The Three Stages of My Younger Brother (Shen Nian)

It was already eleven o'clock when Xia Yanchun woke up.

She had slept wonderfully. She wiggled around in Shen Nian's arms, accidentally waking him up just as he was starting to doze off.

Shen Nian wasn't really tired, but holding Xia Yanchun with nothing else to do made his mind wander, and a wandering mind easily led to sleep.

"Mhm." Full of energy, Xia Yanchun untangled herself from his embrace. She sat there in a daze for a moment before blinking at Shen Nian beside her.

Shen Nian sat up as well, unable to resist teasing her. "Are you a pig? How did you sleep until now?"

"Hehe, it's the first day of winter break. Of course I'm going to sleep in."

"I'll have you know I've been up since seven."

"What the heck? Why did you get up so early? To work out?"

"Yeah, I haven't really exercised the past couple of days."

"Wow, so impressive, classmate Shen Nian," Xia Yanchun hummed. With that, she slipped on her slippers and left the room.

It was inevitable to have morning breath right after waking up. She had to brush her teeth first; otherwise, she would be too embarrassed to talk to Shen Nian with a bad taste in her mouth.

After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she noticed a cup of pork and century egg congee resting on the coffee table. Xia Yanchun picked it up. Although it was already cold, she still ate it clean, spoonful by spoonful.

It was raining heavily outside, making it inconvenient to order takeout, and she was too lazy to cook breakfast. Having something to eat was better than nothing.

Shen Nian sat on the sofa with her. While she ate, he stayed right beside her, annoying her—pinching her cheek one second and touching her ear the next. Even when he rested his hand on her leg, Xia Yanchun didn't really bother to stop him.

"If you have nothing better to do, go get me a carton of milk," Xia Yanchun said, finally losing her patience and swatting the back of his hand.

"Ahem, well, what milk?"

"The milk I bought before. Haven't you been sneaking cartons of it?"

"Do I do that?"

Xia Yanchun narrowed her eyes. She got up to check the spot where she kept the case of milk she had bought.

The cardboard box was still there, but the inside was completely empty.

It was the end of the world.

She had bought a whole case of milk and hadn't even drank a single carton. Xia Yanchun muttered indignantly:

"You drank it all, and you didn't even leave one for me."

"It was just sitting there. I thought nobody wanted it."

"What the heck! I'm going to kill you, you little thief!" Xia Yanchun pounced on Shen Nian, flailing her arms and pinching his cheeks.

How could this guy be so shameless? Why didn't he just say the money hidden in someone's drawer was also something nobody wanted?

Shen Nian obediently let her pinch him for a moment before raising his hands to pull hers away. He then wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and safely shifted her to sit beside him.

They were on the sofa; if they roughhoused too much, she might fall off. Hitting the coffee table wouldn't be good, especially since the pain of bumping into things in the dead of winter was doubled.

Xia Yanchun didn't really want to talk to him anymore. She found a jacket and put it on.

The apartment hadn't been cleaned in a while, so with a huff, she took out the broom and started sweeping the room.

"So hardworking. Not even taking a break on the first day of winter vacation."

"You think I'm like you?"

Shen Nian sat on the sofa, showing absolutely no intention of helping. "What about me? I was up at seven. Are you, a little pig who slept until eleven, trying to call me lazy?"

"..."

Xia Yanchun was left speechless, swallowing back the words she had been about to say.

One woke up early to exercise but didn't do chores, while the other woke up much later but did the housework. It was honestly hard to say who was lazier.

The only indisputable fact was that Shen Nian was incredibly annoying. So annoying.

Ever since she and Shen Nian became closer, the Peanut Prince snacks in her house no longer belonged to her. Shen Nian would swipe one every time he came over. Now it had escalated to her milk. Sooner or later, he was going to empty out her entire pantry.

Pouting, Xia Yanchun deliberately ignored him. She marched straight over to the sofa, swinging the broom right at Shen Nian's feet. Then, she immediately frowned, put her hands on her hips, and spoke in an extremely impatient tone, "Move, move. Can't you see I'm sweeping?"

