Chapter 3 - What Should I Do if My Younger Brother’s Crush Has Taken a Liking to Me?

Chapter 3 　　It was a small woolen felt fox, which, to be honest... looked kind of ugly. However, it was fluffy and chubby, and quite cute. It seemed to be a handmade DIY product. 　　Xí Níng pinched the round little fox in her hand as she watched Kǒng Niànxī step down from the stairs. 　　When there were only two steps left, out of courtesy, she lifted her arm and handed the thing over to her, intending to say something. 　　But as their eyes met at close range, her words got stuck in her throat, and she hesitated. 　　"Thank you~ Nice to see you again, Xí Níng." Kǒng Niànxī stood in front of her, smiling naturally and spoke first. 　　Face to face, for some reason, Xí Níng felt a moment of unease. 　　The girl in front of her had bright eyes, a playful smile at the corners of her eyes, like a pool of clear spring water, bright and pure. 　　This should be their first conversation as classmates. 　　Wait, did she just say... nice to see you again? 　　The embarrassing sight of Xí Mù, the fool, at the school gate just flashed in her mind. With him standing right there, Xí Níng felt indescribable emotions. 　　Xí Níng: "... You're welcome." 　　She pursed her lips and awkwardly glanced down, noticing that she had been holding the chubby little fox in her hand for a while. Although it was just for a few seconds, Kǒng Niànxī did not immediately take the "lost item" from her. 　　Xí Níng hesitated, and raised her head until she heard the noise coming from downstairs. A delicate and warm touch passed through her fingertips and as the palm emptied, Kǒng Niànxī took the chubby little fox from her hand. 　　"See you later~" Kǒng Niànxī smiled and shook the ugly and cute fluffball in her hand, then turned and went upstairs to join her friend. Their figures soon disappeared at the top of the staircase. 　　Xí Níng was puzzled. 　　See you later? Although she knew it was just a polite farewell, it still felt strange to hear Kǒng Niànxī say that. They were really not familiar with each other, and they would not have given each other a second glance if they had met face to face in school. 　　. 　　Since they still had self-study classes in the evening, Xí Níng and her friends went to the classroom after briefly leaving their luggage in the dorm. 　　All the way, Tú Xiǎo Yuán kept complaining. 　　"Come clean, when did you secretly become close with Kǒng Niànxī behind my back?" 　　Pouting her lips, blinking her watery eyes, Tú Xiǎo Yuán clung to Xí Níng's school bag, looking like she had been abandoned and betrayed. With her sweet and innocent appearance, shedding a couple of tears made her look even more adorable. Xí Níng had no idea how many curious and strange looks she attracted on the way, especially from the boys. 　　Xí Níng took her hand off her bag in helplessness, saying, "We've never been close, okay? Stop acting, we're already in the classroom." 　　This girl was fine most of the time, but she was really persistent when in the mood for drama. 　　"Is it true? I don't believe it. She said 'see you later' to you, and when the two of you were standing together just now, there was a very..." 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán suddenly paused, then wrapped her arms around Xí Níng's waist, her petite body flexibly approaching, "My radar is very accurate, let me sense it~" 　　Startled, Xí Níng quickly put two fingers to her forehead and distanced herself, "What are you up to again?" 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán winced at being poked in the forehead, then pouted and said, "Níng Níng, although your fingers are slender and beautiful, I really like them, but do you know you should use them where it's appropriate? Ouch... that hurts, be gentle." 　　"..." 　　Her words sounded odd. Xí Níng really knew her close friend Tú Xiǎo Yuán very well. Although she didn't quite understand, when she felt that something was not right, those words definitely had other meanings, and they were not good words. 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán said, "Could it be because of the reason that you have abdominal muscles? Indeed, hugging you feels even more comfortable, and you're a bit taller than me, which gives me a sense of security. I wonder who will benefit from it in the future." 　　As she said so, she reached out to hug Xí Níng, who instinctively shrank back. 　　