was on her break to play with. ’They’re all sisters now, anyway,’ he thought. ’I hope they get along well.’

He walked into the restaurant’s main hall.

Xue Rui found Xie Jianfeng dressed in a neatly ironed white shirt and shiny leather shoes. His beer belly protruded slightly, and though he wasn’t nearsighted, he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses.

Xie Jianfeng sat on the sofa, holding up his phone and swiping the screen with a serious expression, like a boss reviewing documents.

Xue Rui got closer and saw it was a game of Fruit Ninja on the screen...

"Dad, what’s with the outfit?" Xue Rui asked curiously.

Xie Jianfeng never wore formal attire. Dressed like this today, Xue Rui almost didn’t recognize him.

"I don’t know what that kid will be wearing, but I can’t lose to him in terms of presence," Xie Jianfeng chuckled.

Xue Rui smiled. ’Anyone who didn’t know better would think you were the vice-director,’ he thought.

"Yaoyao is upstairs. Just go on up and wait."

Xie Jianfeng said casually, his eyes glued to the screen.

Xue Rui shook his head. He noticed his old man was in a good mood today. It seemed the two families would be seeing a lot more of each other from now on.

As he was leaving, he heard Xie Jianfeng humming a little tune:

"There’s a girl in the village named Xiaofang, pretty and kind, with a pair of beautiful big eyes, and braids..."

Xue Rui’s eye twitched. The song was called "Xiaofang." It was an oldie, one Xie Jianfeng listened to in his youth.

But... weren’t those lyrics basically describing his mother, Ren Qunfang?

"Dad, if you don’t want to get into another fight with Director Gu, you’d better hum a different song," Xue Rui advised.

Xie Jianfeng froze. On his phone screen, a pile of fruit fell to the ground, and he lost a ton of points.

"You’re right..." he muttered, then immediately turned off his phone.

Xue Rui confidently made his way to the private room on the top floor.

That room was the largest and most expensive, open only to members who spent over 200,000 yuan a year.

Although Xie Jianfeng hadn’t told him which room, Xue Rui didn’t need to ask.

Since they were hosting a childhood friend he hadn’t seen in years, they would naturally use the most expensive room.

When he walked in, he saw Xue Yao playing on her phone.

For some reason, the moment Xue Rui looked at his sister, his mood soured. Suddenly, everything about Xue Yao seemed to annoy him.

For instance, the short, black, pleated skirt she was wearing today—he thought it was too short.

In truth, most men are like this. They want girls on the street to wear the shortest skirts possible so they can look at their thighs.

But when it comes to the girls in their own family, they want them to dress as modestly as possible. It takes a man to know a man.

But has anyone ever stopped to think, if all the girls were so obedient, where would they find any thighs to look at?

"Bro, sit." Xue Yao glanced at him and patted the seat next to her.

Xue Rui walked over and snatched Xue Yao’s phone away.

"So young and already a phone zombie. In a few years, you’ll have neck problems."

Even though the Xue Yao of his past life never got neck problems, he still said it.

"Stop acting like a grown-up. If you want to play, just say so. It’s not like I won’t let you," Xue Yao said irritably.

"What did you just say?" Xue Rui’s eyes narrowed.

Xue Yao swallowed hard and gave an awkward smile. "You’re right, Bro."

The truth was, Xue Yao was a little afraid of Xue Rui. No matter how unreasonably she acted, the rest of the family would always coax her.

Only Xue Rui... when he got angry, he would actually hit her.

"And what is with that skirt you’re wearing?"

"What kind of girl sits cross-legged on a chair while wearing a skirt?"

"Aren’t you afraid of flashing someone? You have no posture..."

Xue Rui subconsciously started nitpicking at Xue Yao, not noticing her expression gradually darkening.

"You!" Xue Yao was reaching her limit. Although she was afraid of Xue Rui, she had a temper of her own.

She snapped, "What do you know? This is called fashion, okay? I swear, you’re like some kind of fossil..."

"Bro, you’ve never had a girlfriend, have you?" Xue Yao said, looking at him sideways.

Xue Rui snorted. He knew that no matter what he said, not much of it would get through to Xue Yao.

"Says the one who’s dated so many people," Xue Rui retorted sarcastically.

"You don’t know..."

Xue Rui cut her off. "If you dare to date anyone right now, I’ll break both your legs and the boy’s."

"What I meant was, since you’ve never had a girlfriend, you wouldn’t know about something called safety shorts. I’m not afraid of flashing anyone," Xue Yao explained.

Xue Rui thought, ’This dumb sister of mine actually has some sense of safety, knowing to wear shorts under her skirt.’

’But is this really about wearing safety shorts or not? It’s about not wanting to be checked out by other people.’

"Never seen safety shorts before, have you?" Xue Yao said with a grin.

Seeing Xue Rui’s silence, she thought her big brother really didn’t know.

It was just the two of them in the private room.

Xue Yao slung an arm over Xue Rui’s shoulder and said, half-joking and half-negotiating:

"Bro, wanna see? I’ll let you have a look. Just give me my phone back."

Xue Rui’s eyelid twitched. ’If it were Gu Muxue or Lin Ruoxi, of course I’d want to see.’

’But this was his own sister, Xue Yao. The thought just disgusted him.’

"You disgust me," Xue Rui said, his face full of contempt.

"Hmph!" Xue Yao’s stubborn streak flared up.

She had been contrary with Xue Rui since they were kids. Since he said he didn’t want to see, she was determined to make him look.

Xue Yao lifted her little hand, and in the corner of Xue Rui’s eye, a flash of blue and white stripes appeared...

"Idiot!" Xue Rui smacked her hard on the head.

’Thank god Gu Muxue’s family isn’t here yet, or this would have been a huge embarrassment...’

Xue Yao clutched her head, tears of pain welling in her eyes, a wronged look on her face.

She muttered, "I remember putting them on..."

Xue Rui’s brows furrowed. ’This is the kind of person who’s going to get into a top university in a few years?’

’Heaven is so unfair!’