Brother Is a First-Time Brother

Chapter 43: Brother... Is a Brother for the First Time

"An'an, An'an!"

Jiang Wang just crouched there, pulling An'an into his embrace.

He held her little head, stroking it over and over. "You don't have to be this good. I don't need you to be this good."

His voice was strangely hoarse. "You can be willful, you can be naive. You can do whatever you like—you just don't have to... be this understanding."

He deeply regretted not avoiding Jiang An'an when he asked Zhao Rucheng for money. He had always told himself his sister was introverted and sensitive, but he had still overlooked it.

He truly was as close as a brother to Zhao Rucheng, sharing even top-tier cultivation techniques without hesitation, let alone trivial things like gold and silver. But he forgot—An'an didn't know that.

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

Since their father died of illness, Jiang Wang had almost never shed tears. But at this moment, hidden behind Jiang An'an's little head, tears streamed down his face like rain.

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

"Ah, no, nothing." Jiang Wang controlled his emotions, still holding Jiang An'an close, and said, "From now on, don't call Zhao Rucheng 'pretty boy.' It'll make him unhappy."

"But he really is very pale."

"'Pretty boy' doesn't mean his face is pale... Forget it, call him whatever you want. Don't worry about whether he's happy or not."

"Mm!"

After confirming no more tears would fall and that it didn't look like he had been crying, Jiang Wang pulled Jiang An'an away from his embrace and looked at her very seriously. "Big brother needs to apologize to you. I shouldn't have lost my temper at you. Big brother... is a brother for the first time, and I'm doing a very bad job."

Jiang An'an twisted the hem of her clothes, a little embarrassed. "I'm a sister for the first time too. I'm doing a bad job too. I shouldn't have cheated, shouldn't have angered the teacher..."

"Is that so?" Jiang Wang used his thumbs to wipe Jiang An'an's little face, gently brushing away her tears. "So you're a sister for the first time?"

Jiang An'an nodded.

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

"Hehe..."

An'an smiled sheepishly.

Winter had already arrived, and the traces of tears were still on her little face. But with that smile, all of spring bloomed.

Everyone in the world has their fate, and each person's fate is different. Half of that saying is bullshit.

Sun Xiaoyan felt he was truly foolish. Really, he was. How could he have believed in that so-called sibling affection? How could he have believed that female demon's words?

"There's lots of good food out there, things you can't eat in Three Mountains City!"

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

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

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

This year, thirteen-year-old Sun Xiaoyan had a rather delicate and pretty name, but his appearance was very... round and plump.

Huff! Huff!

He ran forward with difficulty, his entire abdomen burning hot, sweat pouring like rain. The once bright and beautiful clothes on his body were long past recognition—wrinkled, dirty, and filthy.

He felt he could collapse right then and there, melting into a puddle of mud, a pig, or whatever could just fall apart. But he didn't dare.

He really wanted to cry. He should have clung to his mother's thigh and never let go back then. How could he have been so blind as to trust his lifelong enemy?

He ran and ran.

From a distance, his legs were almost invisible. He looked like a multicolored ball rolling along.

He didn't want to roll!

Unless he could roll back home.

Think about it—him, Sun Xiaoyan, the son of the lord of Three Mountains City, the only male heir of the Sun family in this generation. How glorious was he in the Three Mountains City domain? He could be called "second only to one, above ten thousand!"

Why had he been so foolish as to leave on a long journey alone with that "one"? Wasn't it good enough to throw his weight around in Three Mountains City? Wasn't bullying other kids fun enough? With the tiger gone, couldn't he play the tyrant?

Sun Xiaoyan stopped.

It wasn't that anger rose from his heart or evil grew from his guts. He didn't have guts...

It was that he truly felt he had reached his limit.

It wasn't that he didn't want to run—he really couldn't run anymore.

Then he heard that all-too-familiar voice approaching him at an astonishing speed.

"Sun! Xiao! Pang!"

Before Sun Xiaoyan could react, a crystalline, fair, and even beautiful foot—in a not-so-beautiful manner—imprinted itself on his butt.

This time, he really did start rolling.

Whistling down the official road, rolling wildly and freely.

When he finally stopped, his face was already bruised and swollen from all the bumps.

He sat there wobbling on the ground, feeling like the whole world was spinning.

The first thing to appear in his squinting eyes was a pair of bare feet, carved like fine jade, bare all the way up to the calves, then a pair of six-part culottes very convenient for combat. The owner of those bare feet wore a short side-fastening shirt, with a cute, lovely little face that matched her petite frame perfectly.

Compared to her, the fat Sun Xiaoyan was practically a behemoth, but his mouth puckered as if he was about to burst into tears. "Sis, I can't run anymore. I really don't think I can make it!"

"It's not about what you think, it's about what I think." Sun Xiaoman crouched down, looking at him with a beaming smile. "I think you can."

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

He simply flopped onto the ground, groaning and wailing, "Aiyo, I'm dying, I can't move..."

He had the look of a dead pig that's not afraid of scalding water. Go ahead and kill me if you've got the guts.

Standing up he was a lump, lying down he was a lump—his figure was very evenly distributed.

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

To make him lose weight, Sun Xiaoman had forced him to run purely on physical strength all the way. Everyone else could use God-Speed Talismans freely, come and go as they pleased, rest whenever they wanted.

Sun Xiaoyan was filled with indignant sorrow. "My fat is natural!"

"There's no such thing as a naturally fat person, only a lazy one!"

Somehow that was oddly inspiring...

But Sun Xiaoyan was unmoved. He even closed his already small eyes, with an air of "I'm not listening, I'm not listening, I'm just not listening."

"You're as round as a ball. When you get on stage, won't you embarrass our Three Mountains City?"

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

Sun Xiaoman pursed her lips and said nothing.

Sun Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat. He immediately opened his eyes again and looked pitifully at his sister. "You're my real sister. How can a sister be so cruel to her brother? And I'm still so young, I'm still a child!

Besides, they say the eldest sister is like a mother, and a kind mother raises a filial son. If you're good to me, I'll be good to you later. Everyone happy together—isn't that joyful?"

He had a point for everything, his logic very clear.

"Everyone says raising a child means one hit and one carrot. With you, all I see are hits, not even a single date pit!"

The more Sun Xiaoyan spoke, the more wronged he felt, until finally he started crying, "Wah wah wah."

"Sigh." Sun Xiaoman looked at him helplessly, gently patted his chest, and acted very tender. "This is the first time I've been an older sister. I'm not doing a good job..."

She grabbed Sun Xiaoyan by the front of his shirt and lifted his entire body up from his lying-down position. "Then get up and hit me!!!"

She punched him flying with a single blow, roaring, "Can't you act like a man? Whining and crying!"

The others accompanying Three Mountains City silently watched this scene, shrinking their necks. Not one dared to step forward.

Sun Xiaoyan spun and tumbled in the air. After landing, without a word, he started sprinting again—he might not die from the beating, but it sure hurt!

No choice. Run.

Ahead... ahead was Maple Forest City, right? How much longer... how much longer!

Wah wah wah...

Thanks to book friend Huang Azhan for the reward.