ChunHua left her room upon making up her mind. The first thing to do was obvious. Since she was already awake, she might as well get straight to it.

She was in the midst of preparing an elaborate breakfast for her family when the family's helper entered the kitchen.

"Little miss! What're you doing?!"

ChunHua's grip on the pan tightened. She turned to show the helper the brightest and sweetest smile she could manage. "Ah Mei, I want to handle our food from now on. Go ahead with your other chores, okay?"

"You can't! You have no skill. See?" Ah Mei gestured at the dishes lying around the countertop. "What a mess! And you want to feed your family burnt toast, eggs, ham, and sausages? What's not burned is undercooked! Let me do it, let me do it."

Ah Mei took the pan from ChunHua and noticed little cuts on her hands too. "Look at you! A klutz like you don't belong in the kitchen. Go. Go."

Despite Ah Mei's expressed concern for ChunHua, ChunHua's gaze turned frosty.

"What are you going to make then?" Her tone was more frigid than she intended it to be but Ah Mei did not seem to have picked it up.

While Ah Mei listed what she was going to make and how nutritious each item was, ChunHua reached a conclusion.

'So, Ah Mei is the same in this world.'

In her previous life, after her parents death, she had immediately suspected Ah Mei for poisoning them and did her research on Ah Mei's self-proclaimed nutritious meals. Even though ChunHua could not find evidence of poisoning, she had found evidence of Ah Mei's fake credentials and seen through Ah Mei's bullshit. However, she was stupid enough to bring it all to BaiQiao.

'Of course they were in cahoots. Ah Mei was recommended by him after all.'

Again, it was only because of her that her family employed Ah Mei. They had had their reserves about Ah Mei from the start.

'Me and my useless lovesick brain.'

ChunHua gripped her hands so tightly that blood oozed out from the little cuts on her hands. She did not register the pain until it came from her blisters, caused by oil splatters.

"Painful, right?" Ah Mei noticed ChunHua's wince. "Don't do this again, silly Miss."

ChunHua composed herself before she spoke, "You're right. I'll head out to buy something then."

"Aiiii, there's no need to do that!" WeiSheng's loud voice filled the kitchen and made the girls jump in fright and surprise.

"Big brother?"

At one glance, WeiSheng could tell who was the cook for the day's feast. He took a bit of everything and taste it. "En! Tastes good!" He smiled goofily.

ChunHua could not hold back a bashful smile. "I know it tastes bad. You don't have to lie."

"Hey! I mean it!" WeiSheng looked like he was genuinely offended. "How can anything cooked with my little sister's love taste bad?"

ChunHua giggled.

"Mmm, but maybe we should cook the undercooked ones a little more? The burnt ones can still be salvaged too." WeiSheng admitted in a more serious tone.

ChunHua firmly took the pan back from Ah Mei. "Okay!" ChunHua's spirits were lifted.

Ah Mei looked like she was wronged and casted a worried glance at WeiSheng.

WeiSheng raised an eyebrow. "Move along. Get on with your chores. I'm here to look after her."

Ah Mei nodded and obediently left.

Ah Mei's behaviour made ChunHua's lips twitch. How did she miss this two-facedness of Ah Mei in her previous life? It was so blatant. When it was only ChunHua, Ah Mei's tongue would be razor sharp. In front of her family members, Ah Mei was nice, considerate, and meek. If her family ever found out about it, they would get rid of Ah Mei, no questions asked.

'Not yet.' ChunHua reminded herself.

"Oh, big brother, why're you awake so early?"

"Mm... Nothing much. I happened to wake up early. Oh! It must be my sixth sense! I would feel oh so rueful if I missed my baby sister's first attempt at cooking!"

WeiSheng was being dramatic and it earned him another cheerful giggle from ChunHua.

"You can go get ready for work. I'm almost done." ChunHua said.

WeiSheng eyed ChunHua's hands then looked back at her face. "Let big brother help. It'll be fun." He said with a warm smile.

ChunHua smiled back brightly and nodded. "Mm!"

Thanks to WeiSheng's assistance, the food turned out better and ChunHua finished setting the table ahead of time. They could return to their rooms to wash up before their parents came down.

When ChunHua reached her room, she found her door ajar. This had never happened before.

ChunHua looked back and peeked at what Ah Mei was doing. Then, she checked her room thoroughly. Nothing was out of place.

However, the oddity continued to bug her while she washed up and changed.

On her way down to the dining room, she saw her big brother's back, and it hit her. WeiSheng waking up early was also odd.

'He came to check on me. He must have panicked when he didn't find me in my room.'

Her heart overflowed with warmth, but also guilt and anger. Why would she ever want to kill her family? How did she get so smitten with that bastard? When did she start taking her family for granted?

'I'm such a fool to have believed his sugar-coated insults.'

She was knee-deep in her self-loathing when her brother called out her name.

She looked up and saw his bright face beckoning her over. Her mood lifted again and she ran to him. "Big brother!"

WeiSheng reflexively opened his arms to catch his sister whom had recklessly thrown herself at him like a puppy demanding for affection.

Meanwhile, the real dog was by their side, wagging its tail, wanting to join in the fun.

WeiSheng chuckled jovially like it was the best day of his life. "What's wrong?"

"Sorry for worrying you." She mumbled against his chest.

There was a short pause before her brother spoke again. "Ah, it seems I've been exposed." He laughed weakly. "It's nothing. I'm just glad to see you're okay."

"Oh, was there something you wanted to tell me?"

WeiSheng stared at her blankly for a while. "Ah! Yes, yes. Look how I dressed Xiao Tang up today."

"Pfft." ChunHua could not hold back her laughter once she paid attention to Xiao Tang. "What in the world did you do to poor Xiao Tang?"

"Hey, it's not that bad!" WeiSheng defended himself. "Is it?" Then, he doubted himself.

They were still bantering back and forth when their parents came down the stairs.

"Oh my." Both of them said in surprise. They stood at the foot of the stairs, speechless to see a weird-looking spread on the table and their children all spruced up next to it.

"Did we forget something?" Their mother asked.

"Did we miss something in yesterday's conversation?" Their father asked at the same time.

ChunHua giggled lightly then wished them, "Happy Valentine's Day to my dear family! Oh, but big brother ended up helping out a lot."

This time, even WeiSheng was surprised. "You mean this was because- I thought it was just another one of your whims." He blurted out.

ChunHua rolled her eyes up and looked thoughtful. "Well... You're not entirely wrong..."

Again, the family members exchanged meaningful glances. Finally, their mother said, "As long as you're happy. As long as you're happy."

"Yes, this is good for everyone anyway!" Their father added.

The family settled down around their white circle marble table that had a lazy Susanne on it, then dug in.

Although it was one of their worst tasting meals ever, ChunHua could tell from their expressions that it was easily one of their happiest meals. Seeing them like this made her feel more driven and confident about changing herself to change their fates.