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

Su Qing leaned back in her chair, holding a cup of bitter, sour cold coffee in her hand, her gaze falling on Jiang Ran through the rim of the cup, without saying a word.

The system did speak up.

[Host, according to the records, Jiang Ran's daily diet at her adoptive parents' home is as follows.]

[The fixed number of meals per day is breakfast and dinner. Breakfast is usually a thin porridge made from leftover rice from the previous day. Dinner is determined on a case-by-case basis, but there are at least three days a week without dinner.]

[Meat and eggs are consumed approximately once or twice a month, and are always leftovers from the adoptive parents' meals.]

It paused for a moment, as if searching for more precise data.

[During the thirteen months she was adopted, Jiang Ran lost 4.6 kilograms, equivalent to 21% of her original weight.]

[For reference, the World Health Organization's warning line for childhood malnutrition is a weight loss of 10%.]

Su Qing didn't say anything.

The system continued: [Therefore, in her cognitive system, a complete bowl of plain white porridge that no one else has eaten and that was bought specifically for her is considered high-value food. Add to that a tea egg and three steamed buns, and the nutritional intake from this meal is roughly equivalent to her total intake over the past week.]

  

"Alright," Su Qing interrupted in her mind.

The system wisely fell silent.

Su Qing knew these data without it needing to be told.

Last night, during a check-up at the hospital, the doctor lifted Jiang Ran's hospital gown, revealing her thin, ribcage-baring frame, which Su Qing, standing beside her, could see clearly.

Add to that the cigarette burns on his arms and the old marks from the beatings on his back, and she already knew what kind of life this little guy had lived in that so-called "home" before.

Su Qing placed the coffee cup on the windowsill, reached out and picked up the tea egg, tapped it twice on the corner of the table, and fine cracks appeared on the eggshell.

She quickly peeled the egg clean and placed it in the small dish next to Jiang Ran's porridge bowl.

"Eat the eggs too," she said casually, as if she were just saying the weather was nice today.

Jiang Ran looked up at her, her eyes still dark and unreadable.

She neither nodded nor shook her head, but her gaze lingered on Su Qing's face for two seconds before she lowered her head again, used a spoon to cut the tea egg in half, put one half into the porridge to soak, and carefully took a small bite of the other half.

Su Qing opened the plastic bag containing the xiaolongbao and pushed it towards her.

"I ate the steamed buns too."

"[Host,]" the system's voice sounded again, "[Given Jiang Ran's current stomach capacity and digestive function, a bowl of porridge and an egg is already a suitable intake. Eating steamed buns might cause indigestion.]"

"Then let's eat one," Su Qing said. "We can reheat the rest at noon."

The system paused for a second: [A reasonable compromise.]

After Jiang Ran finished her porridge and egg, she indeed only took one small steamed bun.

She bit into the bun with the same seriousness as when she was drinking porridge, sipping the broth inside in small sips, her eyes slightly narrowed, as if she were a little surprised by the hot, meaty aroma of the food.

Su Qing leaned back in her chair and watched her eat, suddenly feeling a little sleepy.

Before the caffeine took effect, the fatigue from not sleeping all night surged up like waves. She rubbed her eyes and forced her attention back.

After Jiang Ran swallowed the last bite of the bun, Su Qing stood up, packed up the takeout box, and threw it into the trash can.

She walked to the foot of the bed, picked up the remote control, and pressed a button on the old wall-mounted TV.

The screen lit up, just in time for the children's channel. A group of colorful little animals were singing and dancing on the screen, with lyrics that repeatedly said things like "we are good friends," and the rhythm was so cheerful it was almost noisy.

"Let's watch some cartoons." Su Qing put the remote control on the bedside table, sat back in her chair, crossed her legs, and took out her phone to start scrolling.

Jiang Ran leaned against the headboard, her eyes fixed on the television screen, but her gaze was unfocused.

After the animals in the cartoon finished singing a song, they started acting out the next scene... A little rabbit lost its carrot, and all its friends came to help it find it.

