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

After strolling around for a while longer.

Not far away, the music of the parade floats came from the distant square, with rapid drumbeats and deafening trumpets.

Su Qing was discussing with the two kids whether to go to the haunted house or the bumper cars for their next activity. Cheng Xiaoyu raised his hands and feet in favor of the haunted house, saying that he didn't close his eyes the whole time he went there last time.

Jiang Ran, holding the lop-eared rabbit, whispered, "But last time at school you were so scared by the toy spider that you jumped onto the podium." Cheng Xiaoyu's face instantly turned tomato red.

Before Su Qing could even laugh out loud, the crowd surged in from all directions like a floodgate opening.

Not far away, a float was as tall as a two-story building, with a giant dragon made of fresh flowers coiled on its front, spewing colorful bubbles from its mouth. Behind it were several smaller floats, with actors dressed as fairies standing on them throwing candy to the crowd.

Tourists, holding up their phones, swarmed forward. Su Qing only had time to grab Jiang Ran and Cheng Xiaoyu with each hand before being pushed several meters to the side by the crowd.

When she regained her footing and turned around, there was already a wall of people behind her, and Cheng Xuyan was nowhere to be seen.

The system's voice rang in her mind, speaking a beat faster than usual: [Host, Program Yan is trapped in the core area of ​​the crowd on the left side of the parade route.]

His heart rate is rising rapidly, currently at 136 and still climbing.

[Stress hormone levels have exceeded safe thresholds, and neural circuits related to childhood trauma are being activated; immediate intervention is recommended.]

Upon hearing this, Su Qing knew the situation was somewhat urgent. She settled the two little ones under the tree, told them not to move, and then turned and plunged into the crowd.

The program was squatting on the ground at that moment.

His hat was knocked off during the shoving, and his mask was still hanging there, but it was pointless now, as there were people all around him.

On his left were several girls holding cotton candy, and on his right was a mother holding her child. There were people all around him, and their voices, laughter, and the sound of clothes rubbing together flooded his ears like a tide.

The face of the woman he didn't want to remember resurfaced from the depths of his memory.

  

She was laughing, a smile that revealed her gums. The cool touch of her fingers slid from the top of her head to the back of her neck. The sound of the key turning in the lock grew louder and closer.

His stomach churned violently, his fingers gripped the edge of his mask, his nails dug into his palms, his vision began to blur, and his breathing became shallow and rapid, like a drowning person struggling desperately underwater but unable to reach the air.

Su Qing squeezed through the gaps between people, saying "Excuse me, excuse me," and made her way to the center. She saw Cheng Xuyan squatting next to a lamppost, his hat off, his hair disheveled and stuck to his forehead, his whole body curled up in a ball, his fingertips trembling.

She bent down and grabbed his wrist: "You can't do this."

The program stared blankly up at her.

Sunlight shone from behind her, turning her loose, stray hairs into a fuzzy, golden edge.

Her fingers were exquisite, with distinct knuckles and clean lines. Her nails were neatly manicured and unpainted, and her grip on his wrist was firm and steady.

He only felt the churning in his stomach subside when that hand gripped his wrist, the white fog at the edge of his vision began to dissipate, and the doors in his mind that couldn't be closed stopped one by one.

He tilted his head back, his usually indifferent eyes reflecting her face. She had a slight frown, a faint smile playing on her lips, but her eyes held no disdain, only a… something he found strange, like the way Jiang Ren looked at him—the way she looked at a brother?

He was practically pulled out of the crowd by Su Qing.

Su Qing's steps were quick and steady. With one hand she grabbed his wrist and with the other she pushed aside the people blocking her way, squeezing through the crowd sideways.

Her ponytail was blown about by the wind, and the ends of her hair brushed against his arm, carrying a faint, fresh fragrance.

He looked down at the wrist she was holding; her fingers were wrapped around his wrist bone, and her thumb and forefinger were pressing against his pulse.

But his heart was beating so fast that she could definitely feel it.

Su Qing didn't turn around, but mentally complained to the system: "This kid is too weak, he can't even handle this many people."

The system paused for a moment, then calmly replied: [Judging from his physical fitness data and mental resilience indicators, he is indeed very weak.]

After squeezing out of the crowd, Su Qing let go of his hand and walked towards the two little ones by the flower bed.

Jiang Ran jumped down from the edge of the flower bed, picked up the lop-eared rabbit, and ran a few steps to meet her.

Su Qing bent down to straighten Cheng Xiaoyu's bangs that had been blown by the wind, then glanced at Cheng Xiaoyu, who was sitting on the flower bed swinging his legs, and only turned away after confirming that neither of them was hurt.

The program stood still, looking down at his wrist.

Her fingers had already left, but the warmth seemed to linger on her wrist.

He raised his other hand and lightly touched the skin where she had just held his hand.

My heart rate still hasn't returned to normal.

Cheng Xiaoyu jumped down from the flower bed and strode over to Cheng Xuyan with his short legs.

He tilted his round head back, squinted his eyes, and grinned with an extremely irritating smile.

The "hehehe" expression on his face was exactly the same as when he wanted to cause trouble for his brother at home.

"Brother, if you really can't handle it, then don't come. You need Sister Su to come and save you."

Cheng Xiaoyu had somehow appeared in front of him, arms crossed, head tilted to the side, a disdainful and gloating smile on his face, deliberately drawing out the last syllable, "Ew~".

Cheng Xuyan pushed his hat brim up half an inch, revealing a pair of expressionless eyes. He shifted his gaze from his still slightly burning wrist to his younger brother's chubby, cheeky face, which he found rather annoying.

He was silent for a few seconds, then a very faint smile appeared on his lips, a danger signal that only someone like Cheng Xiaoyu, who spent every day with him, could recognize.

It was too late for Cheng Xiaoyu to run away.

Cheng Xuyan reached out and pinched Cheng Xiaoyu's cheek, precisely controlling the force to make the chubby boy howl but not to the point of actually crying from pain.

"It's alright, I'll thank Su Qing properly." He said this in a calm tone, but his fingers, which were pinching Cheng Xiaoyu's cheek, didn't loosen their grip at all.

"Ouch! Ouch! Sister Su, help me!" Cheng Xiaoyu covered his face and broke free from his brother's clutches. He quickly hid behind Su Qing, peeking out half his head and glaring angrily at his brother. A red mark on his face was particularly noticeable in the sunlight.

Su Qing glanced at the chubby boy behind her, looking aggrieved, and then at Cheng Xuyan in front of her, who seemed completely unfazed. She sighed helplessly.

These two brothers are both a handful.

She pulled Cheng Xiaoyu out from behind her legs, gently patted his head, and signaled him to stop fooling around.

Then she squatted down to confirm with Jiang Ran that she hadn't been frightened by the crowd. The little one shook her head, held up the lop-eared rabbit to show her, indicating that the rabbit was fine too.