Chapter 1 - What Should I Do if My Younger Brother’s Crush Has Taken a Liking to Me?

Chapter 1 Probably awakened by thirst. The first reaction upon waking up was the unbearable dryness in the throat. It's not a great feeling, especially after opening the eyes and finding the bedroom pitch black. Xi Ning reached for her phone on the pillow. The fingerprint sensor on the side button made a slight mechanical sound, and the screen suddenly lit up in the thick darkness, particularly glaring, causing her to reflexively squint. Time: 00:30 Great, for someone who is accustomed to going to bed at ten and waking up at six sharp, even during the weekends, waking up at this hour is simply "off the beaten path." Struggling for a few seconds in the soft bed, Xi Ning, with a hint of resentment, turned on the lamp at the bedside, pulled back the quilt, and opened the door to the room, stepping on her slippers. Half awake, with eyes half-closed, maintaining a sense of drowsiness, she walked forward dazedly. However, the light illuminating the living room instantly eroded a large part of her drowsiness. When she saw the figure bustling at the cooking counter, she became completely awake. Something was being baked in the oven, there were several dough-like things on the table, along with some molds, and a plate with what appeared to be already burnt, oddly shaped... cookies? "What are you doing?" Xi Ning raised her eyebrows incredulously, arms crossed. Is she dreaming? Xi Mu, a lazy person who waits four days to collect enough socks to wash, is actually making cookies in the kitchen in the middle of the night? As siblings, she couldn't recall if he liked sweets or if he was the type to get up in the middle of the night to cook them himself. "Clang," a crisp sound startled the figure, and the mold in his hand fell onto the plate. He turned around abruptly and, upon seeing Xi Ning's face, visibly relaxed. "Sis, it's late at night and you're still not sleeping? You scared me!" He lowered his voice, sneakily peering towards their parents' room, seeing no movement, he breathed a sigh of relief. "Keep it down, I did this late at night just to not disturb our parents." Xi Ning glanced at her dear younger brother's young face, walked to the cabinet and took a mug, grabbing a glass of water from the dispenser. "So, what are you doing? Making late-night snacks?" Holding the water cup with both hands, she took a few sips before speaking. Xi Mu stood behind the counter and suddenly his eyes lit up, hurriedly picking up a piece of the already baked cookie from the plate and brought it over to her with a smile. "You came at the right time, try this and tell me if it's good for girls?" Girls? Her suspicions were confirmed, Xi Ning glanced at the round "unidentifiable object," burnt or originally black, with disdain and turned her face away. "You should first make sure it's edible." "Oh? It seems like I failed." Disappointed, Xi Mu put the cookie down and paused for a moment, then took a bite himself. Suddenly, he pursed his lips, blushing shyly, and even a visible blush appeared on his face. It gave goosebumps in the dead of night. Putting down the mug, Xi Ning couldn't help but carefully assess him from head to toe. Xi Mu, her twin brother born just a few minutes later, a high school sophomore, tall at 188 cm, inherited the family's tall and fair genes, a slender waist, long legs, and a fair-skinned face. Coupled with the very charming peach blossom eyes when he smiled, he received countless love letters from admirers since childhood. It was the first time she had seen him go to such lengths, getting up in the middle of the night just to make cookies for a certain girl. However... After finishing the last sip of water, she put down the glass and prepared to return to her room to sleep. She had no interest in Xi Mu's love life. Xi Mu stopped her, "Hey hey! Sis, aren't you curious who these cookies are for?" It doesn't matter who he made them for since it wasn't her who was being poisoned. But seeing him persist, Xi Ning lazily sat back on the chair and said, "Oh, who?" Scratching his slightly bad-boy style fluffy hair, Xi Mu, looking embarrassed, said, "Well, there's actually nothing to hide. She's in your class, and I was thinking you could help me with something." So his calculations were aimed here. Xi Ning propped her chin, the loose cuffs of her pajamas slipping down, revealing delicate and fair wrists, half-closing her eyes as she casually said, "You still need help?" Although Xi Mu's academic performance was not great, he didn't have much talent, and his brain was sometimes not very sharp, he did have a very attractive face. In theory, it should have been effortless for him to pursue someone in this hormone-driven adolescent period. But seeing him now, it was obvious that the other party was not easy to handle. There might be two possibilities: first, the other party was much better than him, and second, the other party saw through his "handsome slacker" type and was not interested in his kind. Xi Mu blushed even more, "She... she's very outstanding. According to Chen Gou, she is the most beautiful girl in your class." Xi Ning couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Kong Nianxi... Are you familiar with her?" Xi Mu tugged at his clothes, looking like he was expending a lot of effort to even say the name. Upon hearing these three words, Xi Ning frowned uncomfortably. How could they possibly be familiar? Not only were they not familiar, but she was also the only classmate she never interacted with. It wasn't that she had any hostility or bias towards Kong Nianxi, but perhaps they just didn't resonate. Xi Ning always felt that she and Kong Nianxi were not from the same world, and in fact, they weren't. Kong Nianxi... She was very famous. Even though Xi Ning didn't care to follow these embellished gossips, she always heard something or the other from Tu Xiaoyuan. For example… There were rumors that she changed boyfriends every week, treating relationships like changing clothes; It was said that a delinquent from another school approached her, waiting at the school gate for a week only to get no response; It was rumored that two boys quarreled outside of school because of her, resulting in one getting a perforated stomach from excessive drinking; ... And so on. She was probably very popular among boys, dangerously beautiful, and possibly some people might view her as a complex, socially adept and adept at attracting others green tea (gossipy) socialite. But rumors may be true or false, exaggerated due to the number of people spreading them. Xi Ning had almost never had direct contact with Kong Nianxi and didn't like labeling others based on rumors, so her impression of her didn't involve praise