The dining table was covered with all kinds of delicacies. Looking at the feast, so enticing in color, aroma, and flavor, Ning Sang-sang's stomach began sounding the alarm from its empty fortress.
Madam Jiang ladled a bowl of nourishing soup and set it before Ning Sang-sang, her face full of heartache. "Sang-sang, you're too thin. Have more soup to build yourself up."
"Sang-sang, these ribs taste good. Try some." Ning Xiaotian eagerly added food to Ning Sang-sang's bowl too.
"Big Sister, these braised lion's head meatballs are delicious. Try one." Not to be outdone, Ning Hui also added food to Ning Sang-sang's bowl.
Ning Chengxiao did not serve her any food, but he moved the dishes he thought tasted good in front of Ning Sang-sang.
Watching them, Ning Sang-sang felt a corner of her heart soften.
[So this is the warmth of a family.]
Hearing this, Ning Xiaotian and Madam Jiang felt a bitter ache in their hearts. Their daughter should have grown up surrounded by their love, but because a villain had stolen her away, she had been separated from them for more than ten years. She must have suffered so much during those years. Thankfully, she had returned now. From now on, they would make it up to her for all the years they had failed her.
Ning Chengxiao and Ning Hui felt awful too. With a completely earnest expression, Ning Hui told Ning Sang-sang, "Big Sister, I'll protect you from now on. I won't let anything happen to you again."
Seeing how serious he looked, Ning Sang-sang smiled. "All right. I'll be waiting for you to protect me."
[My little brother is pretty great.]
Hearing Ning Sang-sang praise him in her thoughts, Ning Hui's lips immediately curved upward. He could not have been happier. Hehe, Big Sister said I'm pretty great! He shot Ning Chengxiao a smug glance, looking as proud as could be, as though saying, See? Big Sister praised me, not you.
"Childish," Ning Chengxiao replied disdainfully, feeling a little jealous.
Ning Hui rolled his eyes at him, then ignored him and eagerly served Ning Sang-sang more food, looking determined to win her favor. With her parents and younger brother all piling food into her bowl, Ning Sang-sang ate until she was thoroughly stuffed.
Once she had eaten and drunk her fill, Madam Jiang took Ning Sang-sang to the courtyard she had prepared for her long ago so she could rest.
"Sang-sang, this is the room I prepared for you. Take a look and see if there's anything you don't like. I'll have the servants change it," Madam Jiang said gently.
Ning Sang-sang surveyed the room. It was warmly furnished and spotless, clearly prepared with care. Seeing Madam Jiang watching her with such affection, she said softly, "Mother, this room is lovely. There's no need to change anything."
"Sang-sang, this is your home. Now that you're home, don't feel you have to hold back. If you need anything, just tell me, and I'll have someone get it for you."
"Mother, I know. Don't worry, I won't hold back," Ning Sang-sang assured her.
[With skin as thick as mine, I couldn't feel awkward if I tried.]
Madam Jiang found this rather amusing. She chatted with Ning Sang-sang a little longer before leaving her to rest.
Once Madam Jiang had left, Ning Sang-sang let herself go, stretched out on the bed, and began feasting on the Capital's gossip in the melon patch.
[Lord Li of the Minister's Residence loves sniffing his concubine's three-inch golden lotuses. Every day after work, he goes home, takes off her shoes, and has a sniff. If he goes a single day without it, he can't eat.]
[Duke Chen, famously a good husband, keeps a mistress. His children with her are older than his legitimate children.]
[Old Wang, the Minister of Rites, has been wearing a cuckold's green hat for over ten years without knowing it. He treats his own daughter like weeds and another man's son like treasure.]
Inside the room, Ning Sang-sang savored the gossip with relish. Outside, Ning Xiaotian and Madam Jiang wore different expressions. They had no idea who else could hear their daughter's thoughts. If everyone could hear them, the Capital would certainly be lively from now on.
Ning Sang-sang did not go out that afternoon. She stayed in her room, spending the entire afternoon happily feasting on all kinds of gossip from the Capital's melon patch.
[Little Melon, you should have bound yourself to me back in the Twenty-First Century. Then I wouldn't have had to diligently stake out juicy gossip day and night until I worked myself into a sudden death.] Ning Sang-sang felt she had met Little Melon far too late. If she had been bound to this Gossip System back in the Twenty-First Century-good heavens, she could hardly imagine how happy she would have been. Getting all the juiciest gossip at home every day without having to stake anyone out would have been absolute bliss.
Little Melon chuckled. [Host, I might not even have left the factory back then. I found you as soon as I did. Host, you're my very first host.]
[Wow, now I suddenly feel so honored. You gave your first time to me.] Ning Sang-sang quipped.
Little Melon: "..."
Why did that sound a little strange?
Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by Ning Hui's booming voice. "Big Sister, are you awake? I'm coming in!"
Hearing her little brother arrive, Ning Sang-sang immediately sat up on the couch and called toward the door, "Come in."
Barely had she finished speaking when the door creaked open from outside. Ning Hui came rushing in and sat beside her, grinning as he said, "Big Sister, today is the Qiqiao Festival. There'll be lantern displays and performances tonight. Let's go out after dinner."
Ning Sang-sang loved having fun. His words immediately caught her interest, and she said eagerly, "Why bother with dinner? Let's go out now and eat outside."
"Big Sister, you really know what I like!" Hearing this, Ning Hui was so delighted that he could not help slinging an arm around her shoulders, as chummy as a pair of best buddies.
[Little brother, you really know what I like too. With a face that pretty, you could pass for either a boy or a girl. Suddenly, I feel like I've got both a younger brother and a younger sister.]
Ning Hui's lips twitched.
Pass for either a boy or a girl?
He had a man's equipment. How could he pass for a girl?
Only his big sister could get away with saying that. If anyone else dared say it to his face, he would beat their head into a pig's head.
What kind of eyesight was that? She couldn't even tell men from women!
While he was thinking, an impatient voice rang out:
"Weren't we going out to have fun? Come on. What are you standing there in a daze for?"
Ning Hui snapped back to his senses. Seeing that Ning Sang-sang was already on her feet, he quickly stood too and said with a beaming smile, "Let's go, Big Sister. Let's go have some fun."
His smile dazzled Ning Sang-sang, and she marveled inwardly:
[That smile of his could sweep a whole crowd of girls off their feet. No wonder a man has his eye on him too.]
A man had his eye on him?
Which damned bastard of a man had his eye on him?
Oh, why couldn't Big Sister explain herself properly? This was maddening!
He desperately wanted to know which man had his eye on him, so he opened his mouth. "Big Sister..." Yet no matter what he did, he could not get his question out. Ning Hui knitted his brows tightly. Refusing to believe it, he opened his mouth again and strained to speak, but the words he wanted to ask simply would not come out.
Aaaaaah!
Ning Hui was so furious that he let out a groundhog scream inside his head. Damn it, who on earth was stopping him from speaking? Aaaah, he wanted so badly to know who that bastard eyeing him was!
As he was going berserk inwardly, his big sister patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Go take care of your bodily needs. Holding it in isn't good for you."
Ning Hui: "...Big Sister, I don't need the toilet."
"If you don't need the toilet, why do you look constipated?" Ning Sang-sang asked with a smile.
Ning Hui: "..."
He had only been straining to speak. How had that turned into a constipated expression in his big sister's eyes?
Unable to explain to her that he could not get the words out, Ning Hui could only change the subject. "Big Sister, come on. Let's go out and have some fun."
At the mention of "fun," Ning Sang-sang stopped asking questions and walked out of the room with him.
Before you continue