Xiao Hong

Long Yang woke up, sunlight shone through the window onto his face. "Hmm? Yang'er, you woke up!"

His mother walked over to his crib, picking him up.

"Is my little baby hungry? Haha, give your mother a moment." She brought him over to a large bed a couple of feet over from his crib.

She sat down and uncovered a part of her robe and began to breastfeed Long Yang.

After a five-minute feeding session, she exited the room with Long Yang in arm. She walked out of the courtyard and towards the nearby gazebo atop a small lake.

She took a seat as Long Yang laid in her arms. Long Yang squirmed around, "Dah!"

"Yang'er, are you asking about your father? He's very important, you know! But that means he's also very busy, so he can't see you too often. He's the patriarch of the Long clan after all but he'll come to visit you when he can okay?"

Understanding the situation, Long Yang's tiny head did a small nod.

His mother saw this but she shook her head, "ha, what am I thinking, I thought you nodded there. I must still be quite fatigued, there's no way you would understand my words."

Long Yang's face scrunched up, "Bah!"

"Okay, okay-" she stopped talking as she heard someone's footsteps approach. She looked up, "Xiao Hong, why are you here?"

A teenage girl that looked to be around the age of twelve in simple, servant's wear awkwardly bowed down. "S-Sorry to disturb you, miss Mei." She took a peek at the small baby in her arms, "I assume this is the young master?"

Long Mei chuckled, "Xiao Hong, no need to act so formally. You can just call me big sister Mei. Come, look at just how adorable he is."

Xiao Hong looked down, "I-I really can't act so disrespectful towards you after all you've done for me, ma'am."

Long Mei frowned, "now, now, if you keep acting this way, I'll get angry."

Xiao Hong stayed silent before saying in a quiet voice, "mmm… b-big sister Mei." She tiptoed over to the pair and looked at Long Yang who was lying still in his mother's arms.

Long Mei smiled, "do you want to hold him?" She held Long Yang out before placing him in Xiao Hong's arms.

She stared into Long Yang's eyes as he stared back. Long Yang smiled, "Ah!" Xiao Hong smiled back, "hehe, you're such a good child aren't you?"

Long Mei's smile grew wider, "Yang'er, this is Xiao Hong, she'll be your big sister so listen to her okay?" She turned towards Xiao Hong, "Xiao Hong, how would you feel about being Yang'er's caretaker and older sister?"

Xiao Hong's face lit up, "really? Can I?" Long Mei nodded, "of course you can!" Xiao Hong turned towards Long Yang, "you hear that? I'll be your sister from now!"

Long Yang was ecstatic, while his grandmother and grandfather had shown him love and care, he never really experienced a real family with parents and a sibling. 'I wish these moments would last forever.'

As soon as he had that thought, he felt sad, angry, and expectant. 'No, I can't just stay here my whole life. This feeling of familial love just fuels my desire to find my parents and to find out why they abandoned me. I also need to avenge my grandparents or I'll never be able to rest well.'

He focused his attention on his manual. To achieve his goals, strength was the utmost important factor.