Ninety Lollipops

His shoulder was still wrapped in gauze, a dull ache lingering.

But to him at this moment, it meant nothing.

It felt good to be alive.

A smile curved at the corner of Qin An’s lips.

“Ah! Brother, you’re awake?” The little girl smiled as she rushed to the bedside, dropping her schoolbag.

He instinctively pulled the blanket over his bare body.

She reached out and gently touched his bandages. “Does it still hurt? Are you feeling better?”

Then the little girl immediately put on a stern face. “Why did this happen?”

Her eyes were still red and swollen; she must have cried all night.

“You knew there was a thief in the house, so why did you go back?”

“How was I supposed to know there was a thief? I’m not a god—I can’t predict the future!”

“You definitely knew! Otherwise, why would you lie to Aunt Xia and say the door was locked? This morning, when you left, it wasn’t locked at all, and the keys were right here in my backpack. If you didn’t know there was a thief, why would you lie to Aunt Xia?” Qin Yage put her hands on her hips, looking like a little adult, exposing Qin An’s shameless deception.

Qin An was momentarily speechless. He never expected his sister to be not only beautiful but also so sharp. It seemed he wouldn’t have to worry about her being tricked by some bad man in the future. His parenting methods would have to change—he absolutely couldn’t repeat the mistakes of his past life.

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“Hmph, I don’t believe you. You big liar. The universe’s ultimate, super big liar.”

“Uh…”

“If you promise to do what I say next, I’ll forgive you.”

It’s not going to be something like buying her candy, is it?

Qin Yage, sharp as a whip, caught the subtle change in her brother’s expression. Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she spoke with mock seriousness. “If you lie to your sister once, you owe ten lollipops. If you lie twice, you owe a hundred lollipops. If you lie three times…”

She held up a slender finger, then paused, clearly beyond her mathematical abilities.

“What happens if it’s three times?”

“Hmph, I’ve decided: if you lie to your sister three times, you have to buy her candy for the rest of her life.”

“Where’s the logic in that?”

“No arguing! Penalty: ten lollipops.”

“What, you’re not convinced? Penalty: ten lolli—”

“I get it, I surrender, okay? You’re the most reasonable one here.”

Qin An raised his left hand to ruffle Qin Yage’s hair and pulled her into a hug.

“Hmph! Hugging your sister without permission—penalty: ten lollipops.”

“Does that mean I can hug you if I pay ten lollipops?”

Qin Yage blushed with anger, broke free from his embrace, and bared her little fangs, biting hard into his neck several times.

“I’m a patient here—could you go easy?”

“No! Flirting with your sister—penalty: ten, no, twenty lollipops! Hmph, you big pervert!”

And with that, Qin An now owed a total of ninety lollipops.

“Xiao An, are you okay?” the Little Tyrant asked, rushing into the ward like the wind.

Qin An on the bed gave a faint smile. “Much better.”

“Thank goodness you only took a bullet to the shoulder. I don’t know who started that rumor about your family having a ten-billion-dollar inheritance, but it’s despicable.” Aunt Xia, clad in a white doctor’s coat, was furious. Rumor had it she used to be a nurse and met the Little Tyrant’s father at the hospital, but after the divorce, she worked hard and became a doctor.

“And thank goodness your body is tougher than most kids your age. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even be able to talk right now.”

“Mom, that’s all thanks to me! If I hadn’t trained him regularly, he wouldn’t be like this.”

Aunt Xia chopped the unruly boy on the head. “You bully him and still act like you’re in the right.”

The Little Tyrant winced, holding his head, but argued stubbornly, insisting the credit was his until he got his way. Finally, Aunt Xia couldn’t be bothered to argue—after all, she was on duty and couldn’t stay away for too long. She left quickly, leaving a beaming Little Tyrant behind.

“Where’s that brat Yage?” the Little Tyrant asked while peeling an apple, his movements clean and efficient.

“Seems like she went to buy food.”

“Oh. I took care of your leave at school, but your deskmate was really worried, kept asking questions. I finally had to tell a little lie—said you were sick. She wanted to visit, but I turned her down. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all, not at all.”

