The Life and Death of the Shen Siblings

  "What's for dinner?" Luo Er asked as she sat in the courtyard.

  Xuan Sheng shook his head, "I'm not eating anymore, I ate a lot this afternoon, can't eat any more!"

  Li Chao also patted his own belly, "I've eaten at Ruo Yun's house! Sister doesn't need to cook anymore!"

  Zhiquan looked at Xuan Sheng and Li Chao, who were both sulking, and rushed to the front of Li Luo'er, "Li Luo'er classmate, I haven't eaten my fill yet, you won't let me starve, will you?"

  Luo'er looked at Chen Zhiquan's pitiful appearance, sighed and said, "Alright, I'll go make something for you now!" As she was about to get up and head to the kitchen, she suddenly felt a blackness before her eyes and fell to the ground!

  Zhi Quan was startled by Luo Er's fall at her feet, and before Lei Chao could react, Xuan Sheng directly picked up Luo Er and took her to her bedroom.

  Xuan Sheng gently laid Luo Er on the bed, shaking her body frantically: "Luo Er? Luo Er?" But Luo Er was completely unaware, lying there without any reaction! Xuan Sheng turned his head to ask Zhi Quan, "What's going on? Why did she faint?"

  Zhi Quan thought gloomily for a moment, "Drank too much, alcohol poisoning!"

  "What? I'm going to take my sister to the hospital!" Lei Chao said as he prepared to carry Luo Er out.

  Zhi Quan blocked Li Chao, "I haven't finished speaking yet! It's because she drank too much! Plus your sister must be anemic! The alcohol is probably just taking effect now, plus she might have some alcohol intolerance, and also she was squatting there for a while and suddenly stood up, blood accumulated in her brain, it's not a big deal! Go get some warm water to pour down her throat, after sleeping, she'll be fine!"

  Li Chao asked him half-believing and half-doubting, "Really nothing will happen?"

  "Never mind, never mind! You go get water instead!" Zhi Quan irritably shooed away Li Chao.

  "Oh~" Lei Chao went out to the kitchen to boil water!

  "Alas, poor dinner of mine! If I had known it would be like this, I should have eaten my fill in the afternoon before coming back!" Zhi Quan said, looking at Luo Er who was sleeping.

  "Hey, are you looking for death? She's already like this, and all you know is eating, eating, eating! Go out and get your own food!" Xuan Sheng couldn't bear it anymore and swung his fists...

  Chen Zhiquan walked out of his son's room with a dejected look, standing in the empty courtyard and sighing, "They say that wives are like clothes, brothers are like hands and feet. Now... I, Chen Zhiquan, have been running around naked for nearly 18 years, but that monster is rolling on the ground wearing layer upon layer of branded clothes, it's as if he doesn't even need hands or feet..."

  "Hey, Chen Zhiquan, what are you reciting again? Help me get that quilt from outside! I've said it 800 times already!" Xuan Sheng yelled from inside the room, separated by a window.

  Zhi Quan glared at Xuan Sheng, "What are you yelling about? You think it's fun to scare her awake?"

  Xuan Sheng looked at Chen Zhiquan with a headache, and had nothing more to say!

  Xiao Xuan's Home

  "Xiao Xuan~" Shen Kai patted his sister who was sitting in front of the desk staring blankly.

  Xiao Xuan was startled, but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, brother! What's wrong?"

  Shen Kai furrowed his brow, "I was asking what's wrong with you!"

  "Oh, I'm fine! Nothing's wrong. What's up? Brother, you're looking for me?" Xiaoxuan said nonchalantly.

  "Haha ~ Do you like Lu Xiangsheng?" Shen Kai's sentence made Xiao Xuan so unprepared that she was almost choked by a mouthful of water.

  Xiao Xuan patted her own chest, smoothed out her breath, "Brother? What kind of joke are you telling? How could I be so self-deprecating? Lu Xiangsheng likes Luo Er, and this is something he himself has admitted! Look at me, do I look like the kind of person who can be a third party? And he also has a nickname called 'Monster', how could I possibly like someone with such violent tendencies? Honestly! Unless I was kicked in the head by a donkey when I went out this morning!"

  Shen Kai shook his head slightly beside him, "Oh~ who else could it be besides Lu Xiansheng? It wouldn't be that Chen Zhiquan who looks a bit like a clown, would it?"

  "What's wrong with you? How can you say that about him? Does he look like a clown to you? I think he's actually quite cute! And he's really good at making people laugh! He knows how to make girls happy!"

  Shen Kai blinked his eyes, "Oh~ so you mean Chen Zhi Quan is your crush?"

  Xiao Xuan pouted and pretended to be angry, saying, "Shen Kai! What's wrong with you today? You're acting like an old aunt now, humph!"

  Shen Kai smiled, "Little sister, I'm doing this for your own good! Just wanted to remind you that Chen Zhiquan isn't someone easy to deal with either! Better keep a distance from him! And in the future, when you go to Luo Er's house, try not to go too often!"

  Xiao Xuan looked at Shen Kai with a sulky expression, "Who isn't a wasteful lamp? Except for Bai Shi? Hmph! If you say something like this again in the future, I won't consider you my brother!" After finishing speaking, she flipped over onto the bed, "Get out! I want to sleep!"

  Shen Kai looked at his disobedient younger sister, glared at her for a moment, wanting to say something but didn't say it...

