Chapter 205: The Test

"Yang Yang, in the future don't make promises to others so casually…" Tian Tian Xinhan said slowly. "Do you know how big a promise you've just made?"

"To me, it's not worth mentioning."

"Exactly. Precisely because you can do it, you must be even more careful with your words." Tian Tian Xinhan said, "I consider myself a fairly upright person, but hearing the promise you just made to me made my heart stir a little, let alone people with ulterior motives."

"Then what do you want?"

"What I want, I'll go fight for myself. The fruits earned by your own two hands taste sweeter, don't they?"

Yang Yi looked at him seriously, and seeing not a trace of pretense or insincerity on his face, she nodded.

"Yang Yang, you really make people worry… Do you act like this with your boyfriend too?" Tian Tian Xinhan hesitated, wanting to say more but holding back.

"Only you."

Tian Tian Xinhan swallowed, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating without any warning.

He turned his head a little awkwardly, and said to the air: "In the future, don't make promises like this to anyone. It'll have a bad influence on you."

Yang Yi merely smiled and did not respond.

In the evening, Tian Tian Xinhan brought Yang Yi home. Uncle Tian and Auntie were surprised and delighted, and insisted on keeping her for dinner.

Auntie was so happy she didn't know what to do, busying herself in the kitchen cooking dish after dish, only stopping when the table couldn't hold any more.

"Lucky that Xiaohan stocked up the fridge with a bunch of stuff this time, otherwise it wouldn't be enough!" Uncle Tian said gratefully. He sat on the sofa, his walking stick propped beside him, helping out with small tasks like sorting vegetables.

"Look how thin you are, Yang Yang. You mustn't follow those young girls who diet all day long, ruining their health. You'll suffer for it when you're old. Girls should be sturdier—plenty of qi and blood, and the body will be good!" Auntie Tian kept putting food in Yang Yi's bowl.

Yang Yi ate without changing expression, and praised: "Auntie, your cooking is still this good. The fried small fish you make are my favorite—it's the best thing I've ever eaten."

Tian Tian Xinhan smiled gently and peeled shrimp for her.

"Oh, if only I'd known, I would've told Xiaohan to buy some fish back. We've got them in the reservoir too. Tomorrow I'll have Xiaohan go scoop some up. Those minnows and white strips don't grow big, perfect for coating in flour and deep-frying!"

Chatting about this and that, Yang Yi ate the most comfortable meal of her life. She almost deliberately made herself stay in that moment, not thinking about tomorrow, not thinking about the future, not thinking about anything negative.

Winter nights come early. It was barely past six after dinner, yet the sky had already gone completely dark.

Yang Yi slowly paced into the courtyard, her gaze sweeping around.

"What are you looking at?" Tian Tian Xinhan walked over and asked.

"Your home is a little different from when we were little," Yang Yi said. She pointed to the southeast corner. "I remember there was an apple tree there. The blossoms were pretty, and the fruit tasted good. Why is it gone?"

"That was planted by my grandfather. It passed its prime fruiting years, and the roots grew old and rotten, so my dad cut it down." Tian Tian Xinhan's tone carried a faint reluctance.

After a long pause, Yang Yi also sighed softly: "Yes, nothing in this world can last forever."

"So young, yet talking like an old person?" Tian Tian Xinhan had wanted to pat her head, but his hand paused, and he only patted her shoulder.

"Let's go, it's cold outside. Go inside and warm up." Tian Tian Xinhan beckoned her.

"It's been so long since I've been in your room. Let me see if it's changed." Yang Yi said with a smile.

As the two walked, Tian Tian Xinhan said: "I should've cleaned up ahead of time if I'd known."

The layout of the room hadn't changed much. A large desk sat by the window, a wardrobe and bookshelf against the wall, the bookshelf piled high with books—two or three times more than when they were little.

Against the north wall stood a bed, covered with two thick layers of cotton quilts, the quilt covers in the peony pattern the town loved most—tacky yet familiar. An open suitcase sat at the foot of the bed.

Tian Tian Xinhan picked up the remote and turned on the air conditioner. A gust of warm air blew over, and Yang Yi suddenly said: "Actually, I'm not afraid of the cold anymore."

Tian Tian Xinhan put down the remote and turned to look at her. "Standing in the cold wind and sitting in a warm room feel different."

Yang Yi smiled. "You're right."

She walked to the bed, looked at the peony-patterned bedding. "Auntie picked the bedclothes, didn't she! So homey." Saying so, she lay straight down, slowly exhaling the air from her chest, and quietly stared at the ceiling.

Tian Tian Xinhan looked at the girl lying on his bed, and suddenly recalled by the river how she had said that as a child she would lie on his bed and smell his pillow.

His face grew warm, and he averted his gaze to tidy things on the desk.

After quite a while, he heard her say softly: "So this is what it feels like!"

Tian Tian Xinhan's throat bobbed. "What feeling?"

"Lying on warm cotton quilts, smelling the scent of laundry detergent, hearing parents' faint chatter drifting in from outside the window, no necessary thing to do tomorrow… opening your eyes to ready-made meals, and your parents' smiling faces and urging… everything as expected, a peace that puts one at ease…"

Her tone was ethereal, not as if she were talking to him, but rather as if talking to herself.

Tian Tian Xinhan's heart ached, and the little bit of romantic fancy from moments ago quickly faded.

Before he could say anything, Yang Yi quickly came back to herself, sat up, glanced at him, then swept her gaze around the entire bedroom, lost in thought.

The atmosphere fell quiet for a moment, with only the "hum" of the air conditioner.

