“What Full-Link… Supervisor…?” Su Yuening cupped her face in her hands, “It seems Mom really is getting old. I can’t understand these jobs you young people talk about.”
There was a pause.
“But it sounds like a really impressive position. Our Xiaoxi is really making us proud~”
“That’s… that’s right, hehe…”
Ye Xinglan felt strange hearing Su Yuening—who looked so young, like Xiaoxi’s older sister—say things like that.
Off to the side, Xiao Keke’s eyes widened.
Today, seeing her big sis dressed so properly… no, anyway, seeing her come home all formal, she thought her sister was going to lie to their mom.
She didn’t expect her big sis could get away with it like this?
What a pity. She’d originally wanted to show their mom some photos of her sister at work.
At least when her sister wore a maid outfit, she was pretty cute… Watching Xiaoxi pretending to act all serious, Xiao Keke suddenly felt a bit mischievous.
“So, big sis, what exactly do you do at this job of yours? Sounds pretty high and mighty.”
“It’s just… normally I’m in charge of supervising and managing Vertical Food Transport at the Restaurant… then when I’m home, I write some Artistic Creation as a side job.”
Xiaoxi shot a covert glare at Xiao Keke. This little brat knew perfectly well what she did—she was obviously trying to stir things up!
Fine, Keke, if you want to make things difficult for your big sis, then your big sis won’t let you off easy either!
It looked like Xiao Keke still wanted to say something, but Xiaoxi quickly cut her off.
“Let’s not talk about me. By the way, Keke, have you been getting used to University life? You must have learned a lot this semester, right?”
“I-I have, yeah… learned a lot…”
Now it was Xiao Keke’s turn to get flustered.
Ye Xinglan watched Su Yuening’s smiling face and suddenly felt their mom was a bit pitiful—both daughters were hiding things from her.
Seeing Su Yuening’s gentle and smiling expression, it was hard to imagine she could ever guess that her two girls were both magical girls, right?
“Why don’t you tell Mom about your life at school~”
“Cough, well, um…”
Unlike Xiaoxi, Xiao Keke wasn’t prepared at all. Watching her stumble over her words, Su Yuening stepped in just in time.
“All right, all right, you’re both grown up now, yet the moment you see each other you bicker like little kids. You’re going to make others laugh at you.”
Su Yuening hugged both their heads into her arms and rubbed them together.
After a bit more chatting, she excused herself, saying she had to prepare lunch, and let the two of them show Ye Xinglan around the house.
Xiaoxi’s home was in the Old District. It was different from the Apartment where they lived now.
The furniture at home all looked like older styles, but everything was well maintained.
It was clear that someone who truly loved life lived here.
Ye Xinglan couldn’t put her finger on what was special about Xiaoxi’s home, but this unique family atmosphere, full of life, really did make her feel at ease.
“Wow, this was your room, Xiaoxi? It’s kind of plain.”
“I’ve been living away for so long already. Of course there’s not much of my presence left in the room. Actually, even when I lived here, I was never into decorating.”
Ye Xinglan wandered around Xiaoxi’s room with excitement.
She already knew Xiaoxi pretty well, but suddenly seeing a side of her that was new felt refreshing.
“This is the bed you used to sleep in?” Ye Xinglan pounced on it. “It does kind of smell like you.”
“That’s just your imagination. I haven’t slept here in ages. If there’s any smell, it’s probably just dust…”
“Let me check under the bed… Huh, there’s no Little Emperor Book hidden under here?”
“Of course not! Wait, I don’t even have that kind of thing, okay! Don’t make stuff up!”
As she spoke, Xiaoxi glanced nostalgically at the things in the room.
Then she noticed Xiao Keke had basically turned her room into a storage closet, dumping all the stuff she didn’t need in here.
Xiaoxi turned around and glared. Xiao Keke stuck out her tongue playfully.
“Well, you already graduated from University and moved out ages ago, so your room was just sitting empty. What’s wrong with me putting some of my stuff here?”
“Huh? Is this your Childhood Photo, Xiaoxi?”
Ye Xinglan suddenly stopped in front of the cabinet.
In the photo, a little girl who looked a lot like Xiaoxi held up a certificate and grinned brightly.
There were also pictures of her and Xiao Keke together, photos of them on trips… Ye Xinglan’s eyes sparkled as she pulled out her phone.
“Ah, so cute, so cute~”
“What are you doing! No pictures!”
“Oh, what’s so embarrassing about it? It’s just a Childhood Photo,” Ye Xinglan looked back and forth between the photo and Xiaoxi.
“But somehow, you seemed a bit more dashing when you were little? Now you’re even cuter and more girlish.”
Xiaoxi could only smile helplessly. Her hair had always grown fast since she was a kid, and she’d always been adorable, so she was often mistaken for a girl.
At least now she didn’t have to worry about that kind of misunderstanding.
“But it looks like some parts of you haven’t really developed since you were little…”
“Ow!”
Xiaoxi covered her chest with one hand and gave Ye Xinglan a firm whack on the head with the other.
To keep Ye Xinglan from pulling any more tricks, Xiaoxi immediately dragged her over to Xiao Keke’s room next door.
Xiaoxi’s house had a three-bedroom, one-living room layout, with a small balcony.
Right now, Su Yuening had filled the balcony with all kinds of flowers and plants.
Ye Xinglan poked her head out to look at the room on the other side of the living room.
“So, each of you and Keke have your own room, and then your parents share a room? By the way, where’s your dad, Xiaoxi? He’s not home?”
Ye Xinglan recalled that she’d seen what looked like a Family Portrait from Xiaoxi’s high school days.
She hadn’t really looked at it earlier because her attention was all on Xiaoxi, but now she suddenly realized there were only three people in the photo?
“Um…” Xiaoxi made a strange face. “Pretty much. But there’s something I guess I forgot to tell you, Xinglan. I’m not from a traditional family—ours is a blended family, so it’s just Mom at home.”
Ye Xinglan tilted her head, not quite following the logic.
“So, my mom and Keke’s mom got remarried and formed a family together.”
Ye Xinglan: “?”
Ye Xinglan’s mind was completely blown. She didn’t know families could work like that!
“Keke is actually Mom’s biological child, but when Mom remarried, we were both really young, so we never had any issues growing up together.”
As Xiaoxi spoke, she glared at Xiao Keke again. Only real sisters could be this shameless with each other.
“I see… So what about your own mom?”
“She’s gone.”
“Gone?”
Faced with Ye Xinglan’s shock, Xiaoxi just shrugged, looking totally unconcerned.
“That’s just how my mom is—disappearing every now and then. After I started high school, she suddenly said she wanted to go traveling and just vanished.”
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