Her deskmate laughed. “But your second brother is so good to you.”
Pei Ruo looked down at the petals in her hands, her lips curving into a smile, feeling a warmth bloom in her heart.
“Of course, my second brother is really good to me.”
—
As autumn turned to winter in Lin City, the days passed by peacefully.
On a daily basis, Pei Su was gentle and reserved, always unconditionally spoiling his sister. In contrast, Pei Che often bickered with her and, at times, was quite strict in his supervision.
Pei Ruo had different dynamics with each of them—there were times of joy, but also moments of conflict.
Two days before New Year’s, Pei Chen and Liang Zhiyi were scheduled to travel abroad for a few days to negotiate an important deal, leaving the children at home.
That morning, Pei Ruo, along with her deskmate and a few close girlfriends, received an invitation from some boys in their class, who they usually got along with, to celebrate New Year’s Eve together on the 31st.
The plan was to have dinner after school, watch a movie, and then head to the city center square to ring in the New Year. After explaining the plan, a boy named Luo Hongcai looked at Pei Ruo and asked, “What do you think? Doesn’t it sound like a good plan?”
Pei Ruo nodded, “So, just the six of us?”
Luo Hongcai hesitated for a moment before replying, “It should just be us, but my brother might join us too. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? We’ll just do our own thing.”
Luo Hongcai’s older brother was a senior in high school, and they had met him a few times before.
The other girls agreed, and Pei Ruo, also interested, decided to join in. However, since it was going to be a late-night outing, she knew she had to inform her family first.
She mentioned the plan to her brothers in their group chat. Pei Su, concerned for her safety, asked several detailed questions, to which she assured him that everything would be safe. Pei Che didn’t respond, leaving her unsure if he had even seen the message.
After school, the three siblings met up. Pei Ruo noticed that Pei Che seemed a bit off, his expression darker than usual, though she wasn’t sure why.
When they got home, she cautiously brought up the outing again. Pei Su, being soft-hearted, eventually agreed, but Pei Che interjected, “Are you out of your mind? Staying out that late with a bunch of boys—how can you guarantee your safety?”
“It’s not like I’ll be alone with any of the boys. We’re going as a big group, just to celebrate the New Year together.”
Suppressing his rising anger, Pei Che’s cold gaze swept over her. “How do you know those boys have pure intentions?”
Pei Ruo was baffled. “We’re just friends. Why wouldn’t it be pure? I don’t like them, and they don’t like me.”
Pei Che let out a derisive laugh. Pei Ruo moved closer, trying to soften him up with some playful coaxing, but he remained firm: “You’re not going. End of discussion.”
Hearing this, Pei Ruo’s temper flared. She couldn’t understand why he was so adamantly against it, especially when he was using such a narrow-minded view of her classmates. She hated being controlled like this and angrily retorted, “I don’t care. I’m going to ask Dad.”
Pei Che smirked. “Go ahead, call him. Let’s see what he says.”
She immediately called her father. After a few words, she was surprised to learn that Pei Che had already spoken to him about the situation. To her dismay, Pei Chen agreed with Pei Che’s stance.
No matter how much Pei Ruo pleaded, Pei Chen wouldn’t budge. Reluctantly, she had to agree to stay home.
After hanging up, she looked at Pei Che, her eyes filling with a mix of frustration and hurt that quickly turned to tears. Without another word, she spun around and quickly retreated to her room, shutting the door behind her.
Pei Su’s brows furrowed as he immediately followed her. “Ruo Ruo—”
Inside the room, the girl sat on the edge of her bed, crying. Pei Su entered, sat beside her, and gently patted her head, his voice filled with worry as he tried to comfort her:
“Ruo Ruo, it’s okay if you can’t go tomorrow night. I’ll take you out during the New Year’s holiday instead, okay?”
“Wuuu…”
Just then, Pei Che walked into the room. Seeing her crying like that, the icy, tense expression in his eyes softened slightly, and he hesitated before speaking:
“Ruo Ruo…”
But Pei Ruo cut him off with a tearful glare, her voice trembling with accusation, “Big Brother agreed, but you went behind my back and called Dad to make sure he wouldn’t let me go. Pei Che, what gives you the right to control me like this?!”
At her words, Pei Che’s face gradually darkened, and he responded quietly, but with a piercing edge:
“I’m your brother. Why shouldn’t I have the right to look out for you?”
She cried harder, genuinely angry for the first time. “This isn’t looking out for me! You’re just being bossy and unreasonable! I’m not a little kid anymore! I hate you! Why do I have to have two brothers? I wish I only had one…”
As soon as the words left her mouth, Pei Che’s dark lashes fluttered, and for a brief moment, his eyes reflected a shock he had never felt before.
