Chapter 4 : The older brother has become the older sister, meow?

The editor sent Xiaoxi several book titles for her to scan and study— all centered around the magical girl genre.

But Xiaoxi stared at the typing box containing the words, “Okay, thank you, Editor,” and yet hesitated to hit Enter.

Writing a magical girl story about defeat, especially one modeled after her former teammates… Xiaoxi felt her conscience gnawing at her, already torn and half-baked in turmoil.

The dignity of a magical girl… forget it, she wasn’t a magical girl anymore, was she? Figuring out how to make money was more important.

Still, Xiaoxi didn’t want to use her former teammates as prototypes, nor herself… uh, no, that was even worse—she just couldn’t do it!

That was her original thought, but after randomly opening several of the editor’s recommended books, Xiaoxi realized that most online novels about defeated magical girls basically parodied famous magical girls from real life—and those famous magical girls were almost always her old teammates.

Xiaoxi sighed, deeply understanding that “bottom lines” only existed to be broken.

Yet the novels that clearly focused less on the word “defeat” unexpectedly stirred Xiaoxi’s thoughts. As she read, she recalled many memories from the old days with her teammates.

Come to think of it, they had indeed faced situations like these when battling monsters. If she hadn’t saved them, Xingge might have really gone through the scenarios written in these books.

And this one—this monster was obviously based on the one they had jointly defeated before, an “if” storyline…

As Xiaoxi read, all kinds of memories flashed through her mind, and suddenly a bright idea struck her. She pulled one scene from those fragments.

Hiss… this seemed pretty suitable for the editor’s defeated theme, with some minor changes…

So Xiaoxi slipped into a state of creation and unconsciously opened a document to start writing, until a cold voice from behind interrupted her thoughts.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Xiaoxi’s hand trembled; she closed the document instantly and looked anxiously toward the source of the voice—Ye Xinglan, who had suddenly appeared behind her.

“Nothing, I was just… cough, what’s up?”

“I’m hungry.” Ye Xinglan’s words were brief. She pointed at the clock on the wall, and only then did Xiaoxi realize it was already dinnertime.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice the time. I’ll go make dinner right away.”

An hour later, watching Ye Xinglan devour the meal at the table, Xiaoxi’s nervous heart finally eased.

She had originally worried that the young lady wouldn’t be used to her cooking, but now she saw she had been overthinking.

“Mm, I didn’t expect (chew chew) your cooking to be (chew chew) pretty tasty, Xiaoxi.”

“As long as you like it, it’s just some ordinary dishes…”

“Ordinary?”

Ye Xinglan tilted her head, her puffed cheeks making her look like a little hamster, which inexplicably gave Xiaoxi the urge to poke her. She hadn’t expected the aloof young lady to show such a side.

“But I never really ate food like this before.”

Recalling the days locked in Cang Gu Tang, Ye Xinglan felt that every meal was so bland. Sometimes, she even had to fast and refrain from drinking to cooperate with the Association’s experiments. Compared to that, Xiaoxi’s food could be considered delicious.

Xiaoxi understood this well—she hadn’t eaten much like this before… it seemed the young lady had grown up eating only delicacies and rare treats. This was her first time tasting a common family meal, so it felt special. She could understand that.

Just then, Xiaoxi’s WeChat buzzed. Seeing it was a message from her mom, her heart sank. Was her mother setting her up on a blind date again?

“Your sister has to report to college early; she’ll arrive in Xiahai City tomorrow. She said she’ll come to see you in a couple of days. Your address is still the same, right?”

Xiaoxi was momentarily stunned but glad that her younger sister had gotten into a college in Xiahai City. Still, this early reporting was news to her.

“Yeah, still the same rented place.”

After replying, Xiaoxi glanced at Ye Xinglan out of habit. Fortunately, Ye Xinglan hadn’t kicked her out. Otherwise, if Xia Keke showed up in Xiahai City and found her brother homeless on the street… well, her dignity as the older sibling would be completely shattered.

Though she hadn’t seen Xia Keke in a long time, Xiaoxi missed her little sister a bit.

But Xia Keke didn’t message her directly about coming to see her—instead, she had their mother pass on the message. Seems like Xia Keke still didn’t like her much, just like before.

Still, it was fine. These days, Xiaoxi needed to prepare in advance anyway—maybe buy some binding cloth or something…

….

Two days later, the moment the doorbell rang outside, Xiaoxi bounced up from her room and went out.

Her palms were slightly sweaty. She really hadn’t seen Xia Keke in a long time, and the girl rarely messaged her first.

“Big bro, long time no—”

The lively greeting stopped abruptly as Xiaoxi opened the door. Xia Keke had come forward, ready to give a big hug, but froze in place. She looked Xiaoxi over suspiciously, her gaze finally settling on Xiaoxi’s chest.

“Keke, what’s wrong?” Xiaoxi’s voice sounded a little guilty.

“Hmm… hiss…”

Xia Keke frowned, staring at Xiaoxi’s chest for a long moment, then suddenly reached out to grab Xiaoxi’s lower half.

Damn! Xiaoxi jumped, startled. After so long, that brat was still so shameless!

But Xiaoxi couldn’t dodge Xia Keke’s “black hand.” After confirming the feel, Xia Keke’s face showed shock.

“Big bro… no, big sis, you’ve totally lost it, huh?”

Moments later, on the living room sofa, Xia Keke sat with her legs crossed, staring at Xiaoxi beside her, as if interrogating a suspect.

“Spill it. When did this happen? Why did you hide it from me and Mom?”

“Not that long ago, mainly didn’t want Mom to worry… How did you figure it out?”

“I’m not blind!”

Xia Keke laughed angrily. Although she and Mom had expected this day to come, and even though big bro had always looked delicate and not like a boy, still…

Look at this skin, so fair and tender! And such a cute face! And this chest—you can tell something’s off even if you try to bind it, right?

“Damn, why is your chest bigger than mine?”

The more Xia Keke thought about it, the angrier she got. She gritted her teeth and tried to kick Xiaoxi’s side, but Xiaoxi nimbly dodged.

“Forget it, this suits you pretty well anyway. You never really had the responsibility of being a boy, right?”

Xia Keke snorted, and Xiaoxi knew exactly what she meant but just smiled bitterly without replying.

Actually, when they were little, Xia Keke didn’t dislike her so much. Her attitude started to shift after Xiaoxi became [Eternal Star].

During that period, weird people and monsters frequently appeared, and society was much less safe. To young Xia Keke, Xiaoxi, as the only male in the family, always ran off alone during monster and stranger attacks, leaving her and Mom to fend for themselves. It was indeed irresponsible.

But Xiaoxi couldn’t tell Xia Keke that she had to find a secluded place to transform into [Eternal Star] before coming back to save them—that defeating the monsters was the best way to protect her sister and mother.

“Xiaoxi, what are we eating for lunch today—”

A cold female voice came from the bedroom, and Xia Keke’s eyes widened as Ye Xinglan appeared.

Big bro… no, big sis has come a long way? Secretly hiding a woman at home now?