After listening to Miao Tong's rapid-fire excited monologue, Xia Qingtian couldn't help but twitch the corner of her mouth.
*Well, well. Everything’s happening at once, huh?*
No matter what, the fact that Miao Tong was Xia Shang’s biological younger brother couldn’t be changed. She had no right to stop brothers from seeing each other.
But thinking of Daya at the Li family and Erya in the lab, Xia Qingtian’s mood grew complicated again.
*Was Miao Tong really here just to visit Xia Shang?*
Her beautiful eyes flickered thoughtfully. For now, she agreed to his request, hanging up before informing Gu Yaoyang about Miao Tong’s arrival.
"Why does Miao Tong want *you* to pick him up in Z City?" Gu Yaoyang immediately questioned. "What’s he here for?"
"He said he’s coming to visit Miao Sang," Xia Qingtian answered after a pause, then addressed his first question: "He asked me to pick him up because Miao Sang is currently staying at the Xia residence."
"What?" Gu Yaoyang froze briefly before realization dawned. "Xia Shang *is* Miao Sang."
No wonder Xia Qingtian had the Miao family’s token. No wonder she had spotted the flaw in his words so clearly that day. No wonder...
Gu Yaoyang had known Xia Shang was an IT prodigy—the subsequent optimization of the Gu Corporation’s systems was largely his doing.
So he had always intended to recruit Xia Shang. He just never imagined Xia Shang would turn out to be the *future head of the Miao family*.
"Right. What worries me now are Daya and Erya," Xia Qingtian said. "First, Miao Tong absolutely cannot meet Daya. Second, Erya’s nose is scarily sharp. Last time Xia Shang and I met with the Miao family, she complained about us for *days*, nagging us to shower even though we couldn’t smell anything..."
"The Miao and Tang families—one deals with poisons, the other with gu. Their olfactory senses process pheromones differently from ordinary people," Gu Yaoyang explained, then fixed her with a look. "But that’s not what you should be worried about right now."
"Huh?" Xia Qingtian blinked at him. "There’s more?"
"The future head of the Miao family and the hidden master of the Tang family *both* end up in the *same* remote village due to *accidents*, growing up as childhood sweethearts. What are the odds of that?" Gu Yaoyang deliberately emphasized the suspicious details.
Xia Qingtian stiffened before slowly processing his implication. "You think someone orchestrated this?"
"Almost certainly." His voice was grave.
While sheer coincidence couldn’t be entirely ruled out, Gu Yaoyang’s centuries of experience told him this was likely someone’s deliberate arrangement.
But... *who?*
And *why?*
It was like peering through fog—they could make out a vague silhouette but couldn’t discern the schemer lurking behind the mist, nor the motives behind this life-and-death game board.
With no leads, Xia Qingtian could only temporarily set the matter aside and head to the airport.
En route, she first contacted Erya, telling her the house needed a deep clean for an incoming guest and suggesting she stay at the lab to focus on her experiments. She also casually inquired about the state of Erya’s room.
Once Erya confirmed the guest was male and posed no threat to her sacred *childhood sweetheart* status in Xia Shang’s heart, she relaxed.
"Just do a basic tidy. Don’t touch the wardrobe—my pet’s in there. It’s got a temper, so don’t get bitten," Erya warned.
"You’ve been keeping a pet in *my* wardrobe?" Xia Qingtian’s eye twitched. "It’s been so long—wouldn’t it have starved by now?"
"Nah, it doesn’t eat much and sleeps most of the time." Erya pondered briefly. "Buy a chicken and toss it into the room today—raw is fine. It’ll eat when hungry. I’m swamped and might not be back for a week or two. Keep an eye on Xia Shang for me. If any shady women show up around him—*eliminate them*."
"Sure~" Xia Qingtian drawled with an amused smile before hanging up.
She then asked Aunt Liu to arrange maids to thoroughly clean every part of Erya’s room *except* the wardrobe.
By the time she reached the airport, she spotted Miao Tong being chatted up by several scantily clad girls.
"Here for vacation? Same! What a coincidence~"
"Wanna hang out together?"
"No, no," Miao Tong waved them off. "My friend’s picking me up soon."
"Really? Is your friend a guy or girl? Can they join us?"
Just then, a private car pulled up curbside.
As the window rolled down, Xia Qingtian overheard one girl saying, "We haven’t booked a ride yet. Is your friend’s car big enough for all of us?"
"Not really convenient," Miao Tong continued refusing.
"Why not? We’re all *beauties*~ You and your friend should be thrilled to join us~"
"Ladies, done chatting?" Xia Qingtian rested her arm on the open window frame, tilting her head with a smile. "There’s a traffic camera here—it fines for prolonged stops."
The self-proclaimed "beauties" froze upon seeing Xia Qingtian’s face.
Looking profoundly relieved, Miao Tong waved goodbye and quickly slid into the car. "Took you long enough! I was *so* bored waiting!"
"Bored? Really?" Xia Qingtian smirked. "Seemed like you were having fun flirting."
"*Please* spare me..." Miao Tong shook his head emphatically. "I’m *terrible* with girls."
"Could’ve fooled me." As the car pulled away, Xia Qingtian added, "Next time, no more surprise visits. Give me a heads-up so I can arrange pickup sooner."
"Noted." Rubbing his stomach, Miao Tong gave her a pitiful look. "So... I’m *starving*..."
With a resigned chuckle, Xia Qingtian redirected the driver to a highly-rated local restaurant instead of heading straight home.
For nearly an hour over dinner, Miao Tong barely stopped talking between bites.
Xia Qingtian felt a headache coming on. *This guy has the same face as Xia Shang but says in ten minutes what Xia Shang would take a year to utter.*
Only after he finished eating did she finally take him back to the Xia residence.
By then, Erya’s room had been cleaned and aired out for an hour, the windows only recently closed.
Aunt Liu was startled by Miao Tong’s arrival—especially since she was so used to Xia Shang’s perpetually expressionless face. Seeing nearly identical features now stretched into a bright smile felt... unnerving.
*Some faces just aren’t meant to smile. They’re meant to stay deadpan.*