Have mercy on him
When his younger sister was in her second year of high school, Zhuang Yu'an forcefully cut off her premature love affair.
When his sister was in college, he found ways to set up a barrier to protect her, just like Sun Wukong used his golden cudgel to draw an invisible circle.
Now that his sister has graduated for two years, he no longer has any reason to stop her from experiencing the love life of the adult world.
But as a brother, he should at least help her screen. Those with ulterior motives, frivolous and dissolute men, weak and incompetent, selfish, childish and ridiculous, ugly and deformed men... every one of those unqualified men must be kept out!
Zhuang Yu'an hesitated for a long time and swallowed back the question that was about to come out of his throat.
His sister now resented his interference. He had a feeling that if he asked directly, she wouldn't be honest, but would deliberately conceal the truth and even get angry with him. A more appropriate approach would be to observe secretly. His sister had never been able to keep secrets, and he was sure he would get to the bottom of it in a few days.
However, it's worth a roundabout way to test it...
"Luffy seems to be in trouble recently, did you know?" he suddenly asked.
My sister looked confused: "What's going on? What's going on?"
Zhuang Yu'an's mouth curled slightly: "I heard that he is in love."
"Really?" The younger sister looked at him with a look of astonishment, her chopsticks dangling in the air. "Luffy's previous girlfriends were all so beautiful, this one will definitely be a stunning beauty too! I'll ask her tomorrow!"
"It's just hearsay, I can't guarantee its authenticity." Zhuang Yu'an said with a smile, "If you want to ask, be tactful and don't mention my name."
"Hey, I just told you what I heard! Who told you that? No matter what, I just heard it!"
Seeing her carefree behavior, it didn't seem like she was hiding her relationship at all. Zhuang Yu'an couldn't help but wonder if he was overthinking it.
"Luffy is in love, why are you so excited?" He continued to test, "It's not like you are in love."
My sister blushed: "I just like looking at beautiful women..."
Zhuang Yu'an decided to seize the opportunity and pursue her. He stared into his sister's innocent eyes and asked, "What about you? Do you want to fall in love? Do you have someone you like now?"
As soon as he said this, he felt that he seemed too radical and asked too directly, so he looked away and pretended to casually pick up a piece of meat and put it in the bowl.
Across the table, my sister hesitated for a moment and said weakly, "It's not that I don't want to fall in love, it's just that I don't have anyone I like right now..."
Zhuang Yu'an looked up and carefully studied her expression. It was shy yet sincere, revealing a childish innocence that didn't seem like she was lying at all.
It seems that he really misunderstood.
"Brother..." Zhuang Jinghao looked up at his brother and said carefully, "If I want to fall in love, will you support me?" The subtext is: You won't stop me like before, right?
My brother was slightly startled, then smiled and said, "If the other party is the right person, I will support you."
The right person… Zhuang Jinghao thought to herself: Is it you who thinks he is, or me who thinks he is? But she didn't say this out loud. She just said "hmm" softly and buried her head in her food.
Suddenly I remembered that my brother has never been in love...
It's easy to figure out why my brother hasn't had a girlfriend. Although their family isn't poor, he worked multiple jobs in college, using the money to buy her all sorts of goodies, making his classmates think she was a second-generation rich kid. Besides studying and working, he spent almost all his free time with her. How could he have the time for a relationship? And even after graduation, there's no point. Since starting his own business in his senior year, he's been so busy he's even skipped meals, yet he still managed to find time for her despite his busy schedule.
Her brother had remained single since birth for him, a fact that weighed heavily on her heart, bringing guilt whenever she touched it. She occasionally wondered if her brother could be a little more selfish, if he could focus on himself instead of always prioritizing her. As Zuo Xiao had said, people shouldn't ignore or suppress their own needs. Didn't her brother have any needs? No way; he'd simply ignored and suppressed them.
My brother is great, but also pitiful.
"Brother, what about you?" Zhuang Jinghao asked seriously, "Do you want to fall in love?"
Zhuang Yu'an was caught off guard by the question and his heart was in turmoil.
He'd known he was a healthy man since middle school. It wasn't like he hadn't been attracted to the opposite sex during adolescence, but he'd nipped the tiny bud in the bud. For him at the time, dating was both too much of a luxury and too dangerous. His time was limited, and he lacked the confidence to fully provide a woman with companionship and love. Rather than neglecting one, he simply preferred not having the other.
With his career on track and his sister grown up over the past two years, he could have easily embarked on a romantic relationship. However, perhaps due to some aftereffect of the repressed adolescence, he found himself losing the ability to be attracted to the opposite sex. It was like a long-drought, barren field that had forgotten how to nourish seeds, allowing them to take root and sprout, ushering in the dawn of spring.
