Ning Dongli had already walked up beside Ning Wanciu, only to see her wearing a bewildered expression, lost in thought about something.
She even looked a little… tired?
“Sis?”
“Wah! You scared me!”
Hearing a voice calling her, Ning Wanciu whipped around.
Only after realizing it was her little sister did she relax.
“What’s with you?”
Ning Dongli looked at Ning Wanciu with some confusion, unsure what was going on with her this time.
Seeing Ning Dongli’s puzzled expression, Ning Wanciu simply shook her head.
“Hoo… It’s nothing, just a bit tired.”
“Tired? What did you do? Coming back so late?”
At this, Ning Dongli frowned, looking at Ning Wanciu suspiciously.
Seeing that, Ning Wanciu pursed her lips helplessly.
“Didn’t I message you? An Yu’s birthday is coming up, so the three of us went to pick out gifts.”
As she spoke, Ning Wanciu showed the gifts she was carrying.
Nine small plushies, all from the same series.
Hm, even combined, they weren’t as big as the one Huai Xiang bought…
Though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Oh.” Ning Dongli nodded reassuringly. “Got it…”
…
…
What the heck—she almost forgot.
Her sister had messaged her earlier about a friend’s birthday and asked if she wanted to go.
She was wondering why she came back so late.
Turns out it was gift shopping.
She thought Ning Wanciu was hiding something from her…
Like… maybe she was dating someone…
If that were the case, Ning Dongli wouldn’t know what to do.
On one hand, she was living with Ning Wanciu now.
If her sister brought a boyfriend home or something, it would be super awkward for her.
Though she felt that even if Ning Wanciu was dating, she wouldn’t do something like that.
But if it really came to that, Ning Dongli would actually hope Ning Wanciu wouldn’t worry so much about her feelings.
On the other hand…
She would worry about Ning Wanciu.
Though her sister seemed gentle and kind, that was exactly why she could be more easily deceived by bad people!
Especially those from big families—they were all good at manipulating others.
With just a few words, or even without saying anything, they could make someone unable to stay at school…
Thinking of this, Ning Dongli’s expression grew somewhat heavy.
But she quickly hid it.
Just as Ning Wanciu doted on her little sister, Ning Dongli didn’t want to trouble her big sister too much.
Ning Dongli kept her expression as normal as ever. As for the birthday party invitation,
her answer had naturally been no. She didn’t want to meet her sister’s friends.
Her sister’s friends were her sister’s friends—she didn’t know them.
Ning Dongli quietly walked to the side, looking at the nine neatly arranged small plushies.
Her beautiful eyes blinked lightly.
“Sis, these are the gifts you’re giving to An Yu…?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Ning Dongli froze.
Wait?!
Giving to… who?
“Yeah, because An Yu seems to really like this series, so I collected the full set for her.”
Ning Wanciu nodded with a smile.
But soon, she noticed something off about Ning Dongli.
Why was she spacing out and not saying anything?
She was fine just a moment ago.
“Wait, wait, sis—who did you say is having a birthday?!”
Ning Dongli finally realized what was wrong. She grabbed Ning Wanciu’s arm, a flash of disbelief in her eyes.
If Ning Wanciu hadn’t just mentioned An Yu’s birthday, she would have thought it was one of her sister’s two friends celebrating!
“Dongli? What’s wrong?”
“Sis… you just said it’s An Yu’s birthday?!”
Ning Dongli looked into Ning Wanciu’s eyes, as if wanting to confirm if this was real.
“Yeah, didn’t I write it in the message? An Yu’s birthday—we’re all going, and I asked if you wanted to come.”
Ning Dongli blinked blankly, then quickly pulled out her phone from her pocket.
Opening it, she immediately saw the message from Ning Wanciu.
【Big Sis】: There’s a birthday party the day after tomorrow—it’s An Yu’s birthday.
All my friends are going. Dongli, do you want to come?
【Listening to Something Nice】: No.
【Big Sis】: Okay then.
It really was!!!
Ning Wanciu had said it was An Yu’s birthday, but at the time, she was gaming and only saw “birthday party” and “friends are going,” so she refused without thinking.
She never imagined it would be An Yu’s birthday.
Come to think of it, when she said those computer things were birthday gifts for An Yu, she wasn’t wrong!
So did that count as jinxing herself?
“Woo…”
Regret—just pure regret. If she’d known it was An Yu’s birthday!
Ning Dongli’s face was full of remorse. Why didn’t she look more carefully?
“Dongli?”
Ning Wanciu looked at the suddenly dejected Ning Dongli with confusion, unsure what was wrong with her.
But Ning Dongli didn’t speak, just remained silent with her head lowered.
“What’s wrong?”
Ning Wanciu took Ning Dongli’s hand and said gently.
Looking at Ning Wanciu’s expression, Ning Dongli paused, then slowly spoke: “I—I thought that birthday party…”
She didn’t finish the rest, but Ning Wanciu could roughly guess from her expression.
“I get it… You thought the birthday party was for Huai Xiang or Cheng Shimumeng, so that’s why you refused, right?”
Ning Wanciu looked seriously at Ning Dongli.
After a long pause, Ning Dongli slowly nodded.
In an instant, Ning Wanciu’s expression became even more helpless.
“Just because of that?”
“Uh…”
“The birthday party is on the weekend, at Cheng Shimumeng’s house. As long as you want to go, I can take you.”
Ning Wanciu said calmly: “As long as you want to… Dongli.”
Honestly, Ning Wanciu had thought something serious had happened to make Ning Dongli so depressed all of a sudden.
The birthday party hadn’t even started yet, and only her friends would be there.
It wasn’t some formal gathering where refusing meant you couldn’t go.
As long as Ning Dongli wanted to, she could bring her.
But… could she really do it now?
Ning Dongli:
As expected, just as Ning Wanciu predicted, Ning Dongli fell silent once again.
She was indeed upset about missing the chance to go to An Yu’s birthday party.
…
…
But if she really told Ning Dongli she could go, she would instead fall into hesitation.
She did want to hang out with An Yu, but the moment she thought about going out, an inexplicable fear gripped her.
…
Moreover, it wouldn’t just be An Yu and Ning Wanciu there—there would be two strangers to her as well.
For a moment, Ning Dongli didn’t know how to choose.
“So, Dongli, what do you want to do? Do you want to join after all?”
As she spoke, Ning Wanciu looked seriously at Ning Dongli, a hint of unconcealed expectation flashing in her deep blue eyes.
She hoped Ning Dongli could take this step.
Ning Dongli lowered her head, silent. It took a long while before she spoke: “Sorry… Sis.”