Serenade

That morning, the warm and bright sunlight streamed onto the blackout curtains in the living room. The room was bathed in a soft, wispy warmth.

Shen Pingchuan was lying on the sofa, hugging a pillow. His nostrils flared as he reached up to rub his nose. Having just woken up from a hangover, his head felt very heavy and he was still groggy, not wanting to get up.

Jin Xi crouched beside the sofa and used the white feathers she had pulled out from the down comforter to gently tickle his nostrils. Her voice was also very gentle, "Pot Pot~"

"Don't sleep anymore~~"

"Wake up and accept your punishment~"

Shen Pingchuan brushed her hand away, then lay flat on the bed and rubbed his temples, "I had a strange dream."

"What dream?"

Shen Pingchuan reached out and pinched her chubby cheeks, "I dreamed I was making tangyuan dumplings, big and round ones."

Jin Xi let out a burst of laughter, holding her belly as she almost laughed herself unconscious, "You old dog!"

Shen Pingchuan kicked her bottom, "What are you laughing at?"

Jin Xi finally managed to stop laughing, "Do you remember what happened last night?"

"What happened last night?"

Jin Xi put her paws on his shoulders and shook him vigorously, "Last night, Big Sister Xia Qing rode her bike to bring you back!"

Shen Pingchuan sat up abruptly, his face full of astonishment, "Really?!"

Jin Xi said, "She brought you to the foot of the building. Old Shen still wasn't back yet. I couldn't carry you up by myself, so Big Sister Xia Qing carried you back on her back."

Shen Pingchuan was surprised, "She carried me? You're kidding!"

Jin Xi nodded solemnly, grabbing an apple from the fruit platter on the coffee table and taking a crisp bite, "You know, you're really a little princess."

Shen Pingchuan grabbed the apple from her hand and took a dazed bite from the other side, "I'm ruined. How embarrassing."

Jin Xi snatched the apple back again, "There's something even more terrible. Seeing your fragile tolerance, I don't even dare say it."

"What could be more embarrassing than this?" Shen Pingchuan didn't believe it.

"Do you know what the tangyuan dumplings in your dream were?"

"Wha...what?"

"They were Big Sister Xia Qing's huge brea...sts."

Shen Pingchuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

"You shamelessly groped her chest with your paws, squeezing them until her face was flushed red. After bringing you inside, you didn't even drink any water before collapsing. You just ran off after putting her down."

As she spoke, Jin Xi grabbed Shen Pingchuan's large, smooth hands covered in veins and sighed, "I didn't think my silly Pot Pot was capable of this. With just one round of aggressive action, you're not trying to pursue your sister-in-law, you're heading straight for jail with your tears streaming down the prison bars."

Shen Pingchuan looked at his own hands, stunned for a good half minute. He reached for the fruit knife on the platter—

"It seems I can only repent with my hands!"

Jin Xi grabbed the fruit knife, "Pot Pot, think this through."

Shen Pingchuan covered his face with a pillow, despairing, "I've thought it through, do it!"

Jin Xi raised the knife and shouted loudly, "Here I come!"

The sharp blade fell down, stopping just half an inch from Shen Pingchuan's palm.

"Ahhh!"

"I haven't even touched you yet, why are you screaming?"

Jin Xi shook off his hand in disgust and threw the fruit knife back on the coffee table, "The young master who screams just getting a shot, just forget about it."

Shen Pingchuan lay back down on the sofa, hugging the pillow again, his whole body weak, "Now I'm really done for."

Jin Xi leaned back against the sofa and sat down, "Don't despair yet. Think about it. If you so blatantly ate her tofu, with her fighting skills, could she have tolerated it? She would have flipped you over long ago."

Shen Pingchuan nudged Jin Xi's back with his big feet, "What are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say, bro, you have a great chance!"

Shen Pingchuan sat up and frowned at Jin Xi, "I have a chance?"

"I observed her expression yesterday. She only seemed shy, not angry. This shows she doesn't dislike you touching her."

Shen Pingchuan's pale face instantly flushed red again. He buried his head in the sofa, using a cartoon pillow to cover his head, "Stop talking, I'm so embarrassed!"

Jin Xi looked speechlessly at this overly dramatic man, shrugging her shoulders and not wanting to bother with him as she went back to her room to read.

An hour later, Shen Pingchuan sneaked awkwardly into Jin Xi's room, carrying a bowl of freshly washed cherries, with large, juicy fruit that looked extremely cute.

Jin Xi exclaimed, "Did you just go out to buy these?"

"Mm."

Jin Xi ate the cherries heartily straight from the bowl. Rather than eating them one by one, she poured the cherries into her mouth like drinking water, her mouth full of sweet juice. She then spat out a mouthful of pits.