“Good.” He exhaled, then took a deep breath. “I made this. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

The Little Tyrant opened the lunchbox. The dishes were rich and varied, and the rice gave off a fragrant aroma. The famished Qin An’s eyes lit up. He tore open the disposable chopsticks and was about to dig in when an irritated voice rang out. “Brother, here’s your food.”

Qin Yage entered the ward and stared directly at the Little Tyrant, who stared back unyieldingly.

Qin Yage’s purchases were simple: sweet and sour ribs, braised radish, and cold tomato salad. Even when eating, that girl couldn’t stay away from sweets.

“Hey, brother, isn’t it inconvenient eating with your left hand?”

“Not really—”

Qin Yage pinched the soft flesh of Qin An’s waist where the Little Tyrant couldn’t see, her expression clearly intending to twist black into white.

“Inconvenient, very inconvenient.”

“Then let me feed you!” Qin Yage’s big eyes sparkled with unmistakable cunning.

She reached out and fed him a piece of sweet and sour rib. It was sickeningly sweet! Under Qin Yage’s fierce gaze, Qin An could only put on a look of utmost satisfaction.

Qin Yage turned and whispered into the Little Tyrant’s ear, “Brother Wang, I can take it from here. You can go home now. And thank you for looking after my brother.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I could do. In that case, I’ll take my leave. Xiao An, remember to eat the apple after your meal.”

“I will.”

Seeing the Little Tyrant leave, Qin Yage flashed a triumphant smile, her scheme successful.

But Qin An was already helping himself to the dinner the Little Tyrant had brought. He had to admit, the food was excellent—towering several stories above the meal Qin Yage had specially prepared for him.

Watching her brother eat that fox’s food with obvious enjoyment doused her happiness like a bucket of ice water, plunging it to zero.

Qin Yage snatched the lunchbox in front of Qin An and fumed, “You’re not allowed to eat his!”

“Why not? You want me to eat yours instead?”

“That’s right! Got a problem with the food I brought back? If you dare say yes, I’ll bite you to death.”

“Well… of course not.”

“Then why are you still eating his?” She dismissed his words with contempt.

“Isn’t this what you wanted to eat? I saved it for you.”

In the end, she was still a little girl. A few words from Qin An were enough to coax her into finishing all that cloying food.

Finally, Qin An exerted his elder-brother authority, threatening ninety lollipops to force Qin Yage to brush her teeth, all while she muttered, “Despicable, shameless, low, cunning, treacherous…”

Did she really have to use every derogatory term in the book?

Qin An was the only patient in the ward, a fortunate result of Aunt Xia’s abuse of power and the current low number of patients. Qin Yage was staying overnight in the ward. At first, Qin An objected, afraid his sister might catch a cold, but he couldn’t win against her—even using lollipops as hostages didn’t work.

Just as the clock struck eight, the child’s body combined with exhaustion brought a wave of sleepiness. Qin An glanced at the little girl lying in the opposite bed with an innocent sleeping face, a trace of a smile curling at the corners of his mouth. Then he sank into a deep slumber.

When morning light filled the sky and began spilling into the room, he opened his eyes groggily. He felt the blanket being lifted, and a warm body crawled into his bed.

“Yage, is that you?” he mumbled with his eyes closed. Then he felt his arm being pulled aside. The light, pleasant scent of hair filled his nostrils as his arm became a pillow.

When Qin Yage was little, she often shared a bed with Qin An. As she grew older, like other little girls, she became aware of the differences between boys and girls and curious about the opposite s*x. She felt shy sleeping with her brother, and her early maturity made her prefer sleeping alone for independence.

But whenever the sky grew dark with thunder and lightning, or after reading a ghost story, she couldn’t help but run to her brother for comfort. Her parents weren’t like other kids’ parents; they felt like strangers to her. Whenever she wanted to go to her brother, her mother would stop her and scold her harshly. So she didn’t dare to act spoiled with her parents or ask them to protect her by her bedside. She always nagged her brother, but that was just her way of getting his attention. In her heart, only her brother was a true brother.