Chapter 2 Absurdity It's best not to call him "brother" at this time.

The instant Zhou Ke saw Lin Yu at home, a flash of shock crossed his eyes, followed by the deepest joy he had been suppressing in his heart.

However, when he noticed what Lin Yu was eating, his eyes suddenly darkened, and his brows furrowed instantly: "What are you eating?"

The aroma of instant noodles filled the living room. Lin Yu picked up a fork and ate the noodles in her bowl. "I was hungry. I looked around but couldn't find anything to eat. I only saw this packet of instant noodles, so I cooked it."

Upon hearing the answer, Zhou Ke pinched the bridge of his nose, pursed his thin lips, and sighed softly to himself. He asked, with a concern he shouldn't have, "Why didn't you check the production date before you cooked it?"

Lin Yu was taken aback, then suddenly looked up, swallowing the instant noodles in her mouth whole. She blinked and murmured, "You mean this packet of instant noodles that I've almost finished eating is actually expired?"

Zhou Ke neither confirmed nor denied it, only explaining, "It's my fault, I didn't put it in the trash can in time."

Lin Yu didn't seem to mind: "It's alright, I won't die anyway."

Zhou Ke was unhappy. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming back beforehand so I could pick you up at the station? There's no need for you to eat instant noodles as soon as you get home."

Lin Yu smiled at him: "No need for that trouble, it's easy to take a taxi back, and besides, don't you need to rest during the day?"

Lin Yu's actions were essentially a considerate gesture, but Zhou Ke's expression instantly turned serious because of those words. If he hadn't misheard, his sister was now talking to him about trouble. He lowered his brows, his eyes gradually darkening, and his gaze fixed on Lin Yu: "You don't necessarily have to go to the bar. You can make up for the rest you didn't get during the day at night. It's not like you don't even have time to pick me up from school. How come you've become more and more distant from me after studying away from home for three years?"

Lin Yu lowered her head, knowing that her behavior would displease her brother. She looked up and stared at her brother with a knowing expression, saying, "No, it's nothing. It's just that it's so convenient to travel now, and I don't want my brother to have to work too hard."

"Is that so?" Zhou Ke asked casually.

Lin Yu nodded and mumbled a reply, "Mm."

Zhou Ke hadn't intended to question his sister, who had finally returned home. A fleeting look of helplessness crossed his eyes. Meeting his sister's pale face, with the dark circles under her eyes clearly visible, Zhou Ke looked at her intently and asked with concern, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"

Lin Yu was taken aback, never expecting the topic to jump so quickly. She forced a smile and said stiffly, "A little."

In fact, it wasn't just a matter of not sleeping well; it was a whole night of insomnia, no rest at all, and finally, I boarded the high-speed train back home.

The thought of going home, facing my brother, and facing myself...

Sorrow was like an impenetrable net, tightly covering her and suffocating her breath. She could not break free from this tight bondage until it was completely pierced.

Zhou Ke frowned: "After you finish eating your noodles, get a good night's sleep."

Lin Yu replied, "Okay."

Thinking of Lin Yu's room, which hadn't been tidied up yet, Zhou Ke added, "Go to my room and rest for a while. You haven't been back for a long time. I'll take your blankets out to air them and then clean your room properly."

Lin Yu pursed her lips and stood there. She had already looked around the room when she put her luggage in. The room was very clean, so there was no need to tidy it up. She was silent for a moment and then said, "I think my room is quite clean."

“Where is it clean? It hasn’t been cleaned in almost a month. There’s probably a layer of dust on the bedside table and desk.” Zhou Ke said reasonably. “You’ll be staying at home for two months, not just for a night or two. Just relax and get some sleep. Your brother will clean up your room for you.”

Lin Yu lost her mother at a young age and was taken in by her uncle to be raised shortly after her birth. Then, her uncle also died, leaving the two siblings to depend on each other for survival.

From as far back as she can remember, Lin was busy with work during the day. Her grandmother wasn't so particular; she believed that as long as a child had food to eat, he would grow up, so she wouldn't be so meticulous.

