That afternoon, after taking a nap at home, Lin Ran got up and decided to hit the gym. He packed a change of clothes, slung on his backpack, and headed out.

But just as Lin Ran walked out of the community, two girls stepped into his path.

Lin Ran looked at the two girls with indifference.

The one who’d stopped him was a petite girl with twin ponytails. The other looked a little shy and was incredibly cute. Both wore the uniform of Ark City Girls’ Academy, though they gave off very different vibes in it. The girl with twin ponytails had the feel of the girl next door, and she seemed lively, full of energy from head to toe. The other girl was much more reserved. She held the twin-tailed girl by the wrist and didn’t dare look at Lin Ran. But this girl’s chest… ahem, was very well-developed!

Even though they’d stopped him, Lin Ran merely glanced at them. He didn’t bother with any pleasantries and simply tried to walk away.

“Hey, big brother, can I ask you something? Is this Harmony Garden?” the twin-tailed girl asked with a grin.

“Yes,” Lin Ran answered coolly.

He might dislike girls, but he wasn’t about to write the words “I hate girls” across his face. If someone asked him for directions, he’d answer if he could. If he couldn’t, he’d just ignore them.

“Then do you know which way Building Ten is?” the girl asked.

This time, Lin Ran simply replied, “No idea,” then turned and left.

The girl stared blankly at Lin Ran’s back, then stomped her foot in anger. “What’s with him? I didn’t do anything to him, so why’s he being so cold? If he wasn’t so good-looking, I wouldn’t have bothered asking him for directions!”

“Si Qing, maybe we should just go back,” the girl beside her said timidly, tugging on her wrist.

“You’re just too timid. Didn’t your mom tell you to come take a look beforehand if you could? You can’t run away forever, Xiaoxue. Avoiding this won’t work. You have to face it head-on if you want to get over it. But don’t be scared—I’m here. If that brother of yours dares to bully you, I’ll beat him up!” Si Qing said confidently, patting her flat chest.

“Maybe we really should go back,” the girl named Xiaoxue said, still frightened.

“No way. We’re looking today, no matter what. You’re so lucky, you know that? You got a brother out of nowhere! Ah, you have no idea how happy a girl is when her big brother spoils her. I’ve always wanted a big brother, but all I got at home were two annoying little brothers. It’s infuriating!” Si Qing said angrily.

Whether Xiaoxue agreed or not, Si Qing dragged her into Harmony Garden. After asking an elderly man in the community, they found Building Ten. There, they located Unit One, and finally stopped in front of Apartment 201 on the second floor.

“Xiaoxue, what do you think your brother’s like? Do you think he’s handsome? Tall? Really good at basketball?” Si Qing asked, practically bursting with excitement as she fired off one question after another.

Xiaoxue hid behind her. She was genuinely scared.

“Don’t be scared. When your brother sees how cute you are, he’ll spoil you rotten. I’ll let you in on a secret: according to some highly unscientific survey, seventy percent of guys wish they had a little sister!” Si Qing said with a smile, patting Xiaoxue on the shoulder.

Xiaoxue said quietly, “Let’s go.”

“Ding-dong!” Si Qing pressed the doorbell. Xiaoxue looked like she was about to cry.

“Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, dingdingdingding…”

“Hello? Anybody home? Dead? Asleep? Open up!” Si Qing shouted.

“Si Qing, stop shouting. It’s nap time. Someone’s going to come out and yell at us. Let’s go,” Xiaoxue said, tugging at Si Qing’s arm.

“I don’t care. I’m seeing your brother today,” Si Qing said firmly.

But no matter how much she knocked and shouted, nobody opened the door. Well, there really wasn’t anyone home.

Si Qing made up her mind: she’d come back that evening! One way or another, she was going to meet Xiaoxue’s brother!

……

Meanwhile, Lin Ran arrived at the gym. After changing, he greeted a few of the older regulars he knew and started his workout. The older guys at the gym liked him quite a bit. In their eyes, young people these days spent their free time hanging out with friends, but Lin Ran was a young man who used his days off to exercise. And now that he’d lost weight, he was pretty handsome too. Quite a few of the older guys wanted to set him up with their daughters or other girls they knew, which left Lin Ran not quite knowing whether to laugh or cry.

His workout routine varied from day to day. Today, Lin Ran was training his back. He started with a warm-up on the treadmill, then moved on to the machines: pull-ups, seated lat pulldowns, rows, and so on. He did five sets of ten reps for each exercise, resting twenty seconds between sets. Each time he switched exercises, his rest period went up to fifteen minutes.

After the machines, he jogged on the treadmill for thirty minutes. That wrapped up his afternoon workout. He took off his clothes, showered, then headed home with his backpack, feeling refreshed.

During his first month of working out, Lin Ran would feel exhausted afterward, sometimes so tired he could barely catch his breath. But once he got used to it, he started to love the feeling. Breaking into a sweat felt amazing!

When he got home, Lin Ran turned on his computer and played games. When it was time for dinner, he started cooking. For some reason, though, someone always seemed to knock just when he was making a meal.

Sure enough, the doorbell rang again while he was making dinner. When Lin Ran opened the door, he saw the two girls he’d met that afternoon. He frowned and asked without warmth, “What do you want?”

“You…” The twin-tailed girl stared blankly at Lin Ran, then glanced at the number on the door in disbelief.

Lin Ran shut the door without a word and went back to cooking. When the doorbell rang again, he acted like he hadn’t heard it.

