“Little pitiful one, are you full?”
Mu Wannuo washed her hands, came to the table, and saw that the plates and small bowls had been eaten clean. A few drops of white liquid remained at the corner of Ning Chuxue’s mouth. Seeing Mu Wannuo approach, she subconsciously averted her eyes and answered in a cautious, weak voice.
“I’m full.”
The soy milk Wen Yasheng made had a smooth texture, like a straight road with all green lights and no obstacles. This time the texture was on the wild side, with noticeable graininess, like unstrained soybeans or other ingredients, but it didn’t affect the taste; instead it had a unique flavor.
Because Ning Chuxue had drunk soy milk made by Mu Wannuo once before, she could roughly guess that today’s soy milk was made by her. Out of a perfect ten, Ning Chuxue would give it 9.6 points. How much of that score was due to the “elder sister” filter was unknown. As for the soy milk Wen Yasheng made, Ning Chuxue gave it a perfect ten.
Coming to Ning Chuxue’s side, Mu Wannuo didn’t say much. She sat down in front of her, propped up her chin, and stared straight at Ning Chuxue.
“Is there something on my face…?”
Ning Chuxue felt very unnatural under her gaze, not knowing where to put her hands and feet. Scanning Mu Wannuo’s pupils, she became even more nervous without realizing it. It was like a silent interrogation, questioning her crimes. Mu Wannuo said nothing, but Ning Chuxue’s imagination was already active.
In her mind, a little demon version of Mu Wannuo appeared. The little demon held a remote control, pressed the power button, and played the scene of Ning Chuxue accidentally bumping into Mu Wannuo and then running away shyly in front of her. She didn’t dare look directly at the image, but the little demon Mu Wannuo flew to her ear and whispered.
“Having desires for your elder sister, you’re really a pervert.”
“No, no…”
Ning Chuxue’s pupils contracted, and she panickedly argued.
“I’m not…”
She reached out her hand to drive away that little demon, but it dodged. Unconsciously, Ning Chuxue became even more flustered.
“Chuxue?”
A perplexed voice reached her ears. Ning Chuxue suddenly snapped back to reality. The surroundings returned to familiar form, and the little demon Mu Wannuo disappeared. In its place was the puzzled expression of the human Mu Wannuo looking her over.
“Wh…what is it, Sister Mu Wan?”
Ning Chuxue’s tone sounded very unconfident, even stuttering. Mu Wannuo knew she was still shy about what happened in the restroom. But she couldn’t jump to conclusions yet. After all, Ning Chuxue was in her adolescence. Adolescence, you know, tends to be conservative.
Even a simple touch might cause embarrassment. So Mu Wannuo wasn’t sure yet whether Ning Chuxue’s shyness was mere instinctual desire or due to adolescent shyness. But from her current observation, it seemed more like that instinctual “desire.”
To continue testing, Mu Wannuo stopped her reasoning and continued.
“Since just now, little pitiful one has been spacing out. Is there any discomfort in your body?”
Attack with softness. It looked like concern, but actually she wanted to observe Ning Chuxue’s micro-expressions. She gave a false excuse of physical discomfort to guide Ning Chuxue to think along her rhythm. Just as she thought.
At first, Ning Chuxue averted her eyes and twisted her waist unnaturally. But after hearing the trap “physical discomfort,” she grabbed at it like a lifeline and put on a pained grimace.
“Before Sister Mu Wan came, I stubbed my toe on the table…”
Even she squeezed out a few tears, worried that her acting wasn’t natural.
But in Mu Wannuo’s eyes, her acting was extremely exaggerated and the shift was very unnatural. She didn’t call her out but launched another attack. Mu Wannuo walked over to Ning Chuxue with feigned concern and asked in a commanding tone.
“Are you hurt? Take off your shoes and let me see.”
“I’m not hurt!”
Hearing that she wanted to check the injury, Ning Chuxue directly refused in a startled manner, her voice loud, completely lacking the softness from before. But after a moment, she realized that seemed inappropriate and her tone turned back to the previous soft, uncertain manner, adding.
“Really, it’s fine…”
“What if there’s a hidden injury? To be safe, let me check it quickly.”
Seeing Mu Wannuo’s persistent pressing, Ning Chuxue panicked.
“Alright, alright, get ready for school!”
If she really let Mu Wannuo see, her fabricated injury would collapse. In the end, her previous shy demeanor would definitely make Mu Wannuo think of the restroom incident, and she would be labeled a “pervert” for sure!
“Are you really okay?”
Mu Wannuo’s repeated concern made Ning Chuxue very touched. But even if touched, it had to be in an appropriate setting!
“If there’s a big problem, I’ll definitely say so. Alright, alright, I’ll go change clothes and get ready for school.”
Ning Chuxue stood up, sidestepped Mu Wannuo, and limped toward the stairs on her left foot. To avoid giving herself away, she grabbed the railing with her right hand and hopped up the stairs on her right foot. This scene made Mu Wannuo want to laugh, but she managed to hold it in. She had said the right leg hurt when she held it, but now it was the left leg.
She didn’t call her out, went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of soy milk, added a bit of sugar, and stirred with a spoon.
‘It’s not like adolescent shyness, but rather inherent desire.’
After testing, Mu Wannuo reached a basic conclusion. If it were the former, Ning Chuxue would have angrily interrupted her instead of running away shyly like this. Like ordinary sisters. If an older sister is showering and a younger sister accidentally barges in, at most she would complain with something like “Why didn’t you close the door?” — an everyday gripe. But Ning Chuxue’s behavior was exactly the opposite. More like a shy girl who accidentally saw a friend taking a shower. She didn’t complain; instead she was shy.
‘Isn’t this “desire”?’
Thinking of this, Mu Wannuo suddenly realized that the soy milk in her bowl was finished. Although one bowl wasn’t quite enough, she didn’t pour a second. Instead, she gathered all the bowls and chopsticks from Ning Chuxue and herself and put them in the dishwasher.
Mu Wannuo thought about her discovery. She was especially happy at the moment, but also regretful. Regretful that there had been many signs before where Ning Chuxue’s thoughts could be seen, but she only discovered them now. Including when bathing, Ning Chuxue would bury her head in the water, and so on. She had thought it was just Ning Chuxue’s hobby, but now it seemed she was being shy. No wonder she would poke her head out whenever Mu Wannuo left the bath.
‘But discovering it now isn’t too late.’
This was good news, but there were also uncertain factors. The previous Ning Chuxue was not like this. In other words, her current behavior was brought about by amnesia.
‘Then if Ning Chuxue hadn’t lost her memory, what would she be like?’
Before she had time to think about this question, a voice came from outside.
“Sister Mu Wan, I’m ready…”