So, when she was little, it was her brother who braided her hair, took her to kindergarten, taught her to read and write, cooked her favorite dishes, and tidied her room.

Although there were only two people in the family, Zhou Ke always adhered to the principle that girls should be pampered and never let her do any housework.

Even now that she's grown up, Zhou Ke still acts as an older brother, doing everything he can for his sister.

Just before entering the room, Zhou Ke suddenly called out to Lin Yu, "By the way, what do you want to eat tonight? I'll go to the supermarket later to buy some things."

Lin Yu stopped in her tracks and thought for a moment: "Braised shrimp, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, garlic bok choy, and mint ribs."

She didn't stand on ceremony with her brother, only listing the ones she liked. Deliberately distancing herself would only reveal more clues, which wasn't what she wanted to see.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke smiled at her and readily agreed.

Entering her brother's room, Lin Yu looked around. The dark curtains were still tightly closed, the light was dim, and the cold air enveloped the girl who had just stepped into forbidden territory. The faint scent of woody fruit soap permeated the enclosed space. The bed was cold, and the blankets were haphazardly pulled back, indicating the circumstances under which the room's owner had hurriedly left.

Lin Yu closed her eyes, and the unfamiliar yet reassuring breath flowed smoothly into her lungs through her respiratory tract.

Dozens of hours without sleep left her feeling more exhausted than ever before. She couldn't tell whether her body was teetering on the edge of its limits or whether returning home, to the place where she and her brother had grown up together, had suddenly made her feel weak and let the drowsiness wash over her like a tidal wave.

Lin Yu lay on Zhou Ke's bed, closed her eyes, and sleepiness slowly enveloped her.

—

The once clear sky slowly turned gray in my mind.

Dark clouds rolled in.

It had started raining outside sometime earlier, the rain pattering down. The room was dark, and the old windows were in a grid pattern, one closed and the other wide open. Rainwater streamed through the windowpanes onto the desk, and a gentle breeze drifted in. The light blue floral curtains by the window were lifted by the wind and swayed in the air.

Her nightgown was piled up on her chest, the thin silk blanket clinging loosely to her smooth skin. Under the covers, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her like vines, rough fingertips tracing her smooth skin, a wet, soft tongue probing in, gathering a pool of sticky saliva. Fine kisses mixed with heavy panting intertwined, leaving Lin Yu momentarily breathless.

With her eyes tightly closed, she let the world turn pitch black. In this struggle, she completely lost her sight, leaving only her remaining senses to drift and sway in the tide.

Gradually, amidst the urgent and surging kisses, she let out a few soft moans. Lin Yu blushed with embarrassment, feeling an overwhelming emptiness in her body. She was like a soft cloud in the sky, unable to settle down, drifting gently with the wind.

Lin Yu pursed her lips uncomfortably, pressing her body against his burning chest. Noticing her reaction, a low, deep laugh reached her ears. The soft flesh of her earlobe was taken into his warm mouth, his hard teeth grinding gently. Soon, Lin Yu began to tremble uncontrollably, accompanied by soft sobs. In her endless delusion, she heard his deep, magnetic voice, carried by his breath, enter her ear, "Don't move."

She froze, like a child caught stealing candy, and lowered her head in shame.

......

Lin Yu's body was sinking into a swamp, her whole body tensed up, her fingertips curling up uncontrollably as she gripped the bed sheet beneath her.

The rain fell even harder, in varying shades, and she cried and called out for her brother over and over again.

The surroundings were so quiet that the only sound was the rising steam.

The air conditioner ran incessantly; inside the room, the wind was chilly and the rain was drizzling.

The darkness almost gave her a sense of precariousness, like being on a small boat tossed about on the water. She couldn't see anyone else, but she could smell his familiar scent—her brother's scent, the familiar aroma of woody fruit, and the refreshing scent of shower gel.

She couldn't help but rub her back against his saliva, as if she were allergic to it, and all the cells in her body were screaming for relief.

He forcefully squeezed between her legs, separating her thighs. "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

She was on the verge of a breakdown from this feeling, and she cried out to him in a sobbing voice, "Brother!"

