If You Are a Dodder Flower Chapter 16 part1

Cao Xing really returned the second day.

Looking at him with the huge dolphin plushie in his arms, Cao Xiong was already shooting daggers from his eyes.

"Xiao Rou, Xiao Rou! This… I bought this for you." Cao Xing felt cold sweat all over his body.

He had thought of returning home early so he could send this to the side building. Who could have expected that the weather was so nice that his father told the kitchen to serve breakfast under a tree in the courtyard? And that was how he got caught red-handed.

"That's right, this is what I wanted! Thank you Brother Cao Xing." Xia Rou, as an expert in covering for others, immediately came forward.

"Haha…" Cao Xing forced a dry laugh. "Y-you're welcome, as long as you like it." Translated by The Novelst

Cao Xiong looked at that pair with their clumsy act, coldly snorting out a "hmmph" and didn't bother with them.

Cao Bin was struck dumb, his eyes and mouth both wide open.

He thought Cao Yang liked Xia Rou because their close proximity meant they would meet often in the house, so it was natural that he developed some affection toward her, especially since she was such a cute little lady.

But what was up with Cao Xing picking up that plushie-collecting habit again?

Cao Xing dared to play with dolls and there seemed to be something wrong with their father too, he actually didn't take out his leather belt to beat him!

The most unbelievable of all was Xia Rou. This little girl actually dared to try and act out such a clumsy scene in front of their father?

Wasn't she afraid of Cao Xiong at all?

And what happened to their father who always took out his leather belt to beat them without allowing explanations? He actually just let it go with a "hmmph"?

Since when did their father become so easy to get along with?

When!

He tilted his body toward Cao Yang and spoke out of the corner of his mouth: "What the heck happened while I was away?"

He was gone for only a short while! How did the image of the house change so drastically?

Cao Yang had a small smile on his face. "There's a girl in the house now, of course it's different now."

He lifted his cup and took a slip of the black tea, staring at Xia Rou whispering secretively with Cao Xing, then turning to look at Cao Xiong, the master of the house.

Although his father didn't say anything, instead choosing to read the newspaper, he seemed to be in a great mood, accompanied by the soft sound of Xia Rou's murmurs to Cao Xing.

"How's the renovation on the second floor going?" Cao Xiong put down the newspaper to ask.

"Everything's tidied up and it's been sitting for several days," Cao Yang replied.

"Get someone to test the formaldehyde levels. If everything's fine, have Xiao Rou move. It's not a good look to keep her in the side building."

"Alright."

"When is the fourth coming back?" Cao Xiong asked again.

"Probably in a week or two. He's traveling with his friends."

"Hmmph."

Xia Rou, hearing Cao An's name, immediately stopped talking and strained to hear what was being said.

She felt a gaze on her, so she turned her gaze to Cao Bin and saw him observing her.

So Xia Rou pulled up a smile for him.

Cao Bin was stunned by her action.

Xia Rou knew why Cao Bin was observing her.

Among the four brothers, Cao Bin was probably the hardest to speak with. He was also the last among the four to come to accept her.

He had many thoughts he harbored deep in his mind, and had always been that way. Although he always smiled, he never actually believed in others. Because of this personality, he didn't join the army like Cao Yang and Cao Xing to follow in their father's footsteps. Instead he aimed to be involved in politics.

By now, he had already moved up in the ranks of the municipal government of Hu City at the age of 27. Of course, his family background could be counted as one factor of his success, but most important was his own ability.

Xia Rou had even thought of this before. After her death, her big brother Cao Yang would surely take revenge for her.

And the person beside him to plan it all would be her second brother Cao Bin.

And then fourth brother would try his best to stop third brother, lest he find the person responsible and punch him to death.

In the early days of her new life, every time she would think of her death, she felt uncontrollably sad in her heart.

But now her heart was much calmer. She could even look back at her past. Thinking back to those matters, she could even imagine such funny situations.

When she turned her gaze to Cao Bin again, her gaze was friendly and affectionate.

Thinking about it now, she hadn't really been close to Cao Bin at all.

She thought that he didn't really like her.

But after he saw Cao Yang come to dote on her, and Cao Xing and Cao An being nice to her, Cao Bin chose to accept her.

Although he didn't like her, he was still willing to take her as a younger sister after accepting her.

As she was remembering these details, she felt a fresh wave of gratitude toward him in her heart.

Cao Bin was surprised.

Because of his job, he had less time to spend at home. That day a lot of things had happened that surprised him, but the most astonishing of all was Xia Rou.

She wasn't afraid of them at all.

The men of the Cao Family, from Cao Xiong to Cao Xing, she wasn't afraid of any of them. Somehow she had a sense of familiarity toward each member and the intimacy seemed to be from the heart.

The reason she wasn't afraid was due to this intimacy.

Cao Bin thought that this girl named Xia Rou was either a shrewd, deep person, or… she was truly a simple-minded person.

Cao Bin leveled another deep stare at her and decided to believe she was the latter.

This was because when Xia Rou smiled at him, there was only affection in her smile, without any intention to flatter or calculate like those other women.

And even more importantly, if a person was really shrewd, then her eyes wouldn't be able to look as clean as hers.

He used his sharp gaze and continued to observe her, realizing she really was a pleasant girl to look at.

It even lifted his mood after staring at her for so long.

And just like that, Cao Bin decided to start liking Xia Rou.

This happened much earlier when compared to the past when he decided to only accept Xia Rou.

……

Proofread by: Hannah

Chapter end