“Well, Bro, I need to ask you first… did you acquire so kind of dirty Awakened Ability?” Ren Xingi asked.
Ren Xingi looked at the four beautiful and elegant girls in front, who were talking and laughing to one another while shopping. Each of them was charmingly unique and as they walked in the mall, there was a 50% chance that soone who walked past them would turn back to take a second look—the remaining 50% of people who walked past were phone addicts who constantly looked down at their mobile phones.
“What do you an by ‘dirty Awakened Ability’?” the bewildered Ren Suo asked.
Ren Xingi said, “For example, abilities to hypnotize, stop ti, enhance the senses, make soone your puppet, or appear attractive to everyone…”
Ren Suo glanced intriguingly at his sister. He pondered for half a minute before saying, “My old computer should have already been formatted accordingly into different partitions, so there should not be a trace of anything for you to discover… Could it be the cabinet which I store my notebook in? I rember that I locked it though!”
Ren Xingi blinked and replied, “What’s locked?”
“The cabinet at my computer desk is locked,” Ren Suo said.
Ren Xingi shook her head, saying, “No, it isn’t. You rembered wrongly.”
“It… it isn’t?” Ren Suo, feeling bewildered, exclaid. He said, “I thought that it was still locked the last ti I went ho…”
“You must have been so busy at work that mories were mixed up, you should rest well. Anyway, did you or did you not awaken so ability which makes girls fancy you?” Ren Xingi asked, quickly returning to her question.
Ren Suo dug his nose as he replied, “If I did, your elder sister-in-law would be standing beside now, not you.”
(Did he not? It would be quite a challenge to describe the scene in front of otherwise though…)
Ren Xingi looked at the group of girls in front, consisting of the proudly beautiful female team leader of the Counterasure Division, the calm and reserved female teacher at the Institution, as well as one senior high school girl with long, black and straight hair, and another lively, energetic senior high school girl. She sohow felt that sothing did not seem right.
However, the sense of crisis for Ren Xingi was growing more intense: the female team leader of the Counterasure Division seed to be very fashionable. If she beca her brother’s girlfriend, she would certainly squeeze his wallet dry;
The female teacher did not have much material desire, but Ren Xingi felt that she had an extrely strong desire of wanting to be in control. Her dork of a brother would certainly give her full control of his finances;
The two senior high school girls—one with long, straight and black hair while the other was lively and energetic—appeared to be less of a threat. However, Ren Xingi was also a senior high school girl. She had t too many girls whose material desires grew as they constantly compared their possessions with others, and Ren Xingi could not be at ease even if either one of the two girls was her brother’s girlfriend.
(For the sake of Brother’s wallet!) Ren Xingi energized herself and was constantly on her guard. She never once moved away from Ren Suo to prevent any sparks of feelings from arising between him and any of the girls. Ren Xingi roughly estimated that after Ren Suo went out today, he would not want to go out to shop for the next two months.
In Ren Suo’s words, it was: “Young people like to go out to shop, sing karaoke, have a gathering with their friends, and go to the bar, but only when they return ho will they realize—staying at ho was better.”
As long as she pulled through that day, Ren Xingi would be able to guarantee the safety of Ren Suo’s wallet!
“We don’t really know enough to know what to buy,” Lin Xianyu said as she turned around. She asked Ren Xingi, “Little Star, what do you like?”
Qiao Muyi laughed and said, “It’s cheating if you ask the person herself. The purpose of this ga is, firstly, to squeeze Ren Suo’s wallet for once, and the second, is to guess what Little Star likes.”
“In that case… it won’t be cheating if I ask Ren Suo, right?” Lin Xianyu asked. Her brain still functioned quite normally when she was not eating.
Qiao Muyi replied, “Of course, Ren Suo is a participant too. He needs to buy a gift as well.”
Lin Xianyu turned to look at Ren Suo and asked, “Brother Ren, what kind of snacks do you think your sister likes?”
Ren Suo replied, “Mmm… Matcha biscuits like Shiroi Koibito?”
Gu Yueyan queried, “What does she like to do when she has free ti?”
Ren Suo replied, “I suppose she likes to play gas.”
Qiao Muyi asked, “Are there any guys whom Little Star fancies?”
Ren Suo replied, “No.”
Everyone turned to look at Ren Xingi and asked, “Is your brother, right?”
Ren Xingi smiled slightly and replied, “Wouldn’t I be divulging the answers if I answered the question? Regardless though, he’s truly my brother.”
(None of his answers were right.)
