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

Su Qing stared at the ceiling for about ten seconds.

Then she sat up straight and glanced again at the little one curled up on the bed with a furrowed brow.

Jiang Ran's fingers were still gripping the corner of the blanket, her thin knuckles white from the excessive force.

Her breathing quickened again, her small chest heaving rapidly, as if she were being chased by something in a dream.

A thin layer of sweat seeped from his forehead, sticking a few stray hairs to his skin.

Su Qing watched for a while, then put her crossed legs down and sighed resignedly.

"Alright."

She mentally rummaged through her meager collection of songs.

Rock music is definitely out of the question, folk music is too depressing, and pop songs are either lovey-dovey or melodramatic, so they're not even suitable for a seven-year-old.

After thinking it over, she remembered a song she had heard when she was working before. The melody was simple, the lyrics were short, and most importantly, the owner of the record store had played it for several days. It was hard for her not to remember it clearly.

  

Su Qing cleared her throat.

The system issues timely alerts: ["The host is preparing to attempt a lullaby intervention. A sound wave monitoring model is being established to track the target's physiological data in real time."]

"Can you please stop making this sound like a scientific experiment?"

[No. This is my core functionality.]

Su Qing was too lazy to argue with it.

She took a deep breath, her lips moved, and the first line came out without warning.

"The dark sky hangs low..."

The voice was very soft, as if afraid of startling something.

Su Qing's voice was nicer than she had imagined, though it was also possible that the system had adjusted some parameters while modifying her body.

The raspy voice that used to be is gone. Now the voice is lower and softer, and when singing slow songs, it has a smooth texture like wood that has been sanded.

"Followed by countless bright stars..."

Her pitch wasn't particularly accurate, but it was steady, and she pronounced each word clearly, as if she were reciting a very serious poem.

"The insects fly... the insects fly... who are you thinking of..."

On the bed, Jiang Ran's rapid breathing slowed down.

The system calmly broadcast in Su Qing's mind: ["The target's breathing rate has begun to decrease, from 28 breaths per minute to 24 breaths per minute.]"

[Heart rate dropped from 112 beats per minute to 98 beats per minute.]

[Cortisol level monitoring indicates that the stress response is decreasing.]

[The intervention has shown initial positive effects.]

Su Qing ignored it and continued singing.

"The stars in the sky are weeping... The roses on the ground are withering..."

She lowered her voice even further, drawing out the last syllable slightly, with a touch of nonchalant gentleness, as if she weren't singing a lullaby, but rather slowly recounting something from long ago to someone.

"The cold wind blows... the cold wind blows... as long as you're with me..."

Jiang Ran loosened one of her fingers gripping the corner of the blanket, then loosened the other.

Although her brows were still furrowed, they were no longer the tense, defensive kind, but rather as if she were thinking about something very seriously.

Her breathing gradually became even and long, and her curled-up body unconsciously stretched out a little.

[The target's REM sleep percentage decreased by 8%, indicating they are entering a light sleep stage.]

[Increased alpha brain waves and the appearance of theta brain waves indicate that deep sleep is imminent.]

The system's tone remained businesslike, but then it paused, [Host, frankly, this result exceeded my predictive model.]

[Your singing only scores 31 points technically, but its emotional delivery is extremely efficient, which defies conventional acoustic principles.]

Su Qing rolled her eyes inwardly.

Can't you just listen to me sing quietly?

She didn't say those words aloud because she was singing the last verse.

"The insects fly... the insects fly... who are you thinking of..."

The last note fell into the air and slowly dissipated.

The ward fell silent, with only the faint beeping of the monitor on the bedside table remaining.

The screen displayed a steady heart rate reading, with green waveforms rising and falling rhythmically, like some kind of silent beat.

After repeating this several times, Jiang Ran fell asleep.

I finally fell asleep peacefully and completely.

Her breathing was light and even, and the tense expression on her face finally relaxed, revealing the soft sleeping face that a seven-year-old child should have.

There were still some tear stains at the corners of her eyes, but her brows had completely relaxed.

Su Qing leaned back in her chair, let out a long breath, and rubbed the back of her neck.

Then a faint sound came from the doorway.

She turned her head to look over there.

The ward door wasn't closed properly, leaving a gap about two fingers wide.

Several pairs of bright eyes squeezed through the gap.

Three nurses were squeezed in the doorway, the one in front clinging to the door frame, while the two behind her peeked out from over her shoulders on tiptoe.

They were carrying medicine trays and notebooks, clearly drawn there by the sound during their rounds.

The three men's eyes gleamed with a suspicious light, as if they had witnessed something extraordinary.

Su Qing made eye contact with them for a second.

Her face flushed red instantly.

The redness spread from her neck all the way to the tips of her ears, so fast that the system issued an alarm.

[Host, your facial skin temperature rose by 2.3 degrees Celsius within three seconds, and the degree of capillary dilation is significant—]

"Shut up!!!"

Su Qing turned around abruptly, facing the doorway, pretending that she was carefully tucking Jiang Ran in.

Her movements were unusually focused; she was so focused that she lifted the blanket that was covering her properly and then covered her back up, repeating this three times.

Whispers of suppressed laughter drifted from the doorway, followed by the sound of light footsteps fading into the distance.

The ward fell silent again.

Su Qing maintained the position of tucking the blanket in, her ear tips still red.

Jiang Ran rolled over in bed and bury her face in the pillow, still half asleep.

Her lips moved slightly, uttering a very soft, dreamlike sound, indistinct and unclear.

Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then looked down at her.

Jiang Ran remained silent, her breathing steady and long.

The system calmly concludes: [Deep sleep has been achieved. Brainwave data shows the target is currently in stage three slow-wave sleep.]

[Also, host, there were four nurses watching in the corridor just now, you only saw three, the other one is hiding behind the door—should I tell you this fact?]

Su Qing buried her face in her hands.