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

Ruan Yang was frightened by her brother's gaze.

"N-nothing, it's just that I think he's quite interesting..."

Jiang Yanci frowned. "He's frivolous and rash, easily swayed by women, and glib. Stay away from him in the future."

Ruan Yang: ?

...Aren't we good friends?

*

The sun was shining brightly in Suzhou, and the sky was a clear, deep blue, dotted with a few thick white clouds.

The two went to Hanshan Temple and then took a rowboat.

She got to drink Su's mung bean soup, eat fermented rice noodles, and enjoy the sticky osmanthus chicken head rice sweet soup.

She ate very little, barely two or three bites.

The rest went into Jiang Yanci's stomach.

It was already dusk when I left the opera and teahouse.

Ruan Yang hummed the tune of "White Horse Treading on Green Mud" as she strolled leisurely along Pingjiang Road with Jiang Yanci on the bluestone path under the setting sun.

On the way back, a photographer asked them if they wanted to take pictures.

Ruan Yang nodded, "Okay."

Jiang Yanci doesn't like taking photos, but at this moment he and Ruan Yang are handcuffed together and inseparable.

Ruan Yang pleaded, "Brother, please take a picture!"

Jiang Yanci nodded.

The photographer assumed the two were a couple and instructed them to perform poses that are common for couples in photoshoots.

Ruan Yang didn't notice anything amiss and, following the photographer's instructions, leaned on Jiang Yanci's shoulder.

Jiang Yanci's body was tense.

That feeling of self-loathing rose again.

He knew it was wrong, but he enjoyed it nonetheless, offering no explanation to the photographer, letting him misunderstand, letting Ruan Yang be completely unguarded, and letting his own base desires sink freely.

It wasn't until the photographer said, "You two are such a perfect match! Handsome, you can kiss your girlfriend!"

These words, like thunderclaps during the Awakening of Insects, shattered Jiang Yanci's tranquility.

He said, "She is my sister."

The photographer was taken aback.

You're calling me "little sister" with that drool-worthy look in your eyes?

Fine, whoever pays is the boss.

The photographer took a few more pictures and showed them to Ruan Yang.

Ruan Yangxing's eyes widened.

The photos turned out better than she had expected.

The setting sun cast its rays on the Pingjiang River, turning the white walls and gray tiles behind it into a bright orange-red.

Especially the last one.

The photographer didn't capture the moment when the two of them looked at the camera together, but rather the instant she looked at the camera and Jiang Yanci looked at her.

The two of them acted just like a real couple.

Ruan Yang felt inexplicably hot.

She quickly shook her head to stop her wild thoughts.

……

On the flight back to Beijing, Ruan Yang sat in first class with Jiang Yanci, where they could connect to Wi-Fi.

Ruan Yang plans to open a Douyin account to teach children to dance.

She wanted to ask Jiang Yanci how to create an account.

Jiang Yanci was working, the glow of the computer screen reflecting on his face, with his frameless glasses perched on his nose.

Her gaze was drawn to it.

The older brother wearing glasses had a more aloof and intellectual air than usual. His eyes were long and narrow, with long eyelashes that hung down to the light on his eyelids, also reflecting the cold light of the screen.

Ruan Yang was somewhat stunned.

Jiang Yanci turned his head and glanced at her. "Are you cold?"

Oh no, I got caught peeping!

Ruan Yang quickly looked away, pretending to be busy, and started scrolling through Douyin (TikTok).

Jiang Yanci draped his coat over her shoulders and continued working.

As soon as Ruan Yang opened Douyin, she came across Qiao Lingling's video again.

The caption reads: "[I never expected that the boy I had a crush on in high school would be here with me watching the sunrise on this island.]"

Netizens: I'm totally shipping them!

A love story that went from school uniforms to wedding dresses!

So sweet! It makes me believe in love again!

[Hey, when are you going to post a picture of your boyfriend? Based on my experience, he'll definitely be handsome!]

[Who pursued whom? Was it your first love?]

Qiao Lingling replied to netizens: 【She was my deskmate and my first love~】

Netizens began sharing their own experiences of having crushes during their adolescence.

Ruan Yang's gaze was unfocused.

Her adolescence was uneventful, with no romantic moments or classmates.

She was brought back by the Ruan family in her first year of junior high school. The education in the countryside was not as good as that in Beijing and Hong Kong, and she struggled with her academic subjects, especially mathematics.

To please her parents, Ruan Yang studied until late every night, but she couldn't grasp the key points and consistently ranked last in her class in every exam.

