Beijiao feared nothing in heaven or earth, yet when it came to money, he was completely at a loss.
……Now, perhaps he was equally at a loss with Jiang Ran.
When these two things collided, he stood caught in the middle, unable to find any balance at all.
He didn’t want to hide behind cabinets like a thief, typing messages like a lunatic, but the thought of giving Jiang Ran money made him certain she wouldn’t accept it easily. That would be so awkward. Before he realized it, he had already hidden himself away.
But he sensed something off in her tone.
Sure enough, when he came out, he saw Jiang Ran staring at him, her face icy and serious.
That’s when he asked if she was angry—
Though he had no idea what she was angry about.
“Angry?” Her cool voice echoed in the living room. “No.”
At least, that’s what she said.
But no one would believe that.
Beijiao stayed silent, keeping his wary and innocent expression from afar.
Sitting on the sofa, Jiang Ran almost felt the pitiful atmosphere radiating from him, as if she was being accused of throwing a tantrum unreasonably…
Thinking about it, she really did feel like throwing a tantrum.
But would it help to be angry at this guy?
It might just kill her with frustration, and he still wouldn’t understand.
Jiang Ran gestured for him to sit beside her, but he didn’t move. She frowned and ordered, “Come here.”
At her stern tone, Beijiao felt the invisible roots anchoring him to the spot begin to waver. He cautiously shuffled toward her in his slippers, his expression wary, finally stopping beside the single chair a meter away from her, still refusing to sit down.
Seeing his ridiculous state, she couldn’t help but almost smile.
Trying to keep a stern face, she asked, “Why do you always want to give me money?”
Beijiao could answer that: “I have no reason to spend your money.”
Jiang Ran adjusted her sitting position: “My dad took your mom overseas and left you alone. Don’t you think you deserve some emotional compensation?”
Doesn’t that sound reasonable?
Beijiao replied indifferently, “Even if she hadn’t gone overseas, she wouldn’t have taken care of me. What’s the difference?”
Jiang Ran was momentarily speechless, thinking how could there really be parents who didn’t care about their own child? What was wrong with that woman?
But Beijiao looked calm, as if there was nothing wrong with it at all.
Just as he was about to ask if he could leave now that he’d answered, he saw the woman on the opposite sofa suddenly stand up and approach him—
Startled, he hadn’t even had time to dodge when she grabbed him, holding him back: “If she doesn’t care about you, I will.”
She stared into his eyes, completely capturing his stunned expression.
“Do you still think I’m a half-stranger to you?”
“…Otherwise what?”
He was pretty honest.
Jiang Ran’s gaze flickered slightly. She released him and raised her hand to adjust his hoodie’s hood: “Are you really going to keep treating A University’s basketball team captain like a rival just for a half-stranger?”
“…”
“Or gave up the chance to join A University’s basketball team and live in the dorms for free?”
“…”
“Or even throw a tantrum in the middle of the road to get someone sitting nicely in the back seat to get out of the car?”
…Forget the rest.
Flirting?
When?
Beijiao was just able to protest, “Don’t make things up,” before he could explain that he was genuinely hungry in the afternoon and wanted to go home early, and that Lao Yan and the others were indeed a bit noisy. Suddenly, a figure darted up in front of him—
He was startled.
Only a second later did he realize it was Jiang Ran climbing onto the chair, suddenly a little taller than him. Then she suddenly raised both hands and touched his cheeks, forcibly turning his face to look at hers.
Her delicate, fair face was inches away, her breath almost brushing against his cheek—
Beijiao blankly stared at the tiny hairs on her face, a dazed thought passing through his mind: were her cheeks as soft as her fingers?
“Beijiao.”
She solemnly called his name.
It made him a bit nervous. His hazy black eyes suddenly focused, staring at her nose, tensely asking, “What?”
“See, you treat me to breakfast, order takeout, say no need to pay, and I don’t chase after you demanding payment—”
“Yes, but…”
“But what?”
“Can you let me go first?” He earnestly asked, tilting his neck. “You’re too close. I can’t breathe.”
“?” Jiang Ran didn’t let go, puzzled as she tilted her head slightly. “I didn’t cover your nose. Why can’t you breathe?”
……………………Because his nose was filled with her scent, completely overwhelming to the point of being suffocating.
Beijiao thought if he said that, he would definitely be scolded again, maybe even make her angry. So he shut his mouth, waiting for her to hurry up and say whatever she needed to.
He saw the woman in front of him with bright, sparkling eyes, her gaze shimmering with a negotiable tone as she said, “I’ve always wanted a younger brother.”
