This introverted yet flamboyant young man was Zhou Weiguo's eldest son, Zhou Wen, Zhou Fan's elder brother.
"Who bullied you? What happened? Tell your brother properly, don't cry."
Zhou Wen's face was gentle as he wiped the tears from his sister's face.
"Brother, they all bullied me. Her, and her..."
Zhou Fan pointed at Li Ziqing, then at Zhou Yuanyuan.
"Heh, little sister, stop fooling around. Little Aunt and Ziqing are just joking with you. We're all family, how could they bully you? Come on, Grandpa's birthday banquet is about to start, let's all go in quickly."
Zhou Wen smiled charmingly, dotingly patting his sister's head, as if she were just a spoiled and willful little girl.
In reality, he just wanted to smooth things over, to make a big deal out of nothing. After all, it was Grandpa's birthday banquet today, and if anyone caused trouble, regardless of whether they were right or wrong, it would displease Grandpa.
However, Zhou Wen clearly overestimated his sister's intelligence, because Zhou Fan did not buy his act at all.
She continued to make a fuss, "Brother, why are you defending them? I'm your own sister. They clearly bullied me. If you don't do anything, I'll go find Dad."
"Heh, stop making trouble, sister, give your brother some face."
Zhou Wen continued to say with a smile.
"I won't. You must avenge me today!"
Zhou Fan said stubbornly.
"I said, stop making trouble."
Zhou Wen's expression turned cold.
"I will make trouble. Since no one is helping me, I'll keep making trouble until someone avenges me..."
Zhou Fan was the type of person who would push her luck if given an inch. The more Zhou Wen doted on her, the more presumptuous she became.
Zhou Wen also understood this, so when his sister was halfway through her sentence, he slapped her.
*Slap—*
Zhou Fan froze, she hadn't expected her brother, who had always doted on her, to hit her.
Then she burst into tears again, "Waa... Brother, you're helping them bully me too..."
*Slap—*
Zhou Wen slapped her again and said coldly, "Hold it in!"
Zhou Fan was still afraid of Zhou Wen, so she immediately stifled her cries.
Zhou Wen reprimanded her, "I've given you chances repeatedly, why don't you use your brain at all? Don't you know what day it is today? It's Grandpa's eightieth birthday. By making such a scene, you're embarrassing our entire Zhou family!"
"I, Zhou Wen, am making this clear: no matter who it is, no matter how wronged they feel, no one is allowed to cause trouble today, otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!"
With this series of actions, Zhou Wen was clearly trying to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.
He was hitting Zhou Fan, but his words were directed at Li Ziqing, warning her not to cause trouble today.
Zhou Wen's sudden change in demeanor stunned everyone around them.
As expected of the future helmsman of the Zhou family, he was indeed a remarkable person!
Li Ziqing, however, sneered. Zhou Wen wanted to kill the chicken to scare the monkey, but in Li Ziqing's eyes, he was the monkey.
Chen Xiao also curled his lips, this guy's acting was too fake.
After disciplining his sister, Zhou Wen immediately put on a smiling face and approached Li Ziqing.
"Sister Ziqing, I'm really sorry. Your sister Zhou Fan is being unreasonable, don't take it to heart. But after all, we are family, give Brother Wen some face, and let's just let this matter go today. Don't let outsiders laugh at us!"
"And don't forget, Brother Wen used to play with you a lot when you were little, hehe..."
"Am I right, Little Aunt?"
Zhou Wen said with a fawning smile. Seeing that Li Ziqing wasn't paying him much attention, he decided to take a roundabout approach and win over his Little Aunt first.
Zhou Yuanyuan also wanted to smooth things over, so she nodded and said, "Yes, Xiao Wen is right. We are all family. Squabbling will only make outsiders laugh. Ziqing, let it go."
Li Ziqing let out a cold laugh and met Zhou Wen's gaze head-on.
"You say let it go, and it's over? Do you know what your stupid sister called me? If she doesn't apologize to me, this matter isn't over!"
"What did she call you?"
"She called me a jinx!"
"..."
Zhou Wen was silent for three seconds before asking, "Did she really say that?"
"Ask her yourself!"
Li Ziqing said impatiently.
Zhou Wen's face darkened, and he looked at Zhou Fan, "Is what Ziqing said true?"
Zhou Fan's eyes darted away, "She insulted me too! She even said I ate shit!"
"I'm asking you, did you call Sister Ziqing a jinx!"
Zhou Wen said word by word, the muscles in his jaw bulging.
Zhou Fan said through gritted teeth, "So what if I did? I was just telling the truth..."
*Slap!*
Zhou Wen slapped her again, knocking Zhou Fan's mouth askew.
"I don't want to say more. Apologize to Sister Ziqing immediately, or you'll face the consequences!"
Zhou Wen's voice was terrifyingly low.
"I refuse. You all hate me. Why don't you just kill me!"
Zhou Fan said angrily.
Zhou Wen said coldly, "Do you think I wouldn't dare?"
Zhou Fan was stunned, her face turning pale.
Although she was foolish, she wasn't so foolish as to not understand her own brother's personality.
Zhou Wen always did what he said he would do...
"I'm sorry..."
Zhou Fan finally compromised and apologized to Li Ziqing.
"Louder!"
Zhou Wen commanded.
"I'm sorry, Li Ziqing!"
Zhou Fan shouted loudly, her voice choked with tears.
Li Ziqing snorted coldly, looked at Zhou Wen playfully, and then burst into laughter.
"Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen, living so hypocritically, aren't you tired? You clearly want to kill me in your heart, but you pretend to be like this on the surface. Alas, how pathetic, I truly pity you."
"You're even more disgusting than your sister. Your sister is just genuinely stupid, but you are a complete hypocrite!"
After speaking, Li Ziqing walked towards the hotel entrance. Chen Xiao and Zhou Yuanyuan followed her.
Zhou Wen stood in place, unmoving, his expression unchanged.
He showed no reaction even when Li Ziqing insulted him as a hypocrite.
It wasn't until Li Ziqing and the other two entered the hotel that Zhou Tai asked Zhou Xingguo incredulously, "Dad, why is Zhou Wen so patient? Li Ziqing insulted him so much, and he didn't even retort. Is he still a man?"
Zhou Xingguo snorted, "He who can't bear small things ruins great plans. Zhou Wen, like your uncle, is a dog that doesn't bark!"
"Dad, what do you mean?"
"A dog that doesn't bark bites the hardest!"
Zhou Xingguo said faintly, "Most of the guests have arrived, let's go in too!"
Outside the hotel, only the brother and sister, Zhou Wen and Zhou Fan, remained. Zhou Wen reached out his hand towards Zhou Fan.
Zhou Fan flinched in fear but dared not dodge.
However, to her surprise, her brother didn't hit her. Instead, he affectionately stroked her face and said softly, "I'm sorry, little sister. Did brother hurt you?"