An Adoptive Older Sister Cannot Become a Wife - Chapter 3

The mid-September heat still lingered in Rongcheng, leaving a trace of restlessness in the evening breeze.

Outside the school gates, the street was a riot of noise and colour. Small vendors crowded the pavement, hawking ice jelly, grilled sausages, and fried skewers. Their cries rose and fell over the delicious, smoky aromas that wafted through the air, creating a vibrant, bustling scene.

Nianshu sat on the back of the bicycle, wearing Qi Shu’s backpack and hugging her sister tightly around the waist. She could feel the subtle lines of muscle beneath the fabric. Unlike her, Qi Shu went for a run every morning and hit the gym every week. Nianshu had tried to join her once, but she hadn’t lasted a week. No matter how much she envied Qi Shu’s athletic physique, it remained a distant, unreachable goal.

As they rode past the vendors, a particularly savory scent caught Nianshu’s nose, and her stomach gave an ungraceful growl.

Qi Shu seemed to hear it. The pace of the pedals slowed slightly as she glanced back. “Hungry? Do you want to stop for something?”

The evening wind brushed through Qi Shu’s hair, sending a few stray strands dancing across Nianshu’s face. It tickled. Nianshu rubbed her face against her sister’s back and whispered, “No. I’m saving room for your cooking.”

Qi Shu let out what sounded like a small laugh, didn’t say another word, and simply sped up.

The bicycle rattled slightly over the stone path near the gate. Fearing a tumble, Nianshu tightened her grip. The question she had been wrestling with all afternoon bubbled to the surface, and she spoke up cautiously.

“Sister, can I ask you something?”

Qi Shu’s voice drifted back through the wind. “Go ahead.”

Nianshu took a deep breath. “What… what kind of person do you like?”

The moment the question left her lips, she felt the bike jerk ever so slightly as Qi Shu’s rhythm faltered. Her sister’s voice was unreadable. “What brought that on all of a sudden?”

Nianshu’s fingers instinctively bunched up the fabric of Qi Shu’s uniform. The night wind made her voice feel airy and faint, carrying a trace of panic she didn’t even recognise. “Just… curiosity.”

For a long time after that, Qi Shu said nothing.

The heavy silence made Nianshu’s mind race. Was that too forward?

She had always known that her relationship with Qi Shu was different from other sisters. She wasn’t Qi Shu’s biological sister. When she first arrived at the Qi household, she knew there was a child named Qi Shu who had gone missing. If it hadn’t been for that disappearance, Nianshu would never have entered this family.

So, when Qi Shu’s parents named her Nianshu—”Thinking of Shu”—she hadn’t minded at all. A name was just a label, after all. She had no desire to return to the orphanage where she was bullied; she hadn’t even liked her original name, Tiantian.

Then Qi Shu came back. Nianshu had overheard the parents saying that if Qi Shu couldn’t accept her, they would send her back. She didn’t want to go. But this was Qi Shu’s home, after all. Being allowed to stay for two years was already a stroke of immense luck. She had packed her bags, ready to leave. Before going, she wanted to return the rabbit plushie the parents had given her to its rightful owner.

But Qi Shu hadn’t taken it.

From then on, she finally had an older sister, parents, and a home. In her heart, her birth parents had abandoned her, and her foster parents might discard her at any time—but not Qi Shu. Only Qi Shu had taken her hand and chosen her to be a sister.

When her parents suggested changing her name later on, Nianshu refused. She and Qi Shu shared no blood; the name was their only direct connection. When outsiders asked, she never bothered to explain. Since Qi Shu never corrected anyone, she was Qi Shu’s real sister.

Qi Shu was the best sister in the world. On the nights when Nianshu was terrified of thunderstorms, only Qi Shu would pull her into her arms and cover her ears to shut out the world. Yet, even if everyone else believed they were blood sisters, Nianshu knew the truth in her heart: they weren’t.

Did I overstep by asking that?

Nianshu felt like her heart was about to leap out of her chest. Finally, Qi Shu’s answer came—quiet, but perfectly clear in her ear.

“Quiet, and obedient.”

Quiet, and obedient.

Just three words. Nianshu repeated them over and over in her head, thinking of the boy from the playground. He didn’t look quiet at all, and he certainly wasn’t listening to her sister. So, Qi Shu wouldn’t like someone like that.

In an instant, all the anxiety of the afternoon evaporated. Nianshu felt a surge of joy; if she weren’t balanced on the back of a bike, she would have jumped for happiness.

She snuggled against Qi Shu’s back, her voice chirpy. “Sister, I’ve been thinking. It was wrong of me to daydream in class. I’ll write the self-reflection myself after all.”

Qi Shu didn’t quite grasp where this sudden change of heart came from, but she could feel the girl’s high spirits even through her clothes. She simply said, “Suit yourself.”

The streetlights flickered on one by one, their amber glow casting their overlapping shadows long and thin across the ground. Nianshu sat sideways, watching their shadows, and smiled again.

The ten-minute journey felt far too short. Nianshu reluctantly let go of Qi Shu’s waist as they reached home. Qi Shu locked the bike, took Nianshu’s bag, and opened the front door. The house was pitch black; their parents were indeed still working late.

