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Meng Qichuan really shouldn’t have appeared at the gate of Land Middle School at this time. In his eyes, he was someone who had long severed all family ties. His mother died when he was five, and a year later, his father remarried. To his father and stepmother, he was an unlikable child. Soon after the stepmother came into the family, Meng Mingzhu began to cling to her, calling her “Mom,” while he never once addressed her as “mother.” Gradually, his father and stepmother’s gazes toward him grew increasingly disappointed.

Meng Qichuan still vividly remembered overhearing a conversation between his father and stepmother. His father’s tone was filled with frustration: “Both Qichuan and Mingzhu are Wan Zhi’s children. How come Mingzhu is adorable and charming, but Qichuan is so withdrawn and introverted?” After the birth of their son, Meng Qichuan became completely redundant in the family. Then... that incident happened.

After it occurred, the twelve-year-old Meng Qichuan was sent to study across the ocean in North America. During his years in high school abroad, aside from occasional care from his aunt, the only contact from home was a yearly phone call from his father during the New Year. Later, at seventeen, he was admitted to a top-five university in the world rankings, and his father’s concern suddenly became frequent. But it was already too late—Meng Qichuan had lost all longing for the word “home.” Such belated attentions could no longer move him.

From twelve to twenty-two years old, Meng Qichuan never returned to the Meng family. When he heard that his real younger sister was someone else, he decided only to return to meet her once before flying back to North America to continue his doctoral studies. After all, there was no emotional foundation between them, and he no longer held any hope for familial affection.

But on the night after meeting Meng Xin, he had two dreams. In the first, his true sister Meng Xin was passionately in love with a man, to the point of losing almost everything except that so-called love. In the second, their mother looked at him with disappointment and asked why he had not taken care of his only sister. At the end of the dream, he tearfully promised his mother he would take good care of his sister.

These two dreams were so vivid that Meng Qichuan spent the entire day pondering after waking, and finally emailed his advisor. This was his last chance to embrace family—perhaps this sister, bound to him by blood, truly needed him.

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Yu Linghuan sensed that the man Meng Xin called “brother” was now scrutinizing her. Refusing to be outdone, she looked back at him evenly. What annoyed her was that although she was already tall among girls her age, she still had to tilt her head slightly upward to meet Meng Qichuan’s gaze. He was surely at least 1.85 meters tall, perhaps even taller.

Yu Linghuan disliked looking up to others, so after two seconds, she finally spoke, “What are you looking at me for?”

Meng Qichuan’s brows twitched. “You were the one staring at me first,” he stated flatly. The back-and-forth dropped the atmosphere to freezing point.

Meng Xin, caught between them, looked conflicted. In fact, she had only met this full-blooded brother two days ago. Before that, she had only heard from their father that her brother had been studying abroad for many years and hadn’t returned home. When they met, Meng Qichuan was cold, making her feel that he might not even want to acknowledge her as his sister. So she was surprised to see him come to pick her up from school today.

But he was her brother after all, their blood flowing through the same veins, which naturally made Meng Xin feel close to him. She didn’t want her best friend and brother to be at such odds. After a brief hesitation, she introduced Yu Linghuan to him: “Huanhuan, this is my brother.”

Yu Linghuan glanced at Meng Xin, her doe-like eyes flickering as if to say, “Please.” Two seconds later, Yu Linghuan looked back at Meng Qichuan and introduced herself: “Yu Linghuan.”

The man nodded coldly, “Meng Qichuan.” Silence fell again. Seeing Meng Xin’s awkward expression, Meng Qichuan finally spoke, “Since you’ve arranged to meet your classmates, you should go ahead. We can talk more when there’s time.”

Meng Qichuan’s voice was pleasant. Even though Yu Linghuan’s first impression of him hadn’t been good, she couldn’t deny this objective fact.

