Chapter 13

Bai Tongsheng felt that the scene at this moment was the most beautiful frame among all the landscapes she had ever seen.

Yes, a landscape.

A dynamic one that made her heartstrings quiver in sudden realization.

Bai Shuangshuang reached her, and an irrepressible smile bloomed on Bai Tongsheng’s face. She rose on tiptoe, ready to fling herself onto the back that would soon turn toward her—

“Here’s some money. Just sit in the dessert shop and wait for me. That way, your feet won’t hurt.”

With that, she tucked a red bill into Bai Tongsheng’s pocket.

“If anything comes up, call me. You won’t go running off, right?”

Bai Tongsheng’s face fell at once. She gave Bai Shuangshuang a light swat—smack—and this time, she truly burst into tears.

It was a heartrending, aggrieved crying, her little face all scrunched up in wrinkles, somehow making it oddly endearing.

She didn’t utter a single sound this time. Grievance filled more than half her emotions, leaving no room for even a word of complaint.

Bai Shuangshuang let her cry herself out, then pulled a tissue from her bag to wipe her face.

The moment her hand touched Bai Tongsheng’s cheek, it was slapped away. Choking back sobs, she wore an expression that screamed, “I’m never talking to you again! Don’t you dare touch me!”

Rather than pull back right away, Bai Shuangshuang rubbed at her face once more, only to have her hand batted off again, just as expected.

A truly furious Little Firecracker bristled like a little hedgehog, spikes everywhere to ward off anyone who came near.

Bai Shuangshuang made a third attempt to pluck out those spines—and got pricked once more.

As the saying goes, three strikes and you’re out. She sighed and withdrew her hand to her side, but Bai Tongsheng grabbed it, the one still clutching the tissue, and pressed it to her own face. Her eyes were red as she glared.

Helpless yet amused, Bai Shuangshuang couldn’t begin to guess what was churning in that head of hers, but she wiped away the tear stains clinging to her cheeks all the same.

As she did, she murmured, “Going to act shameless like that again?”

Bai Tongsheng said nothing.

“Are you going to keep your promises from now on? Otherwise, next time I won’t believe a word you say. Understand?”

Little Firecracker turned her head away, refusing to look.

“I’ll let this slide, but if there’s a next time, I really won’t trust you anymore. It’s up to you whether you take my words to heart—I’m only saying it once. All right, hop on.”

Bai Tongsheng sneaked a glance and saw her already turned around, crouched low. With a huff, she declared, “I won’t let you carry me unless you beg!”

“…Bai Tongsheng! Don’t push your luck. I’m counting to three, and if you’re not up here, I’ll leave you behind for real.”

“Three—”

She hadn’t even reached two before a new weight settled on her back.

In a fit of anger, Bai Tongsheng sank her teeth into her shoulder. “Bai Shuangshuang! It wouldn’t kill you to beg!”

Bai Shuangshuang delivered a firm swat to her backside without mercy. “Bai Tongsheng, are you a dog? Let go!”

“You hit my butt again!”

“Who told you to misbehave? Naughty girls get spanked.”

“You’re full of crap!”

Smack!

“Say that again next time, and I’ll yank your pants down and spank you right over my knee.”

“Bai Shuangshuang! I’ll get my revenge! When I grow up, I’ll get you back! Just wait!”

“Oh? Then whatever you do, don’t forget.”

“I’ll remember it for the rest of my life!”

…

They spent the entire afternoon at Xu Qin’s house. When Xu Qin tried to persuade them to stay for dinner, Bai Tongsheng—who had been glued quietly to Bai Shuangshuang’s side since they walked in—finally spoke up.

She refused the invitation, of course.

Bai Shuangshuang, seeing how firm she was, could only give Xu Qin an apologetic smile as they took their leave.

Xu Qin was thrilled they’d come over and didn’t press the issue. As she saw them to the door, she insisted they take some of her homemade little desserts with them.

This, at least, Bai Tongsheng didn’t turn down. After a warning glance from Bai Shuangshuang, she muttered another reluctant thank-you.

Once they left Xu Qin’s house, Bai Shuangshuang tugged Bai Tongsheng off in a different direction.

“Bai Shuangshuang, this isn’t the way home—you’re going the wrong way!”

“I know. We’re catching the bus. I don’t fancy carrying you halfway there.”

She huffed, plainly displeased.

“I’m not heavy! It wouldn’t hurt you to carry me! Bai Shuangshuang, you’re so stingy!”

Amused, Bai Shuangshuang flicked her forehead. “You’ve got some nerve calling me stingy. Who’s carrying whom here? You’re not the one getting tired.”

“Don’t flick my head!”

The bus wasn’t crowded. Bai Shuangshuang claimed a double seat in the back, and before long, a head lolled onto her shoulder.

She glanced over to find Bai Tongsheng fast asleep, eyes closed.