He stopped all his movements and looked at him with displeasure, as if he were looking at a child who had done something wrong. "Didn't I teach you that it's better not to call someone 'brother' at times like this?"

The older brother stopped, the air froze, and the world fell into silence.

Lin Yu suddenly opened her eyes and sat up abruptly in bed. Her eyes were misty and wet as she looked around at the darkness that was still like a dream. She raised her hand to cover her heaving chest and gasped for breath, as if she had really experienced a violent storm.

......

She closed her eyes in frustration.

I had that absurd dream again.

This time, however, it seemed more tangible. She lay on the bed where her brother had just slept, deeply immersed in his presence. In essence, it was as if she were being held in his arms.

So it's really no wonder she had such a dream.

The room was quiet, so quiet that I could hear my own unsteady heartbeat. The air conditioner was still running, but it couldn't extinguish the heat surging through my body.

Lin Yu calmed herself down, quickly threw off the covers, put on her slippers, and unsteadily climbed out of bed. It was quiet outside, with no sound coming into the room. Lin Yu guessed that her brother might have already left. She got up and stood by the bed, then suddenly threw off the covers. The next second, her eyes widened as she realized that she had not only caused trouble but also left behind something she shouldn't have.

Beneath the dark blue sheet, a patch of water had seeped into a completely different color from the surrounding area. The evidence was right in front of her, reminding her of the absurdity of it all. In that instant, her mind cleared up a bit. Afraid that her brother would find out, she quickly grabbed the neatly made sheet, crumpled it into a ball, and put it aside. Afraid that what she did was too ridiculous, she thought for a moment and then took off the duvet cover and pillowcase as well, and put them aside. As she did this, she put her hand on the mattress, then seemed to be startled and immediately pulled her hand back.

There was a damp feeling on the mattress, but thankfully, it was white, so it didn't look any different from the outside. She simply moved the blanket away to expose the mattress to the air; the July weather was quite warm, and it would probably dry quickly.

After finishing all that, she stopped and leaned back in the chair in front of her desk to catch her breath.

She looked around the room. It was the smallest room in the house. Her uncle used it as a study. Later, when Zhou Ke came, he made room for him. Over the years, even though her uncle had passed away and she had left Tongcheng to study in another city, the largest room in the house was empty. He still lived in this small room, so small that she could walk from the desk to the bed in just two steps.

But its small size also has its advantages. Every corner is filled with his rich scent. Being in it is like being soaked in a honey pot. With the door tightly closed and the seal shut, she survives on the little bit of oxygen in this tiny space.

After a while, she finally walked out of the room carrying the soft fabric.

As the door opened, Zhou Ke looked up and saw his sister holding the bed sheets and duvet cover in her arms. He was slightly taken aback. In his sight, his sister's bright face was flushed with an unnatural blush, like natural blush, highlighting the good complexion that a girl of her age should have.

When Lin Yu saw her brother sitting on the sofa in the living room, she froze. A chill ran down her spine, making her shiver involuntarily.

Zhou Ke stood up and walked over to Lin Yu. "Why did you take off the sheets and duvet cover?"

Lin Yu's heart skipped a beat. Her fingertips dug into her palm, and her eyes darted around blindly. She lowered her head, not daring to look her brother in the eye, and could only lie boldly: "I just sweated a lot, and the sheets are all dirty. I wanted to take them over to wash them."

Zhou Ke focused his attention, wanting to take the sheet from her hands, "Give it to me, I'll go wash it."

"No need." Lin Yu quickly refused, tilting her body to the side to avoid his outstretched hand, her tone quickening: "I'll do it."

As she spoke, she hurried to the washing machine, stuffed the sheets and pillowcases into the drum, then frantically picked up the laundry detergent from the floor, turned it on, poured it in, and finally pressed the start button. Only when she heard the water trickling out of the valve did Lin Yu finally breathe a sigh of relief.

I almost, I almost got caught by my brother.

He discovered his rebellious sister.

The younger sister discovered that he was trying to challenge the principles of human ethics.