“Miss, shall we go have breakfast?”
Grandpa Butler quickly composed himself and smiled warmly at Lu Yinghan.
Have breakfast?
Lu Yinghan's memories surged back like a rising tide—all bitter fragments of a past she never wished to revisit.
She sneered inwardly, yet put on a troubled look.
“Grandpa Butler, I had nightmares last night and woke up terrified. I don't have the strength to go down to the dining room right now. Could you please bring breakfast to my room?”
Lu Yinghan looked up at Grandpa Butler with moist eyes, her hands nervously fidgeting beneath the covers.
Seeing the faint dark circles beneath Lu Yinghan’s eyes, the old gentleman's heart softened completely.
“Of course, Miss. I will bring it right away.”
With a slight bow, Grandpa Butler briskly trotted out to fetch breakfast for Lu Yinghan.
The moment the butler left, Lu Yinghan immediately went over to the horribly tacky nightstand and checked the calendar on top.
“One... six. I was kicked out when I was thirteen. Right now, I'm seven, which means there are still six years left.”
Lu Yinghan muttered under her breath.
A moment later, she knitted her brows in dissatisfaction.
Six years?
She still had to endure this family for six whole years?
Recalling her family's dismissive, indifferent attitude toward her—treating her as though she were utterly disposable—Lu Yinghan didn't want to stay for another second.
Furrowing her brows in frustration, her thoughts swirled in a chaotic mess.
She tried to remember whether anything significant had happened during these years.
Yet countless memories rushed into her head all at once.
She couldn't pin down a single event clearly.
Forget it.
Time to just lie back.
She would write everything down properly after eating breakfast.
Thinking this, Lu Yinghan did just that.
She crawled back into her small bed.
Neatly folding her hands over her little tummy, she gradually sifted through the major events she knew of from these years, one by one.
Contemplating her memories, she waited for Grandpa Butler to return with breakfast.
Meanwhile, Grandpa Butler, returning from the kitchen with the meal tray, was in no good spirits.
Remembering how he had just gone to the kitchen to fetch Lu Yinghan’s breakfast: the Master and the Madam hadn't asked a single word about Miss, focusing every ounce of their attention on the Little Miss instead.
Their eyes had been overflowing with tender affection.
Even the Eldest Young Master had sat there with upright posture, carefully picking up food to put into his little sister's bowl.
The butler had watched for a moment before promptly turning away.
He let out a long sigh.
“Hm? What is the matter, Butler Liu?”
“Nothing. Just focus on your work.”
Hearing Butler Liu sigh, the kitchen staff were thoroughly surprised.
They couldn't help but look up and ask.
Having collected the breakfast, Butler Liu headed straight for Lu Yinghan’s room.
He could hardly bear staying in the dining room this morning.
“Miss, breakfast is here.”
Returning to Lu Yinghan’s room, Butler Liu reined in his emotions and stepped inside.
What met his eyes, however, was Lu Yinghan's well-behaved sleeping posture.
In her petite frame, she looked no different from the five-year-old Little Miss.
In fact, she was even more frail and emaciated than the Little Miss.
With her hands neatly folded over her stomach and her small body lying ramrod straight, the dark circles beneath her eyes betrayed that Lu Yinghan had not slept well at all the previous night.
Butler Liu’s breathing grew gentle and cautious. Holding the meal tray, he hesitated, unsure whether to set it down or keep holding it.
In the end, he stepped forward, gently pulled the blanket over Lu Yinghan, and let her continue resting.
Perhaps returning through rebirth had taken a heavy toll on her; by the time Lu Yinghan woke up again, it was already five or six in the evening.
The room was cast in dim twilight, and there was hardly any noise from outside.
Her hollow stomach growled fiercely, forcing Lu Yinghan to get up and head to the kitchen for a bite to eat.
Rising groggily, Lu Yinghan felt her way toward the kitchen.
The Master and Madam had probably taken her little sister out for dinner today, leaving the kitchen completely deserted.