"Giving gifts without reason, go ahead and speak your mind."

Shen Pingchuan immediately pulled up a stool and sat next to Jin Xi, "Sis, you've got to help your brother out. I'm really at a loss right now."

Jin Xi looked at Shen Pingchuan, "Do you want to pursue her?"

"I..." Shen Pingchuan hesitated, asking uncertainly, "Do I have a chance?"

"How would I know? Just give it a try. I can be your strategist."

"Dear sis!" Shen Pingchuan put his arm around Jin Xi's arm, squeezing it under his armpit, "It's settled then! You'll be my commanding strategist."

Jin Xi struggled hard to break free of him, "Wait, wait...wait. I'm not done yet."

Shen Pingchuan was elated with high spirits, patting his chest, "Whatever you want, brother will agree to it."

Jin Xi was silent for a moment, looking at Shen Pingchuan, "Bro, doesn't Old Shen have a vacation villa up on Cangnan Mountain?"

Shen Pingchuan looked into this little girl's dark eyes. It seemed she had come prepared.

"There is a summer retreat villa up there, what are you planning?"

Jin Xi grinned slyly, "Weren't we planning a summer trip? Why don't we go to Cangnan Mountain?"

"It's the height of summer. The mosquitoes up the mountain form nets. You have too much blood with nowhere to spend it. Going to donate love?"

Jin Xi pushed him away, "If you can't even agree to this, forget it. We're just plastic siblings, don't expect anything from each other."

"I didn't say we're not going. We're going. Wherever my ass of a sister wants to go, it's done!" Shen Pingchuan rubbed Jin Xi's head, "I'll tell Old Shen tonight. Our summer trip will be to the vacation villa on Cangnan Mountain."

"You're a man of honor! Consider Big Sister taken care of with me helping you."

"It's settled!"

Their big and small palms high-fived, settling the matter.

As Shen Pingchuan walked out the door, he suddenly recalled—

When he was organizing schedules in the student council's file room, he saw that the military academy's outdoor training this year was on Cangnan Mountain!

**

After the siblings reached an agreement, Jin Xi and Shen Pingchuan went to eat hot pot at the food stall every day. Shen Pingchuan took every chance he could to chat with Xia Qing, and the siblings sent Xia Qing back to her dorm at night together.

After about a week, Shen Shishan got tired of the dog siblings. Now even their farts smelled like hot pot.

Not only that, Jin Xi's asshole suffered every morning. It stung terribly!

Jin Xi felt like she was really risking her life to help her brother pursue his girlfriend!

On a sultry night in early August, on the way to send Xia Qing back to her dorm, Xia Qing told Shen Pingchuan not to come anymore from now on.

"My part-time job is almost over. I'll spend the rest of the time on campus, hanging out at the library and stuff."

"Then...then how about I come to campus to study with you? I mean, me and my ass sister coming together." Shen Pingchuan scratched his head.

Xia Qing held her bag, lowered her head hesitating for a moment, before finally speaking up, "Shen Pingchuan, I know your feelings, but you're too good for me. I don't deserve you."

After saying this, she didn't wait for his reply and hurried towards the dorm building at a jog.

Shen Pingchuan stood frozen for a good while before slowly uttering, "Oh~"

Jin Xi walked over with her bike, seeing his lost and dejected appearance, she also felt somewhat heartbroken for no reason.

She pulled at Shen Pingchuan's sleeve, "Bro."

Shen Pingchuan suddenly felt his breathing become very slow, very slow. His mind went blank, and his heartbeat seemed to stop in that moment. Then a sharp pain spread from his heart through every cell in his body.

So...this is what rejection feels like.

Jin Xi tiptoed and reached up to pat Shen Pingchuan's head, "Brother, don't cry."

"Your brother didn't cry!"

"Why don't we just give up?" Jin Xi sighed, "We don't really know her."

"Give up what, no giving up." Shen Pingchuan rubbed his nose with his sleeve, suddenly quickening his pace to catch up with Xia Qing.

"I want to tell you something!" He walked up to her and stood in front of her, saying solemnly, "Listen to me first, then you decide."

Xia Qing looked up at him earnestly.

Shen Pingchuan took a deep breath, plucked up his courage, and said, "I still have love handles on my belly, and I'm not very physically fit either. Most of the boys at school hate me and call me a sissy. I'm a typical high IQ but low EQ person. No one wants to be friends with me. Oh, and I have smelly feet too, which nearly suffocates my sister every time."

Jin Xi's mouth twitched. She thought he was going to struggle desperately, but instead...what on earth was he saying! He even brought out the ultimate "secret" of having smelly feet. This is teaching you online how to not get a girlfriend!

