"You know, Brother Dabao is really busy studying, should we not disturb him?"
At first, the naive Nuonuo truly believed it, but gradually, she realized.
All those inconveniences Mommy ntioned were just excuses.
Dabao was stunned for a mont when she questioned him like that.
By the ti he regained his senses, Nuonuo had already picked up the remote and turned on the TV with a "click."
"Nuonuo, it’s not what you think..."
Dabao’s words were stuck in his throat. He opened his mouth wanting to explain, but as he started, he didn’t know how to convey to her his true feelings from the past three years—or rather, even longer.
Nuonuo moved her gaze from the TV screen to his face, her dark eyes flickering with the light from the television. Her delicate features appeared breathtaking under the shifting light.
"Brother, I didn’t think anything of it; it’s you who overthought!"
It dawned on Dabao that in three years, Nuonuo not only grew physically but also matured psychologically.
Before, even if she just raised her eyebrows or pouted, he could roughly guess what she was thinking.
But now, her eyes were clear and bright, yet her thoughts seed unknowable, as if they were buried deep within her eyes, beyond easy access and understanding.
Dabao then understood that this girl was still angry.
"You grew taller, didn’t you?" Dabao tactfully changed the topic.
Though he didn’t understand Nuonuo as well as before, his interpersonal skills had improved compared to three years ago.
Avoiding sensitive topics and finding casual conversation was effortless for him.
Nuonuo was montarily startled, seemingly not expecting the swift change in topic. She had been poised for a full-blown confrontation, but hearing the question, she was a bit taken aback and nodded in confusion.
"Yeah, I’m one ter seventy-three." She obediently replied. Even if she deliberately bristled with defenses, deep down, she still habitually complied with her Brother Dabao.
Dabao watched her dumbfounded expression and leaned closer to hug her loosely, laughing, "No wonder it’s so comfortable to hug you!" His lips brushed lightly over her face, and his arms relaxed imdiately afterward.
He was one eighty-eight, if he rembered correctly, just a bit shorter than Dad, but he felt this height was suitable—any taller would be too much.
Fifteen centiters was the so-called most adorable height difference; no wonder hugging her felt so much better now. In three years, she grew to the height that matched him best.
"With this height, you could be a model!"
Dabao was just casually teasing, but a hint of surprise flashed across Nuonuo’s face.
"Did Mommy tell you?"
Dabao was baffled, "Tell what? I haven’t even seen Mommy yet."
The little girl didn’t answer him but instead stood up and ran barefoot to the fridge. In an instant, she ca back with half a waterlon.
"Do you want so?" She raised an eyebrow to ask.
Dabao shook his head, "I don’t want any."
His gaze quickly swept over her tall figure, and he furrowed his brow slightly, "You just drank a large cup of ice water, and now you’re eating ice waterlon? Didn’t Mommy tell you girls can’t eat too much cold stuff?"
Since childhood, Dabao accompanied Daddy to see Doctor Fu with Mommy, hearing plenty of health advice for won. Thinking about it now, the little girl was almost fifteen and should be cautious.
"I’ll just eat a little bit..." Nuonuo, craving waterlon, assured him sowhat pathetically before sitting on the single-seater sofa by the fridge and scooping out the waterlon with a spoon.
Dabao stared at her in a daze as she enjoyed sending spoonfuls of juicy red waterlon into her mouth. Her pink lips opened and closed, occasionally catching drops of bright red waterlon juice, with her nimble little tongue darting out to lick them away...
After watching her foolishly for a while, Dabao suddenly rembered sothing.
"Hold on, were you hiding sothing from just now?"
The girl with a mouthful of food, puffing up her cheeks, asked with eyes wide, "What?" She resembled a silly frog at the mont.
Her little trick of feigning ignorance naturally couldn’t fool Dabao.
"I said you could be a model with your height; are you hiding sothing from ?"
Though separated for three years, Dabao still habitually wanted to understand whatever was going on with her.
"No!" Nuonuo answered crisply, almost spilling her mouthful of waterlon.
Seeing her hurriedly cover her mouth, Dabao was even more certain that this girl was hiding sothing from him.
However, after being apart for three years, it was wise not to ruin the atmosphere.
He didn’t forget that she was still mad at him, and pushing her too hard might lead her to slam the door and ignore him, leaving him unsure who to cry to.
"Alright, if you’re not, then you’re not." Dabao sat on the sofa, longing to squeeze in and sit with her.
After being apart for so long, his desire for her had not diminished in the slightest. From the mont he stepped into the room, he wanted to hold her tightly and make up for all the missed hugs over the past three years.
Unfortunately, her thoughts seed to differ, and her words and actions conveyed nothing but rejection.
Perhaps she was still mad, making her reluctant to offer even the kind of sibling intimacy they used to share.
But even though Nuonuo openly displayed indifference and alienation towards him, Dabao wasn’t very bothered.
There’s an idiom that goes: Without destruction, there can be no construction. Dabao left for three years to break their sibling relationship, and he returned to establish a new one.
Next, he had plenty of ti and an abundance of patience, not rushing anything in the short term.
"Girl, you said you’d eat a little and it’s almost gone!" Dabao kindly reminded the little glutton.
"Oh..." This ti, Nuonuo was obedient, wrapping the remaining waterlon with cling film and putting it back in the fridge.
"When will the exam results be out?"
He had been incredibly busy lately, all to make it back before her middle school exams and Little Treasure’s college entrance exam results were out.
"Mine should be out in a couple of days; Brother’s will probably be next week. But he surely doesn’t need to worry; his last mock exam was nearly forty points ahead of the second place, and the teacher told Daddy and Mommy he should easily be the provincial top scorer."
Nuonuo ca back and settled into the long sofa this ti, though she still huddled in a corner, holding the remote and absentmindedly flipping through countless channels.
Dabao wasn’t in a hurry to get close to her, but instead, he leaned back on the sofa with his arm draped over the backrest, slightly turning his body, focusing his gaze on her beautiful profile.
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