A Warm and Cute Strike (GL) - Chapter 22

Xiang Qingnuan peeked through the crack in the door, stealthily looking into Qin Xuening’s room.

The room was somewhat dark, lit only by the faint glow of a bedside lamp. The big sister sitting under the light was leaning lazily against the headboard, a notebook spread across the blanket over her lap.

Perhaps sensing her presence, the older girl looked up, her jet-black eyes fixing on the doorway.

Feeling bashful, Xiang Qingnuan reflexively buried her small face in the pillow she was carrying. The pillow was nearly as large as her own body, its pink lace edges almost dragging on the floorboards.

After a moment, hearing no rejection, Qingnuan emboldened herself and looked up. Seeing that Qin Xuening had lowered her head to continue flipping through her notebook, she rolled her eyes and gathered her courage to ask, “Sister Xuening, aren’t you asleep yet?”

The little girl’s voice was sweet and delicate, carrying a touch of warmth in the quiet, peaceful night.

Xuening looked up again, watching her silently, signaling her to continue.

“Daddy isn’t here, and I can’t sleep by myself…”

Watching the light in the girl’s eyes, Xuening suddenly had a bad premonition. Sure enough, that soft, milky voice asked in the next breath, “Can I… can I sleep with Sister tonight?”

As if afraid of a refusal, the girl hurriedly added, “I’m very good when I sleep, I won’t kick Sister!” Then her voice dropped to a whisper, “Is it okay?”

Xuening stared back at her in silence. She was solitary and introverted by nature, even a bit territorial; she didn’t like sharing her things, let alone a bed.

However, looking into those sparkling eyes and remembering the time the girl picked the onions out for her—and her hospitality earlier today—Xuening opened her mouth but ultimately couldn’t voice a “no.”

Forget it, consider it paying back a favor…

Just as the light in the little girl’s eyes began to dim, Xuening finally shifted to the side and lifted the covers, revealing a space on the bed.

Qingnuan stared blankly, afraid she had misunderstood. Xuening let out a soft sigh and reached out her slender hand, patting the empty mattress to gesture for her to come over.

The girl’s eyes lit up instantly. She entered the room with a silly grin, closed the door, and ran joyfully toward the bed. But in her excitement, her little foot caught the lace trim of her pillow, and with a thump, she tumbled onto the floor.

Xuening blinked in surprise and leaned forward to check. She saw the girl sprawled on the floor, though since the pillow was underneath her, she wasn’t actually hurt.

Despite landing on the pillow, Qingnuan was a bit dazed. She struggled to lift her head and saw the big sister leaning over with a look of concern. Bashfully, she grinned at her and scrambled up, her feet pitter-pattering as she ran to the bedside. She tossed her pillow at the foot of the bed and huffed and puffed as she climbed up next to Xuening.

Xuening let her climb over, but her gaze froze when she saw the pillow the girl had dragged along. Her brow furrowed, and she pressed down on the child’s small hand.

That pillow just touched the floor…

Qingnuan blinked, looking at her with confusion, her almond eyes full of innocence and trust. Without explaining, Xuening took the pillow, tossed it onto a nearby chair—intending to have the nanny wash the case tomorrow—and moved her own pillow toward Qingnuan.

Her pillow was quite large; since they were both children, sharing one wasn’t a problem.

Seeing this, Qingnuan’s eyes crinkled into crescent moons. She instantly forgot her confusion about the discarded pillow. If the big sister was willing to be close to her, she was naturally happy. She huddled close to Xuening, lay down obediently, and snuggled her face contentedly into the fabric.

The big sister’s pillow was a tiny bit higher than hers, but it was just as soft. And like her mother’s, it had a faint, pleasant fragrance. Though the scent was different, she loved them both!

Xuening glanced at the little “tot,” then at the bedside lamp, and let out a tiny sigh. Resigned to her fate, she closed the music score, carefully placed the notebook into a tin box, tucked the box into the nightstand, and reached out to turn off the light.

In the darkness, following some rustling, she lay down beside Xiang Qingnuan.

As the room fell silent, the two sisters shared a single pillow and a single blanket. Their breathing intertwined, creating a sense of seamless intimacy.

“Sister Xuening, are you asleep?” After a moment of tranquility, the tiny voice rang out again.

Xuening opened her eyes. Having adjusted to the dark, she could vaguely see the room’s contents by the weak moonlight. She looked toward the source of the sound and met the girl’s bright, dark eyes.

The child’s eye shape was very beautiful, similar to Ye Feifei’s, but because of that innocent gaze, she looked gentle and approachable—the kind of look that makes people lower their guard unconsciously. Seeing that Xuening wasn’t asleep, Qingnuan’s eyes crinkled with a smile, looking like a satisfied kitten.

