Liu Xie scratched his head and leaned in closer to Liu Anran.
“What on earth are you talking about? The girl came here to meet you, and you’re in such a hurry to send her away?” Liu Xie wanted to reach out and poke Liu Anran’s head with his finger, but Liu Anran dodged away.
“I don’t like being around people who don’t understand me. At the very least, they need to be on the same level as you before I can barely accept it.” Liu Anran muttered to himself, leaving Liu Xie momentarily speechless.
“So what do you plan to do now? The girl ran off less than two minutes after meeting you. Doesn’t that mean it was over before it even started?”
Liu Anran didn’t respond to that. Instead, he pulled Liu Xie over to sit opposite him.
“She’s not the only one coming today. There are a few more who want to meet me, but I don’t want to have any deep conversations or get to know any of them.”
The boy glanced around and ordered a hot cocoa for Liu Xie.
The withered yellow leaves on the roadside stuck to the café’s floor-to-ceiling windows with the autumn wind, framing the boy and girl at the round wooden table.
“So you’re actually this popular?” Liu Xie tilted his head.
Liu Anran paused. “I don’t know.”
He felt that, compared to him, Liu Xie should be the one who’s more popular.
He didn’t have Liu Xie’s dazzling charm—just selfishness and darkness.
But somehow, he really was popular. People said he surpassed all outstanding young men throughout history.
He didn’t like that title. If anyone deserved such praise, it should be Liu Xie. He didn’t care about anyone else.
He didn’t know how to face Liu Xie now, nor did he understand his own feelings. That’s why he spent all last night reading related materials.
Yes, he even opened incognito mode, and didn’t use the home Wi-Fi but his own hotspot, as if this was a secret that couldn’t be discovered by anyone.
Then he found out that Liu Xie in the next room had connected to his hotspot and played online until two in the morning.
The hot cocoa was served.
The café’s hot cocoa was only different from the one Liu Xie bought at the convenience store in price, which was several times higher. He wondered what kind of fool would come here just to drink something like this.
“So what are you thinking? Don’t you plan to get to know them?” Liu Xie was trying to pour the leftover hot milk from the morning into the cup of hot cocoa.
“No, I don’t.” Liu Anran gently shook his head. “But I can’t stand them up either.”
Liu Xie pursed his lips. Those girls must have tried many ways to get this chance to meet his good little brother, yet his good little brother scheduled them all on the same day and handled it like an assembly line, clean and efficient.
Surrounded by a sea of flowers, yet untouched by a single leaf.
“You’re so popular with girls now, you finally have a tenth of your brother’s charm.” Liu Xie grinned, arms folded, nodding slightly. “But isn’t this way too hurtful to them?”
“They’re of no use to me, not even as much as you.” Liu Anran stared straight at Blue Snowflower in front of him. “If I must have a girl by my side, isn’t that you?”
Liu Xie froze for a moment. “That’s not the same thing and you know it. That’s a different level of closeness.”
“Aren’t we close enough?” Liu Anran’s slender fingers tapped the table. “Why should I choose someone I barely know and only feel a fleeting impulse for, instead of choosing you?”
Liu Xie felt her good little brother still didn’t get it.
So she simply waved her hand. “Anyway, you’re an adult now. I can’t control you. Do whatever you want.”
Liu Anran’s gaze darkened slightly. He spoke: “Do you really want someone else to take your place by my side?”
It was as if they’d returned to that rainy night, the autumn street outside still carrying traces of lingering moisture.
And the boy in front of her had nothing but compromise in his eyes.
It seemed that, with just one word from Liu Xie, he could get up and chase after the girl who had just run out of the café in tears.
Then, he would almost completely vanish from Liu Xie’s world, never to meet again.
This was Liu Anran. This was her good little brother, the person she knew best.
So she knew he would absolutely do it.
But did she really want Liu Anran to leave her side?
She didn’t.
She wasn’t like Ye Qingchang, who played endless games of the heart, nor like Zhu Niao, who was so shy and uncertain.
She just didn’t want it, simple as that. No other thoughts.
If there ever came a day when Liu Anran could leave her, they’d talk about it then.
Or maybe she couldn’t leave Liu Anran either?
“Of course not! You want to find someone before I do?” Liu Xie punched Liu Anran on the shoulder. “You can’t beat me to it.”
That seemed to spark a new possibility in Liu Anran’s mind.
He spoke, a bit dryly, “Then when do you plan to find someone?”
“I’m not looking. I’ll be single for life.” Blue Snowflower said with a bright, spring-like smile that lit up the whole room. “You’ll stay single with me too.”
Liu Anran smiled as well, maybe because of those words, or maybe because he saw the next girl hurrying in.
Liu Xie, like a mouse spotting a cat, exchanged a couple of glances with Liu Anran, confirmed that this newcomer was indeed here for her good little brother, then quickly got up to give up her seat and retreated to her own corner.
“Hello, I thought coming an hour early would be enough, but I didn’t expect the second young master of the Liu Family Residence to be such a gentleman.”
This new girl seemed to have stronger nerves than the last one—at least she still intended to stick around after seeing Liu Xie.
“No, I’ve already met with one before you.” Liu Anran replied blandly. “And you’d best not waste too much time. There are three more waiting after you in the same situation.”
He didn’t care about the girl in front of him, who was here just for him. He didn’t even look at her.
The cup of hot cocoa still rippled on the table, with a bit of milk Liu Xie had just poured in.
So he took the cup back, placing two cups in front of himself, leaving nothing for the newly arrived girl.
The second young master of the Liu Family Residence, a perfect gentleman—maybe.
“Haha, I didn’t expect you two siblings to be so close.” The girl laughed awkwardly at herself.
Her eyes were still on Liu Anran.
But at least she was better than the previous one—at least she realized the girl sitting in the corner was Liu Xie, not some other woman Liu Anran had brought.
Only then did Liu Anran finally move his gaze from Liu Xie and the hot cocoa to the girl’s eyes.
This was their first direct eye contact since she had entered.
“We’re not blood-related.” He explained.
“Huh?” The girl sounded confused, unsure if she hadn’t heard clearly or didn’t understand.
“I’m not related to her by blood.”
Liu Anran’s gaze remained indifferent.
No blood relation, but what other kind of bond was there?
The girl’s expression changed several times as she sat in front of him. She wanted to speak, but the words stuck in her throat.
In the end, she stood up without even ordering a cup of coffee.
She forced out a polite smile and nodded slightly.
That was the second girl Liu Xie saw leave, without even having time to come up with an excuse.
i feel like anran has liked xie since they were small lmao