Song Xu hung up the phone, turning to face Song Qingshi and Song Chen. “Brother Yunzhou said he will personally handle the remaining loose ends. The traitor within the Lu family has already been dealt with.”

“Yunzhou has always been thoroughly reliable when executing tasks,” Song Qingshi nodded, a look of approval crossing his face. “Since he explicitly stated we don’t need to concern ourselves with it, leave the aftermath entirely to him.”

“Since the crisis is averted, I’m heading right back to the apartment,” Song Xu said, rising from his chair. He had already grown thoroughly impatient to return. “Brother, are you heading back with me?”

Song Chen shot him a knowing look, his mind reading his younger brother like an open book. Song Xu didn’t genuinely desire his company back to the apartment; he strictly wanted him there to drag Bai Tiantian away.

“I’m heading back,” Song Chen muttered, his head already throbbing the moment he pictured Bai Tiantian’s antics.

Song Qingshi didn’t make the slightest attempt to detain his two sons. Get out quickly, he thought, the faster the better. That way, his wife’s attention would stop revolving entirely around them, allowing him to finally get some quality intimacy with her after two long days of neglect.

—

Song Xu and Song Chen rushed back to the apartment complex. The moment they unlocked the heavy front door, a chorus of loud, chaotic giggles drifted straight into their ears from the inner rooms.

As Song Xu strode into the living room, his eyes locked onto the dining suite. The three girls had their heads huddled tightly together, murmuring animatedly about something.

Calling them three girls was slightly generous; it was more accurate to say two girls plus one total tomboy. How on earth has this Jiang Ran managed to become more and more masculine over the years? Song Xu mused.

He strode directly over to the table and ruthlessly brushed Jiang Ran’s hand off Lin Xi’s shoulder.

Jiang Ran’s brow furrowed tightly. Raising her head, her gaze clashed with Song Xu’s. She recognized him instantly. With the heavy buzz of the premium liquor surging fiercely through her veins, she shot up from her chair. Even though she was a good head shorter than Song Xu, her sheer imposing aura didn’t lose an ounce of leverage.

“What exactly is your problem?”

“If you have something to say, just say it,” Song Xu countered, his voice dripping with icy disapproval as he leveled a hard glare at her. “Keep your hands and feet to yourself when you’re interacting with my Xi’xi.”

In response, Jiang Ran deliberately hauled Lin Xi back up by the arm, slinging a heavy arm over her shoulders before planting a loud, aggressive kiss right on Lin Xi’s cheek. “I used my hands, and I went ahead and kissed her. What exactly are you going to do about it?”

Song Xu instantly yanked Lin Xi right back into his own embrace. “Out of absolute respect for your status as Lin Xi’s friend, I won’t hold this against you this time. You better start monitoring your words and actions from now on to prevent any severe misunderstandings.”

Jiang Ran sneered, forcefully pulling Lin Xi back to her side once more. She locked a solid arm around Lin Xi’s waist and dragged her two steps backward, establishing a precise distance that was well out of Song Xu’s physical reach.

“Xi’xi, give me a kiss.” Jiang Ran leaned her face directly toward Lin Xi’s lips.

Having been aggressively tugged back and forth like a rag doll between Jiang Ran and Song Xu, Lin Xi’s mind was entirely dazed. When Jiang Ran ordered her to kiss her, she instinctively obeyed, leaning forward to plant a soft, innocent peck on her cheek.

After all, a mutual exchange of affection between female best friends was completely standard.

Jiang Ran shot a thoroughly provocative smirk across the table at Song Xu. “Monitor my actions? Did you see that? Xi’xi adores me. She just kissed me.”

Song Xu’s eyes narrowed into dangerous, sharp slits. He surged forward a single step, ruthlessly reclaiming Lin Xi into his arms. Lowering his head, he captured her soft lips in a deep, punishing kiss—the kind where their breath and teeth explicitly intertwined. Before Lin Xi even possessed the clarity to mount a proper resistance, he smoothly released her.

“I can kiss her like this,” Song Xu sneered coldly, flaunting his dominance right in Jiang Ran’s face. “Can you?”

Jiang Ran’s fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white, and she threw a vicious punch straight at Song Xu’s face.

Song Xu let go of Lin Xi, raising a solid forearm to deflect the incoming fist with a heavy thud.

Unfazed, Jiang Ran instantly shifted her offense, launching a rapid sweep toward Song Xu’s lower body.

The two traded blows with blinding speed, automatically shifting their combat zone toward the wide, unobstructed expanse of the living room as they launched into a full-blown brawl.

“Why on earth are they suddenly fighting?!” Bai Tiantian gasped, watching the scene unfold in utter bewilderment. What kind of unhinged scenario is this?

Lin Xi froze in shock as well. The moment her brain finally registered the chaos, she frantically sprinted over to step between them. “Song Xu! Ranran! Stop it right now! Why on earth are you two throwing punches?!”

Song Chen simply stood by the entryway, watching the fistfight unfold with total emotional detachment, making absolutely zero effort to intervene or break them apart.

“Why are they fighting anyway?” Bai Tiantian mumbled, thoroughly dazed and unsteady from the liquor. However, she still possessed enough vision to recognize Song Chen. She stumbled over to him, leaning her entire body heavily into his broad chest as she slurred the question.

Inhaling the thick, aromatic scent of premium baijiu radiating from her, Song Chen looked down at her bright, crimson-flushed cheeks. Realizing she had clearly consumed a massive amount of alcohol, he locked a firm arm around her waist to stabilize her. “Xiao Xu is throwing a massive tantrum out of pure jealousy.”

