"Qianqian, is that any way to talk?" Luo Shufan patted his sister’s head. "Not everyone is as confident as Mom in letting go of their children. After all, we are all conscientious. Second Auntie is just doting on your cousin." Hearing An Zixue speak like that, Luo Shufan couldn’t hold back and expressed his opinion in the guise of educating his sister.
"Brother, that’s called being a ’mama’s boy.’" Luo Qianqian cooperated extrely well, with an innocent look on her face.
An Zilan listened to her children speak without interrupting. The rift between her and her second sister wasn’t sothing that could be resolved with a few words, especially since they saw each other less now.
"Sis, seriously, aren’t you worried about Qianqian?" An Zihua whispered to An Zilan.
"How could I not be worried? But these two kids usually solve their own issues, even if I leave early and return late," An Zilan shook her head. "I always feel like I owe them, but they are both sensible kids."
"If you’re too busy to take care of her, you could leave Qianqian at my place to keep Linlin company," An Zihua suggested softly after thinking it over and seeing Li nglin happily sitting in Luo Qianqian’s arms.
An Zilan shook her head. "With Qianqian around, Shufan acts like a big brother and shoulders the responsibility. Without her, there’s no telling what trouble he could get into."
As if she heard An Zilan’s words, An Zihua saw Luo Qianqian’s smirk and twitch an eye at her.
"Shufan, are there any girls who write you love letters?" An Zixue just couldn’t stand to see the siblings getting along, always looking for sothing to gripe about. However, An Aiguo pulled Zhang Aihua back, shaking his head at her while continuing to clink glasses with his son-in-law, though he pricked up his ears to listen for the siblings’ response.
Luo Shufan was taken aback and was about to reply when his sister preempted him. "There have been love letters, but my brother is grade-skipped and everyone around him is older. He prefers younger girls to depend on him because of his male chauvinism. It really is troubleso for early romance."
Luo Qianqian looked as if she was speaking from experience, which made people almost believe her. The truth was there really were love letters, though they were all intercepted by Luo Qianqian herself.
Luo Shufan looked at his sister with amusent and smiled without a word.
An Zihua felt defeated again and forced a smile. "Qianqian knows everything, huh? You siblings really do have a good relationship."
"That’s right. It’s not just my sibling and I who are close; Brother Jiayou and I have a good relationship too since we are all one family." Then she kissed Li nglin who was in her arms. "Linlin and I are close too, and she tells everything, right?" She then took out another piece of candy.
"Hehe," Li nglin tried her best to understand her sister’s words and after a mont accepted the candy. She whispered into Luo Qianqian’s ear, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "Daddy smokes secretly, hiding it from Mommy. The cigarettes are stashed in Mommy’s winter coat."
An Zihua stared at Li Sheng with wide eyes after hearing this. Li Sheng looked at his daughter, who betrayed him, with a bitter smile and bowed to his wife while wearing an innocent face.
Luo Qianqian watched Li nglin with amusent. Did the child say that just to get the candy?
She hugged Li nglin, whispering, "In the future, if you have troubles and can’t talk to Mommy and Daddy, co to your sister. But you can’t tell anyone else their secrets, okay?"
"Okay, I love my sister the most," Li nglin said with a sweet smile, eating the candy in Luo Qianqian’s arms, her eyes crinkling into crescents.
"So who do you love most, Daddy and Mommy or sister?" An Zixue asked. "You can’t say you love them all, just the one you love most."
Luo Qianqian’s expression changed as she saw her sister’s troubled face. "Then, may I ask if my cousin loves Second Auntie or her husband more? You can’t love both or love one more than the other—just the one you love most. If you don’t love the other, does that an you hate them?" Luo Qianqian was rciless, "You’re asking a four-year-old with an immature mind such a question. Do you want her to grow up to be an extremist? Even if she’s not your own child, there’s no need for such treatnt, isn’t it? Isn’t this just like asking Old Lady An which of her three daughters she loves the most?"
An Zihua, already feeling uncomfortable with her older sister’s remarks, felt much better after her niece’s words. Turning to An Zilan she said, "Sis, how did you teach Qianqian to speak so eloquently and do well in school?"
