As the saying goes, one gives a carrot and then a stick. Lin Ziyan didn’t want to directly force the girl to agree to her proposal; that would be far too boring. She still understood the truth that forced melons aren’t sweet.
If possible, she much preferred to see the girl voluntarily agree to her proposal.
She was confident that as long as nothing unexpected happened tonight, the girl would definitely agree to her proposal.
After all, it wasn’t like she would lose a pound of flesh, right?
Thinking of this, she suddenly looked up at the girl who was still spacing out, her eyes serious and earnest.
“Did you learn how?”
Startled by her voice, the girl’s body trembled slightly before she finally nodded gently.
“Yes…”
“Then put the other one on yourself. I’m exhausted. After you’re done, come massage my shoulders.”
She stood up from beside the girl’s legs and lay down casually on the bed.
“Okay…”
Frowning slightly, the girl’s words revealed a hint of reluctance.
She clumsily imitated Lin Ziyan’s previous actions, rolling up the stocking and sliding it bit by bit onto her smooth calf.
“Ziyan… will Uncle and Aunt really not come back at noon…?”
She couldn’t help but feel worried. Wearing her sister’s clothes felt strange, and if her adoptive parents found her like this, her secret would definitely be exposed, wouldn’t it?
“No,” Lin Ziyan responded casually from behind her.
“But… what if they suddenly come back? Maybe I should change out of these clothes in a bit…”
“Why do you talk so much? I said they won’t, so they won’t!”
The girl fell silent, and her movements paused.
Of course you aren’t worried. After all, you aren’t the one who might be kicked out…
Lowering her head, the girl felt very wronged. Seeing that she had stopped moving, Lin Ziyan guessed her thoughts for a moment. She let out a sigh.
“Sigh, if they really do come back, I’ll just say I forced you to dress like this, alright?”
Though it sounded unreliable, it was barely a solution. However, the girl remained skeptical of the credibility of Lin Ziyan’s words.
“Really?”
“Would I ever lie to you?”
The girl wanted to say she would—and that it had happened more than once in her memory—but she kept it to herself. After a moment of silence, she could only add gloomily, “I hope you keep your word.”
In response, Lin Ziyan simply gave a dismissive “Hmph.”
“Why are you so slow? Aren’t you done yet?”
“Almost, almost…”
Ye Xingmian felt she must be the type of person who was quite clumsy. Her grades at school weren’t good, and she could never learn when her adoptive parents tried to teach her how to cook.
She remembered clearly the first time she tried: she burnt the eggs and received a severe beating for it. She had hidden away and cried all day. Even now, she could only barely manage to make decent-looking dishes.
Now, she couldn’t even learn how to put on a stocking properly. She had been at it for a long time by herself, but it still felt like something wasn’t quite right. After trying to adjust it for a while without success, she finally gave up. Turning her head to look at Lin Ziyan lying on the bed, her tone was hesitant.
“Ziyan… do you still want me to massage your shoulders…?”
“Mhm.” Lin Ziyan fiddled with her phone, her voice sounding lazy.
Hesitating for a moment and feeling that she was still relatively clean, the girl slowly crawled over to her side.
“Can you sit up? It’s hard for me to press like this.”
“Fine.” Lin Ziyan sat up at the edge of the bed.
The girl knelt behind her, placing her small hands gently on her shoulders, kneading with the pressure she remembered.
“Use more strength! Have you not eaten?”
Hearing this, the girl had no choice but to increase the pressure, but Lin Ziyan suddenly let out a cry of pain.
“Sss—too heavy! Lighter!”
The girl had to slowly lighten the pressure. It took her a long time of trial and error before she found a range that was comfortable for Lin Ziyan.
“Hey, I’m talking to you. You’ve been learning massage from my mom for so long; where did those lessons go? Are you an idiot? You can’t even gauge your own strength.”
Hearing Lin Ziyan’s harsh words, a trace of bitterness appeared on the girl’s face. In truth, the so-called “learning” was just Lin’s mother showing her a few instructional videos on an impulse one night and then making her try to massage Lin Ziyan’s shoulders.
She would be scolded if it was too heavy and scolded if it was too light; she ultimately had to figure it out bit by bit through trial and error.
Moreover, while Lin Ziyan was comfortable now, the girl’s hands were already incredibly sore. Massaging was already exhausting for the hands, especially through layers of clothing…
“Um… I’m so tired… can I stop? Let me rest for a bit…”
“No.” Having been casually rejected, she could only endure her aching hands and continue kneading. Only after an unknown amount of time did Lin Ziyan let her release her hands with a look of pure satisfaction.
By this time, the girl’s hands were trembling so much she could barely hold anything.
“Mhm, not bad, but it still needs improvement.”
Standing up to stretch, Lin Ziyan checked her phone. It was almost time for the school morning session to end. Taking the whole morning off was enough; they should go to class in the afternoon.
Looking back at the girl who was silently rubbing her sore, limp hands, a sudden mischievous thought occurred to her.
“Come here.” As she spoke, she sat down at her vanity, looking through the mirror at the confused girl behind her.
“What is it…?”
Ye Xingmian’s voice was always like this—soft and small, like a gentle breeze that could be ignored if one wasn’t careful. Being with her always brought a sense of peace, either evoking a strong desire to protect her or… a desire to bully her.
“Braid my hair. You’ve done it before; you haven’t forgotten, have you?”
“Eh? Could you let me rest for a moment…”
“Hurry up.”
Hearing Lin Ziyan’s impatient urging, the girl lowered her head and hesitated briefly before obediently putting on her shoes and walking behind Lin Ziyan.
Using her weak, tired hands, she picked up the comb from the table and gently brushed Lin Ziyan’s hair.
“What kind of braid?” she asked softly. Wearing these over-the-knee stockings for the first time felt a bit strange, but they were actually quite comfortable. The feeling of being tightly wrapped in warmth was nice.
“Whatever.”
Whatever? But she didn’t know many styles, and her memories of braiding Lin Ziyan’s hair were from too long ago; she had grown out of practice. After a long silence, she slowly braided a somewhat rough fishtail braid, with two strands of hair protecting the back of the long hair, looking like an elven princess from a fantasy movie.
“Is this okay?”
In the mirror, Lin Ziyan frowned.
“No, change it.”
After a moment of silence, the girl undid the hair she had worked so hard to braid. Her hands were still instinctively trembling, making these movements much more difficult than usual.
“Is this one okay?” After finishing another one, she asked softly.
“Change it again.” Lin Ziyan actually just wanted to torment her; she felt it was quite fun. Of course, there was another reason: she was a bit lazy and didn’t want to braid her own hair every day.
She might as well let Ye Xingmian try a few more times. Once she became skilled, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have her do it every day?
The sun outside unknowingly moved from the east to the center of the sky. The snow outside was gradually melting, but it was still far from being completely gone.
Instead, the low temperature caused the melted water to turn into ice, freezing the soft snow hard. The weather was becoming colder day by day, and today’s time had reached noon amidst the interaction between the two.