“Pretty-Boy Brother? Isn’t that Pretty-Boy Brother?”

“Huh?! You’re…”

Not long after parting ways with Mu, his new “friend,” a childish, somewhat familiar voice rang by his ear.

He turned and sat up. Before him stood a little girl in straw sandals, with bits of grass and dust clinging to her clothes. Her cheeks had a faint blush, and she looked vaguely familiar.

If Lin Ge remembered correctly, he’d run into this little girl shortly after arriving.

Back then, she’d been so thin she was little more than skin and bones, standing by the roadside and looking pitiful. So Liancheng’s kind heart had stirred, and he’d given her all the dry sesame flatbreads left in his pocket—the ones that were so hard to swallow.

You could say he’d done a good deed without even realizing it.

It definitely wasn’t because he wanted someone to get rid of those dry flatbreads for him. Absolutely not!

So what was she doing here now? Don’t tell me she wanted to repay him by offering herself to him?

Heh, just kidding. Down with lolicons.

Wait, what had she just called me?

“You…”

“You really are Pretty-Boy Brother.”

Really what?

What do you mean, I really am Pretty-Boy Brother?

Even if it’s true, don’t say it so bluntly!

The little girl’s words left Lin Ge completely speechless.

People say children speak without thinking, but being so bluntly called out by a kid of only six or seven was enough to make even Lin Ge, thick-skinned as he was, want the ground to swallow him up.

“Kid—cough, young lady, you’ve got the wrong person, haven’t you? I’m not some pretty-boy.”

Lin Ge’s mouth twitched.

Smile. At a time like this, smiling was the only right answer.

If he got angry, wouldn’t that be as good as admitting it? Though, to be fair, it was true.

“Aren’t you the lord’s husband?” The little girl fiddled with her fingers as she thought it over, then asked.

“That’s right.” Lin Ge nodded.

“Then I was right.” The little girl sounded even more certain. “My sister told me about you. You’re the Pretty-Boy Brother who married into the lord’s family. Apart from having a handsome face, you can’t do anything at all, and all you do every day is eat and sleep.”

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Tears welled up inside him, and his hot blood churned and boiled.

Lin Ge knew he had a certain reputation, but for even a seven- or eight-year-old kid to know about it? Had it really spread that far?

Had gossip in this era really gotten so pervasive that even children were talking about it?

This was just…

Sigh. It’s hard being a person~~.

“Pretty-Boy Brother, Pretty-Boy Brother…”

“What is it?”

The little girl gently poked Lin Ge’s shoulder as he drooped his head in dejection. Her bright, sparkling eyes were full of questions as she gazed at him curiously.

“Pretty-Boy Brother, what does ‘pretty-boy’ mean?”

“…”

—So you didn’t even know what it meant in the first place!

Lin Ge’s mouth twitched. He’d wanted to blurt out a loud complaint, but when he saw the girl’s pure, earnest eyes, untouched by even a speck of impurity, he held it in.

“That’s… Ahem, you’re too young to need to know that word.” He cleared his throat twice and looked away, trying to cover his tracks. “Just know that it’s a wonderful, sacred, and deeply respectable word… That’s all.”

“Is that so?”

The little girl tilted her head and furrowed her brows slightly, thinking very hard. Then her eyes lit up, little stars practically shining in them, and she said excitedly:

“No wonder my sister keeps saying you’re a pretty-boy. She’s been complimenting you all this time! Mm, yeah, ‘pretty-boy’ really is the perfect way to describe you.”

“…”

Lin Ge’s mouth twitched even harder. What kind of sister was this? What on earth was she teaching the kid?

What had they done to the flowers of the nation’s future?

The future looked bleak.

Lin Ge sighed inwardly.

After chatting with the little girl for a few more minutes, he learned that her name was Meimei. She was the oldest child at an orphanage in Bota City. Most days, she came to the riverside to pick wild fruit and vegetables to supplement the orphanage’s meals.

She was so young, yet so sensible.

Anyone would’ve been moved.

But one thing was one thing, and Lin Ge wasn’t about to forget the pretty-boy business.

He tried to get the little girl to call him something else, but after going around in circles… Forget it. If she didn’t want to change, then so be it. He had no idea who her sister was, but she knew his lazy habits inside out.

Could he know that sister of hers?

If he did, Lin Ge really wanted to get to know her~properly~.

But he could worry about that another time. What surprised Lin Ge more was the little girl’s attitude.

He remembered how, when he’d first met her, she’d been sallow and emaciated, looking like she might collapse at any moment. Her complexion still showed signs of malnutrition, but she looked much better than she had at first.

More importantly, her attitude had changed.

The little girl was no longer timid and wary of him like she’d been at first. After chatting for a while, it felt almost like talking with the little girl next door.

Could this be what they called a heroine delivered right at the start? A little kindness, and her affection for him shot through the roof?

Down with lolicons—that was an eternal rule. But raising a kid… well, that was another matter.

Raise her from childhood until she was grown, then let her support him.

Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

“Ah, no! It’s this late already. I have to hurry back, or my sister will worry. Pretty-Boy Brother, let’s chat again next time.”

Meimei gathered the wild fruit and vegetables she’d picked into her clothes, smiled sweetly, and waved goodbye to Lin Ge.

“I’ll walk you home.”

Lin Ge got to his feet, brushed the dust off his backside, and looked at the lake, stained red by the setting sun.

It was getting late. It’d be bad if a kid ran into some creepy guy on her way home. Besides, if he was going to raise her, he had to see it through to the end.

Well, of course, that was all just talk. Lin Ge mainly wanted to find out what kind of person the little girl’s sister was.

Spreading the truth without permission was a crime. Even shooting the culprit ten thousand times wouldn’t be enough.

“Is that okay?”

The girl seemed a little hesitant.

That was only natural. They’d met just twice, and Lin Ge had expected her to react this way.

But after less than a second of hesitation, the girl gave a small nod.

Huh?! She actually said yes? That was a pretty quick change of heart. What happened to your boundaries, young lady?

“Then… let’s go.”

Lin Ge’s lips twitched. Ever since meeting the girl, he’d lost count of how many times he’d wanted to complain.

He was starting to feel exhausted…

…

Under the setting sun, carrying a few fish he’d caught, Lin Ge followed the little girl to the orphanage before long.

Just as he’d expected.

If no one had told him this was an orphanage, he would’ve thought the thatched hut before him was a stable.

It was in terrible shape. Not a single section of the walls was intact, and the vegetables growing in the yard had all withered and turned yellow. It hardly looked like a place where people could live.

But once he stepped inside, that impression faded quite a bit.

The inside was spotless. There wasn’t a speck of dust on the floor, which faintly reflected their figures. Even the cracked window glass had been decorated with flowers picked by the roadside. If you didn’t look closely, you wouldn’t notice the cracks.

It was clear that whoever looked after the orphanage was a clever, graceful, and kindhearted girl.

How nice~~. If he could, Lin Ge would much rather be kept by a girl like that.

There was no reason not to like a girl who was so good at looking after others.

Too bad he was already married into someone else’s family. That was a bit of a pain~~.

“Huh?! That box… It looks so familiar…”

As he looked around the orphanage, Lin Ge spotted a box in the corner that seemed completely out of place.

Familiar redwood, familiar gilded lock, and even a familiar family crest… Wasn’t this the box that held his dowry? What was it doing here?

A thief? A burglar? Teleportation?

One thought after another flashed through his mind.

Lin Ge reached out, about to check whether everything inside the box was still there, when a scream came from outside.