"You..."
"What are you doing here so late? Shouldn’t you be asleep?"
Lin Xiaoman had suddenly appeared!
The anger in Lin Feng’s heart flared up all over again.
This time, it wasn’t about the project from earlier. It was more about his frustration with his sister. ’Why is she still up so late?’
"Uh... I really couldn’t sleep."
"So I gave my sister-in-law a call, wanting to talk, and she just invited me over for a late-night snack..."
Lin Xiaoman’s voice sounded even more aggrieved.
The moment she saw her brother, her eyes instantly reddened.
All her grievances welled up, and tears began to pool in her eyes.
But stubborn and strong-willed, Lin Xiaoman fought them back, refusing to let a single tear fall.
"Sigh, fine..."
"Well, I’ll go see what else we can eat. If it’s not enough, I’ll order something else..."
Feeling awkward, Lin Feng made an excuse and escaped into the kitchen.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Why did you invite Lin Xiaoman over?"
"It’s the middle of the night. I just came out of the bathroom and she nearly scared me to death..."
The moment Lin Feng stepped into the kitchen, he quickly shut the door.
Then, he dramatically recounted the harrowing experience of his recent scare to Su Ruoxi.
Su Ruoxi gently continued her cooking, a faint smile on her face as she listened to the man she loved chattering on beside her.
"All right, let’s go out and talk while we eat."
"And another thing, who eats barbecue in the middle of the night? It smells so strong and it’s incredibly greasy. If you get a fatty liver from this, don’t expect me to take care of you."
As she spoke, Su Ruoxi placed a bowl filled with porridge in Lin Feng’s hands.
"Come on now, don’t be a child. Are you really pouting?"
"I’m doing this for you, you know. Look at the time! If I didn’t want you and your sister to have a good talk, I wouldn’t be making you eat in the middle of the night. Once you finish this bowl of porridge, no more eating anything else, okay?"
Just then, Su Ruoxi was like a sweet kindergarten teacher, patiently guiding a misbehaving child.
"Ah, alright. I guess I’ll have to wait until tomorrow for a proper feast."
Of course, Lin Feng knew that Su Ruoxi was only doing this for his own good.
He playfully made a face, then turned, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly to compose himself.
SWOOSH...
The door opened!
"Ahem... Um... Have you eaten tonight?"
Seeing Lin Xiaoman sitting dazedly on the sofa with red-rimmed eyes, Lin Feng’s heart immediately softened.
But his pride as an older brother wouldn’t let him just come out and apologize, so he could only resort to idle chatter.
"No, I didn’t have much of an appetite today."
"I’ve been busy ever since I left your office."
"Besides, I haven’t felt like eating. If my sister-in-law hadn’t called me over, I probably would’ve just gone to sleep hungry."
Lin Xiaoman’s voice was truly weak and faint.
You could tell the girl really hadn’t eaten all day.
Her face was also a little pale; it was clear that the morning’s events had tormented her to the point where she had no appetite and couldn’t rest well.
"Alright. Your sister-in-law made some porridge, so have a few bites to tide you over."
"Tomorrow, I’ll take you out for something good to eat."
Even though they were at odds, Lin Feng ultimately couldn’t help but worry about his sister.
A long, long silence followed.
Lin Feng lowered his head and focused on his porridge, while Lin Xiaoman, not knowing what to say, could only stare down at her cute pink socks.
RUMBLE RUMBLE...
Something always comes along to break the silence.
Just like now, as the ravenous Lin Xiaoman sat watching her brother slurp down his porridge, her own starving stomach began to rumble in protest!
The sound, however, left Lin Xiaoman so embarrassed she didn’t know where to look.
"Sigh! At the end of the day, your health is what’s most important. How could you let yourself get this hungry?"
"You wait here. I’ll go get you a bowl of porridge."
Lin Feng let out a deep sigh.
Inwardly, however, he felt a small sense of relief. ’At least this gives me an excuse to break the silence with my sister.’
’Otherwise, this awkward standoff would be unbearable.’
As soon as he walked into the kitchen, he found Su Ruoxi standing alone by the stove, quietly scrolling through her phone.
"Why are you out here? What’s wrong?"
Lin Feng was a bit puzzled. ’This is my home, after all. Why is Ruoxi being so formal?’
"Huh?"
"What are you doing back in here? How are you two doing?"
Su Ruoxi hadn’t expected Lin Feng to be back after only a few minutes.
"We haven’t talked much. Xiaoman’s stomach started growling, so I came to get her a bowl of porridge. But what are you doing in here?"
"I was just trying to give you and your sister some time to talk things out."
"Even though I know the whole story, I was afraid there might be some things you wouldn’t be able to say in front of me."
Gentle as water and deeply empathetic—such words seemed made to describe a woman like Su Ruoxi.
"I’m sorry you had to do that. But don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. We’ll start a conversation in a minute. Lin Xiaoman isn’t the type to be unreasonable, so this should be easy to resolve."
His heart ached seeing the woman he loved inconveniencing herself like this—hiding in a smoky kitchen for the sake of his relationship with his sister. He couldn’t help but step forward and hug Su Ruoxi.
"It’s okay. You two siblings are quite a handful, so doesn’t that mean I have to worry a little more?"
"In a minute, you have to remember: no matter what your sister says, don’t get angry, okay?"
Su Ruoxi knew Lin Feng’s personality all too well. Once he got stubborn, not even nine bulls could pull him back.
In many situations, this was an excellent quality—you could call it tenacity or persistence.
But when it came to handling interpersonal relationships, it was an undeniable flaw.
"Don’t worry~"
Still feeling protective of his girlfriend, Lin Feng quickly took Su Ruoxi’s hand and led her into the living room.
"Oh, my~"
"Aren’t you two being a little brazen!"
"I’m still sitting here, you know, a lonely single person. Are you trying to rub it in my face?"
"And from my own brother and sister-in-law, no less! Have you no decency!"
Lin Xiaoman had been eagerly awaiting her bowl of porridge.
She never expected the lovebirds to walk in holding hands so sweetly. The sight was so striking that Lin Xiaoman suddenly wondered if she was intruding on their private time.
"Hahaha, well then, should your sister-in-law help you find a boyfriend? Tell me, what’s your type?"
Su Ruoxi sat down beside Lin Xiaoman, half-joking.
"I like them tall, skinny, fair-skinned, and handsome..."
Lin Xiaoman said dreamily, her eyes sparkling with hearts.
"In that case, why don’t I just go to Yuehua and find a few trainees for you to have dinner with? Every single one of those boys is tall, fair-skinned, and handsome."
Lin Feng couldn’t stop rolling his eyes as he listened.
’Those demands were straight out of a naive girl’s fantasy, the kind of requirements you’d find for male leads in comics and novels.’
’She was only concerned with their Appearance, giving no thought to what kind of character or abilities a person needed behind that pretty face for a relationship to last.’

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