In the end, Nan Dongye stood smiling at the front door, waving her little hand, while I stammered for ages and could only manage to say, "Do your best!"

The little girl from the Martial Arts Hall who once wore twin braids and couldn't even hold a proper horse stance. The class monitor and my desk mate who always left her homework within my reach. The young writer who racked her brains to craft stories. These three distinct figures merged into one the moment Nan Dongye pressed her forehead against my back.

Ordinary? No, that's not right. I'm just too pathetic. Does someone as self-proclaimed clever and mentally twisted as me really deserve the favor of a gentle, considerate, and understanding girl?

Would this steadfast affection waver the moment she saw through my true self? I didn't dare to think. What Nan Dongye hid and was too shy to speak of seemed trivial to me. Instead, her relentless efforts shone so brightly that I felt ashamed. Where she stood was a heaven I could only gaze upon but never reach.

Just when I thought I was beyond cure, Nan Dongye declared me the male lead of her story.

Like an angel from the other shore reaching out a hand to a fallen one in the abyss.

Could someone like me ever live with my head held high again, like her? Could I be a clumsy boy like in childhood, no, a normal boyfriend, holding her hand to buy shrimp crackers at the snack shop...

Even though I'm... beyond saving...

I stared blankly at the glittering hanging lamp. Every time I came to this so-called new home, so different from the shabby Martial Arts Hall, I felt unreal.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

"If you don't eat soon, the food will get cold!"

A voice full of resentment mixed with the clinking of bowls and chopsticks. Sister Qianqian's expression was like a neglected little wife, because I remembered to come here for dinner but forgot to return to New Moon City to be her errand boy.

"Yeah, yeah, wasting food is bad!" Ouyang Lian mumbled.

The internet-addicted girl number two, who had been glued to her mouse and refused to leave her room, was now shoveling braised pork into her mouth like a starving ghost reborn.

"Says the two of you who didn't sweat a drop cooking dinner!"

"As an older brother, taking meticulous care of your younger sister is only natural. There's a saying: an elder brother is like a father, and a father's love is as steadfast as a mountain, right?"

At home, Ouyang Lian was the epitome of a lazy homebody. She patted her flat stomach—even when full, it didn't bulge—let out a burp, and swung her bare legs while pointing at me.

"Be good, call me Dad!"

Ouyang Lian covered herself defensively and shot me a disgusted look. "A... lolicon? What? Even if I'm flat-chested and have no curves, I'm still growing! I'll sue you for slander and sexual harassment, even if you're my brother!"

So you do have some self-awareness! I never said anything about flat chest or small butt! A dark vein popped on my forehead. Lian, in her ignorant and fearless phase, was beyond just a chuuni internet-addict girl.

"No way!"

"Then a ghost dad!" Sister Qianqian added fiercely, rubbing her ankles tortured by high heels all afternoon.

Ghost... dad? My mind instantly flashed to Xiao Qiutan clinging to a Totoro plushie. Yes, little girls are delicate and easy to push over, but I still choose my wife!

"Speechless, huh, you pervert!"

Sister-soldier duo. When two relentless women unleashed a combo of dirty accusations, all I could do was... out-dirty them!

I cleared my throat, leering at the exposed parts of their lightly dressed bodies. "Excuse me, I may be a pervert, but there are many kinds: sister-con, brother-con, uniform-con, goddess-con. Guess... which one am I?"

The older sister and younger sister froze for a moment, exchanged a puzzled glance, hesitated, then both gave their answers.

"Sister-con?"

"Brother-con?"

Eh? What's going on? Shouldn't girls shiver and call the police at such serious harassment? Why are you two seriously guessing!?

"N-no, neither."

The two, who had been joking around, suddenly looked serious, forcing me to answer solemnly. But strangely... Sister Qianqian asked about brother-con, while Lian asked about sister-con. What the...

Ouyang Lian looked skeptical, wanting to say something but holding back.

Sister Qianqian realized her slip, coughed, and said, "I-is that so? It seems your perversion exceeds my imagination. My respects!"

"You flatter me!"

"By the way, Xiao Yu is really lucky, getting to eat such delicious meals every day. Don't look at me like that—I'm not praising you. Everyone has a couple of talents, you know. Even a pervert can be a chef. Rest assured." Ouyang Lian yawned, hopped off the chair, slipped into her slippers, and shuffled to the fridge to grab a can of cola.

Rest assured my ass! I don't feel any praise in those words!

Ouyang Qian held her temples in pain. "Yeah, compared to us, we suffer daily from food shows on TV. Look at Lian, malnourished and almost a flat plane."

"B-bullshit! I'm only fourteen! I still have room to grow! You should worry about not turning into a cow!"

The girl covered her flat chest, blushing. She had just self-deprecatingly mentioned it, truly a moody girl.

"C-cow!? This is mature charm of an adult! How do you talk to your elder sister!" Sister Qianqian slammed the table in anger. Their fragile alliance crumbled in seconds.

Come to think of it, Mom is like that too. Always learning weird tricks from TV but never mastering them. So since childhood, I thought eating was torture. Only after tasting Dad's cooking did I realize the beauty of contrast. Seeing Xiao Yu raised by me to be fair, plump, and stunning, I felt a bit smug.

"By the way, where's Mom?" Only then did I notice two crucial figures missing from the weekend dinner table.

Sister Qianqian's eyes darted away, whistling and avoiding my gaze.

"Ah, she went traveling. Dad specially took time off to accompany her. It'll be weeks." At the mention, Lian's face lit up. At her age, without supervision, she was like Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in heaven, moving freely in a lawless realm.

But my expression instantly turned desolate as autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves. So that's it. To them, I was just a cook called over because the family was broke. All that deep sibling affection was a lie. I'd been tricked again.

Such a miscalculation. I could have had a beautiful night without slave drivers...