Extra 4.1

The math teacher’s gaze swept over the landing point of the love letter. Holding the teaching stick in his right hand, he lightly tapped the palm of his left hand, then walked down and stood in front of the love letter. Frowning at the sight of the words “Han Xing, student’s table,” scrawled in terribly ugly handwriting, he asked Tangyuan, “Han Xing, Tang Tiantian, what are you two doing? What is this thing?”

Tangyuan’s face turned red. It was the first time she felt so embarrassed: “Teacher, I don’t know what this is either. That’s why I was curious to take a look.”

Tang Tiantian, afraid of saying the wrong thing, remained silent and could only anxiously follow along.

The love letter that had flown out had now fallen out of the envelope. At this moment, the teacher bent down to pick it up. The letter read: “Han Xing, your eyes are as bright and beautiful as the stars in the sky. Since I met you, I have to look at the stars outside my window every night before falling asleep, thinking of you…”

The math teacher expressionlessly put away the letter and looked at the two young girls in their adolescent years. They were so lovely and beautiful. The math teacher had been young once, too, and in her youth, she had also been a beautiful girl admired by many male classmates. As the saying goes, “Young girls’ hearts are always poetic.” Regardless of who was right or wrong or whether things had happened or not, such matters should be handled properly to avoid ruining the bright futures of these beautiful girls.

“Sit down and pay attention in class. Don’t get distracted again,” the math teacher said, taking the letter away.

Xiao Tangyuan and Tang Tiantian breathed a sigh of relief, having spent most of the remaining class time in anxiety. When the class ended, the teacher approached Xiao Tangyuan’s desk and said, “Tell your parents to come here this afternoon.”

Xiao Tangyuan sighed, realizing that she couldn’t avoid the trouble. She knew her brothers would scold her when she got home. She wasn’t afraid of meeting her parents, as they were open-minded. She was confident that they wouldn’t blame her if she explained she had only wanted to see the love letter. Since childhood, Xiao Tangyuan had never hidden anything from her family; she just found it annoying when her brothers asked too many questions.

When Xiao Roubao entered the room, a classmate from the back table asked Xiao Tangyuan, “Xingxing, did the math teacher just take a love letter from you? I saw that the monitor from the third-class next door put it in.”

Xiao Tangyuan had often seen male classmates putting things in her drawer. She never accepted food or gifts; instead, she handed them directly to the lost and found station. As for love letters, she just stuffed them into her backpack.

Over time, people stopped giving her gifts and only sent love letters.

Xiao Roubao squinted upon hearing this and tugged at Tangyuan’s braid: “You received another love letter? And the teacher found out?”

Xiao Tangyuan lay on the table, despairing: “Yes, and they want to see our parents. Dad and Mom are traveling and haven’t returned yet, so I’ll have to ask my eldest brother to come.”

Han Cheng took his annual leave recently, and he and Su Xiaoxiao left the children behind to have some time for themselves. Since the twins started middle school, they had taken a few days off each year to travel without the kids. When they left depended on when Han Cheng’s annual leave was scheduled, and it just so happened that they weren’t home these days.

Xiao Roubao pulled her braid with a little more force: “Did you secretly read the love letter?”

Tangyuan pulled back her braid and glared at her third brother: “No, no, I didn’t have time to read it.”

Xiao Roubao, being quite perceptive, quickly figured out the situation: “So you planned to secretly read it during class and ended up getting caught by the teacher, who then asked you to call our parents.”

Tangyuan blinked: “Yes, that’s right. You guys never let me see it, and I was just curious about what they wrote to me.”

Xiao Roubao: “You really haven’t seen anything yet?”

Tangyuan nodded repeatedly: “But I saw the writing on the envelope. It was very ugly.”

Xiao Roubao, only a few minutes older than Tangyuan and still a child himself, hadn’t yet come to terms with things. Since their older brothers said they needed to protect their sister and not let nasty boys get close to her or let her receive things from them, including love letters, he followed their instructions.

In reality, many people admired Xiao Roubao, and he had a large following of fans. Especially after he lost weight, he became a school idol, capturing the hearts of many girls. He frequently received love letters but usually rejected them on the spot. If someone dared to place something in his drawer, he would hand it directly to the teacher, regardless of the envelope’s contents, without even glancing at it, and he never showed any leniency.

Over time, no one dared to send him anything.

Xiao Tangyuan’s situation was different. As a girl with a shy demeanor, constantly turning over love letters to the teacher wouldn’t stop people from sending them. If someone who didn’t know the truth saw her doing this, they might think she was seeking attention, which could harm her reputation. So, she chose to handle it quietly on her own.

However, this was only a temporary fix, and people continued to send love letters.

“Big brother is busy,” Xiao Roubao said as he patted his chest, “I’ll go to the teacher for you and explain the situation.”

Tangyuan: “… Third brother, did you forget you’re only a few minutes older than me? How are you supposed to be a guardian?”

Xiao Roubao: “You are the baby of everyone in our family. Why can’t I be your parent?”

Xiao Tangyuan: “I am the baby of the family, but you are not the parent. What about the second brother?”

Xiao Roubao: “Do you think the second brother can handle this matter?”

