494 Chapter 495
494 Chapter 495
Ziyuan had also said "half and half" before. Now that I heard the similar words from Chu Yuan, there was a kind of inexplicable complexity in my heart, and the exhaustion derived from this complexity made me unable to get angry at Chu Yuan's unreasonable provocation.
Feeling helpless, I could only shake my head and smile bitterly while flicking her forehead softly. "Trying to be smart… The welcome home dinner was completely ruined by you, but you still don't think you deserve to be punished."
"Of course! It's not like I did it for myself. I did it for you!" Chu Yuan's face was even redder. But then, she looked sideways and grunted reluctantly, "But if it was Xue Ziyuan who wanted to punish me, then, I'll accept it...."
Although this little girl was a bit stubborn, she still knew what was right and wrong. Seeing the cute appearance of her reluctantly admitting her mistake, I stroked her hair softly while smiling. "Ziyuan is not a petty-minded person…"
Chu Yuan's eyes widened in anger, and she said in a huff, "You mean I'm a pretty-minded person?!"
Uh...
"I'm not discussing which one of you are petty-minded now, but I'm trying to explain the reasons to you. Stop trying to change the topic. Otherwise, I'll really punish you." I scowled and said, "Going back to the earlier topic, I haven't taken the initiative to tell Ziyuan what happened five years ago because I was afraid that she would question you, and that would make you feel guilty… Don't try to interrupt me again. If you do it again, I'll, I'll… I pinch your butt!" The bratty girl was still sitting on my lap, so I couldn't smack her, but I could pinch her buttocks.
Chu Yuan, who was eager to speak, spat out her little tongue at me in protest. But I could feel the muscles on her hips tensed. Obviously, she didn't doubt that I would really do it.
"Although what you did today was a bit too much, the result is still acceptable. You have said what you have hidden in your heart—in a way, it means that you are finally to get over what happened in the past. This is also a kind of relief for Ziyuan and me. It is understandable that she would get angry, but fortunately, the thing I was worried about the most did not happen. She didn't hit you and didn't scold you… to be honest, Yuan Yuan, if it were you, would you be able to endure it?"
Chu Yuan didn't say a word, but there was an obvious guilty expression on her face.
I tucked a strand of her hair hanging down from her forehead behind her ear, gently rubbed her soft earlobe, and said in a half-joking tone, "Ziyuan didn't know why I didn't reply to her. Except for me, she basically had no friends. Staying abroad alone for five years, many things must have happened. She has definitely encountered many hardships and been bullied in those years. However, let alone helping her, I didn't even ask about her situation. So isn't it normal that she would have some opinions about me? Yuan Yuan, if I ignore you for five years, will you hate me?"
"Five years?" Chu Yuan's mouth twitched, her face suddenly became very pale.
I was just asking. But I didn't expect that Chu Yuan would have such a big reaction. Just when I wanted to ask her what was wrong, she leaned her head against my chest, and said in a trembling voice as if she was very scared, "I can't stand it… I don't know if I'll hate you or not, but I don't want to know! I couldn't even stand it when you didn't talk to me for a week after I tore up Xue Ziyuan's letter..."
Chu Yuan's body was shivering. I couldn't help but be dazed. I always thought that this bratty girl didn't like me talking to her, but I didn't expect that she was actually afraid that I would not talk to her... This was a very good weakness. Next time, if she was being unreasonable again, I would not coax her. Instead, I would just close the door and pretend to sleep. Then she would definitely take the initiative to admit her mistake.
"Elder Brother, can you promise me one thing?"
Seeing Chu Yuan raising her pitiful little face to look at me, I couldn't help asking her softly, "What is it?"
"If I make you angry again in the future, you can hit me and scold me, just don't ignore me, okay?"
No matter how I tried to forget it, I knew clearly in my heart that it was mainly because I ignored Chu Yuan five years ago that she stubbornly stayed in the snow all night... She just didn't know how to get my forgiveness.
"Okay."
"Pinky promise!"
"Again?"
"So you won't go back on your words!"
"Am I that kind of person?"
"You are if you refuse to do it."
"Okay, okay, I'll do it..."
