While showering in the bathroom, I heard the front door open.

Unlike Xiaoxi’s usual homecomings, she didn’t say a word this time—just the sound of her bedroom door slamming shut.

*What’s gotten into this kid?* I rushed to towel off, threw on pajamas, and headed to her door.

I knocked. No answer.

“Xiaoxi, come eat.” Silence.

“Made chili chicken and sizzling prawns today. If you don’t come out, I’ll eat it all.” After fifteen years together, I knew nothing could keep this girl from food. Sure enough, a reply came—but not what I’d expected.

“Not hungry.” Her voice was sharp.

That clipped answer made me serious. If even food couldn’t lure her out, something was seriously wrong.

“Xiaoxi, what happened? Talk to me.” I knocked again. *Who dared upset my sister?*

“Are you *trying* to annoy me?”

After that, her room fell silent. No matter how hard I knocked, no response.

I had no choice but to retreat.

Back at the dining table, I stared at the untouched dishes. My appetite vanished. I wrapped everything in cling film, stored it in the fridge, and returned to my room.

I opened my phone to browse the school forum. Remembering Xia Tong had saved her number earlier, I checked contacts. Sure enough—besides Mom, Dad, and Xiaoxi, a new entry appeared: *Girlfriend (Probationary)*.

*Definitely Xia Tong’s doing.* I shook my head… and changed it to just *Xia Tong*.

On the school forum, her video had been pinned by moderators. Unlike the messy gossip threads earlier, comments here were oddly unified:

*“Told you Xia Tong would never go for that guy!”*

*“Our goddess stays pure!”*

*“Only someone like me deserves her!”*—posted with a shameless selfie. Within minutes, comments exposed his middle-school peeping scandals. *Why post a photo?* When I checked again, he’d deleted the post himself.

*“OP is Xia Tong? I love you! Upvote this!”* This thread stayed peaceful—no likes, but comments crackled with hostility.

I scrolled past the hate comments aimed at me. *These people really have nothing better to do.*

Just then, a knock sounded on my door.

“Come in!” I sat up on the bed.

Predictably, Xiaoxi slipped in. She didn’t speak—just plopped down on my floor. *What’s her game?*

She pointed at the spot opposite her, gesturing for me to sit. Puzzled, I climbed off the bed and faced her. We stared at each other.

“Xiaoxi?” I tried.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been in a mood all day.”

“Saw on the forum… Xia Tong confessed to you at the freshman assembly?” She dodged my question.

*Even middle schoolers follow Xia Tong this closely?*

“Answer me!” Xiaoxi pressed when I stayed silent.

“Huh? Oh—that? Sort of, but—” I started to explain it was fake.

“But *what*? You’re barely old enough to date!” Her scolding tone was almost cute. I decided to tease her.

“You’re a year younger! Since when do you lecture me? No respect!”

“How old *should* I be to date?” I challenged, curious.

To my surprise, she actually debated it.

“Eighteen?”

I stayed quiet, waiting.

“No, too early. Twenty?” She rambled on.

“Eighteen’s too early? Back in the day, kids would be walking by then!”

“That was outdated! Now you can’t even marry before twenty-two!”

“Oh, so you *know* it’s about marriage? What’s wrong with dating now?” I grinned.

“No.” Her voice turned shrill.

“Says who?”

“I say so!!”

Seeing her near tears, I backed off.

“Fine, fine. No girlfriend. Too much trouble anyway. Taking care of you is enough.” I shrugged, dropping the argument.

Xiaoxi studied me, then counted on her fingers.

“Twenty’s only four years away… still too soon. Twenty-five!” She held up two fingers and five. “You wait till twenty-five, and I’ll stop bothering you. Deal?”

“Twenty-five… to date?” I hesitated, half-teasing.

“Mhm!” She nodded so hard I thought her neck would snap.

“Stop nodding like that.” I pressed her head down gently.

“But isn’t twenty-five too late? Love doesn’t wait!” I feigned worry.

“You *dare*!” She shook her tiny, harmless fists.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Your Majesty!” I pointed at her fists. “Put those away.”

“Good.” She looked satisfied.

“But after Xia Tong confessed… what did you do? You didn’t say yes, did you? Half the boys in my class have been howling over her photo all day. Did you cave?”

“Who’d like a shut-in like me?” I ruffled her hair.

“Don’t touch!” She jerked her head away.

“Oh, you little—” I grabbed both sides of her head and rubbed hard. She squirmed, powerless against my strength.

“Enough!” I released her as she fixed her messy hair. “See for yourself.” I handed her my phone, opening the pinned video. She watched for a minute.

