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

When Su Qing came out of the bookstore, she noticed that Jiang Ran's walking posture was a bit strange.

The little guy held onto her clothes with one hand, and kept the other hand behind his back, clutching the corner of the sketchbook, pressing the book against his back as if it were some precious treasure.

Several times as she walked, she secretly glanced at herself, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but she pursed them back, then looked down at her shoes, her ears slowly turning pink.

Su Qing caught a glimpse of her subtle movements out of the corner of her eye, but didn't expose her; she simply slowed her pace.

The system spoke in my mind: [Host, based on Jiang Ran's behavioral data analysis, her current body language exhibits a typical pattern of "nervous anticipation of giving a gift."]

[Her right fist was clenched with 30 percent more force than usual, indicating that she was gripping something tightly.]

[The respiratory rate is slightly increased, and the frequency with which the gaze switches between the host's face and the object in their hand is 2.7 times the normal level.]

[Based on her behavior of continuously observing you and sketching in the bookstore, it can be inferred that she wants to give you something.]

Su Qing silently nodded in her mind, then thought for a moment and added, "What is it depicting?"

[This is beyond my monitoring scope. I can only analyze data, not see through the sketchbook. However, based on her eye movement while drawing, she was looking at you 83% of the time.]

  

Su Qing didn't ask any more questions.

She stopped and turned around.

Jiang Ran was caught off guard by her sudden stop and nearly bumped into her. She staggered a step before regaining her balance, and then clenched her hands behind her back even tighter.

She looked up at Su Qing, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes, like a squirrel caught secretly hiding nuts.

"What are you holding in your hand?" Su Qing asked.

She had already guessed it, but she wanted the little guy to take it out himself.

Jiang Ran pursed her lips, and the pink color at the base of her ears quickly spread to her entire ears, even her neck was tinged with a faint blush.

She stood there awkwardly for a while, shuffling her toes on the ground twice, and then slowly, like a snail, handed over the sketchbook hidden behind her back.

Her hands were trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the tension of presenting her most precious possession to the person she cared about most—a mixture of anticipation and fear of rejection.

Su Qing took the sketchbook and opened it.

The first page is a picture.

It was drawn with colored pencils, the lines were very childish, and some parts were drawn with borders. The color scheme also had the unique imagination of a seven-year-old. The sky was pinkish-blue, the grass was light green, and the sun was in the upper left corner. It was a not-quite-round orange-red circle, and the rays of light were represented by yellow lines of varying lengths.

There are two people in the picture.

The older one stood on the right, with a ponytail, wearing a light gray hoodie, his brows slightly furrowed, and his left eyebrow slightly higher than his right.

The smaller one stood on the left, wearing a creamy white floral dress, holding a long-eared rabbit in one hand and holding the larger one's hand in the other.

Su Qing stared at the detail in the painting where her left eyebrow was slightly higher than her right, and remained silent for a moment.

Jiang Ran waited a few seconds without getting a response, then cautiously looked up and saw her sister staring intently at the drawing paper.

Her fingers twisted around the hem of her skirt, then loosened, her voice barely audible, "It's a drawing of my older sister. She's beautiful, but I didn't draw her well..."

Su Qing didn't look up, but pointed to the slightly raised left eyebrow in the drawing, her tone as if stating a scientific fact: "You drew this the most accurately. When I frown, my left eyebrow is indeed higher than my right."

Jiang Ran blinked, her eyelashes still glistening with a few drops of water that had seeped out from her nervousness, but the corners of her mouth were already turning up in a forced smile.

Su Qing closed the sketchbook and looked down at her: "A gift for me?"

Jiang Ran nodded vigorously, her bangs flying up.

"Okay," Su Qing said, tucking the sketchbook under his arm and using one hand to rub the top of her head.

"Your first painting, my first gift. I'll put it on the refrigerator so I can see it every day."

Feeling that it wasn't enough, Su Qing added, "You draw very well, you're very talented."

Jiang Ran's eyes lit up.

It wasn't a fleeting flash of light, but a slow, gentle glow, as if someone had lit a small lamp inside.

She nuzzled her face against Su Qing's arm without saying a word, but the hand gripping her clothes tightened even more.

