Chapter 64: Sister and Brother

Liu Xie swaggered home with a cheeky grin, trailed by Liu Anran, whose expression was calm but whose gaze never left Liu Xie.

During the half-day the two had been out, Liu Father and Liu Mother seemed to have already finished dealing with the matters they had to attend to.

The tasks Liu Anran had taken over now were nowhere near as demanding as those of Liu Father and Liu Mother, so it had been easy for him to free up two whole days for Liu Xie to have completely off.

“Back already?” Liu Father had already changed into his casual clothes, looking at his son and daughter, who were huddled together.

One lively and energetic, the other mature and steady.

If you put the two together, it was actually less worrisome.

Or maybe he was just overthinking it—he really hoped he was just overthinking it.

Or perhaps, the die had already been cast, and the tide was about to turn.

“Hey, so how did it go? You didn’t make any girls cry, did you?” Compared to Liu Father, Liu Mother was more attentive—even her own children’s gossip didn’t escape her scrutiny.

“No.” Liu Anran glanced at Liu Xie beside him and shook his head decisively.

It was as if, if he hesitated for even half a beat, it would be misunderstood as something else.

Meanwhile, Liu Xie flashed a sly smile, as if harboring a stomach full of mischief.

“Mom, I’m reporting him. This guy is way too cold to girls—he even made two of them cry.” Liu Xie leaned close to her beloved mother and whispered, “He met five girls today and didn’t even get a single one of their contact details.”

Liu Mother wasn’t surprised by the latter half of the sentence, but the first half sounded off to her.

Liu Anran had always been the most reliable in the family, never doing anything so distant or out of line.

Then Liu Mother looked at Liu Xie.

“Was it you?” Liu Mother reached out and grabbed Liu Xie’s cheeks, pulling them apart.

Unexpectedly, after her son had become her daughter, the texture of the skin had improved by more than a little.

It was now at a level that even a mother of so many years couldn’t help but feel a bit envious.

“Slander!” Liu Xie protested, flailing her arms. “He’s just cold and doesn’t want to talk to girls. Worse, he drags me out as a shield.”

“What shield?” Liu Mother paused mid-action.

At that moment, Liu Anran stepped in to rescue Liu Xie from her cheek-pinching, leaning in to check if there were any red marks left on Blue Snowflower’s petals.

Then Liu Xie seized the opportunity to pinch his face in return.

No one explained anything to Liu Mother, but she seemed to suddenly understand something she wasn’t quite willing to accept.

She turned to look at Liu Father, who was holding a tablet and reading the news.

Liu Father glanced at his two kids tangled together, then at his screen, then at the ceiling.

In the end, he let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

While the siblings were still wrestling, Liu Mother secretly pointed at the two of them, her expression showing a hint of alarm.

When Liu Father noticed, his own face twisted a little, then settled into a helpless, slow nod.

Liu Mother put both hands on her head, her gaze shifting between her two children and her resigned husband.

A thousand words condensed into just one sentence: “Liu Xie, come with me for a moment.”

This wasn’t just an ordinary call—Liu Xie’s mother was calling her by her full name.

Liu Xie instantly straightened up, obedient and nervous, following her mother into the room and vanishing behind the closed door.

Seeing that Liu Anran was about to follow, Liu Father quickly waved him over.

“Anran, come here. I have something I want to talk to you about too.”

He motioned for Liu Anran to sit on the sofa beside him.

Liu Anran sat down quietly, though his eyes kept darting to the tightly shut door.

“Let me ask you something.” Liu Father put down his tablet, his tone becoming earnest and grave. “You’re at that age now—have you really never thought about developing any feelings?”

Liu Anran replied, “I still have a lot of things unsettled.”

Liu Father looked as if he saw right through everything.

“If—I’m just saying if—if you absolutely had to have someone of the opposite sex by your side for the long run, who do you think it would be?”

“My sister.” The young man didn’t hesitate at all.

Liu Father looked at Liu Anran. “So, that’s what you mean, right?”

“What?” Liu Anran frowned. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I’ll always be by her side, show up whenever she needs me, but I’ll never try to force my feelings on her.”

By now, the situation was clear to Liu Father.

His son and daughter weren’t blood-related, and their bond was so deep that no one could surpass it.

He couldn’t find another girl who could make Liu Anran care so much, nor another boy whom Liu Xie could trust so completely and feel so at ease with.

He understood it all, but when it came time to spell it out, he realized the two in question didn’t seem to have worked it all out themselves.

“I get what you mean, and I understand your attitude.” Liu Father really wanted to light a cigarette right then, but ever since his eldest son had become his eldest daughter, he’d been forbidden to smoke, and now his pockets were empty.

“But think about it—if she’s only got you by her side, and she needs someone of the opposite sex to stay with her at that level, would you really be willing to hand her over to someone else?”

That question clearly stumped Liu Anran; it was one of the rare times, since he’d started to grow up, that Liu Father had asked him something he couldn’t answer.

He looked at the tightly closed door, as if searching for an answer.

Naturally, Liu Xie inside wouldn’t give him one—she was still being interrogated by her biological mother.

“You tell me honestly, what’s the real relationship between you and Anran?” Liu Mother was stern, as if the blonde girl before her was still her eldest son.

“Brothers—uh, brother and sister, that’s all.”

Liu Xie let out a small sigh of relief, thinking she’d been caught for something and was about to be lectured.

But it turned out she hadn’t done anything wrong.

“I don’t buy it.” Liu Mother shook her head. “You two are practically joined at the hip, just like your father and I used to be, relying on each other.”

As someone who’s been through it herself, Liu Mother seemed even more experienced.

“Isn’t it normal to be close since childhood? It’s not like he scolds me anymore.” Liu Xie looked aggrieved—was this small thing really worth being dragged out for a private talk?

“It’s not normal.” Liu Mother grabbed Liu Xie’s surprisingly soft cheeks again. “He only has eyes for you, and you only have eyes for him. That’s not normal.”

“And tell me, can you really bear to leave everyone else behind, and have him keep you company for a whole lifetime?”

“Don’t you ever want to rely on him, even just a little?”

Liu Xie went silent, not daring to meet her mother’s eyes.

“You brought him home, so neither your father nor I can control this. It’s up to you now.”

“Whatever you two decide, your dad and I will support you.”

Liu Mother let out a sigh, opened the door, and left the room, leaving Liu Xie alone, sitting dazed on the edge of the bed.