"I'm really not bragging. Anyone who's spent time getting along with him couldn't possibly dislike him!"
"And do you know how amazing he is? A whole greenhouse full of plants, and when he says there are bugs, there are bugs. When he says they're sick, they're sick!"
"Plus, he's incredibly strong! Can you believe he can hoist a grown man like me onto his shoulder?"
"You'd never guess what happened last time..."
Ding Ding wasn't someone with many friends.
Only after seeing all the scheming and fighting behind the scenes did he realize that interests were the bridge connecting people.
So once he withdrew from the pursuit of fame and fortune, Ding Ding discovered a treasure but had no one to show him off to.
Now, at last, he could openly show off the treasure he'd kept hidden for months.
His audience was none other than his eldest, second, and Third Older Sister.
"Last time, he asked me to teach him how to take apart crabs, and all the crabmeat he picked out was for me! All of it! Packed with roe and rich crab fat!"
His eldest sister watched Ding Ding smile and smiled along with him. For a fleeting moment, it felt as though nothing had changed.
Of course, she had to deliberately ignore the fact that the person he was talking about was a man.
Perhaps she was old-fashioned and couldn't fully understand, but seeing how happy Ding Ding was, she felt that a man didn't seem so bad, either.
Yet she worried, too.
She didn't dare imagine how Ding Ding would face the ubiquitous finger-pointing if outsiders learned about his situation.
An open attack was easy to dodge, but a hidden one was hard to guard against. Others might be polite to his face, but their