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

The bad mood that Ding Xin had ruined completely vanished the moment Xiao Ran appeared.

Su Qing led her through the ancient street's cobblestone path, taking her to eat the osmanthus cake and meat pie she had just tried. She carefully took out the jasmine hairpin she had spent half a day picking out in the jewelry store from her pocket and gently pinned it in Xiao Ran's hair.

Jiang Ran lowered her head slightly to let her sister help her put it on. The silver jasmine flower on the hairpin gleamed warmly in the afternoon sunlight, just like the pendant on the platinum bracelet on her wrist.

Su Qing took a half step back, examined it carefully, nodded in satisfaction, and said it looked good.

Jiang Ran raised her hand and touched the little flower in her hair, a smile that she couldn't suppress curving her lips.

Lin Zhi followed a few steps behind them, watching her young mistress being led by Miss Su like a child, and seeing her young mistress's obedient and gentle appearance as she lowered her head to let Miss Su help her put on the hairpin. Suddenly, she felt a lump in her throat.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Miss smile like that."

She sighed, her tone carrying the satisfaction of an old housekeeper.

Wen Liang walked beside her, glanced at her upon hearing this, remained silent for a moment, and then said expressionlessly, "You've only been with Miss for two years, how could you say something like that that Aunt Lin would say? Anyone who didn't know better would think you watched Miss grow up."

Lin Zhi was so taken aback by her words that she almost choked. Her previous sadness was instantly replaced by anger and embarrassment: "Can't I just express my feelings? Why are you going to insult me ​​for that?"

Wen Liang looked at her angry expression, a slight smile curving his lips. He didn't say anything, just looked at her.

Seeing Wen Liang's expression, Lin Zhi felt like she had punched cotton again, and became even angrier. She quickened her pace and decided not to talk to this annoying guy for the rest of the journey.

Wen Liang followed behind at a leisurely pace, and as he looked at the sullen figure in front of him, the corners of his lips curved into a deeper smile.

Time slipped away unnoticed in the alleys of the ancient street. By the time the setting sun had painted the gray tiles and white walls a warm orange, Jiang Ran had already booked a private room at the Lakeside Pavilion.

It is an antique-style building in the middle of Tongxin Lake at the end of the ancient street in the north of the city. It has upturned eaves and is surrounded by water on all sides, with only a winding stone bridge connecting it to the lake shore.

The private room has the best view in the entire pavilion, with floor-to-ceiling windows on three sides facing the center of the lake. It is sunset, and the sky is filled with large swathes of clouds dyed orange-pink by the evening glow. The lake is as calm as a mirror, reflecting the clouds in the sky and the row of Hui-style buildings with red lanterns lit up on the shore. Occasionally, a few egrets skim across the lake, their wingtips creating ripples that break the reflections into a golden glow across the entire lake.

Jiang Ran ordered a table full of dishes, all of which were her sister's favorites.

But Su Qing stood in front of the French windows, gazing absently at the lake view outside. The afterglow of the setting sun fell on her profile, turning her eyelashes into a light gold.

Jiang Ran walked up from behind, put her arm around her waist, rested her chin on her shoulder, and said with a hint of dissatisfaction in her voice, "Sister, isn't Xiao Ran prettier than this lake?"

Su Qing was amused by her words and gently raised her hand to rub the head resting on her shoulder, her tone carrying a hint of helplessness and indulgence: "No, our Xiao Ran is the prettiest."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran's lips curled slightly. She moved one hand up from Su Qing's waist, her fingertips gently pinching Su Qing's chin, turning her face slightly towards her. Her voice carried a hint of coquetry mixed with an undeniable certainty: "Then, sister, can you look at me a little longer?"

As he spoke, he leaned over and kissed Su Qing on the cheek, making a very soft "pop" sound.

Su Qing shrank back slightly after being kissed, but nodded helplessly in agreement.

She didn't think there was anything wrong with what Xiao Ran was doing. Xiao Ran had always liked to stick close to her since she was little. She would kiss her on the cheek when she was happy, and she would kiss her on the cheek when she was unhappy. They had been like this for so many years.

"Xiao Ran," Su Qing looked at Jiang Ran's profile, which was much more mature than it had been three years ago. After a moment's hesitation, she still couldn't suppress the confusion that had been swirling in her heart for so long. "You...do you know something?"

Su Qing looked at Jiang Ran's profile, which was much more mature than it had been three years ago. Her jawline was more defined, and there was a layer of coldness in her eyes that Su Qing was not familiar with. But when she was quiet, she still had the same profile that Su Qing had seen for seven years.

She knew she wasn't as smart as Xiao Ran, but even if she was slow-witted or dull, she knew that the normal reaction to seeing a deceased relative standing in front of her again would be shock, disbelief, and even doubt that she was dreaming.

From the moment Xiao Ran climbed through the window and hugged her, she showed no surprise whatsoever, as if she had known all along that Xiao Ran would come back, as if she had been waiting for this day.

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ran did not loosen her arms around Su Qing's waist. Her gaze fell on her sister's ear, which was slightly red from nervousness, and watched as the fair skin gradually turned from pink to a faint, alluring blush.

A slight smile played at the corners of her lips, and she asked with a hint of deeper meaning, "And what about your older sister? Doesn't she have anything she wants to say to Xiao Ran?"

  

Su Qing was stunned. Many thoughts raced through her mind… but all her words ultimately coalesced into a very soft, uttered: “I’m sorry.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a slight tingling sensation came from her earlobe.

Jiang Ran gently bit her ear.

It wasn't punishment, it wasn't force, it was just a very light touch on that reddened earlobe, as if touching a lost treasure that had been found again, or as if warning her not to say those three words again.