Only after our thumbs were pressed together did Chu Yuan breathe out a long sigh of relief. It was just a childish game, but she took it so seriously. Was she naive or did she really not trust me? I didn't know, I only knew that her relieved smile at the moment made me feel a sense of responsibility, a responsibility that I couldn't ignore.
"Speaking of which, your elder brother, I, wants to ask you to do something, can you do it?"
My legs started to become numb after being sat by this bratty girl for so long, but she still didn't seem to move away from me. Smiling like a beautiful flower, she asked happily, "What is it? You need to tell me first."
I cleared my throat and then said in a non-negotiable tone, "Later, you need to apologize to your Elder Sister Ziyuan. Whether it's the matter of tearing the letter or what happened tonight, you were indeed in the wrong..."
"Then what about her?!" Chu Yuan was dissatisfied. "Is it right for her to collude with the Third Lady and bully you?"
"That's my business with her." I frowned and said, "Besides, at least until now, the Third Lady hasn't done anything to me, but has helped me a lot with Shu Tong's problem..."
"You have no power and money, and you are not handsome. Why does she want to help you? She must have some motives to please you. If she really has a good intention, why didn't Xue Ziyuan tell you who she is? Everything is suspicious, so I don't want to apologize to her!" Chu Yuan blew out her cheeks, pouted her mouth, and grumbled angrily, "She didn't even write a second letter to you in the past five years, yet you still want me to apologize to her. I'll only do it if she apologizes to you first!"
No money, no power, not handsome... These three words coming from Chu Yuan's mouth were like three sharp arrows piercing through my heart. It hurt my self-esteem too much.
I'm your Elder Brother, alright! Can you not say it so bluntly?
"I've said it already, that's my business with her..."
Chu Yuan rolled her eyes and said, "You are my elder brother and I am your little sister. Your business is also my business. Wasn't it you who taught me this?"
This bratty girl was actually using this against me. Obviously, she just didn't want to apologize to Ziyuan.
"Okay, you don't need to apologize." I held the bratty girl's buttocks and got up from the bed. When she panicked, I turned around, threw her on the bed, and said blankly, "I'll go and apologize to her."
Chu Yuan said anxiously, "Why would you apologize to her?!"
"I'll do it for you," I walked out the door without looking back, "after all, I'm your Elder Brother. If she says she doesn't want to forgive you, I will kneel down and beg her."
I had no confidence whether this trick would work or not. God knows if Chu Yuan would care about it.
"What's wrong with you? She should be the one who needs to beg you for forgiveness!" Chu Yuan jumped out of the bed barefoot, grabbed me, and said, "Okay, okay, I'll apologize to her, okay?"
"Really?" I asked with a suspicious expression, but I was actually very happy inside. Although this bratty girl often caused trouble to me, she was still my little sister after all. She still cared about me.
Chu Yuan blushed and said reluctantly, "Really!"
I couldn't help it anymore, and laughed out loud. I patted the bratty girl on the head, and said with satisfaction, "That's more like it. Finally, my years of love for you didn't go to waste."
"Are you not ashamed? All you know is to bully me. Since when have you loved me!" Chu Yuan said angrily, "I am not even as important as Xue Ziyuan in your heart!"
"Silly girl." I pinched her face and said with a smile, "It's because you are more important that I ask you to apologize to her."
Chu Yuan was stunned, and then in just a few moments, her little face quickly turned red.
Just when the atmosphere in the room started to get awkward, Dongfang shouted from outside the door, "Elder Brother Nan, you have a phone call."
A phone call? I subconsciously touched my pocket. It was empty. Only then did I remember that I put my phone on the tea table when I was eating.
I quickly opened the door without thinking much about it, but I didn't expect that I would collide with Dongfang. I could guess from the force that the little girl fell into my arms, so that meant she had been eavesdropping outside the door!
Dongfang the little brat blushed. However, while handing me the phone, she leaned over to look at Chu Yuan. When she saw that nothing happened to Chu Yuan, she let out a sigh of relief. I couldn't help but wonder what this little brat thought I would do—did she really think that I would hit my little sister?
Anyway, I was too lazy to scold her. I took over the phone from her and then looked at the phone screen. It turned out to be Xiao Yike that minx.