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

The decision to go to Ancheng was made at the breakfast table.

Su Qing casually mentioned while taking a bite of toast, "Didn't we say we were going to Ancheng to play before, but we didn't make it?" Jiang Ran paused in her hand holding the milk cup, and looked up at her sister.

Su Qing was a little confused by her gaze. Just as she was about to say that she had just mentioned it casually, Jiang Ran put down her cup and said in a tone as calm as if she were saying that the weather was nice today, "Then let's go today."

The two exchanged a smile and continued eating, thus casually settling on the matter of going to Ancheng.

It's exactly the same as three years ago, except this time there won't be anyone blocking the door.

While packing her luggage, Su Qing saw something in the innermost drawer of the walk-in closet.

It was a lop-eared rabbit doll. Its off-white fur was a bit old, and the edges of its originally pink ears had been worn white. The stitches on its belly were crooked and uneven; she had sewn them by hand many years ago.

When Xiao Ran was first brought back, Su Qing bought this rabbit and then sewed Xiao Ran's initials onto it. She put it in Xiao Ran's bed and told her, "If you're scared at night, hug this rabbit and think of it as your older sister keeping you company."

She thought that after so many years, the rabbit would have been lost somewhere long ago.

After all, Xiao Ran is currently staying in a penthouse suite at a five-star hotel, and any shirt in her walk-in closet could buy a whole room full of these dolls.

But at this moment, the rabbit is sitting quietly at the very back of the cabinet, placed in a transparent dust bag, kept clean and tidy, its fur neatly combed, and even the crooked stitch on its ear is intact.

Su Qing took the rabbit out of the bag and held it in her hands for a long time.

She could almost picture Xiao Ran taking the rabbit out of the cupboard and hugging it during every sleepless night. The child who was as cold as ice in front of others would hug an old, molting plush toy and bury her face in its soft belly, curling up like she did when she was a child, when no one was watching.

  

She put the rabbit back into the dust bag and then placed it back deep inside the cabinet, very gently, as if afraid of disturbing something.

Then she turned around and took the outfit that the system had prepared for her from the clothes rack.

The system recommended it because it was "suitable for travel and photography, and fits the aesthetic preferences of youth and beauty"—she felt that the system was unusually speaking humanly, so she nodded in agreement.

But when she took the dress off the hanger, she couldn't help but pause for a moment.

Black.

It wasn't the light-colored style she usually wore.

The skirt hem was above the knee, the waistline was neatly cinched, and the neckline was adorned with a very fine silver pattern that shimmered slightly under the light.

After changing, she stood in front of the dressing mirror, looking at herself from left to right. She tugged at her skirt, twirled around, and then tilted her head, muttering to her reflection in the mirror with a somewhat uncertain tone, "Isn't this... a little too strange?"

The system did not answer her.

But a very soft pause in breathing came from the bedroom doorway.

Su Qing saw Jiang Ran in the mirror.

Jiang Ran leaned against the door frame, not knowing how long she had been standing there.

Today she wore a burgundy vintage-style ruffled stand-up collar long-sleeved shirt, with delicate pleated lace trim on the collar and cuffs. Black buttons were fastened from the collar to the waist, and the fitted cut accentuated her slender and upright figure.

She wore a matching burgundy pleated long skirt with a flowing fabric that shimmered with a muted sheen under the light.

She wore no extra accessories, only a platinum bracelet on her wrist resting quietly on her pulse.

The person standing there looked like they had stepped out of a Victorian-era oil painting.

Dark, elegant, retro, with a composure tempered by time and a certain carefully restrained aggression.

But at this moment, all the restraint in those deep brown eyes transformed into an undisguised, scalding light that almost burned one.

Su Qing's ears turned red under her gaze, and she awkwardly tugged at her skirt: "Isn't this too strange? I told you this skirt is too short, I'd better change back..."

Jiang Ran didn't let her finish speaking.

She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Su Qing's waist from behind, and gently rested her chin on Su Qing's shoulder.

The burgundy cuffs and black skirt overlapped in the mirror, like two carefully mixed oil paints slowly spreading on the surface of water.

Her eyes were closed, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and the tip of her nose was almost touching Su Qing's neck, as if she was sensing something... sensing her sister's body temperature, her sister's breath, the real weight and warmth of her sister in her arms.

Then she opened her eyes, looked at the figure in the mirror that she was holding in her arms, and said in a voice so soft that she was afraid of waking her from a dream: "Sister, you are so beautiful."

She spoke in a very soft and gentle voice, but the weight behind it was so heavy it made one's heart tremble.

It was an intense, almost overflowing, infatuation, not a simple compliment or polite flattery, but the kind of almost greedy, thirsty, trembling sigh that comes from the depths of a person who has walked in the desert for far too long and finally sees an oasis.