Xiao Tangyuan thought about it. Her second brother was always engrossed in studying airplanes, tanks, and fighter jets, so he didn’t seem very adept at handling human-related issues.

Xiao Tangyuan considered a more reliable candidate: “What about Brother Zhuzi?”

Xiao Roubao replied, “Brother Zhuzi is only our nominal brother, not blood-related. How can he act as a guardian to meet with the teacher?”

“Then he’s available,” Tangyuan didn’t care. In her eyes, Brother Zhuzi was more reliable than anyone else. “Let Brother Zhuzi come. I’ll go back at noon and tell him myself.”

Once Tangyuan decided, not even ten Xiao Roubaos could change her mind.

As long as there were no embarrassing incidents in class, it wouldn’t be a significant blow to the two young girls. Tang Tiantian wasn’t worried that Tangyuan would be reprimanded by her family. Tangyuan’s family was very understanding; if she didn’t lie and tell them the truth, they wouldn’t blame her. Getting caught by the teacher for sneaking a look at a love letter and having to meet the parents would only result in a few words of reprimand since it indeed violated classroom rules.

As usual, Zhuzi came to pick Tangyuan up from school whenever there were fewer classes in the morning.

With Aunt Su and Uncle Cheng traveling, it was even more his responsibility to take care of his younger siblings. Today, as soon as class was over, he came to the school gate to wait, having already read half a book. When he looked up, he saw the two young girls bouncing along in front, chattering away like two happy sparrows. Xiao Roubao stood with his hands in his pockets, guarding them like a guardian angel.

When Xiao Tangyuan saw the familiar figure standing out from the crowd in a white shirt at the school gate from a distance.

“Brother!” Xiao Tangyuan curved her eyes and still ran towards her Brother Zhuzi with open arms like a child.

“Slow down, you’ll fall.”

Xiao Zhuzi, who graduated with his undergraduate degree in July this year, was also recommended to continue his postgraduate studies at the same school. Having interned at a law firm previously, he later realized that working in court might be a better fit for him. His current major is focused on judicial work. Knowing his aspirations, the People’s Court was eager to secure his talent and offered him a position to start as soon as he finished his studies.

Xiao Zhuzi supported Xiao Tangyuan, who had rushed over. Now that the little girl had grown up, he could no longer carry her on his back as he used to. Instead, he supported her arm and took the schoolbag from her, hanging it over his own shoulder.

Female classmates passing by looked at Xiao Tangyuan with envy. Everyone knew she had several brothers, each more handsome and impressive than the last. With a movie star brother like Han Chen escorting her daily and different brothers frequently picking her up after school, she was the center of admiration.

Tangyuan linked her arm with Zhuzi’s and tilted her head to ask, “Brother, do you have time this afternoon?”

Seeing the girl, who was now at shoulder height, Zhuzi gently asked, “What’s the matter?”

Xiao Roubao tugged on Xiao Tangyuan’s braid and complained: “This girl secretly opened a love letter from a male classmate during class. The teacher caught her and demanded a meeting with the parents. I can’t believe these people. They don’t study diligently, and their handwriting is terrible. Yet they think they can date our sister? Ridiculous. Mom said no dating before 18. Brother Zhuzi, you’re 22 and still single. These kids should focus on improving their handwriting first. What are they even thinking?”

Xiao Roubao couldn’t understand. The little girl was delicate and hard to please. Was basketball not enjoyable, or the TV shows weren’t appealing? Did he really need to entertain the little girl?

Xiao Zhuzi looked at the graceful little girl and was in a trance for a while.

The first time Xiao Zhuzi truly felt that his daughter had grown up was when Xiao Tangyuan got her first period. Xiao Tangyuan wasn’t afraid because Su Xiaoxiao had already explained puberty, the bodily changes, and how to manage them. Although she understood what was happening, she suffered from severe stomach cramps during her first period and was completely unprepared, feeling very weak.

At that time, Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng were traveling, leaving only him and the twins at home. Xiao Zhuzi had to muster up the courage to buy sanitary napkins for his sister. He also made brown sugar ginger tea for her and comforted her, his face flushed with embarrassment.

Afterward, he observed various boys and girls flocking around his sister, giving her gifts and writing love letters daily. It was from that moment on that Xiao Zhuzi realized his sister had truly grown up and had become a beautiful young woman.

Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng had a family rule that all their children had to focus on their studies and avoid dating until they were eighteen, which is why none of them had ever dated.

Regardless of Tangyuan’s age or whether she was a young lady now, protecting his sister was the mission of all her brothers. Hearing that someone sent Tangyuan love letters and that she got caught by the teacher for sneaking a look in class made Zhuzi’s feelings quite complex. It felt like they had carefully raised a delicate cabbage, only for different pigs to come and root around it every day—it was really annoying.

“What does Tangyuan think?” Zhuzi asked.

Tangyuan scrunched up her little nose and said, “Whenever you take my letters, I’m just curious about what they wrote. I hadn’t even had a chance to read it before the teacher caught me. Brother, could you talk to the teacher and tell them to practice their handwriting before writing to me? Their writing is really too ugly.”

Zhuzi: “…………”