“Although she doesn’t worry about it, I think you should worry about it yourself.”
These words came from Su Xiao Nuo, who suddenly spoke inside Su Nuo’s mind after Su Nuo and Big Sister returned to the bedroom, changed into their pajamas, and lay down on the bed.
It seemed like the conclusion reached after an extremely long period of deep contemplation, meticulous deduction, and bold judgment.
“You find everyone strange every day,” Su Nuo replied, “Before, it was strange to see Lin Yingluo, and now Lin Chu Xi is strange too.”
So basically, all the Lin family members look like monsters in your eyes.
Su Xiao Nuo snorted, “Can you blame me? It’s because I care about you too much.”
“…Well, thank you then.”
“If you really want to thank me, keep my words in your heart—especially about exercising. Whenever you have time, come in and play a bit, get more exercise.”
Though she said that, one couldn’t help but wonder—would exercising like this really improve her health?
Returning to reality, Su Nuo opened her eyes and found Big Sister lying beside her, watching her.
“Don’t worry, our house has great soundproofing,” Lin Yingluo grabbed her small hand, “Chu Xi can’t hear a thing.”
“Eh, but… ugh.”
The formulaic grip clasped her thigh tightly, pressed close, reached out, then started a creation reminiscent of the Renaissance with a natural artistic sense.
The hooked finger was an eternal oath, the circling was an attempt to sketch the shape of love for you, the caress was a reassuring companionship, the pause was thoughtful waiting… or maybe just a little rest from fatigue.
***
Mm~
Ah~
Big Sister Yingluo~
In the next room, the black-haired girl with straight hair leaned against the wall, pressing her ear to it.
Lin Yingluo hadn’t lied—the soundproofing really was good, and Chu Xi really couldn’t hear anything.
These sounds were in her own imagination, because she knew that all of this was happening in the master bedroom next door.
Although Su Nuo didn’t call Lin Yingluo by that title, everything else was pretty close to what she imagined.
Lin Chu Xi felt she might have a problem.
Strange sounds constantly echoed in her ears—like imagined sister and roommate night lives, occasionally interspersed with bizarre, wild laughter.
But she didn’t want to see a doctor or restrain herself, because this made her feel… good.
When crazy thoughts begin to grow, people temporarily forget pain.
Pressing her ear to the wall but hearing nothing, Lin Chu Xi gave up eavesdropping, returned to her bed, and lay down, staring at the ceiling in the faint light of the desk lamp.
Lin Chu Xi couldn’t remember when she started liking Su Nuo.
Maybe it was that afternoon at the mall, hugging the Big White Rabbit Plush, heart pounding.
Maybe it was at dinner, hearing her say not to care about others’ opinions, showing she understood whatever she did.
Or maybe it was that evening in the dorm, seeing her get into a fight again, not treating herself as an outsider.
But that no longer mattered.
What mattered was—
[Mom: Chu Xi, how’s it going staying over at your sister’s new house? Dad and Mom will come to visit you both soon.]
The new message on her phone caught her eye—those two words felt a little sharp.
Though she knew the “new house” meant the newly bought house, the phrase also had the implication of a marital home.
Lin Chu Xi turned slightly, her fingers composing a reply on her phone: [Pretty good. When are you coming?]
[Mom: Probably early next month.]
Half a month then.
Lin Chu Xi closed her phone and recalled how, as a child, she complained to her parents about her sister’s strictness.
But her parents were very satisfied, saying her sister had gone through the same, that she should be educated the same way from a young age to become as excellent as her sister one day.
They succeeded.
As she grew up, Lin Chu Xi was just like her sister—excellent in both conduct and studies, tough in character, and unyielding.
And equally fond of girls, and fond of the same kind of girls.
This glorious era is as you wished.
The crazy, eerie laughter echoed again in her ears as Lin Chu Xi slowly drifted into sleep.
Zzzzz
“Not bad, last night I lasted 376 seconds in total, beating 0.001% of the country’s girls, and most importantly, there was improvement.”
The next day, at 10:30 a.m., Su Nuo had just opened her eyes when the little cute girl inside her mind spoke like this.
For a moment, she vaguely felt that Su Xiao Nuo was like her Dark Gold Counter.
Su Nuo yawned and said softly, “Did I really beat that many people?”
“At least you beat yourself from three days ago,” Su Xiao Nuo said.
That was true enough.
“But since I improved, doesn’t that mean I still have room for natural progress?”
Su Nuo tilted her head, “So maybe I don’t need to rush so much… with the exercising?”
She still wanted to try to save her innocence.
After all, since rebirth she’d only been a girl for less than a month, and to fall so fast into the abyss would make her seem somewhat… lacking.
“Wrong, quite the opposite. Think about why you improved so much compared to three days ago,” Su Xiao Nuo said, “Isn’t it because you had the experience last time, so you were more skilled this time?”
“Maybe…”
“Exactly. That shows experience is important. The more you practice normally, the better you’ll stand your ground when it counts. So not only can you not relax, you have to practice even more—early and often.”
Su Xiao Nuo’s logical reasoning left Su Nuo speechless.
“But I have psychological pressure…”
“What psychological pressure? You’ve already been taken down, what pressure is left!”
Su Xiao Nuo put her small hands on her hips and huffed angrily.
If anyone had pressure, it was this little cute girl, who every night watched Big Sister pin her down and could only mutter “No thanks” before disconnecting.
“Anyway, not possible for now. We’ll talk later.”
Su Nuo glanced at her phone.
Everything was normal.
Lin Yingluo, who had gone out to work, sent a message reporting she was safe and that she’d bring a little gift back in the afternoon.
Su Nuo replied with an expectant emoji and continued to browse other messages.
In the class group, the Teacher posted a list—those who failed the final exam and needed to come back for a makeup exam.
“Passed, passed, we passed!” Su Xiao Nuo said happily.
She had to come for this every semester.
Su Nuo sighed silently, because in her previous life during four years of university, she didn’t get awards but at least scored above 80 in finals, whereas now she had become a borderline pass student.
Refocusing on her phone, besides this, the Teacher also reminded everyone that the internship assessment was in a few days, and to not miss the deadline.
Knock knock knock, someone knocked at the door.
“Su Nuo, are you awake?”
It was Lin Chu Xi’s voice, calm and without any discernible emotion.
“Just a moment, I just woke up,” Su Nuo answered.
Outside, Lin Chu Xi quietly curved her lips.
This was not “just a moment.” She had been standing at the door for a while, ear pressed against it, only knocking after hearing movement inside.
A thin wooden door, after all, couldn’t compare to thick concrete walls in soundproofing.
Su Nuo slipped on her slippers and came to open the door.
She opened it just a crack, suddenly realizing she hadn’t changed clothes, so she said through the gap to Lin Chu Xi, “Sorry, I slept a bit long. What do you want for lunch? I’ll send you the restaurant menu.”
“Anything, you decide.”
“Then I’ll go order first.”
After speaking, Su Nuo was about to close the door but felt it being pulled back by Lin Chu Xi.
“Su Nuo, Big Sister wants us to pretend to be best friends in front of our parents to get through it,” the black-haired girl smiled, “Since that’s the case, shouldn’t we get to know each other better?”