Shen Pingchuan went on, "Xia Qing, the reasons why you said you're not good enough for me, I don't accept them. In my opinion, you're ten thousand times cuter than my bitch sister."

Jin Xi: ...

Xia Qing couldn't help laughing. She was trying to keep a straight face, but finally she couldn't hold it in anymore. Covering her mouth, she lowered her head and laughed. Her narrow peach blossom eyes curved up slightly, and there were two cute little dimples at the corners of her mouth.

"Don't say that, your sister is here too."

Jin Xi tactfully walked away: As long as my brother is happy.

Shen Pingchuan tentatively said, "Xia Qing, why don't you think about it some more?"

"Senior, you don't even know me. What do you like about me?"

"You weigh 96 pounds, your measurements are 32, 25, 39. You don't have many friends and often eat alone in the cafeteria. You love chicken rice and sweet potato fries. You ranked first in the freshman final exams for the whole school, but because you didn't join any clubs, your conduct score wasn't high enough, so it might be difficult for you to get the first-class scholarship. Don't worry, I can let you join the student union this year and definitely help you improve your conduct score."

Xia Qing opened her mouth, then closed it again.

As a student union member, it was easy for Shen Pingchuan to access her profile.

"Also, after being with me, you don't have to work part-time jobs anymore. Just do what you like, go to the library and read more books. I'll accompany you."

Her cheeks flushed red. She twisted the toe of her canvas shoes on the gravel under her feet and said in a low voice, "Senior, I eat a lot."

Shen Pingchuan quickly said, "After my third year, I'll slowly start interning with my dad on projects. I'll make a lot, a lot of money! It'll all be my own money. In the future, you can eat as much chicken rice as you want! I...I'll let you use my campus card!"

He was so excited he was even stuttering. It looked like Xia Qing's tone had softened too.

Jin Xi silently sweated for him too. Her brother didn't have many other merits, but he was quite pure-hearted. For better or worse, he had laid it all out.

It looked like this time he was serious. If it works out, great. If not...he'd probably have to go home and cry.

Suddenly, Xia Qing burst into tears. It was the kind of crying from being choked up, and she couldn't stop once she started. Hugging her knees, crouching down, covering her face, her body twitched and ...she wailed loudly.

Shen Pingchuan was dumbfounded.

Even Jin Xi was a little surprised. There's no need to be like this, even if you're moved. There's no need to be like this...

She hurried over and patted Xia Qing on the back. Her body was shaking badly, and her emotions had collapsed in an instant.

The despair in Xia Qing's breakdown was infectious, and a long, drawn-out tremor ran through Jin Xi's heart. It reminded her of when her mother had left, back when she was little...

With a "wah", Jin Xi started crying too.

Seeing Jin Xi cry, Xia Qing quickly wiped away her tears with her wrist, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry..."

She kept saying "I'm sorry" while crying, not knowing if she was saying it to Jin Xi or Shen Pingchuan, even though she hadn't done anything wrong.

Eventually, Xia Qing still rejected Shen Pingchuan, and Shen Pingchuan didn't insist anymore either.

Afterwards, Jin Xi had asked him, if you had insisted a little more, maybe Xia Qing would have agreed. It was obvious she liked him too.

"To put it bluntly, if Sister Xia Qing married into our family, tens of thousands of medical fees every month would be nothing."

Shen Pingchuan helplessly said, "You know that's an insensitive thing to say."

Jin Xi suddenly hesitated. She finally understood Shen Pingchuan's kind intentions.

If he had persisted further, everything would have immediately taken on a different flavor, turning into some other kind of... transactional relationship.

"Bro, did you give up?"

"How could I?"

"Then..."

"Let your brother make some money first."

Jin Xi felt that brothers will always be brothers after all. She was still just a child, while her brother was already an adult.

*

The trip to Cangnan Mountain was set for mid-August.

Amidst his busy schedule, Shen Shishan took seven days off to accompany his children to the Cangnan Mountain resort to escape the summer heat.

Cangnan Mountain was about half a day's drive from the city. After getting off the highway, they turned onto the winding eighteen-bend mountain road.

Cangnan Mountain was lush and verdant, with emerald lakes and valleys between the mountains. It was a nice place to vacation and escape the heat. The resort villas were built encircling a lake, and every summer they would liven up.

On the road driving towards the resort area, they passed a training camp. Through the wire fences they could see military-green obstacles, and rows of youths in camouflage, training.

Jin Xi excitedly tugged on Shen Pingchuan's sleeve since he was by the window. Shen Pingchuan rolled down the window and stuck half his body outside, peering for a little while before turning back to tell her, "Didn't see that guy."

