Brother! This is the adoption certificate. I don't want your sister-in-law!

Those on the shore then noticed that there was still one person in the water who hadn't come up.

Where is that boy?

"Wasn't it just here a moment ago?"

"Was it washed away by the water?"

The cheers of the crowd suddenly turned into a chaotic cacophony.

The boy's mother stood on the riverbank, holding her son, soaking wet, her lips trembling as she looked into the river.

Su Wanning had already walked to a point where the water was above her knees.

The river water soaked through her trousers and shoes; the autumn river was bitterly cold, but she seemed completely oblivious.

Her lips were trembling, her eyes were fixed on the gray river surface, and she kept shouting a single word.

"Brother, brother, brother..."

The voices were squeezed out from deep in his throat, each one filled with extreme fear and dread.

She can't swim, but the water was already up to her waist.

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Little girl, don't go down!" but she didn't hear them.

Su Wan Ning looked at the surging river in confusion and walked in step by step.

At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind.

That means if her brother were gone, she wouldn't want to live either.

Just as she was about to take another step forward, a head suddenly appeared on the surface of the river.

Su Xiao emerged from the water, panting heavily, her hair plastered to her forehead, her face covered in water.

"Fuck you, I'm freezing!"

He wiped his face, and before he could figure out what was going on, he saw Su Wan Ning standing in the water, which was up to her waist, and her face was as white as a sheet of paper.

"You..." Before he could even speak, Su Wan Ning had already pounced on him.

It didn't walk, it pounced.

"elder brother!"

Su Wan Ning crashed into his arms, her arms tightly wrapped around his waist, so strong that she almost knocked him over.

Her body was trembling, shaking violently from her shoulders to her fingers.

Su Xiao was knocked back half a step by her and instinctively put her arm around her shoulder.

He felt her face buried against his chest, her wet hair clinging to his neck.

She was crying.

There was no sound, only his shoulders trembling, and tears mixed with the river water streaming down his chest.

"Why are you crying? It's okay, it's okay."

Su Xiao raised her hand and gently patted her back.

The people on the shore were silent for a moment when they saw this, and then burst into even louder applause and cheers.

Someone shouted, "They're up! They're up!" and someone else pointed their phone camera at them again, snapping photos.

Su Xiao half-embraced and half-carried Su Wan Ning ashore.

She never loosened her clothes from beginning to end, staggering as he dragged her along.

When she reached the shore, she was soaking wet, her hair was plastered to her face, and her lips were trembling from the cold.

The boy's mother had already placed the child on the stone bench and checked him over.

After confirming that the boy had only choked on a few mouthfuls of water and was frightened, she slapped him across the face.

The slap was crisp and loud. The little boy was stunned. The fear and grievances he had been holding back all the way finally found an outlet. He burst into tears, crying loudly and heart-wrenchingly.

His mother slapped him again, this time on his buttocks, yelling, "I told you not to come to the water's edge! I told you not to come to the water's edge!" As she yelled, she started crying herself.

At this moment, the boy's father also arrived.

A middle-aged man in an executive jacket, followed by someone who looked like a secretary.

He squatted down to check on the child, and after confirming that the child was alright, he stood up, turned to look at Su Xiao, his eyes sincere, and extended his hand.

"Young man, thank you for saving my child, I..."

Su Xiao waved her hand, her whole body still dripping wet.

He pointed to the little boy next to him who was wailing loudly: "It's okay, just let him lose some weight in the future. I almost couldn't hold him just now."

The man was stunned for a moment, probably not expecting that the first thing this high school student, who had just climbed out of the river and almost drowned, would say was this.

The boy's mother hugged her son while crying, glanced up at Su Xiao, and her lips twitched, as if she wanted to laugh or cry.

Su Wanning handed Su Xiao his coat and draped it over his shoulders.

Her face returned to its cold, expressionless state.

She didn't speak to anyone, turned around and left.

"I won't say any more. I'm going home now. You should take the child to the hospital to get checked out, so he doesn't catch a cold."

Before the man could say anything more, Su Xiao glanced at Su Wan Ning's back, nodded to him, wrapped her coat around herself, and quickly followed.

Neither of them spoke the rest of the way.

Su Wanning walked in front, and Su Xiao followed behind, with a distance of three steps between them.

He opened his mouth as if to say something, but looking at the straight back in front of him, he swallowed his words back.

He knew she was angry.

