Su Mengli instinctively raised her hand and brought it down on her little sister’s head.
“Thud.” Su Mengyao clutched the spot on her head that had been knocked, gazing up at her sister with a pitiful expression. “Ouch, that hurts.”
“Cut it out—I didn’t even use any force,” Su Mengli said, looking at her speechlessly.
Even if she had put some real strength into it, there was no way it would have produced an actual thudding sound. To knock a sound like that out of someone’s head, she probably would have turned her silly little sister into a truly dim-witted one.
“Does it sound good? If it sounds good, it’s a good head,” Su Mengyao replied. She felt no shame at all for faking it and instead grinned as she shot back.
Su Mengli’s face darkened. She raised her hand again, pretending she was about to knock her once more.
Su Mengyao hurriedly hugged her head and shouted, “I was wrong—really wrong, sis! Give me some face in front of Shishi.”
“If you keep filling Shishi’s head with that nonsense, I’ll really knock you,” Su Mengli said, her expression unkind.
The person in question, Bai Shishi, blinked her red eyes. She acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing and simply plopped down right next to Mo Xiangwen.
“I was just struck by sudden inspiration and couldn’t help myself,” Su Mengyao whined. “If you’re going to blame someone, blame Xiangwen for being so bad.”
Su Mengyao being like this was no big deal; that was just her personality.
But when Bai Shishi had said those words to him, it had nearly inflicted irreversible damage on his heart.
Mo Xiangwen sat there stunned for quite a while before he finally lowered his head to look at Bai Shishi. She sat beside him, her eyes curved in a happy smile.
…Yeah, it was all Su Mengyao’s fault. How was this girl so bad?
Habitually, he shook his head, trying to fling the jumbled thoughts out of his mind. But the motion sent wave after wave of pain through his skull.
Mo Xiangwen frowned tightly, enduring the ache, and had no choice but to abandon the habitual gesture.
Seeing his furrowed brow, Bai Shishi asked with some concern, “Is Xiao Yi okay?”
“I’m fine.” Mo Xiangwen gave a light smile and ruffled her little head.
It had been a long time since Bai Shishi had been petted like this. She narrowed her eyes in comfort and let out a silly giggle.
“But I’m sick right now,” Mo Xiangwen advised her. “Your body’s so fragile—you shouldn’t be sitting this close to me. What if you catch it?”
“It’s fine. I’m wearing a mask.” Bai Shishi pointed to the mask covering her face with her fair, delicate fingertip. She spoke in a completely nonchalant tone.
It was a perfectly logical point, but he still couldn’t shake his unease.
With that, he turned to Su Mengli. “Got any more masks?”
Su Mengli nodded slightly and pulled one from the bag to hand it over.
Once Mo Xiangwen had the mask on, he touched the one now covering his own face, then glanced at the one on Bai Shishi. His heart eased considerably, and he no longer insisted that she move away.
Seeing that he had no intention of sending her off, Bai Shishi quickly added, “Oh, right—Xiao Yi, Mom said you and Sister Nuoya haven’t asked her for leave yet.”
Leave? Oh, right—he’d completely forgotten about that. His fever must really be addling his brain.
Mo Xiangwen ruffled her head again and chuckled softly. “Got it. I’ll call the counselor right now to request it.”
For whatever reason, the counselor approved his leave request with surprising speed. She didn’t even question him asking on behalf of Yan Nuoya.
“Precautions are in place, and leave is approved,” Su Mengyao declared first thing after he hung up the phone. “So next, shouldn’t we discuss how you maliciously hid the fact that you’re sick?”
Maliciously hid it? Him? Had something gotten lost in translation?
Mo Xiangwen pointed at himself in bewilderment, only to be met with firm nods from all three girls.
“Didn’t I mention in the group chat that I had a cold?” Mo Xiangwen asked, puzzled.
“You actually have a cold?” Su Mengli’s tone carried a strange note.
Her question made Mo Xiangwen inexplicably guilty for some reason. He wondered if something was off.
He racked his brain for a long time but couldn’t pinpoint the issue.
Still, with Su Mengli staring straight at him like that, he couldn’t just brush her off.
“More or less,” Mo Xiangwen finally admitted, unable to hold out. “I’ve got a bit of a fever, but it’s not serious.”
“And Nuoya?” Instead of pressing him further, Su Mengli asked about Yan Nuoya.
“She’s a little worse off than me. Right now, she’s sleeping in her room.”
He’d already shared his own situation, so there was no hiding hers.
Besides, there was no real need to conceal it. Doing so would just come off as overly coy.
“A little worse than you?” Su Mengli pressed. “Did the two of you see a doctor?”
“Yeah, we went together,” Mo Xiangwen answered honestly.
Su Mengli nodded thoughtfully, then said calmly, “In that case, once Nuoya wakes up from her nap, I’ll ask her directly about what’s going on with you two.”
Mo Xiangwen, who knew he’d withheld part of the truth, fell silent. He didn’t dare chime in.
“Mengyao, go check on Nuoya,” Su Mengli directed promptly. “Shishi, take Xiangwen back to his room to rest. His room’s that way.”
She pointed toward the direction of Mo Xiangwen’s room.
“Got it! I’ll make sure to take Xiao Yi back to rest,” Bai Shishi said, nodding vigorously with utmost seriousness.
“Message received, commander.” Su Mengyao saluted with her palm to her forehead, her face straight. “Mission accomplished, guaranteed.”
Lately, Su Mengyao had been growing more and more lively. It even felt like she was picking up some of Bai Shishi’s quirks.
Mo Xiangwen wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
But for Su Mengli, dealing with a sister who was getting ever more playful and mischievous was starting to wear on her.
Su Mengli waved a hand. “I’ll go make some food. It won’t take long—I’ll call you all when it’s ready.”
With that, she headed to the kitchen, bag in hand. Su Mengyao made for the study.
In an instant, the living room held only him and Bai Shishi.
Bai Shishi wrapped her arms around his and tugged, trying to pull him to his feet.
“Come on, Xiao Yi. It’s time to rest together,” she declared with impressive resolve.
Mo Xiangwen let himself be pulled up with a wry smile. If he hadn’t gone along with it, Bai Shishi’s strength wouldn’t have been enough to do more than cling to his arm.
Of course he needed rest—but not right this second.
He’d asked Su Mengli to buy groceries on her way back. It wouldn’t sit right with him to just pat his butt and head off to sleep now.
No excuse, however valid, could make him accept that.
“Shishi, I still need to go help Mengli in the kitchen. We can rest after,” Mo Xiangwen explained gently.
“But Xiao Yi has a fever. You need to rest properly,” Bai Shishi said, pursing her lips in dissatisfaction. “Whenever I stay up late, don’t you always remind me to go to bed early?”
Could staying up late really compare to a fever?
Still, he got what she meant.
Bai Shishi’s thoughts weren’t complicated. She simply believed he ought to be resting right now.
“It’s just a little fever—no big deal,” Mo Xiangwen said. Unable to resist, he reached out to pinch her soft cheek and chuckled reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Mmm…” Bai Shishi felt a bit embarrassed but still wanted to stop him from heading to the kitchen.
She furrowed her brow, thinking hard for ages, but nothing persuasive came to mind. At last, she said flatly, “But Sister Mengli told you to go rest.”
“Then…” Mo Xiangwen half-squatted down until their eyes were level. He blinked at her. “Does Shishi listen to me… or to Sister Mengli?”
