Font Size:
The tension in the room shifted fast. The sterile scent of hospital disinfectant was replaced by something more volatile—like smoke in the air.
Hua Qingyang frowned. “Alright, enough. We’re brothers—don’t turn on each other.”
“Yeah, seriously,” Zhen Chuang chimed in. “She’s just a girl. We’re not exactly plotting over her. You’re just losing your head over nothing.”
Ji Huailuo stood with his back to the light, casting a shadow across the hospital bed, his expression unreadable.
“I’m her Big Brother. As long as my Father and her Mother don’t get divorced, we’re still siblings,” Ji Huailuo said calmly, evenly. “If I’ve been fake with her, it’s only because I had to be. But now you guys jump in and start lecturing me about being fake? Honestly, who’s the fake one here?”
Zhou Cong lay there, but there was no sign of weakness. If anything, the air around him felt sharper—like someone used to commanding from above.
“Give Er De back.” Four simple words.
“……” Ji Huailuo’s mouth twitched. “How old are you, seriously? Still playing this game?”
Zhou Cong, quiet and composed: “Return him.”
Ji Huailuo exploded. “No way!”
Zhou Cong: “One of the conditions for adopting a retired military dog—no household members with allergies.”
“……” Ji Huailuo ground his teeth. “You knew she had allergies before you gave me Er De! You already gave him to me. Don’t you think it’s a little late?”
Zhou Cong: “It’s not too late.”
He tugged at his pale lips into a faint smile. “If it disgusts you… that makes me very happy.”
“……”
Shit.
—
Xu Zhiqiao didn’t have much to pack. Xu Shu insisted she return to the Ji Family every week anyway, so she didn’t need to bring a lot.
Her suitcase sat by the bed, just big enough for essentials. Once the zipper was pulled shut, everything was ready.
Xu Shu sat on the edge of the bed, silent.
“Mama, be happy, okay?” Xu Zhiqiao teased her, “I’m super excited to move into the dorms!”
Xu Shu sighed. “Back then, I thought Huailuo was grown up, and you, as a girl, wouldn’t compete with him for inheritance or make him feel threatened. I didn’t think there would be any major issues in the family, so I agreed to your Uncle Ji’s proposal.”
But still, things didn’t turn out peaceful.
Might’ve been better if they never got married—each just raising their own child.
“What are you saying,” Xu Zhiqiao puffed her cheeks, “You didn’t even start dating until I was eighteen! I was already planning to live independently—go to University, make my own money, have my own friends. You’d better not become a burden, making me worry about you while I’m doing all that.”
Growing up was about gaining freedom.
Leaving her mother’s care meant she could start steering her own ship—even if it meant a few crashes.
If someone could be there for Xu Shu, she could sail forward without fear.
Xu Shu ruffled her hair and placed a key into her palm. “Apartment key. It’s five kilometers from Shen University. If you don’t want to stay in the dorm during the week, just go there—only come back here on weekends.”
“Okay, Mama~”
After a long list of nagging reminders, Xu Shu finally went downstairs.
Xu Zhiqiao tossed some medication into the suitcase, paused, then added another bottle to her bag.
Someone knocked twice on the door. Thinking Xu Shu had come back, she called out in a soft, sweet voice, “I packed the meds, I promise—no running, no allergens…”
The last word caught in her throat.
The door opened. Ji Huailuo stood there, leaning against the frame.
“……” Xu Zhiqiao went still. “Good evening, Big Brother.”
“A dorm has four people,” Ji Huailuo said out of nowhere, “You can’t even get along with me. You sure you’ll be fine with them?”
Xu Zhiqiao: “……”
What was his problem?
Ji Huailuo crossed his arms. “No one will be looking after you at school.”
“……” Xu Zhiqiao moved her lips. Then, in response to his last line, muttered, “Big Brother, if we don’t get along… I think it’s your fault.”
Ji Huailuo: “……”
Xu Zhiqiao looked serious. “So this idea that ‘I can’t get along with you’ equals ‘I can’t get along with my roommates’—that’s a logical fallacy.”
“…Didn’t follow.”
“Oh.”
Ji Huailuo scratched his head, annoyed. “No one’s going to take care of you. Doesn’t your mother worry?”
“Thanks for taking care of me these past two months,” Xu Zhiqiao said smoothly, “Sorry to have disturbed your peaceful life.”
“……”
Xu Zhiqiao: “Goodbye, Big Brother. Goodnight.”
“……”
The door closed in his face.
Ji Huailuo stood there in the dark.
Not that he wanted to admit it…
But he was genuinely disgusted again.
And the worst part? Xu Zhiqiao was clearly more skilled at it than Zhou Cong.
He didn’t even know why he felt grossed out.
—
The next morning, Ji Shou and Xu Shu had to leave for work. They arranged for a driver and Sister Li to take Xu Zhiqiao to school.
Xu Zhiqiao glanced at her phone—Zhou Cong still hadn’t accepted the money she’d transferred him.
If that money had come from his own pocket to cover for her, he probably wouldn’t take it back.
She thought about asking Ji Huailuo to return it on her behalf, but worried he’d make a big scene—then it’d snowball into more drama about her lost money and everything else.
Sister Li was already calling from outside, urging her to get going early in case the mattress or bedding at the dorm needed to be swapped.
Xu Zhiqiao rolled her eyes up at the ceiling.
She wasn’t that fragile, okay?!
Just as she was about to leave, Ji Huailuo came back.
As he got out of the car, he was carrying a familiar little girl in his arms.
Xu Zhiqiao was stunned. She’d just seen Hua Niuniu yesterday—and now again today?
“What are you looking at?” Ji Huailuo hoisted her higher. “Hua Qingyang’s sister. Call her Niuniu.”
“……”
Yeah, she knew her.
Ji Huailuo glanced over at her and frowned. “Where’d you get all this junk?”
Xu Zhiqiao swallowed her irritation. “Goodbye, Big Brother…”
“Hold up,” Ji Huailuo barked. “Sister Li, take those bags from my car too.”
The trunk was already open. A few colorful shopping bags inside.
Sister Li glanced in and chuckled. “There’s even a laptop in here.”
One bag had clothes for girls, another had various odds and ends, and one had the latest model of a laptop.
Xu Zhiqiao froze. “I don’t need—”
“What’s wrong with your mother?” Ji Huailuo cut her off. “You’re in University now and she still hasn’t given you a laptop? How’re you supposed to pull all-nighters gaming with your roommates?”
“……”
Actually, Xu Shu had gotten her one—it was already at the apartment.
Before Xu Zhiqiao could respond, Ji Huailuo lifted Hua Niuniu’s hand. “Little mute, you wanna come send your sister off to school?”
Xu Zhiqiao opened her mouth, surprised. “…Niuniu, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Hi, Sister,” Hua Niuniu chirped sweetly, “Sister, I want some milk.”
As soon as the words came out, Xu Zhiqiao watched Ji Huailuo’s pupils contract.
Then came a familiar scene.
His lips trembled. “Holy—!! You’re not mute?!”
“……”
“Hua Niuniu,” Ji Huailuo yelled, flustered. “You can talk?!”
Xu Zhiqiao: “……”
Are they even really friends with Hua Qingyang?