Luffy sometimes mocked him for being a monk, even spurring him to see a urologist, and even briefly questioned his sexual orientation. He knew he was old enough, so he readily accepted blind dates arranged by his grandparents and others. He approached several girls with the intention of marriage, but even he was discouraged by his own apathy. Even when one or two of them offered to spend time cultivating a relationship, he politely declined. He had a premonition that his aloofness would hurt the innocent.
One is as calm as water, the other was once separated by a relationship, so the topic of love has always been a tacit minefield for the brother and sister. In recent years, the sister has never asked about his love life, so why did she suddenly ask about it today?
Zhuang Yu'an thought, maybe this is called "reciprocity". Since her brother asked, she had to ask back.
He smiled slightly: "It's okay to talk about it or not, it depends on fate."
Zhuang Jinghao frowned, and after a moment, she repeated to her brother exactly what Zuo Xiao had said to her: "Love and sex are both very important experiences in life, and are irreplaceable."
She unconsciously showed sympathy: "Brother, I feel like you seem to be used to ignoring and suppressing your own needs, and I think...it's all my fault that you're like this...I think that's right?"
In an instant, a storm blew up in Zhuang Yu'an's heart, and the waves turned into big waves: his sister was pitying him; she saw his forbearance and dedication, and also saw through his helplessness; she felt guilty about it.
Zhuang Yu'an felt a surge of gratitude for being understood, and a pity for his sister's self-blame. At the same time, he realized that he was pitiful in her eyes, which made him feel inferior, depressed, and anxious... The complex emotions were like huge waves in the wind, lifting him up and then throwing him down.
"You're overthinking it." Zhuang Yu'an's lips curved upwards slightly, his tone as calm as usual, "Your brother just hasn't met the right person. It's not a matter of ignoring or suppressing his needs."
Zhuang Jinghao looked at his brother doubtfully, and suddenly a flash of lightning flashed through his mind, and a brilliant plan was born!
Genius! I'm a genius!
Her face flushed with excitement, and she shouted, "Brother! Let me introduce you to someone!"
Zhuang Yu'an was taken aback. Before he could respond, she started to talk non-stop, "Those things the elders introduced to you before were definitely not suitable! They're old, how could they understand what we young people like! Don't worry, I'll help you arrange it and make sure there's something suitable!"
What kind of person do you like...Zhuang Yu'an's heart suddenly skipped a beat, a face suddenly popped up in his mind, and then he immediately put a big red cross on it!
He hated her, and his sister knew it. No matter how reckless she was, she wouldn't pick on the bad guys to torture her brother, right?
"I appreciate your kindness, but there's really no need..." He put down his chopsticks and smiled helplessly.
But the younger sister ignored him and said, "Why are you being so polite?" She patted her chest and said, "Brother, what kind do you like? Tell me, I'll take care of it!"
Seeing her brother remained silent, Zhuang Jinghao instantly transformed into Sherlock Holmes: "Let me guess... Brother, you should like the kind of dignified, elegant, clean, and not too noisy... Well, you are against girls perming or dyeing their hair, so you must like long, straight black hair? Also, you like music, it would be best if your partner has the same hobby..."
The more she talked, the more uncomfortable Zhuang Yu'an became, as if ants were crawling on his body. Just as he was sitting on pins and needles, Zhuang Jinghao suddenly slammed the table and said, "I got it!"
Is she pregnant? Zhuang Yu'an was inexplicably excited: "There's someone like this in my sister's circle of friends? Who could it be?"
Zhuang Jinghao's eyes sparkled, as if she had truly found a treasure. She beamed with joy, "I have a friend who's practically tailor-made for you, brother! She's that pure, innocent type, with long black hair, stunning eyes, and glowing white skin! She looks quiet and gentle, but she's actually very cheerful and energetic. And yes, she loves music! Wow, she's a perfect match for you!"
The more she spoke, the more vivid the image in Zhuang Yuhao's mind became. It was so vivid that it almost jumped out of his mind, stood in front of him, pointed at his nose and laughed: "Are you sick?!"
Zhuang Yu'an's face flushed and paled. Zhuang Jinghao, still in her excitement, didn't notice her brother's gloomy expression. She was still thinking seriously for him, "But I don't know her very well, so I don't know if she has a boyfriend now... I'll ask her later!"
"No thanks." Zhuang Yu'an stood up and said as he cleared the dishes, "You can't rush things in love. Just let it go."
