A Handful of Broad Beans!

"Do you like Cui Xiaoxin?"

The sudden voice startled Li Mu Yang, who was lost in thought.

Li Mu Yang looked at his sister, dressed in a pink dress and making a funny face at him, and said with a wry smile, "Li Sinian, aren't you being childish?"

Li Sinian pouted, displeased. "What? You think I'm childish now? After seeing Sister Xiaoxin's elegant and composed demeanor, you're starting to think I'm just a country bumpkin? Back when Sister Xiaoxin wouldn't even talk to you, you didn't think I was childish then?"

"I didn't mean that—"

"You did, you did. You men are all fickle, don't you think I know that? They say good-looking men are players. Li Mu Yang, I never expected you to be a player too. When you go out to pick up girls, can they even see you?"

"—"

Li Mu Yang knew that his unintentional words had once again hurt Li Sinian's fragile self-esteem.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have transformed into a venomous snake with bared fangs in an instant.

"Oh, Sinian, your dress is so pretty. Is it new?" Li Mu Yang began to employ his 'Curved Path to Save the Nation' tactic again. In the past, whenever he used this move, Li Sinian would surrender, and he would then shift the topic from criticizing him to praising her.

"Li Mu Yang, I've been wearing this dress for days. I even came to your room and sat there for half the night yesterday. Did your eyes even notice me?" Li Sinian jumped onto the bed, grabbed a pillow, and started hitting Li Mu Yang on the head.

"I surrender, I surrender." Li Mu Yang quickly covered his head and admitted defeat. "I remember now, you were wearing this dress last night. I always thought you looked good in anything, but you look especially, especially cute in this dress—"

Li Sinian hit him even harder, gritting her teeth and saying, "You idiot, what do you mean by 'cute'? Are you implying I have no chest and no hips? Are you saying I'm not mature enough and look too childish?"

"—" Li Mu Yang dared not speak again.

He realized that when a woman is angry with you, even your breathing is considered polluting the air.

After hiding his head under the covers and letting her vent for a while, Li Mu Yang finally peeked out and looked at her with a smile, saying, "Are you done hitting me?"

"I'm done. My hands are sore." Li Sinian threw the pillow aside and leaned against the headboard next to Li Mu Yang, casually grabbing a osmanthus cake and munching on it.

"Eat fewer pastries at night, you'll gain weight." Li Mu Yang said.

Li Sinian's eyes widened. "Li Mu Yang, what do you mean? Are you saying I'm fat now?"

"—"

Seeing Li Mu Yang's speechless expression, Li Sinian finally couldn't help but giggle. She grabbed a piece of osmanthus cake and stuffed it into Li Mu Yang's mouth, saying, "Brother, sometimes I think you're so endearingly ugly."

"I think you've always been very cute," Li Mu Yang mumbled, his mouth full of osmanthus cake.

"Of course," Li Sinian said triumphantly, shaking her freshly washed hair. The scent of lemon-washed hair filled the air, making it smell sweet and sour, just like Li Sinian's personality. "Brother, you still haven't answered my question."

"What question?" Li Mu Yang feigned ignorance.

"I asked if you like Sister Xiaoxin—" Li Sinian said with dissatisfaction. "Li Mu Yang, I'm telling you, don't try to brush this off. I've watched you grow up since you were little. I knew you had to poop before you even lifted your butt—"

"I'm your brother—" Li Mu Yang reminded her with annoyance.

"Am I not speaking the truth?" Li Sinian retorted, rolling her eyes.

"—"

Li Sinian wasn't wrong; she had indeed watched Li Mu Yang grow up.

Li Mu Yang's health had always been poor, and his bodily functions were very weak. He couldn't open his eyes until he was three years old, and he couldn't walk steadily until he was seven. Although Li Sinian was two years younger than Li Mu Yang, when she could already walk freely on the ground, Li Mu Yang was still like an infant, lying in bed or crawling on the floor. When Li Mu Yang needed to relieve himself, he would make noises, and Li Sinian was the first person to know he had a bodily need that needed to be attended to.

Therefore, her current statement that she knew he had to poop before he even lifted his butt was a fact that made Li Mu Yang want to disappear.

