Chapter 428: Isn't it a piece of cake for a twenty-year-old Xiaoxiao to handle her thirteen or fourteen-year-old sister?

"Have you seen enough?"

"What?"

"This outfit."

"I can't see enough."

"..." Ning Qing lowered her head and said softly, "I am going to go change back."

"Don't! Let me look a while longer!"

"Usually, how long does this... take?"

"It's not certain; some are fast, some are slow. But looking at your current situation, I guess half a day to a day," Chen Shu said. "In my experience, when you start to feel a bit sleepy, or your brain feels sluggish and you start to zone out, it's about to end. If you get sleepy, your memories will be restored when you wake up again; if you start to zone out, the memories will slowly emerge bit by bit."

"Then today... how do I pass it..."

"I'll take you out to play, introduce you to your adult younger sister and the cat you keep, treat you to good food and drink... It's not easy for you to come here once..."

"You're smiling again." Ning Qing tilted her head slightly.

"Am I not allowed to smile?"

"What are you smiling at?"

"It's interesting, it's fun," Chen Shu laughed. "I feel like your memory didn't just have a problem, but that you traveled from the age of thirteen or fourteen to this moment. Because if other people's memories don't fully awaken, even if they return to the past, it's chaotic—their memories are messy, their minds are confused, and they are rarely as clear-headed as you, while also maintaining such strong rational thinking."

"And you?"

"Me? When I was in my teens, I was about as clear-headed as you. In that case, I guess maybe only people with high IQs can stay clear-headed..."

"Shameless."

"You only just realized?"

"..." Ning Qing silently withdrew her gaze. "I just saw photos of Xiaoxiao and that cat."

"How are they? Are they cute?"

"Who?"

"The cat."

"Cute."

"What about Xiaoxiao?"

"She doesn't look as good as me."

"If she heard that, she'd hold a grudge against you again."

"Is she in college?"

"A long time ago. She was specially admitted at sixteen, to the same university as you, Ling'an Academy. She's only one grade below you, already a senior. By the way, you were the one who chose the school and major for her."

"Does she live here too?"

"Of course. This is Yujing, and she goes to school in Yujing too. You two sisters are very close, so as your younger sister, she naturally has to live with you."

"Sisters are very close?"

Ning Qing tilted her head slightly to look at him, seemingly unable to understand the meaning of this phrase with her current level of knowledge.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Are she and I on good terms right now?"

"Not bad. We fight wits and courage on the surface, but we're actually very close," Chen Shu said, unable to help but smile. "The later you became much gentler."

"Gentle..."

Ning Qing muttered to herself, chewing on the word carefully, feeling a bit dazed for a moment.

So she could also become gentle.

So she really could become gentle.

Then she looked at Chen Shu again:

"Is this our home?"

"It's your home; I'm just a freeloader," Chen Shu paused. "This is Xicheng District, Yujing City, very close to our school. You rented this courtyard and plan to buy it next year. Your friend lives next door, too."

"A friend?"

"Can't believe you'd have a friend, right?"

"Yes..."

"She's your roommate, a very annoying person. Haha, you'd definitely find her very irritating if you saw her now. I just don't know if she's gone out to work yet. I think the scene of you two meeting would definitely be interesting. If we recorded it and looked back at it when we're old, it would definitely be very funny."

After hearing this, Ning Qing only asked:

"Then why would she be a friend?"

"The human heart is made of flesh. You've known each other for four and a half years. Actually, she has a bunch of small flaws, but no major ones. By the way, she's actually quite similar to me in many ways. When you entered your freshman year, you were so annoyed by her that you couldn't stand it, and it only slowly got better after two or three years." Chen Shu's tone had unknowingly become gentle and patient, devoid of his previous flippant joking. "And now it's been four and a half years; when in the Dormitory, you could say you've been together day and night. Plus, she is especially good to you and Xiaoxiao alone."

"..."

After listening, Ning Qing pursed her lips, keenly feeling that something was wrong. After a moment of thought, she understood: it must have been him who made her go make friends.