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His voice wasn’t a deep, resonant bass but rather cool and magnetic, like a piece of cold jade. Yu Linghuan noticed that when Meng Qichuan spoke to Meng Xin, he deliberately softened his tone compared to usual. This slightly improved Yu Linghuan’s impression of the brother of the novel’s almost background female lead. At least he treated his sister better than others. Of course, just a little bit.

Overall, Yu Linghuan’s impression of him remained negative. After a slight nod of farewell to Meng Xin, Meng Qichuan didn’t linger and returned to his car. The dark green Bentley slowly pulled away from the school gate, and Meng Xin watched the car until it disappeared around the corner.

Yu Linghuan observed Meng Xin’s expression. There was a hint of confusion but also some emotion—she was moved that her brother came to pick her up from school. From an outsider’s perspective, Meng Qichuan’s coldness toward his sister might be understandable. Having lived abroad for ten years, he was practically estranged from his family; he didn’t care about Meng Mingzhu, who had grown up with him, let alone a suddenly appearing sister.

Compared to other Meng family members who clearly favored Mingzhu, at least Meng Qichuan treated both sisters equally. But Yu Linghuan was not a mere bystander—she was Meng Xin’s best friend. She couldn’t help but think that if Meng Qichuan had supported Meng Xin in the story, perhaps she wouldn’t have been bullied so much or lost everything for a man. Regardless of the reasons, the fact that Meng Qichuan failed in his brotherly duties was undeniable. Thus, Yu Linghuan found it hard to like him—at best, she disliked him less than the other Meng family members.

There was no helping it; when it came to people she cared about, Yu Linghuan was somewhat “double-standard.”

“Weren’t we supposed to go to Tianyue City?” Yu Linghuan patted Meng Xin’s shoulder, trying to divert her attention. “Shall we go?”

Meng Xin snapped out of her thoughts and smiled, “Okay.”

After a ten-minute walk in the sultry heat, they finally reached the shopping center. The comfortable cool air greeted them, and Yu Linghuan sighed contentedly, habitually heading toward the escalator. The first floor was full of luxury brands, which Yu Linghuan rarely shopped at; she preferred going downstairs. There were more interesting small items there at more affordable prices.

Just as Yu Linghuan was about to head down as usual, Meng Xin gently tugged her arm. She was startled and followed Meng Xin’s gaze—it was toward a luxury brand jewelry counter.

Only then did Yu Linghuan remember that Meng Xin was no longer the same as before—now she could easily afford such luxury and jewelry. It was not easy to get used to such a big change in a close friend. Yet Yu Linghuan quickly adjusted her mood and was about to ask what she wanted to buy, offering to help.

Meng Xin spoke first, “Huanhuan, is there any jewelry you want?”

Yu Linghuan was taken aback. After a moment, she blinked: “Wait... did you come to the mall to buy me a gift?”

She had thought Meng Xin just wanted to go shopping and asked her along. Meng Xin nodded, a little embarrassed. “Before, I didn’t know what gifts you liked, so I just picked out a watch to make do. This time, I want you to pick out something yourself.”

Yu Linghuan was speechless. She couldn’t help but think what Li Hongwen’s reaction would be if he heard the watch described as a “makeshift” gift. Probably so angry steam would come from his head.

Seeing Yu Linghuan’s silence, Meng Xin thought she disliked the store and quickly added, “It’s okay if you don’t like this place; we can go somewhere else.” She was about to lead Yu Linghuan away.

Yu Linghuan stopped her quickly. “That’s not it—I just don’t really need these things, so you don’t have to spend so much.”

Meng Xin blinked her eyelashes. “Huanhuan,” she suddenly said, “do you remember the year we were freshmen, when my grandmother was sick? I used my scholarship to pay for her surgery, and had no money for food, so I ate steamed buns with pickles.”

Yu Linghuan didn’t know why Meng Xin suddenly brought this up, but replied, “I remember.”

Meng Xin continued, “At that time, you forced all the money you had saved on me. I didn’t want it at first, but you said: if I didn’t accept it, you wouldn’t eat either.”

