Release that Man

The event that naturally followed moving into a new home was the housewarming. It was meant to bring liveliness to the house. Father and Mother Ye were asked if they wanted to move, but they rejected the offer. They had lived in their old home for years already, and there were too many memories there. However, Little Brother Ye was unusually interested in Ye Shuang’s new home.

The furniture company that Fang Mo’s company cooperated with had a certain standard as well. Since Chen He was paying, when Fang Mo gave his order, he only picked the most high-end stuff; the price did not matter as long as it was useable and nice…

When the furniture company heard that, they understood that the house owner was probably one of Fang Mo’s close friends. Furthermore, they also earned more from high-end furniture. Therefore, with the combination of these two factors, Ye Shuang’s new home was as high class as one could imagine.

Just the main bedroom and guest bedroom alone were fitted with the latest HD televisions. When Ye Feng saw them, his eyes were shining. If he could use them to play his game, he was sure that his PVP ranking would rise another level. That was before he saw the audio system installed in the living room and bedrooms…

“Sis! Please let me move in with you!” Little Brother Ye had stars shining in his eyes. After touring the place, he jumped out and looked at Ye Shuang with anticipation. “After all, there are two rooms. If I move in, I’ll be able to cover for you! Don’t you agree, Sis?”

The wavering end note betrayed the young man’s thoughts. He could already see the wonderful life waiting for him—no parents, no nagging! He could sleep until however late he wanted, and mostly important, he could play games whenever he wanted.

Ye Shuang saw through her brother’s ploy immediately. “I don’t mind that, but first thing’s first, we are sharing the house chores.”

When they were at home, Mother Ye was there to look after the two kids and call them to eat when it was time for each of their three meals. If Mother Ye allowed them the freedom to do anything they wanted, they probably would not even do something as simple as cleaning.

Having their three meals on time? It would be good enough if they even remembered to order take-out.

“Can’t we hire an hourly maid‽” Little Brother Ye blurted out.

Mother Ye swiped the back of his head immediately. “You wastrel! Would it kill you to do some cleaning around the house? Do you know how much those maids cost? One hour is about 20 RMB!”

Little Brother Ye did not know about the market price and regretted it after hearing the price. “Then, I take back what I said. Save one hour of cleaning service, and I’ll be able to buy two more top up cards…”

You idiot! Ye Shuang gave her brother a side-eye before turning to look at Mother Ye, who sucked in a deep breath and slammed her palm on the table. “No way! You are not moving in with your sister; you are staying with us!”

The boy had grown wings and learned to fly away. Even before he moved out, he was already planning to spend all his money on those game cards. Little Brother Ye started to wheedle his way back to Ye Shuang’s apartment by bugging Mother Ye. He tried his best to undo the damage he had done earlier from speaking too soon. Father Ye ignored them completely because this had happened more than often enough at home. He dragged Ye Shuang out onto the balcony to have a little chat.

There were two lounge chairs and two cups of hot tea. After taking a sip, Father Ye sighed in satisfaction as he turned to see Mother Ye pinching Little Brother Ye’s ear. He turned back to say, “Actually, it is not a bad idea for your brother to move in with you. Like he said, he can help watch your back. Of course, that depends on you. In any case, your mother and I have to leave the house once in a while for our walks, so we don’t mind coming over to help clean up the place every few others.”

You walk to the other end of the city‽ Ye Shuang smiled. “I really don’t mind; I’m used to living with Ye Feng, so it depends on whether mom will let him move out or not. You guys don’t need to purposely come to help with the housework; I’ll force him to do it. After all, sooner or later, he will have to learn how to do it all anyway.”

“You’re right.” Father Ye nodded. “Now that you’re an agent, how is it going?”

“Still building my portfolio.” Ye Shuang explained her current job situation to her father patiently. “Brother Han’s talent list is kept in his own personal file, and it is only when he has a case to dispense that he will attach the necessary contacts in the email, so I will need to make my own folder to rearrange these people’s information. Of course, currently, I am only able to access their basic information, but that doesn’t matter that much. The key issue is that San Lin City is only so big. There is a limited number of people who need headhunting services, so Brother Han suggests that I go find clients.”

“Sounds like you have everything under control, but don’t forget to take the examination for your driving license and English.”

Ye Shuang leaned in close to whisper. “Actually, a friend of mine is already helping me register for the driving license. I’ll be able to have them during this weekend’s house warming party. There are two, one for male, one for female…”

Father Ye’s eyes widened. “You can have others register your driving license these days‽”

“Normally you can’t, but I happen to know some not so normal people…”

Applying for two driving licenses was as easy as ABC for Yao Zhixing. Due to his hobby, if he did not have any connections in the right department, his license would have been revoked god knows how many times already. Plus, she didn’t beg for those licenses. To thank Yao Zhixing for his letter of recommendation, Brother Shuang actively invited him to dinner. During dinner conversation, Ye Shuang let slipped that she did not have a license, and Yao Zhixing’s eyes almost fell out of his sockets. Then, he patted himself on his chest, promising he would get this settled for Brother Shuang and, while he was at it, Sister Shuang as well.

