The younger sister pretends to be hypnotized, and her older brother gets addicted.

Ruan Yang leaned against the wall and continued scrolling through Douyin (TikTok).

She's easily moved to tears; after watching a video of a stray kitten, tears streamed down her face.

Perhaps because she streamed Qiao Lingling's video, Ruan Yang came across her and Jiang Zhuo's couple vlog again.

This time they went to make glass wind chimes and also went to see the sunset over the sea.

Ruan Yang remembered—

These are travel guides for Tahiti that she once sent to Jiang Zhuo.

*

Jiang Yanci walked out of the bathroom and saw Ruan Yang sitting on a stool, nodding off in sleepiness.

Just as her head was about to hit the wall, Jiang Yanci reached out and blocked it.

The lights cascaded down, casting Jiang Yanci's shadow across Ruan Yang's face, revealing tears glistening on her eyelashes.

He frowned.

My gaze fell upon her phone, where a video was playing.

It's a vlog filmed by Jiang Zhuo and Qiao Lingling.

Jiang Yanci bent down, put one arm around Ruan Yang's waist, and slipped the other arm under her knees, carrying her to the bed in the bedroom.

Looking at the tears on her eyelashes, Jiang Yanci reached out and wiped them away.

He left the bedroom and called his mother and Jiang Zhuo's friends, asking them to stop supporting Jiang Zhuo.

Yao Jinzhi felt a little reluctant.

"Yan Ci, Xiao Zhuo is used to spending money extravagantly, I'm worried..."

Jiang Yanci said coldly, "Mom, I'm not discussing this with you."

*

The next day, Ruan Yang woke up.

Seeing the unfamiliar ceiling of the hotel, it took me a while to realize that this was not the Jiang residence, but a hotel in Suzhou.

"elder brother!"

The first thing she did upon waking up was to look for Jiang Yanci.

There were no signs of anyone sleeping on the sofa in the living room, and she realized that Jiang Yanci had not slept there last night.

Her heart suddenly jumped into her throat.

Thinking of Song Lejiao's "prophecy," Ruan Yang dared not gamble.

She quickly took out her phone and saw it charging on the bedside table.

Just then, a sound came from the doorway.

Ruan Yang walked over in her slippers and saw Jiang Yanci returning with breakfast.

She rushed over, crying, "Brother, where have you been!"

Jiang Yanci paused, carrying breakfast in both hands.

Knowing that Ruan Yang couldn't get up, he packed breakfast from the hotel, all of which were Suzhou specialties.

Ruan Yang, however, could not be happy.

She hugged Jiang Yanci, looked up at him, and said, "Brother, you can't do anything alone today. I have to be with you no matter what you do, understand?"

My sister's body is so flexible.

Jiang Yanci stiffened slightly and withdrew his arm. "Let's eat first."

He just gave her a perfunctory answer.

Ruan Yang frowned, looking very conflicted.

Should we tell my brother that he got injured during his business trip to Suzhou?

She asked Doubao seriously, "Doubao, Doubao, how can we stop someone from running around?"

Doubao: "Haha, you've come to the right person! You can buy a dog leash and collar, and he won't be able to run away. Do you need me to recommend one?"

A dog leash?

Ruan Yang thought about that scene—

Was she holding a rope in her hand, with a collar around her brother's neck?

Is that correct?

She shook her head violently.

Ruan Yang was quick-witted and soon came up with an alternative.

She called the front desk and ran to the door to wait.

The doorbell rang, and she quickly opened the door, then mysteriously ran back to the bedroom.

Jiang Yanci had no idea what Ruan Yang was busy with; he only watched his younger sister flying around in front of him.

The air was filled with the scent of gardenias emanating from her.

He grabbed her wrist. "Sit down."

"Clatter—"

He felt a chill on his wrist.

Looking down, I saw that a pink handcuff had appeared on his wrist at some point, and it was locked tightly around his wrist.

The other handcuff was on Ruan Yang's wrist.

Ruan Yang smiled and shook her wrist, "That way I won't have to worry about my brother running around."

Jiang Yanci's eyes narrowed slightly. "Where did this come from?"

"Bought it from the front desk!"

Jiang Yanci had a terrible headache.

The pink handcuffs were engraved with delicate patterns.

It's clearly prepared for customers with special fetishes.

Yesterday, the hotel mistakenly delivered a couple's meal to the wrong couple. They already knew they were siblings, yet Ruan Yang still bought this kind of thing. What if the hotel staff don't keep quiet and word gets out?

Jiang Yanci asked seriously, "Where are the keys?"