From childhood to the present, he had often relied on this younger sister to take care of him.

"Tell me, tell me." Li Sinian shoved another osmanthus cake into Li Mu Yang's mouth. She always liked to stuff cakes into his mouth in large handfuls, regardless of whether his mouth could accommodate them.

"I think she's a very good girl."

"And then?"

"And then—there's no 'and then'? She's been tutoring me, and I'm very grateful to her."

"Are there no other feelings?"

"Li Sinian—we're still students. A student's duty is to study hard. Where are you even going with this? Your thoughts are so impure."

Li Sinian glared at her brother Li Mu Yang with disdain. "Li Mu Yang, aren't you being childish? Look in the mirror. Putting aside the fact that your appearance makes you look over ten years older than your actual age, even five or six-year-old children know how to find boyfriends and girlfriends, yet you're telling me a student's duty is to study?"

"—"

"Are you going to tell me or not?"

"I do have quite a good impression of her." Li Mu Yang said, his face flushing with embarrassment. Li Sinian was the person closest to him, his sister, and he used to tell her all his secrets. But this time, there was a different feeling, an emotional realm he had never explored or even considered before.

"So that means you like her?"

"If you say so, then yes."

"It's not 'if I say so, then yes.' You have to tell me yourself. If you don't say you like her, how can I help you pursue Sister Xiaoxin and make her your girlfriend?" Li Sinian said helplessly.

Li Mu Yang's eyes lit up. "Really? You can help me pursue Xiaoxin?"

"No," Li Sinian replied crisply.

"—"

"Brother—" Li Sinian grabbed another osmanthus cake, intending to feed it to Li Mu Yang, who shook his head in refusal.

"Give it to me." Without further ado, she forcefully shoved the osmanthus cake into Li Mu Yang's mouth.

"Why do you have to make me eat this?" Li Mu Yang chewed the osmanthus cake, speaking with great pain. "You told me that eating pastries at night would make me fat."

"That's right." Li Mu Yang nodded earnestly. "Everyone says that."

"That's why I kindly accompanied you when you ate it," Li Sinian said, putting on a show of sisterly affection for his sake. "Even if it really makes me fat, knowing someone else is in the same boat as me makes the guilt feel much smaller."

"—"

"Brother, I just wanted to talk to you about Sister Xiaoxin," Li Sinian said, leaning her head on Li Mu Yang's shoulder as she placed the pastry tray on the bedside table. "What kind of person do you think Sister Xiaoxin is?"

"Didn't I already say? She's a very good person."

"Yes. She really is a very good person, it's just a shame she's too good," Li Sinian sighed.

"—" Li Mu Yang understood what Li Sinian meant. Cui Xiaoxin was a good person, but unfortunately, she was too good.

"Setting aside her appearance and demeanor, just her conversation and occasional display of noble etiquette gives us a general idea of who she is—she's not from our world. I even specifically asked her when we were chatting; she's not from Jiangnan, she's from the capital. After this written exam ends, she'll be returning to Tiandu. Returning to where she truly belongs."

"Brother, I know you like Sister Xiaoxin. I can see it; these past few weeks have been the happiest and most smiling you've been in over a decade. Before, I'd spend so much effort trying to tutor you, but you were always drowsy. Sister Xiaoxin, however, managed to help your grades improve rapidly—"

"Sinian, it's not what you think—"

"Brother, I know," Li Sinian interrupted him. "I know you don't want to hurt me by saying I'm not as good as Sister Xiaoxin. I don't mind that at all. I'm happy that Sister Xiaoxin can help you and that your grades are improving so quickly. I feel no jealousy towards Sister Xiaoxin at all—Also, I heard about the reason you had to leave school. The words you spoke have become a catchphrase among the students—"

"What?" Li Mu Yang looked bewildered. "What did I say?"

"I refuse." Li Sinian stared intently at her brother. She hadn't expected this guy, who was always bullied, to have such a resolute and stubborn side. When she heard the whole story and how her brother handled it, Li Sinian was so moved she teared up. Then, during lunch break, she slipped into the teacher's office and dropped a handful of broad beans into Teacher Zhao Mingzhu's teacup.