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

Half an hour after the meal, Su Qing cleaned up the dishes and poured Jiang Ran a glass of warm water, placing it by her bedside.

The little one leaned against the bed, holding a water glass in both hands, sipping it slowly, with a slight blush still remaining on his cheeks from eating strawberries.

Su Qing leaned back in her chair and watched her for a while, then suddenly asked, "Want to go out and have some fun?"

Jiang Ran paused for a moment while holding the cup.

She looked up at Su Qing, her lips moved slightly, then closed again, as if she was hesitating about something.

Her eyes glanced towards the window, then quickly looked away, finally lowering her head to look at the water in the glass without saying a word.

Su Qing raised an eyebrow.

[Host.]

The system's voice sounded: [Analysis of the target's micro-expressions and body language shows that she has a clear expectant response to the suggestion of "going out to play"—her pupils dilated by eleven percent within one second, and her forward tilt increased by eight degrees.]

[But this was immediately followed by inhibitory behaviors, such as biting the lower lip, avoiding eye contact, and withdrawing the shoulders. This is a typical pattern of wanting to speak but holding back.]

[She wanted to go out, but she didn't dare say so.] the system concluded.

Su Qing nodded inwardly; she could tell even without the system's analysis.

The system continued to retrieve data: [According to community follow-up records and neighbor testimonies, Jiang Ran's activities at her adoptive parents' home were strictly restricted.]

[Her daily activities are limited to the balcony of her home and the backyard where clutter is piled up. She goes out an average of 12:30 times a week, always to go to the market with her adoptive mother to pick up groceries.]

She was not allowed to go out and play alone, nor was she permitted to participate in any social activities with children her age.

Su Qing stood up, put her phone in her pocket, walked to the bedside, and bent down.

"Let's go," she said, slipping one hand under Jiang Ran's knees and supporting her back with the other, scooping the little one out of bed. "Let's go out and get some sunshine; it'll be good for your health."

Jiang Ran froze for a moment.

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It wasn't out of fear, but because the action was so sudden that she hadn't even had time to react before she was firmly held in his arms.

Su Qing's arms were quite strong, but her movements were surprisingly gentle. The hand supporting her back even patted her shoulder blade lightly, as if soothing a ruffled kitten.

The system spoke again: [I didn't expect the host to know that sunbathing is good for the body.]

[Ultraviolet light promotes vitamin D synthesis, which helps with calcium absorption, and is indeed beneficial to Jiang Ran's mental and physical well-being.]

[But since you know so much about health, why did you ruin your health like that before?]

"Shut up."

Su Qing silently replied with two words in her mind.

[Irregular sleep patterns and disordered eating habits are among the contributing factors to advanced gastric cancer.]

Su Qing ignored it.

Jiang Ran was held in Su Qing's arms. She was a little stiff at first, but she quickly softened.

Her face was pressed against Su Qing's shoulder, the tip of her nose just touching the neckline of her hoodie.

Su Qing's clothes didn't smell of perfume, only the fresh scent of laundry detergent, mixed with her own clean, faint fragrance, like a sun-dried quilt.

Moreover, the way her older sister held her was different from how her adoptive mother held her.

Her adoptive mother also held her, or rather, she didn't hold her, but dragged her by the arm from the kitchen to the balcony, her fingernails digging into her thin upper arm, leaving several red marks.

But her sister's palms were open, warm, and steadily supporting her back and the back of her legs, as if afraid she would fall.

She unconsciously buried her face a little more in Su Qing's shoulder.

The pleasant scent became clearer, warm and comforting, enveloping her completely.

It wasn't the kind of vague warmth you see in a dream, but a real, tangible body temperature.

She suddenly remembered the dream she had last night.

In her dream, she was held in someone's arms. The person's heartbeat was steady and strong, and his scent was clean and fresh, making her want to shrink into him.

She tried to look up at that face, but she couldn't see it clearly no matter what she did.

