Chapter 40: PUA Man, Stay Away from My Daughter! (7)

After a brief greeting, the old man had Xie Hui carry An An around to show her off to his old friends.

As people age, they start acting like kids again, sometimes even getting a little childish.

Back in the day, his old friends would often show off their granddaughters, while he had only two grandsons. He had been envious for years.

Now that he finally had a soft, sweet little great-granddaughter, he couldn’t wait to flaunt her to the whole world.

During the grab test, An An picked up a pair of delicate ballet shoes. The old man immediately praised her, declaring that his precious little girl would definitely become a dancer when she grew up!

—

Time flew by, and little Xie Qi’an quickly grew up. She attended the most prestigious high school in the city.

As Xie Hui’s child grew older, he returned to managing the company. Xie Lang handled the family business, while Xie Hui ran the overseas branch. The brothers worked seamlessly together.

When Xie Hui boarded his flight back home, the system in his mind suddenly issued a reminder:

“Host, the delinquent from the original world has now appeared around your daughter.”

The system only provided information relevant to the plot. In this world’s main storyline, the Xie family’s only major role was Xie Lang—the female lead’s playboy ex-boyfriend. Naturally, the story didn’t go into much detail about how his older brother’s daughter died.

After Xie Qi’an started elementary school, Xie Hui secretly investigated the original timeline and found that the girl had been healthy as a child.

Her last act in her previous life—signing an organ donation form—made him feel something wasn’t right.

Additionally, in the original world, the man who ended up with Xie Simei was actually that girl’s childhood friend.

And now, by sheer coincidence, they were attending the same high school, even in the same class.

The original Xie Hui had dismissed the guy as just another delinquent, mostly because of his carefree, unreliable demeanor.

In the original world, Xie Simei had only one uncle who occasionally cared for her. So when anyone showed her even a little kindness, she would be deeply moved—willing to give up everything in return.

That lack of love and emotional vulnerability made her an easy target for manipulation.

But the current Xie Hui had full confidence in his daughter.

In the original timeline, the so-called “PUA tactics” used by that guy were so crude that they fell apart with the slightest scrutiny. He believed his daughter wouldn’t fall for them.

Still, he had the system monitor Xie Qi’an’s interactions with that boy, Shen Xi, at school. He was almost certain she wouldn’t be fooled, but he couldn’t help feeling a little worried.

—

At school, Xie Qi’an saw a breakfast box placed on her desk. She put down her bag and frowned slightly.

Her deskmate noticed and immediately started teasing her.

“Xie Qi’an, who’s been bringing you breakfast every day? Could it be someone has a crush on you?”

Xie Qi’an set down her bag, her face cold with irritation.

She never ate anything from an unknown source, even if it was left on her desk.

The thought of wasting food like this annoyed her.

“I don’t know who’s doing this boring thing. Did they score full marks on the math test? Make it into the top ten of the monthly rankings? Or already secure a spot at Tsinghua? Seriously, how pointless.”

When Xie Qi’an had just started high school, she had already drawn a lot of attention.

Her features were delicate and refined, yet not overly stunning—her beauty wasn’t aggressive but carried a unique, subtle charm, like an orchid blooming in a secluded valley.

After thinking for a moment, she picked up the breakfast box and decided to report it to the teacher. She wanted them to check the surveillance footage and find out who was behind this.

The teacher immediately took her to review the footage. They soon discovered the culprit—her classmate, Shen Xi.

“Teacher, please handle this matter for me. I hope Shen Xi stops doing such childish things. Wasting food is really not okay.”

Xie Qi’an made her stance clear. The teacher nodded seriously, agreeing to deal with it.

The teacher was already worried about students getting into relationships and neglecting their studies. Seeing how firmly Xie Qi’an rejected the advances, they felt relieved.

“Don’t worry, Xie Qi’an. Just focus on your studies—I’ll take care of this.”

The homeroom teacher called Shen Xi into the office and scolded him harshly. Yet, he remained unapologetic. He was even punished by having to write a self-reflection essay—only to turn around and use a loudspeaker to publicly confess his feelings to Xie Qi’an.

The other students watched with curiosity, their eyes filled with amusement.

Xie Qi’an, however, wasn’t flustered at all—she was just annoyed.

She disliked overly flashy people.

Besides, both her dad and uncle had told her that she should focus on her studies at this age and do things that were appropriate for a high schooler.

Xie Qi’an had always looked up to her father. Knowing he had graduated from one of the most prestigious universities, she had been determined to study hard ever since entering high school.

That afternoon, right before the first period, Shen Xi sat down beside her. The whole class erupted into teasing laughter.

Xie Qi’an, focused on solving a math problem, paused when she heard the commotion. She lifted her head instinctively.

Shen Xi was staring at her seriously. As soon as their eyes met, he spoke:

“Xie Qi’an, I wake up early every morning to bring you breakfast. Do you really feel nothing for me?”

