“Xiao Qin, speaking of which, about the Swiss Army knife from last night…”


  “Eh, didn’t I unmistakably return it to Ye Lin classmate?” For some reason, it always feels like a certain amount of danger was concealed behind Xiao Qin’s smile.

  “Could it be that Ye Lin classmate gave it to someone else even though you didn’t want to give it to me?” Xiao Qin feigned anger and pouted, “That’s awful.”


  She said as she kicked the pebbles on the road. It probably hit the wound on her foot, so her eyebrows twitched a little.

  “But the class leader said…”


  As soon as I mentioned the class leader, Xiao Qin’s tone became more disgruntled.

  “The class leader is a bad secondary female character, so how can you believe her words? But Zhuang Ni told me that yesterday something bad happened in the class leader’s room…”


  “(￣︿￣) Don’t tell me the class leader tied herself up erotically to seduce Ye Lin classmate?”


  Stop it with your nonsense! Do you think the class leader is a magical girl who can tie herself up with psychokinesis? It’s obvious you were the one who tied her up! Your artistic skills might not be up to par, but it’s definitely erotic enough!

  I don’t know why, but it seems Zhuang Ni didn’t tell Xiao Qin I kissed the class leader. Is it because she does not want to lose the opportunity to kill me with her own hands?

  On the other hand, although Xiao Qin shared a lot of information with Zhuang Ni in order to get some suggestions from her counselor, it seems that she did not say she used to bully me as the Little Tyrant, or that Ai Mi was my biological sister.

  It seems like their alliance is not very close… I mean you can’t really form a good relationship by simply trying to take advantage of each other and will eventually go their separate ways.

  “Stare…” Xiao Qin looked at me with these eyes ⊙?⊙.

  Hey, your stare is given me goosebumps.

  Xiao Qin changed into another (⊙＿⊙) stare and kept looking at me.

  Then it turned into ⊙▂⊙, then (゜.゜), then (@).

  Are you trying to play real life emoticons with me and using your own face as a monitor?

  Are you trying to stare at me so I feel guilty and confess what happened last night? Keep dreaming, only I, the class leader, and Zhuang Ni know about it. If Zhuang Ni did not tell you for some reason, then you have no other way to find out the truth.

  After stopping and staring at me for a full 5 minutes, Xiao Qin was also tired.

  “So sleepy~” Xiao Qin yawned, “I can’t walk anymore, Ye Lin classmate, carry me up…”


  Although that’s what she said, she sat down on the ground and leaned against a rock with a drowsy look.

  I also felt tired. If I forced myself to carry Xiao Qin up the mountain, what if there was an accident and we both rolled down the mountain?

  So I sat down next to her and leaned against the same rock. I intended to rest for a while and she made room for me.

  In the end, the two of us fell asleep shoulder to shoulder amidst the chirping of birds in the forest.

  Xiao Qin had taken off her straw hat and had her head leaned on my shoulder. I was awoken by my phone vibrating in my pocket, but Xiao Qin was still asleep.

  I tried not to wake her and carefully pulled out my phone. It was a text from the class leader: “The first group of us have arrived at the top of the mountain, are you guys still on the way? I can’t really get a good signal to call, so I could only send a text.”


  I replied and said we were fine, we accidentally fell asleep when taking a break and that we will catch up quickly.

  After putting away the phone, I realized that Xiao Qin had been holding my left hand tightly while she was asleep.

  She held my large hand with her own two small hands as if she was afraid I would be gone when she woke up.

  I heard when otters sleep by floating on water, they would hold hands with their companions to avoid being washed away by the current.

  Our current situation made us look like two otters.

  Was Xiao Qin worried about being swept away by the current of fate?

  I patted her soft hair a few times and reassured her with a voice only I could hear, “Don’t be afraid, although I, your brother, may not be as strong as you, but I will do my best to protect you.”


  It’s shameful that I was able to sleep last night when Xiao Qin’s whereabouts were unknown. If Ai Mi had disappeared, I would have searched all night.

  Is it because Ai Mi is too weak and Xiao Qin is too strong in my mind, or is it because in my subconscious, there is a difference between a real sister and a step-sister?

  It’s an unacceptable way of thinking, I have treat Ai Mi and Xiao Qin as equals.

  My left hand felt a little numb from being held by Xiao Qin for a long time, so I wanted to change my position. When I tried to replace it with my right hand, Xiao Qin woke up with a jolt.

  After a few gasps, Xiao Qin clutched my left hand and asked while breathing heavily, “Was Ye Lin planning on leaving me behind?”


