“Didn’t you take the umbrella?”

Fan Mengming turned his head to see Jiang Wang walking in, his black hair dripping wet, with large patches of water on his neck and collarbone.

Jiang Wang didn’t respond, placing the alcohol on the coffee table.

Fan Mengming didn’t dwell on this question, turning instead to continue harassing Xu Ningqing: “Brother Xu, what kind of sister was that just now? A real sister or the kind you call ‘sister’ for fun?”

Xu Ningqing lightly ground his teeth: “What do you think?”

Fan Mengming thought seriously for a moment: “Based on your character, I think the ‘sister for fun’ possibility is higher.”

Xu Ningqing directly kicked his chair.

Fan Mengming was already overweight, and losing his balance, he grabbed at the air several times without finding anything to hold onto. A mass of fat crashed to the ground.

“Xu Ningqing!” Fan Mengming slapped his belly, angry, “You’re so cruel!”

Xu Ningqing glanced at him, warning him one word at a time: “My real sister.”

She was his cousin, but Shi Niannian was no different from a real sister in Xu Ningqing’s heart.

“How is she your real sister? Aren’t you the one and only young master of the Xu family?” Fan Mengming stood up, smiling as he put his arm around Xu Ningqing’s shoulder, suddenly remembering something. “Ah, that loli voice that appeared in your room last time we were gaming!”

Xu Ningqing responded carelessly.

“Isn’t she at the same school as Brother Wang now?”

Jiang Wang looked up from his phone screen, the corner of his lips slightly raised: “She’s my desk mate.”

“Damn!” Fan Mengming exclaimed.

Jiang Wang opened a bottle cap, picked up a glass, poured himself a drink, and tilted his head back for a gulp, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.

Watching his actions, Fan Mengming suddenly asked: “Your ear, can you drink like that with it?”

Jiang Wang had no particular expression, his hand supporting his face as he smiled faintly: “Why not?”

“What did the doctor say during your last hospital checkup? Any chance of returning to the team?” Xu Ningqing asked.

This time Jiang Wang didn’t speak.

He took out a cigarette, his hand half-cupped as he lit it, the flame illuminating his black pupils.

The next day, Shi Niannian’s parents arrived and temporarily stayed at her uncle’s home.

When she returned from school, she saw Xu Shu holding her brother, chatting with her aunt.

“Mom,” she called out as she changed into slippers and entered the house.

Her aunt looked up: “Niannian is home early today.”

Xu Shu, holding Shi Zhe, pointed at Shi Niannian and asked gently: “Xiaozhé, who is this?”

Shi Zhe’s black eyes looked at Shi Niannian for a while, then he smiled, reaching out to her, sweetly calling: “Sister.”

Shi Niannian smiled and picked him up: “Xiaozhé, have you… grown taller?”

Shi Zhe rested his head on her shoulder without speaking.

Shi Niannian: “Where’s Dad?”

Xu Shu: “He couldn’t get extended leave from the bureau. He’ll be here tomorrow.”

“Sister has… has a gift for you,” Shi Niannian said, holding Xiaozhé.

She went to her bedroom to get the blue dolphin piggy bank for him, ruffling her brother’s soft hair, asking in a gentle voice: “Do you like it?”

Shi Zhe said softly, “I like it.”

Shi Zhe’s doctor appointment was scheduled for noon the next day. The next morning, Shi Niannian explained the situation to her teacher and requested permission to miss the noon self-study session.

Just as she reached the school gate, she saw Jiang Wang walking in with his backpack slung lazily over one shoulder.

She remembered the umbrella from last time.

She ran up to him, looking up: “The umbrella is in my drawer.”

This sentence came out quite smoothly, without much stuttering.

Jiang Wang responded with an “Oh,” not particularly concerned about it. He glanced at the yellow leave request slip in her hand: “Going out?”

She nodded, standing on tiptoe to open the security guard’s window, handing in the leave slip.

“Where to?”

“Taking my brother to… the hospital.”

Jiang Wang stood beside her without leaving. The security guard looked over the leave slip, put on his reading glasses, and took out a logbook to register the leave information.

Shi Niannian stood at the school gate.

For a moment, neither spoke.

After a while, Jiang Wang clicked his tongue: “If you leave now, I came to school for nothing.”

When he said this, his voice was deep and slow, with a hint of flirtation and restrained teasing.