“Sister Xuening, did you know? I always wanted a big brother before,” Qingnuan whispered her secret.

Xuening raised an eyebrow slightly.

Qingnuan shrank back a bit, thinking she was angry, and quickly tried to fix it: “Sisters are very good too! I… I really like Sister Xuening…” By the end, the girl shyly buried her face in the pillow, her voice dropping several decibels.

Xuening’s eyes flickered. She lay flat, staring at the ceiling in a daze. For so many years, no one had expressed “liking” her; she felt she didn’t deserve it because she had no way to reciprocate.

“The way Sister Xuening plays the piano is super pretty!” the girl added in her ear. Her voice was cheerful and bright—a vocal quality Xuening felt she would never possess. “Even though I don’t understand the songs Sister plays, I just think they sound really good…”

Qingnuan also lay flat, her small head creeping toward Xuening’s shoulder. But before she could successfully lean on her, she was blocked by a hand.

With a slight force, Xuening pushed the little head back to its original position.

Qingnuan pouted, her small hands picking at the embroidery on the blanket. But as she stared at the ceiling, a smile soon spread across her face again. She said, “I’m so happy Sister Xuening could come to our house!”

“Did you know? Across from our house, there’s a little brother and a little sister. Once, I saw that little sister being bullied by a dog, and her brother rushed out to protect her and drove the dog away.” Qingnuan spoke softly. “So I really, really wanted a brother.”

Xuening’s expression shifted slightly. She could hear the loneliness and isolation in the child’s voice—exactly like the way she used to be.

“But now I have Sister Xuening!” Qingnuan’s voice turned cheerful again. She rolled onto her side and grabbed Xuening’s arm, nuzzling against it like a kitten. “I don’t need Sister Xuening to protect me. I just want Sister to be with me…” Her voice was soft and urgent, as if afraid she wouldn’t agree, and she promised, “When I grow up, I’ll protect Sister!”

Xuening let her hold her arm. The girl’s strength was so small that she could have broken free with a single tug. But suddenly, she didn’t want to pull away.

She, who disliked physical contact most.

First Ye Feifei, then Xiang Nan, and now Xiang Qingnuan—this family seemed to constantly make her break her own rules, making her retreat again and again until there was nowhere left to go.

She sighed softly. Ultimately, she didn’t pull her arm back. Instead, she let the child hold it and listen to her chatter in “child-speak.”

“I feel so lucky now, I’m happy every day…”

“Lately, Daddy and Mommy come home to be with me often, and I don’t have to worry about Fishy being cooked by the mean auntie~”

“And Sister Lin is a super good cook. She makes me so much yummy food every day so I can eat my fill~”

“Now I have Sister Xuening too. Sister is super amazing, she can play the piano and play such pretty songs…”

“It’s just that Sister doesn’t like onions, but that’s okay, I can help her eat them…”

“…”

Xuening listened quietly, without interrupting. Perhaps every musician is a lover of sounds. Qingnuan’s voice was sweet and pleasant; though she chattered on, it wasn’t noisy—rather, it felt comfortable.

However, as the girl spoke more and more, Xuening couldn’t help but feel surprised. How could there be a child in the world who loves to talk this much?

It was as if Qingnuan had opened a floodgate. Usually, she could only talk to her goldfish; while Zhu Lin and Xiang Nan were willing to listen, a peer was different from an adult.

Eventually, however, her voice gradually grew quieter. Feeling sleepy, she rubbed her eyes with her small hands, let out a delicate yawn, and finally fell silent. Holding onto Xuening’s arm, she snuggled contentedly and drifted into a dream with a sweet smile.

Xuening had been sleepy for a while. Practicing all day had drained most of her energy. Lying in bed, her eyelids had begun to fight to stay open. Hearing the child beside her fall silent, she withdrew her stiffening arm, stretched, and then tucked the girl in. Smelling her faint, sweet scent, she too fell asleep.

The night became perfectly still.

The next morning, sunlight spilled into the room. The little girl, who had rolled to the foot of the bed, was the first to open her eyes.

She stretched her small hands, let out a yawn, and sat up, staring blankly at her unfamiliar surroundings in a daze. When she saw Qin Xuening sleeping properly in her original spot, she jolted awake.

Ah, she had run to the big sister’s room to sleep last night! She let out a silly grin, then quickly covered her mouth, afraid of waking Xuening.

She rustled as she climbed off the bed, tiptoed out of the room, and gently closed the door. Qingnuan breathed a sigh of relief, then shuffled in her slippers down the stairs; she was thirsty and wanted water.

Just as she reached the turn in the staircase, she heard the new nanny, Auntie Lin, chatting with Zhu Lin while mopping the floor below.

“That little lady who came the other day—are her parents really both dead?”