I Won’t Be Your Best Friend - Chapter 5

They became very close friends, all the way from kindergarten to elementary school. The two of them carried a very important weight in each other’s lives.

Even the relationship between their two families grew much closer because of the two children.

Lin Dang’s dislike for her younger sister was not a matter of just one or two days.

Especially after Lin Ran gradually grew older and bigger, and could follow behind her wherever she ran.

It was like an unwelcome accessory had been attached to her thigh.

By the time Lin Dang reached sixth grade, Lin Ran could already go to school with her. And so, between her and Huo Wan, there was now one more somewhat annoying little brat.

“Sister, Sister, Mom wants you to take me to school.”

“Sister, Sister, I want to buy this to eat.”

“Sister, Sister…”

Lin Dang could not take it anymore.

“Are you a cicada spirit or something!”

….

Lin Ran could almost be said to have grown up under oppression. From childhood, she had deeply experienced the power of her sister’s poisonous tongue.

Even Huo Wan could not figure out why Lin Dang disliked her own little sister so much, when she was clearly such an adorable little person.

And so… when the three of them walked together, Huo Wan actually seemed more like Lin Ran’s real older sister.

Until one day, little Lin Ran got into a conflict with someone at school. On the way home after class, she did not say a word and was no longer chattering away like usual, constantly calling “Sister, Sister.”

While Lin Dang was celebrating the fact that the world could finally quiet down, in the end, she still could not help secretly going to the lower grades to understand the situation.

It turned out that several female classmates who had originally been on relatively good terms with Lin Ran had suddenly joined together to isolate her because of some small matter. They had even wanted to unite the rest of the class to isolate her too.

Fortunately, little Lin Ran was rather kind and easygoing, and her little face was also very likable. Basically no one in the class was willing to respond to those girls.

Although it could not really be counted as bullying, she still felt very wronged, and her heart did not feel good either.

But she did not want to tell her sister, because Lin Ran could roughly guess that if she told her sister about this kind of thing, her sister would definitely laugh at her.

After clearly understanding the sequence of events, Lin Dang, the next day after finishing exercises during the long break, pulled Huo Wan straight to the teachers’ office. She found Lin Ran’s homeroom teacher and explained the entire matter from beginning to end.

If there was a problem, go to the teacher. That was Lin Dang’s way of thinking.

At first, the teacher had not taken these two children seriously, nor had she planned to pay much attention to this matter.

Unexpectedly, once Lin Dang began speaking, she spoke in full sets of logic. A sixth-grade child spoke more clearly and coherently than some adults, opening and closing her mouth with great principles. In the end, she even extended the matter to school bullying.

Huo Wan stood at the side and watched Lin Dang display her might, her eyes practically turning into stars.

What was this? When Dangdang became serious, she was way too cool! She really was someone whose mouth said one thing but whose actions were honest. Every day, she used her poisonous tongue on little Lin Ran, but in her heart, she still protected her own.

Huo Wan felt very gratified. Lin Dang finally had a bit of awareness as an older sister.

“Teacher, do you realize the seriousness of this matter?” After Lin Dang finished explaining point by point, she asked this in return.

The teacher still had not quite recovered. She stared blankly at this half-grown child in front of her and involuntarily nodded.

“I understand. I’ll handle it.”

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Teacher.”

Lin Dang bowed to the teacher with a perfectly serious expression, then pulled Huo Wan, who had watched the whole thing from beginning to end, out of the office again.

The two of them prepared to return to their own classroom, but Lin Dang noticed that ever since they came out of the office, Huo Wan had been unusually silent.

So she turned back to look at her, just in time to meet the gaze Huo Wan had fixed on her.

Their eyes met for a few seconds. Huo Wan blinked her pair of eyes. Although she was only a sixth-grade little girl, she already faintly had the makings of a future beauty.

Lin Dang’s thoughts drifted a little far. She was already wondering what Huo Wan would look like after she grew up.

“Dangdang, can you… not be so serious?”

It made her feel so restrained.

She preferred the way Lin Dang looked when she smiled at her. Although Lin Dang like this was also very attractive… Mm? Attractive? Why would she choose to use the word attractive?

It seemed that something had already begun to sprout hazily in her heart, but Huo Wan, the person involved, still did not know it.

Huo Wan had always been someone who did whatever she thought of.

She tilted her head and thought for a moment. Then she took two steps forward, stretched out two fingers, poked Lin Dang’s cheeks, and pulled the corners of her mouth open.

At this time, Huo Wan’s body had not yet grown out. She was slightly shorter than Lin Dang by about half a head, so when she made these movements, she had to tilt her head up a little.

An artificially made, strange kind of smile.

Lin Dang’s face was soft, and the feeling of poking it was simply too good!

But the miraculous thing was that Lin Dang, who was usually short-tempered toward her younger sister, was now surprisingly calm.

Not only could she not get angry at Huo Wan’s actions, she actually did as Huo Wan said and curved her brows and eyes.

Huo Wan had always liked messing with her.

She had long since gotten used to it.

Somewhat helplessly, Lin Dang took the other girl’s hand down from her face, then turned her hand over and held it, pulling her upstairs.

“Hurry up, class is going to start soon!”

