An Nan kicked him. "Stop pretending to care about sibling bonds. Wasn't it you who abandoned her just a moment ago?"
She paused, then added, "Do you not know what happened to her? Don't come here and try to provoke me."
Wei Wenbin, holding his sister's head, noticed his hands covered in blood.
Had Ying'er's head been injured?
Suddenly, memories flooded back. When he had yanked his cousin away from the electric door, he remembered her head hitting the ground.
He had been too anxious at the time to check her condition.
Had she been turned into a fool because of that?
Of course, it could also be that his failure to act quickly, or not performing CPR properly, caused her brain to be deprived of oxygen for too long…
But he would never admit to that.
With a heart full of guilt, he looked at An Nan. "Nan Nan, how could you do this? You've made Ying'er into a fool!"
An Nan didn't even reply; she kicked him away.
"Are you playing the victim here?" she sneered. "Stop the moral grandstanding!"
An Nan came to settle the score with him, and she wasn't going to hold back.
She quickly closed the distance, grabbed his collar, and slapped him repeatedly across the face.
Wei Wenbin, though intending to resist, felt as though he were trapped by an iron grip, unable to move. He could do nothing but endure.
The slaps didn't physically harm him too much, but the humiliation of it all was unbearable.
After all, An Nan had once been the woman he liked. Now, here he was, like a helpless child, held in her grasp.
His face burned with shame.
How could this be happening to him?
An Nan slapped him over thirty times, until his face was swollen and bruised like a pig's head. Only then did she stop, satisfied with her handiwork.
The two siblings, side by side, looked like a pair of red pigs, indistinguishable from one another.
An Nan couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at their miserable state.
Meanwhile, Wei Wenbin, though dizzy and disoriented from the blows, still felt a tightness in his chest, fearing An Nan might just kill him.
Sitting on the ground, he explained, "Nan Nan, you've misunderstood! I was forced to go ask for food with the neighbors that day..."
"Stop talking!" An Nan kicked him again.
The grudges between them were not limited to just this one issue. The betrayal from the past life, the schemes in this one—these siblings had even tried to consume her whole... There was no need to waste words clearing every single matter.
So, she treated him like a punching bag, thoroughly enjoying the catharsis of delivering blows.
She continued until he passed out from the pain, then finally stopped.
Qian Ying'er, watching her beloved brother being so mercilessly tortured by An Nan, didn't rush to stop it. Instead, she stood off to the side, clapping along with a chant.
"Handsome guy being beaten by a bitch! Handsome guy being beaten by a bitch!"
Upon hearing the insult, An Nan turned around and immediately turned her fury onto Qian Ying'er, beating her senseless as well.
Moments later, the world finally fell silent.
After venting her anger, An Nan felt a great sense of relief, her body completely relaxed.
She tossed them both carelessly onto the ground, then went through their home, scavenging everything useful.
Three bottles of mineral water, two bags of compressed biscuits, a bundle of sausages, five packets of instant noodles, and a pile of expired bread.
Not a bad haul.
She took everything for herself, leaving nothing behind for the deceitful siblings.
Then, she threw everything else of use out the window into the floodwaters.
The house was now as barren as if it had been stripped clean.
With that, she sat back on the couch, cradling Fu Gui, and took a well-deserved rest.
Soon after, Wei Wenbin groggily woke up.
His eyes opened, and in a daze, he saw a slender figure lounging on his sofa, her legs crossed comfortably, a white bundle in her arms.
His mind went blank for a moment.
What was I doing? Why am I lying on the floor?
In the next instant, his memories rushed back. His eyes widened in terror as he looked at An Nan.
"What do you want from me?"
Before he could finish, his eyes landed on what she was holding.
That little white dog!
Wei Wenbin stared, transfixed.
Had it really gotten that fat?!
The last time he had seen it was the day before the disaster, when An Nan had brought it home, small and scrawny, barely any meat on it.
Now it was a bloated, round little thing, its body full and plump!
How much had An Nan been feeding it? People were starving to death, and yet she still had enough food to fatten up a dog!
Not only did she feed it, but it was living in luxury, practically a pampered pig!
It was almost like the dog was living better than him!
Wei Wenbin felt a crushing frustration inside.
This An Nan, would rather feed all the food to the dog than share even a bit with her old "friend"!
Fu Gui had been sneaking glances at the two siblings on the floor.
When it saw Wei Wenbin staring at it, it immediately jumped up, barking loudly.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!"
You filthy man! What are you looking at?!
Wei Wenbin, seeing the small dog still daring to show its teeth at him, fumed with anger, ready to punish it, maybe even turn it into a stew.
But as his eyes flicked to An Nan standing behind the dog, he immediately calmed down.
He couldn't act.
So what if it was barking at him? Let it be! It wouldn't cost him anything.
Wei Wenbin felt his pride deflate.
What did "dogs bully their masters" even mean?
This was exactly it!
Fu Gui, however, didn't care what he was thinking and kept barking at him.
Sensing no opposition from its owner, it became bolder, barking louder, then suddenly jumping off the sofa, launching itself at Wei Wenbin, biting him hard.
Those who got beaten by the master deserved to be bitten!
Wei Wenbin cried out in pain, immediately trying to toss the dog off.
But An Nan swiftly jabbed a trident into his arm.
"Ah!" Wei Wenbin cried out, instantly halting his movements.
Thus, Fu Gui had free rein, biting him all over, and Wei Wenbin dared not lift a hand in retaliation. Every time he tried, An Nan would strike him again.
After Fu Gui finally vented its frustrations, it sauntered away, leaving Wei Wenbin a wreck with no unscathed spots.
An Nan stood, surveying the scene with satisfaction. Wei Wenbin's face was swollen, his shoulders and arms riddled with puncture wounds, and his body covered in bruises.
She turned to leave, taking Fu Gui with her.
Before stepping out, she placed her foot on his face:
"I'll spare you today. If I see you cause any more trouble in front of me, I'll send you straight to hell. Got it?"
Wei Wenbin weakly nodded, watching her leave with Fu Gui, walking proudly.
He clenched his fist, pounding the ground in frustration.
So humiliated!
But then, he realized: he had thought his plan had failed, that he and his cousin were doomed.
Yet An Nan hadn't killed them?
Why? That didn't fit with her usual decisive and ruthless nature...
Wei Wenbin felt a strange sense of unease settle in.
But there was no time to think further. He gritted his teeth and got up to check on Qian Ying'er.
How had his cousin become so foolish? Surely she was pretending, just to survive...
He shook her gently. "Ying'er, An Nan is gone, wake up!"
After a moment, Qian Ying'er slowly opened her eyes.