The landlord has multiple personalities and wants everyone to pay him.

Tang Xiaotao really loves her brother.

It is said that everything has two sides; there are advantages and disadvantages.

I see people online complaining about how annoying it is to have siblings, how the older siblings suppress the younger ones, how the younger ones bully the older ones, how it's always chaotic, and how they envy only children, who have no one to fight with and can live a peaceful life.

But Tang Xiaotao, an only child, felt that this was a fallacy!

She lives alone, so why doesn't she feel that it's great?

When Tang Xiaotao was little, her father, who was also Ye Shu's uncle, contracted a hill to grow peach trees, and the whole family lived in a small house on the mountain.

That place is so remote, you could say it's completely isolated. They're the only family living nearby, and even buying rice or noodles requires going down the mountain. There's no way they have any children to play with.

When she was little, the only thing she could do every day was watch TV.

But back then, because we lived in the mountains, we couldn't watch cable TV. The signal cable was too far away, so my dad could only buy one of those so-called satellite receivers, which looked like a small pot lid and you had to stick it on the roof.

Maybe it's because it's a cheap product, anyway, there are less than twenty channels that can be found, and they're basically not news, just a bunch of things I can't understand, not even cartoons.

Moreover, if it's windy or rainy, and the clouds in the sky are even slightly thick, you won't be able to see anything at all.

This made her sit on a small stool by the door whenever she had nothing to do, staring blankly at the birds foraging for food in the open space in the distance.

She was young then and didn't know what loneliness was. She just felt that it was no fun when no one played with her.

Fortunately, she wasn't always all alone.

Every now and then, my uncle would come up the mountain to deliver things to our family, such as vegetables and meat.

Or it would be during holidays or festivals when her parents would take her down the mountain to visit her maternal grandmother.

At this time of year, Tang Xiaotao felt like it was New Year's Day, because finally someone could play with her, and that person was Ye Shu, her brother.

Tang Xiaotao still remembers how she felt when she first met her older brother.

One day, her uncle brought a little boy who was older than her to their house. Her mother said he was her older brother.

The older brother made me feel very comfortable. He didn't ignore me or try to snatch the cookie from my hand. Instead, he walked up to me, took out a White Rabbit candy from his pocket, and stuffed it into my mouth.

Kids judge people by such simple standards: if someone doesn't take their things and even gives them candy, they're a good person.

Tang Xiaotao ate the candy in her mouth, looked at the older brother in front of her, and squinted her eyes sweetly. She had only one thought in her mind: I like this older brother.

From then on, she clung to Ye Shu like a little tail, following him wherever he went.

Ye Shu squatted by the tree roots watching the ants, and she squatted down beside him to watch as well.

Ye Shu sat on the kang eating snow cakes, and she also stretched out her hand to ask for some. Anyway, as long as she stretched out her hand, Ye Shu would give her some.

These are the only fragments of childhood memories Tang Xiaotao can still recall about her older brother. Most of the other stories she heard from her mother.

For example, when she was little, as long as Ye Shu was around, she had to be fed by Ye Shu.

It's really weird. As soon as Tang Xiaotao sees Ye Shu, even if she was eating obediently just now, she immediately stops eating and opens her mouth like a little swallow, letting Ye Shu feed her.

Even when her mother tried to feed her, she wouldn't cooperate; her little mouth would stay tightly shut. Only when Ye Shu brought the small spoon to feed her would she open her mouth to cooperate.

Furthermore, there was an incident that could be considered a dark chapter in history, known as the "crying half the night" incident.

Tang Xiaotao was only a few years old at that time. Once, the two families gathered at her maternal grandmother's house for dinner. Her mother and aunt were chatting, and somehow they started talking about Ye Shu's future marriage.

The adults were chatting, and none of them paid any attention to the little kid sitting next to them watching cartoons.

Listening to her mother and aunt's conversation, Tang Xiaotao suddenly looked up at Ye Shu, who was also watching TV beside her, and said very seriously:

"Then when my brother gets married in the future, he must love me too."

Children's understanding of love is not as complicated as romantic love; it's simply about closeness.

Ye Shu was just a little kid back then, and he was also shy as a child. He didn't respond when he heard this and just brushed it off.

Then, when Tang Xiaotao went home with her mother that evening, she started making a scene. She was extremely unhappy, as if the sky had fallen.

When I got home, I cried and wailed until my voice was hoarse.

Mom tried to comfort him, but it was no use.

Ye Shu's uncle had something to do, so he didn't come down the mountain that day and had dinner on the mountain by himself.

As a result, his daughter cried so badly as soon as she entered the house that he wondered if it was because it was too dark when they went up the mountain and scared the child.

When asked later, Tang Xiaotao revealed that it was because her brother hadn't said he loved her too.

She cried for half the night, until her voice was hoarse, and no one could comfort her.

Finally, having exhausted all other options, Ye Shu's aunt made a phone call down the mountain in the middle of the night and told Ye Shu's mother about the matter.

Ye Shu was sleeping in bed when her mother woke her up in a daze.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

Ye Shu was dazed and looked at his mother with a frown.

"Hurry up and tell Xiaotao that you will love her even after you get married."

"ah???"

Ye Shu had just woken up and her brain was still not working properly. She had no idea what was going on in the middle of the night.

But with his mother glaring at him, he could only close his eyes and mumble something to Tang Xiaotao, who was sobbing uncontrollably on the other end of the phone:

"I will love Xiaotao from now on."

This is really strange. Normally, no one could coax her, but because of Ye Shu's perfunctory words, Tang Xiaotao sobbed a couple of times, and then she actually stopped crying while holding the phone.

From then on, this event became a regular part of reminiscing about the past at the New Year's dinner table every year.

Tang Xiaotao's embarrassing past is brought up and publicly shamed by her mother every year. What's most infuriating is that Ye Shu always adds fuel to the fire by sharing his feelings about being dragged out of bed in the middle of the night.

This always made Tang Xiaotao furious.

Now, Tang Xiaotao followed Ye Shu down the stairs, looking at the figure in front of her, but she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.

My brother really did get married, and that sleepy "I'll love Xiaotao too" he mumbled on the phone that night—he really did keep his word.

It's not just talk, nor is it just a way of appeasing a crybaby; it's a habit of loving his younger sister for over twenty years.

Tang Xiaotao paused for a moment, then continued walking down.

She knew very well that she would never, and could never, become an obstacle to her brother's happy life.

On the contrary, she will protect this relationship, just like her brother protected her when they were young. If anyone tries to cause trouble in her brother and sister-in-law's relationship, she will be the first to object!

because……

Tang Xiaotao really loves her brother!