Chapter 587: Chapter 585 I Don’t Like Those Younger Than Me

Si Mingli’s steps faltered when Si Wen interrupted him.

Then, he noticed an unfamiliar young man asleep in the adjacent bed. He looked quite young, and upon closer inspection, vaguely familiar.

Si Mingli wasn’t in the mood to examine him closely just then. Instead, his gaze shifted to Si Wen.

"Who is he?" he asked.

"He’s..." Si Wen began, trying to figure out how to explain Xue Xing to her father.

Seeing his daughter’s hesitation, an ominous premonition began to sprout in his heart.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" he asked, his eyes fixed on Si Wen, trying to read her expression.

Hearing her father’s question, Si Wen quickly explained, "No, Daddy! He’s Xue Yang’s younger brother, Xue Xing. I had a bad cold and a fever, and I owe it all to him for getting me to the hospital so quickly.

"Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

"Dad, if you don’t believe me, you can ask the doctor."

Si Mingli heaved an inward sigh of relief at her hurried explanation.

How could he not believe her? The moment he received the hospital’s call, he’d nearly gone mad with worry.

Seeing her father’s expression soften, Si Wen continued, "He watched over me all last night, which is why I asked you not to disturb him."

Si Mingli came over and sat on the edge of her bed. He reached out to feel her forehead. Assured that she was no longer feverish, his anxious heart could finally rest.

"You... when you get sick, why don’t you ever tell your family?

"Instead, you’d rather tell an outsider.

"If the hospital hadn’t called, were you planning on not telling me at all?"

"Daddy, I just hadn’t gotten the chance to tell you yet," Si Wen said, hugging her father’s arm and playfully sticking out her tongue.

"If you’re not living on campus, you should move back home. I’ll have Uncle Zhong drive you to and from school every day, just like before. It’s perfect, actually. Lao Zhong has been so idle lately he’s starting to feel bad about taking his salary."

Upon hearing this, Si Wen immediately protested, "Dad, I’m a grown-up now. I want to be a little more independent."

Si Mingli frowned. "And this is what your independence gets you? Ending up like this?" he retorted, his tone leaving no room for negotiation.

"Dad, I’ll move back into the dorm. My roommates are great, so I promise something like this won’t happen again," Si Wen pleaded, hugging his arm and rocking it back and forth. "Please?"

In his memory, Si Wen rarely acted so coquettishly toward him. He had always assumed she was naturally distant, not one to be affectionate with her father like other daughters. It turned out she knew how to wheedle after all. It was just...

"If there’s a next time, no matter what, you’re moving back home," Si Mingli finally conceded.

He sat with her for a while longer, then went to confirm her condition with the hospital director. After learning she was stable, he rushed off again to catch his flight.

Not long after Si Mingli left, other members of the Si Family arrived. A whole entourage of relatives, a true gaggle of aunts from every branch of the family, soon swarmed in, nearly filling the entire ward.

Amidst the commotion, Xue Xing was finally jolted awake.

His first reaction upon seeing so many people suddenly crammed into the room was that he had to still be dreaming. He quickly flopped back down and squeezed his eyes shut.

However, the racket in his ears didn’t stop.

He opened his eyes again, only to find that the noisy chatter from before had abruptly ceased. He sat up and discovered that all the people who had been talking were now gathered around his bed.

"Uh..." Xue Xing was so startled he nearly rolled off the bed, saved only by the guardrail.

"Who... who are you?"

"You must be Xue Xing," one of the women said with a smile. She appeared to be in her early thirties and carried herself with a refined air. "You’re quite handsome."

Xue Xing looked up, getting a clear view of her. She possessed an extraordinary aura and a graceful figure. Her long, black hair was draped casually over her shoulders, framing deep, bright eyes that seemed capable of piercing one’s soul. Her gaze held both gentleness and concern, yet it lost none of its firmness or acuity. When she looked at him, her eyes seemed to sparkle with a captivating light.

Xue Xing shrank back against the headboard and nodded slightly. "I am. And you are...?"

The woman covered her mouth with her hand as she chuckled. "Hello. I’m Si Wen’s aunt, Si Shufen."

Xue Xing stared at her blankly and blurted, "Aunt... Aunt..."

Amused by his stunned expression, the woman chuckled again before turning to Si Wen. "Si Wen, this handsome young man is quite interesting. Where did you find him?

"Are you sure he’s not your boyfriend?"

Under the covers, Si Wen’s hand tightened slightly. She then said in a deliberately casual tone, "Of course not. He’s still a high school senior. I don’t like guys younger than me." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Hearing Si Wen’s words, Xue Xing lowered his head slightly, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Since you’re not into him, it wouldn’t be out of line for me to ask for his WeChat, would it?"

Si Shufen’s question made Si Wen’s lovely eyebrows furrow. This particular aunt of hers fancied herself a strong, independent woman and had publicly declared she would never marry. In her own words, why waste time on a so-called family when you could be treating yourself better? Life is only a few short decades, so you should live it however you please. As for what happened when she got old and died? She couldn’t care less who collected her body or who her assets went to.

Si Wen didn’t object to her aunt’s philosophy. Everyone had their own way of living, and if this made her happy, so be it. But... this aunt also had a particular quirk: she liked younger men.

Almost regularly, Si Wen would see a new "younger brother" pop up on her aunt’s social media feed. If she remembered correctly, just two days ago her aunt had posted about a new beau—a handsome, 190-centimeter-tall guy.

And now, to Si Wen’s immense frustration, the sight of the innocent-looking Xue Xing was clearly giving her aunt ideas again.

Lying in her bed, Si Wen said flatly, "He’s Xue Yang’s brother. If you have the guts, go right ahead and ask."

Si Shufen paused, her gaze shifting to Xue Xing. Sure enough, she could see a faint resemblance to Xue Yang in his features. A flicker of regret crossed her exquisite face. "So he’s Xue Yang’s brother. No wonder he seemed... different from the others."

News of Xue Yang’s engagement to Miss Lin of the Lin Family had already spread throughout Yancheng’s wealthy circles. Everyone was curious what sort of magic this young man possessed to have won the approval of the notoriously picky Chairman Lin, allowing him to soar to such heights and become a phoenix.

Upon learning that he was merely the owner of TM Gaming Company, most people were still dismissive.

It’s just a gaming company, after all. What’s so remarkable about that?

Later, when they found out he had opened the nation’s first major new energy vehicle market, they began to view his business acumen with a bit more respect. Yet, they still felt he wasn’t good enough for Miss Lin.

The latest rumor was that he was now tinkering with Yonghui Supermarket, which was on the brink of collapse. At first, by using aggressive promotions, he had actually managed to revive the failing business. But...