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

Su Qing held Jiang Ran's hand and continued walking back. After walking for a while, she looked down at her.

The little one's expression remained calm, but the hand holding hers was gripped tighter than usual, and her steps were faster, as if she had secretly sped up in a race.

Su Qing's lips curled slightly, and she asked knowingly, "Xiao Ran, what's wrong? Are you unhappy?"

Jiang Ran looked straight ahead and said calmly, "No."

But she gripped Su Qing's hand even tighter, her fingers slipping between Su Qing's fingers and holding on firmly.

Looking at the little girl's stubborn back of her head, Su Qing decided to tease her a little more.

She slowed her pace, her tone suddenly turning somewhat forlorn, and sighed softly, "Oh... I thought Xiao Ran didn't want to talk to me anymore."

The voice sounded soft and gentle, with just the right amount of disappointment, as if the person was truly heartbroken.

Jiang Ran suddenly stopped in her tracks.

She turned her head and looked up at Su Qing, her earlier slight annoyance vanished, replaced by a fleeting panic.

She shook her head vigorously, causing her ponytail to swing back and forth several times: "No! I didn't mean to ignore you, sister!"

She paused, her voice softening slightly, but her speech quickened, as if afraid that speaking slowly would continue to upset her sister, "I love my sister the most, it's not like what she said at all!"

Su Qing looked at her slightly flushed face, chuckled, bent down and scooped the little one into her arms, letting her sit on her arm while her other hand steadily supported her back.

Jiang Ran was taken aback by the sudden hug, then felt her sister gently rest her chin on the top of her head, the familiar breath warmly brushing against her forehead.

"Sister too," Su Qing's voice carried a hint of amusement, but every word was spoken earnestly, "I like Xiao Ran the most."

Jiang Ran felt her face suddenly burn.

She buried her face in Su Qing's neck, her nose brushing against the edge of her collar, where she could smell the familiar scent of home and the clean, unique aroma of her sister.

  

The afternoon sunlight fell perfectly on my sister's profile, turning her eyelashes a light gold, and her lips curved into that familiar smile, making her look more beautiful than ever before.

Jiang Ran buried her face in that warm neck again, and then gently and earnestly replied, "Mmm."

The system quietly announced a number in Su Qing's mind, saying that Jiang Ran's mood index was steadily rising.

Su Qing chuckled inwardly but didn't reply.

Soothing a child is very simple.

When Su Qing got home, she was cutting fruit in the kitchen when Jiang Ran, who had changed into her pajamas, snuggled up to her while holding her rabbit.

She began by recounting what had happened at school that day. Her tone was relatively calm when she talked about how Jiang Yi had pestered her to explain a problem, but her speech slowed down noticeably towards the end, as if she was organizing her thoughts.

She admitted to drawing a turtle on Jiang Yi's face and knew her sister must have seen it at the school gate. Then she looked up, her eyes filled with genuine confusion, and asked Su Qing, "Sister, I don't hate her that much anymore, but why don't I want to forgive her just like that? I just want to tease her a little."

"I initially thought it would be fun to tease her a little, since she treated us like that before, but seeing her grinning with her face covered in turtle-like marks, I felt... like I shouldn't have done that, sister, why do I feel this way?"

Su Qing paused on the apple with the fruit knife in her hand; this question was a bit beyond her scope.

She mentally called out to the system, and it quickly responded: [The current scenario is suitable for introducing the concepts of 'trust reconstruction' and 'emotional affirmation'.]

[It is recommended that the host use plain and easy-to-understand language to explain.]

Su Qing put down the fruit knife, leaned against the counter, and translated the system's analysis in her own words: "Actually, when Xiao Ran has this kind of thought, it means that Xiao Ran has already begun to forgive her in her heart."

"If Xiao Ran really still disliked her, she wouldn't waste time teasing her; she would just tell her to leave."

"Xiao Ran drew a turtle on her face because she wanted to see if she really wanted to stay. She stayed, and Xiao Ran felt that this person might really be different from before."

Jiang Ran listened attentively, her expression gradually shifting from initial confusion to thoughtfulness.

She doesn't really hate Jiang Yi as much anymore, at least not as much as before.

She just felt that if she forgave him so easily, then what about all the hurtful things Jiang Yi had said before?

Seeing that she had taken it to heart, Su Qing softened her tone: "But Xiao Ran, I have something to tell you. Don't tease her like that anymore. Even if she willingly lets you draw a turtle, it's still wrong. We can't make fun of other people's ugly faces."

She spoke without a hint of reproach, gently stroking Jiang Ran's head with one hand, her tone as soft as when she coaxed her to sleep, yet every word resonated firmly in Jiang Ran's heart.

Jiang Ran looked down at the rabbit she was holding, then looked up and nodded solemnly, saying she understood and wouldn't do it again.

On the other side, Jiang Yi was lying on the sofa in the living room, her legs dangling in the air, vividly recounting everything that had happened that day to Jiang Ren.

She started by talking about how she coaxed Jiang Ran into agreeing to explain the problem, then talked about how Jiang Ran drew a crooked circle on the draft paper, and how that circle inexplicably turned into a history lesson about the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Finally, she proudly pointed to her clean face and said that Xiao Ran had cleaned it for her.

Jiang Ren leaned against the door frame and listened. She said that this was already a huge step forward, a qualitative leap from the cold war to being able to paint on her face.

And Xiao Ran might even apologize to you tomorrow.

Jiang Yi put her legs down, sat cross-legged on the bed, and looked at him with a "what nonsense are you talking about" gaze: "Xiao Ran didn't do anything wrong, why should she apologize to me?"

Jiang Ren didn't explain, but leaned closer to the door frame, a faint, somewhat confident smile on her lips: "Let's make a bet. If she apologizes to you tomorrow, you're not allowed to eat candy for a month."

Jiang Yi's expression instantly became alert.

She carefully considered the stakes of the bet and felt that going a month without candy was far too high a price to pay. However, if she won, she would have to pay double the candy, making the potential reward equally tempting.

She sat up straight, smoothed out the small blanket, and slapped Jiang Ren's outstretched hand with her chubby little hand: "It's a deal!"

The expression on her face made it seem like she was discussing a business deal worth hundreds of millions.