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

Jiang Ran fell asleep crying in Su Qing's arms.

Even in her sleep, her hands were still tightly gripping the fabric of Su Qing's back, her fingers curled into a stiff arc, as if she were holding onto something that would disappear forever if she let go.

Su Qing tried to loosen her grip once, but as soon as she touched her knuckles, the girl let out a soft, tearful whimper in her sleep, and her brows furrowed even more.

Su Qing dared not move again.

She picked her up horizontally. Jiang Ran was lighter than she had imagined. Only when she held her in her arms did she realize in a daze that this girl, who was now as tall as her, was actually no different from the skinny little mushroom she had been seven years ago.

She placed Jiang Ran on the bed and lay down herself. Jiang Ran immediately turned over in her sleep, following the warmth, and buried her face in her neck, curling into a small ball.

Su Qing didn't push her away, but simply pulled the blanket up to cover her shoulders, then gently placed her hands on her back and patted her back repeatedly.

Moonlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains, casting a thin silver line on the floor.

Su Qing looked at the face in her arms, still frowning in her sleep, and hummed the song very softly.

It was still that song, "The Little Insects Fly," with a very low key and a sound as light as a feather floating in the air.

Seven years ago, when she sang this song to Jiang Ran for the first time in the hospital room, the little one was also nestled in her arms like this, his fingers clutching her collar, his brows slowly relaxing in his sleep.

Seven years have passed, and the person in her arms has grown from waist-high to her level. But in her heart, the person who curls up in her arms and needs her to lullaby him to sleep soundly is still the child who huddled in the corner of the balcony back then, watching her climb over the wall with timid eyes.

Jiang Ran's tightly furrowed brows gradually relaxed as she listened to her singing, and the fingers gripping her clothes slowly, slowly loosened a little.

Su Qing quietly patted her back and mentally called out to the system.

The system's voice was a little softer than usual, reporting that Jiang Ran's cortisol levels were slowly decreasing, her heart rate had returned to normal, and her stress was subsiding, but her psychological condition assessment remained at a high alert level, requiring continued reassurance.

After listening, Su Qing's shoulders, which had been tense all night, finally relaxed a little.

Then the system spoke again, its tone carrying a hint of hesitation she had never heard in its voice before: [Host, shouldn't you wipe your tears?]

Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then reached out and touched her cheek, only to feel a cool, damp sensation on her fingertips.

  

She didn't know when those tears started flowing; it was probably when Jiang Ran cried and said, "Please don't leave me," or it might have been when she sang a lullaby.

The system continued its analysis, its tone returning to its usual calm, but its wording carrying an almost cautious deliberation: [Currently, the system detects a very strong desire in the host not to leave Jiang Ran, which is not a good sign for the host.]

[The contract of the Fate Completion System is an inviolable underlying rule. The host is requested to promptly correct their inner thoughts and abide by the contract's stipulations.]

Su Qing wiped the tears from her face with the back of her hand, then pulled the person in the blanket closer to her.

She knew, of course she knew.

She didn't say anything more, but simply pressed her face gently against Xiao Ran's hair.

The system analyzed her psychological data regarding her resistance to the contract, but ultimately fell silent.

Jiang Ran had a dream.

In her dream, she was sent back to a very, very big house, where a couple who claimed to be her biological parents smiled and opened their arms to her, but she didn't recognize them.

She turned to look at her sister, only to find her standing far, far away, with that familiar gentle smile on her face, yet getting further and further away from her.

She tried to catch up, but her legs felt like lead. There was an invisible wall in front of her, and no matter how much she patted or shouted, her sister couldn't hear her.

The older sister turned around and walked step by step into the blinding white light, never looking back.

"No...no...sister! Don't go!" She suddenly opened her eyes and sat up abruptly from the bed, her heart pounding violently against her ribs.

Its daybreak.

The bed next to me was empty.

My sister isn't here.

She felt as if she had been doused with a bucket of ice water from head to toe, and she threw off the covers and rushed barefoot toward the door.

A series of hurried footsteps came from the living room.

Su Qing ran over from the kitchen in slippers, her apron still on, her hands covered in flour, her hair casually tied in a low ponytail, a few stray hairs dangling by her ears.

When Jiang Ran saw her, she seemed to have all her strength drained away. She took a step forward and crashed heavily into her arms, her arms tightly wrapped around her waist. The force was so great that Su Qing had to take half a step back to regain her balance.

She buried her face in Su Qing's shoulder, feeling her sister's warmth seep through the thin fabric, and hearing her heart beating steadily in her chest.

It's not a dream, it's my real sister.

After a while, Jiang Ran slowly let go of Su Qing's hand, stepped out of Su Qing's embrace, then lowered her head, gently took Su Qing's right hand, and pushed her sleeve up a little.

On her fair wrist, the purplish-blue bruise was particularly clear in the morning light, like a mark that had been accidentally branded on her.