Yu Linghuan smiled. Looking back, she was so childish to threaten a hunger strike. But now she seemed to understand why Meng Xin had suddenly mentioned this.

Sure enough, Meng Xin smiled gently, “I accepted your money then, so now I hope you won’t refuse me.”

At this point, Yu Linghuan couldn’t say anything that would disappoint Meng Xin. She nodded and, to Meng Xin’s delighted gaze, stepped into the jewelry store.

The sales assistants, seeing two students in school uniforms, were initially indifferent but professionally gave a casual introduction. When Yu Linghuan picked out a crystal hair accessory costing over ten thousand yuan and Meng Xin promptly paid with a bank card, the staff realized these were big spenders. Their enthusiasm skyrocketed.

“Ladies, our other jewelry is very popular too. You can check on XiaoMouShu; there are many of our trending pieces! There’s also a double points promotion now—would you like to pick a few more?”

Yu Linghuan thought for a moment. “Not for now.”

Land Middle School had a relaxed atmosphere; many students wore jewelry to school, especially in the international class, where most girls wore delicate makeup and accessories, and many boys wore necklaces or rings. Yu Linghuan liked pretty jewelry but felt it cumbersome for school—wearing it while writing tests slowed her down, and jewelry hindered movement during exercises and PE.

Meng Xin nodded, “Then let’s look at other stores.”

The sales assistants, disappointed, saw them out, regretting not being more enthusiastic earlier. Young girls were easily influenced, and maybe she could have earned a higher commission.

Just after leaving the jewelry store, someone suddenly slapped Yu Linghuan heavily on the shoulder from behind.

“Yu Linghuan!” Zhao Wenxing called out loudly. “You’re here!”

Hearing the voice, both Meng Xin and Yu Linghuan turned around. Yu Linghuan frowned. “Why shout so loudly? You scared me.”

“Hey,” Zhao Wenxing grinned, “I thought it was a coincidence to run into you and Meng Xin here.”

Zhao Wenxing still remembered wanting to challenge Yu Linghuan in a game at noon to try out new combos. After school, he sent her several messages inviting her to play, but she never replied. He gave up after a while, thinking of buying a new phone case in Tianyue City since he had dirtied his own just now. Unexpectedly, he ran into Yu Linghuan here.

“You haven’t answered me yet,” Zhao Wenxing asked, “why didn’t you reply to my messages?”

Yu Linghuan raised her shopping bag and replied tersely, “Didn’t you see? I’m shopping with Meng Xin.”

Meng Xin softly explained, “I’m buying some gifts for Huanhuan.” She knew that although Yu Linghuan often teased Zhao Wenxing, their relationship was still good, so she kindly explained.

“Oh... what did you buy?” Zhao Wenxing asked casually, glancing at the shopping bag. Upon recognizing the logo, his eyes widened in surprise. “You just bought this?”

Yu Linghuan nodded and gave him a puzzled look. Although Zhao Wenxing’s family was not as rich as the Mengs, he was still a wealthy heir. Surely he wouldn’t react like this just at a logo. His limited-edition sneakers alone cost tens of thousands.

Next moment, Yu Linghuan was shocked again by Zhao Wenxing’s train of thought. He stared wide-eyed: “When it was your birthday, I gave you a necklace worth two thousand yuan and you refused to accept it, saying it was too expensive. How come you accepted a more expensive gift from Meng Xin?”

Yu Linghuan was speechless.

“Meng Xin is not like me,” she said.

“What’s the difference?” Zhao Wenxing protested. “I know she’s your best friend—you two are inseparable. But at least among all the guys, I’m the closest to you, right?”

Yu Linghuan was at a loss for words, unsure where his competitiveness came from. She didn’t have many male friends, and none were especially close.

“Something like that,” Yu Linghuan replied vaguely.

“That’s enough!” Zhao Wenxing grew more upset. “No way, I have to give you a makeup gift! This time you can’t use ‘too expensive’ as an excuse!”

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