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

Since that day, Su Qing has never mentioned the Jiang family to Jiang Ran again.

That name, every word Yin Wan uttered in that hospital room, was carefully folded up and hidden in the deepest corner of her heart.

Life seemed to have returned to its usual rhythm. Every morning, after she made breakfast, Jiang Ran would sneak a sip of her coffee when she wasn't looking, only to wince at the bitterness.

Every evening when she finished get off work at the dessert shop and walked to the entrance of her residential area, she would always see that figure standing under the sycamore tree waiting for her.

After dinner, the two snuggled on the sofa to watch a movie. Jiang Ran rested her head on her lap, and she casually stroked her hair.

Everything was the same as before: peaceful, stable, and warm.

But beneath the calm surface, something is quietly changing.

These past few days, Su Qing has been getting off work half an hour later than usual. She always says that the shop has been busy lately, and Yan Ning has taken on several large wedding dessert table orders, so they don't have enough manpower and she has to stay and help out.

Jiang Ran didn't ask any more questions. She simply sealed the prepared food with plastic wrap every evening when her sister came home late, and sat in the living room listening to the clock on the wall ticking away, waiting for her sister to return.

Su Qing's "overtime" time was not actually spent entirely in the dessert shop.

She went to the bank and transferred all the wages she had saved from working at the dessert shop over the past seven years, along with income from several part-time jobs, into a newly opened bank account in Jiang Ran's name.

She went to the real estate transaction center and transferred the house assigned by the system to Jiang Ran's name.

When she got home, while Jiang Ran was still in school, she folded up the dresses that Jiang Ran had picked out for her when they went shopping last time, put them in a bag, and returned the ones with the tags still on to the brand store. She had tried these clothes on once in the mall and never taken them out of the bag again.

The saleswoman glanced at her again as she took the dress, probably wanting to ask something, but in the end she just silently refunded the money to her account.

She also went to the hair salon.

As she sat in front of the mirror, the familiar hairdresser held up the scissors to her long, flowing hair several times, asking her if she was really sure.

Su Qing looked at her long hair, which she had kept for several years, in the mirror, smiled, and said, "Let's cut it; it's too hot."

  

The scissors made a crisp metallic scraping sound as they closed, and a long strand of black hair slipped off her shoulder, which the hairdresser caught and put into his bag.

She sold her hair to a wig shop and deposited the 1,200 yuan she received into the same bank card.

As she walked out of the hair salon, the early autumn wind blew in through her collar, making the back of her neck feel cool. She raised her hand to touch her short, ear-length hair, feeling a little uncomfortable, but also thinking that it was fine this way... Less worries, less weight, and she could probably leave more easily.

It was evening a week later when Su Qing opened the door to her home. Jiang Ran was standing up from the sofa, ready to greet her at the door.

Two dishes and a soup were already laid out on the kitchen table, sealed with plastic wrap, with wisps of steam rising from the edges. She had calculated the time her sister would arrive home and served them from the pot ten minutes early.

She walked to the entrance hall, and the smile on her lips had just blossomed when her gaze froze the moment it fell on Su Qing.

My sister's favorite long hair is gone.

The long hair she used to comb carefully every morning and bury her face in to smell its fragrance every night has been transformed into a neat and tidy short bob.

Jiang Ran stood still, her hand still outstretched to take Su Qing's bag, but her fingers unconsciously curled slightly.

Looking at her sister's new hairstyle, seeing the stray hairs that should have been hanging over her shoulders now completely gone, revealing her sister's beautiful jawline and slender neck, she felt a tiny, tiny corner of her chest suddenly collapse, a fine, dense pain, like being pricked by a needle.

But she didn't ask why, because she knew that every decision her sister made had its own reasons.

She simply suppressed the dull pain in her heart, forced out a gentle and obedient smile as usual, stepped forward and gently hugged Su Qing, burying her face in the skin on the side of Su Qing's neck that was no longer covered by long hair.

"How's your new hairstyle, sister? My long hair was too much of a nuisance, so I cut it."

Su Qing tried her best to make her tone sound casual, and even shook her head with a smile, letting her newly cut short hair playfully swing on both sides of her cheeks.

"...Yes, it looks good."

Jiang Ran buried her face in her sister's shoulder, took a deep breath of her sister's familiar scent, then let go and took a step back, looking up at her with a smile that was even more pronounced than before. "No matter what, you're beautiful, sister."

Su Qing met the eyes that were trying hard to maintain a smile but couldn't hide a hint of sadness, and didn't expose them.

