“As for the third condition…”
Luo Jingcheng left the sentence hanging, then leaned in and whispered into Luo Xinyu’s ear.
“Kid… you’ve already finished writing Journey to the West, haven’t you? Hand over the remaining drafts right now!”
Hearing this, Luo Xinyu—wearing Xia Xi’s face—put on an expression of surprise.
She hadn’t expected her father’s third condition to be this. It seemed he had no real intention of making things difficult for Xia Xi at all.
And honestly, that made sense.
After all, Xia Xi had helped her recover from her leg issues, and he was always so good to her on a daily basis. Her father must have looked into all of that already, which was why he was only going through the motions today with a few symbolic requests.
Given the current situation, even if the two of them hadn’t swapped bodies, Xia Xi probably would’ve handled things just fine on his own. But still… hehe, since they’d already switched, why not keep it going a little longer?
Luo Xinyu was genuinely curious about Xia Xi’s body.
She’d been a girl for so many years—what was wrong with taking the chance to experience what it felt like to have a strong, capable male body without all the “extra baggage”?
“Hehe, Uncle, you guessed right! I really have finished it. Since you’re a fan too, I might as well just release all the remaining chapters at once.”
“Ahem, that’s great, that’s great. Then let’s leave it at that. Xinyu should be in her room—go keep her company for a while. A maid will come call you two for dinner later.”
Releasing the remaining chapters of Journey to the West wasn’t a decision Luo Xinyu had made on her own.
A few days earlier, Xia Xi had already decided to post them all at once. There weren’t many chapters left anyway, and instead of dragging it out with one or two a day, he figured he might as well dump them all out in one go. After all, he had plenty of other works stored up in his head—he could always start a new one if needed.
“Okay.”
Luo Xinyu nodded and left Luo Jingcheng’s room.
As soon as she stepped out, a maid came over to guide her.
The staff all assumed this was her first time at the villa and that she didn’t know which room belonged to whom. Little did they know that this “Xia Xi” was actually their young miss herself, perfectly familiar with her own home.
Following the maid, Luo Xinyu arrived at the door to the room she knew so well.
It had been a while since she’d last come back home, and just looking at this door now made her feel a little nostalgic.
“Sister, please, have mercy—I really can’t take it anymore!”
The sudden sound of Luo Xingchen’s voice from inside the room made Luo Xinyu’s hand freeze mid-air as she reached for the doorknob.
“Ahem.”
She cleared her throat softly, signaling the maid beside her to leave.
The maid, being sharp and knowing exactly which scenes were worth watching and which weren’t, gave a slight bow and quietly excused herself.
Luo Xinyu, on the other hand, pressed her entire body against the door and strained her ears to listen.
“Oh? Can’t take it already?”
That was a girl’s voice—clearly something Xia Xi had said.
“Yeah, yeah, I can’t take it anymore! Let me go, please, Sister~”
“No can do. You’ve had your fun, but I’m not done yet.”
Luo Xingchen’s tone carried a hint of pleading… and normally, the way he addressed her was just plain “Sis” or “Sister.” But calling her “Sister” over and over like this—it felt more than a little off.
Luo Xinyu already knew that her little brother sometimes referred to her that way in private, but she’d never actually heard him say it to her face.
Judging by the conversation coming from inside… could it be that Xia Xi had used her body to do something spicy to Luo Xingchen?!
At that thought, Luo Xinyu stopped eavesdropping and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open.
“Hey, you two—”
This was the scene that greeted her.
Xia Xi had somehow gotten his hands on an easel and was sitting on a little stool, sketching away on the canvas.
And in front of him—wearing a magical girl cosplay outfit, complete with a silver twin-tail wig—was Luo Xingchen.
He was kneeling on the floor, his hips slightly raised, one hand braced against the ground, the other curled up in front of him, with a chocolate cornet clamped between his lips.
How to describe it?
It was like one of those cheesy short videos where a girl imitates a cat.
It was hard to imagine that her younger brother—a boy with such a strong sense of pride—would dress up in magical girl gear and strike such an adorable, cat-like pose.
The moment Luo Xinyu spoke up, both people in the room turned their heads to look at her.
Luo Xingchen didn’t say a word, but his pleading eyes said everything.
“Xin… I mean, Xia Xi! You’re done talking with Uncle… I mean, Dad? I’m sketching a portrait of Xiao Chen right now. Wanna join in?”
Xia Xi was about to get up and take Luo Xinyu’s hand, but she stepped closer to him first.
Her gaze shifted to the canvas.
Sure enough—it was a portrait of her little brother in magical girl attire.
“Xiao Chen, you can head out now. I’ll keep your sister company.”
If this were any normal day, Luo Xingchen would’ve scowled and cursed inwardly: What do you mean, “I’ll keep your sister company”? Who do you think you are?
But today was different. Today, all he could do was shoot his “brother-in-law” a look of gratitude.
“Okay, okay! Thanks, bro-in-law!”
The kid was so excited he’d even blurted out “bro-in-law.”
And with that, Luo Xingchen scrambled out of the room without even bothering to change clothes—but not before closing the door behind him.
“Hehe~ Hear that? My brother just called you ‘bro-in-law.'”
Luo Xinyu felt a little flutter of joy inside. Her family already approved of Xia Xi, which only proved that her taste in men was spot on.
“Ahem… bro-in-law or not… we’re not there yet. No rush.”
Xia Xi stood up, slightly flustered.
“Still, I’m curious—how did you convince my brother to wear something like that and let you paint him? And strike such an embarrassing pose, no less?”
Even Luo Xinyu—who was actually a girl—would’ve felt shy pulling off that kind of pose, let alone a boy like her brother.
“Pfft, convincing? I didn’t have to. That poor brother of yours is totally whipped when it comes to you.”
Xia Xi recalled the moment Luo Xingchen had come to find him earlier.
First, Luo Xingchen had let it slip and called him “Sister,” and Xia Xi had run with it, demanding he keep using the title.
Then, Xia Xi had just wanted to mess with his future brother-in-law a little. Who knew the guy would only shoot him a look of utter disbelief before doing exactly what he was told?
That just went to show how much Luo Xinyu meant to her little brother.
“Even if he listens to you that much, you didn’t have to tease him like that. You’re so bad.”
Luo Xinyu tapped Xia Xi’s forehead with her index finger, then plopped down into a chair, grabbed a chocolate cornet, and started nibbling on it happily.
“Tell me honestly—did it look good or not?”
Even though Xia Xi thought it was a little too girly to hear his own voice say “You’re so bad,” he let it slide—after all, she was a girl at heart.