But now, with her eyes open, she can see her sister's jawline, the fine downy hairs behind her ears, and feel the slight rise and fall of her breath as she walks.

It's exactly the same as in my dream.

Jiang Ran's lips moved slightly, and she silently uttered two words.

mom.

She didn't dare to say it aloud, but silently repeated it in her mind, then quickly buried her face in Su Qing's shoulder and closed her eyes tightly.

Su Qing carried her to the first floor of the hospital, through the outpatient hall, and turned into the small garden behind the inpatient department through a side door.

The hospital has a pretty good green space. A stone path winds between two rows of old banyan trees, whose canopies block out the strongest part of the afternoon sun, leaving only dappled light that sways gently on the ground.

The air smelled of freshly dried grass, mixed with the fragrance of osmanthus blossoms drifting from who-knows-where.

Su Qing found a flat spot on the ground and put Jiang Ran down. She bent down to straighten the hem of her hospital gown and then naturally took Jiang Ran's hand.

Jiang Ran's hands were very small; her entire palm could only grasp two of Su Qing's fingers.

Su Qing didn't say anything, but tightened her grip on that small hand.

There weren't many people on the path; occasionally you could see elderly people in hospital gowns sitting in wheelchairs, being pushed slowly by nurses.

An elderly woman with gray hair smiled at Jiang Ran. Jiang Ran subconsciously shrank closer to Su Qing's legs, but this time she didn't tremble; she just gripped Su Qing's fingers tightly.

On the lawn in front, several children who had clearly recovered were chasing and playing.

A boy of about five or six years old was running around unsteadily, holding a paper airplane in his hand, followed by two even smaller children who were giggling and reaching for the airplane.

The paper airplane drew an arc in the air and crashed into the flower bed next to it. Several children rushed over and laughed so loudly that two birds in the tree were startled and flew away.

Jiang Ran paused for a moment.

She stood on the path, holding Su Qing's hand, watching the children in the distance.

Their laughter was loud, like bubbles bursting in the sunlight, sparkling, crisp, and loud.

She watched them fight over the paper airplane, watched them fish it out of the flowerbed and throw it back into the air, watched them roll around on the grass, laughing so hard they couldn't catch their breath.

Her face was expressionless, but her eyes never left them.

Su Qing glanced down at her, but didn't ask her anything like, "Do you want to go play with them?"

She knew that in Jiang Ran's current state, being surrounded by a group of strange children to greet her would probably only trigger a stress response.

She simply held Jiang Ran's hand and continued walking slowly, letting the little one see for himself.

Whether she can get enough of looking at him or not, whether she wants to get closer or not, is entirely up to her.

They sat down on a stone bench.

Su Qing leaned back, looked up at the banyan tree leaves above her, and dappled sunlight fell on her face. She squinted.

Jiang Ran sat next to her, still holding Su Qing's two fingers tightly.

Her eyes were still fixed on the children in the distance, but her body had already naturally leaned against Su Qing's arm.

Su Qing glanced down at the little head that was leaning towards her, said nothing, and propped her arm out slightly to make her more comfortable.

[Host,] the system popped up again, [In the current situation, Jiang Ran's cortisol level has dropped to its lowest level since admission.]

Holding hands and physical contact are highly effective in reducing anxiety levels in children, and your approach aligns with best practices in psychology.

Su Qing silently murmured "oh" to herself.

[Interestingly,] the system continued, [when she leaned against you, she was silently uttering a word. Lip-reading analysis showed that she was saying 'mama'.]

Su Qing did not speak.

She looked down at Jiang Ran. The little one was leaning on her arm, her eyes half-closed. Sunlight filtered through the banyan leaves and fell on her face, melting away the tense expression and revealing the quiet demeanor of a seven-year-old.

Su Qing looked up and continued to watch the swaying leaves.

The system waited for a long time without receiving a response, and wisely fell silent.