Chapter Ten: Conversation Under the Warm Sun

  The gradually warming weather seems to have a kind of magic that makes people always want to sleep for a while, and after sleeping for a while, they will think about it again, unknowingly lying in bed for an hour...

  "Hmm... it hurts..." Her parched throat felt like it was on fire, and her leaden head felt as if it had been filled with mercury, making Lee Hyori want to smash her head open with a big hammer and pour out the mercury.

  Just as she was about to rub her dizzy head, Lee Hyori discovered that her left hand had been tightly grasped by a not-so-large palm at some point, and the warmth felt very comfortable. Lowering her head to take a look, she found her younger brother lying sideways on the edge of the bed. Taking off his large black-framed glasses, his handsome face was flawless, but his eyebrows were furrowed tightly, and his lips were dry and pale! Looking down further, his small right hand grasped her left hand tightly, as if afraid she would run away, reminding her of when she first held his hand, his fear, his timid heart. Now, Lee Hyori saw such an expression again!

  "Sister!" Li Xiaoli just slightly moved her head and woke up Mu Zi Qiu who was sleeping lightly beside her.

  "Mu Zi Qiu, sister, I've worried you..." Although he didn't admit it, Li Xiao Li had to say that he indeed worried her. Ever since Mu Zi Qiu was ten years old, she never had to worry about him again, instead, he started worrying about his own life. Rushing back home late at night, there would always be a lamp waiting for him by the door, even if he was already asleep; entering the house, no matter how late, there would always be a cup of water on the table, even if it had gone cold; A ten-year-old child, except for the first time when he almost set the kitchen on fire, his meals were never served cold; household chores, from the age of ten onwards, didn't require her to do anything, every day returning home to a clean and tidy house; sometimes she would feel grateful that heaven had given her such a perfect younger brother!

  "Can't you stop drinking?" Mu Zi Qiu looked up at Li Xiao Li with a helpless expression on his face.

  "Alright, I won't drink anymore." Li Xiaoli smiled faintly and patted Muzi Qiutou's back of the head.

  "Hmm!"

  Muzi snuggled into the cotton quilt, burying her head in it, and affectionately sniffed the smell of wine that kept coming from Lee Hyori. To her, any scent that came from her sister was a pleasant one, even if it was the smell of wine that had fermented overnight...

  His younger brother is so simple to him, he believes whatever he says! I don't know if one day he'll really leave if I tell him to. No way! I won't let him go!

  "Sister, are you drinking because you're going to be separated from Joo-hee sister, Jin-ah sister, and Yoo-ri sister?"

  "We won't be apart!"

  "I already knew, I mean, it's all over outside, saying we're going to disband."

  "Isn't it still not too late? My sister will take good care of it, not just for the sake of the feelings we had with Zhenyan, Zhēnér and Yúlì who helped us in the past, but also for the emotions that have accumulated over the years between me and them. The four of us are one, inseparable!"

  "Sister, I'll also be with you to protect it! Always! Forever!"

  "You think you can run? Don't forget that if it wasn't for your sister Yuli taking out money, we would still be sleeping on the streets!"

  "There's also Zhu Xuan sister, she was the first person to give me a birthday gift besides you! Zhen Er sister, that colorful sister, used to pinch my face when I was little!"

  "Do you still remember that one time when you had just debuted and went out with us, but were mistaken for a private son?"

  "It was even reported in the newspaper."

  "You said you were so delicate and lovely back then? It got me misunderstood."

  "I don't know, my cuteness was taught by you, sister!"

  "You stinky brat! You really know how to talk!"

  "Sister, your face is all smudged with melted makeup, and your eyeliner is completely gone."

  "Even if I've fallen, does it mean I'm no longer beautiful just because I've been made up with a painted face?"

  "Beautiful! More beautiful than flowers! Just like my favorite iris, beautiful!"

  "This is just about right!"

  "Sister, our birthday is coming soon. After the birthday, I will be truly 14 years old, and then I will be virtually 15 years old. I am the man of the house now! I can take care of you completely, so sister, let's talk about anything together!"

  "Another birthday has arrived, our autumn child is already 14 years old, but still a kid. Look at you, 14 years old and not as tall as your sister! Let's talk about it when you're really grown up!"

  "I have to grow up quickly! Grow tall!"

  "Haha! Stop messing around, kids are so great, carefree and worry-free. Now that your birthday has passed, sister will allow you to chase girls. Take a liking to that pretty girl and tell sister, with sister being the big star at home, you'll definitely have no problem picking up chicks!"

  "In my eyes, no one is prettier than my sister!"

  "Although saying so might make Zhū Xiǎo Jiě Jie, Zhēn ér Jiě Jie and Yòu Lì Jiě Jie angry, but I really am the prettiest!"

  "Mmm, the prettiest!"

  ……

  The two of them were speaking in a very ordinary tone, one sentence at a time, and before they knew it, the spring sun had risen high into the sky. The warm sunlight shone through the smooth glass, illuminating their tightly clasped hands, their smiling faces, and their playful feet. As the warm rays gradually filled every corner of the room, Mu Zi Qiu felt that a place in her heart was also slowly warming up, becoming slightly hot...

  "You two, I can't take it! Jichuk, although you're doing well and we don't have to worry about you, can't you just go to school?! Hyori unnie, you have a schedule today, you're going to be late, look at your makeup, who's going to recognize you like that?! Are you trying to become a real ghoul?! Look at the time now, it's already 11 o'clock!

  Chungha had been standing outside the door since morning, listening to the two of them chatting in hushed tones. She was envious of Hyori having such a brother. As the eldest in her family and in the group, she had always hoped to have a younger brother like Muzi Chuk, although Muzi Chuk was nice to all three of them, he was absolutely not as good to them as he was to Hyori. No, after all these years of knowing him, they already knew that Muzi Chuk's affection for Hyori had reached a crazy level! And there were some other complicated feelings mixed in, which made her wonder whether she should be worried or happy..."

  "Yoo-ri! I'm talking to my brother, and you're eavesdropping again!" Lee Hyori sat up on her bed, laughing as she shouted at the door.

  "I didn't eavesdrop, I didn't eavesdrop! I was just standing outside the door!" This place has no silver, three hundred taels, yet you say you've been standing outside the whole time and still claim not to have eavesdropped.

  "Julie sister, I also like you!"

  The two got up quickly under Sung Yu-ri's urging.

  "Jia Qiu, tell my sister, between me and Hyeori unnie, who is prettier?" Sung Yu-ri took the opportunity when Lee Hyori was washing up to pull Mu Ziqiu aside and ask with a hint of anticipation.

  "Yuli sister is very beautiful, Zhuixian sister is also beautiful, Zhen'er sister is also beautiful, and sister is even more beautiful!"

  "You can't be intimidated by your sister, to be honest! I'm the busybody of the team! Your youngest sister, how do I usually pamper you?"

  "In Xia Qiu's heart, you are all the most beautiful! Of course, sister is top-notch!"

  "That's more like it!" Seong Yoo-ri finally got a somewhat satisfactory answer and let Mok Jae-hyun off the hook.

  "You're following me blindly again and threatening my brother! My brother says I'm the prettiest!" Lee Hyori came out after washing up and saw Sung Yu-ri pulling her own brother aside to whisper something, she knew what Sung Yu-ri was asking without having to guess.

  "Sister..."