It wasn't because she rejected it. It was normal for close friends to hug each other, but if she let this girl hug her, it would never end today. 　　"Hey, what bad things are you secretly talking about me again?" 　　A girl with shoulder-length hair, tall, and beautiful entered through the back door of the classroom, laying her arm on Xí Níng's shoulder, "Xiao Yuan, I'm at least 170cm tall. Are you complaining that I'm short when you can barely reach my shoulder?" 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán pursed her lips, gesturing between them with her hand, "I'm short, but I'm cute. And where am I complaining? Níng Níng is just taller than you." 　　Sū Yù Qī, the last member of their trio, had a high-level indifferent face, making her look unapproachable. Coupled with her solid background, she was given the nickname "Arrogant Sister," which was complemented by the affectionate nickname "Zhuai Zhuai". 　　Zhuai Zhuai, despite her mature dressing and makeup style, with her delinquent-like appearance, was a top student, and her greatest hobby was... solving problems. 　　Sū Yù Qī took a piece of chocolate out of her bag and placed it in Tú Xiǎo Yuán's hand, "Behave, entertain yourself for a while. Níng Níng and I have something important to do." 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán took the chocolate, feeling unhappy to be left out. She pouted and protested, "What, are you going to do something boring again?... Oh, if your attributes are the same, it won’t work out." 　　What... attributes? Had this girl learned some new vocabulary recently? 　　Puzzled, Xí Níng looked at her, then was about to speak when Sū Yù Qī hooked her arm around her neck and led her to their seats, whispering, "Tú Xiǎo Yuán, you'd better keep those notebooks you bought recently properly. Don't corrupt my child." 　　Tú Xiǎo Yuán stuck out her tongue. 　　The clock's hour hand on the middle of the blackboard stopped between 5 and 6. The classroom was now bustling with students as usual. Some were diligently working on their homework, some were flirting, and others were chatting in groups. More people had arrived than before. 　　Xí Níng's emotions remained as calm as her expression at this point. As for Sū Yù Qī and her, they were more aligned in this respect—wasn't the dopamine produced from finishing a high-difficulty bonus question in a time-limited challenge enough? Was the monthly change in ranking not stimulating enough? These were enough to consume the energy of their youthful period, and they didn’t need to seek alternatives. 　　"Come on, it's time to compare answers!" 　　Sū Yù Qī took out a math exercise book from her bag and placed it on the table, gesturing to Xí Níng sitting next to her. 　　This was the important thing Sū Yù Qī had mentioned earlier; they had agreed to not look at the answers and complete the entire book over the weekend, then compare their scores in school. 　　Xí Níng took out an identical exercise book and placed it on her desk, saying, "Probably about two or three questions." 　　Sū Yù Qī tucked her hair behind her ears and started to randomly select questions to verify their correctness, laughing, "I'm definitely going to win this time, get ready to run errands for me, little sister." 　　Xí Níng smiled casually and glanced around the classroom—it was time to collect the test papers their physics teacher had handed out the previous Friday if most of the students were present. 　　With more students arriving, the classroom was even more lively than before, with some diligently completing their assignments, some whispering sweet nothings to each other, and some chatting in groups. 　　As her eyes swept over Kǒng Niànxī's desk, she noticed that it was still empty, with nothing on it, indicating that she hadn't arrived yet. 　　This was quite normal; in Xí Níng's limited memory, except for class time, her seat was usually empty. 　　"Buzz buzz—" 　　The cell phone on her desk vibrated twice, and she picked it up to glance at the screen. 　　It was a message from Xí Mù, with two screenshots of snacks he had bought, and he asked if there was anything else she wanted—his treat. 　　He clearly spent all his living expenses before the end of the month and usually came crying to borrow money, but now he was suddenly being generous and treating her? That was really unusual. 　　No good deed goes unpunished. 　　As expected, he soon sent another message. 　　【Xí Mù: Níng Níng, since Niànxī is so cute, don't you consider getting closer to her?】 　　Niànxī? 　　