An Zilan laughed softly, teasing An Zihua, "It’s all thanks to ’education with love.’"
Li nglin, listening to Luo Qianqian, grinned sweetly, "Daddy is my favorite daddy, Mommy is my favorite mommy, and sister is my favorite sister."
Luo Qianqian couldn’t contain her laughter listening to her sister’s reply, "You little clever thing, good thing I’m your only sister, otherwise I’d spank you."
Li Sheng chuckled upon hearing the girl’s answer, "You’ve beco clever hanging out with Qianqian, you should co over to our house more often to play with your sister."
"Why doesn’t my sister co over to my house to play with ?" Luo Qianqian blinked, her face full of smiles, looking at Li nglin as if they were about to play together, Luo Qianqian felt a bit amused, "Could it be Linlin hasn’t weaned yet? Or does she wet the bed?"
"That’s not true, my mom said as long as I can count to a hundred, she’ll bring to visit you," Li nglin wrinkled her nose, "Once you’re on vacation, I’ll be able to count that high."
"Heh," An Zixue scoffed, "Spoiling by hurrying."
Luo Qianqian frowned, clearly not pleased, and thought for a mont before turning to Zhou Hongnan to ask, "Cousin, have you morized the ’Song of the Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind’ that you just learned? It’s so long," Luo Qianqian said with a troubled look.
When Shufan heard his sister ntion this, he really wanted to cover his face and chuckle secretly. Didn’t others know? He knew better. Not to ntion the middle school level ’Song of the Thatched Hut Torn by the Autumn Wind’, even the high school level ’Carefree Travel’, and ’The Ballad of the Pipa Player’, she had made him morize together with her, but he hadn’t gotten to them yet.
"That’s way too long, and since they’re not going to test us on it, I didn’t morize it," Zhou Hongnan said earnestly.
"Is that so, is this like not enough water and the land not fertile, so the seedlings won’t grow by themselves?" Luo Qianqian rested her chin in her hand and patted Li nglin’s head, "Looks like I’ll have to water you more often in the future, do you want a drink?"
"I want juice, but mommy won’t pour it for ," Li nglin said with a pout, pointing at the large bottle of juice in front of An Zihua.
"You quit tattling, if I let you drink you’ll go on nonstop, and then you won’t need to eat dinner, nor will you need to go ho to sleep. If you fall asleep here, one big splash and it could wash us all the way ho," An Zihua placed the juice on the lazy Susan, spun it towards Luo Qianqian, and told her, "Give her just a little."
"Linlin is so amazing, she could even wash people all the way ho. Co on, quickly wash your sister all the way ho, then I don’t have to take a taxi back," Luo Qianqian joked verbally while she rinsed a cup with the juice, then poured the juice onto a napkin before pouring half a cup for Li nglin.
"You really have no ambition, at the very least you should let Linlin send us overseas to get our money’s worth," Shufan chuckled secretly.
Li nglin pouted, "Brother is an, sister is nice," she said, holding the juice and gulping it down, even licking her lips afterward.
Seeing that it was almost ti, Old Lady An called for the dishes to be served, finally putting an end to the verbal sparring. Lin Jiayou watched as Luo Qianqian kept feeding Li nglin, who was not picky at all and appeared sowhat surprised. Just as he was about to say sothing, Shufan had already asked the question, "Auntie, Linlin doesn’t fuss over food?"
"Not at all, there’s so much she doesn’t eat, huh? Right, she wasn’t picky today," An Zihua was surprised as she watched the harmonious scene of the sisters, one feeding and the other eating.
Luo Qianqian was taken aback, she had long known what her sister didn’t eat, how could she be mistaken? She explained, "Linlin loves all the foods I love to eat."
Everyone then understood.
"Co here, dad will hold you, sister needs to eat too," Li Sheng reached out to his daughter.
Li nglin turned her head, "No, daddy is slly, all slls like smoke, sister slls nice."
"Don’t worry, uncle, it’s fine. I’ll eat after Linlin is full," Luo Qianqian smiled, "I want to see what it feels like to be taken care of by my brother."
Shufan looked at his sister, his face full of emotion.
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