Ruan Qiuping: ...No, let me explain...
Huh? ...Wait, why does he need to explain?
Ruan Qiuping cleared his throat lightly and casually pointed to Ruan Dongdong, who was playing with mud nearby, saying, "Let me introduce you to my invincibly cute, most beautiful little sister in the world—Ruan Dongdong. To be precise, she's not raised by me, but by my parents. I'm just temporarily looking after her."
Ahem... why did he still end up explaining unintentionally?
Hearing her name, Ruan Dongdong immediately turned her head towards Ruan Qiuping and smiled, revealing a face covered in mud.
Ah, my little sister's face is covered in mud spots, so adorable.
Wait a second.
Ruan Qiuping stood in front of Ruan Dongdong and squinted at Little Yu Huan: "I'm warning you in advance, no matter how cute my sister is, you're not allowed to have any inappropriate thoughts about her!"
Little Yu Huan glanced at Ruan Dongdong, who was covered in mud spots.
His face showed disgust and extreme indifference.
Ruan Qiuping tentatively patted the tightly closed iron gate, then turned to look at Little Yu Huan inside and asked, "Do you still often think about running away from home?"
Little Yu Huan shook his head, his expression looking very calm: "Not anymore. I've grown up now, I'm not as childish as before."
Ruan Qiuping couldn't help but laugh.
Little Yu Huan frowned: "What are you laughing at?"
"Cough cough... nothing, nothing."
It's just that seeing a 6-year-old kid say such things with a composed expression feels very incongruous.
"Can you go out freely?" Such a remote villa, such high walls, locked doors, and bodyguards who occasionally turn their heads to look this way with vigilant faces... no matter how he looked at it, Ruan Qiuping felt that Little Yu Huan wouldn't be too free.
Sure enough, Little Yu Huan lowered his head and shook it gently.
"Wait a moment, I'll have them let you in," Little Yu Huan said.
Then, Ruan Qiuping saw Little Yu Huan turn around and say something to the bodyguard nearby.
The bodyguard's face remained impassive as he shook his head.
Little Yu Huan said something else and gestured for the bodyguard to bend down.
The bodyguard bent down, and Little Yu Huan whispered something in his ear. Then, Little Yu Huan took out a small, shiny object that looked like a diamond from his pocket and placed it in the bodyguard's right hand.
The bodyguard hesitated for a moment, and a few seconds later, he clenched his right hand and walked over to open the door for Ruan Qiuping with a somewhat unnatural expression.
Ruan Qiuping watched in amazement.
Walking into the villa, Ruan Qiuping couldn't help but ask Yu Huan, "What were you doing just now?"
"I took off the diamond cufflink from my formal suit and gave it to him, to let you in," Little Yu Huan paused and said, "In short, a bribe."
Ruan Qiuping looked at Little Yu Huan, somewhat at a loss for words.
Little Yu Huan lowered his head, his jet-black eyelashes casting shadows under his eyes.
He lightly pursed his lips, glanced at Ruan Dongdong who was still playing with mud in the garden after entering the villa, and said with a hint of mockery unbecoming of his age: "What? Do you think I'm not as pure and innocent, as naive and carefree as your sister?"
"...Mm."
Ruan Qiuping nodded blankly.
Little Yu Huan didn't expect Ruan Qiuping to actually nod. His eyes widened slightly, he opened his mouth, but said nothing. He quickly pursed his lips tightly again, turned around, and ran upstairs without looking back.
Ruan Qiuping followed him: "Wait for me!"
"Go play with your pure and innocent sister!" Little Yu Huan said coldly.
Ruan Qiuping lowered his head and chuckled softly again.
"Are you laughing at me again?" Little Yu Huan turned his head and asked, somewhat angrily.
"How could I?" Ruan Qiuping argued, "I just think you're cute."
Little Yu Huan's eyes widened instantly, first his ears turned red, then his entire little face became flushed.
He blinked his eyes, seeming a bit embarrassed, but still couldn't help asking cautiously: "...Cuter than your sister?"
"Not quite," Ruan Qiuping replied without hesitation.
Little Yu Huan: "..."
Seeing that Little Yu Huan was about to get angry again, Ruan Qiuping hurriedly added, "But you're definitely the cutest little boy in the world!"
Little Yu Huan's expression finally improved a bit.
Ruan Qiuping breathed a sigh of relief.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, and for a moment, he felt like he had almost turned into a teacher being pulled in opposite directions by two kids in a preschool class.
But...
Ruan Qiuping looked at Little Yu Huan's round back of the head and said quietly in his heart:
But now, this kid finally showed a bit of the naive and lively appearance of an ordinary child.
Ruan Qiuping sat in a pavilion not far from Ruan Dongdong, sipping the juice that the servant had just brought while looking around the huge villa, and asked, "Have your parents gone out to work? When will they be back?"
"They're not here, I live alone," Little Yu Huan said.
Ruan Qiuping was somewhat incredulous: "You live alone? How can that be okay?"
Little Yu Huan lowered his head and took a sip of juice, then said, "...There are nannies and servants here, and tutors who come regularly every day. There's nothing wrong with me living here alone."
Ruan Qiuping frowned.
Why did he feel that this family was strange?
"Aren't you cold?" Little Yu Huan suddenly asked.
"Cold?"
Little Yu Huan pointed at Ruan Qiuping's short-sleeved shirt and said, "It's already October now."
Ruan Qiuping then realized that the servants and bodyguards around, as well as Little Yu Huan, were all wearing coats, while only Ruan Qiuping and Ruan Dongdong were dressed like two big fools still wearing short sleeves and dresses.
