After being reborn, who wouldn't want to have a younger sister?

Chapter 514 Little things
Normally, when Xiao Yangzhi is home alone, she locks the door twice with a key, but when Xu Mingyuan came back today, he just opened it with the key.

It was raining outside. A pair of white flat shoes were on the carpet, the soles clean and without a single water stain. Xiao Yangzhi must not have come downstairs all day. I wonder what she was doing at home today.

There was no sign of Xiao Yangzhi downstairs. She's such an inactive girl, she definitely wouldn't exercise on her own.

After going upstairs, the rocking chair that had been moved into the attic during the winter was also gone. That solid wood rocking chair weighed forty or fifty pounds, and it was difficult for Xu Mingyuan to carry it by himself. He didn't know how Xiao Yangzhi had moved it to the pavilion. She probably dragged it little by little and it took her a long time to move it out.

It wasn't hot on the rainy day; in fact, it felt a bit chilly. Little Yangzhi was curled up in a rocking chair, covered with a blanket, taking a nap.

Xiao Yangzhi loves rainy days without thunder. The sound of raindrops pattering on the pavilion brings her comfort and peace.

Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, Xu Mingyuan did not disturb her. He simply covered her with a blanket and then sat down on a chair to take a nap.

After an unknown amount of time, in a daze, Xu Mingyuan felt a warm and soft little person snuggling into his arms, and he instinctively hugged them.

"Are you awake?" Xu Mingyuan asked.

"Yes, brother, I woke you up," Yang Zhi said softly.

"It's alright, it's time to wake up. Were you already up?"

Xu Mingyuan glanced at his watch. He had probably slept for less than twenty minutes. Xiao Yangzhi must have been keeping track of the time the whole time, otherwise it wouldn't have been such a coincidence.

"You haven't been up for long, brother. You're such a light sleeper. I didn't know you were like this before."

"So that's how it is? Ha, so I knew you were in my bed all along, but I was just pretending to be asleep," Xu Mingyuan laughed.

"Yeah, I know you were pretending to be asleep," Yang Zhi said, somewhat amused.

"Really? You can tell I'm awake?"

"How could I not tell? When you're sound asleep, you'll move unconsciously, but if you're awake, you won't move at all. It's not like that when you're asleep."

"Haha, you knew I was awake, yet you still crawled into my bed?"

"We've already drilled halfway, we can't just give up halfway, wouldn't that be even more embarrassing? Since you're pretending not to know, I'll just go along with it."

As Yang Zhi spoke, she covered her mouth and began to giggle. Then she was picked up and carried to the rocking chair.

"I always thought I was pretending very well, but I didn't expect you to have seen through me so early," Xu Mingyuan said with a smile.

"I didn't notice at first either. I was so nervous, I didn't pay attention to these things. Later, it got into my habit, and I realized I had woken you up. Brother, were you pretending to be asleep because you were afraid I'd be shy?" Yang Zhi asked.

"That's part of the reason, but not the main reason."

What is the main reason?

Yang Zhi turned her head and stared at him without blinking.

"Of course it's because you're good-looking. Holding a pretty little girl like that is so satisfying, isn't it?" Xu Mingyuan said without even thinking.

"I thought my brother was just taking pity on me," Yang Zhi said with a hint of helplessness.

"At first I felt sorry for you, but then I realized you were just pretending to be pitiful."

"No, he was pitiful. I always thought that my brother would leave me one day. I was terrified every day back then, and it was so painful."

Yang Zhi gently rubbed Xu Mingyuan's chin as they gazed together at the misty distance.

The rain kept falling in a drizzle. Xiao Yangzhi spent most of her time staring blankly at the rain, while Xu Mingyuan was also thinking about things, occasionally exchanging a few words of conversation.

When the rain started to pour, Yang Zhi suddenly asked, "Where's Sister Tao Tao? Did she stay at school? Isn't she coming back today?"

“Tao Tao went to her grandpa’s house. It’s raining so hard today, she probably won’t be coming back. I’ll call her later,” Xu Mingyuan said.

"Oh, brother, have you had lunch yet?" Yang Zhi asked again.

"Yes, you've eaten. Haven't you eaten? I bought some groceries on my way back. Want to eat together?"

"We had noodles for lunch, let's eat again tonight. Brother, it's a bit cold upstairs, shall we go back inside?" Yang Zhi asked softly.

"it is good."

No matter how cold it is outside, it's just an excuse. Xiao Yangzhi is covered with a thick blanket and she's sticking it on herself. Xu Mingyuan is already feeling a bit hot, so how could she be cold?

But since Xiao Yangzhi has said so, Xu Mingyuan certainly won't refuse.

……

When Tao Shuxin returned the next morning, the two of them had just gotten up and were eating noodles around the dining table.

Tao Shuxin was slightly annoyed that Xu Mingyuan hadn't accompanied her to her grandfather's house yesterday. As soon as she entered the door, she pouted, left behind the odds and ends she had looted from her grandfather's house, and stomped her feet to the dining room.

There was a faint smell in the room, probably from the heavy rain last night, which made it stuffy and damp with the windows closed.

"Want to grab something to eat together?" Xu Mingyuan asked.

"Why are you eating noodles again? You guys are so lazy."

Seeing the small dishes of pickled vegetables and a bowl of noodles for each person on the table, Tao Shuxin couldn't help but complain.

