Many children, many blessings: Stealing the offspring of powerful figures to cultivate immortality.

"...Nothing much."

Jiang Yining took a deep breath, suppressing the strange, tingling sensation in her fingertips, and forced herself to remain calm, saying, "Drink your soup."

After feeding her a meal, Jiang Yining felt a thin layer of sweat on her back.

Having finally made it through lunch, Jiang Yining wanted to retreat to the study to look at the account books and have some peace and quiet.

No sooner had he stepped inside than Chu Sikong followed him in, leaning on his bamboo cane.

"While my sister is reading, I will grind the ink beside her and will not disturb her at all," he said confidently.

However, less than half an hour later, Jiang Yining felt a weight on her shoulder.

Looking to the side, she saw that Chu Sikong had moved a chair and was sitting next to her. He had his head tilted to the side and had fallen asleep on her shoulder.

The afternoon sun streamed in through the window, illuminating his unguarded sleeping face.

Her long eyelashes cast a shadow under her eyelids, trembling gently with her breath, making her look incredibly docile.

Jiang Yining was about to push him away, but as soon as she moved, he frowned and mumbled indistinctly, "Sister...don't go..."

The voice was as soft and sweet as a kitten that hadn't been weaned.

Jiang Yining's hand froze in mid-air, and in the end, she couldn't bring herself to push it down.

Forget it.

She sighed inwardly.

She's just a child who hasn't grown up yet, and she's blind. What can you do to her?

She even had a fleeting illusion that perhaps taking care of him for the rest of her life wouldn't be so bad.

Jiang Yining adjusted her position to make him more comfortable, while she continued to look through the account book in her hand.

What she didn't see was the faint smile on Chu Sikong's lips as he leaned on her shoulder, and the hand that quietly gripped her sleeve.

Chu Sikong greedily inhaled the faint fragrance emanating from Jiang Yining's neck, the only salvation his soul, long mired in hell, could feel.

If Chu Sikong is a clingy cat during the day, then at night he is an all-pervasive fox.

As night fell, a fierce wind arose, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

"Knock knock knock".

There was a knock on the door.

Jiang Yining had just removed her hairpins and was about to rest when she heard this voice, and her heart skipped a beat.

Upon opening the door, they indeed saw Chu Sikong standing at the entrance, holding a pillow.

He was wearing only a thin undergarment, and his figure swayed precariously in the wind. His bare feet were red and frozen on the cold floor.

"elder sister……"

A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating his deathly pale face.

Chu Sikong shuddered, as if he had been greatly frightened, and tried to shrink into Jiang Yining's arms.

"It's thundering... I'm scared..."

His voice trembled violently, choked with sobs: "My older brother used to stay with me when it thundered... Now that he's gone, the room is so dark, it feels like there are ghostly figures moving around..."

A grown man afraid of thunder? And how could he see ghosts if he's blind?

"If you're scared, go find Old Zhao, or light some calming incense."

Jiang Yining hardened her heart: "Coming over in the middle of the night, what kind of behavior is this?"

"I'm not going inside..."

Chu Sikong's teeth chattered from the cold: "I'll just wait at the door for a while... It's closer to my sister here... I won't go in, really..."

He even offered to close the door for him.

Then came a rustling sound, as if someone was curled up on the threshold, holding something.

Jiang Yining stood inside the door, listening to the suppressed gasps outside and the howling of the night wind rustling through the treetops.

It's chilly tonight, the bluestone slabs outside are bone-chillingly cold.

If he were to be left out in the cold all night, he'd probably be ready for a funeral the next day.

Jiang Yining had no choice but to open the door again, preparing to be a little harsh and send him back.

Outside the door, Chu Sikong was barefoot and huddled on the steps.

"Do you want to die?" Jiang Yining's voice trembled with anger.

"elder sister……"

Chu Sikong reached out to grab her skirt, but then seemed to remember something and timidly withdrew his hand.

"Sorry for waking you... I'll be right back..."

He tried to stand up by bracing himself against the ground, but because his legs were numb, he fell awkwardly to the side.

Jiang Yining reacted quickly and grabbed him.

Everything you touch is icy cold, as if it had just been pulled out of an ice cellar.

"I also had nightmares."

"I dreamt... I dreamt that my older brother was covered in blood... I dreamt that those people came to capture my older sister..."

As he spoke, Chu Sikong's body trembled violently again, and tears slid down his cheeks, wetting the white silk ribbon beside his face.

"I'm scared... Sister, could you take me in? I won't take up much space, I can just sleep on the footstool..."

Jiang Yining looked at his bare feet, which were frozen purple, and ultimately didn't say the harsh words that were on the tip of her tongue.

"Come in." Jiang Yining turned to the side.

Chu Sikong felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He grabbed a pillow and crawled in, his smug little expression flashing briefly in the darkness.

"Go sleep on the soft couch."

Jiang Yining pulled the person to the soft couch and said sternly, "Don't cross the line."

"Okay, as long as I can be in the same room as my sister, I'm fine with sleeping on the floor."

Chu Sikong nodded obediently, hugged his pillow, and curled up on the soft couch, looking extremely pitiful.

Jiang Yining blew out the candle and lay back down on the bed.

The night was deep, and the rain pattered softly outside the window.

Jiang Yining tossed and turned, unable to sleep, feeling as if there was another person in the room, another breath.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but in her hazy state, she felt a section of the bed collapse.

A familiar chill approached.

"elder sister……"

A warm breath brushed against my ear, carrying a hint of tentative, cautious probing.

Jiang Yining woke up with a start and was about to get up when a cold hand reached into the blankets first and accurately grabbed her hand.

"What are you doing?!" Jiang Yining shouted in a low voice.

"It's cold and drafty over there..."

"Can I sleep on the footstool? It's warm here with the floor heating..."

"I swear, I will never climb into bed. If I do, my sister will break my legs."

Chu Sikong spoke confidently, showing no sign of panic at being caught: "Sister, I just want to hold your hand?"

He leaned closer, his nose almost touching Jiang Yining's, his breath carrying a faint minty scent.

"I want to be closer to my sister so I won't have nightmares."

"Sister, please..."

Chu Sikong pressed his face against the back of her hand and gently rubbed it.

Her voice had a thick nasal tone, as if she were pleading, "I'm so cold... Only my sister's place is warm."

In the darkness, his other hand also became restless.

With slightly calloused fingertips, she gently drew circles in Jiang Yining's sensitive palm.

One, two...

That tingling, itchy sensation traveled along the lines of my palm all the way to my heart.

Jiang Yining's body instantly froze.

"Chu Sikong, please don't..." Her voice trembled slightly, carrying a hint of softness that she herself didn't even realize.

"My sister's hands are so soft."

Chu Sikong did not stop; instead, he intensified his actions.

His fingertips slid down her palm to the inside of her wrist, gently pressing and caressing the pulsating pulse.

The feeling was dangerous, yet also alluring.

"Don't move."

He chuckled softly in the darkness, his voice low and hoarse, carrying an indescribable lust.

"My sister's heart is beating so fast."

"Are you afraid of me? Or... are you expecting something?"

Jiang Yining felt a rush of heat to her head, and her cheeks burned terribly.

She wanted to curse him, wanted to kick him, but her body felt as if it were under a spell, limp and powerless.