“Bro… isn’t she the girl you helped the day before yesterday?”

“Yeah.” I took back the phone.

“Calling me ‘bro’ now?”

“So you’re *not* dating her?” Her eyes sparkled strangely.

“Date? She’d never look twice at me.”

“True. You’re not handsome, you’ve got less money than me, grades are average, and as for sports…” She waved a hand. “A total shut-in. Only because I’m your sister do I notice you. To others, you’re invisible.”

*I’m not *that* invisible… and that stung.*

“You asked your questions. Anything else? Go back to your room.”

Xiaoxi looked down, rubbing her stomach shyly.

“Yes. I’m hungry.”

“You’ve been like this since coming home. What’s really wrong?” I couldn’t help asking.

“Huh?!” Her face flushed crimson. Now I was truly curious.

“I’ve never seen you this upset. Rejected by someone? Want me to handle it?”

“Handle *what*? It’s just… Aunt Flo’s visiting! My stomach hurts!”

“Wait—you’re not due for another week. Remember your first time? I was the one who—” Before I finished, she hurled my pillow at me.

“GET OUT!”

I jumped up. *Not worth it.*

At the door, I peeked back in.

“You’re fifteen. Irregular cycles aren’t good. I’ll take you to the hospital tomorrow afternoon—” Another pillow flew. I dodged just in time.

“I SAID GET OUT!”

“Fine, fine! Take care of yourself!” I fled. *Next thing flying might not be a pillow.*

…………

…………

The Xia residence.

Xia Shu’s expression shifted darkly as he hung up.

“That girl’s sharper than I thought. No wonder she switched schools. She set this up.”

“Teenage rebellion…”

“Xiao Liu! Have someone follow them. Make sure they don’t cross lines—especially that boy. If he lays a finger on Xiao Tong…”

“Shouldn’t you talk to her?”

“No point. I know her temper. If I ignore it, she’ll know her limits. But if I confront her today?” He scoffed. “Tomorrow she’ll force my hand.”

“Understood.”

“This time… don’t disappoint me.” Xia Shu fell into thought.

…………

…………

…………

Xiaoxi watched me pick up a bowl to serve rice, surprised.

“Bro, you haven’t eaten?”

“Seeing you come home like someone kicked your puppy? How could I eat?”

“Oh…” She poked at her rice with chopsticks, lost in thought.

“Bro!”

“Hm?” I looked up. “What?”

“You *can* get a girlfriend… if you want.”

“Thought it was twenty-five?” I teased.

“That’s *your* rule!”

“Rules for the girlfriend too? Let’s hear it.” I braced for weirdness.

“First—she must be pretty. At least prettier than me. For your own good!”

“That’s impossible! Put the bowl down and look in a mirror—you’re a campus beauty! No one’s prettier than you? You want me to die alone?”

“She *has* to be prettier!” Xiaoxi insisted.

“At least someone I’d respect.”

Muttering softly under her breath,

"Second rule!" Xiaoxi glanced at the table.

"Your girlfriend has to cook for herself!"

"What kind of requirement is that? Is my cooking that bad? You've been eating it happily, haven't you?"

"No means no. If she wants to eat, she can cook it herself!" Xiaoxi pointed her chopsticks at me.

I couldn't be bothered to argue. She was impulsive; as long as she was happy.

"Alright, alright, even eating has rules. Fine! If I actually followed these two rules, I'd probably never find a girlfriend in my life!"

"No girlfriend, no problem. You still have me, don't you?"

"Speak up! Mumbling like that, I can't hear a word."

"And the last rule," Xiaoxi paused before saying.

"If, I mean if, you get a girlfriend, you absolutely... absolutely must not hide it from me! Okay?" Xiaoxi asked tentatively.

"If I do, so what? Why would I hide it from you? Is dating supposed to be some underground operation?"

"Never mind, never mind, just eat!" Xiaoxi seemed in a good mood now, her stomachache gone.

"Bro, what would you do if I got a boyfriend?" Xiaoxi asked playfully, biting her chopsticks and tilting her head.

"You dare! How old are you to be dating? I'm telling you, before college, if you dare to date someone, just try it!"

"Hehe! A boyfriend isn't as useful as you. You do whatever I say! No dating, no dating." Xiaoxi giggled foolishly.

"Finish eating and go shower quickly! You have class tomorrow, don't oversleep."

"Then I'll go shower? You can handle the dishes!"

I washed dishes every day; why wasn't she this enthusiastic before?

"Go on, go on!" I waved my hand.

"Hehe! Good night then!" Xiaoxi skipped off to shower. What's wrong with her?