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nTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

nAt the living room table, the atmosphere was somewhat silent.

nLiu Zilang quietly slurped his noodles.

nZhang Xiaotong nibbled on her noodles while she scrolled through her phone, with her delicate fingers tapping on the screen. Liu Zilang had no idea what was she doing.

nIn all seriousness, Liu Zilang had been back for more than half a year. Although they live together, the two of them had never sat down and ate together since then.

nThat is because the housekeeping aunty was usually around to make dinner. Once dinner was ready, Zhang Xiaotong’s portion of the meal would be brought to her.

nAs for Liu Zilang, he would occasionally dine in the living room, or sometimes in his room.

nThinking about it, a situation like today’s would actually be a first.

n…

nSensing that the atmosphere had been silent and it was getting slightly awkward, Liu Zilang knew that this could not go on like that.

nHe thought to himself, ‘Perhaps the current situation presented an opportunity for him to restore the broken sibling-relationship.’

nAs he pondered, Liu Zilang automatically coughed twice with his fist closed over his mouth.

nOnce he got her attention, he squeezed out what he thought would be a sunny smile and shuffled towards Zhang Xiaotong. Grinning from ear to ear, he asked, “What are you looking at, let brother look at it too…”

nSnap!

nAs expected, before he was done speaking, Zhang Xiaotong pressed on the side button and the phone’s screen turned off in response.

nAll of a sudden, Liu Zilang choked on the latter part of his sentence —”let brother look at it”— he was almost unable to ease his breathing.

nThat was too far!

nUnacceptable!

nWhy did such a sister exist?

nLiu Zilang’s rage rose in a heartbeat.

nTake a deep breath. Calm down, calm down!

nHe consoled himself, telling himself that it was just an ‘ice-breaking day’ but he must not screw it up.

nHowever, the little brat was already a junior high student, so it was normal to have some privacy and secrets.

nYes, he was indeed a little rude.

nAfter calming down, Liu Zilang looked at the bowl of noodles in front of him and a sudden inspiration hit him. He beamed as he said once again, “What do you think? Brother’s cooking skill isn’t all that bad, isn’t it?”

n“Don’t judge this bowl of noodles by its simple appearance. It’s actually an authentic Chongqing street noodle that your brother has secretly learned in the few years that he was in Chongqing.”

n“You see, this noodle, this egg, this green onion… Tsk tsk…”

nWhile he said it, Liu Zilang intentionally took a deep breath as if he was drunk. In fact, he was relishing in secret.

nAs a saying goes, ‘the way to a person’s heart is through their stomach.’

nHe gestured triumphantly!

nThe entry point of this topic would surely be right!

nAs he expected, Zhang Xiaotong who was playing with her phone with her head down suddenly raised her head after having heard what Liu Zilang said

nThe next moment, their eyes met.

nLiu Zilang was very taken aback.

nFor a moment, he saw a shred of grievance in Zhang Xiaotong’s evasive gaze. It was like a cat abandoned at the corner of a street.

nYet that feeling vanished in a flash because Zhang Xiaotong’s face was once again restored to her cold and distant countenance.

nIt was clear that her expression in her eyes at that very moment was directed at Liu Zilang to shut up…

n…

nWithout a doubt, the plan had failed.

nDispirited, Liu Zilang fiddled with the noodles in his bowl, not knowing what went wrong.

nLiu Zilang did not possess any ‘indomitable’ character regarding such matters. Naturally, two failures were enough to plummet his fighting spirit into the earth’s core.

nInadvertently, he saw the remaining amount of noodles in their bowls. Since Liu Zilang was bored stiff, he suddenly came up with an idea.

nSo he shamelessly asked, “Xiaotong, why don’t we compete?”

nZhang Xiaotong’s head remained low; she was clearly ignoring him.

nHowever, Liu Zilang kept going, “Hey, the rule of the competition is simple. That is, whoever eats the slowest… is…”

n“Responsible for washing the dishes!”

nAs soon as he finished his sentence, Liu Zilang abruptly slurped all the remaining noodle that was in his bowl.

nA short while after, he topped the bowl and gulped down the soup.