“Jealousy over what?” Bai Tiantian asked, thoroughly perplexed. “Ranran isn’t even a man. What’s the big deal if she slings an arm or a hug around her? Complete lunatics!”

Meanwhile, Lin Xi had successfully wedged herself directly between Jiang Ran and Song Xu. Standing like a human shield right in the center, neither of them dared to execute another strike, thoroughly terrified of accidentally inflicting injury on her.

“What is wrong with the two of you?” Lin Xi demanded, planting both hands firmly on her hips as her glare bounced between them. “Give me one good reason why you’re fighting.”

Jiang Ran retracted her fists, her eyes practically spewing literal fire. “He forcefully kissed you against your will! He’s a total scoundrel!”

Lin Xi fell completely silent. She shot a fierce, resentful glare at Song Xu. Who told him he could just kiss her whenever he pleased, especially right in front of a massive audience?

“Xi’xi, she harbors entirely improper intentions toward you,” Song Xu explained defensively.

“What absolute garbage are you spewing?” Lin Xi’s brow furrowed tightly in deep dissatisfaction. “Ranran is my absolute best friend in the entire world. How could she possibly harbor improper intentions toward me?”

“Xi’xi, stop living under his roof,” Jiang Ran insisted, grabbing Lin Xi’s hand tightly. “Come back home with me. I have more than enough resources to support you.”

“Xi’xi, I can support you as well!” Bai Tiantian piped up from the depths of Song Chen’s chest, waving an arm enthusiastically toward Lin Xi.

Song Chen ruthlessly pinned her flailing arm back down. “Stop adding fuel to the fire.”

The moment Jiang Ran turned her head and witnessed Bai Tiantian intimately draped all over Song Chen, her eyes widened to the size of saucers. She leveled a rigid finger directly at the girl. “Bai Tiantian, who exactly is he, and what kind of scandalous relationship do you two have?”

Bai Tiantian tilted her head up to gaze at Song Chen, a thoroughly smitten, infatuated smile spreading across her face as she reached up to caress his jawline. “He’s my husband. So, what do you think? Isn’t he absolutely breathtaking?”

“Since when did you acquire a husband?! Why on earth was I left completely in the dark?!” Jiang Ran pressed her fingers against her temples, her head throbbing violently from a sudden spike in tension.

“Just got him,” Bai Tiantian giggled mischievously. “Hand-picked him myself. He happens to be Song Xu’s older brother, which means in the near future, Xi’xi and I will officially become sisters-in-law!”

“My bond with Xi’xi is going to be infinitely closer than yours. Cry about it!” Bai Tiantian taunted, sticking her tongue out to make an incredibly childish grimace at Jiang Ran.

Seeing Bai Tiantian riding such an intense wave of smug satisfaction was something Jiang Ran absolutely refused to tolerate. A slow, deeply sinister smirk stretched across her lips. “Bai Tiantian, if my memory serves me correctly, you explicitly declared to me in the past that you would never marry anyone in this lifetime except my older brother. Didn’t you also claim you were going to preserve every single one of your ‘firsts’ strictly for him?”

“Your heart changes its target remarkably fast, doesn’t it? Who knows if you’ll simply discard him for a brand new man in another two years? For that matter, Xi’xi doesn’t necessarily have to chain herself to someone with the surname Song either. I can easily introduce her to my older brother and have her become my official sister-in-law instead.”

The moment Jiang Ran’s speech concluded, the expressions of every single person in the room shifted dramatically.

The absolute first person to explode was Bai Tiantian. She instantly detected that the warmth in Song Chen’s expression had vanished, replaced by a terrifyingly frigid, unreadable glaze as his deep eyes locked onto her with profound meaning.

“Jiang Ran, are you completely unhinged?!” The sudden rush of adrenaline instantly burned away half of Bai Tiantian’s alcohol intoxication. “You actually have the audacity to dig up a statement from a whole decade ago? I was literally an eight-year-old child back then!”

Song Chen let out a cold, sharp hmph. “Eight years old and already mapping out your marriage prospects? Eight years old and already well-versed in preserving your ‘firsts’? Bai Tiantian, you were remarkably precocious, weren’t you?”

“That’s only because I hadn’t crossed paths with you yet!” Bai Tiantian cried out frantically, wrapping her arms in a death grip around Song Chen’s neck. “If I had met you first, how could I possibly have harbored any improper thoughts toward another man?!”

“Bai Tiantian, if I recall the timeline accurately, you fell into a state of love-at-first-sight with my brother at age eight, which launched you into a crushing phase that endured for six solid years—perhaps even longer,” Jiang Ran sneered coldly, refusing to let up. “Tell me the truth: was your sudden decision to test into a university in Jiangbei strictly motivated by a desire to hunt down my brother?”

Without uttering a single word, Song Chen forcefully pried Bai Tiantian’s locked arms off his neck. He delivered a firm, steady push, casting her a small distance away from his body to establish a cold, rigid boundary between them.

Seeing the separation execute perfectly, Jiang Ran felt the view in the living room look infinitely more pleasing to the eye.

“Xi’xi,” Jiang Ran said, smoothly pulling Lin Xi back to her side. “Why don’t you simply marry into my household instead? My brother’s revenue stream is exceptionally high; providing a luxurious life for the two of us won’t cost him a single ounce of effort.”

“You are crossing the absolute line!” Bai Tiantian shrieked, her vision turning completely red. She charged across the living room like a rocket, her hands locking like vices around Jiang Ran’s throat. “Jiang Ran, I’m going to take you down with me!”