Jiang Yu could swear that for as long as he could remember, he had never seen the house so lively!
Watching his family constantly making things difficult, seeing his brother and the others resolve every challenge, and witnessing the other two families cheering non-stop, he became more and more stunned the longer he watched.
However, while the house was bustling, he felt a bit lonely.
Aside from playing Plants vs. Zombies on the sofa, he didn’t seem to have anything to do. So, he picked up his phone to chat with an older sister.
That sister was Sang Tian.
[Sang Tian]: “Are you saying Jiang Xiao held Classmate Song up in front of everyone, and even kissed and hugged her?”
Jiang Yu looked back at Song Qiuyu. She had accidentally fallen off the ladder while putting up New Year couplets and had been caught in his brother’s arms. He blinked and replied with a “Yes.”
[Sang Tian]: “Doesn’t your family have any objections?”
[Jiang Yu]: “They have huge objections.”
[Sang Tian]: “Then Jiang Yu, is it really convenient for you to be chatting with me right now?”
[Jiang Yu]: “It’s fine. I can’t really join the conversation over on my brother’s side anyway. I might as well talk since I’m idle.”
[Sang Tian]: “I see.”
Jiang Yu put down his phone and picked up a bottle of yogurt he had prepared earlier. He drank it sip by sip. The yogurt was soon finished, and the family over there finally quieted down.
Only then did he look up again. He saw that his brother and the person who was likely his future sister-in-law seemed to have won over most of the Jiang family with their performance.
Now, only the last two old stubborns were still holding out.
With a ding, Sang Tian sent another message.
[Sang Tian]: [Bunny is Worried.jpg]
Seeing this emoji, Jiang Yu frowned, as if he could imagine Sang Tian’s current expression.
He looked at Song Qiuyu thoughtfully. Recalling the things she had mentioned before, he subconsciously tapped on the screen a few times.
Before he could send the message, his phone was gone. Jiang Li, who had appeared behind him at some point, had snatched it away.
“Sister…”
Jiang Yu turned around, looking a bit intimidated.
Jiang Li glanced at his phone screen and wagged her finger at him twice. Then, she deleted all the text explaining that Song Qiuyu was a girl.
“If you don’t want Brother or me to get angry, don’t have these kinds of thoughts again.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Yu took his phone back.
Jiang Li sighed, feeling lucky. She turned her head casually and saw Xie Zhuran holding his phone, walking toward the corridor. She couldn’t help but knit her brows in confusion.
Confirming that there was no need to worry about her brother’s side anymore, she followed him.
“Mom, I’m doing great here at my classmate’s place. I won’t be coming back for the Lunar New Year.”
Xie Zhuran’s voice drifted over from ahead. Hearing this, Jiang Li subconsciously lightened her footsteps.
“I haven’t even found a girlfriend yet, so what’s the point of me going back?” Xie Zhuran’s tone was helpless.
“You brat, are you still holding a grudge? Your mother, aunts, and sisters-in-law were just joking with you. It’s the Lunar New Year. Does it make sense to spend it at a classmate’s house?”
Xie Ma was a bit angry. She had originally thought her son would just go out to play for a few days and then come back obediently, but he had actually run off to a classmate’s home.
“Don’t take what your aunts’ and sisters’ kids said to heart. They are girls, after all, and relatives. Just let them have their way. Having them nag you a bit won’t make you lose a limb.”
Xie Zhuran stopped smiling.
Suddenly, he felt very envious of other people’s moms.
‘Old Jiang is so lucky. He goes to college and has a wife right there in his dormitory.’
‘Sigh, why isn’t there a wife in my dormitory?’
He looked even more world-weary.
“Alright, Mom will make your favorite Dongpo Pork on New Year’s Eve. Stop being difficult and come home!”
Hearing this, Xie Zhuran remained unmoved. Instead, his resolve not to go back strengthened. He wanted to make up an excuse to hang up.
“Brother Zhuran.”
At that moment, Jiang Li’s voice suddenly rang out from behind him.
“Eh?”
Xie Zhuran was so startled he nearly let his phone slip to the ground. His heart rate spiked instantly.
“Hmm? Brat, there’s a girl’s voice on your end, and she called you Brother Zhuran. You — “
Before Xie Ma could finish, Xie Zhuran hung up the phone.
“?”
Xie Ma stared at her phone and immediately called back.
“Hello, the number you have dialed is powered off…”
“That brat!”
Xie Ma stomped her foot in anger and threw her phone toward the ground.
Smash.
“Uh… wait, I just bought that phone!!”
Xie Zhuran naturally didn’t know what was happening at home.
He clutched his powered-off phone. After two seconds of nervousness, he suddenly calmed down.
‘What am I panicking for? I can’t let Jiang Li see me like this.’
‘It was probably just a coincidence.’
“Brother Zhuran, thank you so much for today,” Jiang Li said with a slight smile.
Xie Zhuran was stunned as he looked at her smile.
“Brother Zhuran?” Jiang Li asked, puzzled.
“It’s… it’s nothing. I just think you look really beautiful when you smile, Jiang Li.”
Xie Zhuran was a bit nervous at first, but thinking that she probably wouldn’t care too much, he spoke his mind quite easily. After he finished, he fell into a very complicated mood.
“Am I only beautiful when I smile?” Jiang Li asked, her words startling him.
Xie Zhuran was dazed. After a moment, he took a deep breath and said, “Of course not. You look good no matter what, Jiang Li.”
“Thanks.”
Jiang Li’s eyes didn’t show a single ripple from Xie Zhuran’s sincere praise; they remained calm.
“The wind is strong in the corridor. Let’s head back to the living room.”
This was entirely within Xie Zhuran’s expectations. He simply turned around and started walking back. However, as he brushed past Jiang Li, he thought he heard a faint sound.
“Does Brother Zhuran need a girlfriend?”
Jiang Li’s voice seemed to carry curiosity and a hint of testing.
“Hmm?”
Xie Zhuran paused and turned his head toward her in disbelief. He saw that she looked serious, as if she wasn’t joking.
“Jiang Li, did you just — “
“I heard everything,” Jiang Li said calmly. “If you need one, I can accompany you back for a day after the Lunar New Year. I can pretend to be your girlfriend and help you save face.”
After hearing this, Xie Zhuran’s lips twitched. He swallowed hard, forcing himself to ignore the fluttering in his heart. Then, he shrugged with feigned casualness and said jokingly:
“Is that really okay? Even if it’s pretend, because we’d be in a relationship, my parents and relatives might ask us to do this and that, you know.”
Jiang Li’s expression didn’t change. She just raised an eyebrow, seemingly signaling for him to continue and give an example of “this and that.”
Seeing this, Xie Zhuran felt a lot of pressure.
He hadn’t forgotten that the ice-cold beauty in front of him was his roommate’s younger sister, and she was still in her second year of high school…
Even though romance stories in anime often happened in high school, and he had fantasized countless times about his girlfriend being a high school girl, fantasy and reality were two different things.
If he dared to cross the line, the entire Jiang family, who was currently dealing with Old Song, would likely turn their collective focus on him next.
The key was that Old Song and Old Jiang would most likely stand on the opposing side.
After all, he had to admit he was a bit unreliable. He even had white hair, looking like a delinquent or someone up to no good.
Thinking carefully, the things those girls said when criticizing him might actually make sense.
But since the conversation had reached this point, he pondered for a long time. He frowned and stared at Jiang Li seriously, saying, “For example…”
“Holding hands?”
As she spoke, Jiang Li actually took the initiative to reach out her small hand and grasp his large one.
“That’s very simple.”