nIt was then followed by a raise of his hand. High-spirited, he said, “Haha! Sorry, but I won!”

nAfter he said that, he put down the bowl and left the table smugly, walking into his room.

nAt that moment, his dismal from being defeated earlier on had been swept away as he seemed relaxed.

nStill eating her noodles in small bites, Zhang Xiaotong raised her head and stared at Liu Zilang’s silhouette. To express her dissatisfaction, she made a ‘hmph’ sound.

n…

nIn his room, Liu Zilang took a rest on the bed for a while before he got up by doing a carp skip-up.

nAfter he gathered for a few clothes to change into from the cabinet, he hummed while prepared to take a shower.

nWhen he passed through the living room, he heard sounds coming from the kitchen.

nSo, Liu Zilang leaned sideways and tilted his head where he caught a glimpse of Zhang Xiaotong washing the dishes in the pool of water with a pair of gloves on.

nHeh heh heh!

nSeeing this scene, Liu Zilang’s heart suddenly became more at ease.

nJust as he walked past the table, the handphone in which Zhang Xiaotong placed on the table before she went to do the dishes suddenly vibrated — a QQ message popped up.

n“But I did not regard you as a sister. Maybe we can try to get along.”

nLiu Zilang inadvertently shot a glance at the message, and he was shocked.

nDid not treat her as a sister?

nWho? Treat who as a sister?

nAlso, get along?

nWhat is the situation here?

nFor a while, Liu Zilang’s confused mind suddenly felt like it was being scratched by a cat.

nHe looked at the phone on the table and made a peek at Zhang Xiaotong who was then still washing the dishes in the kitchen. It did not seem like she would come out anytime soon.

nLiu Zilang thought to himself, ‘Although looking through someone’s messages was not good, with the absence of his father and other family members, he could be considered as half a guardian of this brat.

nSo yes, for the sake of her healthy growth, it should not be a problem.

nWith the mentality of ‘it’s for her own good’ and driven by his curiosity, Liu Zilang finally extended his evil claws towards Zhang Xiaoto’s handphone.

n…

nSliding the screen, it was still not locked yet.

nNice!

nWhen Liu Zilang turned on the phone, he saw the chat history in QQ’s dialog box.

n“Uhm… Xiao Tong, you don’t have a boyfriend yet, am I right?”

n“Uhh… Why would you ask this such a question?”

n“Just tell me, do you have one or you don’t?”

n“Of course not.”

n“That… If it were me, would you consider it?”

nA brief interval occurred after that message.

nUpon reading it, the corner of Liu Zilang’s eyes could not help but twitch. He thought to himself, ‘Could it be that this little brat has experienced some intense psychological struggle?’

nUnbelievable!

nAbsolutely unbelievable!

nFortunately, Zhang Xiaotong’s next reply allowed Liu Zilang to breathe a breath of relief.

n“I’m sorry, I’ve always treated you as a brother. If you keep this attitude, let’s not contact each other anymore.”

nHowever, Liu Zilang could not help but pout after reading it.

nThink of others as her brother?

nDamned brat, don’t you have a brother?

nI am right here. Why don’t you regard me as your brother?

nFeeling humiliated, Liu Zilang continued to scroll through the messages until it arrived at the latest message in which he saw just now — the one where it said ‘But I did not regard you as a sister. Maybe we could try to get along.’

nWhen he read that, Liu Zilang finally understood, and his heart suddenly burst into anger!

nStinking brat!

nHow dare he lay his hands on my sister!

nHe clicked into that person’s information, showing his cartoony profile avatar that looked like a male character from an anime. It had the same style as Zhang Xiaotong’s profile avatar.

nDue to the fact that Liu Zilang had limited contact with two-dimensional characters, he did not recognize the character and skipped it.

nHe then looked at the screen name, Shangshan Xiaxiang.

nUp the mountains and down to the countryside? 1

nWhat the hell?

nDo you f*cking think that you are the most educated youth of the last century?

nLiu Zilang sneered as he picked up the phone. Then, he swiftly typed a reply, “Okay, then treat me as your mother!”

n“Hurry up and scram!”

n…

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