Huo Wan glanced at their joined hands. Lin Dang’s warmth still came from her palm, a tiny bit of it making her heart itch.

But very quickly, she moved her gaze away.

Good friends holding hands and all that—wasn’t that completely normal?

….

In sixth grade, the two of them worked hard together and both achieved very good results in the elementary-to-middle-school entrance exam. So naturally, the two of them became schoolmates again.

Only, they were merely in the same school. This time, they were not in the same class.

When the class assignment list came out, Huo Wan was unhappy for quite a while.

She made such a fuss that Lin Dang did not know what to do with her temper, although Lin Dang also felt somewhat regretful that the two of them had not ended up in the same class. Other than comforting her, she could only keep comforting her.

“I don’t care. This weekend, you’re treating me to a movie.”

“Okay.”

“I also want to eat that coffee-flavored little cake.”

“That’s fine.”

“Oh right, I also want to buy that little drawing notebook. After the movie, come with me to Xinhua Bookstore!”

Request after request made Lin Dang frown.

It was not because of any other reason, but because she was thinking about whether her allowance would be enough to buy all these things for Huo Wan.

Her family was not short of money, but they were very strict in controlling the children’s allowance.

Other rich second-generation kids were chauffeured everywhere and had piles of spending money, but the Lin sisters were different.

Ever since she was nine years old, she had already begun walking to school. Oh, right… there was also a little tail following behind her butt.

Lin Dang glanced at Huo Wan, and what she unexpectedly met was the other girl’s pair of eyes full of anticipation, clean and bright, as if they held the entire starry sky.

The hand she had placed in her pocket tightened, and her slightly furrowed brows smoothed out again in an instant.

“Okay, I’ll buy them for you. So don’t be unhappy anymore.”

Anyway, allowance and things like that could probably be figured out somehow…

As for what method she should use, Lin Dang already had a bold idea in her heart.

After returning home, Lin Dang uncharacteristically knocked on her younger sister’s door first. She thought about what kind of image she should present later in order to successfully borrow money from her sister.

After all, she was usually still a little fierce!

At this time, Lin Ran was lying on her little bed reading comic books. After hearing the knock on the door, she flipped over and climbed out of bed. But after opening the door, she was so frightened that she jumped.

She immediately took two steps backward!

She turned her head and looked out the window. No, that wasn’t right. It wasn’t raining red outside. So why had her demon sister knocked on her door??

Lin Dang very sensitively caught her younger sister’s little movement. Of course… actually, it was also because Lin Ran’s movement was not subtle at all.

The expression on her face nearly failed to hold. She opened her mouth and wanted to scold Lin Ran again, but thinking of her own goal, she forcefully held it back.

Fine. Endure it.

Lin Dang looked at the little thing in front of her. She had not expected there would come a day when she had to lower her head to her younger sister. Her expression became somewhat strange. Yet to little Lin Ran, this strange expression was the omen that her sister was about to spray venom!

“You…”

“Sister, I was very good today! Don’t scold me!” Today, she did not want to be oppressed by her sister!

Lin Dang had only just said the word “you,” and before the rest of her words could come out, little Lin Ran had already snatched the conversation away first.

That shout was a little loud. Even Grandma, who was curled up on the sofa in the living room watching television, heard it. Immediately afterward, the old empress dowager’s vigorous voice came over:

“Lin Dang, get over here!”

Lin Dang suddenly jolted when she heard Grandma’s shout. At this moment, Lin Ran stood inside the room, secretly covering her mouth and laughing in gloating delight, preparing to close the door.

Lin Dang braced her hand against the door and used force, refusing to let her close it!

The two of them stared at each other, wide-eyed… After a while, Lin Ran shrank her neck. She was still afraid of her sister.

“Grandma told you to go over!”

Why are you still clinging to my door and refusing to let go!

As little Lin Ran gradually grew up, she was no longer someone who only endured everything passively. Under long-term oppression, she had also learned how to revolt and resist.

Although most of the time, her resistance had no effect.

Today was also a day of tricking Sister. How nice!

Lin Dang arrived in front of Grandma somewhat dispiritedly. The old woman looked at her angrily, and when she walked over, Grandma first gave her a knock on the head.

“All day long, all you know is bullying your sister!”

!!?

Lin Dang covered her head, the pain making tears spring to her eyes, and she felt inexplicably wronged! If it had been any normal day, fine, but today, she had been dragged over before she even managed to start talking!

She was very wronged, okay?

“Grandma, you hit me!”

Lin Dang stuck out her neck and said this unconvinced. Hitting someone without distinguishing right from wrong was not a good habit.

“It was just one knock on the head, and now you’ve learned to talk back, have you? If you weren’t bullying your sister, would I knock you?”

“Come over here and massage my shoulders. Honestly…”

Lin Dang reluctantly moved to Grandma’s side and massaged the old woman’s shoulders.

Grandma actually did not mean to be fierce to her eldest granddaughter on purpose. It was just that Lin Dang’s past record of bullying her younger sister was truly too serious.

Lin Dang’s massage technique was very unpracticed. She was only casually pressing Grandma’s shoulders.

In her heart, she was still thinking about what she had promised Huo Wan today. So, after hesitating and hesitating, she still said what she was thinking.

“Grandma, if I massage you, can you give me a little spending money?”