Volume One ends here.

I’ve been peeled down to bare bark by real life, so thanks for sticking with this book. I won’t thank every tip and monthly ticket one by one.

It was a surprise that the dates in the story ended up overlapping real time. If that adds even a little immersion when you read, I’m happy. Even if it’s late, happy National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival.

There are a few things in this book taken straight from my hometown: some of DongSui Town’s scenery, osmanthus trees, and even my little sister Qi Ran’s birthday is actually my own. 233. But I celebrate by the lunar calendar, so October 8 is just a number on my ID.

I’m pretty sentimental and tsundere by nature, so I always refuse to celebrate my birthday. It feels like I shouldn’t act like a kid anymore, even though deep down I kind of want to. Thinking about it, the only time I ever blew out candles was on my tenth birthday. That’s… a bit sad.

Right now the things I treasure most are the Qiuhongzhai brush my sister gave me the year before last, and the MUJI notebook she gave me last year. I’ve no idea what I’ll get this year. Hopefully she doesn’t forget. Last year she forgot completely and only gave it to me at Spring Festival. She claimed she wanted to hand it over in person instead of mailing it. Truly a flawless excuse.

The results for this book are… average at best. It can’t climb the rankings. It’s yet another overused siscon theme, not warm or tear-jerking enough, not funny or touching enough, even the dirty jokes are outdated. With that in mind, getting results like this is already not bad. There are more and more fresh, well‑written books out there.

Seeing some novels do so well does make me drool with envy. But I’m just a mediocre salted‑fish author, all ambition and no skill. People have roasted my prose as “elementary school level.” Even after nearly three years of writing, I still have tons of issues. It feels like I haven’t grown at all, maybe even gotten worse. The more I write, the worse it seems.

I’ve poured out a lot of bitterness here. Real life doesn’t give me many ways to vent. Every night I type away at the keyboard till late, and it’s honestly lonely as hell.

To finish, let me show off my little sister again. Sometimes I feel like my life is basically its own light novel.

My sister started college this year. Time really flies. I’m already a junior. Her exam score was about the same as mine back then, only a few points over the first‑tier cutoff. She actually had a chance to get into my university. At first she wanted that too—then we’d have been at the same school from kindergarten all the way to college.

But! When she filled in the teacher‑training early admission form, she put another school before mine. Result: gg. She ended up at another normal university, majoring in Special Education. Maybe that’s partly because she wants to stay away from her pervy big brother. 2333.

Still, it’s only about an hour away by high‑speed rail. Not that far.

Special Education is about teaching children with disabilities. My parents and older sister really hate it. They think it’s unlucky for a “normal person” to teach “sick” kids.

They nagged her so much she could only hide in my room. I guess I’m the only one in the family who supports her choice. Not that there’s any choice now—it’s a done deal. Repeating a year would be hell.

I tried my best to talk my parents around: she can work at a welfare institute, or get a teacher’s license and teach at a normal school. Only then did they finally stop bringing it up, though they still feel ashamed in front of relatives.

My sister doesn’t watch much anime, but she does watch a lot of Japanese animated movies. Her favorite is Miyazaki, then Makoto Shinkai. After watching Your Name, her first reaction was, “I kind of don’t get it, but the background’s beautiful.” Then: “Give me something a bit more romantic, hey!”

After a friend recommended Fox Spirit Matchmaker, she yelled that it wasn’t enough and ran over excitedly to recommend it to me. I just pulled out a full set of the Fox Spirit manga for her. Big bro authority +1. Then she saw my shelf full of things like Oreimo, “Even if we’re siblings, love is enough,” and “Listen to Your Big Brother,” and my big bro authority instantly dropped to -10,000.

My sister’s a bit scatterbrained, kind of like me. She’s always losing things. The most common is losing cards. In the first week of college, on the way to an English test, she lost her pencil case—with her ID card, student card, meal card, and bank card all inside. Luckily a kind stranger picked it up and got it back to her.

Thinking back to her first year of high school, that was her first time living on campus. She didn’t keep her wallet properly in the dorm, and all her living expenses plus her bank card got stolen. I happened to see her and a couple of classmates outside KFC at the school gate, just when I was about to head to an internet café.

That was probably the first time she came to me for money. Back then she was still pretty well‑behaved, followed school rules, didn’t bring a phone. Anyway, it’s good she didn’t go hungry.

About a week ago, my sister introduced her roommate to me. The roommate’s a cosplaying girl who loves taking selfies. Let’s not talk about her looks. When I opened her photo album, the first thing I did was look for pictures of my sister (covers face). My sister and I both hate taking photos, so any photo is rare. Out of dozens of photos, there was only one with my sister in it.