“…Then what?”
“That’s all,” she released his face, watching him hastily retreat two steps, out of her arm’s reach, but she didn’t stop him. “Just asking if you’re okay with it?”
She asked him, and though her tone was full of respect, from her aura, if he dared to shake his head, he probably wouldn’t survive the next second.
He pressed his lips together, his face full of reluctance and inner struggle.
“Be my little brother, and when you fight with Song Die, I’ll take your side.”
“Don’t you already take my side?”
“…”
You know that? I thought you didn’t know!
“Be my little brother, and you won’t have to wash dishes in greasy restaurants or wear mascot costumes handing out flyers in the scorching heat,” Jiang Ran continued persuasively. “Don’t waste your time on these odd jobs.”
Beijiao was even less convinced by this—
How could earning money through part-time jobs be considered a waste of time?
The next second, she patted her chest and solemnly promised, “Be my little brother, and I’ll teach you to ski. Within two years, I’ll bring you to the forefront of China’s carving skiing scene. As long as there are 300 million people still skiing, you’ll never go hungry again.”
At that moment, the woman standing on the sofa seemed radiant in Beijiao’s eyes.
He believed her.
In a daze, his mind buzzed with thoughts like “1,000 yuan an hour, 24 hours a day, if you ski 8 hours without eating or sleeping, that’s 8,000 yuan a day—8,000 yuan, 8,000 yuan,” and he nodded.
When he came to his senses, she rushed over, hooked his hand, and affectionately called him “brother,” hugging him tightly, saying, “Don’t be so precise with me anymore. Next time, I’ll really be angry.”
And before he could respond.
In a flash, she grabbed his phone while still holding his arm and refunded the 2,300 yuan he had just sent her.
…
After successfully getting this clueless kid on board, Jiang Ran was in a great mood.
She quickly got ready for bed and, for the first time ever, gently said goodnight to the teenager sitting in the living room playing on his phone. After returning to her room, climbing into bed, and pulling the covers over herself, she suddenly felt a slight confusion: he seemed to still be wearing the clothes he came back in. Was he going to sleep without taking a shower?
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she heard a very soft sound of the door closing from outside.
Like a thief sneaking around.
So when Beijiao came back with a paper bag, as soon as he opened the door, he saw the woman standing behind it with her arms crossed, wearing pajamas, and staring at him expressionlessly.
In the middle of the night, it was more terrifying than seeing a ghost.
He shivered involuntarily and instinctively took a step back: “What are you doing?”
“I should be asking you that,” Jiang Ran said coldly. “You just agreed to behave a second ago. What are you sneaking around for now?”
Beijiao thought, when did I ever agree to that! It was all you talking to yourself! Did you even give me a chance to speak! No!
He was genuinely afraid of this woman and instinctively tried to hide the things in his hand behind his back—
Jiang Ran glanced at his paper bag. What kind of person was she? She had been training on snowy slopes for years, falling so often that it was routine. She could recognize the shape of Yunnan Baiyao spray even in her sleep.
She reached out and grabbed the teenager’s wrist, expressionlessly pulling him to a sideboard, then opened one of the cabinets in front of him.
What appeared before Beijiao’s eyes was an entire cabinet full of unopened Yunnan Baiyao sprays, Yunnan Baiyao patches, and some foreign painkillers.
Beijiao: “…”
Jiang Ran snatched the bag from his hand, opened it, and threw a box of Yunnan Baiyao spray into the cabinet. Tilting her head, she looked at the little kid standing beside her, dazed: “Tell me, aren’t you wasting money?”
She really knew how to hit his sore spot.
For someone who would split a single yuan into two fifty-jiao pieces, calling him wasteful was like accusing him of murder.
“Did you hurt yourself during the day?” she asked. “Where?”
Beijiao pressed his lips tightly together, saying nothing.
Jiang Ran smiled at him, using a tone that could drive him crazy: “You don’t need to tell me. Take off your pants and let me check.”
…
Sometimes Beijiao really suspected that Jiang Ran didn’t see herself as a woman… or maybe not even as a person.
As they argued over whether she could reach the back of his upper thigh to spray the medicine, her hand still insistently hooked onto the drawstring of his hoodie pants.
“Hurry up,” she yawned. “Spray the medicine and go to sleep. I gave you and Song Die two lessons today. You’re not sleepy, but I am.”
Tears of tiredness had gathered at the corners of her eyes.
“You being sleepy isn’t a reason for me to take off my pants.” He gripped his waistband tightly.
