Good Big Brother?
When the police officer said that, Shi Fen couldn't help smiling. He thought he could get out of trouble for fighting again.
But before his smile reached his eyes, it hit him that his sister wasn't here. There was no one to play along with him. This was a problem.
Just then, the officer urged them, "Who's going to call their family first? Hurry up and tell them to come pick you up."
As he spoke, he handed the phone to Shi Miao. He figured it would be safer to let the little girl call first.
Shi Miao stared at the phone, at a loss. She'd never had to call her parents because she'd gotten into trouble before, and she hadn't expected to find herself in this situation without her brother.
Her mind was in turmoil, but she obediently called her mom anyway—to the fake number she'd saved in advance.
A while later, when no one answered, she turned to the officer, a little embarrassed. "No one's picking up. My mom might be busy. I'll try again!"
Seeing how well-behaved Shi Miao was as she tried to call again, Shi Fen didn't want her parents to find out that her best friend had ended up at the police station.
What if they stopped Shi Miao from playing with Miaomiao because of this? Wouldn't that leave his sister with one less friend?
So he pinched himself hard, forcing tears to well in his eyes, then said emotionally, "Don't lie to yourself. You know you won't get through. You know that when she said she was moving out, it wasn't because she was going on a business trip. She's not coming back. Why keep fooling yourself?"
He wiped at the tears in his eyes, which still weren't quite cooperating,