(I never liked eating matcha biscuits, it was only because my friend gave them to as a souvenir that I ate them.)
(I don’t usually play gas during my free ti; catching up on drama series is the best pasti.)
“Ah,” Qiao Muyi said suddenly. She continued, “Ren Suo, go and find sowhere to wait, we will call you when we are done picking the gifts.”
Ren Suo looked around and saw that it was the clothing section up ahead. Although he did not have a girlfriend, Ren Suo had still heard before about how long girls took to choose their clothes, so he naturally took up Qiao Muyi’s suggestion and hurried away elsewhere.
“Bro—” Ren Xingi said, quickly reaching out and trying to hold Ren Suo back.
“Don’t worry about him. Just by looking at his dressing style, you would know that his beauty standard is ‘over the top’. He would not be able to help you in any way!” Qiao Muyi coaxed as she and the rest of them pulled Ren Xingi away from Ren Suo together.
Ren Suo was not interested in buying other things either, but he had not eaten snacks like octopus balls, grilled squid, and oden in a long ti, which were not sold in the school’s dining hall. As such, when the strong fragrance of food wafted into his nostrils, Ren Suo headed directly for the snacks street.
After eating and drinking his fill, Ren Suo realized that it was about ti and walked back towards the part of the mall he ca from previously.
“Ah!”
“Be careful!”
Shouts and screams could be heard from in front, where the escalator was located. Ren Suo looked in that direction and decided to head over to find out what the commotion was about, demonstrating the ‘good qualities’ of any ordinary citizen.
——————
“Little Star, you have such a good figure that you might even be able to beco a model with so training. Why do you want to wear n’s clothes?” Qiao Muyi remarked. She leaned on Ren Xingi’s shoulder as she smiled at her in the mirror.
Ren Xingi still dressed herself similarly in male clothing when they were out that day.
“I’m used to it,” Ren Xingi replied uneasily.
Qiao Muyi asked, “What do you think of this pleated skirt?”
Ren Xingi replied, “I think that it would be better if it was jasmine-white in color.”
Qiao Muyi said, “This sunflower-yellow color is not bad too.”
“You should try on a pair of white stockings, and change out of your flats at the sa ti, or it would not match.”
Dong Chengling chipped in and said, “You should get a hat too!”
When it ca to choosing clothes, even Dong Chengling could not resist but give a suggestion or two. Ren Xingi initially refused to try on the clothes, but it would have been impolite to object after they asked multiple tis, so she eventually gave in reluctantly.
When she erged from the fitting room, she was greeted by four pairs of eyes looking at her in amazent and admiration.
Qiao Muyi pulled her to the mirror and said, “Look, who is that cute girl in the mirror?”
Ren Xingi was stunned.
The girl in the mirror was wearing a white and pink-colored knee-length lace skirt. Wearing the skirt was a girl with long and slender legs, which was covered with white stockings and red shoes. The girl wore a white sun hat on her head, and she had rosy white skin.
“Doesn’t it look great? It’s very cute, no?” Qiao Muyi asked as she placed her arm around Ren Xingi’s shoulders. She said, “Just wear this out and give your brother a shock. He doesn’t need to pay for this set of clothes, I’ll pay and give them to you—”
“No!” Ren Xingi exclaid.
The rest of them were slightly stunned. Realizing that she was too worked up, Ren Xingi imdiately kept her emotions back in check and said with a smile, “I don’t like this kind of clothes… There’s no need to buy them, I’ll change back into my clothes.” Upon finishing her sentence, she imdiately returned to the fitting room.
While Ren Xingi was in the fitting room, Gu Yueyan took the chance to walk over to Qiao Muyi and led her to another area. Pretending to look at the clothes, she asked softly, “Why did you co here, Sister Qiao?”
Qiao Muyi naturally did not say that she ca to enjoy the show. She replied, “Didn’t you say that Ren Suo’s sister acted very strangely, that she could be a sister who fancies her brother and would be a hindrance to you? That’s why I specially ca down to have a look.”
“It… it doesn’t hinder …” Gu Yueyan said, sowhat reluctantly.
“Don’t worry, I will help you. I am your love consultant after all!” Qiao Muyi said. She thumped her chest and assured, “Trust !”
Gu Yueyan relaxed and turned to look at the clothes for real.
At that juncture, Qiao Muyi turned and walked over to Dong Chengling, who was looking at clothes in the nswear section. She asked softly, “Chengling, how have things been recently?”
