Chapter 8
Ning Song had firmly remembered what Pei Hanying had said to her earlier.
But she never could have imagined that the first person to break Pei Hanying’s rules would be Pei Hanying herself.
Ning Song didn’t want Pei Hanying to wake up the next morning and become angry over the position they were sleeping in. Held somewhat domineeringly in her arms, Ning Song cautiously wriggled.
She had intended to free herself from Pei Hanying’s embrace, but the moment she moved even slightly, the arm around her tightened instead.
The girl’s muffled voice carried a commanding tone. “Don’t move.”
Ning Song couldn’t tell whether she was awake, so she could only obediently remain still, no longer daring to move around.
Her body was always somewhat cold. Even inside a warm room, she retained little warmth. Her hands and feet remained icy throughout the year, sometimes becoming so cold that they woke her in the middle of the night.
But Pei Hanying’s body was entirely different. Even through their clothes, Ning Song could feel the warmth flowing from her into herself.
Held in Pei Hanying’s arms, Ning Song’s body gradually warmed.
Children had limited energy. Although something still weighed on her mind, Ning Song was held securely and enveloped in warmth, so she soon fell asleep.
Before falling asleep, Ning Song was still thinking that she had to wake up early the next morning.
She couldn’t let Pei Hanying discover that she had hugged her.
However, Ning Song’s fever medicine contained ingredients that induced drowsiness. Combined with her poor health, she slept longer than most children.
Naturally, Pei Hanying woke first the following morning.
Pei Hanying had originally thought she would feel unaccustomed to sharing her bed with someone.
Unexpectedly, however, she had slept quite well last night.
When she first woke, she was still holding a soft doll in her arms.
She burrowed her face against the doll. As her mind gradually cleared, her body slowly stiffened.
Wait.
Aside from pillows and blankets, there were no dolls on her bed.
Pei Hanying’s lashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes, and a snow-white, delicate face entered her vision.
The little girl’s eyes were closed, her long, thick lashes lowered and casting faint shadows beneath her eyes. She was a veritable eyelash fairy.
Her nose was high and delicately shaped. The injuries on her face had faded somewhat, revealing the youthful sweetness appropriate for a girl her age.
—It was Ning Song’s face.
Pei Hanying closed her eyes, her little face scrunching into an instant mask of agony.
Wait, hadn’t she only just told Ning Song yesterday that she wasn’t allowed to sleep toward the middle? How had they somehow ended up embracing each other?!
It was all Ning Song’s fault. How could such a proper little girl have such a terrible sleeping posture?
Pei Hanying opened her eyes again, intending to wake Ning Song and make her apologize properly.
Then the hand resting on Ning Song moved backward and encountered nothing but empty space. Realizing something was wrong, Pei Hanying sat up and looked around. Her mouth slowly fell open before her body collapsed again like a fish that had been smacked unconscious.
The good news was that Ning Song’s sleeping posture seemed perfectly fine. She was still lying obediently near the edge of the bed and had barely moved.
The bad news was that Pei Hanying was probably the one with the terrible sleeping posture. There was no other explanation, since Ning Song couldn’t possibly have dragged her all the way over here.
In other words, after repeatedly declaring that Ning Song wasn’t allowed near her…
She had taken the initiative to move closer to Ning Song after falling asleep?!
For a moment, Pei Hanying wanted to smash her head against a block of tofu and die.
Her face hurt. Her own words had come back to slap her hard across the face.
After wailing several times inwardly, she rubbed her face and finally eased her arm out gently.
She abruptly sat up. While Ning Song was still asleep, she used the back of her hand to check the temperature of her forehead. Only after finding nothing unusual did she climb out of bed from the other side, change clothes in the walk-in closet, and wash up.
Only after hearing her footsteps recede did Ning Song quietly open her eyes.
She had awakened earlier, when Pei Hanying pulled her arm out from beneath her.
But ultimately, she had still woken later than Pei Hanying.
Pei Hanying had discovered that they had slept in each other’s arms.
Ning Song felt extremely anxious, terrified that Pei Hanying would become angry.
Unexpectedly, not only had Pei Hanying not become angry, but she had even checked her temperature.
Was she concerned about her?
Ning Song opened her eyes and pulled the quilt higher, leaving only her jade-green pupils exposed.
A faint glimmer floated within those beautiful eyes, instantly bringing them to life.
When Pei Hanying emerged after washing up, she saw the quilt folded into a perfectly neat block on the bed and the girl standing stiffly beside it. The corner of her mouth twitched.
“What are you doing?”
Ning Song looked at her and gently shook her head.
Pei Hanying opened a spare set of toiletries for her. “Go wash up.”
While washing earlier, she had undergone an intense internal struggle and finally devised a strategy.
Although she had been the one to embrace Ning Song in her sleep, she could pretend she knew nothing.
If Ning Song didn’t mention it, neither would she. If Ning Song did mention it, Pei Hanying would simply act surprised.
Pretending ignorance—the perfect solution for young and old alike.
After Ning Song finished washing up, Pei Hanying had a maid find one of her old coats and instructed Ning Song to put it on.
At breakfast, Ning Song still had a slight fever, but she was already in much better condition than yesterday.
Pei Yuan glanced at the two little girls eating earnestly with their heads lowered and instructed someone to keep the milk warm.
