The sky had completely darkened.
By now, Ning Wanciu had recovered from her earlier state and finished cleaning up the dishes and utensils.
“Hah…”
She looked at the pitch-black scenery outside and shook her head somewhat helplessly.
Tonight… should she send An Yu home?
Ning Wanciu took off her apron and glanced hesitantly toward Ning Dongli’s room.
An Yu and Ning Dongli were probably still playing games in there.
Logically speaking, she and An Yu hadn’t discussed whether she would stay the night, so she ought to send An Yu home.
But… did she really have to send her back?
An Yu was having so much fun with Ning Dongli and showed no intention of leaving anytime soon.
Besides, it wasn’t like her house couldn’t accommodate one small An Yu…
She could simply sleep together with Ning Dongli.
Ning Wanciu subconsciously furrowed her brows, but quickly relaxed them again.
Although she had confirmed her unusual feelings toward An Yu, she decided not to dwell on her own matters for now.
There was nothing she could do anyway. Not to mention the immense guilt she would feel for making a move on such a pure and innocent girl as An Yu—Ning Dongli’s condition was gradually improving, and all of it was thanks to An Yu as well.
If something were to happen to Ning Dongli because of her own issues, Ning Wanciu would never be able to forgive herself.
Of course, if Ning Dongli knew what she was thinking, she would probably laugh in exasperation.
As the older sister, Ning Wanciu would always worry about her little sister Ning Dongli, to the point of stubbornness.
Even if it meant pushing her own priorities infinitely to the back, she would still choose to help Ning Dongli first.
“Hah… So, that’s that, then.”
Ning Wanciu pressed her lips together. Gentle as she was, there were many things she couldn’t let go of.
Among them, she herself was probably the least important one.
Just as others often overlooked the person who was always gentle, Ning Wanciu tended to overlook herself as well.
Although she always told herself it was fine, she unconsciously walked over to the door of Ning Dongli’s room.
“Ah, the door isn’t closed.”
Subconsciously, Ning Wanciu pushed open the bedroom door.
The lights were on inside, and the game the two little ones had been playing was paused on the monitor.
Ning Wanciu wasn’t familiar with these things, so she didn’t touch anything.
She simply stood there quietly, watching the two small figures lying face-to-face on the bed.
An Yu and Ning Dongli were holding hands, sleeping soundly.
“Seriously…”
Ning Wanciu smiled helplessly and walked over to them, gently pulling the blanket up to cover both girls.
“They fell asleep while playing, huh…”
Strictly speaking, this was only their first meeting.
Yet after just one time together, they had already become so close.
Ning Dongli trusted An Yu and seemed to like her quite a lot.
And An Yu probably trusted Ning Dongli just as much, right?
Otherwise she wouldn’t be sleeping in the same bed with her.
“Good night, An Yu, Dongli.”
After one last look at the two sleeping girls, Ning Wanciu quietly left the room, turned off the lights for them, and closed the door behind her.
For some reason, the moment she stepped out of Ning Dongli’s room, Ning Wanciu suddenly felt as if all the strength had drained from her body.
So… An Yu could sleep with other people too…
Because An Yu had never napped with anyone else before, Ning Wanciu had subconsciously treated it as her own special privilege.
But from today, it seemed that wasn’t the case.
An Yu behaved the same way when she was with Ning Dongli.
Thinking back to the scene she had just witnessed, Ning Wanciu subconsciously pressed her lips together.
But she quickly shook her head.
“Seriously, what am I even thinking about?”
It seemed that after realizing her own feelings, she had begun to care about these things far more than before.
But this was clearly a good thing, wasn’t it?
Ning Dongli was now able to accept someone sleeping beside her, and her relationship with An Yu was gradually growing closer.
This was a huge step forward for Ning Dongli and a major stride in healing her psychological trauma.
As long as she didn’t overthink it, there was nothing bad about any of this.
Ning Wanciu let out a bitter smile and sighed. Sometimes she couldn’t even understand herself.
She was the one who had introduced An Yu to Ning Dongli. She was the one who had created the current situation.
So what was she doing now?
Was she… jealous?
No matter how she looked at it, she and An Yu were only ordinary friends.
Moreover, she had already decided earlier to hide her feelings so as not to ruin their relationship with An Yu.
So why was she still feeling down over something so small?
Ning Wanciu pressed her lips together. Her azure eyes were filled with a sense of loss.
Even though she had reasoned through it, it was still hard not to care.
This was the first time Ning Wanciu had developed feelings for someone that went beyond friendship.
And that person just happened to be An Yu.
“Forget it… time to sleep.”
She felt unmotivated to do anything at all.
Today, she would follow An Yu’s example and go to bed early.
Ning Wanciu held her own arm and returned to her room in silence.
“This is…”
Looking at the faint wrinkles on the bed, Ning Wanciu frowned slightly.
It seemed that something had happened here that made Ning Dongli suddenly open up.
Ning Wanciu smiled gently, then took off her clothes and changed into her pajamas.
“Thank you… An Yu…”
No matter what, she had to thank An Yu.
“Good night…”
Ning Wanciu lifted the blanket and lay down, slowly closing her eyes.
Perhaps due to the exhaustion she had felt earlier, which was very rare for her, Ning Wanciu quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The night grew deeper.
On the second floor of the An family villa, the black-haired, red-eyed girl sat under a desk lamp, holding a manga in her hands.
However, the one she was reading this time was clearly different from the previous book. Although An Qing read it very attentively, she couldn’t understand its meaning no matter how hard she tried, because she had already finished the last one.
The previous book had started as what seemed like a heartwarming little story, only to quickly turn into something else entirely.
The protagonist had killed everyone around him, all just so he could be with that petite girl.
That could perhaps be called love… a twisted kind of love.
But An Qing didn’t like it.
It wasn’t because the protagonist had killed innocent people…
It was because she was dissatisfied with the girl’s death.
Choosing death meant nothing would be left behind.
No matter the reason, she hoped that anyone who chose death would consider the feelings of those left behind.
If it were her…
In the darkness, the red-eyed girl shook her head, her expression ice-cold.
This was an expression she only showed when she was alone—one completely different from her willful older sister.
She didn’t continue that train of thought, because there were no “what ifs.”
An Qing put down the manga, placed it into the cabinet beside her, and turned off the light.
It was late. Time to sleep.
However, even after turning off the light, the girl subconsciously stared at the tightly closed bedroom door.
Tonight, An Yu had not come home.