Su Qing was startled by her sudden action, and her voice stopped abruptly.

Jiang Ransong opened her mouth, took a half-inch back, and looked at her sister's earlobe, which she had bitten until it was slightly red. The smile on her lips did not change, but Su Qing suddenly felt that there was something under that smile that she could not quite put her finger on.

It wasn't the expression of the obedient and gentle younger sister from three years ago, but a deeper, more profound one, like something that had been suppressed for a long time and was finally no longer hidden.

"Why should I apologize, sister?" Jiang Ran's voice was soft and gentle, but every word carried an undeniable certainty. "Sister risked her life to protect Xiao Ran, why should I apologize to Xiao Ran?"

Looking at her smile, Su Qing vaguely felt that something seemed a little different, but she didn't think about it too much. She just sighed and said slowly, "Xiao Ran, I've been promising you a lie... I should apologize."

She paused, her voice lowering even further, "Knowing full well that this was a time-limited encounter, I still made so many promises to a child who knew nothing, promises that I could never keep. I promised to celebrate your fifteenth birthday with you, I promised to bake you a super luxurious cake, I promised to go home together to watch a movie tonight... I didn't do any of them. I kept lying to you, but I never told you the truth."

"elder sister……"

Jiang Ran's voice suddenly became very soft, so soft that Su Qing almost mistook it for the sound of the wind outside the window.

But then her chin was gently lifted by a cool finger, meeting a pair of eyes that were staring at her intently.

In those few short seconds, Jiang Ran's gaze underwent a change that Su Qing had never seen before. It wasn't anger or grievance, but something that made her heart tighten even more than anger or grievance.

It wasn't like the vulnerability that comes from being hurt; it was more like something she had treasured for a very long time was being taken away from her again.

"Is your sister still apologizing for this because she still wants to leave Xiaoran and abandon her?"

Su Qing suddenly froze.

She turned around and met Jiang Ran's gaze. In those eyes, there was a surge of possessiveness, grievance, sadness, and an almost obsessive obsession, but not anger.

She wanted to say no, to tell Xiaoran that she also wanted to stay, and to tell her that the best thing she had ever done in her life was climbing over that wall in the middle of the night.

But she didn't dare to speak. She wanted to question the system and get an immediate response, but she found that she couldn't find its voice anywhere.

She wasn't afraid of any punishment she might receive, but she was afraid of what the system might do to Xiao Ran.

Jiang Ran looked at her sister's hesitant expression, and saw the tangled mix of reluctance and worry in her eyes that was almost overflowing.

The older sister didn't directly say she wanted to leave her; she was just worried that the thing standing between them would hurt her.

That's enough.

As long as her sister doesn't push her away, she will clear away any other obstacles herself.

"Come out," she suddenly said.

Su Qing was stunned for a moment: "What..." Before she could finish speaking, the system in her mind, which had been silent just moments before, suddenly spoke: [Host.]

It was still the same steady, almost rigid, electronic synthesized voice, but the wording carried a hint of solemnity that had never been there before.

Su Qing was completely stunned.

Is Xiao Ran talking to the system? Xiao Ran can see the system? No, didn't the system say that only she could sense its existence? What's going on?

Jiang Ran didn't give her sister time to continue being shocked. She still held Su Qing in her arms, resting her chin gently on her shoulder, and asked in a calm voice, as if asking casually, "Tell my sister, is your ridiculous clause still valid?"

The system paused for a moment, then began to broadcast in an extremely formal tone: [The fate line between the host and Jiang Ran should have been severed three years ago, but it was subsequently reconnected in a way that even the connection system could not fully analyze.]

[This fact breaks the underlying rule of the fate completion system—the clause that once the fate line breaks, the two people can never meet again.]

[However, since all the algorithms in the previous system were built on this underlying rule, a complete version update cycle is required after the rule is broken. During this period, the system cannot notify the host of the rule change.]

[The update is now complete. The host's fate is fully compatible with Jiang Ran's. The host can freely meet and spend time with Jiang Ran without causing any adverse effects on either party.]

[This message, sent on behalf of the Fate Completion System development team, expresses our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by the delay in this update.]

Su Qing listened blankly as the system completely overturned the rule she had once firmly believed in, word by word.

She suddenly remembered the system's several hesitant silences, its repeated "the host decides for himself," and its unusual hesitation when she asked if it could send something to Xiao Ran... It turned out that those silences were a kind of unspoken hint, and before the rules were updated, it was already trying its best to leave her the last bit of space.

"Sister," Jiang Ran buried her face in Su Qing's neck again, her voice very soft, as if she were asking a question whose answer was more important to her than anything else, "You couldn't before, but what about now? Can you stay with me forever now, sister?"

Su Qing lowered her eyes to look at Jiang Ran's arms wrapped around her. Xiao Ran had grown up, and her fingers were even longer than hers, but the strength with which she gripped the hem of her clothes was exactly the same as when she was a child.

A warm drop of liquid silently slid down from the corner of her eye, landing right on the back of Jiang Ran's hand.

Jiang Ran was taken aback. She subconsciously loosened her arms around Su Qing, turned around in front of her, and raised her hand to wipe away the tears on Su Qing's face, her expression somewhat flustered.

"Sister...why are you crying? I'm sorry, sister...Xiao Ran didn't mean to question you. I just want the system to explain the rules clearly. Sister, don't cry. It's okay if you don't want to agree. I can wait..." Her voice became more and more urgent, and then softer and softer.

Su Qing simply shook her head gently, reached out and took Jiang Ran's hand, which was still resting on her cheek, pressed her face into Jiang Ran's palm, and gently rubbed it against her hand, just like she had done in the hospital room years ago. Her voice was very soft and steady, and she only responded with one word: "Mmm".