Bai Shuangshuang scooted forward a touch, giving her room to lean more comfortably.

Her phone buzzed. Glancing down, she saw it was Yu Xichi.

“Shuangshuang, you free right now? Auntie has something she’d like to discuss with you.”

“Mm, go ahead, Auntie.”

“Auntie Xu can’t keep staying at home to help me look after you girls anymore, right? I was thinking of hiring another auntie for you. But Shengsheng messaged me and said no need—she said it’s just the two of you at home, that’s enough. So I wanted to ask you: if it’s just you two, would that be okay?”

Yu Xichi’s voice was filled with helplessness, and Bai Shuangshuang could easily imagine how Bai Tongsheng had unilaterally decided this on her own.

“I don’t mind, but if no one’s home, how will Shengsheng eat lunch?”

“She said she’d handle it herself—probably order takeout. You don’t need to worry; she won’t let herself starve. Since you agree too, I won’t hire anyone else. Then on weekends, we can have a part-time cleaner come in regularly to tidy up. For meals on weekdays, if you’re tired, Shuangshuang, just get takeout. Sound good?”

“Sure.”

“Then thank you so much, Shuangshuang. I’ll get back as soon as I can.”

She smiled. “Auntie, I should be the one thanking you.”

For giving her such a warm home, it was only right that she devote her whole life to repaying them.

~~~

With just the two of them, meals were actually quite convenient.

That evening, Bai Shuangshuang didn’t cook rice. Instead, she made two bowls of beef noodle soup. Halfway through eating, she asked, “Why did you tell Auntie not to hire another helper?”

Bai Tongsheng was straightforward. “I don’t like it.”

She assumed it was because she disliked Xu Qin. “Auntie Xu is really nice to you. Besides, we don’t know what the new one would be like—maybe you’d like her.”

Bai Tongsheng looked at her, enunciating each word seriously. “No matter who the auntie is, I won’t like her!”

“Why?”

Bai Tongsheng fell silent. She picked up her white porcelain spoon, took a sip of broth, lowered her eyes, and focused on her noodles.

“Why don’t you like it?”

Bai Shuangshuang pressed.

Bai Tongsheng glanced at her, then quickly dropped her gaze again. “Because you like it.”

She froze. A chill suddenly surged from the depths of her heart.

Her vision blurred for a moment, and a long-buried memory surfaced.

Back then, Bai Tongsheng had said the exact same thing.

“Because you like it, I don’t.”

It was a sculpture she had spent ages making by hand, wrapped up with joyful anticipation to give to her. But the other girl hadn’t even unwrapped it fully. She’d looked at it coldly, said those words, and without hesitation, tossed it straight into the trash.

And now, without warning, she heard them again.

The sisterly bond that had been steadily improving seemed on the verge of collapse in that instant. Bai Shuangshuang felt it was already a monumental effort just to keep smiling, yet for some reason, she couldn’t stop herself from asking the next self-humiliating question.

“So… because I like it, that’s why you don’t?”

Was this her way of driving away everyone she liked, leaving her with nothing?

Bai Tongsheng kept her head down, eating her noodles, oblivious to the stiff smile frozen on her face. She bit her lip—the words she was about to say felt utterly mortifying.

She blurted them out in a rush, then abandoned her bowl entirely. Her face burning red, she bolted from her seat.

“Because you like her more than you like me, so I don’t like her! I never said I like you, okay! It’s just… you’re family, so you can’t like anyone else more than me! No matter what you say, I won’t let anyone else come over. Just give up on that! Hmph!”

Bai Tongsheng fled back to her room in a flash, her face as hot as a baboon’s backside. She kicked a chair in frustration, annoyed at that string of words she’d just let slip.

She was dying of embarrassment in front of Bai Shuangshuang!

She must have lost her mind to say something like that!

The more she thought about it, the more mortified she felt. Bai Tongsheng spun in circles on the spot, at a total loss for how to backpedal.

Bai Shuangshuang was probably dying laughing right now!

Aaaahhh! So annoying!!!

Footsteps approached from outside the door. Bai Tongsheng paled—oh no, Bai Shuangshuang must have gotten tired of snickering to herself and come to mock her to her face.

She wanted to lock the door, but then remembered it was Bai Shuangshuang’s room too—she had a key anyway. As she flailed in panic with no solution in sight, Bai Shuangshuang was already standing in the doorway.

Bai Tongsheng stood just inside, her hand reaching for the door. She looked up, not yet catching her expression, when Bai Shuangshuang suddenly pulled her into a tight embrace.

She heard Bai Shuangshuang whisper in her ear, her voice so very gentle.

And she heard something in her heart respond to those words with an unusual, thunderous thump.

“A-Sheng, thank you.”

—A-Sheng.

—No one had ever called her that before.

—But it sounded so nice.