The two girls outside were completely baffled.

“No, this is right. Building Ten, Unit One, Apartment 201. I didn’t come to the wrong place… But that can’t be right. That guy who just opened the door…” Si Qing looked utterly disbelieving.

That afternoon, she’d asked Xiaoxue’s mother again and confirmed it was Building Ten, Apartment 201, in Harmony Garden. She’d also learned that Xiaoxue’s brother was a chubby guy with a very good temper. But this didn’t add up. Chubby? Good-tempered? The guy who’d opened the door was thin and had a terrible temper. The difference was way too big!

“Xiaoxue, what did your mom say your brother’s name was?” Si Qing asked.

“L-Lin Ran…” Xiaoxue said timidly.

Then Si Qing started ringing the doorbell, pounding on the door, and shouting.

At last, Lin Ran couldn’t take it anymore. He came out, opened the door, and yelled at them, “Are you two crazy? Get lost right now, or you’ll regret it.”

Lin Ran’s furious expression scared both Si Qing and Xiaoxue. Si Qing was too frightened to speak, while Xiaoxue immediately hid behind her, head bowed low and shoulders trembling.

Just as Lin Ran was about to shut the door again, Si Qing reached out and grabbed the edge. “Hey, what are you getting so angry for? You’re the one who’s crazy! We didn’t do anything to you. Is there any need to act like this?”

“Let go.” Lin Ran glared at the twin-tailed girl.

“No! What’s your problem? Why are you yelling at us? We’re just here to find someone,” Si Qing said, glaring back at Lin Ran.

Lin Ran fought back the urge to kick her.

“Just tell me—are you Lin Ran or not?” Si Qing asked, pouting.

“What I’m called is none of your business. Go do whatever you came to do. If you’re looking for someone, go find them. Just stop bothering me, or I won’t go easy on you just because you’re girls.” As he spoke, Lin Ran yanked the door hard, shook Si Qing’s hand free, and shut it.

Si Qing was so furious she pointed at the door and shouted, “You’re awful! I curse you to spend your whole life with nobody liking you and never find a girlfriend!”

Then she muttered under her breath, “It’s such a waste, having a face that good-looking.”

Then she led the upset Xiaoxue downstairs and out of Building Ten. Si Qing immediately called Xiaoxue’s mother and complained through tears. They’d come to Harmony Garden and found Building Ten, Unit One, Apartment 201, but the guy who opened the door was a lunatic. He’d yelled at them and even threatened to hit them. There was no way he was Xiaoxue’s brother.

Xiaoxue’s mother was confused. She checked with Lin Zihao again and again: it really was Building Ten, Unit One, Apartment 201, in Harmony Garden on Mingshan Road. But this didn’t make sense. Wasn’t Lin Ran chubby and good-tempered? He’d never yell at a girl or try to hit one. That definitely couldn’t have been Lin Ran.

But the address was right, and Si Qing and Xiaoxue hadn’t gone to the wrong place. It just didn’t make sense.

So Lin Ran’s father took out his phone and called him.

As soon as the call connected, Lin Zihao got straight to the point.

“Son, did two girls just come knocking at our door?” Lin Zihao asked.

Lin Ran paused. “How do you know? Two crazy people were just banging on the door.”

“……You little brat, who are you calling crazy? Listen carefully: one of those girls who came knocking is your little sister, and the other is her good friend. Now get after Xiaoxue and apologize to her. Right now!” Lin Zihao was so angry he didn’t know what to say. So it really was true. Did that kid think he could do whatever he wanted?

Lin Ran was stunned. “Wait, old man, what did you just say? Little sister? Whose sister? Mine?”

“I’ll explain everything when I get back. For now, hurry up and catch them so you can apologize to Xiaoxue. If you don’t, I’ll beat you to a pulp when I get home,” Lin Zihao said angrily.

“Since when do you have an illegitimate daughter out there?” Lin Ran asked, bewildered.

“I… You little brat! Just wait till I get home—I’ll beat you to a pulp!” Lin Zihao was absolutely furious.

Even so, after hanging up, Lin Ran still didn’t do what his dad had told him. He was just confused. What had the old man meant? What little sister? Wasn’t he his dad’s only son? Where had this sister come from? Could it be that his dad had found him a stepmother—and gotten a bonus little sister thrown in?

Had he gone crazy?

Lin Ran figured maybe his dad had found himself a new partner. But that didn’t make sense. In his previous life, his dad hadn’t found a partner, and no little sister had appeared either. What was going on?

He’d have to wait for the old man to get back before he could get to the bottom of it.

Lin Ran suddenly felt that something was off. The things that had happened over the past few days were completely different from his previous life. And now he’d somehow gained a little sister?

So Lin Ran took out his phone and called his dad. He had to find out what was going on.

Once the call connected and his dad explained, Lin Ran was stunned. It was true—he wasn’t dreaming. While his dad was away on business, he’d met a woman, and they’d fallen in love. They were planning to come back together in a couple of days so Lin Ran could meet her. His stepmother had a daughter who’d just finished ninth grade—his little sister. Her name was Lin Ruixue…

His dad also said that Lin Ruixue would be going to No. 5 High School, and that they’d come back together in a couple of days and live at the house. In other words, from now on, Lin Ran would be responsible for looking after his little sister, Lin Ruixue.

Lin Ran objected immediately, but it didn’t do any good. The old man had made up his mind. He’d be back in a couple of days.