Chapter 74: 73 Burned

73 Burned

"I've already packed everything and stacked it in your room. We can move it over tomorrow."

Although she could tell Hearing Li Ang was changing the subject, Anna didn't expose him. She gave a faint smile, answered with a sound, then helped him into the house.

Strangely, she didn't lead the "thigh"-injured Hearing Li Ang to a chair to sit down, but brought him to the small bed in the second bedroom, stacking up the pillows and bedding along the way to make a cushion perfectly suited for lying face-down.

"……"

I knew I couldn't hide it from you…

He had originally wanted to maintain some dignity as the elder brother, not wanting his younger sister to know he'd had his bottom smacked, but now that Anna had already answered with her actions, Hearing Li Ang couldn't keep up the act. With a stiff face, he obediently lay face-down on the bedding.

However, as he moved, the skin on his bottom brushed against the rough fabric of his clothes, and a sharp, stinging pain instantly made his whole body twitch.

"Hiss…"

That lunatic may be out of his mind, but his grip is really strong—especially that one slap. Even though it landed on the thickest-fleshed part of me, it still… what the hell?!

Hearing Li Ang, who was lying on the bed resting, only felt a cool sensation on his rear as his pants were tugged down a notch, exposing a small portion of his bottom directly to the chilly air.

"Oh my! It's all swollen!"

After looking at Hearing Li Ang's swollen bottom, the slightly amused expression on Anna's face couldn't help but freeze, instantly transforming into a hint of heartache.

"Stay lying down. I'll go get the ointment…"

"Wait!"

After hurriedly pulling his pants back up, Hearing Li Ang endured the pain and sat up, saying a little embarrassedly: "I can actually do it myself…"

"Just go lie back down!"

After giving the still-trying-to-be-brave Hearing Li Ang a look, Anna rummaged through the already-packed luggage while complaining in a disgruntled tone:

"I'm your sister. What's there to be shy about when helping you apply medicine? When you had that high fever before and couldn't move, lying in bed for those few months, wasn't I the one taking care of you?

Not to mention just applying medicine—trimming your nails, feeding you water and meals, tending your hair, turning you over to wipe you down, even when you needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, it was all me…"

"Stop, stop, stop! Hold it right there!"

Seeing his sister unusually entering chatterbox mode, droning on about that warm yet rather shameful past, the extremely embarrassed Hearing Li Ang immediately obediently lay back down, even loosening his belt a bit on his own.

Discovering he had surrendered, Anna smiled and said no more. After finding the ointment, she sat sideways on the edge of the bed, tugged Hearing Li Ang's pants down another notch, directly exposing the "injured area."

Eh?!

After seeing the slap mark on Hearing Li Ang's bottom, the sickly girl couldn't help but blink in surprise, then extended her own right hand, holding it at a slight distance to measure it.

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

Liar! You actually told me it was combat training?

After glaring at the oblivious Hearing Li Ang on the bed, Anna discontentedly bit her lip, then squeezed ointment into her palm, rubbed it open, and pressed hard toward the center of the handprint!

What kind of combat training would leave a woman's handprint on someone's bottom?

"Ouch!"

The imagined gentle, breezy application of medicine suddenly turned into a forceful, heavy-handed "tiger rub." The caught-off-guard Hearing Li Ang instantly cried out in pain. He had just been unable to resist wanting to complain that his sister was being too heavy-handed, when he heard Anna say in a somewhat panicked tone:

"Oh dear! I think I used too much force. Bro~ does it hurt a lot?"

"I-it's… it's fine…"

"Since it's fine, then…"

Looking at the slap mark on Hearing Li Ang's bottom, the sickly girl scrunched up her little nose, gave a silent hum toward Hearing Li Ang's bottom, then raised her fair, slender palm and slapped it down hard once more.

"Then bear with it a bit longer! Rubbing it in helps the swelling go down faster!"

……

After a "torture session" of soft, gentle words, the sickly girl pinched the cuff of her sleeve, gently wiped the cold sweat from Hearing Li Ang's temple, and said with a face full of concern:

"Bro, didn't you say it didn't hurt? Why are you sweating so much?"

"Maybe it's the heat…"

After replying with nonsense he didn't even believe himself, looking at his sister who still wore a gentle, attentive expression, Hearing Li Ang—whose bottom felt much better but who had also suffered greatly—couldn't help but click his tongue. His sweat-drenched face was written all over with things left unsaid.

Did I make her angry?

Was it because I said I'd help her organize things when we got home, but came back very late? Or because I got injured again not long after being discharged? Or perhaps…

"So it was the heat. That's good~"

After looking at the suspicious-faced Hearing Li Ang, Anna hummed in her heart, then sealed the small jar of ointment, turning to organize the rummaged-through luggage.

However, just as she wrapped the small jar in a Mao Jin and placed it into a pile of folded old clothes, something else wrapped in old clothes trembled slightly, actually bouncing out of the luggage on its own. After bumping against the floor, it fell with a *clatter* right beside Hearing Li Ang's hand.

"Hmm?"

Feeling something bump the back of his hand, Hearing Li Ang, who was lying on the bed, curiously scooted over for a look and discovered it was the old photo album left by their parents—the same one he and Anna had flipped through before.

Although he wanted to finish looking at the photos he hadn't seen last time, he was also worried his sister might be reminded of the deceased and recall something sad. Hearing Li Ang shook his head, suppressed his curiosity, picked up the album, and handed it back without looking up.

"Anna, something fell."

"Ah? Okay!"

Seeing that Hearing Li Ang hadn't opened the old photo album, the pale-faced girl immediately let out a long breath, then forcefully steadied her trembling hands. After taking the album, she immediately gripped its edge tightly, squeezing until her knuckles turned white.

However, even though she had used all her strength, an old photo stubbornly squeezed out from the edge of the yellowed album's back cover, sliding defiantly right in front of Hearing Li Ang's eyes.

This is… a photo of Anna with their parents?

Looking at the embracing couple in the photo, and Anna holding each of their hands, smiling happily at the camera, Hearing Li Ang, lying at the bedside, couldn't help but curl up the corners of his mouth. He had just been about to pick up the photo and return it, but noticed something strange and unconsciously let out an "eh."

Above the parents' heads hung a "family portrait" sign—it should have been a family portrait taken at a photo studio. But in the photo, there were only the parents and Anna; there was no sign of himself or the other two younger siblings.

I burned it! I clearly already burned it!

Looking at Hearing Li Ang, who was staring at the photo in a daze by the bed, the deathly pale Anna couldn't help but bite her lip hard, reaching out to viciously pinch the inside of her own thigh.

After using the pain to forcibly calm herself down, a bit of color returned to her cheeks. She then sat down next to the prone Hearing Li Ang, blocking his view of her current expression, then bent down to pick up the photo, saying in a slightly regretful tone:

"Oh dear, it looks like it's been too long and the adhesive on the back has dried out. After we finish moving tomorrow, I'll go buy some glue and see if I can stick it back."