Because of that sentence, she suddenly looked up at him, catching the light in his eyes before quickly turning away.

With someone else, Shi Niannian might not have thought anything of it, but Jiang Wang always said… messy things to her, and with this sentence added, it became very ambiguous.

He was wearing his school uniform today, looking down at her, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, as casually lazy as usual.

She didn’t speak, but the tips of her ears couldn’t hide their redness.

Jiang Wang scratched his brow bone, finding her not as slow to understand as he had thought.

He reached out, his warm fingertips lightly brushing her burning ear, tucking her light, fluffy hair behind her ear in the sunlight.

This time, Shi Niannian didn’t react like a startled rabbit. She was stunned.

Her eyes wide open, she slowly turned to look at Jiang Wang, asking very seriously: “What are you… doing?”

Jiang Wang was amused by her reaction and drawled: “Your ears are all red. Aren’t you hot?”

Shi Niannian ignored him. The security guard had finally finished registering the leave slip. Shi Niannian showed him her ID card and walked past Jiang Wang out of the school gate.

Jiang Wang stood there for a few seconds, licked his lips and smiled, gently rubbing his fingers as if savoring something.

He followed her, blocking her path: “Which hospital are you going to? I’ll accompany you.”

Shi Niannian remained silent, walking around him and continuing forward.

Jiang Wang extended his long arm, wrapping it around her shoulder, pulling her close intimately: “Are you a little mute?”

Shi Niannian didn’t understand why he could leave school like this without the security guard stopping him. She felt a bit annoyed and wasn’t used to such contact with boys.

She broke free from his hand, hugging her backpack to her chest.

She said quietly: “I don’t want to… talk to you.”

“Is that so?” Jiang Wang bent down to her face, his tone lazy. “So heartless?”

The bus finally arrived in the distance. Shi Niannian quickly pushed him away and ran to catch it.

“This condition can’t be cured in a short time. His situation isn’t due to a traumatic event; it’s a congenital problem, so it’s not easy to find a breakthrough point. As parents, you need to be patient,” the doctor told Xu Shu after examining Shi Zhe.

Shi Niannian stood to the side. Shi Zhe held one of her fingers, looking around anxiously.

“Don’t isolate him from crowds just because he fears them. Education and training are always the most effective treatments. You need to promote his language development. Also, I’ve changed his medication. Now that he’s a bit older, I’ve switched to a more effective formula,” the doctor said.

After discussing Xiaozhé’s issues with the doctor for a while, Xu Shu thanked him and left the consultation room. She needed to get the medication and asked Shi Niannian to take her brother outside to wait.

“Xiaozhé.”

Shi Niannian picked him up. She wasn’t very tall, and Shi Zhe was already 6 years old, so it was quite tiring to carry him.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said softly, patting his back to comfort him.

The hospital was crowded with people coming and going. Shi Zhe was completely tense.

Shi Niannian was careful not to let anyone touch him, but it was inevitable. A woman’s bag chain accidentally hit Shi Zhe’s face.

Sharp, piercing screams instantly filled the entire hospital lobby.

Unlike the typical cry of a child getting an injection, this was a completely venting scream.

Uninterrupted, one after another.

All eyes around them immediately turned to them. The woman with the bag was startled, but seeing that the boy’s face wasn’t injured, “…Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Shi Niannian hurriedly said.

She carried Xiaozhé to an open area outside the hospital.

“Xiaozhé, don’t… don’t be afraid.”

Her voice was too soft to be heard over the continuous screaming.

Strange looks swept over them, mixed with chattering discussions.

Shi Niannian crouched down, gently hugging Xiaozhé, murmuring: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, sister… is here.”

It had little effect.

She looked around and saw a tanghulu (candied hawthorn) vendor. The ice sugar coating the red hawthorns gleamed in the sunlight, very tempting.

She picked him up again and went over to buy one for him.

“Xiaozhé, look.”

She held the tanghulu with two fingers, turning it gently.

Just as she was about to hand it to him, Xu Shu ran up from behind, pushed Shi Niannian aside, and picked up Shi Zhe.

Shi Niannian lost her grip, and the tanghulu fell. The ground temperature was high, quickly melting it into a puddle of sugary water.

“What happened? Why did Xiaozhé suddenly get like this?” Xu Shu frowned and asked.

