“Ah, sorry! I got carried away and forgot to save you any!”

When she saw Li Xinghe come out of the bathroom, Bai Xiaoxiao realized she’d somehow eaten half the cake without even noticing. She started to panic a little. What if she’d made him think she was a total glutton? She was supposed to be an aspiring idol and his adopted little sister, after all. At least on the surface, she was meant to debut as an idol, so keeping her figure under control was important.

Looks like she’d have to do a better job of hiding who she was. If anyone found out she wasn’t actually an aspiring idol, she’d have a hard time explaining herself.

“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not very good with durian. The smell is a little… hard to handle.”

Li Xinghe’s explanation made everything click for Bai Xiaoxiao. No wonder her brother hadn’t taken a single bite of the durian cake. He was one of those people who found durian’s strong smell too much to stomach.

She could understand that. She’d thought durian smelled awful at first, too. It was only after she tried it for herself that she fell in love with the fruit.

Then she looked to the side and saw that her brother had also bought her two boxes of strawberries and two durians that looked seriously hefty.

Bai Xiaoxiao had never known what it was like to have a big brother or sister growing up. But now, she was starting to think having a big brother wasn’t so bad.

How could she possibly dislike a handsome big brother who’d been so nice to her right from the start?

“Oh, right. Let me show you your room. I got it ready a couple of days ago. If you need any decorations, just let me know and I’ll go buy them for you.”

Li Xinghe’s room was at the very end of the third floor, and Bai Xiaoxiao’s was right next to it. Both rooms were spacious—at least forty square meters each.

Bai Xiaoxiao followed Li Xinghe with the cake in her hands. First, he handed her a key, then opened the door to the room he’d prepared for her.

The first thing she saw was a dreamy, princess-style room. A string of pink starry lights circled the walls, and sparkling crystals hung from the ceiling. It had everything: a private bathroom, a dressing room, a wardrobe, and even a few entertainment options.

There was even a little castle-like structure in one corner. The floor was covered with a special material that felt soft underfoot—not too cold, and not slippery either. Li Xinghe’s dad had asked Aunt Bai Qingxue what kind of style her daughter liked, then had all the decorations custom-made.

Naturally, her favorite part was the big pink bed in the middle. The canopy was already set up, with all kinds of sparkly decorations hanging from it: glowing stars, gems that shimmered with rainbow colors, and even little fish that swayed in the breeze.

There was an air conditioner, a fridge, and a computer. Every person and every room had its own electronics, and the soundproofing was pretty good. Unless someone was being really loud, it was hard to hear the noise outside through the walls. It was great for protecting her ears.

“Wow!”

She’d lost count of how many times she’d been stunned today. Bai Xiaoxiao could only think that her mother really did have a great eye. She’d never expected her to find such a wonderful new home for her.

She had a kind big brother, and a room that was even dreamier than the one she’d had before.

Every decoration was in a color she liked. It looked like they’d even had things custom-made for her. Several light novels she’d followed in the past sat on the bookshelf by the wall—and there was even official Magical Girl merch.

Could they be Magical Girl fans, too?

All in all, Bai Xiaoxiao was completely satisfied with how things were going. She couldn’t find a single thing to complain about.

Since they were making such a serious effort to get along with her, she should put in a little effort, too, and show them what a great little sister she could be!

At the very least, she could help out whenever they needed it. They’d be family from now on, and having a handsome guy around to look at wasn’t bad, either.

“If there’s anything you want, just tell me. As long as it’s not too expensive, I can probably afford it.”

Li Xinghe leaned against the doorframe, looking at Bai Xiaoxiao’s excited face as he spoke.

Bai Xiaoxiao had no idea how rich Uncle Li’s family was, but she still thanked Li Xinghe for the offer. After all, she was pretty well-off herself. She’d only been in the business for a year, and she’d already saved close to two million yuan.

She could buy whatever she wanted most of the time. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she really didn’t need to bother her big brother.

“Ah… no, no need. I can—cough, cough. I mean, there’s nothing I want to buy right now.”

That was close. She’d almost said she could afford things herself. If he started wondering where she’d gotten all that money, it’d only cause unnecessary trouble. Good thing she’d thought fast and corrected herself in time.

“Oh, okay. No problem. Just tell me whenever you think of something you want, all right?”

Li Xinghe’s easygoing answer won him even more points with Bai Xiaoxiao. She’d barely spent any time around boys growing up, but this big brother really was good to her. Maybe life with him would be pretty nice.

“Then I’ll take you up on that, big brother.”

Bai Xiaoxiao finished the last bite of cake, her mouth full of durian, and smiled happily. But the smell drifted from her mouth to Li Xinghe’s nose, and it was pretty rough. Weren’t beautiful girls supposed to have nothing but a sweet fragrance in their mouths? Why hadn’t that filtered out the durian smell, too? The internet really did lie about everything!

“Ahem… By the way, what do you want for lunch? I can make you something simple. I might not look like much, but I’m actually pretty good at cooking.”

After bringing Xiaoxiao back to the living room, Li Xinghe figured it was time to get lunch started.

He never ordered takeout for proper meals. He only used delivery when he wanted fruit but didn’t feel like going out, or when he came across some vegetables or meat he really liked and decided to order them.

There wasn’t any special reason. He just felt that food he cooked himself was the cleanest.

“Huh? Lunch?”

At the studio, Bai Xiaoxiao usually ate the meals prepared by Captain Qu Mengting. They worried that too much takeout would make them sick, so the Idol School Studio ordered fresh vegetables, fruit, and other ingredients every day. It wasn’t exactly a feast, but Captain Mengting was a great cook, and everything she made looked, smelled, and tasted delicious.

But if someone asked what she especially liked to eat… well, that was hard to say.

She was used to eating plenty of meat and fish. She was surprised that her big brother could cook, but maybe he’d studied it before.

“Well, if you don’t have anything in mind, I’ll just make a few things.”

The first step to getting along with his little sister was winning over her stomach. Once she fell for his cooking, everything else would be easy.

Li Xinghe had absolute confidence in his cooking. When Bai Xiaoxiao finally nodded, he told her to take some time to get familiar with her room, then grabbed his keys and headed out to buy vegetables.

You couldn’t have ingredients cut up and packaged for delivery the way you could with fruit. Li Xinghe still felt better choosing them himself.

After Li Xinghe left, Bai Xiaoxiao was alone on the soft, spacious pink bed. She hugged a pillow and rolled around with it.

Ehehehehe! Mom was right after all—this big brother was really considerate and seemed to have a pretty good personality, too. Maybe he was putting on an act because they’d only just met, but if she had to rate her first impression of him out of a hundred, he’d easily score over ninety-five!

Her wonderful life living together with him was starting today!