Pei Su, also taken aback by her words, glanced at Pei Che with a furrowed brow. “Ruo Ruo, how could you say something like that?”
“…”
The moment the words slipped out, Pei Ruo regretted them. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, and now she was at a loss for how to take them back.
The room fell into a tense silence, the air growing thick with discomfort.
After what felt like an eternity, Pei Che finally spoke, his voice low and hoarse, each word heavy with finality:
“Fine. If you hate me that much, then from now on, do whatever you want. I won’t interfere anymore. You can just pretend you don’t have me as a brother. That way, you’ll be happy, and I’ll have one less thing to worry about.”
With that, he turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
His words echoed in her mind as Pei Ruo’s head drooped, her lips pressed tightly together, her nose stinging with the onset of more tears, blurring her vision.
—
After Pei Che left, Pei Su stayed with Pei Ruo for a long time, comforting her until she finally began to calm down.
He fetched a towel to wipe her face, trying to lighten the mood with a playful remark, “You’ve cried so much you look like a little panda, you know that?”
Pei Ruo pouted slightly.
Pei Su then asked if she was hungry. When she nodded, he told her he’d go get her something to eat.
In the kitchen, Pei Su asked the housekeeper to prepare three bowls of pork rib soup while he waited.
After a while, as the meal was being served, Pei Che walked into the kitchen. He hesitated before speaking, but Pei Su beat him to it, offering reassurance, “She’s not crying anymore. It’s nothing serious. What she said earlier was just in the heat of the moment, don’t take it to heart.”
Pei Che licked his molars, his face still cold, and without saying a word, he picked up his chopsticks and transferred the poached egg from his bowl to Pei Ruo’s. “I’m going back to my room,” he said before leaving.
After dinner, both Pei Ruo and Pei Che stayed in their rooms, neither making an effort to talk to the other.
The next day, which was also the last day of the year, Pei Ruo woke up feeling under the weather. The temperature had dropped unexpectedly the night before, and with too few blankets on her bed, she woke up with a runny nose and a cough.
She forced herself out of bed despite feeling unwell, got ready, and headed to the dining room. On her way, she ran into Pei Che, who had just finished breakfast and was heading out.
Their eyes met briefly, but she lowered her head, unsure of what to say. He, too, turned his gaze away coldly and brushed past her without a word.
Pei Che left for school first, while Pei Su waited for Pei Ruo so they could leave together.
On the way to school, Pei Ruo finally learned why Pei Che had been so adamantly opposed to her going to the New Year’s Eve celebration.
Yesterday afternoon, some of Pei Che’s classmates overheard Luo Hongcai’s older brother talking about how he planned to join Pei Ruo and the other girls for New Year’s Eve. Luo Hongcai’s brother had a notorious reputation for being a troublemaker and a womanizer. He had dated many girls and was known for his terrible character. The guy mentioned that he was quite interested in the girl named “Pei Ruo” from his brother’s class and that he was planning to see if he could “hook up” with her that night, thinking it might be fun to date a junior high girl.
When Pei Che heard this, he was ready to go over and beat the guy up.
How dare anyone even think about going after his sister.
But his classmates held him back, reasoning that causing a scene would only make things worse for Pei Ruo, especially since nothing had actually happened yet.
That was why Pei Che had been in such a foul mood after school and why he had been so firm in his opposition.
He hadn’t told Pei Ruo the truth for two reasons: first, he wanted to handle the situation himself and figure out whether Luo Hongcai was aware of his brother’s intentions, and second, he didn’t want to scare her. After all, this was a dirty situation, and Pei Ruo was still so innocent.
Pei Su explained that Pei Che had only told him about the situation the previous night.
“Ruo Ruo, if I had known about this, I would have let you cry and argue all you wanted, but I still wouldn’t have let you go,” Pei Su said.
Upon learning the truth, Pei Ruo felt a mix of emotions.
Why hadn’t he just told her the truth? It made her think he was being domineering and unreasonable, and anyone would be angry under those circumstances…
But now she knew that no matter how angry she was, she shouldn’t have said those hurtful things.
Pei Su also advised her to find a time to apologize to Pei Che.
When she arrived at her class, she turned down Luo Hongcai’s invitation to the New Year’s Eve celebration. Though she was still upset, she kept her feelings in check and didn’t reveal what she had learned.
All day, Pei Ruo felt increasingly unwell. By the afternoon, after attending a physical education class and being exposed to the wind on the playground, her cold worsened significantly.