The visuals are bright and vibrant, the voice acting is lively and cute, and every line of dialogue teaches children to be united, friendly, and helpful to each other.

Jiang Ran watched the scene on the screen where the little rabbit was surrounded and comforted by its friends, her expression remaining unchanged.

She didn't quite understand.

It's not that I don't understand the content of the cartoon, but I don't understand why this older sister is so nice to her.

I bought her breakfast, peeled eggs for her, let her eat steamed buns, and even turned on the TV for her to watch cartoons.

No one had ever done these things to her before.

In that family, she couldn't eat at the table; she could only wait until the adults finished eating before going to the kitchen to eat the leftovers.

Sometimes there's only half a bowl of cold porridge left, and sometimes there's nothing at all.

Watching TV was out of the question. Her adoptive father thought she was in the way and told her to stay on the balcony and not come in. The sound of the TV in the living room came through the balcony door, so she could only hear the sound but not see the picture.

Later, she stopped wanting to watch it.

But now, this older sister... this older sister whose name she doesn't even know... just casually turned on the TV for her, and it was showing cartoons that only children watch.

It's as if this is something that should be taken for granted, as if she was supposed to be treated this way.

Jiang Ran's fingers unconsciously gripped the corner of the blanket.

She secretly turned her head and glanced at Su Qing out of the corner of her eye.

Su Qing was looking down at her phone, and the light from the screen reflected on her face, making the dark circles under her eyes even more noticeable.

She yawned, a tear welling up in the corner of her eye. She casually wiped it away and continued swiping her fingers across the screen.

She looked very tired.

Jiang Ran turned her gaze back to the television screen.

The little rabbit has found the carrot, and all its friends are clapping and cheering.

She looked at the bright smiling faces in the picture, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something.

But she didn't know what to say.

Thank you? She had said thank you before, to her adoptive mother, because her adoptive mother gave her half a bowl of porridge.

Her adoptive mother replied impatiently, "Go sit on the balcony after you finish eating, don't get in the way." From then on, she rarely said those two words.

So what about this older sister? Will she do the same? And what's the purpose of being nice to her? Is it because she'll be throwing her back soon?

Jiang Ran didn't know.

The little animals on TV are still laughing.

She stopped looking and simply leaned quietly against the headboard, turning her face slightly towards Su Qing.

The background music from the animated film filled the quiet of the hospital room.

Su Qing scrolled through her phone for over ten minutes, then looked up at the IV drip standing tubing; there was still a little over half left.

She stood up, walked to the bedside, and reached out to touch Jiang Ran's forehead.

The fever has completely subsided, and my forehead feels warm, neither hot nor cold.

Su Qing withdrew her hand, touched her forehead again to compare, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay, it's not burning anymore."

She sat back down in her chair and yawned again, this time so loudly that her shoulders twitched.

The system's voice sounded at the opportune moment: [Host, your fatigue level has reached the warning threshold. It is recommended that you take a short break while watching the cartoon. I can set an alarm for you.]

Su Qing thought about it and felt that this suggestion was surprisingly reliable.

"Fifteen minutes," she thought to herself, "wake me up in fifteen minutes."

[receive.]

Su Qing moved the chair closer to the wall, leaned back at a relatively comfortable angle, crossed her arms over her chest, and closed her eyes.

The ward quieted down, except for the little animals in the cartoon still chirping and singing.

Jiang Ran heard the breathing beside her slow and heavy.

She turned her head and saw Su Qing leaning against the back of the chair, asleep. She wasn't sleeping very well; her mouth was slightly open, her head was tilted to one side, and a few strands of hair hung down on the bridge of her nose, rising and falling gently with her breathing.

He was a completely different person from yesterday in the ward, when he was full of energy and smiling, saying, "I'm following you from now on."

Jiang Ran watched her quietly for a while.

Then she made a decision that she herself couldn't understand... She reached out, picked up the bag of steamed buns on the bedside table, and stuffed it under the covers.