She bent down to change into slippers, and Jiang Ran had already picked up a red certificate from the shoe rack next to her and handed it to her. The expression on her face changed from the barely noticeable disappointment just now to a smug look of anticipation for her praise.

Su Qing took it and opened it; it was the first prize in the National High School Physics Competition. This was Jiang Ran's eighth competition award this year.

She looked up at her younger sister's face, which was clearly proud but deliberately feigned nonchalance, then looked down at the two characters "Jiang Ran" neatly printed on the certificate. Her lips curled up and her eyes curved.

"Another one? Other kids would be celebrating with firecrackers if they got one, but our Xiao Ran treats the competition like a stamp collecting game."

Su Qing took the certificate and walked to the wall in the living room. The wall was covered with Jiang Ran's awards, certificates, trophies and medals over the years, including those from math competitions, physics competitions, chemistry competitions, and more than a dozen from essay and painting competitions.

She tiptoed and hung the new certificate neatly in the only remaining space. Taking two steps back, she looked at the wall full of honors, and the pride and satisfaction in her eyes were impossible to hide.

Other kids would display their prizes in the most prominent spot in the living room, but Xiao Ran treats the competitions like stamp collecting, and this wall is almost not enough space for them.

Jiang Ran followed behind and stood next to Su Qing, also looking at the wall. Then she turned her head, took Su Qing's hand, and winked with a grin: "So, does that mean I can sleep with my sister for another week?"

Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then laughed helplessly.

Other people's kids who get first place want a new phone, a trip abroad, and limited-edition sneakers.

Her daughter, Xiao Ran, brings home so many awards, but every time she gets the same things, she sleeps with her older sister for a week.

She knew that Xiao Ran understood better than anyone else that even without these awards, she wouldn't refuse Xiao Ran if she wanted them.

But she would still carefully present the certificate to her each time, as if fulfilling some kind of promise that belonged only to them.

Su Qing reached out and ruffled her hair, her tone filled with undisguised laughter: "Yes, yes, yes, this certificate only takes a week to exchange, and with what we've saved up before, we could never pay it back in our next life."

Jiang Ran squinted slightly as she was being rubbed, finally revealing a genuine, unadorned smile.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was as warm and inviting as usual.

Jiang Ran had prepared two dishes and a soup in advance, which were placed in the middle. Su Qing added two more of her signature dishes.

Jiang Ran placed a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs into Su Qing's bowl, then rested her chin on her hand and watched her eat. Only after Su Qing finished chewing and swallowing did Jiang Ran continue eating her own rice with satisfaction.

After a moment, she looked up and asked in a softer voice than usual, "Sister, has the dessert shop been very busy these days? I noticed you came back half an hour later than usual."

Su Qing paused for a moment with her chopsticks, then nodded casually: "Yeah, we've taken on a few big orders recently, and Yan Ning can't handle them all by himself, so I'll work overtime to help him out."

"Then don't tire yourself out too much, sister." Jiang Ran said, then put another piece of pork rib on her plate.

Su Qing smiled as she watched her eat with her head down and explained that tomorrow was the weekend, asking her what she wanted to eat.

Jiang Ran said she wanted to eat her sister's sweet and sour pork ribs. Su Qing said, "Isn't this just sweet and sour pork ribs?" Jiang Ran said she wanted to eat it again tomorrow.

When they went to sleep that night, Jiang Ran wrapped her arms around Su Qing's waist from behind, resting her forehead on the back of Su Qing's neck, and her breathing gradually became even and long.

Su Qing opened her eyes in the darkness, listened to Xiao Ran's steady breathing behind her, and gently called out to the system in her mind, asking it to calculate the accounts again.

The system clearly listed every number in front of her: the monthly subsidy from the system, her salary at the dessert shop over the past seven years, overtime pay, extra subsidies she received for covering shifts for others, the few dresses she returned, and the long hair she sold.

All the money, totaling 255,800 yuan, has been deposited into that bank card.

The house was officially transferred to Jiang Ran's name a couple of days ago.

She spends those late hours after get off work doing these things.

That way, even if she leaves, even if the Jiang family treats Xiao Ran badly, her Xiao Ran will still have a place to go back to.

We won't be homeless, we won't go hungry, and we won't be like those days when we were huddled in a corner of the balcony, without a warm place to live.

This is the last thing she could leave behind.

After announcing the numbers, the system remained silent for a long time before softly saying, "Host, your heart rate is fast again."

Su Qing did not answer, but gently placed her hand on the warm back of the hand on her waist, looked at the thin ray of moonlight leaking in through the gap in the curtains, and closed her eyes.