Chapter 33: Kisses and Siblings
Speaking of summer vacation, what’s the first thing everyone thinks of?
Camping or going to the beach with friends?
Reuniting with childhood friends back in your hometown?
A chance encounter while working a summer job?
Sharing secrets with each other while watching the stars?
Rushing to finish summer homework on the very last day?
Or even transmigrating to another world for a legendary summer adventure?
Ah, those are all fake.
In reality, for those who don’t go out much, the summer vacation situation is essentially decided before it even begins.
That would be… well, staying at home.
Of course, if you had male friends, it might be a little better. You could go play sports or go online together during the summer vacation, which is much better than being alone…
But before, I didn’t have anyone I could call a friend. Even Xinran kept her distance from me at that time, hiding her feelings. Only Keling would occasionally play games with me, her poor brother.
As a result, I’ve accumulated quite a few game discs.
But… this summer vacation is truly a complete turnaround from previous ones.
They say that once you have a girlfriend, even the most homebound person can’t stay home. It seems this saying holds some truth (assuming the girlfriend isn’t also a shut-in).
In fact, the day after the exams, Lianbing dragged me out to pick out swimsuits.
Don’t ask me what kind of swimsuits we picked out. At first, we were just picking out ordinary ones, but later she insisted I pick out a swimsuit that wasn’t meant for swimming.
In the end, after picking out an outfit that was more like a revealing lingerie piece than a swimsuit, Lianbing even said, “Hehehe. So, Juncheng, you actually like this kind of thing…”
By the way, this kind of swimsuit isn’t something you can buy in a store. Lianbing gave me a set of pictures to choose from, and then we had it custom-made. At the time, I was thinking, isn’t it unnecessary to specifically come out to meet for this? But seeing her happy face, even an idiot would know not to say anything to ruin the mood.
In the following days, I went on another date with Lianbing. Holding my girlfriend’s hand during summer vacation, even just aimlessly strolling felt like a peaceful happiness.
Lianbing knows very well what I dislike and what I like. She knows that what I want is stable, peaceful, and gentle happiness, and I dislike feeling constrained and not free.
That’s why she doesn’t come to see me every day, nor does she cling to me all the time. She maintains an appropriate distance, giving us time to be alone and savor our moments. But when we are together, she stays close to me, increasing our affection with actions as intimate as a foolish couple. She is perfectly controlled by the perfect her.
Perhaps Lanhua also wants something like this, but her nature as a stalker makes her want to keep an eye on me, even if it annoys me. In fact, she has tried her best not to make me too annoyed, not letting me find the cameras and not making me feel like I’m being monitored. I did ask her once, and she said she wasn’t watching me because she was dealing with some ‘private matters,’ but she would still record it and savor it later. It’s as if she’s treating my life like a documentary!
Similarly, when Yu Hui follows me, she tries her best to hide her presence. She only reveals herself when I actively call out to her, not wanting to cause me trouble. But she agrees to any request I have of her, except for things that would put me in danger. I haven’t seen her refuse before – even for dangerous things, if I were determined to do them, she would just silently follow, offering unspoken devotion without seeking reward.
Xue is also like this. She never contacts me proactively. She is like me, or rather, even more passive than me. But whenever I visit her home, she exudes a cheerful atmosphere (although her facial expressions don’t change much), and then she actively comes close to me, like a kitten that hasn’t seen its master in a long time and runs over to nuzzle against them.
And then there’s Li… Lily is a bit complicated. She used to be my teacher, but later our relationship became complicated. Now that I’ve given her freedom, our relationship can’t go back to how it was before. It’s still unclear. Perhaps she has developed a psychological dependence on me, but that should only be due to the contract and will disappear with time, right?
Sigh… I’ll deal with that later.
In short, while they like me, they are also thinking of me, maintaining the life I want in their own ways, accommodating me.
It’s not just my one-sided effort; in fact, my efforts are far less than theirs.
…I am loved.
Every time I think about this, I can’t help but smile. I no longer feel the guilt I used to have. Although it’s still a little difficult to accept it with a clear conscience, it’s no longer troublesome. I feel more like wanting to do something for them.
Returning to what I said at the beginning, I was actually a little unaccustomed to it at first.
Because Lianbing had changed a little.
Perhaps it was the influence of Ruansui returning to her body. I wanted to act cute with her, to hold her tightly and love her. It should be okay to act cute with my girlfriend, right? I’m not the kind of chauvinist who insists on maintaining a masculine image… It’s just that when I think I actually want to embrace Ruanruan, I feel a bit sorry for Lianbing.
But in reality, they are one person now. Lianbing also said that the feeling of splitting is gradually disappearing… And the two becoming one is a good thing. ~~~But why do I kind of want to see Ruanruan?