Su Qing led her forward, thinking to herself that she would make a special place on the refrigerator door to put up pictures when they got back.

But after walking for a while, she looked down at Jiang Ran, then at the sketchbook in her hand, and suddenly felt that simply sticking the drawings on the refrigerator wasn't enough.

Since being discharged from the hospital, we've bought her a new dress, cut her hair, and she's been drawing. Her complexion is getting better every day, and she's even started talking more often than before.

Today is the first time she's given herself a gift, so it's definitely worth commemorating.

She looked up and saw a photo studio across the street.

The storefront is small, with several sample family photos displayed in the window, and a handwritten wooden sign hanging at the entrance that reads in chalk, "ID photos, family portraits, parent-child photos, instant photos available."

Su Qing led the little one across the street and pushed open the glass door of the photo studio.

The wind chimes on the door tinkled a few times. Inside was a small photography studio with a light gray background wall and a row of various styles of photo shoot outfits hanging next to it.

A young female photographer with her hair in a bun peeked out from behind the computer, adjusted her black-rimmed glasses, and smiled at them: "What are you shooting?"

"Let's take a picture together," Su Qing said, then glanced down at Jiang Ran, "to commemorate this moment."

The photographer glanced at them, his eyes scanning back and forth between Su Qing and Jiang Ran, then smiled and stood up to adjust the lights.

"You two sisters, right? You're so pretty. Little one, stand over here, and older sister, squat down a little... yes, squat down until you're about the same height as the little one."

Su Qing squatted down next to Jiang Ran, put one hand on the little girl's shoulder, and pulled her closer to her.

Jiang Ran stood next to her, holding Su Qing's arm. She looked up at her sister, then at the camera in front of her, her expression a little nervous, her lips tightly pursed.

Su Qing noticed her nervousness, turned her head, and whispered something that only the two of them could hear.

"I'll buy a frame for that painting you drew and hang it in my room when I get back."

Jiang Ran was stunned for a moment, then the corners of her mouth relaxed and curled up into a small smile.

Just then, the photographer pressed the shutter, and the flash went off, reflecting in Jiang Ran's eyes like two tiny stars.

"Great!" The photographer glanced down at the camera screen, his tone filled with unexpected delight. "This one's great, so natural! The child's smile is so beautiful, and so are you, sister. Wait a minute, the photos will be ready soon."

The printer hummed for a while and then produced two photos.

Su Qing paid, put one bill into her phone case, and handed the other to Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran took the photo, held it in both hands, and looked down at it very carefully.

In the photo, her older sister is squatting beside her, with one hand on her shoulder. Her expression is still indifferent and not very enthusiastic, but there is a small curve at the corner of her mouth, exactly the same as the older sister in the painting.

She stood to the side, holding her sister's arm, her eyes crinkling into two little crescent moons with laughter.

She had never laughed like that before, and she had never imagined that she could laugh like that.

She held the photo carefully in her palm, as if it were something that would break at the slightest touch.

Then she looked up at Su Qing, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something... thank you, or that she was so kind as a sister, or something else... but all the words got stuck in her throat, too full, too full to say.

In the end, she simply pressed the photo to her chest, lowered her head, and whispered something only she could hear.

Su Qing didn't hear her clearly and asked her what she said. She shook her head, put the photo in her pocket, and then reached out to take Su Qing's hand.

Su Qing took her hand and pushed open the door of the photo studio. The sunlight outside was just right, falling on their clasped hands.

The system emitted a soft notification sound in her mind. Just as she was about to speak, Su Qing preemptively said in her mind, "No need to report the data. I know she's very happy right now."

The system remained silent for a second.

[Okay, host. Just wanted to add—your heart rate is also very stable. That means you're happy right now.]

Su Qing didn't answer, and instead took Jiang Ran's hand and walked towards home.

I bought a box of strawberries at the fruit stand near the entrance of the residential area. The vendor said the strawberries had just arrived this morning and were especially sweet.

Su Qing paid and handed the strawberries to Jiang Ran to carry. The little girl held the strawberry box with both hands and walked very carefully, as if she were carrying something very important.

Looking at her like that, Su Qing thought of the photo that had just been taken in her phone case, and the corners of her mouth curled up a little more.

Today is indeed a day to remember.