Chapter 31: Solitude, Jealousy
After parting ways with Lanhua, I quickened my pace.
I felt guilty and ashamed, believing I had wronged Lanhua.
Had my words hurt her? But once spoken, things couldn’t be taken back. Still, this was probably the best course of action.
If I couldn’t reciprocate someone’s feelings, I had to reject them decisively. Dragging it out would only escalate the situation like a snowball, and by the time it was unmanageable, regret would be useless. So, I had to make a decision early and not procrastinate.
Furthermore, the most crucial reason was Lanhua’s safety.
While I didn’t think Lianbing was the type of woman to harbor intense jealousy, they say a woman’s heart is like a needle in the sea. God knows what she truly intended.
What if she decided to do something to Lanhua… A stalker… I don’t think I could stand up against a murderer… It would be like comparing a gnat to a giant.
Mmm, I’ve read so many novels, but they only focused on how hurt, how sad, and how despairing the person who was dumped felt, never on the feelings of the one doing the dumping.
The one doing the dumping doesn’t feel good about it either…
My conscience, already aching from my previous actions towards Xueqing, ached even more after what I said to Lanhua.
What was the best course of action? What was the right thing to do? I was starting to get confused… Tch, so frustrating…
I scratched my head vigorously, my mind a mess, my mood turning awful.
I accidentally touched the swelling on my forehead. The pain reminded me of something I had temporarily overlooked.
My sisters.
They should be waiting for my return at home right now.
Ah, this, too, is a super big problem…
Their behavior lately had become increasingly outrageous. Perhaps the incident with Xinran served as a catalyst, allowing them to close ranks and launch a full-scale assault on me, disregarding my older brother status entirely.
Perhaps their goal was to break the ironclad barrier of our sibling relationship.
I suddenly remembered my mom saying Keling might become obsessed with me, her brother. I thought it was an exaggeration back then, but recalling what happened in the living room yesterday… perhaps my mom had seen through Keling’s true nature long ago…
Keling and I are not related by blood, so theoretically, she’s the kind of person who could turn the joke “I want to be my brother’s bride” into reality.
However, I couldn’t truly make Keling my bride. Even in my wildest imagination, I couldn’t picture myself and Keling walking down the aisle hand in hand.
Because I always felt that it shouldn’t be me holding their hands; I should be the one clapping in congratulation and offering my blessings in the end.
Just like the ending of that light novel that sparked the brother complex craze, even with mutual affection, they ultimately returned to their sibling roles. This is the so-called “lovers become siblings,” uh, maybe the meaning isn’t quite right, but that’s what I mean.
That’s the “correct” ending.
As those two titles indicated, whether cold or black-bellied, even the brother complex that has caused me so much trouble, the last and most crucial two words remain unchanged.
Sister.
I hate things I don’t understand, and I hate ambiguous identities. Sister or lover?
Sister, of course.
I would absolutely not confuse them.
Xinran and Keling are both “sisters,” regardless of whether we share blood. It’s a matter of “identity.”
“Speaking of which, I still don’t know what ‘true’ and ‘false’ mean…”
The parenthetical notations I’ve encountered so far include (Awakened), (Beginner), (Intermediate), (Advanced), (True), (False), and what else… Ah, right, there was also (Foundation Establishment Early Stage), but cultivators, I still find them a bit hard to accept, just as unreliable as magic masters.
In any case, based on these, the text in parentheses serves to supplement the titles. I can see that from Lanhua. I was always unclear about when a piercing, burning gaze started fixating on me. Now that I think about it… it must have been when Lanhua went from (Beginner) to (Intermediate).
Because her “stalker” level increased, she became more brazen in following me.
It makes one wonder what actions Lanhua will take when she reaches (Advanced). (Intermediate) is already so elusive, possessing stealth skills like an assassin and tracking skills like a hunter. She somehow obtained so much information about me, and her operational capabilities are terrifyingly exaggerated. (Advanced), I can’t even imagine…
However, I probably won’t live to see her reach (Advanced). I just rejected her so directly. She probably won’t bother me anymore.
So, what does “true” and “false” refer to in the titles? The preceding type, or the brother complex?
Hmm… I guess it refers to the preceding type. False would mean Xinran appears to be cold, but is actually quite passionate inside, as evident from her frequent night raids. And True would mean Keling’s true nature is that of a black-bellied little devil… maybe?
Mmm… I feel like something’s not quite right.
I don’t understand, and it’s frustrating.
Regardless, I need to figure out how to deal with these two sisters. They’ll definitely use my staying out all night as leverage to make unreasonable demands.
What time is it now? Should I wait until Keling falls asleep before going back?
Right, my phone, it should be charged by now. I can take it out to check the time.