……

Back home, Su Wanning went straight to her room.

Without looking back, without stopping, he opened the door and slammed it shut.

That door kept him outside.

Su Xiao sighed as she stood in the living room.

He first took a towel to dry his hair, changed out of his wet clothes and threw them into the washing machine, then sat on the sofa looking at the closed door.

The clock in the living room ticked away, and the kitchen lights were off.

At this time of day, Su Wanning would usually be busy in the kitchen.

The sound of the spatula hitting the wok, the sizzling of oil hitting the pan, and her calling him to "come and serve the dishes."

There's nothing today.

Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa, looked up at the ceiling, and sighed inwardly.

The relationship that we finally managed to warm up is probably going to cool down again.

Just then, my phone vibrated.

He picked it up, and a QQ message pop-up appeared on the screen.

The profile picture is a sliced, refreshing little lemon, and the nickname is "Sour Little Lemon".

"Would you like to eat?"

Su Xiao jumped up from the sofa, her fingers typing so fast she almost pressed the wrong keys.

"I'm starving!"

A few seconds later, Su Wan Ning's door opened.

She had changed into dry loungewear and tied her hair back up. Her eyes were still a little red, but her expression had returned to its usual cold and aloof state.

She didn't look at him, but went straight into the kitchen, took out ingredients from the refrigerator, and turned on the range hood.

The sound of spatulas hitting the pan filled the entire living room, along with the sizzling of oil hitting the pan.

Su Xiao leaned back on the sofa, listening to the clanging and clattering sounds coming from the kitchen, and the weight that had been hanging over her heart finally lifted.

A true man is one who can bend and stretch.

He stood up and walked to the kitchen doorway. Su Wan Ning was stirring the food with a spatula, her back to him.

"Um... do you need any help?"

"Get out of here."

Su Xiao quickly moved half a step to the side.

The spatula continued to stir-fry, and the vegetables in the iron wok sizzled and steamed, filling the entire kitchen with their aroma.

The dinner table was quiet.

Su Wanning prepared two dishes and a soup: stir-fried green peppers with pork, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a bowl of seaweed soup.

The dishes were all Su Xiao's favorites, but she didn't say a word from the moment she sat down until she picked up her chopsticks.

Su Xiao picked up a piece of stir-fried green peppers and pork and stuffed it into her mouth. After chewing a couple of times, she quickly seized the opportunity to break the silence: "This stir-fried green peppers and pork is amazing! It's a million times better than the cafeteria's. In the cafeteria, the green peppers and pork are just separate things, each separate. But this is something we've always kept in check."

Su Wan Ning didn't even lift her eyelids, and gently stirred the rice in the bowl with her chopsticks.

Su Xiao praised the seaweed soup for being cooked perfectly, the rice for being soft or firm, and even the patterns on the chopsticks.

Su Wanning remained silent, quietly finished her rice, placed her chopsticks across the bowl, picked up the bowl, stood up, and went into the kitchen.

The tap ran for a while, then she came out of the kitchen, passed through the living room, and went straight to her room.

The door closed again.

Su Xiao sat alone at the dining table, looking at the tightly closed door, and put down her chopsticks.

He thought going out to eat was a way to ease the tension, but now it seems they might just be afraid he'd starve.

Su Xiao sighed inwardly. Just then, her phone vibrated again.

He picked it up, and a QQ message popped up on the screen from Sour Little Lemon.

"You don't need to try to comfort me, I'm fine. I admit my attitude was wrong today, but I just wanted you to stop taking risks and take good care of yourself from now on. When I get angry, it's usually because I'm anxious. I won't lose my temper anymore, but I also hope you can stay safe and sound."

Su Xiao stared at the message several times.

He recognized every single word, but seeing them strung together and sent from Su Wan Ning's QQ was as unbelievable as seeing penguins strolling in the desert.

He could imagine how long she had been typing in the room.

He typed and deleted, deleted and typed again. After sending it, he threw his phone under his pillow, buried his face in the blanket, and his ears were so red they could have cooked an egg.

He leaned back on the sofa, hovered his finger over the screen for a few seconds, and then typed a reply.

Brother Su, the Socialite: "I know, it's my fault. I shouldn't have worried you. By the way, the stir-fried green peppers with pork was really delicious!"

A long time passed, and just when he thought she would never reply again...

His phone suddenly vibrated again. He immediately opened it and smiled.

The sour little lemon: "Oh."