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

Cui Jiayi ran away.

After strangling Liu Liya, she stole all the money, abandoned her car, and disappeared into the roadside woods. By the time the police sirens arrived and approached, the dense forest had already swallowed her whole.

Liu Liya's husband rushed over from the construction site after being notified by the police. The dark-skinned man, with cement dust stuck in his fingernails, stood outside the cordon and watched as the stretcher was lifted into the ambulance. He stood there stunned for a long time, as if his soul had been taken away, before squatting down by the roadside and wailing.

He knew he wasn't giving her enough money to buy those designer bags and gold cards at beauty salons, but he still handed over every penny of his salary to her every month, and wouldn't even smoke a decent cigarette...

As early as the first day Cui Jiayi disappeared, the Jiang family arranged for people to be stationed near the residential area where Jiang Ran and Su Qing lived, working in four shifts around the clock.

Jiang Mingyuan gave the order in a very calm tone, simply saying it was just in case. But now everyone is filled with lingering fear. No one dares to imagine what would have happened if this precaution hadn't been taken.

Cui Ying sat on the soft couch, a thin blanket slipping off her shoulders. She didn't pick it up, but just stared blankly at the sycamore tree outside the window, rustling in the night wind. Her lips moved several times before she finally managed to squeeze out a hoarse sentence.

She couldn't understand how things had turned out this way. How could that little girl, who used to hide behind the door and secretly watch her put on makeup, and then run away blushing when she was discovered, have gone so far as to commit murder?

She once thought that Cui Jiayi was just spoiled, just a little jealous, and just had an extreme personality because she hadn't had a father's discipline since childhood.

She thought that by giving her money, settling her troubles, and scolding her while softening her heart every time she caused trouble, she could eventually make her better, even just a little bit.

But now she understands that from the first time she saw the girl hiding behind her stepmother, scrutinizing her new dress with sharp and cold eyes, Cui Jiayi has never changed. She has just become less and less adept at hiding her true nature.

Jiang Ren didn't say much. She picked up her phone and sent a message to Su Qing, briefly telling her what had happened that night and telling her to be careful lately and try not to go out alone.

Su Qing leaned against the kitchen counter, the light from her phone screen reflecting on her expressionless face.

She read it from beginning to end and replied to Jiang Ren with two words: "Received."

Then she put her phone on the table, locked it, picked up a glass of lemonade, took a sip, and thought that these last few days probably wouldn't be peaceful.

Just then, another call came in.

Su Qing looked at the name that popped up on the caller ID, then glanced at the door, walked over and opened it.

Sun Yaqin stood outside the door, waving her phone in one hand and carrying a bulging canvas bag in the other, with a "you know what I mean" expression on her lips.

"Sister Yaqin? What brings you here?"

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Su Qing was somewhat surprised, but she still stepped aside to let her in.

Sun Yaqin changed her shoes with the same ease as if she were at home. She put the canvas bag on the dining table and said something that Su Qing could guess without her saying it.

Su Qing paused for a moment, several recent events flashing through her mind... then blurted out, "Is it because of Aunt Cui?"

The system issued a restrained, almost shocked notification in her mind: [Host, this is the first time you have made a correct social inference independently without any external prompts. Your social intuition rating may need to be upgraded from D to—]

"No," Su Qing interrupted it in her mind, "I still want to be my D-rank. D-rank is great, there's no pressure."

[...Understood, Category D has been reserved.]

Sun Yaqin was already sitting on the sofa, taking things out of the canvas bag one by one, saying that Yingying had asked her to be a mediator and asking if she was welcome.

Before Su Qing could speak, a faint voice came from the direction of the kitchen: "Aunt Sun, who comes over to plead for someone and immediately exposes themselves?"

Jiang Ran walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of freshly cooked sweet and sour pork ribs. She was wearing Su Qing's light gray apron, and the ribs were evenly coated with a glossy sauce. The sweet and sour aroma filled the entire living room with her steps.

Upon hearing this, Sun Yaqin showed no remorse whatsoever. Instead, she shrugged confidently and said, "I didn't want to either, but with Xiao Ran's intelligence, even if I didn't say anything, just by looking at me standing at this door, you would definitely be able to tell what I'm here for, right? So rather than being exposed by you, I might as well admit it first. This is called strategic surrender."

Jiang Ran placed the ribs on the dining table and denied it three times with a blank expression: she didn't know, she didn't, and Aunt Sun shouldn't talk nonsense.

Sun Yaqin leaned closer to her, tilted her head, stared into her eyes for several seconds, and then burst out laughing, even the pretty fine lines at the corners of her eyes curved up.

She clapped her hands and said, "Okay, okay, I'll stop teasing them." Actually, besides acting as a mediator, she was also there to freeload a meal.

As she spoke, she emptied the canvas bag of contents, revealing several small cans packaged like beverage containers, each printed with cartoon images of peaches and strawberries, and labeled with the words "3% alcohol content."

"It's a fruit wine with very low alcohol content, so kids can drink it too, what do you think?" Sun Yaqin twirled the jar in her hand.

Su Qing and Jiang Ran exchanged a glance, then laughed at the same time.

Of course, you're welcome.

Soon, all sorts of dishes were served.

Jiang Ran made the sweet and sour pork ribs, and Su Qing added two more of her signature dishes: scrambled eggs with tomatoes and winter melon and pork rib soup. Sun Yaqin also magically pulled out a box of cream puffs from a half-sugar dessert shop from her canvas bag, saying that she had just bought them on the way.

In recent years, Sun Yaqin has come over for meals every few days, each time with a different excuse, such as no one cooking at home today, smelling the aroma as she passed by, or wanting to change the environment after buying a new set of tableware.

But Su Qing knew that she just liked eating here.

Here, she is not Mrs. Cheng, not the mother of two sons, and not the Ms. Sun who holds champagne and chats with celebrities at parties.

Here, she is Sister Yaqin, who can lounging on the sofa and laughing heartily, sitting cross-legged with her legs tucked up, and eating a second bowl of rice without caring about her image.

Moreover, the dishes that Su Qing and Jiang Ran cook are really delicious, no worse than the chefs you hire at home.

Sun Yaqin helped serve the rice and dishes, and the three of them sat down at the table.

She took out a can of fruit wine, unzipped it, poured a glass for Su Qing and Jiang Ran, and then poured herself a full glass.

The liquid is light pink and has fine bubbles, looking exactly like the strawberry-flavored carbonated drinks sold in convenience stores.

Su Qing picked it up and took a sip. It was sweet and sour with a rich peach aroma. It had a slightly sandy texture when it went down her throat, and it didn't feel like wine at all.

Jiang Ran also thought that this stuff tasted just like carbonated fruit juice, nothing special.

Sun Yaqin only belatedly glanced at the small print on the jar after drinking most of the cup... It was peach flavored, but she clearly remembered that she had taken the strawberry flavored one.

The alcohol content was three percent, but she felt like she had drunk thirty percent.

Forget it.