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

Jiang Ran ignored the burly men lying on the ground groaning around her, and she also ignored Ding Xin, who was standing a few steps away, his face turning from black to white and then from white to green.

She simply lowered her head, gently buried her face in Su Qing's hair, and took a deep breath.

My sister's hair still had that familiar and pleasant fresh scent, not the smell of perfume, but a scent that was uniquely hers.

She closed her eyes and tightened her arms, feeling the warm, real, and slightly trembling body in her embrace, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Sister."

Su Qing froze on the spot as if she had been struck by a pressure point.

That voice, the one she had heard for seven long years, the one that had echoed in her ears on countless sleepless nights, came from behind her without warning, so close, its warm breath brushing against her earlobe.

She slowly, inch by inch, turned her head to meet the face so close to hers. He had grown up a bit since three years ago, his jawline was more defined, and the girlish naiveté in his eyes had faded, replaced by a coldness that was not so familiar to her.

But those eyes were still the same eyes she remembered, staring at her intently. She opened her mouth, her voice trembling slightly, "Xiao...Xiao Ran..."

Hearing the familiar call, Jiang Ran moved one hand up from Su Qing's waist, her fingertips very lightly pinching her chin, lifting her face slightly, and turning her head to place a soft kiss on her cheek.

"Sister, have you had enough fun? If not, Xiao Ran will play with you some more later."

Her voice was gentle and affectionate, like she was coaxing a playful child, but every word carried an undeniable possessiveness: "When you've had enough playing, let's go home together, okay?"

Su Qing's lips moved slightly.

The first thought that popped into her mind was that the system had said they couldn't meet, and that meeting again after the fate line was broken would have unpredictable effects on Xiao Ran.

She wanted to deny her identity, to say that she was not Su Qing, but just a stranger who looked like her.

She wanted to ask the system if this meeting would hurt Xiao Ran, and wanted it to analyze the situation immediately.

But all the worries, fears, and reason were stuck in his throat at that moment, and he couldn't utter a single word.

She looked into Jiang Ran's eyes, which were filled with her reflection. There was no questioning or resentment in those eyes, only a quiet, resolute tenderness that had been waiting for far too long.

"Okay," she said.

Just this one word—all the rules, the threads of fate, the taboos of not being able to meet—were nothing compared to the fact that Xiao Ran was standing right in front of her at this moment.

Jiang Ran looked at her sister's obedient nod, and saw her sister's bright eyes staring at her intently from her slightly upturned face. She couldn't help but lower her head and gently peck her other cheek.

Su Qing felt a little ticklish from her kiss and shrank her neck, suddenly realizing that there was a large group of people watching this scene.

She subconsciously turned her head and glanced around. Lin Zhi and Wen Liang were standing on either side of her. Wen Liang's hand holding the teacup was still suspended in mid-air, while Lin Zhi's eyes were wide open and her mouth was agape, her jaw almost falling to the ground.

Opposite them, Ding Xin and his group were completely stunned. Even the burly men who were lying on the ground with their arms being held down forgot to struggle. They all seemed to have seen something completely beyond their comprehension.

Su Qing's face flushed bright red instantly. She quickly pulled away Jiang Ran's arm, which was still wrapped around her waist, as if she had been burned.

  

Jiang Ran wasn't annoyed when she was pushed away. Instead, she reached out and rubbed the top of her head. Su Qing was startled by the rub, her big eyes narrowed slightly, and her eyes clearly said, "Are you the older sister or am I the older sister?"

Lin Zhi and Wen Liang stood by watching this scene, feeling as if they had accidentally wandered into an extremely private room.

Wen Liang's hand, holding the teacup, hovered in mid-air; he hadn't swallowed the tea since earlier.

Lin Zhi blinked hard. She had seen the young lady's special attitude towards Miss Su before, but that was only a one-way gaze through the glass behind the mirror.

But now, seeing her own mistress, who could freeze people into ice pops at the board meeting, rubbing Miss Su's head in such an almost coquettish manner, and even leaning over to kiss Miss Su's face twice... she felt that her worldview might need to be rebuilt.

And what did Miss Su just call Miss? "Xiao Ran"? In this world, apart from the young lady's relatives, there is probably only this one person who dares to call Miss that.

Ding Xin watched this scene, his lips twitching several times before he suddenly let out a cold laugh.

Half of her face was still swollen, and her tank top was askew from the chaos, but she still stood there with her neck stiff and an almost arrogant posture.

"Sure, they've all come up to me and started flirting."

She raised her hand to wipe her mouth, her gaze sweeping over the well-trained security guards before landing on Jiang Ran. A fleeting, almost imperceptible panic flashed in her eyes, but it was quickly drowned out by an even louder display of arrogance. "So what if you have a lot of people? In this tiny corner of Beicheng Ancient Street, you don't even know what the Ding family does. My brother controls both the legitimate and criminal worlds here. I just sent him my location, and in a few minutes his men will have the whole street blocked off. Not one of you will ever get out of here."

The more she spoke, the more confident she became, clearly having deep faith in the power behind her.