Having roughly gauged Ning Song’s appetite yesterday, Pei Yuan had ordered the servants to serve her a portion suitable for her, so as not to burden the child’s stomach by making her overeat again to avoid wasting food.
When Ning Song had nearly finished eating, Pei Yuan’s tone softened. She chatted with her while subtly asking a few questions.
After learning the general circumstances of Ning Song’s family, Pei Yuan casually asked:
“Xiao Song, how old are you this year? Auntie didn’t have the chance to ask yesterday.”
Sitting upright on her chair, Ning Song took a tissue and wiped her mouth before looking at Pei Yuan and answering softly:
“Auntie, I’m five years and eight months old.”
Pei Yuan was surprised. She hadn’t expected the girl, who looked even younger than her own daughter, to actually be more than a year older than Pei Hanying.
She was so frail, and the doctor who examined her yesterday had said that her constitution was poor. Even with careful nursing, she would still be more susceptible to illness than an ordinary person.
Pei Yuan furrowed her brows, feeling even greater disgust toward Ning Song’s parents, who had brought her into the world without properly caring for her.
Pei Hanying, who had pricked up her ears and overheard their conversation from the side, also froze.
The sky had fallen. How could Ning Song be older than her?
The hand holding her chopsticks paused, and for a moment, she began questioning her entire existence.
She raised her head and stared darkly at Ning Song.
Under the simultaneous scrutiny of mother and daughter, Ning Song immediately became nervous.
She swallowed softly and asked helplessly, “Auntie, Yingying, did I… do something wrong?”
Pei Hanying straightened her back and said to Ning Song with a solemn expression:
“I’m six and a half years old, one year older than you, so you should call me Big Sister.”
Ning Song looked at her and tilted her head slightly, a hint of confusion filling her eyes.
Viewed from this angle, that snow-white little face looked even more adorable.
Even though her hair was unbelievably ugly, her face more than compensated for it, making her almost unbearably cute.
Pei Hanying unexpectedly took a critical hit from her cuteness, though her expression remained composed.
She waited for Ning Song to call her Big Sister.
Wasn’t it only natural for a five-year-old to call someone with a psychological age of over thirty “Big Sister”?! Ning Song was lucky she wasn’t making her call her “Auntie.”
Pei Hanying thought this inwardly, entirely failing to realize how childish she was being—hardly any different from an actual young child.
Ning Song instinctively raised her head and glanced at Pei Yuan.
Pei Yuan looked at Pei Hanying and stopped her. “Yingbao, you’re not allowed to lie.”
“Yingbao is four this year, so she’s actually one year younger than you, Xiao Song.”
“You’re the big sister, and she’s the little sister,” Pei Yuan explained to Ning Song.
Exposed by her own mother, Pei Hanying puffed out her cheeks, clearly unhappy.
She gave a soft snort. “Fine, don’t call me that. Plenty of other children want to call me Big Sister.”
With that, she jumped down from her chair and pattered toward the elevator.
She quickly called the elevator, rode it to the third floor, and entered the music room. Feeling somewhat dejected, Pei Hanying pressed the piano keys, and crisp, melodious notes immediately rang through the room.
For some reason, she felt unhappy.
And it was the kind of unhappiness that couldn’t be coaxed away.
Left behind at the dining table, Ning Song was at a loss.
Pei Yuan was accustomed to Pei Hanying’s occasional bouts of temper and reassured her, “Don’t worry. Little Sister is a little willful. Just leave her alone, and she’ll be fine in a while.”
As she spoke, she had a maid bring over Ning Song’s morning medicine. Only after watching her take it did she allow the little girl to move about freely.
After drinking her medicine, Ning Song looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she walked over to the elevator as well. She studied it for quite a while before finally calling it, then fiddled with the controls for ages before figuring out how to go upstairs.
However, when she reached Pei Hanying’s bedroom, she didn’t see her. Ning Song searched around and eventually stopped outside the music room.
The music room was well soundproofed. Only while standing directly outside the door could she faintly hear the smooth melody of the piano within.
The little girl stood there for a while before rising onto her tiptoes and knocking.
The piano music inside stopped abruptly, then resumed at an even faster tempo.
Left waiting outside, Ning Song hesitated for a long time before finally turning the handle and opening the door herself.
She walked inside and quietly listened to the music, looking at the girl in an elegant knitted dress, her long hair flowing loose as she sat before the piano like a little princess.
Pei Hanying knew she had entered, and some of her sulkiness dissipated, but she still didn’t particularly want to acknowledge her.
Her fingertips flew across the piano keys.
Unexpectedly, even after Pei Hanying finished playing an entire piece, Ning Song still hadn’t spoken.
Pei Hanying’s hands stopped. She turned and stared unhappily at Ning Song for quite a while.
Then she asked fiercely, “What did you come here for?”
Ning Song looked at her and said sincerely in her soft voice, “You play beautifully.”
Did that even need to be said?
Pei Hanying was the national champion of the Xinghai Cup Piano Competition.
She struggled to suppress the corners of her lips from rising and lifted her chin high. “What else?”
Ning Song walked to her side and raised her head to look at her, her voice soft and sweet.
“Big Sister.”
“I called you Big Sister, so please don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Pei Hanying: “……”
At that moment, she inexplicably found Ning Song’s dog-chewed bangs rather adorable.
It definitely wasn’t because Ning Song had called her Big Sister.
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