My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

"Boss, shall we be going now?" The shop assistant took off her apron, slung a bag over her shoulder, and waved to her from the doorway.

Su Qing leaned halfway out from behind the control panel, holding a rag in her hand, and nodded to her: "Be careful on the road."

The wind chimes on the door tinkled a few times, and the shop quieted down again. Su Qing draped a rag over the sink, wiped her hands, and sat down in the chair opposite Sun Yaqin.

The two people were separated by a small round table, on which a dish of tiramisu still emitted the slightly bitter aroma of cocoa powder.

Sun Yaqin looked at her; her eyes were still a little red, but the curve of her lips didn't look like she was really angry.

Su Qing felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, so she reached out and pushed the plate of tiramisu towards her again: "Sister Yaqin, try it and see if it's gotten any worse than before."

Sun Yaqin looked down at the plate of pastries that had been pushed in front of her, then looked up at the face opposite her that was exactly the same as she remembered.

She didn't say anything to question them, but simply picked up the spoon next to her, gently scooped out a piece, and put it in her mouth.

The slight bitterness of the cocoa powder melted on her tongue, followed by the richness of the cream cheese and the softness of the coffee-soaked ladyfingers, layer upon layer. She chewed and swallowed, put down the spoon, and chuckled softly, "Same as before, but it seems even better than before."

Upon hearing this, Su Qing's face lit up with a hint of smugness, her eyes sparkling: "Really? I'm not that stupid, am I? Teacher Feng Tang has taught me a lot these past few days, and I just modified it accordingly, and it really works."

After he said that, the two of them suddenly fell silent.

Sun Yaqin held the water glass, her thumb rubbing back and forth along the rim.

She had so many questions to ask... She had clearly witnessed the coffin being lowered into the ground three years ago, so how could this person be sitting right across from her now, holding her favorite tiramisu?

Why didn't she come back sooner? Why did she have to wait three years? Why didn't she contact them?

But all the questions swirled in her throat before she finally swallowed them back.

Never mind, no matter what happened, the person is back and doing well, that's better than anything.

Su Qing understood everything when she saw her hesitant expression.

She knew what Yaqin wanted to ask, and she also knew why she didn't ask.

She gently placed her hand on the back of Sun Yaqin's hand that was resting on the table, said nothing, and simply squeezed it slightly.

Sun Yaqin took her hand in her palm and gently rubbed her thumb against the back of her hand twice: "How have you been these past few years?"

"Everything's fine," Su Qing nodded. "And Sister Yaqin?"

"It's all good," Sun Yaqin put her hand back on the table, picked up her water glass and took a sip, "It's just that Xiao Ran, she..." She paused when she said those two words, looked up at Su Qing's reaction, and seeing that she didn't respond, she understood that Xiao Ran definitely didn't show it, so she continued, "You know, she's had a very hard time these past three years. I took her to see a psychologist, and the doctor said... she has some psychological problems."

Su Qing froze.

She looked into Sun Yaqin's eyes, and the face that had just been chatting with her now held no trace of a joke. Her voice softened, as if afraid of startling something: "Xiao Ran has psychological problems? She's never mentioned it to me... I haven't noticed it at all."

Sun Yaqin said she knew that Xiao Ran must have known that Xiao Qing was back long ago, and she understood why Xiao Ran hadn't told her.

She didn't mean to blame her; she simply spoke in a calm tone, slowly recounting what she knew about Xiao Ran... She said that Xiao Ran changed completely after losing her sister. The child who appeared as cold as ice in front of others was actually trapped in her own obsession. She missed someone so much that she was unwilling to let anyone else get close.

She had been consulting with a psychologist on Xiao Ran's behalf. The doctor diagnosed her with psychogenic emotional detachment with paranoid attachment. Simply put, it's an unstable emotional state that arises from missing someone too much.

Su Qing listened intently, her lips moving several times before she managed to squeeze out a very soft voice: "That person... is me..."

