Looking at the figure below, Jiang Mu’s palms grew slightly damp. She felt inexplicably excited as she turned to pull a loose, off-shoulder T-shirt dress from the wardrobe she’d organized earlier, slipping it on. Then she quietly opened her bedroom door. The living room was dark as she silently walked to the front door, opened it, and gently closed it behind her.

The moment the door closed, Jiang Mu felt a long-forgotten surge of excitement, making her steps increasingly quick until she was practically running down the stairs. It reminded her of childhood when her brother would secretly take her to distant model shops to race remote-control cars—how thrilling that had felt.

Before Jiang Mu appeared, Jin Chao, standing at the building entrance, already heard her light footsteps. As the steps approached the first floor, he extinguished his cigarette.

However, Jiang Mu stopped at the second-floor landing, composed herself, smoothed her hair, and then appeared before Jin Chao. His bright eyes were sharp and powerful in the dark building entrance, lingering for a moment on her face as she tried to suppress her breathing. He then turned away, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Jiang Mu followed behind him, asking: “Where are we going?”

“Weren’t you hungry?”

“Oh, are we getting late-night snacks?”

“What else? Ghost hunting?”

“…”

Jiang Mu kept one step behind him, noticing he had changed into all black—black T-shirt and black pants. His tall figure in the night made him look like some gang boss. She followed his exact steps, always walking in his shadow. When he went left, she went left, as if being enclosed in his shadow gave her an inexplicable sense of security.

When they reached the complex entrance, Jin Chao suddenly stopped and turned around: “What are you bouncing around behind me for?”

Jiang Mu also stopped abruptly and looked up at him. Only then did she realize how tall Jin Chao had become—she barely reached his chest. If she hadn’t known they weren’t blood-related, she would have wondered if something had gone wrong with her genes.

She made up an excuse: “Aren’t we getting food? Just warming up so I can eat more later.”

Jin Chao’s mouth curved into a slant as he turned back around. This expression was unfamiliar to Jiang Mu—on anyone else, she would likely have found such a rakish look frightening, but somehow on Jin Chao, it was inexplicably handsome.

However, as he turned, she caught the smell of alcohol on him. Jin Chao walked toward the street, and with his long legs, he’d already gone quite far in just a few steps. Jiang Mu hurried to catch up, asking: “Have you been drinking?”

“Mm.”

“Do you drink often?”

Just as she finished speaking, car headlights swept toward them. Jiang Mu felt a powerful force pull her forward by her arm. Still startled, she watched the speeding car pass behind her as Jin Chao said in a low voice: “You’re this old and still don’t know how to watch for cars when crossing the street?”

His palm was somewhat rough, gripping her elbow with powerful presence, like a branding iron. The smell of alcohol on him became clearer, wrapped in masculine wildness. Even though he was the one who had held her hand from her first steps through kindergarten and elementary school, his grip on her now felt completely foreign. This physical contact made Jiang Mu suddenly pull her elbow away.

Her movement was so violent that even Jin Chao paused.

Since her mother had told her about the past, Jiang Mu’s attitude toward Jin Chao had indeed undergone subtle changes. She could no longer completely regard him as the brother she’d grown up with. Every small unfamiliarity reminded her that they shared different blood.

To cover up her excessive reaction, Jiang Mu strode ahead quickly, walking so fast that even her shoulder-length hair flew behind her. Only after several minutes did she realize something was wrong. When she looked back, she found Jin Chao still standing by the roadside, hands in his pockets, calmly watching her. As she turned, his eyes held a trace of amusement: “Know where you’re going?”

“No.”

“If you don’t know, why are you leading? This way.”

With that, Jin Chao walked in a different direction, and Jiang Mu sheepishly turned to follow him.

After walking for about ten minutes, they came to a lively street lined with food stalls. He stopped and asked her: “Hot pot?”

Jiang Mu shook her head.

Jin Chao asked again: “Barbecue?”

Jiang Mu shook her head again.

Jin Chao pointed to a row of shops across the street: “Choose yourself.”

Jiang Mu glanced at him from the corner of her eye: “Any place is okay?”

Jin Chao lifted his chin indifferently.

“Then let’s go to the busiest one.”

Jin Chao took her directly to the seafood restaurant at the end of the street. The inside was full, so they barely managed to find a table outside.

The restaurant had a complete selection of seafood displayed in glass cases, everything visible.

Jin Chao tossed her the menu, but after Jiang Mu carefully read it through twice, she looked up and said: “I’ll have seafood fried rice.”

“…” Jin Chao raised an eyebrow, giving her a silent look before taking back the menu and ordering several signature dishes, then handing it to the server.

While waiting for the food, Jin Chao sat across from Jiang Mu looking at his phone. Several times, Jiang Mu’s eyes drifted to his face, wanting to speak but holding back. Finally, unable to contain herself, she asked: “Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

Jin Chao kept his head down, eyes not leaving his phone as he replied: “Like what?”

“Like how I’m doing now, or about my life. Aren’t you curious?”

At this, Jin Chao slowly put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and his dark eyes stared at her for two seconds before suddenly asking: “How’s your stepfather?”

“…” Jiang Mu hadn’t expected him to bring up the topic she least wanted to discuss.

She replied coldly: “Not good.”

Jin Chao said in a flat tone: “Is ‘not good’ your excuse for giving up on yourself?”

Jiang Mu’s pupils trembled. Jin Chao’s pointed words left her speechless. After a few seconds of silence, she replied: “I haven’t given up. That’s just my level.”