“If you don’t take off your pants, how can I apply the medicine? Did you fall on your butt? And you wouldn’t wear the turtle-shaped protector either…”
“Song Die doesn’t wear one, so I don’t either.” He insisted stubbornly. “If he sees me, he’ll tease me for the rest of my life.”
“Well, if he has the time to remember you for the rest of his life.” Jiang Ran, still holding onto his waistband, patiently talked nonsense with him. “You need to apply the medicine. Skiing is an extreme sport. You must have respect for it. The first lesson in learning it well is to protect yourself. If you practice while injured, it’ll only be twice the effort for half the result—”
“It’s fine. Summer’s here. I’ve got plenty of time. Half is half.”
“Kid, I’m counting to three—”
“Three.”
“…Beijiao.” Jiang Ran changed to a gentle voice again. “I’m your sister. What’s there for a sister not to see?”
“Don’t guilt-trip me.”
“…”
…
Alright.
Patience was used up.
In some ways, she had no way to deal with him at all.
In the end, she gave up and allowed him to change into some unknown pair of swim shorts. When he opened his bedroom door and peeked his head out looking for her, she saw him wearing his hoodie on top and the floral swim shorts on the bottom, an image that looked extremely mismatched.
“Where did you buy those shorts?”
She asked as she walked into the room. In just a day and a half, the guest room she had used as a storage room was now completely filled with another person’s presence… His belongings were neatly arranged, so orderly that if he wanted to move out, he could pack everything in half an hour.
Jiang Ran reached over and scattered the neatly folded clothes in the corner, tossing them casually onto the sofa.
Under Beijiao’s confused gaze, she messed up his bed sheets again.
Then she felt satisfied, patted his shoulder, and told him to lie face down.
At this point, Beijiao was still somewhat reluctant. The bruises on his face had just faded, and during those days, when he looked in the mirror, he could clearly see how pitiful he had looked…
Judging by the pain.
This time, the injuries on his body were probably much worse than those on his face.
He instinctively didn’t want Jiang Ran to see.
But Jiang Ran didn’t care. She dragged him over and tried to push him onto the bed!
Caught off guard, he instinctively struggled. His tall frame in swim shorts writhed like a grasshopper. Soon, he flipped Jiang Ran over onto the bed!
Their positions instantly switched—
To prevent Jiang Ran from moving, he instinctively pressed her legs with his knees and pinned her hands above her head. As she shouted, “Let go of me!” he shouted back, “No!” caught up in the exhilaration of winning the wrestling match.
As he lowered his head, panting slightly, he suddenly saw—
She was underneath him, her hair disheveled, long strands like seaweed spread behind her head, tangled in the messed-up sheets she had deliberately scattered. A playful strand had even wandered forward, resting on her small, perky nose.
From their earlier playfulness, her fair cheeks now flushed pink, her forehead lightly sweaty.
Her eyes, however, sparkled, reflecting his outline.
Beijiao paused.
His heart skipped a beat.
In that moment of hesitation, her right hand broke free. With newfound freedom, she reached out on the bed, her fingers finally grabbing and pulling over a box of Yunnan Baiyao spray…
Then, catching him off guard, she slammed the whole box into his face.
“Get up,” she said calmly. “Apply the medicine.”
This time, she easily flipped him over.
Still dazed, he felt a warm, soft hand grasp the edge of his loose swim shorts and lift them—
That gentle touch felt like a feather, brushing over his tense, muscular thighs…
Suddenly, the skin on that area, already bruised and throbbing with pain, felt like it had been licked by fire.
He cried out, “Ah!”
Startling Jiang Ran, who looked up with a frown: “I haven’t even touched you yet. Why are you shouting?”
“Just apply the medicine,” he breathed heavily, his brows furrowed. “Don’t touch around.”
Jiang Ran was stunned by his sense of propriety: “Since when could a man’s leg not be touched?”
As she spoke, one hand held his calf steady to prevent him from moving, while the other still gripped the edge of his swim shorts.
“If this were ancient times, you wouldn’t be allowed to marry anyone but me.”
Three seconds of silence followed, along with the crisp sound of the marble inside the Yunnan Baiyao spray bottle rattling as she shook it.
With a sudden hiss, the cool spray hit the area where his thigh met his butt from the gap in his lifted swim shorts—
It chilled him to the bone.
As Beijiao weakly buried his face in the sheets, he heard the woman behind him say coldly, “Stop talking nonsense. Even in the Qing Dynasty, there was no such thing as getting married at three years old. You’ll have to wait at least ten more years.”
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