The effects of the medicine wore off, and I opened my eyes and got up, scratching my head. The blanket had already fallen to the floor.
It’s now 9:30 in the morning. I’ve been waking up around this time lately because I’ve deliberately taken more medicine. Even if it’s fake, I want to relive the feeling of sleeping in… Why does that sound a little sad?
At this moment, as if on cue, someone knocked and walked in. It was Xinran.
“Brother, are you awake?”
“I woke up a long time ago. It’s too hot, I can’t sleep at all.”
This statement is half true and half false. Because I would definitely fall asleep (or lose consciousness, to be more precise) after taking the medicine, but it is genuinely hot.
I felt hot even in my dreams.
I mentioned it before, my room doesn’t have air conditioning. While opening the window at night can provide some coolness, daytime is torture…
Since July, the weather has been increasing exponentially. It gets hotter every day, and this is usually the kind of weather we have in mid-August. I already felt something was wrong when I was on Black Street. Is this some kind of anomaly? Or is it just global warming?
If global warming causes the continents to be submerged, will the Organization come out to ‘counterbalance’… Ah, why am I thinking so much? I’ll be long dead by then anyway.
Zombies also have lifespans. Of course, ordinary zombies wander around in a semi-alive state, and as long as their bodies are intact, they can exist forever. But for us awakened zombies, a state of ‘brain death’ can occur. The brain is also an organ, and it will also age. Perhaps awakened zombies can live a bit longer than ordinary people, and for that, I am grateful.
Ah, I’m getting off track…
“Let’s do it like we used to. Share a room with me, Brother.”
“No, it’s hot even when you hug me.”
“Ugh… you won’t even hug me for a moment….”
Xinran probably intended to say, “I won’t hug you,” but she likely realized she wouldn’t be able to resist and didn’t say it. In this honesty, she’s just like me. Did she pass all her lying talent to Keling?
“Aha, just kidding. But isn’t Keling sleeping with you every day recently?”
“Yes, that’s been the case lately… Then Brother can go to Keling’s room. Ah, I haven’t gotten Keling’s per– …Then Xinran and Keling will sleep in Keling’s room, and Brother can come back to sleep in his room…”
“Forget it, it’s not unbearable. Thanks, Xinran, but really, you don’t have to bother.”
I smiled and patted her head. Xinran couldn’t hold back and hugged me. Actually, siblings freely hugging is quite rare, isn’t it? This is beyond acting cute… But somehow, I feel too sorry for Xinran if I completely forbid her and see that expression on her face… “In the end, I can’t bear to be so heartless to my sister.”
Even the worst argument I ever had with Xinran was only last night, when I deliberately made her curry rice very spicy, a petty thing.
Of course, Xinran ate it all in a huff, even licking the curry sauce clean. There was no need to wash the plates.
Then, that night, she had a stomachache and spent a long time in the bathroom. I would prepare stomach medicine on the desk and then go to sleep on the top bunk first.
The next day, we would continue our cold war.
But now we rarely fight… Even though I have a girlfriend and maintain close relationships with other women, she hasn’t quarreled with me once… Not even a complaint.
I stroked her hair, thinking with a mixture of sadness and happiness.
Xinran, do you want to… stay by my side forever?
“Hey, you’re hugging me so casually again. I already said it’s hot just now.”
“But Brother is cool…”
“Mm, Brother is a cool pillow, the most comfortable cool pillow in the world. Letting your sister hug you for a while is fine, right? Brother isn’t that stingy, is he… You secretly drank the yogurt I put in the refrigerator…”
“Okay, okay, I’ll let you hug me, but don’t do anything more out of line.”
“Mm, Xinran just wants to hug for a while… As long as it’s for a while… It would be even better if Brother hugged me…”
This is a killer move that any girl can use naturally. Begging cutely from an upward-looking angle, there are almost no men who can refuse.
It’s very warm… but at the same time
I suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of panic because I had never so clearly realized that the sister in my arms was actually a ‘woman.’
After a while, Xinran probably felt uncomfortable lying on me and turned around, leaning against me like a bolster pillow.
This posture is a bit better than before, at least not as close, but I felt even more panicked.
Because I remembered that dream.
Sunshine streamed into the room, and it felt even hotter.
For a zombie like me, it’s really not a friendly weather…
Although I won’t rot…
No, even if my body doesn’t rot, perhaps my heart is starting to rot…
Xinran, Xinran…
I’m your brother…
No, perhaps it’s time to change it now…
This is something I should be saying to myself.
Juncheng An, little Juncheng An.
An Xinran is your sister…
