Chapter 1
When Pei Yin walked down the stairs with her bag, Li Chengying was waiting for her.
The hall was very quiet, and a stick of red clay agarwood was burning on the low table next to the partition. It had a light smell and was held by gold leaves.
The man sitting on the sofa looked to be in his early thirties, folded his legs, put his knuckles on his chin, and looked at her expressionlessly.
Today is New Year's Eve, probably for this reason, he rarely wore an ocher shirt. The fabric of the shirt is very drapey, giving Li Chengxuan a stern and youthful atmosphere.
That youthfulness does not refer to a kind of youthful handsomeness, but just separates him from the boundaries of "elderly".
Pei Yin glanced at him and went downstairs as if nothing had happened. As she was turning the corner, she caught a glimpse of the other person's ankles that were slightly exposed at the bottom of his trousers, wrapped in black socks, but she still felt fresh and attracted, and wanted to take another look.
She has shamelessly stayed here for a whole winter. In her seventeen years of life, Pei Yin felt that winter was such a beautiful existence for the first time. The static electricity crackling after taking off the long johns, the annoyingly dry hair, and the slender and tight waist as fleshy as starchy intestines in the mirror can all be offset by the joy of seeing my brother.
My mother is getting married. The man's surname is Li. Li Chengxuan is Uncle Li's son. He is over 30 years old and got married last year.
So Li Chengxuan is the "elder brother", and he is also an elder brother at the age of thirty. Treat him as a brother, and she will have a brother.
His brother separated after his wedding, and Pei Yin lived quietly and enjoyed hearing about it. She knew that Li Chengxuan had agreed to divorce years ago and the procedures had just been completed. Because it had not been made public yet and there were many trivial matters, his ex-wife still came occasionally.
Pei Yin always had insomnia on the nights in question, fearing that they might rekindle their old love, and even more afraid that they would do it.
Pei Yin thought that this vague hope and expectation was not excessive, because she came first.
Since middle school, ever since he used his suit to help her block the blood stains of menarche, she has secretly recognized Li Chengyou as her brother. Three years, a long time, longer than his marriage.
During the days I stayed here, every day at 7:30 when I came downstairs from my room, I could see Li Chengxuan standing up from the dining table or walking away with a plate. When he was in a good mood, he would think of a teenager at home who was growing, so Pei Yin could get a runny egg that slipped from his brother's plate.
There is a 40% chance of getting a soft-boiled egg that slipped from his brother's plate and was fried by him himself.
Just such a simple thing can make a seventeen-and-a-half-year-old girl happy all day long.
Being able to live with her brother is a huge thing, more important than the square words on the multimedia, more important than the gossip about the puppy love of the school's popular figure Yan Pingpian, and even more important than whether Li Chengxuan is interested in her.
"Brother."
Pei Yin walked up to Li Chengxuan, greeted him with a low eyebrow, and then reminded him impatiently: "Let's go, the movie will start in an hour. There are a lot of people, and I want to buy popcorn."
Li Chengyou's brows twitched, he rubbed his forehead and stared at her without saying a word.
She seems to be quite well-behaved now, her hair is tied up well, her movements are regular, she stands in front of him with a calm expression and her heart does not beat, and she always uses her identity as a younger sister to get closer to him.
If he hadn't been caught eavesdropping in the corner a while ago, Li Chengxuan would probably have truly believed her and believed she was a good child. Maybe occasionally he would think about it. Although Pei Lin was bitter and snobbish, she raised a pretty good child.
But...
Li Chengye's eyes fell on Pei Yin's expectant expression. She seemed to finally realize that she was overjoyed. She pursed her lips and tried her best to suppress her soaring mood, looking forward to him with hope and hope.
Adults can't keep their words and don't let pigeons go. She stood on tiptoe, her eyes conveying this meaning.
She seemed to agree that he should watch a movie with her today, but Li Chengxuan had no intention of agreeing to her at first. He rejected Pei Yin nine times, and every time her reaction was the same——
She stood awkwardly in front of him, her thin legs trembling sadly, as if it was a natural obligation for him to agree to watch a movie with her. Then, her eyes began to turn red and she bit her mouth to hold back tears. After a minute, she will be completely unable to bear it, bow her head silently and walk away, and muster up the courage to come again next time.
Soft, timid, slimy, useless and of no future, a personality and temperament that he never liked, a background that he never noticed.
To him, seventeen-year-old Pei Yin only meant this.
"Movies? You can also watch them in the movie theater on the first floor. I didn't prohibit you from going there." He said perfunctorily.
"But the cinema is more exciting, immersive and lively..." Pei Yin held the shirt at his arm and begged: "Brother, please."
Hearing this, Li Chengyou quickly pulled away his arm, and she gave him goosebumps all over his body.
He doesn't like physical contact, and he doesn't like the name. Different father and different mother, it is just that Pei Lin, as her "first love", unexpectedly reunited with her father when her mother was seriously ill. It was natural for my father to cheat on him, but now that the time has come, he wants to help a third party to take over and bring everything to light.
