Timid Brother

Song Zhiyao smiled softly at her younger sister, Song Ruyun—the girl with the fiery temper and a heart not easily worn on her sleeve.

Ruyun blinked, momentarily stunned by that smile. Just yesterday, when Luo Meixin had returned, she'd gnashed her teeth in resentment, her jealousy flaring as she spoke of Zhiyao.

But now… she understood. Her sister had always been beautiful—even without smiling. But this smile? It disarmed her entirely, melting away her anger like sunlight on snow.

Zhiyao couldn't help it. Seeing her sister's surprised and slightly pouting expression, she reached out and gently pinched her soft cheek.

"Who told you I disliked this poor family? Luo Meixin?" she asked with a teasing tilt of her head.

"You've lived with her for so many years—don't you know what kind of person she is, hmm?"

Ruyun lowered her gaze. She had suspected Luo Meixin of twisting the truth. That woman had always been difficult to get along with—and they'd quarreled since childhood. But this sister… Zhiyao… she hadn't snapped back at her earlier when she was angry. She seems different.

That same hand still cradled her cheek gently. Zhiyao looked at her with amused fondness. For years, she'd been the youngest in the Luo family, her two older brothers so much older that their worlds barely overlapped. But now…

Now, it didn't feel so bad to have a little sister.

She gave that round, pouty face another light squeeze.

"It really feels good!" Zhiyao chuckled. "I'll pinch it whenever I'm bored from now on!"

"You're so hateful!" Ruyun huffed, swatting her hand away and scooting farther from her.

Despite her words, something in her heart softened. This sister was nothing like how Luo Meixin had described her.

"Alright, come here," Zhiyao said warmly, grabbing her hand and tugging her close. "I have something to ask you."

She really liked this sister. Ruyun wasn't the unreasonable girl she'd been warned about—she was full of life, exactly as a teenager should be. Sure, she'd been a little prickly since they met, but she hadn't said anything cruel.

Zhiyao could feel her sister's fondness even in her silence. She could also sense just how much she loathed Luo Meixin from listening her heart.

Ruyun still wore a frown, but her feet betrayed her, obediently walking over.

"What are you asking? Just so you know, our family is poor, so don't go expecting anything," she mumbled—but her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

"Of course I know we're poor," Zhiyao replied, flicking her forehead gently. "All the money in the house was used to buy a job for Luo Meixin!"

"You know everything?" Ruyun stared at her, surprised. She still came back—even knowing how poor we are?

She couldn't wrap her head around it. The Luo family were factory directors. Her two brothers and their wives all worked. Compared to them, her mother's income was a drop in the bucket.

Zhiyao had no reason to return to such hardship. She must be crazy…

[ Is she mentally ill?]

Before the thought had fully formed, Zhiyao tapped her on the head with her slender finger.

"Okay, stop overthinking. Let me ask—has Dad come back at all these past years?"

That was what she truly wanted to know. She couldn't trust Luo Meixin's words. That woman had returned to the Luo family spouting all sorts of nonsense—saying that Song Yuanzhou, their father, had done something terrible and been detained by the government.

Ruyun glanced toward the kitchen, where Lai Yanling was busy cooking. The one person in this house who absolutely disliked hearing about their father… was her mother.

She leaned in close and whispered into Zhiyao's ear, "Good thing you asked me. If you asked Mom, she'd definitely be upset."

"I was eight when Dad stopped coming back completely. Even when I was six, I rarely saw him. And every time he did return, the first thing he did was teach Luo Meixin to read."

Her voice tightened with anger. "But that idiot couldn't learn even if you hammered the knowledge into her skull!"

That bitterness lingered. Her father always spent his time on Meixin. Their parents had spoiled that girl senseless, but all it did was make her selfish. She never helped around the house when their father was gone.

Ruyun remembered how she'd heard cruel gossip about her dad, and how Meixin would storm home in a tantrum afterward saying father makes her ashamed. Lai Yanling would sit in silence and cry.

That's when her hatred for Meixin had solidified. Now, knowing they weren't even blood-related—she felt nothing but relief.

Looking at the calm, beautiful sister in front of her, with those clear, affectionate eyes—Ruyun thought, She's a hundred times better than Luo Meixin.

"People outside say Dad was arrested… or ran away… or maybe even died somewhere," she murmured. "But I think he's doing something incredible. He's the smartest person in our family—and the best dad. Even if he always favored Luo Meixin."

Zhiyao heard the pain in her sister's voice. It was clear that what hurt most was not her father's absence—but how he had given his love to the wrong daughter.

But even that didn't diminish his image in Ruyun's heart.

She smiled faintly, remembering what little she'd heard: "Girls from our Song family must study, so they can see the world in future" he had once told Meixin. That phrase echoed in her mind.

Unlike Meixin who always place last, she always became first in exam. Though she couldn't describe her father perfectly, she still wants to make her father a positive persona in front of her sister.

Though Zhiyao never met him, she felt a growing curiosity. One day, she was sure they would meet. 

Just then, Lai Yanling walked in, and Zhiyao quickly shifted the topic.

"Ruyun, why hasn't your brother come home yet?"

Ruyun scowled hearing about her brother. "That idiot's probably helping someone with their homework again. I've told him a thousand times—he doesn't act like my brother at all!"

She launched into a rant about Song Zihao's various "crimes." How he always listened to others, helped bad students with assignments, and let people take his lunch. Such a timid character!

"If I didn't catch it early, that fool would've starved to death one day! Someone literally snatched his food, and after that, I made sure to eat with him every day."

Despite her harsh words, Zhiyao saw right through her. Her sister might be fierce, but she knew what her brother had endured—and she protected him in her own fierce way.

Zhiyao gently took her hand. "Let's work together to fix that silly brother of ours, okay?"

From the kitchen, Lai Yanling peeked in, relieved to see the two girls laughing and chatting. She'd feared they'd fight—just like when Luo Meixin was around.

"Zhiyao, Ruyun! Come help set the table! I don't know when Zihao will get back—this boy's been coming home later and later."

She glanced out the window again. Her shoulders only relaxed when she spotted a familiar figure outside.

Ruyun immediately know it was Zihao seeing her mother's action.

Just wait, she thought, I'm teaching that dummy a lesson tonight.

Zhiyao caught the glint in her sister's eyes and made a mental note: I'm definitely sticking around to watch.