Chapter 178: Floating Song of Ten Autumns (3)

An Yu and Ning Dongli nearly fell over.

At that moment, Ning Dongli’s face was filled with embarrassment, yet another emotion seemed to be quietly brewing beneath the surface.

Just now, after they finished a round of gaming, they had happened to catch sight of Ning Wanciu holding her phone with a dark expression as she returned to her room.

Ning Dongli was instantly overcome with curiosity.

She had never seen her older sister make that kind of face before. 

No matter what happened, her sister always smiled gently.

So she was truly curious—what exactly could make Ning Wanciu so angry?

Fortunately, An Yu beside her had noticed it as well.

An Yu was curious too.

So the two of them hit it off instantly and decided to eavesdrop.

It had to be said that Ning Dongli was really quite innocent. 

After just one game with An Yu, all her nervousness around strangers had completely disappeared. 

She could even team up with An Yu to do something like this.

They quietly made their way to the door of Ning Wanciu’s room, pressed their ears against it, and listened in on the phone conversation.

Since they couldn’t hear the other side, An Yu was somewhat lost and only gathered that it was about Ning Dongli. 

Ning Dongli, however, understood the situation perfectly.

Just as the two of them were spacing out, wondering why the sound had suddenly stopped, the room door swung open.

Ning Wanciu stood in the doorway, looking at the two little ones who had nearly collapsed in surprise.

“An Yu, Dongli?”

She blinked, completely not expecting to be caught eavesdropping.

However, Ning Wanciu didn’t get angry at being overheard. 

Instead, she looked a little flustered.

She glanced at Ning Dongli, worry flashing through her eyes before vanishing in an instant.

“What are you two doing here? Go eat some fruit. I just bought it.”

Ning Wanciu shook her head as if nothing had happened, desperately hoping that Ning Dongli hadn’t heard anything.

“Big Sis.”

Unfortunately, Ning Dongli had heard everything.

“Come on, don’t make that kind of face~”

The girl flashed a brilliant smile, looking completely unaffected.

“As long as I have Big Sis caring about me, that’s enough. I don’t care about anything else.”

Ning Dongli was being sincere. 

She had understood what kind of person their mother was even earlier than Ning Wanciu had.

In their mother’s eyes, it was all just children playing around. 

No matter what she said, their mother never took it seriously and always dismissed her children’s troubles with contempt from the bottom of her heart.

No matter what was said, it was nothing more than childish nonsense to her.

Ning Dongli had figured this out long ago, which was why she had become a shut-in.

If avoiding the problem could solve it, then avoiding was fine.

So she hoped her sister wouldn’t worry about her. She was really okay.

“Dongli…”

“Hehe, Big Sis, I want strawberries!” Ning Dongli shook her head with a silly smile. 

“I saw you bought some!”

Ning Wanciu was stunned. 

The worry in her eyes still refused to fade.

Still, she smiled and nodded. “Alright.”

Although the anxiety in her heart was impossible to suppress, since Ning Dongli wasn’t showing any reaction, as her older sister, she wouldn’t bring it up.

Ning Wanciu quietly left and went back to washing the fruit, once again leaving the space to the two little ones.

At the same time, the matter of them eavesdropping was left unresolved.

Seeing her sister leave, Ning Dongli’s smile stiffened slightly.

Hearing her own name from her mother’s mouth after so long, but sure enough, it was still like this. 

Though she hadn’t expected anything from her anyway.

Ning Dongli didn’t care about that woman. 

She only wanted to care about the people who cared about her.

However, she had once again made the person who cared about her worry.

An Yu reached out and took hold of Ning Dongli’s hand.

Although she didn’t fully understand what had happened, she could still recognize the trace of dejection on the girl’s face.

“Hehe, An Yu.”

Ning Dongli smiled, then shook her head vigorously.

“Shall we keep playing games?”

At the very least, she couldn’t let her only friend worry about her the same way Ning Wanciu did.

It was her fault for putting An Yu in such an awkward situation. 

She had to make up for it.

An Yu stared expressionlessly into the girl’s eyes. She saw no desire to play games there at all.

So she shook her head.

“Not playing.”

Mm.

This reaction instead made Ning Dongli panic a little.

She wondered if her issues had made An Yu annoyed with her.

But before she could ask why, An Yu spoke first.

“Because, Ning Dongli, you don’t want to play anymore, right?”

Unlike earlier, when An Yu had asked her to play, her eyes had been full of excitement. 

Now they were dim and lifeless.

“You noticed…”

Ning Dongli lowered her head. 

An Yu was right—she really wasn’t in the mood to play games anymore.

It wasn’t because of her mother.

Rather, she had caused trouble for Ning Wanciu again.

Her sister was truly wonderful—gentle yet strong.

No matter the time, she was always her greatest support. 

Every time she got angry, it was because of her.

But…

She herself was so useless.

She had messed up again. Her sister had finally invited An Yu over, yet on the very day An Yu came to their house, things had turned out like this.

Not only had she made her sister worry, but she couldn’t even hide it from An Yu.

She had finally regained that online feeling and was able to play smoothly with An Yu.

Was it all going to end just like this?

How unwilling she felt.

Why did it have to be today, of all days? 

Why now, of all times, did that woman have to call?

Thinking this, Ning Dongli felt tears welling up.

Why had she insisted on eavesdropping earlier?

Even if just once, she wanted to be a good little sister who didn’t cause her sister any trouble.

But she couldn’t even manage something so simple…

What a… worthless person.

Ning Dongli was an idiot.

An Yu blinked expressionlessly. 

From the corner of the girl’s eye, she saw a crystalline teardrop.

Ning Dongli continued hesitating, lost in her thoughts.

She was an idiot.

An Yu firmly grabbed Ning Dongli’s wrist, pulled her into Ning Wanciu’s room, and pushed her against the wall.

“An Yu…?”

Ning Dongli was dazed, completely not expecting this turn of events.

Before she could say anything else, An Yu hugged her.

“Eh?”

Enveloped by the soft, warm body, Ning Dongli’s entire body stiffened. 

All her messy thoughts vanished instantly.

Mmm… so soft… Wait, what’s happening?!

But reality didn’t give the girl any time to think. 

Before Ning Dongli could figure it out, An Yu made her next move.

She pressed close against Ning Dongli, leaned in beside her ear, and spoke slowly:

“Ning Dongli.”

Wuu.

In an instant, the girl’s face flushed red from her earlobes all the way to her pretty cheeks.

An Yu was speaking right next to her ear using the voice she loved the most.

This was reality—Ning Dongli’s reality.

“Ha… ha… W-wait, An Yu!”

She wanted to push An Yu away, but there was no strength in her arms.

To Ning Dongli, this voice was far too lethal.