At one point, she considered texting Pei Che to apologize, but she didn’t know how to start. Although they had argued before, it had never been this serious, and she wasn’t sure how to handle the situation.
As evening approached and school let out, Pei Su had to stay late for an advanced class, meaning he would return home later. Pei Ruo knew that Pei Che likely wouldn’t wait for her after school, so she planned to wait for him at home.
But even after the sky darkened, Pei Che still hadn’t come home.
Unable to resist, she called him. The background noise on his end was loud, as if he were in a crowded place. His cold voice came through the receiver: “What’s up?”
Pei Ruo hesitated, then softly asked, “Brother, aren’t you coming home for dinner tonight?”
There was a pause, and then he replied, “We’ll see. I’m busy right now.”
Her head drooped, and she quietly responded with an “Okay.”
It was clear that Pei Che was still upset and probably didn’t want to see her at all.
Sitting on the couch, her nose tingling with the onset of tears, the housekeeper approached and informed her that dinner was ready. She told the housekeeper to go home for the evening.
After she was left alone, Pei Ruo felt too miserable to eat. She returned to her room and curled up under the covers.
Despite being wrapped up, she couldn’t shake the cold that seemed to seep through her skin, infiltrating her body and slowly draining her consciousness.
She closed her eyes, feeling as though something heavy was pressing down on her. Combined with her emotional turmoil, it was almost suffocating.
She suspected she had a fever.
But with no one else at home, she didn’t know what to do.
If only her second brother were here.
But they had fought, and he must really hate her now…
As she thought about how everyone else was out celebrating New Year’s Eve while her day had gone so terribly, a tear slipped from the corner of her eye. As she silently cried, she suddenly heard the door open. The light from the hallway spilled into the room, instantly brightening the darkness.
A blurry figure appeared at the doorway.
Earlier, when Pei Che received her call, he had actually been at a mall, picking out a New Year’s gift to cheer her up.
He had spent much of the previous night reflecting on how he had handled things, realizing that his approach and tone had been inappropriate. Pei Ruo was growing up—she wasn’t a little girl anymore and had her own thoughts and feelings.
The moment he heard her softly call him “Brother” over the phone, whatever anger and sadness he had been holding onto crumbled, leaving behind only a tender softness.
She was his own little sister.
How could he truly stay mad at her?
After buying the gift, Pei Che rushed home, only to find the house unusually quiet. Concerned, he headed straight to her room.
When he pushed open the door, he saw a lump under the covers, knowing immediately that Pei Ruo was lying there.
He was surprised that she had gone to bed so early. As he walked to the bedside, ready to speak, he noticed her red, tear-streaked eyes.
Seeing that she had been crying, Pei Che’s brow furrowed deeply. He reached out to touch her face, only to find it alarmingly hot. His heart sank as he asked, “What’s going on? Why is your face so hot?”
Upon hearing his voice, her tears welled up again and spilled over:
“Second Brother…”
“What’s wrong? Don’t cry, don’t cry. Second Brother’s here,” he said, his heart tightening as if pricked by countless needles, filling him with an overwhelming sense of panic. He placed his hand on her forehead, confirming the fever. “You’re burning up, do you have a fever?”
Pei Che asked how she felt, and she weakly replied that her head was spinning and she felt very unwell. His frown deepened. “If you felt sick, why didn’t you say anything when you called earlier?”
She bit her lip and didn’t respond.
The truth was, she hadn’t dared to tell him because she thought he was still angry with her…
Pei Che gently patted her head and immediately said, “Get up and put on some clothes. I’m taking you to the hospital.”
He helped her sit up and draped a coat over her shoulders. As Pei Ruo looked at his worried expression, she suddenly remembered how she had said she didn’t want him as a brother yesterday and that she didn’t want him to take care of her anymore.
Guilt surged through her heart with every caring action he took.
Even though Pei Che could be strict and often teased her, she had always known how much he cared for her, no less than their elder brother.
If the situation had been reversed and he had said he didn’t want her as his sister, how heartbroken would she have been?
As these thoughts ran through her mind, tears started to fall again, dripping onto the covers.
Seeing her lower her head and begin to cry again, Pei Che assumed she was still upset about what he had said the day before. His heart twisted painfully at the thought.
Why had he been so stubborn with her…
His eyes reddened slightly as he reached out to gently wipe away her tears. His voice, hoarse with emotion, softened as he called her by her nickname:
“Don’t cry, Tangyuan. Please don’t be mad at your brother anymore, okay?”