As they were chatting, Mother Ye went down to purchase ingredients with Little Brother Ye, who was trying his best to increase his affection level. Then, Ye Shuang started to cook the stock for a steamboat. Miss Chef’s idea a few days ago was not bad—a dish with many varieties of food, little waste, convenient, and perfect for a rowdy atmosphere. Yes, a steamboat was definitely the prime choice.

During dinner, while stuffing his face with food, Little Brother Ye did not forget to bring up the issue of moving in with Ye Shuang. Mother Ye was still worried, but Father Ye chimed in, saying it was almost the school holiday, so they should give Little Brother Ye some freedom. After all, he was moving in with his biological sister, so it would be fine.

“Afraid that our child will forget to eat due to his gaming obsession‽ We can personally come to visit and watch over them!”

That silenced Mother Ye. After the initial depression, Little Brother Ye soon became happy again; after all, even with the surveillance, their parents would not stay overnight. There was no reason to worry.

In the middle of dinner, while Ye Shuang was standing up to go to the kitchen to pick up several plates of frozen lamb, the phone that was placed on the kitchen counter rang. Ye Shuang picked up the phone and answered it as she walked toward the fridge. The barely containable excitement on the phone made her stop instantly.

“Sister Shuang, I’m making supper at Sister An’s place now. Mr. Chen just arrived, and he seemed to have found out about Sister An’s pregnancy!”

An Zining’s pregnancy had been kept under close wraps; even when she stayed at her parent’s place, she had tried to be as natural as possible. Even when she came across food that she did not like during functions, she would only apologize calmly, wipe the edges of her lips softly, and excuse herself to go to the bathroom. After the door was shut for a while, the dry heaves would come. Then she used lemon drops to keep the nausea down before returning to the dinner table…

With her carefulness, the probability of outsiders discovering that An Zining was pregnant was close to zero. Furthermore, the physical signs of pregnancy were not showing on An Zining yet. The woman had not even given up her heels yet; at most, she would ask for heels that were lower. Her body was still as proportional as ever… so how did Chen He manage to realize that An Zining was pregnant‽

However, Ye Shuang did not intend to intervene in the couple’s business so late at night. Furthermore, An Zining had not even called for her. She had merely received a gossipy phone call from Miss Chef.

After advising Miss Chef to keep an eye out and to get Brother Wong from next door to prevent a physical altercation, Ye Shuang retrieved the frozen lamb slices, placed the phone back on the counter, and returned to the dining table.

“Sis, who was that?” Little Brother Ye asked while he bit on the end of his chopsticks, watching the lamb slices that were just dumped into the boiling soup.

“A girl with incredible cooking skill,” Ye Shuang answered vaguely.

Little Brother Ye’s attention was finally pulled away from the food. He turned to Ye Shuang to ask, “Why would a girl call you so late at night? At the very least, it should be a powerful, muscle man… No, wait! Sis, did you lead some poor girl on while you were in your male form‽”

“…”

Little Brother Ye’s thoughts were often dimensions away from normal people’s thinking. Even as his biological sister, whenever Little Brother Ye did something like this, she would be suspicious—Father Ye was a university lecturer, and he was the brains of the family, so why would his son be this way?

Before the DNA optimization, even though she was not as bright as her father, Ye Shuang had at least managed to survive the two years in her workplace without creating many problems. This kid did not seem like he has inherited Father Ye’s DNA, so where had his senseless way of thinking come from?

“What‽” While Ye Shuang was still confused, Mother Ye’s hand shook, and the soup ladle fell into the steamboat, creating a small splash. With quivering lips, there was a mixture of surprise and conflict on her face. “So, there is finally a daughter-in-law in sight‽ No wait, Xiao Shuang, aren’t you looking for a boyfriend? Or have you decided that being a man is better‽”

This was all too surprising, but at least she knew that her parents were open-minded enough to accept her should she decide to… Never mind, that was not her plan to begin with.

At least Ye Shuang had now found the source of Little Brother Ye’s problem.

Both Father Ye and Ye Shuang looked at Mother Ye with a speechless expression. Ye Shuang could not help but facepalm. “It’s very normal for me to have a few female friends, right? Plus, it was about work. She found something curious while at work, so she reported it to me—that’s nothing suspicious, right?”

Of course, it would not have been suspicious if it had happened to someone else. Little Brother Ye bit on the chopsticks twice to create two small teeth marks before turning back to his food but not before grumbling, “Meh, do whatever you like as long as you don’t reach your grubby hands into my school.”

I still have girls whom I haven’t made the moves on yet!

Ye Shuang had half a mind to revoke the invitation for Little Brother Ye to stay with her there and then.