“Just now, he was… was touched by…”

She hadn’t finished speaking when Xu Shu impatiently interrupted her: “Alright, let’s go back quickly. There are too many people here.”

She held the back of Shi Zhe’s head and quickly walked toward the parking lot.

Shi Niannian bent down to pick up the tanghulu that had fallen on the ground, wiped the sugar water with a wet tissue, threw it in the trash can, and ran to catch up.

Because Shi Houwei and Xu Shu had come, Xu Ningqing received a barrage of calls from his mother as soon as his university classes ended.

“Alright, I’m coming back,” he sighed, slowly packing his things.

The reason he disliked this family was simple.

The differential treatment that Shi Houwei and Xu Shu showed their two children was too obvious; even a blind person could see it.

Initially, Xu Ningqing felt sorry for Shi Niannian, so he would sometimes take the initiative to talk to her. Later, he discovered that this little girl had an exceptionally good temperament and personality, which led him to dislike Shi Houwei and Xu Shu even more.

As for Shi Zhe, he never liked little brats to begin with, especially one who was extremely self-centered, even though it was due to illness. He still didn’t like it.

Xu Ningqing opened the door and greeted Xu Shu and Shi Houwei.

“Ningqing, have you grown taller?” Xu Shu asked with a smile.

Xu Ningqing: “No, I haven’t grown in height for four years.”

“Is that so?” Xu Shu unconcernedly bounced Shi Zhe on her lap. “Xiaozhé, look, this is your brother.”

Xu Ningqing bent down slightly, approaching Shi Zhe. Just as he was about to hold the child’s little hand, Shi Zhe’s screams erupted again.

“…”

He cursed under his breath and straightened up.

“Oh my, what’s wrong?” Xu Ningqing’s mother hurried out upon hearing the noise.

“We went to the hospital during the day, and he got a bit scared. He had just calmed down, and now he’s starting again.”

Shi Niannian walked out of the bedroom, seeing Xu Ningqing, she called him “Brother.”

Xu Ningqing responded with an “Mm,” somewhat speechless at the scene before him.

Shi Niannian was holding the small piggy bank. Yesterday, Xiaozhé had been quite happy to see it, so she wanted to comfort him with it.

She walked over, gently took Xiaozhé’s hand, and placed the piggy bank in his palm.

“Xiaozhé… don’t cry,” she said, gently turning up the corners of her mouth, holding his hand, wanting him to look at the piggy bank.

Unexpectedly, Shi Zhe violently hurled the piggy bank away.

With a “clang,” it hit Shi Niannian’s forehead.

She let out an “Ah,” the bone in her forehead immediately stinging with pain. A large red mark quickly appeared. She covered her forehead, stepping back.

The piggy bank fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

“Why would you give him that when he’s having a tantrum! What if he cut his hand!” Xu Shu frowned and scolded.

Xu Ningqing had originally been forced by his mother to come home for a visit, intending to quietly be a background figure, but Xu Shu’s attitude was too much for him to bear.

He stood up directly, kicking the fragments on the ground, creating a series of jingling sounds.

He mocked coldly: “Your son threw it, and she could still cut your son’s hand?”

His mother pinched him, warning him with her eyes, then pulled Shi Niannian’s hand away: “Oh, it’s so red. Let me get you some ice to put on it, otherwise, it will swell tomorrow.”

At the dinner table.

Shi Niannian’s forehead was still red. Shi Houwei was loudly discussing something with Xu Ningqing’s father.

After finishing his meal, Xu Ningqing leaned back in his chair, playing with his phone.

Shi Niannian put down her chopsticks, saying she was going back to do homework, and walked into the bedroom.

Xu Shu’s room was right next to hers, with a door connecting them. The door was open now, and she could see through to the other side.

Shi Niannian stood at the doorway, stunned.

Her gaze passed through that small door, seeing the photo placed at the bedside.

It was standing on the table, angled slightly toward the bed.

The photo was of their family of three.

Shi Houwei, Xu Shu, and Shi Zhe.

“Shi Niannian.” A voice came from the door.

Xu Ningqing was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

She turned halfway around, and Xu Ningqing also saw the photo frame.

“Unhappy?” he raised his eyebrows and asked.

The little girl turned up the corner of her mouth, but the smile vanished instantly, quickly pressing her lips flat again.

Xu Ningqing clicked his tongue in annoyance: “Come on, your big brother will take you out to have some fun.”