Shen Shishan asked from the front, "Who?"

"Our classmate."

Soon, the sedan entered the resort area.

The resort's property manager led resort staff to welcome Shen Shishan at the entrance, making a big show.

The mountain breeze was cool, with the sound of rustling leaves. The fresh air was rich in oxygen. They walked on the gravel paths that had been re-paved, surrounded by trimmed greenery, like a forest garden.

The property manager said to Shen Shishan, "There's a military academy camp up ahead. Sometimes you might run into the trainees jogging around the mountain in the woods, I hope Mr. Shen doesn't mind."

"We can really bump into them?" Jin Xi hurriedly asked.

"Yes, you often see them running around the mountain with weights on at the lakeside and on the valley trails. Tsk tsk, the boys, they're all so sturdy and fit."

Jin Xi and Shen Pingchuan exchanged a look but didn't say anything.

The vacation villa was two stories high. Aunties came daily for maintenance and cleaning, so the rooms were very clean. Jin Xi chose a room on the second floor. Looking out from the balcony, she could vaguely see the training grounds not too far away in the woods.

In the afternoon, Shen Pingchuan took Jin Xi down a mountain path, circling around a hill to sneak towards the training camp.

The mountain path was rugged. Shen Pingchuan held Jin Xi's hand, half dragging her, to climb up the slope.

The camp had wire fences around it and they couldn't go in. The two of them could only sit on the hillside and look into one corner of the camp.

There was basically no one there during the day. Most of the time, the trainees were doing specialized training in the woods.

The two of them sat on the hillside and blew some mountain wind for a while. The sun was about to set, so Shen Pingchuan got up, brushed the dried grass off his pants, then hauled Jin Xi up too. "Let's go, back home. There's no signal here. Old Shen will get worried if he can't find us."

"Maybe they'll come back soon."

"We're staying here for a few days. There'll be more chances to see them."

Jin Xi was reluctant as she followed Shen Pingchuan back.

In the woods, Shen Pingchuan had a blade of grass in his mouth. He said to Jin Xi, "Sis, why am I so good to you? Giving you everything you want, taking you wherever you want to go. I must be the best wok wok in the world."

As soon as Jin Xi heard this, she sensed something fishy and cautiously asked, "What are you trying to do?"

Shen Pingchuan walked over and put his arm around her shoulders, smiling and asking, "You made quite a bit selling the house, tens of thousands. Do you think your little pot had anything to do with that money?"

"...No!" Absolutely not!

Under Shen Pingchuan's soft and hard persuasion, Jinxi did agree to split it with him halfway, the other half she wanted to keep to buy a birthday present for her boyfriend.

But she was still very curious, "Brother, what are you going to use the money for?"

"My sister-in-law is having difficulties, I want to help her out."

"Didn't you say you didn't want it to become a transactional relationship..."

"Silly girl, as long as she doesn't know, it won't be a transaction."

Jinxi thought about it carefully, he was right, as long as Xia Qing didn't know, it would make things much easier. With Shen Pingchuan's skills, he could definitely keep it from her, after all he was the genius who had even gotten his hands on her three sizes data.

Jinxi was certain that Xia Qing must have feelings for Shen Pingchuan, like a person who had been trapped in a harsh winter seeing the first warm rays of spring sun, liking but not daring to get close. That must have been why she cried so desperately that night.

Jinxi couldn't help but squeeze Shen Pingchuan's hand, "Brother, I've saved up some over the years too. If you need it, I can give it all to you, but only on one condition - no matter what comes, even if it's through fire and water, you have to bring my sister-in-law back to me."

"I didn't know you had a little treasure trove."

"I had to have one!"

"How much?"

Jinxi counted on her fingers, "Six digits."

Shen Pingchuan pressed Jinxi's head against a tree and excitedly said, "From now on, I call you big brother!"

...

Not far away, at the edge of the narrow mountain path, Bo Yan with a twenty kilogram sandbag on his back gradually slowed his pace, and looked in the direction of the slope.

Jing Chi walked behind him, panting, "Lord Bo, what are you staring at?"

Bo Yan said in a daze, "I thought I heard my uncle's voice."

Xu Chaoyang laughed, "Our Lord Bo's lovesickness has reached a terminal stage and is even having hallucinations. The other day he thought a crooked neck tree looked like his wife, and now he's hearing his uncle's duck-like voice in the wind."

Bo Yan looked towards the nearby lakeside villas, with undercurrents swirling in his dark eyes.

A gust of wind passed by as dusk fell.

He drew back his gaze and continued forward with his load.