Chapter 476: Burned

"Everything's already packed and stacked in your room—you can move it over tomorrow."

Though she noticed Li Ang was changing the subject, Anna didn't call him out; she smiled faintly, then helped him into the house.

Strangely, she didn't lead the injured Li Ang—his thigh hurt—to a chair, but instead brought him to the small bed in the spare room, piling up pillows and bedding into a perfect pad for lying face-down.

"..."

I knew I couldn't fool you...

He'd wanted to maintain the dignity of an elder brother, hoping his sister wouldn't find out his butt had been whipped—but now that Anna had acted, Li Ang couldn't pretend anymore. He stiffly lay face-down on the bedding.

But as he moved, the skin on his buttocks rubbed against the rough fabric, and a searing pain shot through him, making him flinch.

"Ow..."

That lunatic might be mentally unstable, but his grip was real—especially that slap. Even though it hit the thickest part of my flesh, still... holy shit?!

Lying on the bed, Li Ang felt a sudden chill on his rear—his pants were yanked down a few inches, exposing half his buttocks to the cold air.

"Oh my! It's all swollen!"

After seeing Li Ang's swollen buttocks, Anna's initially amused expression froze, instantly shifting to a hint of concern.

"Lie still—I'll go get the ointment..."

"Wait!"

Hastily pulling up his pants, Li Ang sat up, wincing, and said awkwardly: "I can actually do it myself..."

"Just lie back down!"

Anna shot him a glare, then rummaged through the packed luggage, grumbling:

"I'm your sister—what's so embarrassing about applying ointment to you? When you had that high fever and couldn't move, lying in bed for months, wasn't it me taking care of you?"

"It's not just ointment—I trimmed your nails, fed you water and meals, combed your hair, turned you over and washed you, even at night when you needed to use the toilet, it was me..."

"Stop! Stop right there!"

Seeing his sister unusually chatty, dredging up that warm yet deeply embarrassing past, Li Ang, thoroughly embarrassed, immediately lay back down—and even loosened his belt a little himself.

Seeing he'd surrendered, Anna smiled, said nothing more, found the ointment, sat sideways on the bed, pulled his pants down another inch, and fully exposed the "wound."

Huh?!

Seeing the palm print on Li Ang's buttocks, the frail girl blinked in surprise, then extended her right hand, measuring the mark from a slight distance.

This size... if you don't count the swelling... it looks like a woman's hand?

Liar! You told me it was from combat training?

Glaring at the oblivious Li Ang, Anna bit her lip in annoyance, then squeezed ointment into her palm, rubbed it in, and pressed hard right on the center of the mark!

What kind of combat training leaves a woman's palm print on someone's butt?

"Ow!"

The gentle, soothing application he imagined suddenly turned into a forceful, tiger-like pawing. Unprepared, Li Ang cried out—just as he was about to complain his sister was too rough, Anna said, alarmed:

"Oh no! I think I used too much force, Brother~ Does it hurt a lot?"

"It's... it's fine..." "If it's fine..."

Looking at the palm print on Li Ang's buttocks, the frail girl wrinkled her tiny nose, let out a silent huff, then raised her pale, slender hand and slammed it down again.

"Then bear with it a little longer! Rubbing it in will reduce the swelling faster!"

After a gentle yet torturous "punishment," the frail girl lifted her sleeve and gently wiped the cold sweat from Li Ang's forehead, her face full of concern:

"Brother, you said it didn't hurt—why are you sweating so much?"

"Maybe it's just hot..."

After uttering a lie he didn't believe, seeing his sister's still gentle, tender expression, Li Ang—who now felt much better but had just endured great pain—bit his lip, his face slick with sweat, full of unspoken words.

Did I make her angry?

Was it because I said I'd help her pack, but came home late? Or because I got injured again so soon after being discharged? Or...

"Oh, so it's just heat? Good~"

Watching Li Ang's suspicious expression, Anna snorted inwardly, sealed the ointment jar, and turned to tidy the disheveled luggage.

But as she wrapped the jar in a towel and placed it among folded old clothes, something else wrapped in fabric trembled slightly—then suddenly jumped out of the luggage, bounced once on the floor, and landed with a plop beside Li Ang's hand.

"Huh?"

Feeling something bump his wrist, Li Ang, lying on the bed, turned to look—and saw the old photo album his parents had left behind, the same one he and Anna had flipped through before.

Though he wanted to finish viewing the photos he hadn't seen last time, he feared Anna might be reminded of painful memories. He shook his head, suppressed his curiosity, picked up the album, and handed it back without looking up.

"Anna, something fell."

"Ah? Okay!"

Seeing Li Ang hadn't opened the album, the pale girl exhaled sharply, steadied her trembling hands with effort, took the album, and clutched its edges so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Yet despite her full strength, an old photo still squeezed itself out from the back cover of the yellowed album, stubbornly sliding into Li Ang's line of sight.

This... is Anna with their parents?

Looking at the couple embracing in the photo, and Anna, holding each parent's hand, smiling happily at the camera, Li Ang, lying by the bed, couldn't help but smile slightly—he reached to pick up the photo and return it, but then noticed something strange, and unconsciously murmured, "Huh?"

Above the parents' heads hung a sign reading "Family Portrait"—clearly taken at a studio—but the photo showed only the parents and Anna. There was no trace of him or his two younger siblings.

Burned it! I clearly burned it!

Watching Li Ang stare at the photo, Anna's face turned deathly pale. She bit her lip hard and twisted her inner thigh with all her strength.

Using the pain to force herself calm, a faint blush returned to her face. She sat beside the prone Li Ang, blocking her expression from his view, then bent down to pick up the photo, her voice tinged with regret:

"Oh dear, looks like the adhesive on the back dried out over time. After we move tomorrow, I'll buy some glue and see if I can stick it back on."

(End of Chapter)