Chapter 5: Entering the Wrong Room

That frivolous and careless voice, paired with the teasing glance, stirred a visceral rejection within Sang Yao.
“Let go,” Sang Yao said coldly.
Sang Fuying looked up, only able to see Sang Yao’s sharply defined jawline; he didn’t even glance down at her.
Following his gaze, she saw he was staring back at Yuan Feiye.
Was her uncle signaling for her to release him because there was an outsider present?
Obediently, Sang Fuying let go and stepped behind Sang Yao, voluntarily speaking to him: “Uncle, today I was taken to a terrifying place where many people died. They wanted to capture me, accusing me of murder. He was the one who took me away.”
“I understand. Thank you, Commander Yuan.” Sang Yao nodded politely to Yuan Feiye.
“Yingying, say goodbye to Uncle Yuan.” He glanced back at Sang Fuying.
Sang Fuying obediently replied, “Goodbye, Brother Yuan.”
“You can’t call me brother; you have to call me uncle,” Sang Yao corrected.
Yuan Feiye straightened up and pointed to his own face. “Sang Yao, have some shame. I’m only 28, you’re 30. Are we even from the same generation? Why are you acting so high and mighty about seniority here?”
Twenty-eight, thirty—they were only two years apart?
In her original world, her uncle was only thirty, but he looked much more worn and weary then because he was working hard to afford her medical treatment, unlike the uncle beside her now.
“She’s only eighteen,” Sang Yao said evenly.
Yuan Feiye’s expression darkened. “So what? But she insists on calling me brother, Uncle Sang~”
A chill ran through Sang Fuying. The trench coat she was wearing was suddenly yanked off by a strong force.
“Go change your clothes,” Sang Yao said, frowning with disgust when he saw the soaked red dress she wore.
Sure enough, she was still so frivolous, thinking her looks gave her the right to dress up gaudily and flirt with men everywhere.

Sang Fuying couldn’t see the disdain on Sang Yao’s face, but she habitually obeyed when it came to her uncle. After bidding farewell to Yuan Feiye, she turned and entered the house.
Outside, Yuan Feiye had been waving goodbye to Sang Fuying seconds before, but the moment she turned away, his eyes locked with Sang Yao’s and their hostility immediately resumed.
“You two are quite the act in front of others. You pretend to be a devoted uncle who cares for this defective niece, and when she’s bullied outside, you step in to back her up. By the way, there are plenty of defective females, but I’ve only ever seen one as pretty as your little niece. Actually, she’s more beautiful than any female I’ve ever seen.”
“You interested? I can give you custody of her.” Sang Yao’s tone was nearly emotionless, as if Sang Fuying were a worthless object to be casually handed over.
“Not at all. I’m just a kind-hearted person who likes to help out when I can.”
And conveniently, he could whisk her away, leaving Miss Lester, who was deliberately stalling and hanging him out to dry, behind.
If his family hadn’t insisted he meet that Miss Lester, and if he hadn’t found her suitable, he wouldn’t have appeared at the Lester family estate and run into Sang Yao’s little niece today.
“Kind-hearted, huh? Then who was it five years ago during the great battle who stubbornly ordered the withdrawal and abandoned the Fifth Star, leading to its fall into the devil’s hands?” Sang Yao sneered.

Inside, the house was not extravagantly decorated but featured a minimalist gray-and-white style. The layout was precise yet never oppressive.
The three-story residence had a living room on the first floor, bedrooms only on the second, and a rooftop terrace filled with flowers and plants on the third.
Without the original occupant’s memories, Sang Fuying had to explore each room to identify her own.
The innermost room was locked. Inside was a large space filled with books, a bed, and high-tech electronic devices straight out of a sci-fi film. It was the biggest room, which she concluded must be her uncle’s.
The adjacent room was decorated like a typical bedroom, with violet sheer curtains.
When she first arrived, her own bedroom had similar curtains and a comparable layout.
Back then, when her uncle brought her home, he told her that when they had money, he would renovate her room into a princess chamber. She said she didn’t like princess rooms and preferred simple, tidy bedrooms.
The bathroom in this bedroom was exactly like the one in her previous room.
Without overthinking, Sang Fuying stripped off the red dress in the bathroom and began to bathe.
Afterward, she partially dried her hair and wrapped herself in a neatly folded light gray towel. Just as she stepped out of the bathroom and reached for her wardrobe, the bedroom door opened.
As Sang Yao pushed open the door, a strange, clean scent mixed with shower gel wafted in—fresh, with faintly sweet undertones.

Those faint threads of fragrance pricked his throat like thorns, causing a dry ache.
When his eyes met hers—clear, bright, and obviously anxious—his expression momentarily faltered.
“What are you doing in my room?”
He averted his gaze but inevitably caught sight of the stark contrast between the girl’s jet-black, straight hair and her pale, flawless skin.
The girl had just finished bathing; a lingering blush remained on her cheeks. Wrapped only in a towel, her skin was as pure and unblemished as fresh snow.
The towel was loosely draped, vaguely revealing the gentle curves of her chest like rolling hills.
Caught unprepared in front of her uncle without having changed clothes, Sang Fuying instinctively raised her slender arms to cover her chest and turned away, her face burning crimson with embarrassment and shame, emotions spreading wildly over her like wildfire. She wished she could disappear into the earth and escape!
Is this really her uncle’s room? Then where was her own room? Could it be the locked one?
“Uncle… I couldn’t get into my room, so I came here to shower first…” Sang Fuying stammered, unaware that the blush had spread to her ears.
Sang Yao’s eyes darkened imperceptibly to himself. He turned his back. “You lock your room every day and won’t let anyone in. I don’t know where you put the key.”
He couldn’t understand what she was up to—usually, she avoided him and kept her distance, yet today she actually came to his room to bathe.
Since the day her custody was reluctantly assigned to him, their relationship had never been this close.
Sang Fuying was confused by the original occupant’s actions—why lock the room? Was there some secret of a girl’s privacy inside that she didn’t want the family to see?
“Uncle, I can’t find the key. Could you help me open the door to my room?” Sang Fuying asked shyly, clutching the towel around her.