The system whispered in her mind: [From a clinical psychology perspective, the symptoms described by Sun Yaqin are classified in psychiatry as dissociative attachment disorder, accompanied by emotional expression disorders and deep defensive avoidance. Specifically, it manifests as locking all attachment needs onto a single object. When that object is permanently lost, the patient's emotional system is unable to properly transfer or rebuild attachment connections, resulting in symptoms such as emotional numbness, social isolation, insomnia, and mild self-destructive tendencies.]

[Jiang Ran's case is a variant of post-traumatic stress disorder, with the core cause being her death three years prior.]

Witnessing her host's death on that stormy day dealt an irreversible blow to her psychological defenses, causing a severe imbalance in her emotional dependence system.

[Simply put—she can no longer bear the thought of 'losing you,' so her psychological defense mechanism places 'keeping you' at the top of all her needs.]

[However, according to the system's recent continuous monitoring, with the host's return, Jiang Ran's various indicators have shown significant improvement. As long as the host continues to exist in her life, her mental state will not deteriorate further; on the contrary, it will gradually recover in a stable environment.]

Su Qing was stunned for a long time, then slowly lowered her head and looked at her fingers on the table.

She kept replaying those words in her mind, each sentence feeling like a gentle cut to her heart.

It turns out that those behaviors she thought were just Xiao Ran growing up and becoming more domineering actually concealed something else entirely.

She remembered the almost greedy strength with which Xiao Ran held her in her arms, the fleeting nervousness in her eyes before each kiss, and the tone in her voice, light as a feather yet heavy as a thousand pounds, when she asked if she could never leave.

She used to think that Xiao Ran was just too clingy, but now she understands that the child was repeatedly confirming that she was still there.

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Anyway, even if you ask her to leave Xiao Ran now, she's unlikely to leave again.

I'll do anything as long as Xiao Ran can be cured.

Looking at the expression on her face, Sun Yaqin reached out and gently patted the back of her hand: "Don't worry too much. Now that you're back, she'll get better. The doctor said that her condition is tied to that person's existence. As long as that person is still here, she'll be fine."

Su Qing nodded, rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, and took a deep breath: "Yes, I know, I won't leave her alone again."

Looking at the earnest face in front of her, Sun Yaqin suddenly felt as if the little girl who was struggling with elementary school math problems in the bookstore was just yesterday, yet it also felt like a very long time ago.

Not wanting the atmosphere to remain so heavy, she picked up her water glass, took a sip, and changed her tone: "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this anymore. By the way, I have to tell you, that brat Cheng Xiaoyu has been causing trouble again lately..."

Upon hearing the name "Cheng Xiaoyu," Su Qing's worries, which had been weighing on her mind, were temporarily put aside.

She couldn't help but smile as she looked at Sun Yaqin's expression, which automatically switched to headache mode whenever her youngest son was mentioned.

Sun Yaqin recounted the embarrassing story of how Cheng Xiaoyu pursued a girl named Xiaomei but failed repeatedly, making a series of frantic phone calls for help every day. By the end, she was so angry that she laughed.

Then she suddenly stopped, looked at Su Qing, and her eyes lit up... The light wasn't one of joy or emotion, but a cunning glint that Su Qing was very familiar with, the kind that would appear whenever Su Qing thought of a bad idea.

"Xiaoqing, can you do me a favor?"

Seeing her expression, Su Qing nodded, though she didn't know what she was going to say.

Sun Yaqin leaned closer and whispered a long string of words in her ear.

As Su Qing listened, her expression slowly changed from confusion to shock, and finally she looked at Sun Yaqin's mischievous smile with a complex gaze that was hard to describe as either sympathy or helplessness.

"Sister Yaqin, is this really okay...?"

Sun Yaqin leaned back, crossed her arms over her chest, and couldn't suppress the smile on her lips.

She reached out and gently patted Su Qing's shoulder, her tone firm and composed: "Don't worry, this is the best arrangement."