  "Kai Kai, go call your sister for dinner!" said Xiao Xuan's mother at the dinner table to Shen Kai.

  Shen Kai shook his head, "Don't go, she can eat or not!"

  Shen's mother slapped Shen Kai with a chopstick, "You're getting more and more out of line! What did Xuan do to provoke you again? You're the older brother, no matter what, you should give in to Xuan. After all, she's two years younger than you, and she's just a girl. If you two fight and she gets angry, what if something happens?"

  "Hey, mom, she's having an affair! Don't you care?"

  "Shen Kai, what are you talking about? Don't force me to reveal everything about you!" Xiaoxuan said as she walked downstairs.

  "What's wrong with me? You tell?" Shen Kai and Xiao Xuan also sulked for a bit, holding their breath!

  "You're after Bai Shi, it's really embarrassing to say it out loud! Someone like Bai Shi, humph, I've never seen anyone like that before! Thinks they're so great!" Xiaoxuan sat next to her mother, emphasizing every word.

  "Shen Kai, as the older brother, no matter what, you can't say anything bad about your sister. Xuan is dating, haha, girls grow up! As a mother, I don't interfere, why are you in such a hurry? As long as you grasp the situation well and don't affect your studies, it's fine! After all, you're both in high school now! And Shen Kai, you and that girl, what's her name, Bai something, just forget about it. It's not me stopping you, but you and Luo Er grew up together since childhood, she's a good girl too. Our parents have been looking forward to your relationship for a long time. Although her family conditions aren't great, your aunt Yun is hardworking and Lei Chao is sensible. Wait until..."

  "Mom, don't say anything more, I'm tired of hearing these words! I know Luo is a good girl, but I don't have any feelings for her. Even if I did, they've been worn out by your constant nagging! Just keep spoiling Xiao Xuan and see what happens..." After saying that, Shen Kai went upstairs and didn't come back down.

  Xiao Xuan watched Shen Kai angrily going up the stairs, turned her head and said to her mother, "Hmph! If Luo'er really becomes like my brother, that heartless guy, won't she be miserable?"

  Mother smiled and said, "You two siblings..."

  Xiao Xuan stuck out her tongue and giggled, "Hehe, my brother is such an old fogey!"

  "Xiao Xuan, open the door!" Shen Kai gently knocked on Xiao Xuan's door.

  "What's wrong? I don't want to quarrel with you! I'm going to sleep!" Xiaoxuan said, closing his book in a huff.

  "I'm not arguing with you, I'll give you something!"

  "Oh, wait a minute!" Xiaoxuan slipped on her slippers to open the door. "What is it? Spit it out!" Xiaoxuan rolled her eyes impatiently!

  "Give this stuff from Chen Zhiquan to you. Tomorrow will be a good chance to talk to him!" Shen Kai handed several things to Xiao Xuan.

  Xiao Xuan looked at the small notebooks in her hand in a daze, "Aren't these the accommodation vouchers and certificate holders from Ruoyun Family Inn?"

  Shen Kai nodded, "Yeah, Lu Xiansheng and Chen Zhiquan are not locals. After they got off at Hongguang Station, they stayed in our family's store. Most of these things belong to Chen Zhiquan, he didn't take them away when he left."

  Xiao Xuan looked at Shen Kai with a gloomy expression, "Didn't you disagree with me and Zhi Quan's relationship?"

  Shen Kai smiled and said, "As long as you don't interfere with my business and don't stir up trouble for me in front of mom, that's all I need!"

  Xiao Xuan muttered gloomily and slammed the door shut...

  "Shen Xiaoxuan, did you hear me?" Shen Kai asked loudly outside Xiaoxuan's door.

  "Huh? What's going on? I'm already asleep, talk about it tomorrow! Goodnight, brother!" Xiao Xuan giggled and hugged the thing he had just peeled off, quietly climbing onto the bed...

  "Shen Xiaoxuan, I'm talking to you about something serious!" Shen Kai shouted, standing at the door in a fluster.

  "Oh no, stop shouting, everyone can't sleep! If you shout again, I'll tell mom...!" Xiaoxuan brought out his mother again. Shen Kai looked at the doll on Xiaoxuan's door with a sullen face, tore it down, crumpled it up, and trampled on it several times before walking away!

  Xiao Xuan heard some noise, opened the door and took a look, on the ground was her favorite doll ornament. "Mom..." Xiao Xuan shouted at the doorway!

  Luo Er's mother didn't come back until all the children had fallen asleep.

  The family was originally not very well-off, but Grandpa's asthma seemed to have worsened a lot! Lu'er's mother lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. Lu'er slept lightly and got up as soon as he heard some noise. He looked out the window and saw the starry sky, only then realizing that it was still not dawn.

  The child turned over and faced his mother's small bed, "Mom, you just came back?"

  "Uh-huh." Her mother responded with a murmur.

  "Is your grandfather's body all right? Why did you come back so late?"

  "Your grandfather's asthma has gotten much worse recently, the day I went he was coughing non-stop! I made some food for your grandfather to eat over the next few days, so I came back a bit late!" La'er's mother sighed continuously.

  "Mom, let's bring Grandpa over! Our conditions may be poor, but we can still take care of Grandpa. He's so old and living alone in the fourth village is too unsafe! There isn't even anyone for him to talk to nearby! Really, Mom, I think Grandpa is really pitiful!"

  As she spoke, tears involuntarily moistened her pillow...