"Alright, alright." Shen Nian's mouth twitched as he simply lay down on the sofa.

She couldn't possibly sweep the sofa, after all.

"Don't just lie there. Help me mop the floor in a bit."

"I knew it. You're just like my older sister, pushing the chores onto me the moment you have to do them..."

"What's wrong? Is helping your older sister do some work such a grievance?"

"Not a grievance, just depressing. Your place isn't my place. It was one thing when you tricked me into doing your chores when we were kids, but you're still doing it now."

In the past, Xia Yanchun's little fists would have already been raining down on Shen Nian. But now, she had become a rational and gentle woman, fully aware that violence couldn't solve problems.

"Once we finish the chores, we can watch TV and read books together," she said.

"What do you mean 'we'? It's you. You're the one who wants to do chores, okay? I haven't even swept the floor at my own place yet."

"Oh come on, it's just mopping the floor. It'll be quick."

"You want to mop the floor on such a damp day? Have you lost your mind?"

"..."

So mad! Absolutely infuriating!

Xia Yanchun fumed. Younger brothers were the kind of creatures that only grew more rebellious with age.

The three stages of a younger brother (Shen Nian):

Six years old: If I call you Big Sister, can I eat this candied hawthorn?

Eight years old: I don't want to call you Big Sister anymore, you're so annoying.

Twelve years old: Xia Yanchun, come out and fight me one-on-one!

Dammit. Did he grow up eating crap? The older he got, the worse he turned out.

Shen Nian just lay on the sofa, locking eyes with Xia Yanchun. The longer she looked at him, the more annoyed she became. She decided to give him the silent treatment and let him figure out why she was mad.

With a huff, she finished cleaning the apartment. While mopping, she deliberately used the mop to push one of Shen Nian's slippers far across the room.

"Bro, seriously—" Shen Nian laughed out of sheer exasperation.

"What? I thought nobody wanted this shoe."

"..."

She was really learning how to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Shen Nian hopped over on one foot to put his shoe back on. Looking around the room, he said dryly, "It's all wet now, are you happy? If we don't open the windows, it won't even dry by tonight."

"That's fine, we can just go hang out at your place," Xia Yanchun said righteously.

Shen Nian facepalmed, completely speechless.

Anyway, they basically went back and forth between their apartments every day now. If this side was soaking wet, they'd just go to the other side. There was no problem at all; he couldn't even be bothered to complain.

Xia Yanchun genuinely planned to spend the entire afternoon hanging out at his place, so she pushed Shen Nian toward the door.

The moment Shen Nian unlocked his front door, she ducked, slipping right under his arm. She skipped over to the sofa and sat down, crossing her fair, clean feet and resting them on the coffee table.

"Doing those chores just now exhausted me," Xia Yanchun whined dramatically, deliberately shooting a glance at Shen Nian.

"It was just sweeping and mopping. How are you such a weakling?"

"...You're not sharp at all. If you were just a little sharper, we'd probably be the closest couple in the world by now. Come here and give me a massage."

"Massage your thighs?"

"Get lost..."

Shen Nian chuckled and sat down beside her. "I swear. You do a little housework and suddenly you need a massage. And you still claim you're not a lazy pig."

"Fine, I'm a lazy pig. I'm a lazy pig, and you're a giant lazy pig."

Xia Yanchun turned sideways and wrapped her arms around Shen Nian's neck, leaning her weight against him. Resting her forehead against his, she leaned in.

Shen Nian's hands suddenly didn't know where to go.

When their lips parted, Xia Yanchun covered her mouth and giggled. She lay back on the sofa, shifted her feet, and draped them over Shen Nian's lap. "Massage my legs for me. Hurry, hurry. If you do a good job, I'll massage yours too."

"Your feet stink."

"Say one more word and I'm kicking you in the face."

Xia Yanchun pouted and pressed her foot onto Shen Nian's thigh. She applied a slight bit of pressure, but against Shen Nian, it felt as gentle as a kitten kneading its paws.