Xí Níng took two seconds to react to whom he was referring to, and almost choked on her saliva. 　　... Although she knew what his attention was all about, didn't he realize how weird he sounded? 　　【Xí Níng: If you think she's cute, go and approach her yourself! Don't drag me into it, I'm busy.】 　　【Xí Mù: But she doesn't even acknowledge me, if you can get closer to her, there might still be hope for me?】 　　【Xí Níng: What are you talking about? You should work on it yourself.】 　　Sending her last message, Xí Níng tossed her phone into her desk pocket and decided not to waste any more time on him. However, a few minutes later, the other person persistently called her directly. "I'm outside the back door of your classroom right now." Hearing the voice on her phone, she immediately turned to look behind her, and indeed saw Xí Mù poking his head out of the door. If he had half the enthusiasm for studies as he did for this, his grades wouldn't be at the bottom. Xí Níng frowned and rose unenthusiastically, walking to the back door. "Clang, I'm here to deliver milk tea to my dear sister. I specially bought the flavor you like~" Xí Mù stepped back, his conspicuous height and handsome face attracting many glances in the corridor. "Is that so? Well, thank you, my dear little brother." Xí Níng looked down at the two cups of milk tea in his hands, each with a different logo of a different shop, and found it amusing. "I don't remember I like ice cream red tea." Xí Mù scratched his head awkwardly, "Uh... I don't know the other students in your class, so I'm bothering my dear sister to help me deliver these to... my dear Niànxī, you know." As expected... Even though it was just a small favor, delivering milk tea to a classmate on behalf of her twin brother, it felt a bit awkward to Xí Níng, considering that they would be in the same class for a year. Xí Mù seemed to sense her concerns, "Aren't you two not familiar? Besides, hardly anyone knows about our relationship at school." His words made it sound as if he wasn't the one urging her to get closer to Kǒng Niànxī just now. But what he said was not wrong. Being fraternal twins, she and her brother didn't look very alike, and without a direct comparison, no one connected them as siblings. Additionally, the label of being twins always attracted extra attention at school. Since entering a new school in high school, Xí Níng had only confided in her closest friends about her brother. "Speaking of which, ever since no one knew I have such a smart and beautiful sister, I've been much at ease, and I don't have to be forced by those boys to deliver messages or gifts." Xí Mù appeared relaxed. "Likewise." "So, can you help me this time?" "Why don't you go in yourself?" "B-because... I'm shy." Xí Mù had actually delivered snacks himself, only to have Kǒng Niànxī throw them away, and later found out that she rarely accepted things from unknown sources because of something bad that had happened. Shy? This was the same person who would flaunt his abs on the field in public, and now he was shy about delivering a cup of milk tea? Xí Níng was indifferent. Xí Mù was persistent, acting as if he wouldn't leave unless he reached a resolution. With his tall and handsome figure leaning against the corridor door, attracting many curious glances, Xí Níng had become increasingly impatient. Thanks to her dear brother, the thought of those boys who were popular with the girls possibly being as untidy and annoying as him in private had lowered her already limited pink fantasies of normal teenage girls. Looking at the time on her wristwatch, Xí Níng, feeling quite irritated, took the milk tea and said, "No next time." "Thank you, my dear sister!" Xí Mù happily hopped on the spot, being over six feet tall. "But..." Suddenly, he hesitated, "If anyone asks, you... shouldn't mention that I'm the one who brought it, for the time being, of course." What did he mean? Not mentioning him, would she then have to say that she delivered it? Xí Níng was speechless, unable to understand his thought process. But before she could speak again, her brother had already quickly run off as soon as the tea left his hand. "..." Holding the two cups of milk tea, Xí Níng walked into the classroom expressionlessly. Fortunately, no one had taken Kǒng Niànxī's seat. Putting the milk tea on her desk, she clearly felt the surrounding noise quiet down, although she didn't pay much attention to it. She turned and quickly walked back to her seat.