Lu Yinghan's mood instantly soared through the roof.
This was wonderful. On her way here, she had been fretting over how to face her family if she ran into them, but seeing the pitch-dark dining room and kitchen now...
...in Lu Yinghan's eyes, it couldn't have looked any more pleasing!
Opening the refrigerator, petite Lu Yinghan dragged a wooden stool over and carefully surveyed the ingredients inside.
High-grade Wagyu beef, caviar, and other ingredients that were obviously extravagantly expensive.
Lu Yinghan didn't spare them a single glance.
Instead, she looked straight at the bottom shelf of whole grains, picked up an ear of corn, and shut the refrigerator door.
This ear of corn was so large she couldn't even wrap both hands around it.
It would be plenty to fill her belly.
Lu Yinghan dragged the chair over to the light switch, climbed up with some effort, and flipped the switch.
The moment the lights flickered on, Lu Jiansen’s stern face abruptly appeared in Lu Yinghan’s view.
“Ah!”
Startled, the ear of corn slipped from her grasp, tumbling onto the floor and rolling away.
“What are you doing?”
Arms crossed over his chest, Lu Jiansen looked at Lu Yinghan, whose pale little face stared back at him in fright.
His sharp brows drew together.
He regarded Lu Yinghan with a scrutinizing glare.
The two of them stood in silence, staring at each other.
Neither spoke a word.
Lu Yinghan cast a pained glance at the ear of corn lying on the floor.
Then, with a hint of resentment, she looked up at this so-called elder brother of hers.
Lu Jiansen.
The eldest son of the Lu family, twenty-six years old this year, a genuine diamond bachelor.
Ever since he had taken over the Lu Corporation from his father, Lu Xiong, the year before last, the standing of both the Lu family and the conglomerate in the capital had risen to unfathomable heights.
Such was the capability of the eldest son, Lu Jiansen.
It was said that on his very first day in office, he had acted with ruthless efficiency, thoroughly purging all the old parasites from the corporation.
He hadn't left them any way out.
This was all the information Lu Yinghan knew; afterward, she had been cast out of the Lu family and never received another scrap of news regarding them.
Perhaps because it had been so long since she had seen her family.
Lu Yinghan felt somewhat awkward and uncomfortable at this moment.
Right now, all she wanted was to pick up her corn and flee from this place.
Lu Jiansen's brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
“What? Did you lose your tongue? Why aren't you answering my question?”
That commanding tone instantly caused Lu Yinghan's awkwardness to vanish without a trace.
She glanced at Lu Jiansen and replied in a detached voice, “I was just hungry, so I came to the kitchen to see if there was anything to eat.”
Lu Yinghan answered, yet Lu Jiansen’s expression darkened even further.
In his memory, Lu Yinghan had always been timid and subservient before him, never daring to speak loudly, let alone meet his gaze.
Her voice had always been soft and sweet as she called him Brother Sen.
Just last night, she had cautiously brought tea and a late-night snack to his study.
In stark contrast to the girl standing before him, aloof, indifferent, and undeniably distant...
Lu Jiansen lowered his crossed arms, narrowing his eyes slightly as he stared at Lu Yinghan picking up the corn.
A wave of annoyance stirred in his heart.
“Speak properly. Have you forgotten how to address me respectfully?”
Lu Yinghan's hand paused as she wiped off the corn.
With her back to the light, Lu Yinghan looked at Lu Jiansen, who had slipped his hands into his pockets.
Having returned through rebirth, she had believed she would be able to face the Lu family with composure.
Yet when it actually happened to her all over again, Lu Yinghan still felt a piercing ache and grievance in her chest, as if a thousand needles were stabbing into her heart.
The seven-year-old Lu Yinghan pursed her lips tightly, desperately holding her breath so as not to lose control in front of Lu Jiansen.
An address?
Lu Yinghan truly couldn't bring herself to say it.
Rate on N.U.