Seeing his brother's restrained and lonely look, Zhuang Jinghao felt even more sorry for him. Suddenly, a strong sense of conviction surged in his heart:
Since my brother has been single since birth because of me, it is my responsibility to help him get rid of his single status and have a perfect first experience in love!
Zhuang Yuhao saw her clenching her fists, biting her lower lip, a look of determination on her face, and a holy light emanating from her body. His eyes suddenly warmed: Ah, how kind and pure his sister was! She cared deeply about her brother's happiness, and warmed him with her burning sincerity...
However, he couldn't hear the scream in his sister's heart at this moment:
Ahhhh—Zhuang Jinghao, you have to keep going! As long as your brother is obsessed with love, won't he have time to care about you? Then you and Xiaoxiao Beibi can do whatever you want and play however you want! Oh freedom, precious freedom! Here I come!
She didn't want to wait even a second. While her brother was in the kitchen, she couldn't wait to open her WeChat friends list and quickly sent a message.
Zhuang Yu'an put the dishes into the dishwasher and cleaned the stove and dining table. Just as he dried his hands, his sister came over with a look of anticipation: "Brother, are you free on Sunday? I want to invite two friends to our house for a barbecue. Can you help us with the grill?"
Zhuang Yu'an thought for a moment and said, "Noon or evening? I'll try to make time for it."
The next day, the siblings drove to their grandparents' house early in the morning. Zhuang Yu'an was the birthday boy, and his grandparents didn't want him to cook. The old couple cooked, with Zhuang Jinghao helping them. They prepared five dishes, a soup, and a bowl of longevity noodles with a poached egg.
During the meal, the two elders, as usual, took the opportunity to urge the couple to get married.
"Yu'an, you're already 27, 28 by lunar age, you're not a kid anymore..." Grandma's routine remained the same, simply adding 1 to last year's 26 and 27 respectively, and she did it so effortlessly that she didn't have to think twice. "When can you find a partner so that grandpa and grandma can have a grandson soon?"
"A granddaughter is fine too! It doesn't matter if it's a boy or a girl!" Grandpa added. "Twins, boy and girl, are even better!"
Zhuang Jinghao was still laughing, not realizing the fire was so close. "Haohao, you're 23, you're a grown-up girl! Don't stay at home all day, go out and meet more boys!"
Now it was Zhuang Yu'an's turn to chuckle. He smiled for two seconds before pursing his lips: thinking about how his sister would eventually get married, and how some brat had taken advantage of her, he felt a sense of regret that "girls can't be kept at home when they grow up."
After the meal, it was time for gift-giving. Grandpa gave us a big red envelope, and Grandma gave us some homemade kimchi: "This jar is enough for two months. I'll send you more after you finish it!"
Zhuang Yu'an looked at the old man's kind smile and felt a little sad.
When he first brought his grandparents to Beijing, they hadn't bought a house yet, so he rented a place for them in his own neighborhood. Later, he bought a villa, but the grandparents refused to move in because they felt their grandson was too controlling. In his grandfather's words, "You can't eat this, you can't use that, even watching short videos is controlled by him!"
He still remembers how when his grandparents first came to Beijing, they kept clamoring to go back to their hometown. After he dissuaded them, they gradually stopped talking about it. Time flew by, and before they knew it, they were finally moving back to their hometown.
When it was Zhuang Jinghao's turn, she took out a small gift box and handed it to her brother with both hands.
Zhuang Yu'an was slightly startled. The bag his sister had been carrying last night was completely filled with a boxy object. She'd said it was a birthday present for him, but it was much larger than the box before him.
He opened the box with doubts and saw an exquisite and beautiful wallet.
My sister enthusiastically advertised, "I'm making a wallet for the first time in my life, and I'm giving it to my beloved brother! It took me two days to make this! I can put my ID, bank card, social security card... everything in it! Brother, do you like it?"
Zhuang Yu'an picked up the wallet, rubbed it with his slender fingers, and said with a heartfelt smile, "I like it, I like it very much."
A little later, the cake Zhuang Jinghao had ordered arrived. She put a birthday hat on her brother, lit the candles, and the three of them clapped and sang "Happy Birthday" together. Looking at his family's smiling faces, Zhuang Yu'an felt like the happiest person in the world.
"Wait a minute, brother!" Before Zhuang Yu'an could make a wish, Zhuang Jinghao grabbed his sleeve and ordered forcefully, "You can't make birthday wishes for anyone else this year. You can only make them for yourself!"
Zhuang Yu'an looked at his sister lovingly and nodded.
He closed his eyes and said in his heart: "I hope my family will always be happy and blessed."
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