“Yes, you’re not lazy. Have you ever cooked breakfast?” Xu Mingyuan asked in return.

"Tch, what time is it? You're only eating now?"

"It's past nine o'clock, isn't that perfect? ​​Don't you sleep in on Sundays?"

"I've never seen Xiaozhizhi sleep in late..." Tao Shuxin pouted, but didn't say anything more.

"Sister Tao Tao, didn't you go to Grandpa's house? Why are you back so early?" Yang Zhi asked, slurping noodles nearby.

"I'm bored. My brother left last night. If it weren't for the heavy rain, I would have come back. There's no one to play with me there, so it's better to come back and play games together."

Tao Shuxin sat down opposite them, pouting and resting her chin on her hand, watching the two eat noodles.

"You play with my brother, I don't want to play games."

Yangzhi quickened her pace of eating noodles, finishing the rest in a few bites before putting down her chopsticks.

“It’s so much more fun to play together, don’t be so selfish,” Tao Shuxin asked.

"Let's talk about it this afternoon, I still need to tidy up my room."

"Let's clean up together, and then we can play again," Tao Shuxin said, standing up.

"No need, it's not like a big cleaning, it'll be done in a bit. Brother, just leave your bowl here after you finish eating, I'll wash it later."

Yang Zhi got up and went back to her room. Although she knew that Xu Mingyuan would definitely go and wash the dishes after hearing what she said, she still had to say something to show off, especially in front of Tao Shuxin.

"Xu Mingyuan, stop slacking off! Go do it by yourself."

Tao Shuxin wasn't as cunning as Xiao Yangzhi, and promptly told Xu Mingyuan to clean up his mess, since he ate so slowly.

Seeing Tao Shuxin follow her into the house, Yang Zhi didn't chase her out. She had tidied up the room in the morning, and the remaining pajamas and other small clothes needed to be washed. However, it was still drizzling outside, so it seemed that she wouldn't be able to air out the quilts today.

The room was very clean, and all the items were neatly arranged according to size.

Every time Tao Shuxin came to Xiao Yangzhi's room, she felt comfortable but also wanted to complain about her obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Do you have any clothes to wash?

As Yang Zhi passed by Tao Shuxin, she casually asked, while carrying clothes.

"No," Tao Shuxin said, shaking her head.

"Didn't you wash what you wore yesterday?"

"Hehe, it's fine whether I wash it or not."

Tao Shuxin scratched her head, trying to appear a little embarrassed. Respecting other people's hard work is a virtue, and she wasn't as entitled as Xu Mingyuan.

"If you want to wash it, just change it and throw it in the bathroom," Yang Zhi said.

Tao Shuxin was incredibly lazy. She would wash her underwear on the same day, but she would accumulate socks in a pile. And she was a girl. In Yang Zhi's eyes, this was simply outrageous. She was no better than her roommate in high school.

This is Xiao Yangzhi's subjective judgment. In fact, Tao Shuxin is not a lazy girl. Among most girls, she is already considered diligent.

However, girls with obsessive-compulsive disorder like Xiao Yangzhi are quite rare. At least Tao Shuxin has never met another one like her. She has only heard that there are girls like this in school, who are also not very sociable.

"What does it smell like?"

Tao Shuxin sniffed around the room and felt that a strange smell had become stronger, and it was vaguely familiar.

Tao Shuxin glanced at the trash can. The bag had already been tied tightly. A girl as clean as Xiao Yangzhi would never accumulate a full bag of trash before thinking of throwing it away.

Tao Shuxin suddenly wanted to see what had been thrown away, but Xiao Yangzhi had already returned.

"Aren't you going to change your clothes? I've already soaked them in water," Yang Zhi said.

"Oh……"

Tao Shuxin nodded and silently went to change her clothes.

She continued playing games. When Xu Mingyuan dragged her to play games, Tao Shuxin did not refuse, but her mind was not on the game.

Xiao Yangzhi smelled nice, and the room smelled nice too. Even when she was on her period, Tao Shuxin couldn't smell even the slightest bit of odor on her.

Tao Shuxin dared not think about it too much, but she couldn't help but think about it in this direction.

Tao Shuxin's absent-mindedness quickly caught Xu Mingyuan's attention. She went from being lively when she first returned to being silent, probably because she had noticed something.

"Little Tao Tao, don't you like playing? Why don't we call Xiao Yangzhi over?" Xu Mingyuan asked.

"No," Tao Shuxin said, shaking her head.

After playing for quite a while, Xu Mingyuan realized that remaining silent wasn't a solution, so he asked, "What's wrong? Is it because of Xiao Yangzhi?"

Tao Shuxin was silent for a moment, opened her mouth, and finally said with her eyes still fixed on the screen: "When you were on a business trip before the New Year, I took Xiaozhizhi to play in the town. She said something to me at that time. I didn't understand what it meant then, but now I think I understand."

"What did you say?" Xu Mingyuan asked, taken aback.

Why do you insist on getting to the bottom of this?

"Can't I ask?" Xu Mingyuan asked.

"That's why you insist on asking for clarification."

Life is full of uncertainties. A seemingly serious matter is often quietly passed by, while a trivial matter that no one pays attention to may turn out to be unmanageable.

(End of this chapter)