That night, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse. I was sure that tomorrow would be a rare good day.
The girl sleeping on the sofa with her puppy in her arms heard the creaking sound of the security door being pushed open, a faint but warm yellow light lit up in the entrance hall, and the rustling sound of someone changing shoes could be heard faintly—
The puppy woke up and licked the girl's cheek. The girl also woke up rubbing her eyes and looked at the person who came.
"Sister." Her tone was soft, with the lazy and sleepy look of just waking up, which made her look very cute.
"You're back? It's so late today."
The woman in a leather windbreaker couldn't help but come closer, wanting to touch the girl's head. Considering the coolness on her hands, she paused for a moment, then withdrew her hands and blew for a while. She just asked gently, "Why are you still waiting today? Didn't your sister ask you to go to bed first?"
"I can't sleep without you." The girl took the initiative to move over and rubbed against him, acting like a spoiled child. With a slightly complaining tone, "Sister, will you be so tired every day in the future?"
"… "
The woman was silent for a moment. Suddenly, she half-knelt down and held the girl in her arms. The cool air attached to the windbreaker seemed to completely wrap around the girl, but with it came the warmth of the human body.
She stroked the child's soft hair, as if she was talking to her, or to herself.
"I won't be busy soon." She murmured, "Xiao Qiang, I will protect you."
"must."
"And Xiaoqi." Because her sister often said such things recently, Xiao Qiang didn't feel any sense of crisis or weird. Instead, she added with a smile - Xiaoqi is the name of their dog.
The sad expression on the woman's face quickly disappeared. She seemed to be amused by the girl and added softly, "Well, okay, and Xiaoqi."
…
"elder brother."
The kid, who was wearing a clean sportswear and wrist guards on his hands and knees, came over and looked at him eagerly, "Are you going to look for that handsome brother?"
The boy didn't say anything.
The kid wasn't embarrassed, he just laughed twice, looking like he deserved a beating, "Brother, please, take me there, I haven't thanked that handsome brother yet."
The boy was unmoved. He patted his head lazily, turned his shoulders, and told him to go to the side and cool down. "We are going to discuss business, not children. Be good."
"Besides," he glanced at the child, "you called him so affectionately, I thought he was your brother."
"No, no," the child said sweetly, "Are you jealous? Well, I'm sure—"
The boy blushed suspiciously and said awkwardly, "Why should I be jealous? People don't even know me well..."
younger brother:"… "
The younger brother added weakly, "I meant that you were jealous of me and called others brother..."
Boy: “…”
younger brother:"… "
"elder brother-"
"Don't call me!" The boy was so angry that he slapped his brother on the head. He answered very uncivilized and decisively, "Let's go!"
…