Chapter 19: On the Issue of Character

"Pfft," Luo Shufan laughed mercilessly. Ever since his sister, Luo Qianqian, had bumped her head and woken up, she had become very concerned about her skin complexion and paid extra attention to taking care of it. Especially since they had their mother and He Wenyu, two individuals whose stark white complexions stood out in a crowd. Thus every morning, his sister forced herself to drink a big bowl of soy milk, even pinching her nose and closing her eyes while doing so.

"My dad said, 'Kids are children of the sun, a little darkness is good, it means you're healthy,'" He Wenyu continued to eat without looking up, diligently focusing on the rice in her bowl.

"Hmph," He Wenyu, still not looking up, did not notice the wistful look in Luo Qianqian's eyes: "Just like the day doesn't understand the darkness of the night, you'll never understand my sorrow." She borrowed a lyric from a song of a previous life, but unfortunately, since she was tone-deaf and couldn't read music, singing wasn't a money-making option for her. Then she recalled the unfair memory of going out to play with her brother in a past life; how they returned looking like a European and an African, respectively, and steam nearly billowed from Luo Qianqian's head with irritation.

"By the way, Qianqian, our summer homework includes a writing competition. Do you want to participate? There's prize money for the winners," Luo Shufan suddenly remembered this special assignment when he heard the unfamiliar lyrics. He recalled that there were also rewards at school for winners. He was sure his sister could rank highly, which meant the city's prize money would be hers, and the school's pens and notebooks would be his.

"Huh? Why didn't you mention it when we were doing homework?" During the first few days of vacation, aside from training in the morning, eating lunch, and making those shell ornaments, all the other time was dedicated to studying and doing homework. Luo Qianqian finished all the Chinese language assignments, from excerpts to diary entries, even the entire Chinese section of the summer homework booklet. As for mathematics and English, Luo Qianqian decisively demanded that her brother complete those himself. In a past life, her brother's Chinese had always been good, but English was a weak point for them both. Maths? It's always good to think more, and she certainly wasn't going to help with that.

And He Wenyu was indeed moved by the joint effort of the siblings in tackling their homework, believing that this was real studying. Hence, under Luo Shufan's suggestion, He's father bought her a mental arithmetic book, which she had to practice on for two pages every day. She was now doing addition and subtraction within a hundred, and although there were mistakes, overall, she was doing very well.

"Well, the deadline isn't here yet, so I didn't mention it," Luo Shufan would absolutely not admit that he had simply forgotten and that it only occurred to him by chance.

"Fine, I'll write it tonight but, in turn, you should be memorizing up to the fifth-grade second semester of English," Luo Qianqian said, not exposing her brother while watching him dodge her gaze. After all, Chinese was easy, but English required more effort to really succeed.

"Yeah, I know, I just borrowed a book the other day. Oh, now that you mention it, I remembered, I heard that you can make money by doing homework for others," Luo Shufan looked seriously at his sister, the little money-lover, eager to see if the news would make her jump for joy.

"Sure, if it's homework above middle school, and if you're confident about it," Luo Qianqian glanced at her teasing brother with an indifferent look and continued to eat.

Luo Shufan's expression turned somewhat sheepish; he hadn't expected his sister to respond like that. He was very aware of his limitations, not to mention English, his weak point, even mathematics, his best subject, was uncertain for him, so he mumbled softly, "But it's a way to make money..."

Luo Qianqian listened to her brother's words and put down her chopsticks seriously, saying, "Brother, which do you think is more important, a person's character or money?"

"What good is character if you can't spend it?" Luo Shufan looked at his sister's serious face, was a bit stunned, and immediately retorted.

Then I'll ask you this: If someone offered you fifty yuan to steal my favorite toy or to speak ill of Xiao Yu so that we can't be friends anymore, would you do it?" Luo Qianqian stared straight into her brother's eyes. She didn't want her brother to become someone who would do anything for money, nor did she want him to be the same honest person who got pushed around and bullied like in his past life.

"What do you mean by that?! Luo Qianqian, I, Luo Shufan, might be no good, but I'd never touch your things. You're my sister; no amount of money could make me allow you to be unhappy. Xiao Yu is your best friend; how could I possibly speak ill of you to her for a bit of money?! What kind of person do you think I am, Luo Qianqian!!!" Luo Shufan slammed his chopsticks down on the table, stood up with his eyes red, pointing at his sister and shouted loudly, his eyes also showing a hint of sadness.

"I didn't mean anything. I was just explaining to brother what character is," Luo Qianqian put down her chopsticks and pulled her brother to sit down, her small hand rubbing against his much larger one: "If you would do those things for money, that means you have bad character, and if you wouldn't, that means you have good character. This proves that my brother is a person with good character, and I knew that brother wouldn't trade his sister for financial gain."

"Get off me... it's too hot for you to lean on me." Luo Shufan said this with an obviously insufficient conviction, clearly enjoying his sister's flattery.

Luo Qianqian bowed her head and snickered, not missing the beet-red ears of her brother: "But, brother, if you really did their homework for them and they got bad grades, wouldn't they blame you? Why do I only help brother with Chinese homework? Because I know that brother already knows it, and my helping won't lead to bad grades in the exam. Plus, it lets me practice my handwriting, so that's why I do it. Have I ever touched the other subjects?" Luo Qianqian released her hand and picked up her chopsticks to grab a chicken leg for her brother.

"Humph, you only write for me because I have good character. If I were bad, I'd have sold you for candy already." Luo Shufan picked up the chopsticks and happily ate the chicken leg his sister had served, not forgetting to tease his sister, who was looking up and giggling.

"Oh, so brother doesn't like me and actually wants to sell me for candy." Luo Qianqian didn't hesitate to deliberately misinterpret her brother's words: "Xiao Yu, did you hear that? My brother wants to sell me. Does your family need a child? I'm going to stay at your place and not go home, wailing."

"We don't need one, but my family is short a puppy. Want to come?" He Wenyu put down her finished bowl, squinted her big eyes, and her mouth curled up into a beautiful arc. She didn't really want to get involved in this family matter, but Luo Qianqian, you asked for it: "First, call me sister a couple of times."

"Woo woo woo, Xiao Yu is also bullying me, no one loves me, woo woo woo. My blood brother wants to sell me for candy, and my good friend treats me like a dog. Do I have no human rights at all?" Luo Qianqian breathed a sigh of relief when she saw smiles on both her brother's and Xiao Yu's faces: "You're not kind children, you're bad kids, wailing."