Ruan Qiuping was after all a two-hundred-year-old immortal, he could withstand this bit of cold. But Ruan Dongdong didn't have much magical power, he wasn't sure if she could handle this temperature.
"Do you have any thick clothes that Dongdong can wear?" Ruan Qiuping asked.
Little Yu Huan nodded.
Ruan Qiuping stood up and called out to Ruan Dongdong: "Dongdong, stop playing, let's go wash up and change into some warmer clothes!"
Ruan Dongdong turned her head to see Ruan Qiuping and suddenly seemed to remember something. She excitedly shouted "Brother!" and then threw the mud ball in her hand at Ruan Qiuping!
After being hit by the mud ball, Ruan Qiuping dramatically cried out: "Ah! I'm dead—" and then fell to the ground.
Ruan Dongdong clapped her hands and giggled happily.
Ruan Qiuping stood up and continued walking towards Ruan Dongdong. Ruan Dongdong threw mud balls at him again, and Ruan Qiuping cooperatively fell down and played dead each time.
In no time, they had gone back and forth playing this game seven or eight times.
"Aren't you bored?" Little Yu Huan turned his head away, no longer looking at them, and muttered, "So boring... so childish."
"Splat!" Suddenly, something hit Little Yu Huan on the head.
Little Yu Huan was stunned for a moment, then he covered his head while looking at the culprit—Ruan Dongdong, who had thrown the mud ball.
Ruan Dongdong seemed to realize that she had thrown it at the wrong person, and that person was now glaring at her fiercely. She became a bit scared and immediately stood still, clasping her little hands and not saying a word.
Little Yu Huan continued to glare at Ruan Dongdong. Ruan Dongdong was so frightened that her whole body trembled, and she ran pitter-patter behind her brother.
"Brother... that little brother is scary—"
Ruan Dongdong said softly.
As soon as she finished speaking, she found that the little brother's face looked even more terrifying.
Ruan Qiuping immediately felt that things were not good.
This wouldn't do. If he didn't do something, these two kids might end up fighting.
Ruan Qiuping quickly said to Ruan Dongdong: "Dongdong, go apologize to the little brother right away."
Ruan Dongdong ran in front of Little Yu Huan and obediently bowed to apologize: "Little brother, I'm sorry..."
"Who's your little brother!" Little Yu Huan didn't appreciate it at all.
Ruan Qiuping sighed. Kids were really hard to placate.
He walked up to Yu Huan, looked at where he had been hit, and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
Little Yu Huan's voice was low: "...A little."
Ruan Qiuping reached out and gently rubbed the spot on his head that had been hit: "Does it feel better after rubbing?"
"It's better..."
Ruan Qiuping rubbed it for a while longer, then imitated the way his mother usually comforted Ruan Dongdong, saying: "Hoo— hoo— it doesn't hurt anymore, the pain has flown away."
"...So childish." Little Yu Huan said with red ears.
Ruan Dongdong, standing not far away, blinked her eyes and suddenly ran over on her little short legs, stopping in front of Yu Huan.
She extended her right hand, which had been reddened by small pebbles while grabbing mud earlier, and looked at Ruan Qiuping, saying, "Brother, I'm hurting too. I need a rub and a blow."
"Whoosh—"
Ruan Qiuping leaned in and gently blew on her hand.
"I still need a rub..."
Ruan Qiuping hesitated for a moment before saying, "Can Dongdong rub it herself? Brother can't touch you."
"Why? Why, why can't brother touch me?"
Ruan Qiuping opened his mouth, unsure how to explain.
Ruan Dongdong's lips quivered, her voice becoming very upset: "Brother never touches me... never hugs me either. My hand hurts, brother... brother won't rub it for me, but he rubs it for others..."
Ruan Dongdong struggled to say this long string of words. She looked at Ruan Qiuping, then at Little Yu Huan, her eyes reddening. At that very moment, Little Yu Huan let out a cold laugh, which Ruan Dongdong heard clearly.
Ruan Dongdong bit her lip, suddenly walked up and angrily pushed Yu Huan, shouting, "Go away! This is my brother, not yours!"
Little Yu Huan, caught off guard, was pushed backward and would have fallen if Ruan Qiuping hadn't quickly caught him in an embrace.
Seeing Ruan Dongdong's behavior, and recalling how Ruan Qiuping had just said that Ruan Dongdong was the cutest in the world, Little Yu Huan also became angry.
What do you mean the cutest sister in the world? Is this your world's cutest sister?
Do you really like this noisy and stupid kid so much?!
Always playing that mud ball throwing game with her, what's so fun about that... You don't even feel pain after being hit so many times, and you're still smiling happily with your clothes all dirty... Why do you like her so much?
The more Little Yu Huan thought about it, the angrier he became. The "six-year-old big kid" who had claimed to be grown up and not so childish just half an hour ago had now completely lost his reason. He shouted at Ruan Dongdong, "I won't go away! Why should I go away? So what if you're his sister? Your brother won't rub your hand but he rubs my head, your brother has never touched you but he's touched me, your brother has never hugged you but he's hugged me, your brother—"
As he spoke, Little Yu Huan turned his head and planted a loud kiss on Ruan Qiuping's cheek, then continued angrily, "—your brother has even been kissed by me! Have you ever kissed your brother? Have you?!"
Ruan Qiuping: "..."
Ruan Dongdong burst into tears with a loud "Waa!"