QT: Against My Will

485 8.02 – Stinky Bun Gets a New Door – Monster Heist

╔═══ Author’s note ════╗

“10 percent of any population is cruel, no matter what, and 10 percent is merciful, no matter what, and the remaining 80 percent can be moved in either direction.”

― Susan Sontag

Silvia is on the cruel side, whereas Bertha is on the merciful side.

╚═════════════════╝

When Xuan Mu and Bing Shi got home from the outside world, they would meet at the entrance of their home. He’d be waiting, leaning against the door, while she’d come jumping into his arms, her face glowing with joy as she embraced him in a tight hug.

“I’m grateful my siblings were all loving,” Bing Shi felt a wave of sadness when she saw how Bertha took care of Silvia. Bertha treated Silvia like a precious gift, and it was upsetting to see how Silvia took it all for granted, “I wish I could do more for them.”

“Do you miss them?” Xuan Mu asked. Bing Shi never had a person she could call a friend, except for him of course. Besides her blood-related siblings, she would find herself a quasi-sibling in each world, someone she could use as her little assistant rather than someone she could share a common interest with, “I can invite their soul for dinner if you want to redeem yourself.”

Bing Shi immediately refused, “No, I’m fine,” she replied with a smile as she flew to the living room to hug Xiao Pu and Stinky Bun, “I often thought these two must have inherited their personalities from their uncles. One is a crybaby and the other is a YOLO baby.”

.....

“XiaoPu is no longer a crybaby,” Xuan Mu defended the little guy. Using her quasi-siblings only for her benefit may sound harsh, but nobody could deny how she treated them in her siblingly way. Sure, she expected them to do their ‘chores’, but she also made sure they had fun and got to do things they wanted to do.

“...” Xiao Pu didn’t like hugging his hosts and immediately avoided her touch (her arrival was an exception). He grew a few inches taller and now looked like a six-year-old boy. He wore traditional clothes made of thick cloth, resembling the attire worn in ancient China. His long hair was tied into a low ponytail, and his expression showed a more mature look, “It’s good we are not blood-related, I don’t have to worry about ending up with a sibling complex…ouch!”

Xuan Mu delivered a swift and decisive kick to XiaoPu’s buttocks, “Don’t talk bad about your uncles.”

Xiao Pu covered his bottom, “What?! I thought you hated them too!” He was there with his previous host, making a background check on anyone Xuan Mu and Bing Shi came in contact with.

Xuan Mu went towards the elevator to carry inside a new door, “After I heard how Bing Shi had been calling them during our chats? I started to pity them.”

XiaoPu tilted his head in confusion. He and his ex-host arrived a lot later, not exactly sure how Bing Shi and Xuan Mu ended up together. When it came to his ex-host, people either overly loved her or hated her, so it was surprising to see such indifference coming out of Bing Shi and Xuan Mu.

“It was a long time ago,” Xuan Mu explained, “She stopped calling them like that after they learned some English.”

Bing Shi turned to Stinky bun, a look of concern on her face, “My little snuggle bug, can you explain to mommy what happened to our house?” she asked, trying not to smile at the sight of the tables and chairs stacked haphazardly behind a tiny toy truck. They teetered precariously, making one wonder who could have done it.

“Mommy, mommy,” Stinky Bun was doing a furniture delivery today. Ying Xiong had grown too, but he still looked like a baby. He got off his mommy’s lap, showing his milky teeth stained with biscuit crumbs as he went to help daddy to carry the door, “Daddy, daddy.” The door looks weak. He pinched the squishy leather-padded door.

Bing Shi hid the rest of the biscuits inside the kitchen cabinet, “Hubby no, you can’t do that.”

Xuan Mu chuckled while looking at Stinky Bun’s face, “What? I didn’t hear you,” letting go of the door, he squashed his son with it like a pancake. The door crashed to the floor and caused a loud reverberation throughout the room.

“!!!” Bing Shi watches how Stinky Bun crawled slowly over the floor without a single injury on his body. “...” She thought Ziek would be the biggest scoundrel of a dad, not Xuan Mu.

“Hm,” Xuan Mu crouched down to caress the door, “It holds up better than the last one.”

Stinky Bun pressed his small hands against the padding, stroking it with curiosity, “Daddy, daddy.” It does. He had never touched a material like this before, and he couldn’t help but explore its strange texture.

· · ────────── · ???· ────────── · ·

The winter season was back, and the trees in the park were covered with snow, making it seem like the entire park was asleep. It was quiet and peaceful. The air was crisp and cold and smelled like fresh powdery snow.

Elera went for a walk with Victor without saying anything, offering him her support and encouragement, “Here.” She handed him a cup of warm coffee. “I thought you might want some.”

Victor looked at her, “Thanks,” he whispered. He took a sip. She followed him as they continued walking down the path that led away from the lake.

After Riley’s and Damon’s disappearance, the world went into a mourning period. Everyone was devastated to find that one of the greatest power couples was no longer there.

There was also speculation about who would replace Riley’s post as the CEO. Many candidates like Juliet tried to get the job, but nobody could get even close to being as good as Riley. He was irreplaceable.

Without its CEO, the corporation had lost a big chunk of its value, causing the investors to back out. The board of directors eventually decided to sell the business.

Only the old clans had geniuses that could keep the corporation afloat, for example, the Egertons, Hauxleys and Tyrrels. However, none of them was willing to take on such an opportunity, after all, they were among the first investors that fled from the scene.

The reasons were few. Hauxleys and Tyrrels wanted to eliminate Riley’s monopoly to give everyone access to his research. They cared less about their profits and more about their ambitions. Victor Egerton wasn’t going to let his friend’s memory die out. He wanted to save the company from becoming tarnished by the wrong people and decided to bury it together with Riley.

As Victor and Elera were walking, they stumbled upon Bertha, who was frantically pulling a nursetowards Silvia’s dorm room.

“She has a fever!” Bertha exclaimed in distress. “She has an awful fever!”