Zhou Xingqi's hand hovered in the air, somewhat at a loss. He stared at Shen Moyu for a while with an ambiguous expression, then suddenly turned to Xia Wei, pouting aggrievedly, "Auntie, I came all this way back to see you, and look at my brother, he's clearly distanced himself from me."
Shen Moyu jolted, even more embarrassed: "No, I didn't mean that."
Xia Wei smiled helplessly and nudged Shen Moyu with her elbow: "Just eat the food Xiao Qi puts on your plate. Come on, eat more, they made it especially for you."
Zhou Xingqi immediately beamed with joy, his still somewhat youthful face making him even more adorable.
Su Jinning sat to the side, watching Zhou Xingqi joke around with Xia Wei without any restraint, just like a family.
He didn't know what kind of connection Zhou Xingqi had with them, or even how familiar he was with Xia Wei. The way he served himself rice and got his utensils just now was enough to show how familiar he was with this house.
And he himself was Shen Moyu's boyfriend, someone who would get a little nervous whenever he saw Xia Wei.
Zhou Xingqi chatted with Xia Wei for a bit, then turned his gaze to Su Jinning: "Hey, Jinning-ge, is what I made not to your liking? Why haven't you eaten much?"
Su Jinning snapped out of her reverie and said calmly, "No, I'm just not very hungry."
"It's okay, just say if you don't like it." Zhou Xingqi waved his sleeve, his mouth full, exuding the innocent charm of a younger brother next door: "After all, yours is better than mine, it's normal that you don't like it."
Shen Moyu sighed, "Let's eat. Why are we talking about this?"
Xia Wei smiled and said, "You know what, Xiao Ning made this, and it's really delicious. I haven't had such good scallion fish in a long time."
Faced with the unexpected praise, Su Jinning smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, Auntie. If you'd like to eat it, I'll make it for you again sometime."
Xia Wei leaned back in her chair and laughed heartily.
"Actually, I used to make this for my aunt and brother, but I never expected..." Zhou Xingqi put a piece of fish in his mouth, his lips still upturned, but his eyes didn't show any smile: "After Jinning came, his cooking became even better than mine."
Su Jinning held her chopsticks, but couldn't eat. She could tell there was a barb in Zhou Xingqi's words. The implication was that she was just a latecomer.
From the moment he arrived in this family, he deliberately hinted at his relationship with Shen Moyu in every word and phrase, and repeatedly accused him of being a newcomer with a smile that hid a knife in his heart.
Su Jinning looked up at her well-behaved sixteen-year-old brother.
Zhou Xingqi was never considered a simple person from the beginning.
"You guys eat first, I'll go get some drinks." Xia Wei turned her wheelchair and went onto the balcony.
The atmosphere immediately became even more stingy.
Shen Moyu stuffed a mouthful of rice into his mouth, then turned to look at Su Jinning, whose expression wasn't good, and quickly changed the subject: "After we finish eating, let's go watch the ball game together."
Su Jinning seemed a little surprised and mumbled a "Okay."
"Rolling ball?" Zhou Xingqi repeated in confusion.
Su Jinning's mood suddenly brightened considerably, and she forced a smile: "It was a little dog we raised together."
After they finished speaking, the two exchanged a knowing glance.
Judging from Su Jinning's expression, Zhou Xingqi almost thought he was talking about the child they had together.
He poked at the rice in his bowl, glancing past Su Jinning before looking at Shen Moyu: "Brother, Auntie is allergic to dog hair. Did she give you permission to keep one?"
"Of course I've considered that," Su Jinning answered quickly. "That's why I've always kept the dog at my house; he comes to check on it whenever he has time."
They look so irreconcilable; anyone who didn't know better would think they were fighting over child custody.
"Hey? Bro, what happened to your hand?" Zhou Xingqi looked at the wound on his fingertip.
Shen Moyu awkwardly withdrew his hand: "It was just an accidental scratch, it's nothing."
"I happen to have some disinfectant and stuff in my backpack, wait for me to get it," Zhou Xingqi said, getting up to get up.
"No need." Su Jinning swallowed the rice in her mouth and added a piece of fish to her plate. "I just bought some for him, no need to trouble yourself."
Zhou Xingqi paused in his act of standing up, his face tense slightly: "Oh, I see. That's good then."
His smile was still handsome, and he said playfully while biting his chopsticks, "My brother rarely makes friends, so it's really unexpected that he can get along so well with Brother Jinning."
Su Jinning twitched the corner of her mouth but didn't say anything.
"Please take care of my brother. He just has a bit of a temper." Zhou Xingqi blinked.
He said it without batting an eye, displaying his status in a whole new way.
Su Jinning was amused and looked into his very sincere eyes: "He does have a bad temper, but he's just a kid."
He emphasized the word "kid" and took two steps closer: "Do you know why we became good friends?"
Zhou Xingqi was slightly taken aback.
Su Jinning brushed past him expressionlessly: "Because I also have a bad temper."
"……"
After the commotion subsided for a moment, the meal was almost finished. Su Jinning and Xia Wei cleared the table together.
Shen Moyu looked up at Zhou Xingqi, who was getting up to help, and called out to him, "Zhou Xingqi, when are you planning to leave this time?"
Zhou Xingqi, who was clearing away the dishes, was stunned. He looked up, but only saw the coldness on Shen Moyu's face.
"Brother, who asks when someone left as soon as they get back?"
Shen Moyu seemed to realize his words were inappropriate and stood up, trying to smooth things over: "No, I just wanted to ask."
But Zhou Xingqi stopped what he was doing: "Brother, what's wrong?"
"What? What's wrong?" Shen Moyu frowned as she looked at him.
Zhou Xingqi moved closer, as if afraid someone was deliberately eavesdropping: "Since I came back this time, you've been deliberately keeping your distance from me and haven't liked talking to me."
Shen Moyu looked away: "Stop talking nonsense."
"Brother, why are you two so close?" Zhou Xingqi's gaze followed him intently, as if he wanted to drive him to the brink of despair.