Dong Chengling said expressionlessly, “My Practice is going smoothly. The enchantnt of the Reiki Storage Device is also doing well.”
“Of course, I’m not asking you about this,” Qiao Muyi said. She held Dong Chengling’s hand and continued, “I’m asking if things are going well relationship-wise.”
Dong Chengling did not reply.
Qiao Muyi said, “I suppose that you rarely talked to guys in the past, right? You must have been enjoying your ti alone throughout junior high school, senior high school and university, no? You look like the kind of person who has great resilience.”
Dong Chengling nodded.
“If there is anything you need help with in your relationship, feel free to co to , I will definitely help you. Just treat as your love consultant!” Qiao Muyi said. She thumped her chest and assured, “Trust !”
…
…
After coming out of the clothing section, Dong Chengling called Ren Suo. However, she shook her head and said, “He did not answer the call.”
Ren Xingi and the others felt that it was strange for Ren Suo not to pick up the call, but they did not panic. After all, they were in the shopping mall, and it was not possible to lose Ren Suo. Qiao Muyi said, “Let’s continue walking while trying to call him, we might bump into him. We will co back to see if he is waiting here if we still cannot find him after ten minutes.”
“He might well have returned ho already, thinking that it was too troubleso,” Gu Yueyan said as she looked at the ceiling.
“He’s not such a person,” Dong Chengling remarked expressionlessly.
The group of them wandered around the mall, looking for any trace of Ren Suo. Very quickly, they found him a distance away from the snack street—Ren Suo was sitting by the walkway with a little girl. The little girl was playing with a mobile phone, and Ren Suo was touching the girl’s body with his hand…
Alard, Lin Xianyu instantly whipped out her mobile phone and keyed in ‘1’, ‘1’, ‘0’. She said, “I’ll get a policeman nearby to co over first…”
“Hold on,” Gu Yueyan said quickly. She continued, “We are in the middle of a crowded mall, Ren Suo would certainly not do this even if he had gone crazy!”
When they walked closer, they found that Ren Suo’s hands were surrounded by a glow of white. The little girl had serious cuts all over her hands and legs, as well as on her face. It looked extrely painful, but the little girl was focused on the screen of the mobile phone in her hands. There were traces of tears on her face, but she was not crying at that point in ti.
Ren Suo turned and saw Qiao Muyi and the rest of the group. He said, “Have you guys finished buying your clothes? I was about to head back to look for you guys when I saw this little girl falling down from the top of the escalator. She was bawling her eyes out, and her parents were not around either, so I quickly took her to the side to treat her.”
“Why didn’t you answer your phone?” Gu Yueyan asked.
“Answer my phone?” Ren Suo replied, slightly shocked. He then looked at the mobile phone in the little girl’s hands and realized what happened. He explained, “There is a ga mode on my mobile phone. When playing a ga, it will prevent any interruptions and any incoming calls would not be displayed either. The ga mode will only be deactivated when I exit the ga.”
“She was injured quite badly, and I can’t treat all of them at once, so I gave her my mobile phone to play and she forgot about the pain.”
Qiao Muyi imdiately said, “I will look for the staff to broadcast an announcent in the mall to notify her parents to head over.”
The rest of them imdiately crowded around the girl and got down to work. Ren Xingi squatted down at the side and looked at Ren Suo with a smile on her face. Lin Xianyu also squatted beside her and asked, “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing, I am just reminded of my childhood,” Ren Xingi replied.
“Is it sothing happy?” Lin Xianyu asked.
“Not really, I suppose. I used to fall sick easily when I was young, and essentially lived in the hospital all year round,” Ren Xingi replied. She recalled her mories as she said, “To pass my ti in the hospital, I would read books, but other than that, I usually waited for my brother to look for to play.”
“Later on, when our parents bought each of us a handheld ga console, he would co to the hospital every day and ask to link our ga consoles together so that I could catch pets with him. We were so noisy that the nurse had to kick him out on several occasions. Sotis when I fell ill and was in so much pain that I wanted to cry, I would end up playing gas with him and forgetting the pain.”
“Occasionally, when he went to his friend’s house and played a new ga, he would co to specifically to talk about how fun and interesting the new ga was. He would then get to keep asking our parents to buy a ga console and a computer, so that we could play together… Hmph, he made use of his sister to cheat our parents of their money.”
Ren Xingi snapped out of her daze and quickly explained, “Ah, I an… my brother is actually…”
“Heh heh,” Lin Xianyu said as she ran away smiling. At that juncture, the parents of the little girl also appeared, and they thanked Ren Suo and the rest of them for their help. The little girl reluctantly returned the mobile phone to Ren Suo and waved her hand to bid goodbye: “See you again, Big Brother”. Then, she hopped away with her parents and left very healthily.
