Chapter 581 - Force-fed dog food

Lu Meili fed Small Xixi since the latter couldn't move about too much. Her body still hurt. 

When she was done, she went to the table to take her own breakfast. It was at this moment that Small Xixi noticed that Lu Meili's movements were unusual. She looked like she was struggling to move her left foot. Upon closer inspection, that left ankle was in fact swollen. 

Guilt filled her little heart. "Sis Meili, you said that you were not hurt at all. Why would you lie to your best friend?" 

Lu Meili realized that it was noticeable. When Mu Zhichen was around, it was not that painful. She could still move around normally while sucking up the slight pain. However, it must be hurting right now because she had been sitting in the same posture for too long. It hurt so much...

But she put on a smile. "Xixi, what are you saying? When did I lie to you?" 

"Your ankle hurts, right? Why did you not let the doctor check it out? I know you are only lying about being alright so I won't feel guilty." 

Lu Meili chuckled. Small Xixi looked like she was on the verge of tears. "It's not that. If I let the doctor check it, I will be given medication. You know how much I hate that, right?" 

Small Xixi finally understood the situation and glared at her. "You said just now that Mu Zhichen had you get a full body check up. You must have been given medicine but you stubbonly didn't take it, right?" 

"Ah... not so loud. It tastes awful!" 

"Would you rather lose your leg?" Small Xixi was speechless. How old was Lu Meili? She still acted childish when it came to medication. 

"Who would rather lose her leg?" Mu Zhichen was back. He had overhead Small Xixi's reprimanding voice.

He had brought fruits for both of them.

Small Xixi quickly threw her friend under the bus. It was for her own good anyway. "Sis Meili refuses to take medicine. Now her foot hurts so much that she can't walk properly." 

Mu Zhichen placed the fruit basket on the table and went over to Lu Meili. Without giving any sort of warning, he lifted her off the floor and sat on the chair, placing her on his lap. He took her leg to inspect her ankle before she could react. 

Small Xixi could only agree to be force-fed the sudden dog food. 

"Mu Zhichen, what are you doing?" Lu Meili finally reacted. How could he simply carry her?

"It's too swollen. It must hurt a lot. You're getting it checked again or you may not be able to walk properly in future." 

"I don't wanna." 

"What was that? Are you going to throw a tantrum and yell like a little baby?" Mu Zhichen had learnt a lot from his playboy friends about dealing with women. If she was afraid of something, it was better to coax her than use forceful methods. 

She tried to struggle off his lap.

He held her tightly. "Sweetie, be good. You don't want to lose your leg, right?" 

Small Xixi who was secretly taking photos using the phone Lu Meili had brought her today coughed. 

How could Lu Meili possibly struggle off someone's arms and not be able to? Unless Mu Zhichen was too strong with seemed rather far fetched. 

There could only be one possibility- she actually wanted to be on his lap. 

Small Xixi was right. Lu Meili had never sat on a man's lap before. She had only been friends with Xu Tang before so she handn't sat on his either. 

She suddenly found that she was not uncomfortable at all. In fact, she didn't want to leave and neither did she have any intention of doing so.

Mu Zhichen felt a certain reaction and realized that in his worry, he had actually sat her on his lap. Even worse, her backside was extremely close to a certain part of his body. 

It wouldn't matter if they were on their own. But Small Xixi was here! 

Lu Meili wasn't a naïve innocent girl. She unmistakenly felt something poke at her slightly and blushed in embarassment. This Mu Zhichen was too unrestrained!

Small Xixi had long stopped looking at them. 

This couldn't get any more awkward.

Tactfully, he stood up, carrying her like a bride. "I'll take you to the doctor." 

This was the scene Xu Tang witnessed when he came in to see his sister. 

He frowned in displeasure. These two really did not have any sense of shame. How could they do such things in Small Xixi's presence?

He ignored them and went to Small Xixi's side. "Xixi, I brought you breakfast."

"Aunty Wan Jia already brought me some." Her tone was indifferent. Xu Tang obviously noticed this.

He waited for the pair of shameless people to leave before taking her hand. "Xixi, I'm sorry. Brother doesn't hate you. I only thought you were playing a prank on me."

Small Xixi was still indifferent. "Can you count the number of times you have apologized within the last two months?" She looked at his blank face. "I can't count them either."

"Brother, good people apologize when they make mistakes. But if you keep making mistakes, people will dislike you no matter how remorseful you are."

Xu Tang remained silent. She was right but what could he do about it? He couldn't change the kind of impression people had of him, could he?

He didn't care about anyone else. He only hoped for Lu Meili and Small Xixi to change their impression of him. However, it was too late for both of them.

___

Outside, Lu Meili wanted to get down from Mu Zhichen's arms. "I have to say something to Xu Tang."

Mu Zhichen didn't want to let her. What was there to say to a man she had already decided to leave? However, he let her go for fear that she would be angry.

Lu Meili opened the door to Small Xixi's room and broke the silence between the siblings. "There are things you have been keeping in your heart for a long time. I know it's no longer part of my business but perhaps that's what is troubling you so much. You shouldn't keep them in forever." She left before anyone could react to her words.

"Let's go." She said to Mu Zhichen.

The man didn't understand her either. "If he has been keeping a secret, why would you say that in his sister's presence?"

"To push him into telling her the truth." 

Is this revenge?"

"I'm only saving the relationship between siblings. She doesn't understand him as much as she thinks she does."

Lu Meili was right. Xu Tang had always doted on his sister. He had never let her see his weaknesses. Her impression of him was that despite what happened to him years ago, he was still a loving elder brother.

Lu Meili had known that he was hiding things for a long time.

She had never tried to force him into talking about them. However, Small Xixi may not be able to realize that.

"You still care about him?" Mu Zhichen asked, a clear hint of jealousy in his tone.

"I don't. I only care about Xixi's happiness. If she were to have a fall out with her brother, she would be sad. It is better to make them reconcile now when it's still not too late."

"What's your point?"

Lu Meili held onto Mu Zhichen's arm for support, looking like she was battling with herself. Would he misunderstand it? But it had alreayd reached this point. "When we were friends, he would casually ask me what I would do if XianYu kept major secrets from me.

I think he's keeping something form Xixi and It's become unbearable, making him start to lose rationality."

Mu Zhichen remained silent for the entire time while Lu Meili ran tests and had her anke taken care of.  When they wer done, they got into his car to drop her home. Only when they were in the car did he cautiously ask. "Meili, are you sure you don't love him anymore?"

He became more cautious when she gave him an unhappy glance. "I mean, if you still love him and want to be with him, it will be unfair to me if you keep leading me on only to leave me later."

Lu Meili sighed. "I'm not just leading you on. Earlier I was only speculating Xu Tang's Xu Tang's situation. It doesn't mean a thing; I told you it's only because I care about Xixi." She added after some seconds, "I'm just like my father. When I like someone, I like them whole heartedly. But when I stop liking them, nothing will make me like them again.  You don't have to worry about me getting back together with him."

Mu Zhichen felt better. His mood was now thoroughly uplifted.