Volume 3: "Gentleness" is a Sin

At the end of October, Caizhou City was painted a refreshing azure by nature. The sunlight was gentle and warm, while the breeze carried a faint chill.

People didn’t need heavy clothing—just a short-sleeved shirt or a casually thrown-on jacket when stepping outside.

Young girls cherished these final moments of mild weather, wearing all kinds of skirts and letting their snow-white legs shine beautifully on the streets.

And the young... no, the males were also making the most of this time, admiring nature’s gifts on the boulevards.

As the saying goes, a man remains a boy at heart until the day he dies.

Morning.

A light breeze fluttered the thin curtains.

"Ugh..."

Gu Luo groggily opened his eyes, completely unable to feel his left arm.

It was as if someone had secretly sawed it off in the middle of the night.

At the same time, his cheek tingled, as if countless tiny ants were crawling across it.

Turns out, strands of cool tea-brown hair had scattered over his face.

Only then did Gu Luo’s thoughts gradually return, reminding him of how, over the past month, Gu Ximan had constantly insisted on sleeping with him, always resting her head on his left arm.

Admittedly, this had somehow broken her habit of sleeping flat on her back.

After all, being squished every night wasn’t exactly comfortable.

At first, Gu Luo would refuse Gu Ximan with the excuse that "men and women shouldn’t be too intimate," but who knew this little troublemaker would take after Luo Shuhe and start launching nighttime raids?

At this point, someone might ask, "Hey, Gu, why not just lock your door?"

To that, Gu Luo could only smile bitterly—it was already too late.

Last month, to prevent the little demon from sneaking in at night, he’d applied some "black tech" to the door lock.

But what happened?

The very next evening, he came home to find the lock button mysteriously gone, replaced by a note left by the little demon, boldly declaring: "Keep messing around, and say goodbye to your door."

Gu Luo was helpless. He’d thought the little demon would launch frequent nighttime attacks this month and had even prepared himself for a confrontation.

But to his surprise, not only did the little demon not sneak in, even the frequency of forced kisses dropped dramatically.

At most, she’d take advantage of his inattention to plant a quick, light peck on his cheek—nothing more.

This change left Gu Luo—now sixteen—completely baffled. He couldn’t figure out what kind of game the little demon was playing.

Had she changed her nature?

Unlikely.

More like she was saving up for a big move.

Either way, for now, the missing lock had ultimately benefited the clingy Gu Ximan.

Gu Luo tried to pull back his completely numb arm, but the moment he moved, Gu Ximan let out a soft "hmph" and shamelessly snuggled deeper into his embrace.

This was just too much for early morning.

With no other choice, he habitually switched to his chanting mode: "Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up..."

"Wake up, wake up, wake up..."

By the fifty-seventh "wake up," Gu Ximan abruptly sat up, puffing her cheeks as she glared at the monk-like figure before her and shouted angrily:

"Stinky Gu Luo, are you cursed or something?"

"It’s the weekend! Why are you waking me up so early?!"

Hearing this, Gu Luo’s lips twitched. He shook his sore, numb left arm and retorted irritably:

"You’ve got some nerve. My arm’s going to snap one of these days because of you."

"Don’t you have your own bed and pillow? Why do you keep barging into my room?"

"You’re not a little kid anymore. Have some shame."

The more Gu Luo spoke, the angrier he got, until he finally reached out and pinched Gu Ximan’s ear:

"And another thing—you won’t even call me 'big bro' anymore."

Over the past month, Gu Ximan had become completely audacious. Forget "gege," "big bro," or even "stupid big bro"—she wouldn’t say any of them.

Every day, it was just "stinky Gu Luo," "stinky Gu Luo," over and over.

"Pfft—!" Gu Ximan didn’t care at all about her pinched ear, even sticking out her tongue mischievously. "Nope! From now on, I’m only calling you 'stinky Gu Luo.'"

"You’re just a stinky, stinky, stinky, stinky, stinky Gu—ow ow ow... that hurts!"

Gu Luo twisted her ear and threatened, "Say, 'Big bro, I was wrong,' or I won’t let go."

"No! Never! You’re just stinky Gu Luo!"

Gu Ximan squirmed along with the twisting motion, resisting with her whole body.

She’d already decided—until she confessed her feelings, she absolutely wouldn’t call him "bro."

Same strategy as before: gradually erasing that layer of their relationship without him noticing.

"You... suddenly have quite the backbone."

Gu Luo twisted for a while, but seeing Gu Ximan show no signs of surrender, he sighed. "Did you take the wrong meds? Or are you just hitting your rebellious phase?"

"Pfft—!"

Gu Ximan didn’t answer, just kept making faces.

Seeing this, Gu Luo shook his head helplessly. After letting go, he asked again:

"By the way, Ximan, who is it that you like? I’ve asked so many times, and you still won’t tell me."

"As your elder, I need to vet them first."

"Stinky Gu Luo, do you really want to know that badly? Are you secretly jealous every day?" Gu Ximan batted her innocent big eyes exaggeratedly.

"Where’d you learn to be this smug?"

"From you."

"I never taught you to be smug."

"Tch." Gu Ximan pouted, rubbing her freshly pinched ear before asking, "Well, if I tell you, will you support my relationship, stinky Gu Luo?"

Hearing this, Gu Luo felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.

Well, that’s just how a "dad" is.

Would he support it?

Support... his foot!

Money, got it? Headlights, got it?

"That depends on what kind of person they are." After a long silence, Gu Luo answered gloomily.

"Oh, he’s a total blockhead. Super dumb." Gu Ximan couldn’t help smiling as she spoke. "But... I like him anyway."

"Get out, get out. I don’t want to hear it."

Seeing his little sister’s youthful, lovestruck expression, Gu Luo’s heart instantly soured.

"Stinky Gu Luo, still saying you’re not jealous?" Gu Ximan, as if remembering something delightful, burst into laughter.

Hmph, she just loved seeing that blockhead stew in clueless jealousy.

Of course, the main reason was that some words couldn’t be spoken yet.

For now, she’d just have to let him suffer a little longer.

"Out, out. After breakfast, I still have to go pick up a suit with Shuhe." Gu Luo refused to admit it, waving her off impatiently.

"Oh, right! Stinky Gu Luo, you better work hard and earn lots of money to buy me the prettiest evening gown." At the mention of "suit," Gu Ximan puffed her cheeks again.

"My very first evening gown was bought by Sister Ling. Someone’s slacking."

"Oh, so Sister Ling’s the MVP now? Don’t forget who bought your first lipstick, your first pair of high heels, your first panda plushie, your first... everything."

"Eww—fine, fine, it was you, you, always you." Though her tone was dismissive, Gu Ximan’s heart warmed.

"Alright, get out now."

"One more question."

"What?" Gu Luo frowned.

"Seriously, it's not even that cold. Gu Luo, why do you always hog the blankets like that? Are you that weak—"

Before she could finish, Gu Ximan yanked the covers off before Gu Luo could react.

"Hah... uh... AAAAAAH—!"

Letting out a shriek like a startled groundhog, she bolted barefoot out of the room, not even stopping to grab her slippers.

Gu Luo's lips twitched as he shook his head and pulled the blanket back over himself.

What was this called?

Served her right.

She'd brought it on herself.

Then his gaze drifted to the window, where the distant trees were already beginning to yellow.

He couldn't help murmuring softly:

"Time really flies."

"Guess it's time to sound out Dad first."

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