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

Upon arriving at the mall, Su Qing stood at the escalator entrance on the second floor, looking at the brightly lit women's clothing section in front of her, and remained silent for about three seconds.

She originally thought buying clothes was a simple matter... just pick one you like, buy it, pay, and leave.

But she clearly forgot that she could count the number of times she had accompanied Jiang Ran shopping in the past seven years on one hand, and that Jiang Ran was always the one doing the shopping while she scrolled through her phone on a bench in the rest area.

Today is different; today I'm "accompanying" her shopping, and Jiang Ran has clearly included "helping her sister pick out clothes" in today's itinerary.

When Jiang Ran took the dress down from the clothes rack, Su Qing hadn't yet realized the seriousness of the situation.

When she turned around, holding the pure white off-shoulder dress in her hand, and her eyes flashed with a light that Su Qing recognized very well—the light that always appeared whenever she wanted something—Su Qing belatedly realized that something was wrong.

"Sister, try this one on."

Su Qing looked at the dress, then at Jiang Ran, with only one thought in her mind... Wasn't she here to accompany Xiao Ran to buy clothes today?

How did it become a case of me trying it myself?

She was about to say, "This is your style, not mine," when Jiang Ran took a step forward, gently took her finger, looked up at her, and said in a voice as soft as sugar threads just rolled out of a cotton candy machine: "Sister, just try it on. I've never seen you wear a dress before."

Su Qing's words caught in her throat, but she swallowed them back.

She was having a mental struggle with herself; the thought of wearing a skirt had an impact on her no less than when the system told her she was going to become a girl.

For the past seven years, the most she could accept was women's underwear and unisex outerwear; she had never even considered skirts.

So this time she must firmly reject Xiao Ran. Just like the system said, she has spoiled Xiao Ran too much. This time she must stick to her bottom line!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Let's go, sister."

Jiang Ran held the dress in one hand and led her by the other, walking briskly towards the fitting room.

Su Qing looked down at her legs, which had somehow followed someone to the fitting room door, and fell into a brief silence.

The system issued a meaningful notification in her mind: [Host, there was a clear contradiction between what you thought and what you actually did. The transition from thought to action took extremely short time.]

  

"...If you're so capable, then you do it." Su Qing replied dryly in her mind.

[I don't have a physical body, so I don't need to wear a skirt. Besides, Jiang Ran wouldn't look at me with that kind of gaze; she only looks at you with that kind of gaze. Therefore, this assumption is invalid.]

Su Qing ignored it.

She now has bigger problems to face. Standing in the fitting room, she looked down at the dress in her hand and spent a long time mentally preparing herself before unfolding it.

The white cotton-linen blend fabric is soft and smooth to the touch. The neckline is an off-the-shoulder design, the waistline is perfectly cinched, and the skirt hem falls just a few inches above the knee.

It was indeed beautiful, but... she looked at the length of the skirt, then at her own legs, and her ears began to burn.

She held her skirt up in front of her, and her earlier mental preparation clearly had no real effect.

Su Qing took a deep breath and thought, "Oh well, I'm already here, it won't hurt to give it a try."

The fitting room curtains had just been drawn when Jiang Ran's voice drifted in from outside, tinged with a faint smile: "Sister, do you need any help?"

Su Qing's face flushed red, and she pulled the curtain even tighter: "No need! I can do it myself!"

A soft chuckle came from outside, followed by Jiang Ran's obedient reply: "Okay."

After a few minutes of fussing, Su Qing finally got dressed and poked her head out, her face so red it could fry an egg.

She gripped the door frame with one hand and pulled her skirt down with the other. Although the skirt was already several inches above her knees, she felt a chill on her legs, as if something was not covered.

Jiang Ran was leaning against the door of the fitting room waiting when she saw her sister peeking out. A very subtle glint flashed in her eyes, and she reached out and gently pulled her out.

Su Qing stood in front of the full-length mirror outside the fitting room, her hands tugging at the hem of her skirt, her ten fingers nervously twisting together.

The pure white off-shoulder dress revealed her entire shoulder and neck line, with straight collarbones and rounded shoulders. The lace trim at the neckline trembled gently with her breath.