"Here it is." Ruan Yang grinned and took out a small key.

Jiang Yanci reached out to take it.

But Ruan Yang threw it into the toilet and flushed it away.

"Brother, you're in danger today, so you can't leave my side, understand?"

"Ruan Yang!" Jiang Yanci said in a deep voice.

"Waaah, my brother yelled at me!"

Ruan Yang wiped away her tears and pretended to cry, just like when she was a child, all talk and no action.

Jiang Yanci lost his temper.

He asked, "What do I do when I need to use the restroom?"

Ruan Yang: "...Holding it in?"

Jiang Yanci pressed his temples and said, "Never mind."

These handcuffs weren't originally intended for handcuffing people; they don't look very secure, and they break easily with the slightest force.

Jiang Yanci stopped dwelling on the handcuffs. "Let's go. We don't have work today. I'll take you to the old town."

Ruan Yang's eyes suddenly lit up, like a puppy's.

"I'd like to try the mung bean soup here. I heard it has mint in it, which is different from the one in Beijing and Hong Kong."

"it is good."

"I also want to go to Hanshan Temple—Hanshan Temple outside Suzhou, where the midnight bell tolls to the passenger boat!"

"it is good."

"I still want to listen to Pingtan (a type of storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect)."

Ruan Yang, afraid her elder brother wouldn't know, began to sing in a soft voice, "Green bricks and painted tiles, white horses treading on new mud~"

As a native of Beijing and Hong Kong, Ruan Yang's Wu dialect is not very standard.

But her voice was sweet and clear, and when she smiled, there were shallow dimples on her lips. Her face, like a peeled lychee, was framed by eyebrows and eyes that resembled distant green mountains, making her look graceful and radiant.

Jiang Yan smiled and said, "Okay."

"..."

When the two went out, Jiang Yanci wrapped Ruan Yang up like a rice dumpling because the handcuffs on their wrists were too bizarre.

Inside the elevator, Ruan Yang protested, "I'm hot!"

Jiang Yanci pulled her hat brim down, "Protest denied!"

Ruan Yang: "..."

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened.

Huo Shen walked in.

Huo Shen noticed the two people standing side by side, flashing a bright white smile. "Yan Ci, aren't you going to introduce this person?"

Jiang Yanci hid his younger sister behind his back and said, "I'll introduce her next time."

Huo Shen became even more curious.

If he wasn't mistaken, the hat on the little girl's head belonged to Jiang Yanci.

A person with a notoriously fastidious nature would lend their hat to someone else.

The relationship between these two must be extraordinary!

Huo Shen grinned and said to Ruan Yang, "I am Huo Shen, Jiang Yanci's childhood friend."

Ruan Yang: Who?

She looked up in surprise and, through the gaps in the hat brim, mask, and black-rimmed glasses, saw a familiar face.

Isn't this Nian Nian's older brother, Huo Shen?

He was actually my brother's friend!

Ruan Yang poked her head out, about to greet him, when Jiang Yanci blocked her way, his tone turning serious as he said to Huo Shen, "I told you, I'll introduce you next time."

Huo Shen teased, "So precious? Then why did you share a room with me last night?"

Upon hearing this, Ruan Yang looked at Jiang Yanci with a resentful gaze.

Jiang Yanci had a headache.

He looked at Huo Shen, "Stop talking."

Huo Shen assumed he was just shy.

It's rare to see a cycad bloom.

If he wasn't afraid of Jiang Yanci getting angry, he really wanted to take a picture and post it on his WeChat Moments.

Huo Shen asked, "Are you planning to go to the old town?"

"Um."

"What a pity, I also wanted to see the bridges and streams of Jiangnan." Huo Shen said regretfully, but the corners of his lips couldn't be suppressed. "I still have to go back to Beijing and Hong Kong to see my little rose."

Little Rose?

Ruan Yang thought for a moment and realized that she was probably referring to Qiao Wei.

Her WeChat name is Little Rose.

If Huo Shen is Qiao Wei's official love interest, then he's practically part of the main cast.

Thinking of this, Ruan Yang, like a cat with its fur standing on end, silently withdrew her head and distanced herself from him.

—This person is her nemesis!

The elevator arrived at the first floor.

Huo Shen waved goodbye to Jiang Yanci.

After everyone had walked away, Ruan Yang asked softly, "Brother, are you and Huo Shen on good terms?"

Jiang Yanci glanced at her, a sharp glint in his narrow eyes that even he himself didn't realize flashed. "Why are you asking this?"