Su Qing's heart skipped a beat when she saw Jiang Ran's gaze in the mirror.

The emotions surging in those eyes were so intense, so intense, that they seemed to be sucking her whole body in.

Her ears were burning red, but she didn't flinch.

She simply turned her head slightly, looked at Xiao Ran in the mirror, and a very gentle smile slowly curved her lips. Her voice was as gentle as the first warm breeze melting in spring: "Xiao Ran is also very beautiful."

Jiang Ran buried her face in the crook of her neck and chuckled softly.

The laughter was silent, but Su Qing could feel her shoulder twitch slightly, and feel a slight tickle as the warm breath brushed against her neck.

They stood in front of the mirror for a while.

It's not a hug, but something lighter than a hug.

It's not about relying on someone, but closer than relying on them.

Jiang Ran's arms were loosely wrapped around Su Qing's waist, and Su Qing's hand covered the back of Jiang Ran's hand, her fingertips gently resting between Jiang Ran's fingers.

Then Jiang Ran looked up, picked up the bag from the cabinet next to her, and slung it over her shoulder.

It was a black leather crossbody bag, simple and without any unnecessary embellishments.

She adjusted the strap of her bag, then turned around and extended her hand to Su Qing.

The hand was outstretched naturally, fingers slightly spread, palm facing up, as if waiting for an answer she had been waiting for for a very long time.

Su Qing looked at the hand, then looked up at Jiang Ran's face.

Xiao Ran is smiling.

It wasn't the polite and proper smile, nor the cool and composed demeanor maintained in front of strangers, but a genuine joy that shone from the corners of the eyes to the tips of the eyebrows, with the corners of the mouth curving upwards without any restraint.

That was the smile she had waited three years to see again.

Su Qing did not hesitate.

She placed her right hand into that hand, but Jiang Ran adjusted her posture, her fingertips threading through Su Qing's fingers, their fingers interlocking.

Jiang Ran's fingers tightened, gripping her hand so tightly that their pulses overlapped through the thin skin, making it impossible to distinguish which was theirs and which was the other's.

"Let's go, sister," Jiang Ran turned her head, smiled back at her, her hair gently brushing against her shoulder, her eyes filled with the brightest light of the entire summer, "Let's go."

Looking at that smile, Su Qing felt her heart skip a beat in her chest.

It wasn't the kind of panicked chaos, but a slow, deep tremor that surged from the deepest part of her heart, as if something had taken root and sprouted there, quietly growing in a place she couldn't see.

She didn't care about the overly intimate hand-holding posture, nor did she think about whether people would stare at the two girls walking hand in hand on the street.

She simply tightened her grip on her fingers slightly, making her hold the hand even tighter.

"Um."

There is only one word.

But what's hidden in those words is more than any lengthy discourse.

As they stepped out of the hotel, the morning sunlight streamed down through the gaps between the tall buildings, carpeting the ground with golden light.

The air was fresh with the lingering scent of last night's rain, mixed with the sweet fragrance of gardenias from the roadside flowerbeds.

A black sedan was already parked at the entrance, sunlight falling on its gleaming surface and refracting into tiny dappled patterns.

Jiang Ran opened the car door for her, her hand resting on the top of the door frame, the movement as natural as a habit she had repeated countless times.

Su Qing bent down and sat down, her skirt spreading out a small patch of black on the seat. Jiang Ran got in from the other side and sat next to her, their shoulders about a fist's distance apart.

The car drove out of the hotel entrance and merged into the morning traffic.

Su Qing turned her head to look out the window, watching the familiar street scenes recede frame by frame on the car window.

She had walked this road many times.

Three years ago, she also sat in a car with Xiao Ran next to her. Outside the window were the same streets, the same plane trees, and the same city beginning to awaken in the morning light.

At that time, they were going to what was supposed to be a wonderful birthday party.

She remembered that Xiao Ran had sat next to her like that, with her hand on the seat between them, her fingertips slightly outstretched towards her, but without actually touching her.

At that time, she thought she had a few more days.

At that time, she didn't know that fate had already hidden an ending that Xiao Ran couldn't bear at the end of that road.

But it's different now.

Su Qing turned her head and looked at Jiang Ran, who was looking down at her schedule.

Sunlight streamed in through the car window, falling on her profile and turning her eyelashes a light golden brown.

Her finger was tapping the phone screen, and the faint smile that hadn't completely faded from her lips still lingered.

The person is still the same person.

They can finally walk that interrupted path again.

Su Qing's lips curved slightly. She didn't speak, but quietly moved her hand off her knee and placed it on the seat between the two of them, her fingertips slightly extending towards Xiao Ran.

This time, no one will bother them.

This time they have plenty of time.