Brother Was a Brother for the First Time

Chapter 43: Brother... was a brother for the first time

"An'an, An'an!"

Jiang Wang crouched there on the ground, holding An'an in his arms.

He cradled her little head, stroking it again and again. "You don't have to be so good. I don't need you to be so good."

His voice was strangely hoarse. "You can be as willful as you like, as carefree as you like. You can do whatever you want. You just don't need to be... so sensible."

He regretted not keeping Jiang An'an out of earshot when he'd asked Zhao Rucheng for money. He'd always told himself his little sister was shy and sensitive, but he'd still overlooked it.

He and Zhao Rucheng were as close as brothers. He could share even superior cultivation techniques with him, let alone worldly possessions like money. But he'd forgotten that An'an didn't know that.

An'an could only think she was a burden to her brother. That her brother had to ask someone else for money just to give her a home.

Since their father's death, Jiang Wang had hardly ever cried. But at that moment, with An'an's little head hidden against him, tears poured down his face like rain.

"Brother... what's wrong?" Jiang An'an asked after a long while.

"Ah, nothing, nothing." Jiang Wang got his emotions under control, still holding An'an in his arms. "Don't call Zhao Rucheng a pretty boy anymore. It makes him unhappy."

"But he really is so pale."

"Pretty boy doesn't mean someone with a pale face... Forget it. Call him whatever you want. You don't need to care whether he's happy."

"Okay!"

Once he was sure no more tears were falling and that it wasn't obvious he'd been crying, Jiang Wang drew Jiang An'an out of his arms and gazed at her solemnly. "I have to apologize to you. I shouldn't have lost my temper. I... was a brother for the first time, and I didn't do a very good job."

Jiang An'an twisted the hem of her clothes, looking a little embarrassed. "I was a little sister for the first time too, and I didn't do a good job either. I shouldn't have cheated or made Teacher angry..."

"Is that so?" Jiang Wang wiped the tears from her cheeks with both thumbs. "So this was your first time being a little sister?"

Jiang An'an nodded.

Jiang Wang moved his thumbs in front of her and raised them. "Then you're really talented! I've never seen a better little sister."

"Hehe..."

An'an smiled bashfully.

Winter had already arrived. Tear tracks still marked her little face, but when she smiled, all the spring flowers bloomed.

Everyone in the world had their own fate, and no two people's fates were the same. Half of that saying was complete bullshit.

Sun Xiaoyan thought he was such an idiot. Seriously, how could he have believed in that so-called bond between siblings? How could he have believed that she-devil?

"There's lots of delicious food outside, things you can't get in Three Mountains City!"

"I promise I won't bully him. I'll be a good role model! Please let me lead the group!"

"Just think of it as a trip for me and my little brother. We'll have a wonderful time!"

Those words still rang in his ears. Still rang in his ears!

Thirteen-year-old Sun Xiaoyan had a rather handsome name, but he himself was... very, very round.

Huff! Huff!

He ran forward, struggling to breathe. His whole abdomen burned, and sweat poured down his body. The bright, beautiful clothes he wore had long since lost their original appearance, all rumpled and filthy.

He felt like he could collapse right then and there, melting into a lump of mud, a pig, or anything else that could lie down. But he didn't dare.

He wanted to cry so badly. He should've clung to his mother's leg and refused to let go! How had he let his brain get clouded by lard and put his trust in his lifelong nemesis?

He ran and ran.

From a distance, you could barely see his legs. He looked like a multicolored ball rolling along.

He didn't want to roll!

Unless he could roll all the way back home.

He, Sun Xiaoyan, was the dignified son of the Three Mountains City Lord, the only boy of his generation in the Sun family. How glorious had he been in Three Mountains City? He'd practically been "second only to one person, above ten thousand!"

Why had he been so stupid as to leave town alone with that "one person"? Wasn't it better to throw his weight around in Three Mountains City? Wasn't it fun to bully the other kids? With Tiger gone, couldn't he at least reign as king?

