47 Beloved Brother (1)

"Long time no see, Sister."

Clink! ...went my car key as it fell to the ground heavily, echoing through the underground parking lot.

At the sound of that voice, my body had reflexively stiffened and my heart jumped rapidly. Knitting my eyebrows, I sank deep into thoughts. This reaction...

'No, it wasn't me, it's Li Fei,' I told myself.

This immediate muscle memory that occurred after hearing the unfamiliar yet familiar voice from behind me belonged to Li Fei, not me.

Unfamiliar. Perhaps it was, as it had been exactly two years and three months since this pair of ears had heard of this voice and the endearing nickname. For myself though, it was absolutely unfamiliar since I had been an only child.

I bent down and picked up the fallen key from the ground before darting my eyes across the Ferrari to the young man.

The same obsidian eyes, however different hair color as the man had his hair dyed to taupe brown. The color highlighted his already pale skin and made him appeared more fair. Though the young man's body was not necessarily built, he was still looking toned under his light grey turtle neck layered with black jacket and a pair of dark jeans.

Currently, the young man tall figure was leaning against his silver ride, looking suave and relax. He was flashing a friendly smile at me.

I raised an eyebrow. 'That face. Indeed, he looks more like their mother, Huang Su Li.'

Perhaps that was the reason why everyone had agreed that the young man in front of me was born good-looking, better than his older sister who adopted half of their father's look.

Bai Su Li or Huang Su Li as everyone knew her, had been a pretty woman in her middle age. Even when she had married and turned thirty with three children in the household, her appearance was still well-maintained with good figure and ladylike elegance.

In Li Fei's memory, her mother had been a woman she had secretly admired as she was strong and defiant, but nevertheless uniquely beautiful in her own way. Even though Huang Su Li was not necessarily warm and loving towards her first born, still, Li Fei held her high in her heart like the brightest star in the night sky.

I rested my arms atop my car as my body leaned against it. I greeted the young man back rather indifferently, "Yes, indeed. It's been two years."

It was true. Marrying Lu Tianfeng had in a way freed Li Fei from her father's clutch, thus she had never thought of turning back to her family, leaving everything behind as if it was just a nightmare.

"Well sis, you look fine."

'Fine?' My lips voluntarily curled into a slight smirk. It was subtle but still very much vivid on my expressionless face.

"Well, after all it's just a stab in the chest. Not on my back," I replied apathetically as if I was merely talking about the weather. However, no doubt anyone here would be that foolish to believe it as it was because metaphorically or not, both sentences had delivered a sarcastic remark right to the listeners' ears.

I had to say though it was rather entertaining watching how this 'little brother' of mine trying hard to make sure that friendly mask of his remained intact, despite the quivering on the corner of his lips that I had not failed to catch on.

It had to be hard for him to cope with the vile life of the high society. It had always been a fight under the table or behind the scene for them. This much I could guess since it had been a hell hole for Li Fei when she dove into the Lu family social circle as the young madam.

No matter if it was an empty expression, I had flashed a harmless smile to this young man. 'Go on Huang Qian with your poor talent in acting that can put all the industry into shame.'

Either way, I could care less. He came to me himself and I had no way but to play pretend with him. However, I had never done things halfway.

Ashamed though, to compare a young master like him with a high school girl in term of acting was a bit reckless. After all, there was no drama in this world that could compare to high school life.

Still, I had no intention of stopping this futile play, unless the young man yielded first. Propping my head onto my hand, I spoke to no one in particular, "Someone is disappointed."

A sweet innocent smile naturally bloomed on my lips like a blossoming red lily in Spring.

It marked the end of the show I believed since I saw him narrowing his eyes, albeit the curve of his lips.

He snorted. "Why would I be disappointed? I'm rejoicing actually."

I titled my head sideways, blinking at him. "I never said it's you who's disappointed, Huang Qian."

The smile on my face became more prominent. "But, I see now you are."

His pupil contracted and his smile went down. Huang Qian chuckled, but there was not a tinge of amusement in that laughter. Despite that, I joined him in laughing.

When Huang Qian raised his head again, his mask could no longer be seen. His eyes stared at me quite piercingly. "But I told you already, Sister. I'm not disappointed. I'm happy that you're all well now."

I thought right then how Li Fei's brother needed his eyes checked. If it had not been me being stubborn, Jin Longwen wouldn't have agreed to let me go since my body was still feverish. Indeed, when I had looked at myself in the mirror in his villa, I had noticed how pale my countenance was.

'Can't he think of a smarter answer?' I sighed inwardly.

Albeit feeling a little bit crestfallen from having such a foolish sibling deep down, on the surface, I still smiled ever so enchantingly at this little brother of mine. "In that case, thank you for your care, Little Qian."

"No worries." He shrugged. As a smile had slowly returned to his face, his speech had become more natural as well, "Well, I do love my older sister."

"Likewise, little brother." I loved seeing him acting smugly thinking that he had bypassed this 'naive' sister of his.

He amused me to no end.

Thus, in that moment, I had thought to myself if I could not avoid this wretched life of the high society in the capital, I might as well entertained myself like this. After all, it was not often anyone found themselves stranded in a movie-like life.

The pain I carried with me did not relate to them. They were not a part of my sin, neither were they my retribution. However, I closed my eyes, recalling my father's words then.

"Living could get hard sometimes. Humans are just...complex. But remember this, love, we're not born to be looked down upon. Human rights are equal. Fighting is bad, but sometimes we can't avoid it. So, if it ever comes, don't shy away and do it elegantly, love."

I couldn't avoid it. At first, it might not have sunk into my brain that I had truly become Li Fei. I tried to avoid this, preventing myself from diving into Li Fei's life. It was none of my business. I was already hurting, so why would I add more salt into the wound?

I ended it fast with the Lu family. Perhaps that was what made me believed that I could walk away from Li Fei's life. But, no matter what, the fact couldn't be erased, right?

My shell was Li Fei's.

I came to realize this during my stay with Jin Longwen. Besides, I could not just borrow and shrugged off the responsibilities that came with it. I could not just easily escape.

My dad had once said as well, "In this life, nothing comes easy, love."

Indeed. And every loan had its own agreement.

....

"So, is that it?" I straightened my back. "If it is, you may return from whence you came."

Huang Qian moved away from his car and I could sense my little brother getting serious.

"It's been hard searching for you sister. Aren't you gonna at least invite you little brother to have some tea?" He asked. I saw him slowly inching forward.

I raised an eyebrow while I took a few steps away from my car towards the lift. "I hate to break this down to you, Brother. But, I believe visiting time has long passed. You should've done it sooner, perhaps, ten days ago."

He chuckled. "Well, I didn't want to disturb your rest then, sister. That's why I didn't visit."

"I see. How understanding of you."

"Like I said, I do love my sister."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you feel after saying that sentence twice?"

'I bet it must've felt ridiculous,' I thought to myself. But I had to admit, Li Fei's father trained his successor well. I didn't even see him blinked when he uttered that ridiculous nonsense. Yet, it was not good enough to pass my eyes. At a time like this, I was grateful to have grown up observant.

Before my grandma had passed away, she taught me what she had taught mom. Grandma made sure to drill this teaching into my little head at that time.

"Being in the sideline is not always bad. At least we can get a clearer view of the situation. So, talk less and observe more, Airi-chan. That way, you can unravel the whole scenario."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean, sister. I feel just the same. Fine," Huang Qian replied.

The corner of my lips lifted. I found it amusing how they could easily lie through their teeth. This was probably the slight difference between high school girls and a young master of the high society.

"Well, whatever makes you happy." I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Let's cut to the chase now, shall we? How may I help you, little brother?"