“Go wash your hands,” Qi Shu said, placing their bags on the shoe rack and draping her jacket over her arm. “I’ll make some noodles.”

The kitchen soon filled with the sound of running water and the gentle clinking of bowls. After washing her hands, Nianshu shuffled to the kitchen door in her slippers, leaning against the frame to watch.

To make cooking easier, Qi Shu had clipped her hair back loosely. A few stray locks hung by her neck, swaying gently as she moved. She wore an off-white apron, sleeves rolled up to her elbows, whisking eggs with practiced ease. The egg mixture frothed into fine bubbles, the golden hue making Qi Shu’s fingers look even paler and more elegant.

The warm kitchen light fell over her, making her look like a completely different person from the cold girl in the classroom. Nianshu couldn’t look away; her heart felt soft, and she felt like the luckiest person in the world.

Noticing her there, Qi Shu stopped whisking and set the bowl aside. To Nianshu’s confusion, she opened the fridge and handed over a gel eye mask. It was freezing to the touch, a welcome relief from the humid night. Nianshu blinked, not understanding.

Qi Shu’s damp fingers brushed lightly under Nianshu’s eyes, her expression hovering between a smile and a look of concern. “If you don’t want to wake up looking like a rabbit tomorrow, you’d better use it.”

“Oh!” Nianshu scurried to the bathroom sink. In the mirror, her eyes were still rimmed with a faint red, the lids slightly swollen—looking like a pair of water-soaked cherries. She let out a long hiss of embarrassment. Had I really been staring at her with a face like this?

She splashed cold water on her face, the icy sensation soothing her skin. She carefully massaged around her eyes, desperate to erase any trace of her crying.

When she finally put the mask on, the world went dark, leaving only the cool touch of the soft fabric. Nianshu turned around, navigating by memory toward the kitchen. As she rounded the corner, she walked straight into a warm embrace.

The familiar scent hit her instantly. It was Qi Shu.

“Ah!” Nianshu gasped. Instinctively, she reached up to pull the mask off, but a cool hand caught her wrist.

“Do you want to lose your eyesight?” Qi Shu’s voice was right by her ear, sounding quite flat.

Nianshu went completely still, allowing Qi Shu to take her wrist and lead her into the living room to sit on the sofa.

“Stay put,” Qi Shu instructed, letting go of her hand.

With the sudden loss of contact, Nianshu instinctively reached out, catching only the hem of Qi Shu’s shirt.

“Mmm?” Qi Shu let out a questioning sound.

With her sight blocked, Nianshu’s other senses were heightened. The cool sensation of Qi Shu’s palm seemed to linger on her wrist. She felt slightly unanchored, as if the scrap of fabric in her hand was a lifeline. But after a moment of hesitation, she let go.

“It’s nothing.” She remembered: Sister likes the obedient ones.

“Right.” Qi Shu left her with that single word and walked away.

Nianshu listened to her steady footsteps. One, two… The walk from the living room to the kitchen was short, but it felt like forever. The hum of the extractor fan and the bubbling of the pot filled the house, yet the space around Nianshu felt incredibly quiet—so quiet she could hear her own heart thumping.

The mask cast a veil of intimacy over everything. She could smell the tomato broth, making her mouth water. She was so hungry. And she was sitting here alone in the living room without Qi Shu. The thought made her feel a little empty.

I don’t want to be alone.

She tilted her head toward the kitchen. Even though she couldn’t see anything, she was still instinctively searching for her sister.

“Five more minutes.”

Qi Shu’s voice drifted in from the kitchen, perfectly clear over the hum of the fan. Nianshu’s heart skipped a beat, as if her thoughts had been read. Her ears turned hot. She sat up straight and gave a tiny, muffled “Oh,” her voice carrying a trace of loneliness she didn’t even realize was there—like a kitten left behind.

Nianshu started counting the seconds in her head. One, two, three…

She lost track of time, but eventually, the familiar footsteps approached again. Her eyelashes fluttered under the mask. The scent of tomato and shower gel grew stronger as Qi Shu stopped right beside her.

Nianshu’s heart began to race.

She felt Qi Shu’s hands move to the straps of the mask. The movements were light, her fingertips occasionally brushing the skin behind Nianshu’s ears, sending a shiver through her. As the strap was loosened and the cool fabric left her skin, light flooded back in. Nianshu squinted.

After a few seconds of adjusting, she slowly opened her eyes.

She found herself looking directly into a pair of deep, soulful eyes. Qi Shu was leaning over her, the mask still in her hand. The warm light softened her features, and with her hair falling slightly around her neck, the usually distant girl looked incredibly gentle.

Time seemed to stand still.

Nianshu’s heart thudded against her ribs. She stared at Qi Shu, forgetting to blink, forgetting to breathe. Even the warmth in her fingertips seemed to have vanished.

Qi Shu reached out, her cool fingertip gently rubbing Nianshu’s eyelid. “The swelling’s gone down.”

Nianshu nodded dumbly.

Qi Shu seemed to smile. She stood up straight and said, “Noodles are ready. Let’s eat.”

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