She tied the waist tie into an asymmetrical bow, and the hem of her skirt reached just above her knees, revealing her two slender, fair legs.

Her feet, clad in black sandals, had slender ankles and fair, pinkish toes that curled slightly with nervousness.

"Wh...how is it?" Su Qing turned her head to look at Jiang Ran, a hint of unconscious unease in her eyes.

Jiang Ran stood half a step behind her, her gaze falling on Su Qing from the mirror, and remained silent for a long time.

Her gaze remained calm, seemingly unchanged, but only Jiang Ran herself knew that her heart was beating faster and faster.

My sister is so cute! She looks so beautiful! There are still marks from last night on her collarbone, peeking out just above the lace! I have to buy this dress! I can only wear it for her at home! Only in the bedroom! Only for her to see!

Her gaze lingered on Su Qing's shoulder and collarbone for a moment before returning to its usual gentle and calm expression.

The system detected a significant peak in Jiang Ran's brain activity data at that moment, accompanied by a surge in dopamine and norepinephrine levels.

It searched the database for a long time before finally deciding to archive the data without broadcasting it to Su Qing.

The reason is the same as last time: it is not conducive to the host completing the task.

Seeing that she didn't speak, Su Qing thought that she really looked strange in the mirror, and the redness at the base of her ears spread even more. She turned around and was about to go back to the fitting room: "It really doesn't fit, I'd better change..."

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Ran walked over, took her hand, and led her into the fitting room, pulling the curtain closed behind her.

Su Qing was a little confused by her smooth operation. Before she could react, she found herself standing in the middle of the three mirrors in the fitting room again.

Jiang Ran looked at her sister's face, which was clearly asking "What's next?", blinked, and gave her a sweet and innocent smile: "Sister, the zipper on your back is hard to pull, let me help you."

Su Qing's face flushed even redder instantly, and she reflexively took half a step back, her lower back bracing against the fitting room wall: "I can do it myself!"

Jiang Ran shook her head, her tone gentle yet reasonable: "Last time, you tried to zip up your own zipper, and several strands of your hair got stuck in the zipper teeth. I had to help you get them out in the end. Let me do it this time, okay?"

Su Qing opened her mouth, but found that she really couldn't refute it.

The incident with that dress... no, that shirt zipper last time definitely happened. She twisted in front of the mirror for several minutes after her hair got stuck, and Xiao Ran finally helped her untangle it.

Looking into Jiang Ran's clear, innocent eyes, she thought that Xiao Ran was definitely trying to help out of kindness, and that if she overreacted, it would seem strange.

She had no reason to refuse.

"...Alright then."

Su Qing turned around, turning her back to Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ran's fingers gently touched the top of the zipper, her fingertips brushing against the small, soft indentation between Su Qing's nape and spine.

The zipper slowly slid down, revealing Su Qing's back.

Her skin was very fair, her spine curved slightly in the middle, and her shoulder blades protruded slightly on both sides, like a pair of folded wings.

Her waist was so thin that Jiang Ran could completely encircle it with both of her arms outstretched.

Under the warm yellow light of the fitting room, her skin glowed with a gentle luster, as delicate as the finest mutton fat jade.

Su Qing lowered her head, pressed her skirt to her chest with both hands, and whispered, "Hurry up."

Jiang Ran responded and slowly pulled the zipper all the way down.

Then she turned around, picked up a few more pieces of clothing that Su Qing hadn't tried on yet from the rack next to her, hugged them to her chest, and gave Su Qing a sweet smile.

"Since my sister feels embarrassed to change in the outside, let's change inside. It'll just be my sister and me here, and no one will be able to see us."

Su Qing leaned against the corner of the wall, her hands protecting her chest, looking at Jiang Ran in front of her with shining eyes, holding a pile of clothes in her arms, and seemingly growing two little devil horns on her head, and felt a deep sense of unease.

She tried to call out to the system in her mind, but the system simply responded calmly: [Host, based on current data analysis, your resistance success rate is zero. Cooperation is recommended.]

Su Qing wanted to throw those words back at the system, but she didn't even have that luxury anymore.

Jiang Ran had already picked up the next piece of clothing and unfolded it in front of her.

"Sister, next one."