Chapter 95: Always, Always

A particularly bulky figure walked beneath the flickering streetlights.

It was like a car passing through a tunnel, the lights above flashing in patches, playfully dancing over people’s bodies and their gazes as they hurried by.

But this car moved unusually slow, and steady, as if afraid to disturb its passengers.

The lights brushed repeatedly like a curtain over the passenger’s golden hair, over her peaceful sleeping face.

Like a veil of silk fluttering in the wind, grazing the girl’s tender skin.

Accompanied by the tickling sensation, Liu Xie’s blurred consciousness gradually stirred.

But not fully awake—she only felt the motion of her shifting weight as they moved forward.

Her head was dizzy, and she didn’t even want to open her eyes.

She could sense who was carrying her on their back, and just arriving at that conclusion had already drained most of her mental energy.

Almost immediately, enough danger awareness kicked in for her to realize she might have been kidnapped.

So she tried to move her almost useless limbs.

Her hands naturally wrapped around the neck of the person carrying her, and her legs hung loosely around his arms.

But she barely had any strength to move.

After a moment’s thought, the stubborn Liu Xie accidentally dozed off again for half a minute with her eyes squinted, then suddenly jolted awake and tried to bite the nape of the person carrying her.

Of course, her lips and teeth didn’t have much force; it wasn’t a fierce retaliation but more like the affectionate nibble of a golden kitten.

The slight wetness and the teasing bite finally made the person carrying her stop walking.

“Awake now?” came a somewhat familiar voice. “I know you’re feeling bad right now, just hang on a little longer, we’re almost at the hotel.”

Liu Xie was stunned upon hearing this, seemingly wanting to open her eyes to see who it was, but eventually gave up.

She just buried her head deeper into the person’s back, letting her soft golden hair cascade over the boy’s shoulders and fall to her chest.

Then, like a little animal, she took two deep breaths.

She was checking if the scent of the person carrying her was one she knew.

Smooth fabric, a hint of coffee, and a faintly lifeless, rigid aura of strictness.

It was her younger brother, Liu Anran.

Suddenly reassured, her hands tightened around Liu Anran’s neck, pulling closer and pressing her face against the nape she had just lightly bitten.

The two soft mounds at her chest were squeezed and deformed under the pressure.

Liu Xie knew she was probably drunk and dreaming.

Because her dear brother Liu Anran couldn’t possibly be here. After she got drunk and was carried away, her roommates who had eaten barbecue with her wouldn’t just ignore her like this.

So this had to be a dream.

In that case, she didn’t have to care so much.

She decisively adjusted her body, trying to find the most comfortable position, the itchiness of her golden hair drifting constantly over Liu Anran’s back.

Liu Anran took a deep breath, and the few steps he had taken stopped again.

“Behave yourself.”

“Nooo~” came an almost instant response, as Liu Xie rubbed her head against Liu Anran’s back like a drill bit.

Liu Anran took another deep breath, as if trying to suppress all the chaotic thoughts: “I can’t walk steadily if you keep moving like this.”

“That’s fine. When I was little, I carried you like this. You never moved around on my back back then.” Liu Xie began bumping her forehead against the back of Liu Anran’s head.

“Though I don’t remember clearly, I definitely wouldn’t have moved around when someone was carrying me as a kid.”

Liu Anran paused, then gently lifted Liu Xie up a bit, so this puddle of mush wouldn’t slide off his back.

After a while, there was no movement behind him; he guessed she had fallen asleep again without realizing it.

Liu Anran chuckled softly and resumed walking toward the hotel.

“Liu Anran.”

The voice suddenly coming from behind proved his guess wrong—Liu Xie hadn’t fallen asleep.

Her tone was low, as if she was pondering something.

“I’m here.”

All doubts were cast aside by that single reply.

“Actually, I’ve been thinking about who really can’t live without whom between us.”

Liu Xie paused, then continued, ignoring her foggy mind and her uncooperative limbs.

It was as if these words had to be said now, or they never would be.

Even if it was only a dream in her eyes.

“You’re no longer that dirty, stinky kid. You have your place in the family, your position in the business. Even if you left me, you could live well on your own.”

The slow steps suddenly stopped.

Liu Anran didn’t understand what Liu Xie meant by that.

“But I’m still clinging to you like before, as if you’re the one who can’t live without me like when we were kids. But I know, it’s not you who can’t live without me—it’s me who can’t live without you.”

Liu Xie mumbled on, like a girlfriend softly nagging her boyfriend sitting outside watching the moon after dinner.

“But I can’t keep clinging to you forever. Like when you went on that blind date before—if I didn’t exist, could you find someone willing to understand you as your other half?”

She kept talking, each word like a blade torturing Liu Anran’s heart.

The boy’s jaw clenched tightly, as if restraining himself from saying something.

“But I can’t live without you. Just like back then in the trash heap, when I reached out my hand, you followed me. I always want to follow you too. You treat me best, understand me most, and care for me the most.”

“I even won’t allow you to be with anyone else. You have to stay with me, just the two of us, for life.”

“Well? Am I terrible?”

After she finished speaking, she noticed Liu Anran’s footsteps had steadied again.

It didn’t matter—it was a dream anyway.

“After all, it’s your fault. Why do you have to be so good to me?” Liu Xie’s thoughts were always strange after drinking.

“If you weren’t so good to me, just obediently inherited the family estate and left me to fend for myself, I wouldn’t be clinging to you now.”

“It’s all your fault!”

She said that and suddenly opened her mouth to bite the right side of Liu Anran’s neck.

But after a brief bite with force, noticing it was Liu Anran, she loosened her mouth, even sticking out her tongue to lick, as if tending to a wound.

“Liu Anran.” Like a murmured dream.

“I’m here.”

“I want to be with you, always, always.”

“I will.”

Liu Anran’s steps grew more resolute. “I will be with you, always, always.”