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

At three o'clock in the morning, Su Qing quietly turned the door lock.

A small nightlight was left on in the living room, casting a warm yellow glow that cast a blurry halo around the corner. She made almost no sound as she changed her shoes, her bare feet stepping onto the wooden floor.

The bedroom door was ajar. She slipped in and, by the moonlight filtering through the curtains, saw a figure lying on the bed.

Jiang Ran was curled up in her half of the bed, wrapped in a quilt, breathing long and even. Her long eyelashes rested quietly on her eyelids, and her sleeping face looked like a tranquil painting in the soft glow of the nightlight.

Su Qing squatted down by the bed, reached out and gently brushed the stray hairs that had fallen across Jiang Ran's forehead behind her ear, and lightly rubbed the top of her head with her fingertips.

Then she went around to the other side of the bed, lifted the covers and lay down, moving so quietly that the mattress didn't even make a sound.

She lay on her side with her back to Jiang Ran, dimmed her phone screen to its lowest setting, and began looking through the baking ingredients list.

Xiao Ran's fifteenth birthday is coming soon, and she promised to make her a deluxe cake.

The fondant had to be handmade, and the filling had to be three different flavors. She had already drawn several versions of the chocolate castle on the top on draft paper.

As she was comparing two brands of cocoa powder, a hand suddenly reached out from behind and slowly wrapped around her waist.

Su Qing stiffened slightly, then felt Jiang Ran press her face against hers from behind, her nose brushing against the back of her neck, her warm breath landing right on her earlobe.

Jiang Ran's voice was low, hoarse from just waking up, with a hint of languidness, as she whispered in her ear, "Sister, where have you been so late?"

Su Qing felt a slight itch as her breath brushed against her earlobe.

She turned off her phone screen and said softly, "Did I wake you up when I came in? I just went to the bathroom."

Jiang Ran didn't speak, but tightened the arms around Su Qing's waist a little more, pressed her whole body against Su Qing's back, and gently took a breath.

My sister's hair only had her own scent; there was no unfamiliar smell on her collar or cuffs.

  

Her eyes shone brightly in the moonlight, but her voice remained obedient and gentle: "Then you should rest quickly, sister. Playing on your phone with the lights off is bad for your eyes."

Su Qing responded, put her phone on the bedside table, and lay back down.

Jiang Ran's arms remained around Su Qing's waist, and she wrapped Su Qing's arms around her from behind.

Su Qing's back was pressed against her chest, and she could feel the body leaning slightly forward, encircling her whole body in a warm and secure embrace.

She blinked in the darkness and suddenly realized that this position was different from before. When Xiao Ran was still a tiny little thing, she would sleep curled up in her arms, her head resting on her chin, her two little hands clutching the collar of her pajamas, like a kitten burrowing into its nest.

But now, the strength and length of the arm behind him clearly indicate that he sees himself as the cat protecting its cubs.

The system softly reported in her mind: [When Jiang Ran shared a bed with the host, the host's sleep quality improved by about twenty percent. Although the position changed, the data shows that the host is also highly adaptable to the current sleep environment.]

Su Qing nodded inwardly, feeling a little sentimental. People grow up, get taller, and have longer arms, but deep down they are still the same insecure child they were back then.

She didn't think any further, nor did she pull away the hand around her waist. She closed her eyes and let sleepiness wash over her.

Unbeknownst to her, Jiang Ran behind her was not asleep, nor even with her eyes closed.

Jiang Ran quietly looked at the back of Su Qing's head in the moonlight, at the strands of hair scattered on the pillow, and at the small patch of skin behind her ear that shimmered faintly in the night.

My sister has only her own scent; no one else's.

Her sister didn't lie to her.

But she didn't tell her everything either.

She knew her sister was definitely hiding something from her, but she wasn't in a hurry.

If my sister doesn't want to talk about it, she can wait.

Anyway, my sister is right here, in her arms, and she won't go anywhere.

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.

The next morning, Su Qing made breakfast for Jiang Ran. The fried eggs sizzled in the pan, the toaster popped out two golden slices of bread, and the strawberry milk, as usual, was placed next to the plate with a straw inserted.

She took off her apron and draped it over the back of the chair, told Jiang Ran that the shop needed to prepare ingredients in advance today, flicked her forehead lightly, and then went out.

The Half Sugar Dessert Shop hasn't opened for business yet; the wooden sign on the glass door still says "Closed".

Yan Ning was leaning against the counter, flipping through the price list sent by the supplier. Hearing the wind chimes ring, he looked up, pushed up the black-rimmed glasses on his nose that he only wore when doing accounting, and was about to say, "Why are you here so early today?" when he saw Su Qing walk straight up to him and place a folded list on the counter.

He unfolded the list, scanned it from top to bottom, and then fell silent.

Funa cocoa powder, Scara vanilla pods, imported fermented butter, fondant syrup, tempered dark chocolate... each ingredient is a high-end baking ingredient, and just those few lines of text exude an air of not caring about cost.

"Are you making a cake or conducting a chemistry experiment?" Yan Ning placed the list on the counter and looked up at her.

"For Xiao Ran's fifteenth birthday, I promised her I would make her a big one."

Su Qing leaned against the counter, tapping her finger on the list. Her tone was casual, but every word was firm. "I've made a list of the materials. I'll buy some of them myself, but there are a few imported ones that I can't find a way to get. You can help me with that, and the money will be deducted from my salary for the next two months."

Yan Ning took off her glasses and placed them on the price list. She leaned back in her chair and looked at her, sighing helplessly, "It's not a big deal. How expensive can the ingredients for a cake be? Just consider it a birthday gift for Xiao Ran. Let's not talk about the money."

Su Qing shook her head. Her attitude was calm but firm, not a polite refusal, but a resolute determination that she wouldn't change her mind once she made up her mind: "Brother Yan Ning, you've helped me so much over the years, but I have to buy all the ingredients for this cake myself."

She paused, shifting her gaze from the list on the counter to his face. A slight smile played on her lips, a faint curve that carried a seriousness that only someone who had known her for a long time could understand. "This is what I promised her; I had to do it all myself from beginning to end."

Yan Ning looked at her but didn't reply immediately.

He has known Su Qing for almost ten years and knows her temperament. She never bothers others with things she can handle herself, and she will ask for help if she needs it, but she is very clear about the boundaries and never takes advantage of others.

Yan Ning thought for a moment and finally just sighed softly and nodded: "Okay, I'll help you find the channels, and the price will be calculated at cost."

Su Qing didn't argue anymore, just hummed in agreement, pushed the list towards him again, and pointed to the bottom line: "Also, keep an eye out for the chocolate castle mold, it needs to be a scaled-down version."

Yan Ning picked up the list and looked at it again, imagining what the finished cake would look like. She couldn't help but chuckle: "Multi-layered filling, handmade fondant, topped with a chocolate castle. Xiao Ran is so lucky to have a sister like you."

Su Qing was taking a picture of the reference image of the mold with her phone when she heard this, and her finger paused on the screen for a moment.

She looked up at the ginkgo tree outside the window. The morning light made the leaves look golden, and a few sparrows hopped around on the branches.

She looked at the tree, and a very faint smile slowly curved her lips, so faint that Yan Ning almost missed it.

"No," she said softly, as if speaking to the ginkgo tree outside the window, or perhaps to herself, "having her is my true fortune."