My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

The morning light peeked through the gaps in the curtains, drawing a thin, golden line across the room.

Jiang Ran was woken up by an alarm she had set herself. She set the alarm because she was afraid that she would get too engrossed in her sister's gentle embrace and oversleep, only to be embarrassingly discovered by her sister when the effects of the drug wore off.

However, she had actually been awake for a long time; to be precise, she hadn't really slept all night.

She couldn't bear to sleep.

Her sister was in her arms, warm, soft, and breathing evenly; she had no desire to sleep.

Sometime last night, Su Qing had abandoned the pillow in her arms and instead hugged the person next to her.

She probably still dreams of Jiang Ran as the little mushroom she needed to protect three years ago, and habitually wants to pull her into her arms and hold her while she sleeps.

But Jiang Ran is no longer the little one who nestled in her arms. She is taller than Su Qing, with long arms and legs, so when Su Qing hugs her, she looks more like she is snuggling in her arms.

At this moment, Su Qing was obedient and gentle, her face buried in Jiang Ran's neck, a few strands of hair brushing against her chin.

If an unsuspecting person were standing by the bed, they probably wouldn't be able to tell who the older sister and the younger sister were.

Jiang Ran looked down at her sister's sleeping face and gently rubbed her cheek with her thumb.

She was starting to regret it…regret her decision last night to “let her sister relax for a few days.”

She could have just taken him home, so why did she choose to suffer like this?

She felt it was all her sister's fault for being too obedient last night, which made her soften her heart and make the wrong decision. She had to punish her again!

She lowered her head and placed a kiss on Su Qing's forehead, her lips lingering on that warm skin for a long while before reluctantly pulling away.

Then she very gently pulled her arm out of Su Qing's arms, making every movement extremely slow, as if afraid of waking her.

  

She walked barefoot on the carpet to the full-length mirror, then glanced back at the sleeping figure on the bed.

There's no way around it; it's the path I chose, so I have to keep going no matter what.

She silently pushed open the hidden door, and as the full-length mirror slowly closed behind her, the warm and lingering atmosphere in the room seemed to fade away a bit.

About ten minutes later, Su Qing woke up.

She sat up from the covers, stretched languidly, her spine making a few soft clicking sounds, and let out a long, comfortable breath.

She slept really well last night, and she even dreamed about Xiao Ran.

In her dream, Jiang Ran was still the same soft and cuddly girl she was when she was little, nestled in her arms, her little hands clutching the collar of her pajamas, her head resting on her chin like a kitten burrowing into its nest.

Su Qing reminisced happily, but then a sense of loss crept in... The dream was so vivid that when she woke up she realized she was holding a pillow, not Xiao Ran.

Perhaps sensing her disappointment, the system's voice softly sounded in her mind, still the steady, synthesized electronic tone, but with a subtle hint of reminder in its wording: [Host, the promised reward that meets your expectations has been issued. Would you like to claim it now?]

Su Qing was stunned.

She remembered this. When the system asked her what she wanted, she said she wanted a healthy body, and she didn't care much about anything else.

Looking back now, she realized the system had indeed mentioned another reward, but she was so focused on her health at the time that she didn't pay attention.

"receive."

As soon as Su Qing finished speaking, a card shimmering with a pale golden light slowly emerged from the void and hovered in front of her. The card was made of a warm, smooth material, and her name was printed on the front, while the back had a simple line of embossed text.

The system's voice added in a timely manner: [The ten million reward has been deposited into this bank card under the host's name. The password has been set to the host's birthday. In addition, the new ID has been placed in the pocket of the youthful and beautiful clothes. Please keep it safe.]

Su Qing stared blankly at the numbers appearing on the card, counting them with her finger once, then again, making sure she hadn't added or omitted a single zero.

Suddenly, a question came to mind.

"By the way... when is my birthday again? Is it July 15th?" She scratched her head, her tone genuinely confused.

Jiang Ran leaned against the control panel in the dark room and paused slightly when she heard those words.

Isn't my sister's birthday July 15th? Every year on July 15th, she would prepare a gift for her sister, and her sister would cook a table full of dishes. The two of them would snuggle on the sofa and celebrate a small birthday celebration just for the two of them.

The system remained silent for a moment upon hearing this.

The silence was very short, so short that Su Qing barely noticed it, but Jiang Ran sensed the hesitation within it.

[The host's actual date of birth is September 3rd, and July 15th is the date you entered the orphanage.]

The system's voice was a few decibels lower than usual. [Sorry—we didn't consider that the host doesn't know their real birthdate. Would you like to change the password?]

"No."

Su Qing reached out and took the card that was suspended in mid-air. The light on the card faded from her fingertips, turning into a silver card that looked only slightly more refined than an ordinary bank card.

She flipped the card over and looked at it, a slight smile playing on her lips. "I never thought I'd mistake the day I entered the orphanage for my birthday. It's kind of funny." She smiled, a nonchalant smile.

The system remained silent.

Jiang Ran stood in the dark room, looking at the faint, almost imperceptible smile on her sister's lips on the screen. Her fingers slowly clenched at the edge of the control panel, her knuckles turning white.

Her sister celebrated the day she entered that hell as the best day of the year, unaware of her own birthday.

She has never had a real birthday...

Su Qing's thoughts didn't linger on that date for too long.

She looked at the bank card in her hand, her eyes narrowing slightly, and suddenly asked, "Since you're so rich, why did you only give me a subsidy of two thousand yuan per month back then?"

The system was slightly taken aback by her sudden question, and responded after a moment. Her tone was still that of a steady, synthesized electronic voice, but there seemed to be a hint of helplessness in her words.

[The previous subsidies were only to ensure basic living needs, but this ten million is the final reward, which must meet the host's wishes. Otherwise, the reward could be something else, such as a beautiful dress or a delicious meal.]