It was almost instinctual. Jiang Huai felt the urge to escape. He subconsciously wanted to say, “Don’t throw a birthday party for your brother,” but what he truly desired deep down, he himself could not distinguish. He was always habitually deceiving himself.
This segment wasn’t in his past life memories. This illusion was truly realistic, but what was it trying to test him on? Was it trying to tell him that he had always secretly admired Jiang Ning, but had hidden it so deeply that even he himself hadn’t noticed? Or was it purely out of guilt, and thus using fantasy to compensate? He couldn’t figure it out or distinguish it. Even though he knew everything before him was a virtual illusion, after a moment of hesitation, he still answered softly.
“Later.”
He escaped to the kitchen, lit the gas stove, and stared blankly at the rising flames.
When he finished heating the dishes and came out, Jiang Ning had just finished showering and was drying her wet hair with a towel. She was still wearing that nightgown, but her body seemed to have grown somewhat taller, exuding a hint of flirtatiousness in addition to her past girlish charm. Her long, fair legs beneath the skirt seemed to glow slightly in the lamplight. She sat quietly, her snow-white legs together, her still slightly damp hair cascading over her shoulders.
Jiang Huai took out the hairdryer and dried her hair until it was about seventy percent dry before they sat down together for dinner. After eating their fill, the two returned to the sofa. A movie was playing on the television. Jiang Ning’s long legs were all curled up on the sofa, and she snuggled close to him. A blanket was draped over both of them, shielding them from the damp chill of the rainy day.
Jiang Huai seemed to have not watched a single frame of the movie, his mind still filled with endless wandering thoughts. He wondered what the Tribulation of Inner Demon wanted him to know, yet he treated everything as real. If everything were real, if he were to experience this life from beginning to end within this Tribulation of Inner Demon, what should he do?
What were his feelings towards Jiang Ning, exactly?
The movie ended, and Jiang Huai took the small cake out of the refrigerator.
The cake was small, just enough for two people. Jiang Huai put in the candles, turned off the lights, found a lighter, and lit the candles. Jiang Ning clasped her hands together and made a wish in front of the candles.
When the candles were blown out, the room plunged into darkness. A soft, delicate voice came from the girl, “Hmph, I’m ready.”
Jiang Huai was sitting beside her at this moment. He hesitated for a moment. When he turned his head, in the dim light, the girl had already closed her eyes. The world seemed to become very quiet, with only the sound of their breathing.
He slowly leaned closer, clearly hearing his heartbeat become particularly uneasy.
Illusions are false. Did the real Jiang Ning of the past hold the same thoughts? Why was his Tribulation of Inner Demon like this? He hesitated and did not step forward. Jiang Ning did not open her eyes, nor did she speak, but quietly waited.
Thirty seconds? Or a minute, yet it felt as long as a century.
Jiang Huai leaned even closer and lightly kissed her smooth, fair forehead. “There.”
Jiang Ning opened her eyes and looked at him without blinking. “Eh, Brother, you actually kissed me…”
The next moment, she was laughing uncontrollably on the sofa. Jiang Huai walked over and turned on the lights. Seeing her rolling with laughter on the small sofa, he immediately glared at her, “You keep using me as bait every day. Just you wait, when I’ve saved enough, I’ll deal with you!”
“Lalala.” Jiang Ning was not afraid at all and stuck out her tongue at him. As Jiang Huai ran towards her, Jiang Ning took off, and the two played a game of cat and mouse in the small room. Jiang Ning could not escape in the end and was finally tackled onto the bed by Jiang Huai. His hand lightly pressed on Jiang Ning’s shoulder. In just an instant, the distance between their cheeks became extremely close.
“You’re pressing on my hair,” Jiang Ning said, blinking at him.
So Jiang Huai immediately got up, but the next moment, Jiang Ning grabbed his hand and pulled him back. Her eyes looked at his seriously. “Eh… want to kiss again?”
“No.”
“Kiss on the lips this time.” Jiang Ning’s fingers gripped his palm, but after a moment, she acted even more outrageously, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I want to try kissing too. My best friends always tell me that my head spins and my legs go weak when I kiss. I don’t believe them… Want to try it with me, Brother?”
“Alright, alright.”
As Jiang Huai agreed, Jiang Ning paused. Her eyes instinctively dodged, and two red blushes appeared on her fair cheeks. She obediently closed her eyes, her thick, long eyelashes fluttering. Jiang Huai slowly leaned closer, and his fingertips then touched the itchy spot on her waist, and then… he started tickling.
Jiang Ning was very ticklish. This move was almost a devastating blow to her. In an instant, she began to struggle, but her slender wrists were tightly held by Jiang Huai’s other hand. No matter how much she struggled, it was useless. She burst into laughter in the room, her snow-white, slender legs kicking and struggling uncontrollably. Jiang Huai muttered on the side, “Letting you tease your brother!”
The tickling punishment ended after a long while. At this moment, Jiang Ning was completely soft and weak, her snow-white legs almost cramping, her body trembling. She slightly turned her face away, her voice weak and wronged, “You’re bullying me again…”
“And you have the nerve to talk back?”