My sister talked me up like I was some kind of god, and even told her I write novels. That’s when I realized how insanely creepy my author bio looks… Anyway, the cosplay girl hasn’t messaged me since.

This National Day, I didn’t go home. I stayed on campus to rush the manuscript. My sister asked me to come back and tutor her in calculus. In the end I still refused, even though I almost went to buy the ticket. But I held back.

This is probably the first National Day I didn’t spend with my family. Every Mid‑Autumn Festival, we have this tradition of moon‑gazing: putting out pomelos, mandarins, chestnuts, mooncakes. The whole family sits together under the moon. The elders always remind us, “Don’t point at the moon with your finger, or your ear will get cut off.” If you slip up and point, you have to do some weird gestures to break the “curse.”

That night my sister posted a really melancholy status on her Moments. I seriously regretted not going home. Here’s what she wrote—I quietly copied it over. She probably has no idea.

【After dinner

I carried a bunch of things I’d prepared up to the third-floor terrace

I lit candles and the first stick of incense

Arranged all the things we always put out every year

I figured the moon would have a feast again this year

I brought pomelo, rice cakes, mandarins, and my favorite chestnuts

I listened to some music and thought about college life so far

It’s not quite like the college I imagined

But every day feels full, and I’ve got great roommates

We haven’t had the chance to go out and feast together yet

But there’s still time...

And just like that the first stick of incense burned out

I still hadn’t seen the moon

So I lit the second incense

Mom called up from the first floor that I’d forgotten to bring mooncakes

I guess it’s because I thought the moon wouldn’t like mooncakes

So I forgot someone that important

Because they look too alike

A while later

The family that lives on the third floor came back

The kids call me “big sister on the first floor”

Just now little Yujia asked if I was in first grade this year

Because I’m so much taller than her

I often think of how I used to call some other girl “big sister”

And now I have no idea where she is

They sat next to me on the chairs and watched Peppa Pig

I really like being with kids

Whether they’re well-behaved or naughty

At least that’s just how kids are

And just like that the second incense burned out

I still hadn’t seen the moon

So I lit the third incense

I thought about senior year

When I’d often run into a boy on the stairs

I had this feeling that he looked really familiar

And he did, because his photo was always on the science honor roll

Which made it easy for me to know his name and hear little things about him

He was really outstanding, but we never talked

I knew he liked girls who work hard

In high school I also had roommates I’ll never forget in my whole life

They always liked to knock me down then cheer me up again

And the teachers who took such care of me

They really are such good people

And just like that the third incense burned out

I still hadn’t seen the moon

So I lit the fourth incense and kept waiting

Mom and the uncle upstairs both told me there’d be no moon tonight

But I still wanted to wait for her a bit longer

The wind on the terrace was really cool

I listened to the river flowing

Because of road work, the old street’s lamps are out now

So the candlelight looked really bright

The cries of the street vendors on both sides had been blocked by blue iron sheets

The road was full of round little holes, this old street is changing

I’m curious what she’ll look like the next time I come back

I watched the incense, half burned away

A strong gust of wind blew out one of the candles

I picked it up, relit it, and got wax all over myself

I still haven’t figured out how to handle candles

I thought the moon would probably be like last year

She won’t show up for our date. So should I keep waiting?

After struggling for a bit, I didn’t light a fifth incense

I suddenly thought of Cui Cui from Border Town

We’re both waiting, but the moon will always come out

That person, though, might not come back

So I’ll pray for Cui Cui too

The news said the fullest moon this year

Will be on the seventeenth, the day after tomorrow

So the day after tomorrow, I’ll come wait again】

After reading that, I only had one thought: who the hell is that guy? My big knife is itching.

My sister’s finally reaching the age where she wants to fall in love. I realized that. Back in her first year of middle school, there was this tiny spark of puppy love. I was in my third year and tattled to Mom, and successfully protected her from that scumbag. She probably still doesn’t know it was me who snitched.

Now she’s desperately trying to find me a sister‑in‑law. I have a feeling this Spring Festival might be rough for this fat shut‑in.

This was supposed to be a short afterword, but I somehow rambled this much. Call it a bit of life reflection. When I finally hang up my pen one day, writing an autobiography might not be a bad idea.

I’m sort of a siscon with an actual little sister, and honestly, having a sister feels pretty nice. At the very least, she’s added a lot of color to my life. Real‑life little sisters vary from person to person, I guess.

Anyway, see you in the next volume.