I searched myself and found my phone in my pants pocket. I pressed the standby button. It was already 8:30 PM.
There was still about 69% battery left, which was plenty. So I opened the ‘Phone’ icon and checked the call log.
The number of missed calls had doubled, all from Keling.
However, the most recent missed call wasn’t from Keling, but from an unfamiliar phone number… No, it looked a bit familiar. Ah, I know, that’s Xueqing’s phone number.
Hmm, I’ll call her too…
Suddenly remembering Xueqing’s unusual state when I left Houtou, my thumb, about to press the call button, reflexively moved elsewhere. As a result, I dialed the wrong number and called Keling.
What the heck! I quickly hung up before the call connected.
Phew…
No, why am I in such a hurry? When people get anxious, they tend to make mistakes. It seems the events of the past two days have made me agitated.
In the end, I didn’t call, but sent Xueqing a text message: [I’m home, don’t worry. I’ll come visit your place again next time.]. Just as I was about to put my phone in my pocket, it buzzed. It was a reply from Xueqing, a single word: [Mhm.].
Heh heh, that’s a very Xueqing-style text. I should teach her how to use emoticons next time; I bet she’d be cute.
I saved Xueqing’s number in my contacts. Looking at the contact list, which originally only had numbers for family and teachers, now with a few friends’ numbers added, my mood improved a little.
How should I put it… Although I’ve been unlucky lately, it hasn’t all been bad…
At least I’ve made friends, haven’t I?
Around 9 PM, I finally reached my doorstep.
But I hesitated at the entrance, afraid to go in.
Phew… I need to mentally prepare myself. When did my sisters become such a terrifying presence? Really… Heh…
I wryly smiled, tilting my head, took out my key, and opened the door. What must be faced must be faced.
“I’m home.”
I greeted them.
But no one came to welcome me.
I curiously took off my shoes and walked into the living room. No one was there.
“Xinran~ Keling~”
I called their names, but no one answered. I also called out for Dad and Mom.
Still no response. The house was quiet.
What’s going on? Is no one home?
I went back to the entrance to check the number of shoes. Dad and Mom were indeed not home, but Xinran and Keling’s shoes were still there? Their slippers weren’t on the shoe rack, indicating they should be home.
But their brother, who had returned, was not met with a welcome.
I had expected a barrage of questions, possibly even a 2-on-1 confrontation, an unfavorable sibling quarrel.
But nothing happened.
Could they be asleep? No, it’s only 9 PM. Keling wouldn’t sleep this early.
This is really strange. What are they both doing? Are they in the restroom…
Well, that’s fine too. I don’t have to worry about how to deal with them.
As the saying goes, time heals all wounds. In the past, when Xinran and I quarreled, most of the time we didn’t reach a reconciliation; instead, we gradually recovered after some time had passed.
The main reason was that when Xinran was angry and sulky with me, she would simply ignore me. No matter what I said, she wouldn’t listen. Even living in the same house, she could go a whole week without speaking to me. Only last time in the bathroom, she suddenly made some strange requests, and later that led to Xinran developing some strange interests… Uh… Bad, I remembered that damned memory again.
My fingertips still recalled that soft, moist feeling. I immediately shook my head to think of something else, which led me to remember what I did to Xueqing last night.
Pfft… Fighting fire with fire?… I’m already deeply poisoned, beyond help…
Then I thought of Lanhua… She probably went home by now…
She cried so hard. Would she do something foolish out of impulse? Tch… I’m so worried! Thinking about it now, what I did was still not appropriate. How could I just leave her on the street like that? That was a bit too much.
“Haaah…”
I quickly went upstairs and looked for the class contact list that Teacher Xiaozhen had distributed at the start of the semester.
Found it, Yingnuo Gao’s phone number.
She’s Lanhua’s good friend. I can ask her to pick up Lanhua, right?
This is the best way.
The call was connected quickly. Yingnuo Gao herself answered. I told her everything that had happened and expressed my hope that she could pick up Lanhua. She listened quietly without interrupting. After a moment of silence, she said, “I understand. I’ll take care of Xiaolan… Thank you. I can somewhat understand why Xiaolan likes you so much. At least you’re a bit better than those scumbags. Although I still can’t like you.” After saying that, she hung up.
A little better than scumbags… A subtle evaluation.
With this matter settled, I dragged my weary body up the stairs and opened my room door.
As I took a step inside after pushing the door open, I noticed in the darkness, a moniker glowing like an electronic sign.
【The True Face of a Scheming Brother Complex Sister】
It was no longer purely pink. The words “Brother Complex Sister (True)” were still pink, but the words “Scheming Type” had… turned gray!
I remember Lili saying that gray…
Is the emotion of jealousy!