Sun Xiaoyan stopped.

It wasn't because anger had welled up in his heart and he'd found the courage to fight back. He didn't have that courage...

He really had reached his limit.

It wasn't that he didn't want to run. He genuinely couldn't run anymore.

Just then, he heard that achingly familiar voice rushing toward him at a shocking speed.

"Sun! Little! Fatso!"

Sun Xiaoyan had no time to react before a sparkling, tender, beautiful little foot struck his butt in a decidedly less beautiful way.

This time, he really did roll.

He roared down the Official Path, rolling with wild abandon.

By the time he finally came to a stop, his face was bruised and swollen.

He sat there, swaying unsteadily, feeling as if the whole world were spinning.

The first thing his squinting eyes saw was a pair of bare feet, as lovely as carved jade. They were bare all the way up to the calves, above which was a pair of shorts with a skirt overlay, perfect for fighting. Their owner wore a short, cross-collared shirt and had a sweet, adorable little face that suited her petite frame.

By comparison, the obese Sun Xiaoyan was practically a giant. But his lips quivered, as if he were about to burst into tears. "Sis, I can't run anymore. I really don't think I can do it!"

"I don't care what you think. I'll be the judge of that." Sun Xiaoman crouched down, smiling warmly at him. "I think you can do it."

Sun Xiaoman's apparent willingness to talk gave Sun Xiaoyan courage.

He simply flopped onto the ground and began to wail. "Ow, I'm dying! I can't move..."

He was like a dead pig that feared no boiling water. Go on, kill me if you can.

Standing or lying down, he was still a lump. His proportions were remarkably even.

"Is losing weight really that hard?" Sun Xiaoman asked.

To make him lose weight, Sun Xiaoman had forced him to run all the way there using only his physical strength. Everyone else could use God-Speed Talismans as much as they liked, walk whenever they wanted, and rest whenever they wanted.

Sun Xiaoyan was overwhelmed with indignation. "I was born fat!"

"There are no fat people born fat, only lazy fat people!"

That was almost inspiring...

But Sun Xiaoyan wasn't moved. He even closed his already tiny eyes, acting as if he couldn't hear a thing and wouldn't listen no matter what.

"You're as round as a ball. Won't you bring shame on Three Mountains City when you compete?"

"Everyone calls us Mountain Barbarians. What face does Three Mountains City have to lose?"

Sun Xiaoman pressed her lips together and said nothing.

Sun Xiaoyan's heart jumped. He immediately opened his eyes again and gazed pitifully at his sister. "You're my real sister! What kind of sister is so cruel to her little brother? And I'm still so young. I'm just a kid!

"Besides, they say an eldest sister is like a mother. A kind mother raises a filial son. If you're good to me, I'll be good to you in the future, and we can all live together in harmony. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

He had his arguments all lined up, and his logic was perfectly clear.

"People say you should give a child a smack and then a date to sweeten the deal. All I've gotten from you is the stick. I haven't even seen a date pit!"

The more Sun Xiaoyan spoke, the more aggrieved he became, until at last he was sobbing.

"Honestly..." Sun Xiaoman looked at him helplessly and gently patted his chest, seeming very tender. "I was a big sister for the first time too, and I didn't do a very good job..."

She grabbed Sun Xiaoyan by the collar and lifted his whole body off the ground. "Then get up and hit me!!!"

She drove a fierce punch into Sun Xiaoyan, sending him flying, and roared, "Can you act like a man for once? Stop bawling!"

The others traveling with them from Three Mountains City silently watched, shrinking their necks. Not one of them dared to step in.

Sun Xiaoyan spun through the air and landed. Without a word, he started running wildly again—he wouldn't die from the beating, but it hurt!

No choice. Better run.

Up ahead... that was Maple Forest City, right? How much longer... how much longer?

Waaah...