Jin Chao gave a light laugh but said nothing more. His laugh made Jiang Mu feel even more uncertain. Even Jiang Yinghan believed her poor performance was due to health issues, but Jin Chao seemed to see right through to her hidden thoughts. This shocked Jiang Mu, but since Jin Chao didn’t expose it, she pretended not to understand.

Just then, a taxi that had already passed by suddenly made a U-turn and came back, stopping beside them.

Three men got out and headed straight for them, with Jin Crazy leading the way, immediately shouting: “Oh ho, I thought you had some urgent business, but turns out it’s a midnight serenade.”

The three men walked to their table and pulled up chairs, sitting down casually. The folding table wasn’t large, to begin with, and with three burly men taking up positions around it—Jin Crazy sitting right next to Jiang Mu—Jin Chao immediately reached out and grabbed the back of Jiang Mu’s chair, pulling her and the chair over to his side.

Jiang Mu’s small frame was hidden in the oversized T-shirt as Jin Chao dragged her like a doll to his side. She looked with surprise at these three comrades who didn’t look like good people.

Jin Chao seemed to have no intention of introducing them. The man to his left, wearing a large jade pendant, stared at Jiang Mu and teased: “So You Ge likes them young? Never seen you bring her out to play before—kept her well hidden.”

The man opposite chimed in: “No wonder you wanted to come out for a third round after two rounds already. We almost thought we were seeing things in the car, but Jin Zi has sharp eyes.”

Jin Chao said coldly: “Stop talking nonsense. I don’t have that kind of habit.”

By now, Jin Crazy had recognized Jiang Mu and leaned in for a closer look, exclaiming: “Isn’t this your little girlfriend from the car yesterday?”

The joking left Jiang Mu feeling awkward. She glanced at Jin Chao, but he didn’t look at her, lowering his eyes as he said: “My sister.”

Just then, the server brought a can of cola. Jin Chao opened it with one hand and pushed it in front of Jiang Mu. She quickly grabbed it and started drinking. The cola was ice-cold, but his words “my sister” warmed her heart.

Unexpectedly, the man across the table said: “Isn’t your sister still in elementary school? How’d you get such a grown-up Lin Sister? Related by blood or just adopted? The kind you grew up seeing naked?”

Jin Chao waved his hand and shot back: “Are you annoying enough? Taking a census?” Then he ordered several bottles of beer from the server.

Jiang Mu kept her head down, drinking her cola. To be precise, she was neither related by blood nor adopted, but as for growing up seeing each other naked—well, that part was true.

When she was little, she was clingy with Jin Chao, often crawling into his bed to play after baths, and falling asleep when tired. Before age three, she would occasionally wet the bed. Sometimes Jin Chao would lift her up in the middle of the night in frustration, and the whole family would frantically search for clothes and prepare a bath for her. Even when she was in elementary school, the family would still bring up this story as a joke.

However, her memories before age three were very hazy. She could only remember that in kindergarten, she had even bathed with Jin Chao. While she couldn’t remember many things from that time, for some reason she still remembered noticing that Jin Chao’s body structure was different from hers, because she had asked in her childish voice: “Brother, you have a stick on your body.”

At an age when she shouldn’t have remembered much, this incident remained vivid in her memory, because she vaguely remembered how Jin Chao had turned away in panic, and she recalled that after that time, he never agreed to bathe with her again.

Thinking of this, she couldn’t help glancing at the person beside her. Now, even in loose clothing, his body was very solid. Remembering how she used to wet the bed and he would strip her naked and put her in the bath, Jiang Mu’s face burned with indescribable embarrassment.

Jin Chao seemed to sense her discomfort and cast a sidelong glance at her. Jiang Mu quickly turned away, appearing awkward.

Jin Chao pushed the newly arrived spicy crab toward her. Since these men had already eaten two rounds, they were just drinking now, yet Jin Chao had ordered quite a lot—fresh sea urchin, small abalone, large fish roe, and mantis shrimp.

So basically, it was a table of grown men watching Jiang Mu eat. She was truly starving, and once she started eating, she enjoyed it thoroughly. Especially the spicy crab Jin Chao had pushed in front of her—she rarely ate it before because it was too much trouble, but after trying one, she found it delicious, the meat rich and flavorful, and she couldn’t stop eating.

She ate while they chatted. During their conversation, Jin Crazy suddenly blurted out: “You Ge, listen to me, you’d better find a place to practice. I heard Old Feng recently found some young guys who aren’t pushovers. When the time comes…”

Jin Chao suddenly put down his wine glass with a clank and raised his index finger. Jin Crazy stopped talking, and being old hands, they immediately changed the subject.

Jin Chao glanced at Jiang Mu again. She was eating intently, seemingly not listening to their conversation. He checked the time, then took her untouched seafood fried rice and a pair of clean chopsticks.

Although Jiang Mu hadn’t stopped eating, she had heard everything that was said, but only half the conversation. What did Jin Chao need to practice? Was it related to that life-threatening matter?

Her ears perked up, but these men suddenly changed the topic to things like three-way catalytic converters and combustion chamber carbon deposits—completely beyond her knowledge, she couldn’t understand at all.

Jin Chao had taken away the fried rice, and Jiang Mu thought he was going to eat it. She had just finished wiping her hands with a tissue when Jin Chao put down his chopsticks and moved the rice in front of her. Only then did she notice the rice was untouched, and in front of Jin Chao was a pile of scallions, ginger, and garlic he had picked out from the rice.

Seeing her look over, he flatly urged: “Not going to sleep? Eat quickly.”