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

Sun Yaqin sat down on the bench. A layer of water droplets had condensed on the inside of her milk tea cup. She wiped it with her finger and turned to look at Su Qing.

The evening breeze blew Su Qing's stray hairs onto her face. She raised her hand to tuck them behind her ear, her gaze still fixed on the two children on the climbing frame.

"By the way, is Xiao Ran in elementary school now?" Sun Yaqin asked casually, as if she were talking about the weather.

"I'm preparing for the entrance exam, next Wednesday." Su Qing's brows furrowed slightly as she mentioned this.

Sun Yaqin's eyes lit up for a moment, but she lowered her eyelids, took a sip of milk tea, and hid that glimmer of light behind her eyelashes.

When she looked up again, her tone was still just the right amount of warmth: "Actually, there's no need to go to so much trouble. I'm quite familiar with the principal of Sunshine Elementary School; Xiaoyu is in first grade there."

"Xiao Ran and Xiao Yu get along well, so we can go directly to their class and let Xiao Yu take care of her at school."

That's said so casually, like saying, "Let's go shopping tomorrow if the weather's nice."

Su Qing's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped the milk tea cup.

She knew about Sunshine Primary School.

The top three private elementary schools in the city are far superior to the ordinary public elementary school she originally planned to enroll Jiang Ran in.

Of course, she wanted Jiang Ran to get into a better school, but good schools have requirements: either you need a house in the school district, or you need strong connections, or your child needs to have gone through the same kindergarten series all the way up.

Su Qing asked the system in her mind, "Why would she go to such lengths to help?"

The system quickly responded: [Analysis of Sun Yaqin's past behavioral patterns shows that her level of affection for you is indeed high. However, no malicious intent was detected.]

[Her heart rate, micro-expressions, and voice data all fit the "purely benevolent" model.]

[Furthermore, her family's financial situation certainly makes "helping someone get into primary school" as simple as "making a phone call."]

Su Qing remained silent, drawing a meaningless watermark on the side of the milk tea cup with her finger.

She knew the answer the system had analyzed was probably correct, but being treated kindly for no reason was still too unfamiliar to her.

Looking at Su Qing's profile and her slightly furrowed brows, Sun Yaqin suddenly realized that her enthusiasm might have crossed an invisible line.

They had only known each other for less than half a month.

She switched the milk tea from her left hand to her right, softened her tone, and when she spoke again, her voice was not as cheerful as before, but rather carried the seriousness she usually showed when talking to her eldest son.

"Su Qing, don't overthink it. I'm not like this with everyone."

Sun Yaqin paused, organizing her thoughts, "I just feel a connection with you. Friends help each other out, don't you think?"

"And for me, this is really just a matter of making a phone call. One phone call can save you the trouble of running around to complete the procedures, which I think is worth it."

She said "It's worth it" in a very soft voice, as if she were muttering it to herself.

Su Qing turned her head to look at her.

Sun Yaqin was about the same height as her, and she sat on the bench looking at her with more tenderness in her eyes.

  

Su Qing placed the milk tea on her lap and turned to look in the direction of the climbing frame.

Cheng Xiaoyu had come down from the climbing frame at some point and was squatting by the sandpit, teaching Jiang Ran how to build sandcastles.

He held a handful of wet sand in his chubby hands, his mouth opening and closing as he said something. Jiang Ran squatted down next to him, her expression indifferent, but at least she didn't back away.

In fact, the moment Sun Yaqin saw Su Qing, she felt that this girl was completely different from what she had imagined.

She originally thought that a young woman who had just come of age and hadn't even entered society yet, taking care of a seven-year-old child, would be somewhat overwhelmed, perhaps exhausted, haggard, and unable to cope.

But the Su Qing she met was neatly dressed, with a calm and steady gaze. He held Jiang Ran's hand firmly, and even when he frowned and flipped through the elementary school math textbook, he had an air of determination to not give up until he had thoroughly mastered the book.

It's not the kind of superficial sophistication in clothing and appearance, but a kind of energy that comes from within.

Later, it was learned that Su Qing herself was an orphan, all alone, and that she had taken Jiang Ran, who was also all alone, home as soon as she came of age.

Sun Yaqin sat in the study for a long time that day. She remembered when she was eighteen years old, in college, skipping classes, watching TV series all night with her roommates, and being overwhelmed with final exams.

At that time, she felt that the hardest thing in life was what to do if she failed advanced mathematics.

But what 18-year-old Su Qing was thinking about was a seven-year-old child's school admission qualifications, psychological assessment, nutritional ratio, and elementary school math tutoring.

No one helped her, so she did it herself.

With no way out, she turned herself into a way out.

And then there's Jiang Ran. Sun Yaqin remembers that the document contained the injury assessment report for the child on the night she was rescued. She only read those words once and didn't dare to read them a second time.

But now, the little girl in the park, wearing a floral dress and with her hair in a bob, is quietly squatting by the sandpit, and occasionally the corners of her mouth will turn up slightly.

How long has it been? Less than a month.

Sun Yaqin asked herself, if it were her, she probably couldn't do it.

She carries everything on her shoulders, and she does it so steadily and beautifully.

How could she not feel sorry for a girl like that?

Su Qing remained silent for a while, her fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of the milk tea cup.

She turned her head to look at Sun Yaqin, and the light from the streetlamp fell directly on her face, revealing a little bit of what was usually well hidden in her eyes and not easily seen by others.

"Thank you, Sister Yaqin." Her voice was softer than usual, but every word was clear.

Sun Yaqin smiled.

This time, the fine lines around my eyes were more pronounced when I smiled, but for some reason, I actually looked better.

"Why are you being so polite with me?"

Although Sun Yaqin said this, what she really thought was not what she said. In the end, she still had a purpose in getting close to Su Qing.

At this moment, Jiang Ran squatted by the sandpit, holding a small twig she had picked up from somewhere, and drew a crooked heart in the sand.

After she finished drawing, she looked up at her older sister on the bench not far away. Her sister was talking to a woman named Sun Yaqin and didn't notice her.

"Little Ran, look at this!" Cheng Xiaoyu squatted down next to her, his two chubby hands digging a huge pit in the sandpit, and he poked several holes in the pit wall with his fingers, introducing it as the castle he built.

He spoke with great enthusiasm, going on about everything from how many floors the castle had to how many crocodiles were kept in the moat, his voice so loud that it could be heard from halfway across the park.

Jiang Ran glanced at him expressionlessly.

It's not that she doesn't know how to get along with people.

But Cheng Xiaoyu is different.

Every time Cheng Xiaoyu sees his older sister, his eyes light up as if he's seeing a limited edition strawberry milk, and he keeps calling her "pretty sister, pretty sister" as if his mouth is coated with honey.

Yesterday he told his sister, "When I grow up, I want to marry a pretty sister." He thought she was speaking very softly, but she actually heard every word clearly.

Therefore, her attitude towards Cheng Xiaoyu can be summarized in four words: they can be friends.

But she disliked it.

Specifically, she listens when Cheng Xiaoyu speaks, accepts snacks when Cheng Xiaoyu shares them, and cooperates when Cheng Xiaoyu teaches her how to play on the climbing frame.

But every time Cheng Xiaoyu tried to curry favor with Su Qing, Jiang Ran would quietly walk between the two of them, neither speaking nor making a fuss, just standing there quietly until Cheng Xiaoyu scratched the back of his head and took a half step back.

Her sister told her to get along well with Cheng Xiaoyu, and she listened to her sister, but that didn't stop her from disliking him.

My sister is my own; how can I let him like her?