"Tian Xinhan-ge, why aren't you scolding me? A girl entering a member of the opposite sex's bedroom and just lying down on his bed—really not demure. Right?" Yang Yi suddenly said with a smile.

"Not just anyone—a little sister." Tian Tian Xinhan didn't look at her. He moved the mouse on the desk and started up the laptop. "Lie down wherever you like."

"You really don't treat me as an outsider?" Yang Yi asked playfully. "Then I'll take it seriously!"

"Just like when we were little…" Before Tian Tian Xinhan could finish, the rest of his words got stuck in his throat.

A pair of arms reached around from behind his neck, encircling his chest. The girl's chin came to rest lightly on his left shoulder, a few strands of long hair brushing against his ear, tickling, the tickle traveling all the way into his heart.

"What are you busy with?"

He heard her say. Because she was so close, the breath from her speaking followed her words into his ear canal, then traveled along the ear canal all the way into his brain, echoing in his empty mind.

Tian Tian Xinhan shook the mouse haphazardly, waking the screen, wanting to click open a document, but clicked several times in a row without hitting it.

"There's a case… not finished yet." He did his best to keep his voice steady.

"Oh…" Her voice drifted lightly past his ear, like a wisp of faint, hazy smoke:

"Tian Xinhan-ge, do you know, when I was little I especially wished I was your real sister, wished I could be Uncle Tian and Auntie's real daughter… if only we were a real family, then I could naturally trail behind you every day, be your little shadow, go play with you, study with you, go to school with you…"

Tian Tian Xinhan wanted to turn and look at her, but her head was resting on his left shoulder, so he could only reach out his left hand and hold her hands, tightening his grip.

"…And we could run wild and play every day, like the other kids in town. When tired from playing, we'd come home and naturally wait for mom to set the food on the table… no need to huddle by someone else's dinner table like a quail, like we were stealing someone else's happiness…"

Her head nuzzled lightly against his ear, and she laughed self-deprecatingly: "Really silly, right?"

"Not silly at all…" Tian Tian Xinhan wanted to say more, but for a moment was at a loss for words. Any comfort seemed somewhat pale.

Yang Yi lowered her eyes: his ears were red, and his cheeks were tinged with a faint, thin blush, as if he'd been drinking.

She smiled silently.

"Brother Tian Xinhan, do you really not need my help? You study law; do you want to establish your own law firm? Or go to the court? The procuratorate? Or perhaps... the Ministry of Justice of the State Council?"

"Didn't you just say you treated me as a younger sister? Then isn't it normal for a younger sister to want to do something for her older brother? Bro-ther?"

Her voice was soft, yet the meaning contained within made Tian Tian Xinhan's breathing quicken instantly.

Those vast futures, those bright prospects, those goals unreachable by effort alone without connections, all seemed to beckon to him.

If he just said "yes," or "good," even without him giving anything, he could easily obtain everything he had dreamed of.

Yang Yi still held his neck, merely lowering her eyes, quietly watching his expression.

If he agreed, she would naturally help him, escorting and protecting him; as long as he committed no fundamental errors, he could almost rise to high office in a single step.

And then? What did she want to get from him? What did she want to prove from his choice?

Yang Yi didn't know either; perhaps she just liked smashing beautiful things, only to prove they were fragile... but shouldn't fragile yet beautiful things be carefully protected? Why deliberately smash them?

Why, when she clearly liked perfect and pure things, did she, upon getting close, still feel unable to resist destroying them?

"Are you testing me? Yangyang?" Tian Tian Xinhan pulled her arm away, sat in the chair, and looked up at her. "What do you want to prove?"

His face still held a gentle smile, but his eyes were filled with seriousness and inquiry: "Prove that I am also an ordinary person possessing greed?"

His hands were large, with long, powerful knuckles, easily holding her hands.

Yang Yi smiled: "Seems so." Then she tilted her head, looking at him, and said with a grin: "What? Brother Tian Xinhan, are you angry?"

Tian Tian Xinhan did not answer her question, maintaining his own rhythm: "Why do this?"

"I don't know. Maybe boredom? Maybe because so many people close to me nowadays have ulterior motives; I have beautiful memories of you. If you approach me with some motive, it will disappoint me greatly; might as well I actively disappoint myself? Or perhaps because you rejected me by the river just now, making me lose face? As long as I prove you aren't that good, I'll feel better in my heart?..."

Yang Yi turned her hand to grasp his, raised an eyebrow, and asked: "Which answer do you like?"

Tian Tian Xinhan looked at her steadily, his gaze containing scrutiny, as well as some relief.

"You have grown up." Tian Tian Xinhan patted her arm. "You have aggression, you know how to protect yourself; this is very good. If you were still as frightened and timid as when you were little, I would be worried instead."

Yang Yi paused, bit her lip, and said nothing.

Tian Tian Xinhan felt that at this moment she resembled the timid little neighbor girl from her childhood.

Suddenly, she sighed: "Brother Tian Xinhan, you are still so smart and sharp, and it seems even more formidable than before."

"Not as formidable as you!" He reached out and tapped her forehead. "Little one, you used to run behind my heels when you were little; now you dare to test me!"

Yang Yi just smiled, standing before him, looking down at him, saying nothing.

"And with such a huge bait, which cadre could withstand the test?" Tian Tian Xinhan made a joke, then warned again: "You can't do this in the future; it will affect you badly. Right now, the whole world is watching you."

"Really don't want it?" Yang Yi asked again.

"No. If I really took it, my perfect image in your heart would collapse; I'd rather remain the good neighbor brother in your impression!"

Tian Tian Xinhan smiled and pushed her away. "Hurry up and go. Every time I see you, I think of how huge an opportunity I missed; it makes my heart itch."