Otherwise, she would not have accepted someone.

And she certainly wouldn't have been so patient.

"Want to see her?"

"No."

"Haha..."

"Have you seen enough now?"

"No."

"I'm going to go change my clothes."

Ning Qing pressed her hands against his chest and pushed him out of the room. After closing the door, she stood in place, ruminating and pondering for a long time before slowly walking toward the wardrobe.

The wardrobe is very large, with many clothes hanging inside.

There are both hers and his.

Ning Qing stands still, watching silently for a long time.

After several minutes, she has changed into the clothes she usually wears at home and goes downstairs with Chen Shu.

"Mm-mm~"

A white cat runs over quickly.

Chen Shu says to her, "This is the cat you raised; it is very affectionate toward you. You raised it when you were about fourteen or fifteen years old. Do you have any impression of it?"

"No."

"Huh??"

Taozi has its mouth slightly open, revealing two small sharp teeth, its eyes wide and round, looking completely incredulous.

"It's over, it's all over, Taozi, your owner doesn't recognize you," Chen Shu says to it. "Now the only one who can be good to you is me. Why don't you hurry up and act cute or roll around in front of me to win my favor?"

"Woof?"

Taozi ignores him completely, only staring longingly at Ning Qing, using its little paws to hook at her pant leg.

Ning Qing looks down at it, but does not react.

She does not recognize it.

Ning Qing withdraws her gaze and continues asking Chen Shu questions.

The changes of over ten years give her endless questions, and now the answer to every question feels like the realization of a life she once imagined; such a scene inevitably gives her a dreamlike feeling.

If it were not a dream, how could it fit her imagination so perfectly and be woven so beautifully? If it truly were a dream, how could it be woven so realistically?

"..."

Ning Qing walks slowly downstairs, listening quietly to the sound of her footsteps.

If this is truly a dream, please let it last a little longer.

If this is reality, my future self, you are even more remarkable than I imagined.

The young girl rides her beloved little motorcycle, speeding all the way; it happens that there are few cars and people in this University City, and she leans fully into every turn, even swerving her body to avoid manhole covers in the middle of the road, showing her excellent mood.

Just today, the Green Ladybug was also released.

This is a project she completed independently, so of course she has the right to decide what color the ladybug is; who says a ladybug cannot be green?

The significance of the Green Ladybug's release is even greater—

This means that "Artificial Life" has entered the realm of smaller volumes, and it is expected to continue to deepen, further enriching products and enhancing product power.

Moreover, the Green Ladybug boldly uses many advanced technologies, which in itself is a technical verification; there are successes and failures, which have played a vital role in the future development of Artificial Life Technology.

At the same time, at her sister's request, this Green Ladybug has for the first time acquired functions beneficial to humans—

Once humans designate a range, it will automatically hunt some pests and destroy pest eggs within that range; for example, aphids, various spider mites, planthoppers, thrips, and other pests common in her sister's garden are all within its hunting range.

However, it only hunts and does not eat.

The young girl also designed an Automatic Spirit-Charging Disk; whenever the energy inside the Green Ladybug is too low, it will automatically fly to the charging disk to replenish its Spirit Power.

It can be said that this thing already has a market.

It is just that the production cost cannot be brought down for the time being.

If it were used for agriculture, it would not be quite feasible yet. But if it is used for gardening, one can clear garden pests without using pesticides, without pollution, and without effort; one would think that there would still be quite a few gardening enthusiasts willing to pay for it.

Seeing that she is almost home, the young girl is impatient to go back and share this good news with her brother-in-law, and run to her sister to show off, letting her sister beg her to give the Green Ladybug to her with a slap.

And today is also the day her sister becomes a fool.

The young girl is eager to return home.

"Hum..."

The little motorcycle accelerates again.

"Screech!"

It stops steadily at the entrance of the courtyard.

With a clatter.

The young girl pushes the door open and happens to see her brother-in-law and sister walking out of the house, talking about something as they walk; she immediately stares straight at them, not even bothering to avoid suspicion in front of her sister, and asks directly:

"Brother-in-law, has sister become a fool?"