Then, as if remembering something, she turned her gaze to Su Qing, licked her lips, and spoke with undisguised filth and malice: "Little beauty, I gave you so many chances and so much money, but you refused. Now that this little brat has appeared, you're throwing yourself at her, aren't you? Stop pretending to be innocent. I think you're just a slut."

She took another half step forward, scrutinizing Su Qing from head to toe with her gaze. "You wait, once I've dealt with this bunch of arrogant fools, I won't be as easy to talk to as before. You like to throw yourself at me so much, I'll make you pay right here—ah!!" A crisp slap abruptly cut off her foul words.

Ding Xin's head was turned to one side by the blow, and his flamboyant red hair drew a messy arc in the air.

She covered her face and turned around in disbelief, meeting a pair of eyes so calm they were almost devoid of emotion.

Jiang Ran took a disinfectant wipe from Lin Zhi's hand with a blank expression and slowly wiped the hand that had just touched Ding Xin's cheek.

Wipe each finger one by one, from the fingertip to the base of the finger, and then from the base of the finger to the wrist, as if what I had just touched was not a person's face, but a rag covered in grease.

Ding Xin's hands, which were covering his face, were trembling.

It wasn't the pain, although the slap was indeed quite forceful, and half of her face was burning, but what made her tremble was the humiliation.

On the ancient streets of Beicheng, on her Ding family's territory, after she introduced herself, this person still dared to make a move.

She covered her swollen cheek, her eyes reddening with humiliation, her voice shrill and sharp: "You dare hit me! Try hitting me again!!" She almost screamed, her voice echoing through the empty teahouse.

Jiang Ran, who had already turned around and was about to leave with her sister, stopped in her tracks upon hearing this.

Then she let go of Su Qing's hand, turned around, raised her hand, and slapped him again.

This blow was even more vicious and crisp than the previous one. The force was so great that Ding Xin was spun halfway around, staggered a couple of steps, and fell headfirst to the ground. Even the burly man who was being held down next to him couldn't help but shrink back.

Her other cheek also swelled up quickly, symmetrical to the side that had been hit earlier, looking like a pair of freshly steamed red buns.

"If you have a foul mouth, then shut up. You're the one who told me to hit you."

Jiang Ran looked down at Ding Xin, who was slumped on the ground, covering his face, his lips moving for a long time but unable to utter a single word. Her tone remained calm and nonchalant as she said, "This is truly the first time I've ever seen someone make such a request."

She turned around and took her sister's hand again. This time, it wasn't just a normal hand-holding; their fingers were intertwined, each finger carefully slipping between hers, holding on tightly.

Su Qing didn't think there was anything wrong with holding hands like that. Xiao Ran had been holding her hand like this since she was little. When she was seven years old, the little girl held her fingers in this way when they first came out of the hospital, afraid that she would get lost in the crowd.

Now that Xiao Ran has grown up, her fingers are even longer than hers, but the way she grips her fist is still exactly the same.

Ding Xin slumped onto the cold floor tiles, covering her swollen cheek, watching the figure leading her "little beauty" walk past.

The well-trained security personnel around her began to clean up the mess in an orderly manner, lifting the people she brought with her off the ground one by one, binding their hands behind their backs, and leading them out of the teahouse.

The woman who had just handed her the disinfectant wipes was talking to the aloof woman next to her, and the two of them walked out while talking.

From beginning to end, not a single person looked back at her.

She felt like a cigarette butt that was casually crushed, not a hated enemy, not a respected opponent, but simply someone who was blocking someone's way, so she was casually flicked aside.

Ding Xin clenched her fist and slammed it hard on the floor tiles, her nails scraping against the smooth surface with a harsh sound. "Don't leave! You can't leave! Nobody is allowed to leave—!" Her voice was hoarse and cracked, echoing in the empty teahouse, but no one paid her any attention.

Just as she was hysterically screaming and cursing at the receding figures, vowing to make them pay, her cell phone, which had fallen to her feet, suddenly rang.

The number that popped up on the screen was her brother's.

A surge of joy welled up in her heart. Tears still clung to the corners of her eyes, glistening with pain and humiliation, but a smile had already spread across her face. Her brother had arrived!

She hurriedly picked up her phone and answered the call, but before she could even speak, a furious roar came from the other end.

"Ding Xin, what the hell have you been doing outside! Who did you mess with?!" Her brother's voice came from his hand, so loud that it could be heard throughout the entire teahouse lobby. The rage he displayed was not the usual exasperation when he scolded her for being wasteful, but rather a hysterical outburst from being crushed by something.

She had never heard her brother speak in that tone before.

She opened her mouth as if to ask what you meant, but before she could speak, she heard synchronized footsteps and a stern rebuke from the other end of the phone: "Don't move! Put your hands on your heads and squat down!!"

Then the call ended.

Ding Xin slumped to the ground, her phone slipping from her ear and landing screen-up on the floor tiles, leaving a fine crack.

She remained motionless in the same position she had been in when she answered the phone, only her fingers were trembling uncontrollably.

My brother's place was also raided... It wasn't a warning, it wasn't a negotiation, it wasn't the usual routine inspection; they just forced him to squat down by his head.

From the moment that group of people stormed in until now, less than a few minutes have passed. Who on earth did she offend...?

Ding Xin finally remembered to think about this problem.