In her third year of junior high school, after Ruan Yang was fostered by the Jiang family, Yao Jinzhi asked Jiang Zhuoneng to tutor her.

But Jiang Zhuo didn't have time to teach her.

He wants to play basketball, go on dates with the school beauty, and prepare for an English speaking competition.

He has always been very energetic.

At the end of the first semester of her third year of junior high school, Ruan Yang's grades were at the bottom, and her teacher called her parents in.

Yao Jinzhi was abroad at the time, and Jiang Yan resigned to attend the parents' meeting.

Ruan Yang was very uneasy.

At that time, she was afraid of Jiang Yanci. She thought he was very aloof and serious, unlike Jiang Zhuo who always smiled.

But after her brother saw her grades, he only said, "Come to my study every night for extra lessons."

Jiang Yanci had excellent grades and graduated from Tsinghua and Peking Universities.

Under his guidance, Ruan Yang's grades improved rapidly that summer.

When school started again, the girls in the class took the initiative to befriend Ruan Yang.

"Yangyang, can we add your brother on WeChat?"

Coincidentally, Ruan Yang wanted to save money to buy her older brother a gift in order to thank him.

With a clever idea, she sold Jiang Yanci's WeChat account for ten yuan per person.

But this money is still not enough.

Ruan Yang then thought of a new part-time job—delivering love letters.

The price is 20 yuan per letter.

All the girls in the school knew that Ruan Yang from Class 7 of the third year of junior high school could help deliver love letters.

Of the ten love letters, eight were written to the school bully.

The school bully was handsome and tall, but all he knew was fighting. A girl once gave him a love letter, but it was misunderstood as a provocation. The school bully told the girl not to leave after school, and from then on, no girl dared to confess to him.

But Ruan Yang dared!

She grew up in the countryside and is incredibly fast!

The school bully couldn't catch her at all!

Finally, on the day before her birthday, Ruan Yang had saved enough money.

After school, on her way to buy a gift for her brother, the school bully stopped her, followed by a group of his underlings.

Finished!

Ruan Yang lifted his foot to slip away.

The school bully's first words were: "I agree."

Ruan Yang looked bewildered. "What?"

The school bully's ears turned red. "Call me sister-in-law."

The henchmen behind her shouted in unison, "Sister-in-law!"

Ruan Yang was terrified and quickly explained, "...I...I don't like you."

The school bully frowned. "You don't like me, yet you send me love letters every day?"

Ruan Yang waved her hand, "It wasn't me! I was delivering it for someone else... Didn't you see the signature inside?"

The misunderstanding has been cleared up.

But the school bully held a grudge.

The next day, the school bully began to lead the bullying against Ruan Yang.

They put caterpillars in Ruan Yang's desk, which scared her so much that she cried.

The school bully, fearless and unruly, declared: "Be my girlfriend, and I'll protect you."

Ruan Yang did not agree.

She didn't dare tell her family, after all, making money by delivering love letters was really dishonorable.

Jiang Zhu saw Ruan Yang being bullied and beat up the school bully.

The school bully was beaten black and blue, but he was still not satisfied and vowed to get his brothers to beat him back.

Later, when the older brother heard about it, he also found the school bully.

Ruan Yang and Jiang Zhuo huddled together and watched from the side.

The older brother didn't take action or contact the school bully's parents. Instead, he gave the bully a basketball signed by an NBA star and advised him to study hard.

Jiang Zhuo muttered to himself, "See? Big Brother's appeasement policy won't work."

But the next day, the school bully transferred schools.

Before leaving, he made a special trip to apologize to Ruan Yang, which was very sincere.

...if you ignore the fear in his eyes.

From then on, Ruan Yang admired Jiang Yanci even more.

As the ancients said, "Turn swords into plowshares."

She didn't believe it at first, but her older brother did it.

He did not use force, but calmly persuaded and reformed the delinquent youth.

Gentle and smooth as jade, majestic and still as a deep pool.

How could a brother like that be a villain?

That's utter nonsense!

*

Ruan Yang yawned; she was a little sleepy.

Through the blurry vision, the flight attendants began serving meals.

Ruan Yang paused for a moment and realized that the flight attendant serving meals looked a lot like the school bully who had transferred schools back then.

The flight attendant also saw her.

Their eyes met, and the flight attendant slightly opened his eyes, seeing Ruan Yang and Jiang Yanci beside her.

Ruan Yang was surprised.

He really is a school bully!

But why... did he see such a terrified expression on his older brother's face?