"..."

Chen Shu is silent for a moment, then turns to face Qingqing beside him and introduces her: "This is Xiaoxiao, the twenty-year-old Xiaoxiao; well, as you can see, she looks even stupider than the eight or nine-year-old you remember."

The young girl blinks, sensing something.

As for the fact that her brother-in-law called her stupid, it has already been filtered out by her automatic filtering system.

"Xiaoxiao."

"Mm!!"

"Let me introduce you, the thirteen or fourteen-year-old sister."

"!"

The young girl clenches her fists tightly, feeling excited inside, to the point that her breathing is a bit uneven.

Heaven rewards the diligent!

The chance to bully her sister has finally arrived!

"Hiss... hoo..."

The young girl takes a deep breath, her inner emotions surging, but her face remains expressionless, only giving her brother-in-law a wink.

The gist is: leave the rest to me.

She was very confident about this—

As a dignified twenty-year-old adult, wouldn't handling a thirteen or fourteen-year-old sister be as easy as pie?

She only heard the sister say to the brother-in-law:

"She has changed a lot as she grew."

"Compared to when she was eight or nine, she has indeed changed quite a bit. But she only grew during those few years; once she reached thirteen or fourteen, she didn't change much anymore, and has stayed like this ever since."

"I grew taller recently!" the little girl immediately retorted.

"Oh right, she grew a few centimeters during summer vacation," Chen Shu added for Qingqing.

"Mm."

"Xiaoxiao, come keep your sister company and walk around, introduce your sister to life over these past few years, and you are not allowed to bully your sister," Chen Shu said, then looked at Ning Qing again, "I'm going to make breakfast for you two; you go walk around with Xiaoxiao and Taozi for a while."

"..."

Ning Qing remained silent and nodded.

Her gaze still followed his figure.

As soon as the brother-in-law left, the little girl's eyes immediately became lively; her pupils darted around several times as she stared at her sister and said, "You are thirteen or fourteen now?"

"Memory, thirteen or fourteen."

"That's about right."

"..."

"Then I'm twenty, you have to call me Sister Xiaoxiao!"

"?"

"What's wrong? When brother-in-law's mind goes back to the past, he always calls me Sister Xiaoxiao."

"..."

Ning Qing stared at her in silence.

The little girl stared back at her, but gradually frowned—

It seemed she wasn't very easy to deal with.

But on second thought, her sister's personality had been like this since she was little; she was impolite and unwilling to even call out to Mom and Dad, so this was normal.

"Forget it if you won't call me that."

The little girl took big strides, walked to the stone table and sat down, then glanced at her sister: "Qingqing, come over here. I'm tired from school, knead my shoulders for me."

"?"

"??"

"?"

"???"

The sister stared at her, and she stared at the sister.

The two sisters' gazes clashed.

"What do you mean?" The little girl's brows were tightly furrowed, but she couldn't do anything about her sister, so she could only say, "Can you be a little more obedient?"

"..."

Ning Qing walked over in silence.

Just as the little girl thought things were looking up, she saw her sister sit down on the stone stool beside her, her voice clear and pleasant:

"What stage are you now?"

"Huh?"

"I'm asking you."

"I'm already at the Fourth Rank Peak!" the little girl said, "I tried to break through to the Fifth Stage a while ago; although I failed, I'll definitely succeed next time!"

"What stage am I?"

"You... Seventh Stage..."

"Knead my shoulders."

"!?"

"Otherwise, I will press your face into the dirt... I don't know what I'm like in the future, but at least in my current memory, I have always done what I said and never broken a promise."

"!!"

The little girl was instantly stunned—

How could it be like this?

"Three..."

"You..."

"Two..."

"Don't even think about it!"

"One..."

When Chen Shu finished cooking the sour soup noodles and came out of the house, he saw Qingqing sitting on the stone stool, while the little girl stood behind her with a dull and numb expression, her eyes vacant, kneading her shoulders; this scene made him involuntarily reveal a smile.

Such deep sisterly love!