Jiang Ran's face immediately fell, her eyelashes drooping low, and her voice was very soft: "Sister... does it hurt a lot...?"

Su Qing looked at the little girl in front of her who had just been awakened by a nightmare and whose forehead was still covered in fine sweat. The first thing she did was to hold her wrist and ask her if it hurt.

She felt a soft spot in her heart being gently tugged.

She withdrew her hand, gently rubbed her head, and said in a light tone as if she were commenting on the nice weather: "It doesn't hurt anymore. But Xiao Ran, is anything bothering you?"

Jiang Ran shook her head, but her eyes still darted away.

Su Qing knew what she was thinking.

She led her to the bathroom, and just like when they were little, squeezed toothpaste onto a toothbrush and handed it to her. The two of them stood side by side in front of the mirror and brushed their teeth.

With her mouth full of foam, Su Qing glanced at her and met Jiang Ran's gaze, which had been secretly glancing at her, in the mirror. She smiled but didn't say anything.

After brushing her teeth, she had Jiang Ran sit on a small stool, and she stood behind her, carefully combing her hair with a comb.

Her fingers ran through her smooth hair, combing from root to tip with slow, gentle movements, just as patiently as she had been when she first combed the hair of that little mushroom-like girl with dry, tangled hair seven years ago.

Then Su Qing led her to the dining table.

On the table was a plate of sandwiches, the bread slices toasted to a slightly browned color, filled with bacon, lettuce and a fried egg, and next to it, as usual, a glass of strawberry milk with a straw inserted.

Jiang Ran looked at the cup of strawberry milk, at the perfectly charred marks on the sandwich, and at Su Qing standing by the table in an apron, urging her to eat quickly while untying the apron. Suddenly, she felt that nothing would change.

Su Qing sat down opposite her, not mentioning what happened last night, but simply resting her chin on her hand as she watched her eat the sandwich in small bites, her eyes overflowing with tenderness: "Is it good?"

Jiang Ran finished chewing the food in her mouth, nodded, and added, "Delicious."

Su Qing waited for her to finish the last bite, then put the cups and saucers in the sink, wiped her hands, and led her to the living room, where they sat down on the sofa.

She gently pulled Jiang Ran over and let her lie on her side on her lap, her hand naturally falling into Jiang Ran's hair, stroking it gently.

Su Qing lowered her head, her fingers gently brushing away the stray hairs on Jiang Ran's forehead, and her voice slowly rang out: "I'm sorry, Xiao Ran, I didn't intend to hide this from you. I really didn't mean to tell you, but I truly didn't know how to tell you..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran immediately buried her face in Su Qing's lower abdomen, looking angry, and curled up like a sulking kitten.

Su Qing couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at her, and continued to gently stroke her hair.

She thought to herself, "I can't just tell Xiao Ran directly, 'The reason I didn't tell you is because I was afraid you'd act like this now,' can I?"

Wouldn't that be tantamount to admitting that you're just trying to appease her?

Although she was indeed trying to comfort her, it's best to keep it to yourself; saying it aloud is a different matter.

She suppressed her smile and told him everything she knew.

From how Wu Yue carried her out of the Jiang family home that late autumn night, to the orphanage, to her moving between different foster families, to finally climbing over the wall of that dilapidated residential building to bring her home.

There's also the matter of her biological mother, Cui Ying, the gentle woman in a plain long dress with her hair tied back with a hairpin, the woman who looked at Xiao Ran with a very complicated gaze at the school gate. Because she lost her newborn daughter many years ago, she suffered a great mental shock and is still taking medication.

Jiang Ran listened to everything quietly.

Her head rested on Su Qing's lap, her eyes fixed on the potted green ivy on the coffee table. Her expression was so calm that Su Qing couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Then she spoke, her voice devoid of anger or sadness, only cold, unadorned indifference: "It's their problem that they didn't take good care of their child. My sister picked me up. I'm my sister's younger sister. I don't have biological parents, nor do I need them."

What Jiang Ran didn't say was, on those nights when she was locked on the balcony, every time she was burned by cigarette butts and beaten, every moment when she hid in a corner shivering with hunger, where were those people who were supposedly related to her by blood?

All she knew was that her sister appeared when she needed her most, pulled her out of that hell, and gave her all the warmth she had never had before.

Since they think the child is dead, then let's just pretend she is.

She is her sister's younger sister, and her sister is her only relative.

Su Qing looked at her stubborn and indifferent profile, unaware that such resolute thoughts were swirling in her mind.

But she could sense Xiao Ran's aversion to the words "biological parents." It was probably not just because she didn't want to leave her, but also because all the unhappiness in her childhood started when she was sent away from her biological parents.

And I only have less than a month left.

She wanted to say something more, but something seemed to be stuck in her throat, so she just lowered her head and gently placed a kiss on the top of her head.