The Great Thief

It was impossible to continue playing at night; Jiangnan City regarded New Year Eve Dinner very highly.

Fireworks had been prohibited in the recent years, so the city was quite deserted. The only things that could be seen were the huge red lanterns in front of the houses.

New Year couplets were pasted all over the walls in Lu Li’s house. For the past number of years, they had no parents to tell them how to celebrate this day, so they just celebrated it however they wanted to.

If you grew up in the Common District, you had the other children to celebrate with.

However, in such a high-end residential area with a relatively small population, it was rare to see children running around. This meant that Lu Xin had nothing to do and could only sit on the sofa, watching Lu Li at work.

The three female landlords had gone home for the holidays, and only she and her brother were there.

Lu Li had personally cooked a whole table’s worth of dishes. While he was raising his sister, he had always somehow managed to use the worst ingredients to make the best food. Even though they had money now, he didn’t mind treating himself and his sister.

“Big bro, what if we can’t finish all this?” Lu Xin asked as she touched her small tummy, feeling like she was already full just by looking at the food.

In the past years, if they had a good year they would have two dishes to celebrate with.

“If we can’t finish it, then we can put it in the fridge,” he replied. Lu Li certainly wasn’t going to tell her that they would throw it away.

“It’s too bad that the Huan Huan sisters aren’t here; it would be nice to have them,” Lu Xin said.

“They have their own families, so they naturally have to go back to celebrate with them. Aren’t I enough? Do you want to have more people around?” Lu Li asked as he put down the last place and started to pay attention to his sister.

“No, my big bro is enough for me,” Lu Xin said sincerely.

“Hmph, it’s good that you know that. Your Huan Huan sisters might be leaving next year, and you won’t be able to see them after that too,” Lu Li said.

“Sigh, why do people always have to separate?” Lu Xin pouted and looked very sad.

“It’s not like you won’t ever see them again, and they aren’t that closely related to you.”

Lu Li didn’t see the landlords leaving as a bad thing. He liked the life where he and his sister were staying alone.

“Big bro, you’re too cold hearted. I hoped that you would chase after one of them so they would

become my sister-in-law,” Lu Xin said as she angrily started hitting Lu Li.

Lu Li was stunned as he didn’t expect his sister to be thinking like that.

“Xin Xin,” he responded with a smile, “We are completely different people to them. You should know that.”

“Then what about Water Sis?” Lu Xin asked without skipping a beat.

“Her… what about her?” Lu Li’s face went blank.

“Don’t act dumb big bro, I know you know what I’m talking about. You have a close relationship with Water Sis. I am your sister; you can’t lie to me!” the little girl cried out.

“Well, I guess it still comes back to the fact that we are completely different people,” Lu Li shrugged and looked indifferent.

“This isn’t just a question of having money,” Lu Li tried to explain.

“Then why don’t you clear up the air? Why do you let people assume that you are a couple?” Lu Xin wasn’t so easy to manipulate.

Lu Li was stunned; he didn’t know what to say. All he could do was wave his chopsticks and change the topic.

“You better start eating, or I’ll finish the food. Turn on the TV too; the Spring Festival Show is almost on.”

Lu Xin stared at him for a moment before finally letting it go.

Her brother clearly cared about things much more than he was willing to admit.

“Silly girl, why aren’t you happy? Things will get better and better. In previous years, we couldn’t even pay the 100 dollars to go to the zoo. When the zoo opens again in the coming days, big bro will take you there. I heard that your favorite animal, the giant panda, is still there,” Lu Li comforted her.

“Really? Will I be able to see Dumpling?” Lu Xin’s emotions quickly recovered as she returned to her usual happy self.

Apart from dogs, Lu Xin’s favorite animal was the panda. Unfortunately, there was no way for them to raise a panda, but Lu Li had promised that she could choose a small dog from the pet adoption center once she had recovered.

“You can go wherever you want, and can have whatever you want,” Lu Li said as he ate.

“I want a sister-in-law,” said the little girl.

“Eat your food.” Lu Li blinked at her before deciding to end the conversation.

She really was good at hitting sore topics. This wasn’t something he was wanted right now and he couldn’t make any guarantees about it.

As for Water Fairy…

It would be a lie if he said that he didn’t feel anything when he thought about her.

However, he also knew of the differences between him and Water Fairy. He had recently read a forum post about Water Fairy’s gaming background. Even without going into her real background, Drizzle Court was part of the top 100 guilds in the gaming circle. They had two players in the top 10 players and three more players in the top 20 players.

Such influence was comparable to an old guild like Glory Capital.

Ruling Sword was still so far from that, so Lu Li just couldn’t consider the possibility of being with Water Fairy.

In such a festival, both the poor and the rich were celebrating the same thing. It was just the decorations and various atmospheres that were different.

In the quiet residential area of Jinling, Water Fairy was eating quietly in a spacious dining room.

Her father was sitting at the same table, and so was her stepmother…

In fact, not all stepmothers were bitter and rude. Water Fairy’s stepmother had been married to her father for 10 years. Although she did not treat her like her biological daughter, she was at least respectful.

They didn’t have any plans to have any more children, but she had accidentally become pregnant.

Recently, her stepmother had become more attentive to Water Fairy. When Water Fairy was eating, she

would give her food. She also cared about Water Fairy’s gaming life and regular life.

Water Fairy’s father’s surname was Shen, which was naturally passed down to her. Mr. Shen put down his glass and glanced at his daughter who was quietly eating, then asked with a flat expression, “Why haven’t you brought your in-game boyfriend to have dinner with us?”

“What boyfriend?” Water Fairy wasn’t just cold in game; she was like that to her father as well.

“Hey.”

Mr Shen’s temper was quite bad, and he got angry very easily. The stepmother quickly touched

his hand and shook her head at him with a pleading face.

Because of his wife’s pregnancy, Mr. Shen felt quite guilty about his daughter. Today was New Year’s, so he endured his anger and continued asking, “I’m talking about that Lu Li guy; someone who comes from the Common District. I don’t like it!”

“It’s not even your boyfriend. Only I have to like him,” Water Fairy retorted.

In fact, she originally intended to explain that she and Lu Li were just friends. However, her relationship with her father had always been rocky, and recently it had been particularly bad, so she just angrily shut down the conversation.