“I really wanted to try… This is my first kiss. Brother, you’re family. Do you want your precious little cabbage to be pecked by some pig’s snout someday?”
Jiang Huai poked her forehead with his finger again. “If tickling can’t cure you, then I’ll have to spank you.”
Jiang Ning immediately pulled the quilt over herself in annoyance and covered her body with it, looking at him resentfully. “You don’t understand romance!”
Jiang Huai watched her from the side, pretending to grab her slender ankle again, as if he were going to tickle the soles of her feet again. Jiang Ning wanted to struggle but had no strength, so she had to soften and look at him, her eyes pitifully pleading, like a wet kitten, making it impossible to get angry.
“It’s getting late, time to sleep.” Jiang Huai finally didn’t tickle her anymore, but said softly. Jiang Ning, however, spoke up, “Then keep me company watching another movie. Let’s watch it together on the bed.”
“You want to take the opportunity to fall asleep on my bed and stay all night again?”
“I like sleeping with Brother, it makes me feel safe.”
“You’re lying. You just want to strangle me with your legs.”
“It’s winter, it’s very cold, and I like kicking off the covers. If I get a cold tomorrow, I won’t be able to play with you. Come on, come on, we haven’t slept together for a long, long time.”
Jiang Ning lifted the quilt and patted the empty space beside her, then pouted. “Isn’t someone feeling guilty?”
The words that rose to his lips were eventually swallowed back by Jiang Huai. Resignedly, he went to the bed and slept on the outer side. Jiang Ning’s delicate body snuggled up to him, carrying a pleasant scent. Her long legs were then draped over him, as if Jiang Huai were her oversized hug pillow. Her head then snuggled closer, her cheek resting against Jiang Huai’s neck, her voice very, very soft. “Brother…”
“What is it now?”
“If I can’t find a boyfriend in the future, can you take responsibility?”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Because in this world, no man will be better to me than you… What should I do?” Jiang Ning’s breath tickled Jiang Huai’s neck. Jiang Huai turned around and leaned his forehead against hers, whispering, “You will.”
“I won’t.”
“You will.”
“Hmph, if I say I won’t, I won’t. If, I mean if… if I’m still unmarried at twenty-five, why don’t you marry me?”
“What nonsense are you talking about.”
“I’m serious, I’m not joking… You can’t always think I’m teasing you.”
“I’m your brother.”
“So what?” Jiang Ning bit his neck lightly. “Don’t you like me? I’m your most, most, most loving good sister in the whole world.”
“We’re too familiar. I can’t like you.”
“You’re lying,” Jiang Ning suddenly muttered softly. “We’re no different from a couple living together now.”
“There is still a difference. It’s just that the nighttime activity is missing, isn’t it? Hmph… you want to sleep with me too.”
Jiang Huai immediately bumped his forehead against Jiang Ning’s forehead in dissatisfaction. “No more dirty jokes, no more messing around.”
“Can you guarantee that? Not even a little bit?”
“Not even a little bit.”
But in the next instant, Jiang Huai’s lips suddenly felt a warm touch. He widened his eyes, but the Jiang Ning he saw had suddenly kissed him. Not only that, to prevent Jiang Huai from struggling, her body almost instantly pressed down on him. Jiang Huai wanted to push her away, but her nightgown’s strap had slipped down at some point and was now piled at her waist.
His hands only touched the girl’s smooth skin, and wherever they touched, it was the same. At the moment he was distracted, her delicate pink tongue had already pried open his teeth. Just as Jiang Huai was about to say something, Jiang Ning had already pulled back, but her body was still straddling him.
Her hands pressed on Jiang Huai’s chest, her body pressed down, and she looked down at him, who was flustered, whispering, “Ngh, you poked me.”
“That’s not true. Don’t talk nonsense…”
In the next instant, her fair and tender little hands gently flicked Jiang Xiaohu. She tilted her head and glanced sideways at Jiang Huai. “Are you still going to deny it?”
“You, be good…” Jiang Huai gently grabbed her wrist.
“Am I not being good?” Jiang Ning bit her lip lightly, her eyes staring directly at him. “Do you really not like me? Have you never thought about being together forever? Do you really, really only see me as a sister? Do you only ever escape? You know everything, you know everything… yet you deceive me while deceiving yourself. You think this is for my own good, always presumptuously thinking I should be better off than you… but you’ve never considered my feelings.”
Jiang Huai stared blankly into her eyes, watching the teardrops fall from the corners of her eyes.
He tried to say something to comfort her, but for a moment, he didn’t know what to say. He suddenly realized that everything before him was clearly fake.
This was his Tribulation of Inner Demon. He would never have the chance to see Jiang Ning again. Everything was just his fantasy, but what was this fantasy trying to tell him? Was it trying to make him restrain his desires, or to compensate for his debt to Jiang Ning? Or was it to find the lies he had used to deceive himself in the past and expose them himself?
Jiang Huai gazed at the girl’s blurry, tear-filled eyes. He wanted to say something several times, but he was speechless. Yet, at this very moment, a “ding” suddenly sounded in his ear.
