Chapter 35: Sister is Back

Outside the window, the rain poured even harder, like sharp feathers shot out in a fierce, aggressive barrage, desperate to pierce through any cover blocking its path.

Shang Ying had spoken with such righteous conviction that Shang Yi was caught off guard. Were these really the words spoken in such an atmosphere?

He raised his head, his pine-needle-like eyes leaving her warm palm, quietly staring at the unfinished noodles in his bowl, then picking up his chopsticks again, looking somewhat downcast.

Shang Ying's technique for changing the subject wasn't clever at all, riddled with obvious flaws. He could feel the stiffness in her tone... but fine, it was fine this way too. He had overstepped.

Shang Ying sat awkwardly in her chair. After a long while, as the cool yogurt taste in her mouth gradually faded, she finally let out a soft sigh and gave Shang Yi's hair a firm rub.

"Don't put on that face, making it look like I bullied you." He looked so pathetic, like an abandoned stray dog.

She itchily pinched the boy's tender cheek again. The texture felt quite nice. It was just that Shang Yi maintained a cold face without offering a single bit of resistance, making that feeling of being stepped on even stronger.

Alright, during her time at the Shang family, she spent most of her days interacting with Shang Heng and Shang Yi. The former was like oil and water with her, but the latter was different.

Although Shang Yi didn't like to speak and always put on an aloof, push-everyone-away facade, Shang Ying knew full well deep down that this younger brother was actually quite obedient. He did whatever he was told, without needing a beating to learn how to behave.

So, their sibling relationship could still be mended. With this thought, her tone softened as she spoke like she was coaxing a young child.

"Before, I didn't know better, so I might have bullied you." Well, he actually was bullied, but I wasn't the one who did it, so I'll just play dumb.

"But hey, there isn't a sister under the sun who doesn't love her younger brother. Can't you see I've been coaxing you all this time to win you back?"

The chopsticks held between his fingertips paused. The dark eyes hidden beneath his messy bangs brightened uncontrollably for a second, as if light had finally pierced through a deep pool forced open by the rain.

The girl who had despised him for years was actually saying she loved him and was coaxing him right now. Shang Yi turned his head slowly, exceedingly slowly, his gaze falling onto her facial features, so similar to his own, trying to find a single trace of mockery on her face.

Toward Shang Ying, he possessed zero sense of security, not daring to analyze the logic behind her actions too much, terrified that it would all end up as a futile effort. Thus, the softer Shang Ying's attitude toward him grew, the stronger the unease in his heart became.

Even if he had confirmed again and again that the person before him had truly changed, if those words weren't spoken directly from her mouth, he would still remain trapped in a strange, inescapable loop.

Seeing him waver, Shang Ying's eyes darted, seizing the advantage to press further.

"Besides, the two of us came out of the exact same stomach! How could we really despise each other? If I really hated you, I would have kicked you to death while we were still inside!"

Shang Yi: ▔-▔?

"So," Shang Ying spoke with cadence, every single word hitting like a nail driven into the invisible wall between them, "let's turn the page on the past. From now on, your sister will order you around properly, and you will show proper respect to me. We'll still be a close, loving pair of twins."

She had finally said it.

The exact words he wanted to hear most.

Words that carried no physical weight yet outweighed everything else. Shang Yi's throat tightened, all sounds getting swept up into a surging wave in his heart, leaving only a faint whisper of air escaping his lips.

"Really...?"

Shang Ying clapped a hand onto his shoulder.

"Nonsense! You're my brother, my only brother." Even if you were picked up halfway.

‘His only brother.’

Struck by these few words, Shang Yi felt dazed. He raised his eyes, like a withered plant in a desert awaiting a water source, his gaze flowing over her lovely face.

"Then you promise."

He used every ounce of courage in his body, like a child begging for candy, asking her for this illusory guarantee.

A guarantee that she would never abandon or despise him again.

Shang Ying quickly raised three fingers.

"I promise, I promise! I will properly treasure and love Shang Yi, my biological younger brother!"

She tilted her head playfully, revealing that single, sharp canine tooth between her lips.

"Is that good enough?"

‘It was good enough.’

His sister was finally back.

Shang Yi could no longer hold back, leaning against Shang Ying and burying his head into her shoulder, soaking in the scent he had lost for years. His soft hair brushed lightly against her fair neck in a silent, aggrieved embrace amidst the quiet atmosphere.

Of course, it didn't last long.

Because once given that guarantee, Shang Yi was like a floodgate opened after years of restraint. All his pent-up grievances burst forth at once, letting Shang Ying finally understand the full history of "grudges and rivalries" between the twins.

"You kicked me out of the car and called me dirty."

‘No wonder he looked like he saw a ghost when she called out to him on the way to school.’

"You listened to Ning Wanyuan's words and hated me."

‘That Ning Wanyuan truly committed endless villainy!’

"You forbade me from making eye contact with you at school and wouldn't let others know we're related."

Hearing this, Shang Ying's lips twitched. Turns out she was the one who refused to let him get close! Fine, she had completely misunderstood him before.

After venting his grievances, Shang Yi clung to Shang Ying's embrace, refusing to leave no matter what, only settling down after getting a light punch from her.

‘Yup, as expected, any family's younger brother needs a good beating every now and then to become obedient.’

The weekend.

Early in the morning, intense arguments echoed from the study once again. Outside the door, Butler Yu and Aunt Zhao exchanged helpless glances, both letting out a soft sigh.

Downstairs in the living room, Ning Wanyuan sat comfortably, leisurely sipping her beauty-enhancing tea while enjoying the commotion above.

"I'm not taking tutoring lessons! I'm not taking them! Hurry up and send that person away! Are you crazy?! It's the weekend! I studied hard for five straight days, and you want to compress my weekend too?!"

"Your chemistry grades are atrocious! What's wrong with me finding someone to tutor you?! Midterms are right around the corner. Do you want to score another 28 points just to anger me to death?!"

BANG!

A teacup was set down heavily onto the table, sending clear water splashing ruthlessly over the edges in her intense fury, becoming one of the few victims caught in this uproar.

Shang Heng had called Shang Ying over early in the morning, opening with a demand for her to prepare study materials, as a tutor would arrive at the house right after lunch to give her lessons.

To Shang Ying, who had spent the entire day resting up like a corpse yesterday, this was more thunderous than last night's lightning and thunder. She wanted to reject it outright without a second thought. Unless the tutor was a young Justin Bieber, nothing was going to work.

Unsurprisingly, she was scolded by Shang Heng once more. Seeing that reasoning wasn't working, Shang Heng's patience ran out, and he issued an authoritative, absolute order.

Who was Shang Ying? Thrown into heavy snow by her deadbeat dad at six, dropped out at twelve, resumed school four years later, and by seventeen was mixing in Manila playing Russian roulette to clear debts.

Her temper had long been honed into razor-sharp edges by this ruthless society. She hated being ordered around by anyone above all else. Let alone when that tutor was Lin Yuan!