“So, you haven’t eaten anything since yesterday morning?”
“Mm… Mmhmm!” Xia Yanran swallowed the food in her mouth and answered forcefully.
Lin Yu didn’t even know what kind of expression he was wearing. He turned to look at his sister and found her staring back at him.
Her face was a mask of speechless disbelief, and he imagined his own looked much the same.
The reason Xia Yanran had been slumped in front of his door was simple: she had fainted from hunger.
This silly girl always seemed full of energy, but in reality, she was the type who would absolutely refuse to move a single inch if there wasn’t someone around to follow.
It was truly unbelievable—she had actually managed to starve herself into a faint.
Lin Yu looked at her as if she were a rare animal. He really hadn’t known about this side of her, mostly because something like this had never happened before.
He wanted to laugh, yet he also felt a pang of pity. Watching her bolt down the food, his voice unconsciously softened.
“Is that enough? There should be some frozen dumplings in the fridge. Should I go fix some for you?”
Xia Yanran chewed like a little hamster, nodding repeatedly. Lin Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Alright, eat slowly. No one’s going to snatch it from you.”
As he stood up and walked toward the kitchen, he didn’t see the cold glint that flashed in his sister’s eyes the moment he showed instinctive concern for Xia Yanran.
This little bitch… she’s so good at playing the victim to trick Little Yu. Starving until she faints… are you a pig?!
I bet you did it on purpose!
In her eyes, this was nothing more than a despicable tactic Xia Yanran was using to play on her brother’s sympathy.
The problem was, she had absolutely no excuse to stop it!
Damn it, why didn’t I realize she was such a good actress before? Now I can’t even find a reason to speak up.
She could strike out at Gu Yunxi without any hesitation, but if she suddenly showed a drastic change in behavior toward others, it would be extremely suspicious and troublesome.
Her hand, hidden beneath the table, pinched her thigh hard as she forced her expression to remain neutral.
However, when her brother brought out the freshly boiled dumplings, she finally couldn’t hold it back anymore.
“Little Yu!”
“Ah, what? What’s wrong, Sister?” Lin Yu was startled by her sudden outburst. Xia Yanran also looked over sideways.
“It’s nothing,” Lin Mowei said, her lips curling into a smile that was slightly tinged with the sound of grinding teeth. “I just wanted to tell you I’m going to go rest for a bit. Yanran, take your time eating. Don’t choke!”
As the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind. Since she couldn’t stop it, she might as well stop looking.
Anyway, she was still home; it wasn’t like the two of them could do anything.
“Oh, thank you… Sister Lin.” Xia Yanran nodded, her speech slurred by food, completely oblivious to the other woman’s odd behavior.
Lin Yu, however, watched his sister’s retreating back with a strange look in his eyes.
Based on his observations lately, his sister’s doting behavior toward him had reached a borderline insane level.
Could it be… she’s jealous because I’m cooking for this girl? No way…
Just as he was wondering what was wrong with his sister, he suddenly felt something gently grazing his calf.
His gaze darkened instantly. There were only two people here; who else could it be but Xia Yanran?
“Why can’t you just eat properly?” He moved his leg away, but she quickly stuck to him again.
Without even looking up, Xia Yanran said in a muffled voice, “You… you help me take my socks off. I’m going to take a shower at your place in a bit… I forgot my keys when I came out.”
“Huh? It’s fine. I have the keys to your place. I’ll open the door for you.”
Hearing this, Xia Yanran immediately looked up, pouting her lips in dissatisfaction. “What? Is it so wrong to take a shower at your house? Stingy…”
“No, aren’t you going to need a change of clothes after your shower? I don’t have any of your clothes here. You’d still have to go to your place to get them. How is that any different from just going home to shower?”
Lin Yu calmly pointed out the flaw in her logic.
But Xia Yanran remained stubborn, and her fair foot was already resting on his thigh. “I don’t care. I want to shower at your house. Otherwise… otherwise, I’ll tell my mom that you bullied me.”
“…!”
Lin Yu was stunned by her blatant distortion of the truth. How could you say something like that so righteously?
Remembering that he seemed to be under Qin Yue’s scrutiny lately, if he gave her an excuse like that, who knew how she would deal with him.
Between two evils, choose the lesser; between two benefits, choose the greater.
Clearly, this girl was much easier to handle than her mother. Lin Yu decided to take a small step back.
“Fine! Wait here, I’ll go to your place and get your clothes. Also… move your foot. Did you skip your shower yesterday too? It’s starting to smell.”
He fanned the air with a look of feigned disgust.
Xia Yanran had been in a daze for the past two days and indeed hadn’t showered yesterday. Thinking there really was a smell, her cheeks flushed a faint crimson.
But hearing him say that, she lifted her foot even higher, planting it right in the middle of his chair. “You’re lying! There’s no smell at all. If you don’t believe me, smell it properly!”
Lin Yu watched the rounded toes wiggling between his legs, his eyelids twitching. This girl was getting more and more out of line; she had almost stepped on it!
He jerked his chair back, and with a small cry of “Ow!”, Xia Yanran’s foot dropped to the floor.
“You’re such a pervert, actually asking me to smell your feet?”
“Hmph… Hmph!” Xia Yanran turned her head away, her face full of defiance.
Lin Yu didn’t say anything more and headed out to her house.
At that moment, Lin Mowei walked back out and saw only Xia Yanran sitting there.
“Hmm? Where did Little Yu go?”
“He went to my place to get my clothes. I’m planning on taking a shower in a bit.”
“Oh, I see. Wait, what?”
Hearing her answer, she voiced the same question Lin Yu had. “Yanran, why did you decide to shower at our house?”
She walked over and sat diagonally across from Xia Yanran. This used to be a frequent occurrence, but after Lin Mowei’s rebirth, she hadn’t let such things happen again.
Trying to seduce my brother? In your dreams!
Unlike her willful behavior in front of Lin Yu, Xia Yanran was still somewhat reserved in front of Lin Mowei.
She pursed her lips, the blush on her face becoming more apparent. “That… well, Sister Lin, I… I like Lin Yu. I want to… with him…”
Her voice grew quieter and quieter, and her head dropped lower and lower, so she didn’t see the murderous intent flickering in Lin Mowei’s eyes.
How could Lin Mowei not understand what she meant? It was nothing more than wanting to continue seducing Little Yu and then causing some kind of “accident” to happen.
Again, in your dreams!
Suppressing the fire in her heart, she tried her best to keep her tone peaceful.
“Yanran, things like that… they should wait until after marriage, don’t you think?”
Xia Yanran snapped her head up. Her eyes were shimmering with a light mist from shyness, and her expression was one of total disbelief at Lin Mowei’s words.
In her memory, Lin Mowei had always been very supportive of her. Why the sudden change?
Lin Mowei continued, “While times have changed and people don’t really talk about who’s taking advantage of whom anymore, some things never change. Two people who love each other completing that final step on their wedding night… don’t you think that’s incredibly romantic?”
“Romantic…” Xia Yanran muttered the word.
A young girl in the springtime of her youth always had zero resistance to the concept of romance. Her mind was already beginning to fantasize about the scene, her heart thumping uncontrollably, her eyes full of longing.
A look of triumph flashed through Lin Mowei’s eyes. Seeing the uncontrollable smile on the corner of Xia Yanran’s mouth, she let out a cold snort in her heart.
Romantic? Romance is useless! Only meat in the mouth counts as food!
Little Yu’s first time can only belong to me, his sister! Besides…
Lin Mowei instinctively licked her lips, her throat bobbing. I’ve already tasted Little Yu.
You want to touch him? In your dreams!