He and Pei Yin didn't even have the last possibility of creating any warmth - they were brothers and sisters who were not related by blood and couldn't be together, so Li Chengxue's emotions truly showed displeasure and indifference, ignoring Pei Yin's existence.
For example, he ignored her decision not to go back and said she wanted to spend the New Year with him.
Ignore the dependent looks she repeatedly casts her.
Ignoring her status as a younger sister, when she saw Lin Zhaoying, she kept calling her sister-in-law.
But he agreed when he was harassed for the tenth time, because Pei Yin was holding in a small breath and crying. She probably wanted to see his expression and look at his words, so she looked up at him with tearful eyes.
They really had nothing to do with each other, but at that moment Li Chengyuan sensitively noticed that Pei Yin's eyes were very similar to his. It's red and swollen, but it looks similar.
It's... quite similar, one mirror reflects two faces, and the two pairs of pupils reflect each other. In addition to height and age, the shape is like a lying silkworm, the double eyelids are as wide as they can be, and the eyes have no Mongolian folds.
Quite similar.
It's really similar.
She mumbled, her throat was filled with tears, and she called her brother as if it were melting salt.
Li Chengyou felt a slight movement in his heart. Although his face didn't show it, he still looked cold, but he agreed.
Seeing the girl's eyes curled up, he didn't want Pei Yin to be happy in vain, so he asked her to pack her things and go back to Pei Lin the next day after watching the movie.
For a half-grown girl, saying this can make her burst into laughter. Although he didn't understand the situation, and he didn't think about anything else at that time, Li Chengyong still captured the girl's thoughts of wishful thinking, nonchalance, and turning a blind eye.
It was as if he had tacitly agreed to something by agreeing to watch a movie with her.
Thinking of this, and then thinking about her eavesdropping incident not long ago, Li Chengyou's brows slightly opened, and then he frowned even more tightly.
On a day when people across the country reunite their families, Pei Yin is very "filial" and ignores his mother, who is in an awkward position, and only urges him to go to the movies.
Fortunately, he is not very filial either. Pei Lin's current situation was caused by him. Because my father wanted to take advantage of the Chinese New Year to correct the affair, but he did not cooperate or agree.
This situation of being in the same boat made Li Chengxuan subtly happy, even if the accomplice was a half-year-old child.
He admired Pei Yin's "unfilial" look, and thought about how his father Li Zongyou showed kindness, sued for peace, and got angry in recent times, but it was all to no avail, just because he was now in control of the group's board of directors, so he could forcefully decide everything.
...Why didn't Pei Lin just do the whole thing? In short, she has already become a third party, and his father has also cheated on her, so it shouldn't be difficult to give birth to Pei Yin.
...In this case, he would probably treat the child a little better for the sake of blood. Things of the previous generation don't actually have to do with her.
Li Chengyou thought slowly.
What movie did you watch today?
It seems to be a newly released movie, with many popular fashion stars and pets.
Li Chengye said: "Have you told Pei Lin? You will move back tomorrow."
Pei Yin was stunned for a moment and muttered: "Not yet..."
Li Chengyou looked at her and knew that she didn't say anything on purpose. He said calmly: "Why don't you say it? Because I promised you to go out today, what I said before will have no effect, is that right?"
Pei Yin suddenly remembered that he heard the same voice and tone when he was being interrogated by him that night in the corner, with the harshness of forcing a confession. The girl's face turned red and white. Li Chengxuan frowned and looked at her, thinking it was because of fear.
"Tell her in the car later, got it? Don't stay here until the first day of junior high school." He said.
Pei Yin nodded vigorously and whispered: "I understand, brother. I really understand."
She called him again stubbornly and carefully.
Children love to talk and take advantage of others, and Pei Yin has learned this bad habit 100%. Li Chengyou looked at her again expressionlessly, picked up his coat, stood up, and walked out.
Pei Yin immediately followed his words and quickly followed him. He didn't know where to put his hands, so he obediently grabbed the bag strap and walked beside his brother.
Even the sound of his boots on the ground is pleasant. He is worthy of being an older brother.
As long as such a person can be an older brother, he will not suffer any loss if he is rejected....It's okay to suffer a loss, it's a blessing to suffer a loss... What's more, he hasn't rejected her personally yet, so she can pretend not to see those looks that don't like her.
Brother...
Pei Yin bit his mouth and pondered these two words secretly, recalling and self-examining the conversation between the two of them, stepping on his shadow step by step.
The slanting sun pushed Li Chengying's shadow away. Pei Yin walked very close to him and smelled the cold woody fragrance on the man's body.
Dusk fell on her like a shade of trees, covering the surrounding areas. She raised her head, really willing to follow Li Chengxuan like this, walking in anticipation of her appointment for the rest of her life.