“It has been quite a long day, it’s ti to head back now,” Ren Suo said as he looked at the ti. He continued, “Since you guys have finished picking the gifts, tell the na of the shop and the na of the item. I’ll go and buy them now.”
Ren Xingi waved her hand in the air and said, “You really do not need to buy anything…”
Qiao Muyi and the rest of them looked at one another. They each wrote a WeChat ssage stating the gift that they picked and sent it to Ren Suo. Ren Suo looked at the ssages and turned to leave, saying, “Wait for here, I’ll be back.”
————
At night, after Ren Xingi showered, she went up to Ren Suo, who was playing a ga and held his arm. She said, “Bro, let stay here for a few more days!”
“No, you have to go back tomorrow,” Ren Suo replied. He said, “Dad and Mom have also called to get you to go back. In the beginning, you told them that you were only staying here for two days and one night.”
“No, I don’t want to go back!” Ren Xingi cried as she continued shaking Ren Suo’s arm.
With his arm being shaken like that, Ren Suo could not continue playing the ga, and he put down the ga controller. He took out a few shopping bags and said, “These are your gifts.”
“You really bought them,” Ren Xingi said as she took the bags over. Pretending to be distressed, she said, “I don’t know which one I like the most though…”
“There’s no need to choose, there’s actually only one item,” Ren Suo said.
Ren Xingi was slightly stunned. She opened the bags and found two sets of skirts, stockings, shoes, hats, and other clothing.
“You should also start dressing yourself up and not stick to all day long like a fake tomboy. Be elegant,” Ren Suo said.
Ren Xingi whispered, “I don’t like won’s clothing…”
Ren Suo replied, “How would I not notice when they could notice it in just a day?”
Ren Suo picked up the ga controller to continue playing the ga as he said, “Well, I do not usually pay much attention to anything other than gas… but at the least, I do know that when you play gas, you especially like to let the female characters wear pretty DLC clothes.”
Ren Xingi montarily did not know how to reply. She held Ren Suo’s arm and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“A key has been found.”
“The key is in a state of sleep. Starting to retrieve the key.”
“The key has already been ford fully…”
——————
The next day, after Ren Suo and the rest of them finished their dinner at Dong Chengling’s house, they sent Ren Xingi out of the school together.
“Are you able to take the bus to the bus stop on your own? I don’t need to accompany you, do I?” Ren Suo asked as they stood at the school gate.
“No, I’m already old enough,” replied Ren Xingi, who was wearing n’s clothing and a hat. She tugged on Ren Suo’s sleeves and asked, “Bro, when do you intend to go ho?”
“? Mmm… When I am free, I guess,” Ren Suo replied in a perfunctory manner.
On the other hand, as Lin Xianyu watched Ren Suo and his sister interact with each other, she said in Gu Yueyan’s ear:
“You saw wrongly.”
Gu Yueyan quizzed, “What did I see wrongly?”
Lin Xianyu explained, “Look at that—in order to match her brother’s hobby of playing gas, she beca a skilled gar; after she completed her college entrance examination and scored well, she imdiately ca over to celebrate with her brother. She even wanted to stay with her brother and even dressed herself in male clothing on purpose, so that her brother would not need to avoid suspicion…”
“Isn’t that a sister who extrely fancies her brother?”
Gu Yueyan replied, “I cannot understand why you would fancy your brother. Nonetheless, it is fortunate that she is leaving…”
At that mont, Ren Xingi suddenly said loudly, “Bro, it doesn’t matter if you do not co ho since I will be going to live here in a few months!”
Gu Yueyan and the rest of them were shocked. Ren Suo asked curiously, “What do you an?”
“I chose to study at the Heavenly Institution of Lian—this will be the university I will be studying at!” Ren Xingi replied.
Ren Xingi waved goodbye to the rest of the girls, then carried her bag and flagged down a taxi, leaving bewildered expressions on the girls’ faces.
…
“What a wasted trip,” Ren Xingi muttered to herself as she sat in the car. She put on her headphones to listen to music and thought, ‘I was still unable to eliminate the threat to my dork of a brother’s wallet…’
She touched the few shopping bags which contained her clothes, then turned to look at the Heavenly Institution of Lian which was growing smaller in the distance.
“I’m doing all of this just for money, yes, what other reason could there be?”
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