  “No way.” I shook my head, “I just wanted to switch a hand because my hand is numb, I will never leave you behind.”


  “That’s a lie, right?” Xiao Qin pouted and looked at me like ￣︿￣.

  “I’m not lying, I can pinky promise.” I stuck out my right pinky.

  Xiao Qin happily stuck out her right pinky and tightly locked it with mines.

  “Cross you heart, hope to die.”


  It was as if I heard the childish words children used to say whenever we made a pinky promise in kindergarten.

  But Xiao Qin did not say anything other than hooking her pink with mines very tightly.

  I suddenly felt that I should take advantage of this good opportunity to make an agreement with Xiao Qin.

  “Xiao Qin, promise me that from now on, you won’t do anything to hurt yourself, and you won’t tempt me to hurt you either, okay?”


  Xiao Qin nodded blankly as she felt my body heat through my pinky finger.

  “Please do not feel that you have to be broken by me. I won’t abandon you, because you are my…”


  The word sister didn’t come out. Xiao Qin’s face turned even redder than the class leader’s from last night.

  “Re-, really?”


  “Of course.”


  “Can I give myself to you after marriage?”


  I wanted to answer “Yes, that’s okay”, but I felt something was wrong, so I changed my answer to something else:

  “Anyway… I won’t ask you for anything outrageous unless I marry you.”


  “Actually, we don’t have to wait until marriage…” Xiao Qin said bashfully, “It’s just that I’m envious of a pure white wedding dress, so no matter what, I hope to wear it once…”


  “Huh, does this have anything to do with what color wedding dress you wear?”


  “There is.” Xiao Qin was surprised that I did not know, “I read several shoujo manga that have this plot where the female protagonist would wake up to find herself sleeping next to a man. Then she would mistakenly believe she lost her virginity and shout, ‘I can’t wear a pure white wedding dress anymore when I get married,’ while crying and running away…”


  Don’t apply shoujo manga logic to reality! Although the West does have a traditional custom where only virgins can wear a pure white wedding dress when they get married, China did not abide by that rule at all when the wedding dress was introduced.

  “Um… if Ye Lin classmate is not going to force me to do anything, does that mean I don’t have to read H manga anymore.”


  Xiao Qin asked me carefully, as if this question was important to me.

  How much do you think I like H manga? It’s just merchandise my family sells. Although I may sometimes use some defective copies to rub one out, but it’s not like I worship it.

  “Of course you don’t have to read it.” I said, “Since you don’t like to read H manga, then you should have stopped. Also, you shouldn’t read shoujo manga anymore either.”


  “That… that won’t work.” Xiao Qin said emotionally, “I’m going to be a shoujo manga artist in the future, the greatest… since there were dogs…”


  “It’s since the beginning of time…”


  To be honest, I recovered a lot of energy after taking a nap with Xiao Qin.

  I pulled Xiao Qin up and planned to continue climbing and reunite with everyone else at the mountain top.

  What I didn’t expect was to hear a familiar sound of running water before I had walked even 100 meters.

  It seemed to be the brook we passed by yesterday. Mr. Zhang’s sign that said no outdoor sex was still standing (but now it had been changed to ‘No Jungling’).

  The stream was clear and curved along the mountain, but at one point it was forcefully diverted by a huge rock. After the water changed its path, the current abrupt increased in speed and it made a person who can’t swim like me, tremble a bit.

  “Ah, what a pity.” Xiao Qin touched her clothes, “I gave my backpack to Winnie to take up the mountain, so my swimsuit isn’t here with me, or…”


  I also gave my bag to Niu ShiLi and my trunks were also inside…


  I seriously suspect that, other than the class leader, all the other students who came to Cui Song Mountain, brought their swimsuits along with them.

  After all, the small number of travelers who talk about Cui Song Mountain will never forget its sweet and clear water. As well as the smooth round stones on the bottom of the stream that have been warmed up by the summer sun. There are even experts who say that stepping on these round stones that have absorbed the sun’s heat can play a role in massaging the bottom of the feet, promoting better blood circulation and curing impotence.

  For a while, due to the experts’ claims, the number of single male tourists coming to Cui Song Mountain increased, but all of them wore sunglasses out of fear of being recognized by acquaintances.

  Perhaps it was due to a lack of results, but those people eventually switched to other more reliable medical treatments (such as old military doctors), and Cui Song Mountain became known as “the place for impotent men” and became even more desolate.

  At this moment, Xiao Qin and I heard the sound of several girls frolicking with water behind the huge rocks.