Liu Anran noticed that Liu Xie was much more obedient than before, losing some of the elder brother’s authority and lowering her own standing a bit.
It wasn’t exactly obedience—more like, in many situations, she had become less prickly.
More like cotton candy that had been worn down by time, turning into someone who could be bullied.
Or you could say she had accepted reality and was leaning toward being the CEO’s little wife.
“You’re a lot less rowdy than before,” Liu Anran said to Liu Xie as she got into the car.
Liu Xie, who was buckling her seatbelt, froze for a moment.
Then she looked at Liu Anran, puffed out her cheeks like a blowfish, and glared at him angrily.
Liu Anran naturally saw this and reached out a finger to poke her cheek, as if deflating a balloon.
With one poke, all the air went out. Very cute.
“It’s still because you won’t listen at all, daring to defy your elder brother’s authority, committing the crime of insubordination. Don’t you know the punishment for that?” Liu Xie mumbled, head down.
“Someone like you deserves to be disciplined by the family code.”
“There’s no such thing as family code discipline around here. Our family isn’t that strict. And if anyone’s been scolded the most by Mom and Dad, it should be you.”
Liu Anran chuckled and glanced at Liu Xie, who still seemed to be talking tough.
It was true that since childhood, Liu Xie had been the one scolded the most.
Liu Anran had never even caused his parents any worry. Oh, wait—that wasn’t entirely right.
For instance, this time when their own pig ate their own cabbage, that was the moment their parents were most worried about Liu Anran.
Yet at the same time, it was also the moment they felt most at ease.
Because besides Liu Anran, they couldn’t think of anyone else — any excellent candidate — who could take on the responsibility of caring for their most worrisome child, Liu Xie, when they grew old.
Right now, only Liu Anran could do it, and Liu Xie could accept being taken care of by him in this role as her younger brother.
And so the two of them had reached this point. But Liu Anran, opening his mouth like a lion, seemed to want more than just that.
“Don’t talk nonsense—I’m not that excessive. You’re the one who’s being rebellious.”
Liu Xie was still trying to win with words.
Of course, this was the only area where she could gain a slight upper hand in her interactions with Liu Anran. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true either.
At that moment, Liu Anran had already leaned a little toward Liu Xie in the passenger seat, even looking like he was about to press his whole body against her.
Liu Xie first glanced at him in panic, then looked out the window.
Honestly, unless someone pressed their face against the glass, you couldn’t really see what was happening inside.
But Liu Xie was still nervous. She remembered that peeping videos of this kind of activity inside cars usually ended up in the fetish category.
“What are you doing?” Liu Xie shrank back, but the car’s interior didn’t have as much space as a bed, and she soon hit the door. “Watch where we are—we’re still on campus!”
Liu Xie watched as Liu Anran gradually closed in. Her good little brother really had changed; he would never have acted like this before.
Even the way he bared his teeth at her earlier wasn’t like this.
Recently, Liu Anran could be summed up in four words: kissing maniac.
Almost every chance he got, he would pin Liu Xie against a wall or a bed and start kissing her forcefully.
But before, he had at least been mindful of the environment and people around—usually he only did such improper things at home.
How had he started doing it outside now?
As the distance between them shrank, Liu Xie resignedly closed her eyes and slightly pursed her lips.
But she waited and waited, and the storm she expected never came.
Although she had no idea where Liu Anran had learned such terrifying kissing skills—maybe he studied them, since he could dominate her in games after just half an hour of practice, showing his learning ability (not that Liu Xie would admit she was bad at gaming).
Perhaps during their first kiss, Liu Anran had been relatively inexperienced.
But since Liu Xie was also a first-timer, she couldn’t tell.
In the subsequent sessions, Liu Anran’s technique became increasingly terrifying.
He would observe Liu Xie’s reactions during the kiss and adjust his strategy accordingly.
Just like that, Liu Xie now had no way to deal with Liu Anran, having completely fallen into a passive position.
After waiting a long time without Liu Anran making a move, Liu Xie opened her eyes.
She saw Liu Anran grinning and holding up a pack of gum. He had just been reaching over to grab it from beside her.
“What, you really want some gum?” Liu Anran popped two pieces into his own mouth.
“You—hmph!” Liu Xie turned her face away.
“If you really want some, you can kiss me yourself. Or you can wait until we get home—we’ll have plenty of time together.” Liu Anran smiled and pulled on his seatbelt.
“Shut up!” If Liu Xie hadn’t seen that Liu Anran was driving, she would have lunged over and pulled his face.
Of course, in that situation, she would usually end up getting thoroughly disciplined instead.
Looking at the red light ahead, Liu Anran suddenly spoke. “Tomorrow is Saturday.”
The sound of his slender fingers tapping on the steering wheel filled her ears.
Sometimes she wondered if Liu Anran was some kind of hypnotist, using those tapping sounds to make her lower her guard.
Under normal circumstances, when a younger brother tried to get above his older sister, Liu Xie should have just slapped him and shown him who was boss.
But things were different now. It must be some scheme of Liu Anran’s.
“Of course I know tomorrow is Saturday—otherwise you wouldn’t have come to pick me up to stay at home tonight.”
“There’s a dinner tomorrow. Do you want to come?” Liu Anran asked Liu Xie.
“Is it work-related? If it is, then no.”
“It’s more of a social obligation. Mom and Dad are busy and can’t make it, so they asked me to go. But you’d probably be bored at home alone, so why not come with me?”
“What, do you think I can’t function without you or something?” Liu Xie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.
“No, I’m the one who can’t function without you.”
Liu Anran said this effortlessly, and the irritation that had just started to rise in Liu Xie vanished in an instant.
She had no idea what kind of brain he had that allowed him to say something like that without any burden.
“Here’s the invitation. You should be interested.” Liu Anran took a hand off the steering wheel, pulled out a large red invitation, and handed it to her.
“What’s so interesting about this? Does it have a QR code for a red envelope attached to it?” Liu Xie took it, opened it, and looked.
Engagement Banquet.
Gou Yu — Zhu Qiu