Her train of thought was already disrupted, so she simply put down her pen.

“No feelings whatsoever. The buns you bring are too greasy—I don’t like them. And by the time they get here, they’re already cold. Cold, greasy meat buns… how exactly am I supposed to be touched by that?”

“And also, the soybean residue in the cafeteria’s soy milk is never filtered out—I don’t like that either.”

“The pan-fried buns you sent were sprinkled with sesame seeds. I never eat sesame.”

Shen Xi originally thought she would just say she had no feelings for him, but instead, she criticized everything he sent from start to finish.

He had spent so much effort on Xie Qi’an, yet she seemed completely indifferent. Shen Xi, being young and hot-headed, couldn’t hold back his temper and blurted out, “Xie Qi’an, are you here to study or just to be picky and spoiled?”

Xie Qi’an, suddenly being accused out of nowhere, found his reaction baffling. Seeing Shen Xi’s disapproving look, she instinctively countered, “What does me coming to school have to do with my food preferences?”

“You’re not even spending your own money right now. Buying such expensive things—isn’t that a bit inappropriate?”

Shen Xi’s repeated remarks made Xie Qi’an’s dislike for him skyrocket.

“You’re really strange. Are you spending your own money right now?”

If they weren’t classmates, Xie Qi’an wouldn’t even bother speaking to him.

“I hope you understand that your actions are causing me trouble. If this happens again, I will report it to the teacher.”

Xie Qi’an pulled out a blank scratch paper and was about to continue solving the next problem.

There were five minutes left before class started—just enough time to solve one more question.

To Shen Xi, Xie Qi’an’s words were like slapping his face and throwing it to the ground. After a moment, he scowled and stormed off.

Watching his retreating back, Xie Qi’an let out a sigh of relief.

Was this finally over?

At the company, Xie Hui watched the system’s live feed of the scene. Seeing the arrogant, cocky Shen Xi—who in the original memories had been so full of himself—get completely deflated by his daughter, he couldn’t help but find it amusing.

At the same time, he felt even more heartache for the original world’s Xie Simei.

After Shen Xi appeared, Xie Hui had spent system points to buy the original timeline of Xie Simei’s life in this world.

She had grown up as a people-pleaser, starved for affection. Even when she suspected someone’s kindness wasn’t genuine, she couldn’t bear to reject it.

Whenever someone got upset with her, she immediately wondered if she had done something wrong. She even apologized and complied just to please others.

In the original timeline, Xie Simei didn’t like the breakfasts Shen Xi sent, but she still ate them every time.

When Shen Xi criticized her for living too extravagantly, she obediently stopped wearing expensive clothes and shoes, replacing them with cheap ones—just to keep him from getting mad.

Even when Shen Xi deliberately belittled her, Xie Simei only questioned whether she had done something wrong to upset him.

But now, Xie Qi’an—when faced with Shen Xi’s accusations—just thought he must have something wrong with his brain.

She had her own independent thoughts and wouldn’t waver just because of a few words from someone else.

Some time later, the system alerted Xie Hui again: Xie Qi’an had won second place in a dance competition. The first-place winner was Shen Xi’s childhood friend.

Xie Hui put down his work and had the system stream Shen Xi’s reaction when he went to find Xie Qi’an.

This time, it was before evening self-study. Xie Qi’an was in the classroom reading a book.

After she had straightforwardly rejected Shen Xi last time—and even reported him to the teacher—her classmates had gradually started distancing themselves from her, subtly excluding her.

Unexpectedly, the rejected Shen Xi sat next to her again.

“I heard you only got second place in the dance competition.”

Xie Qi’an was completely focused on her book. When she heard someone mention it, she only responded with a casual “Mm.”

“Have you been getting too full of yourself lately? Is that why you couldn’t even win first place in a competition? I think you—”

Before he could finish, Xie Qi’an—rarely impolite—interrupted him.

“Stop. I don’t want to hear what you think.”

Shen Xi was momentarily stunned but then continued, “Do you even know what people are saying about you? No one wants to hang out with you anymore. It’s not just me—lots of people in the class think she’s better than you at dancing.”

Annoyed, Xie Qi’an closed her book.

“First of all, I don’t care what people say about me behind my back. If they have a problem, they can say it to my face.”

“Secondly, refusing useless social interactions feels very freeing. There’s no need for you to act like you’re lowering yourself to give me advice.”

“I don’t need your opinions. Do you know how many people there are in the world? A few people’s opinions mean absolutely nothing to me.”

—

#Footnotes:

—The “grab test” here likely refers to the traditional Chinese “Zhuā Zhōu” (抓周) ceremony, which is a cultural practice held when a baby turns one year old. During this ceremony, various objects are placed in front of the child, each symbolizing a different future career or personality trait. The object the child picks up first is believed to predict their future interests or profession.