or criticism. At most, she was just a relatively well-known ordinary classmate. But what truly made Xi Ning deeply impressed by this popular classmate and unilaterally believed they were not of the same kind, was another matter. It was probably one Friday afternoon not long after the start of school. She happened to pass through an alley outside of school after class. In the dim, narrow alley, filled with a choking smell of smoke, a tense atmosphere was about to erupt into a brawl, and among a group of tough-looking, tattooed, guys, Kong Nianxi stood out in her clean and tidy school uniform skirt, completely out of place. "Let's get started." She looked down at her phone, casually speaking in a soft voice. Two big, tall boys, both more than a head taller than her, and strong in physique, aggressively strode forward, throwing away their cigarettes and bricks, then "wham," colliding fiercely. "If you cause trouble again, we'll have a face-off for ten minutes face to face~" The echo of Kong Nianxi's beaming laughter filled the narrow alley. Having unintentionally witnessed the whole thing, Xi Ning had a new understanding of this classmate of hers and mutually decided to keep her at arm's length. Since then, she added her to the "blacklist." Despite having little interaction within the class, Xi Ning couldn't ignore this name, because every month, even every week, she would see Kong Nianxi's name next to hers on the academic ranking tables posted on the back wall. Surrounded by a crowd and busy with socializing, she seemingly didn't care about her studies, but her academic performance was not poor, not at all. In fact, it was excellent—she consistently ranked among the top ten students in their grade based on grades alone, she was a top student. Maybe she didn't pay attention to these things, but when Xi Ning occasionally saw her subject scores outperforming hers, she couldn't help but care. "Sis, my dear sis~, you're in the same class with her, shouldn't you be able to at least talk to her?" Xi Ning raised her head, looking at Xi Mu with a calculating expression, and smiled, "Sorry to disappoint you, but we really are not familiar at all. We can't even hold a conversation." "I'm going back to my room to sleep. Goodnight." With these words, she left without paying any more attention to Xi Mu's incessant chatter and returned to her room. --- The next day was Sunday. As Clear Field Private School is a semi-closed school, it has a mandatory boarding requirement. After the weekend ends, students are required to return to the dormitory on Sunday evenings. At 4 pm, Mrs. Xu was impatiently driving them back to school. Her makeup was delicate, and she wore her favorite dress. It was easy to guess that she and Mr. Xi would likely have a sweet date that evening. "Your living expenses for this month have already been transferred to you. Try to restrain your spending a bit. I won't be overdrawing for anyone before the end of the month," Mrs. Xu said as she drove. "Got it," Xi Mu lazily responded from the back seat, fiddling with his Nintendo Switch, his eyes fixed on the game character. "Sis, it's been years and you still haven't released your four mythical beasts?" ... Sitting in the front passenger seat, Xi Ning brought her gaze back from the bustling street scene outside the window, turning her head to glance expressionlessly at him. "If you don't want to play, give it back to me." Xi Mu, seizing the opportunity, knowing she wouldn't take it back, grinned playfully. "Well, your console is just collecting dust anyway. The screen on my device got broken by Chen Gou. Let me borrow it and play at school for a couple of days." This guy, relying on being the younger brother who was born a few minutes later, how much has he justifiably taken from her since childhood? Xi Ning couldn't be bothered with him, turned back to look outside again. "Oh, Xi Mu, by the way, you overdrew five hundred last month, so it'll be deducted directly from this month," Mrs. Xu added suddenly. From the back seat came an immediate wail -- "Ah? Come on, Mom..." "I've told you I don't like that title, makes me sound old." "Okay... Mrs. Xu." "Do you have anything else to say?" "N-no, I don't." Xi Ning couldn't help but chuckle. After dropping them off at the school gate, Mrs. Xu elegantly drove off. Upon getting out of the car, enticing scents of various foods assailed their noses. There were all sizes of food trucks parked along the broad street, with students bustling back and forth. This area, located in the remote suburbs, used to be fields before being developed and subsequently had newly-planned schools emerge. After the relocation of the Fourth and Eleventh High Schools to this area, it gradually became lively. Later, the so-called "elite private" school, Qingye High School, also secured a place here. The economic value of this street rose as a result. The three schools were almost next to each other. To firmly establish the title of "elite school," the front gate of Qingye High School was so extravagant that the other two schools looked somewhat shabby in comparison. It was still quite early, but it was the peak time for students returning to school, and the entire street was congested with traffic. Xi Ning pulled her suitcase, walking leisurely towards the school gate. The closer she got to the gate, the more people there were. Sensing the occasional glances directed at her, she tightened her grip on the luggage handle, and hastened her pace unnaturally. Every time she walked with Xi Mu, she always received double the attention. She didn't like the feeling, but that guy seemed to enjoy it very much. Come to think of it, even though they were twins raised by the same parents, their personalities were as different as night and day. "Ugh... sis, your face is just too conspicuous. Every time I walk with you, I'm forced to receive the leers and harassment from those groups of boys," this guy was already complaining? Xi Ning stopped, turned around, and snorted, "Weren't you always quite fond of the attention?" "Who wants attention from boys?" Xi Mu complained, but before he could say anything more, he suddenly changed his expression, grabbed her clothing, looking tense. Xi Ning frowned, disdainfully swatting away his hand, "What's the matter?" "Kong... Kong..." Seeing him so nervous that he couldn’t even speak coherently, Xi Ning followed his line of sight and looked over. Without even having to search, her gaze precisely locked onto the slender figure in the crowd, which was too conspicuous. Even though they hadn't interacted much, as classmates, since they were low-key enough to go unnoticed in class, she found it difficult not to remember a face that could astonish even in a blurry class photo. It was indeed Kong Nianxi.