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

In the following days, Su Qing finally understood what it meant to completely stop acting.

Before, when Xiao Ran clung to her, at least she knew when and where to be. But ever since that night when she vaguely agreed to "take full responsibility," she's completely let loose.

Every morning, while she was still dreaming of playing chess with the Duke of Zhou, she would feel a soft, warm touch on her lips.

While she was eating, picking at her food, a face suddenly leaned over and said matter-of-factly, "Sister, give me a kiss before you eat."

Even when she was curled up on the sofa watching TV, Xiao Ran would wrap her arms around her waist from behind, rest her chin on her shoulder, and every now and then turn her head to peck her cheek.

At first, Su Qing would blush and push her away, but later she became numb and stopped blocking her as much.

Because experience told her that if she covered Xiao Ran's mouth with her hand, he would then kiss her palm.

If you try to block her with your arm, she'll kiss your shoulder.

She curled up into a ball and then gave him a tap on the back of his neck.

Defense is useless; it will only lead her to kiss some even stranger places.

Su Qing couldn't help but think, "Is dating really this terrifying?"

  

At this moment, Jiang Ran pecked her on the cheek again, then clung to her like a giant koala, muttering contentedly, "Sister, you're so good to me, I don't want to let go."

Su Qing supported her with one hand and reached out with the other to gently flick her forehead.

Jiang Ran leaned back in agreement, then bounced back, and chuckled.

Looking at her like this, Su Qing's initial helplessness at being clingy was washed away by a softer emotion, and she let her do whatever she wanted.

After all, he still looks like a child who hasn't grown up.

The two of them were shopping in the largest mall in Ancheng, looking to buy some things to take back with them, as they were heading back to Linjiang tomorrow.

Jiang Ran pushed the shopping cart, with Su Qing walking beside her. The cart was already piled high with things. When they passed the snack section, Su Qing threw in two more bags of strawberry-filled cookies.

Even though I knew I couldn't bring back that many, I felt like I'd be missing out if I didn't buy anything since I was already there.

Just as Su Qing was tiptoeing to reach the box of limited-edition chocolates she had been looking for for a long time on the top shelf, a figure quietly approached while the two of them were not paying attention.

The next second, Su Qing felt someone grab her waist from behind, and the force of the impact made her stagger forward half a step.

She stood there, stunned, before she could react, when a pitiful sob came from behind her: "Waaah, Sister Su, I've finally found you! Do you know how long I've been looking for you? That bastard Xiao Ran posted notices at the door, I couldn't even get into the lobby, and she's been monopolizing Sister Su by herself! Sister Su, please do something about her..."

Jiang Yi buried her face in Su Qing's back, her voice growing more and more aggrieved, her entire weight almost hanging on Su Qing.

Before Su Qing could even be surprised at how she found this place, she was left speechless by her barrage of accusations. Just as she was about to offer some words of comfort, she felt a palpable low pressure emanating from the side.

She turned her head and saw Jiang Ran standing next to the shopping cart, arms crossed, her already aloof face now radiating an aura of "You're asking for it."

But because her sister was there, she really couldn't do anything to Jiang Yi. She couldn't just tear her off her sister in front of her.

She took a deep breath, barely suppressing the jealousy that was about to overflow, and turned her gaze away, silently repeating to herself several times, "My sister will be unhappy."

This shift in gaze was significant; a figure caught her eye, causing her to raise an eyebrow slightly.

Jiang Ran's gaze turned colder, her voice filled with undisguised impatience: "What are you doing here?"

The figure visibly stiffened upon hearing this.

Gu Lei stood in the shadows at the corner of the shelf, dressed in simple dark casual clothes, her hair casually tied back.

She had barely slept these past few days, going through all the clues again. When she finally pieced together the whole puzzle, she realized that the Gu family could no longer escape unscathed from this trap.

She had no choice but to come to Jiang Ran.

She hadn't expected that Baozi was also looking for Jiang Ran and even asked her to show her the way. She thought that with Baozi there, the atmosphere might be eased, allowing her to talk to Jiang Ran a bit more and also fulfilling Baozi's request.

But when they actually found Jiang Ran, she was completely stunned.

Jiang Ran, the legendary figure who struck fear into the hearts of the entire North City business district, was currently pushing a shopping cart piled high with snacks and fruits. A young girl stood beside her, and Jiang Ran was taking a box of chocolates from the woman, a gentle smile on her lips that she had never seen in any of the information she had ever read about.

It's unbelievable that someone like Jiang Ran could have such a gentle side...

Moreover, Baozi seemed to really like that girl; the way he held her tightly was completely different from when he was talking to her at the club.

But Gu Lei clearly couldn't think about that much at the moment.

She took a deep breath, suppressing all her chaotic thoughts, took two steps forward, met Jiang Ran's indifferent gaze, and tried to keep her voice steady and solemn: "Jiang Ran, can we talk? It won't take too long, just a moment."

"If you're talking about this project, I advise you to give up." Jiang Ran finished speaking and turned away, preparing to leave with her sister.

She glanced at Jiang Yi, who was still clinging to Su Qing and refusing to let go, and a cold smile appeared on her lips. She would deal with her when her sister was not around.

"I will make the Gu family withdraw from the bidding for that piece of land in Nancheng. As for the two subsidiaries in Linjiang, I can transfer control to you in exchange. I only hope you can let me off this time, just this once." Gu Lei's voice was a few decibels lower than usual, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between her teeth.

She wasn't unaware of what these conditions meant... She had spent two whole years planning for Nancheng, and those two subsidiaries were her most valuable assets within the Gu family. Giving them away would be tantamount to handing over the power she had built up within the Gu family over the years.

But she had no other choice.

Jiang Ran stopped in her tracks.

She turned to look at Gu Lei, the curve of her lips unchanged, but a hint of mockery flickered in her eyes: "I was destined to win, why should I let you win?"

Gu Lei stood still, her fingers slowly clenching at her sides.

Yes, she's not as skilled as him, and he kept making things difficult for her before. Now she's running to him begging for leniency... What right does she have?

Jiang Ran stopped looking at her, turned around and walked to Jiang Yi, reaching out to pull her away from Su Qing.

Jiang Yi struggled a couple of times as she was grabbed by the back of her collar, muttering that it was unfair.

As Gu Lei watched this scene, seeing Jiang Yi cast a pleading look at the young girl who was being protected so closely by Jiang Ran, and seeing her shrink back and hide to the side after being glared at by Jiang Ran, something in her heart suddenly clenched painfully.

She didn't want to give up this opportunity; she really didn't want to wait any longer.

She was tired of wearing suits that didn't belong to her every day, speaking in a voice that wasn't her own, and being on edge in front of those covetous relatives.

She wanted to end it all... as soon as possible.

Her gaze involuntarily fell on the girl whom Jiang Yi called "Sister Su".

The girl was standing between Jiang Ran and Jiang Yi, holding one of them in each hand, as if trying to mediate their fight.

Her intuition told her that this girl was very important to Jiang Ran, since even Jiang Ran's relatives needed to rely on luck to see her.

The person who can make Jiang Ran let down her guard and reveal that gentle smile she has never shown in any public setting must be the person she cares about most in this world.

Gu Lei stared at her for a while, then looked away.

How could she have such thoughts...?