On the first day of the New Year, Ning Yuan didn’t sleep well.
He lay on the floor, tossing and turning, listening to the distant sounds of occasional fireworks. Despite the soft mattress on the grass mat, making it fairly comfortable, the lack of privacy in the living room left him feeling restless.
And now, it was already five in the morning...
He glanced at his phone to check the time before turning his gaze to the front door.
Why hadn’t Ning Chu come back yet?
She had only gone out to watch the fireworks... She promised she’d be back by one to go to bed.
Ning Yuan felt a twitch in his eye. Despite seeing the more mature, seductive expression Ning Chu had during their last meeting, which already gave him suspicions, he still found it hard to accept that the little brother he’d watched grow up had now been swept away by another man.
But when a man and a woman don’t return home all night, it’s pretty obvious what they’re doing.
No way they were spending the night at an internet café, right?
Feeling a hollowness in his chest, he sighed like an old father, worried as he sat up, debating whether to send Ning Chu a message to check on her.
Suddenly, he heard the sound of the elevator outside. Startled, Ning Yuan turned his head toward the door.
Through the door, faint voices could be heard from the hallway.
“So early... The sun isn’t even up yet, and you still have the energy to get up.”
“Keep your voice down, or my mom will hear us... I wasn’t even home on New Year’s Eve, she’ll be furious.”
Carefully, a key slid into the lock, and with a soft click, the front door was gently opened.
Ning Chu peeked inside cautiously through the crack of the door, scanning the dark living room, which was shrouded in darkness, the curtains drawn.
“You really don’t need to walk me back... I told you I’d be fine.”
“There’s not a soul on the street. How could I leave you like that?” Wen Yang yawned, leaning against the stair railing. “Alright, I’ll head out then. I’ll come by later for lunch and to celebrate New Year’s.”
“Okay, just be careful on the way back. You parked the scooter the way I showed you, right? My mom can’t find out.”
“Don’t worry.”
Once Wen Yang was inside the elevator, Ning Chu finally let out a sigh of relief, quietly slipping off her shoes as she entered the house.
The living room was pitch black. She bent down to put her shoes back on the shoe rack, then glanced around the room, muttering softly to herself, “Better not step on my brother...”
But when her eyes landed on her brother’s sleeping mat, the faint outline of a figure made her heart skip a beat, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.
Oh no! A ghost!
Instinctively, she took a step back in fear, but then quickly remembered, pulling out her phone and turning on the flashlight.
“Bro... why aren’t you asleep in the middle of the night?”
Seeing it was just her brother, Ning Chu let out a long breath, her voice filled with exasperation. “You scared the life out of me! My legs went weak—I thought you were a ghost.”
“Why didn’t you come home on New Year’s Eve? What were you doing all night?”
“...”
Her nerves shot back up again!
Scrambling for an excuse, Ning Chu quickly came up with something. “I was watching the fireworks, and after one o’clock, I wasn’t really sleepy. Then I just happened to find an internet café that was still open.”
“So, I spent the night online...”
Yeah, right. A guy and a girl staying out all night, and they just so happened to go to an internet café?
If Ning Yuan hadn’t overheard the conversation in the hallway earlier, he might have believed her. After all, it was something Ning Chu might actually do.
Seeing Ning Yuan’s stern, expressionless face, Ning Chu felt nervous and avoided his gaze, her cheeks turning red as she fiddled with her fingers.
Getting caught sneaking out all night, especially by Ning Yuan, who still saw her as a brother rather than a sister...
There was no way she could tell her brother that she’d spent the night with Wen Yang, doing anything but sleeping.
The most important thing now was to play it down and, above all, keep their mother from finding out. If she learned that Ning Chu had gone out and messed around on New Year’s Eve, she might blow a fuse.
Taking a deep breath, Ning Chu quickly shifted her expression to one of pitiful innocence.
“Bro~ please don’t tell Mom...” she pleaded. “Just this once~”
“Don’t even try. Being cute won’t work.”
Ning Chu wasn’t about to give up. She moved closer, hugging Ning Yuan’s arm and gently swaying it as she whined in a high-pitched, cutesy voice, “Bro—”
The elongated, sweet tone and playful voice caught Ning Yuan off guard. Having had little interaction with women, his psychological defenses crumbled instantly.
Looking down at his sister’s adorable, pleading face, his heart softened. “Fine, just go to bed. I’ll keep it from Mom.”
Maybe having a little sister wasn’t so bad?
Ning Yuan finally understood why some guys became obsessed with their sisters. They were just too cute!
“Good night!”
Ning Yuan blinked in surprise as Ning Chu dashed into her bedroom like a whirlwind.
“...”
The cute little sister act she’d just pulled off had crumbled in an instant.
He sat there in a daze for a moment, muttering in disbelief to himself, “Damn... she’s only been a girl for how long, and she’s already this good at acting cute? And that voice...”
Well, she did have Wen Yang to practice on.
And not just for practicing her cute act...
As this thought crossed his mind, his emotions grew even more complicated. He felt a strange mix of concern and sadness, as though he were a father discovering his daughter had been deceived by a no-good boyfriend. There was a hint of anger, mixed with a faint sense of possessiveness...
Even though Ning Chu had finally come home, Ning Yuan was now even more unable to sleep.
He lay on the mat, his mind swirling with thoughts, until he heard movement from the master bedroom.
It was just after six in the morning, and their mother, who had been passed out drunk the night before, was already up, yawning as she started preparing for the New Year’s Day traditions.
Normally, they would set off firecrackers, but this year, their mother used a string of electronic firecrackers to get by.
Just when Ning Yuan had finally started to feel sleepy again, he sat up with a groan, rubbing his eyes.
“Up so early?” His mother, still smelling faintly of alcohol, smiled at him.
Ning Yuan yawned, “I barely slept last night.”
“By the way, did Ning Chu go out last night?”
He froze at the question, then quickly shook his head. “No, she went to bed around midnight.”
“Hmm.”
His mother didn’t seem to think much of it.
Wait... did that tone mean Ning Chu regularly didn’t come home at night?
Ning Yuan was momentarily stunned, but before he could think too much about it, his mother called out, “If you’re awake, help me clean up the table. No one bothered to do it last night, and we’re going to end up breeding cockroaches.”
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At that moment, Ning Chu emerged from her bedroom, pretending to be groggy as she rubbed her eyes.
She glanced at her mother’s face, feeling a wave of guilt, before obediently stepping forward to help clean up the mess from last night.
“When Ning Xinya wakes up, let your brother go back to bed for a bit.”
“Okay.”
“And we’ll visit your grandfather’s house tomorrow, so be prepared.”
“Alright...”
Her mother shot her a side glance. “It’s pretty obvious you did something last night. You’re being way too helpful.”
“Can’t I just be more responsible now that I’m a year older?”
“Just don’t give me a heart attack, and I’ll be grateful.”
After cleaning up the table, the two of them pulled open the curtains in the living room.
At the edge of the horizon, a faint glow of dawn began to break through, casting the first light of the new year.
“Another year has come,” their mother sighed. “In just half a year, I’ve gained two daughters...”
“Looks like I’d better be ready to become a grandmother this year.”
Ning Chu hurriedly shook her head. “That’s not happening! Definitely not!”