Chapter 8: A New Beginning

Anyway, Zhou Wen gave more money earlier, so the forensic doctor must be well-paid.

After finishing the discharge procedures, Zhou Wen overheard my sister calling me petty, and he almost laughed out loud.

I tried to act familiar, pushing the luggage into his hands and teasing, “Is the car ready? Little sis is discharged today; you’re not letting her walk home, right?”

Zhou Wen nervously carried the luggage, “On it, on it!”

My sister and I sat side by side in the back seat. Luckily, her attention was focused on me—her imagined boyfriend—so she barely spoke to Zhou Wen.

We smoothly passed through, and once we reached my courtyard, my sister excitedly took in the three-story house I built myself.

Zhou Wen showed me his palm, sweaty with nerves.

The aunt who rents the third-floor room selling fruit joked, “I always suspected something between you and Little Chen. How else could he afford to rent such a place for years on that little income?”

I put my hands on my hips and snapped, “If you keep teasing me, I’ll raise your rent next month! What do you mean ‘such a place’? My house is great! That’s my brother!”

I patted Zhou Wen’s shoulder playfully, and he leaned close to whisper, “Judging by your teeth wear, you can’t be older than me, right? You’re probably between 25 and 30. I’m 28.”

I instinctively replied, “How do you determine age more accurately?”

He whispered, “Pubic bone.”

I shivered. Classic forensic talk. Planning to dissect me too?

I was creeped out and hurried upstairs to catch up with my sister and lead her to the room I’d prepared for her on the second floor.

Opening the door, my sister’s eyes sparkled.

I froze.

The room layout was the same, but the bed and wardrobe were new.

There was a soft memory foam mattress, pink curtains and bedding, and a Winnie the Pooh plush on the bed.

Clearly, when Zhou Wen and I went to pick her up, Chen’s mother had redecorated for her daughter.

Zhou Wen seemed to realize this too. He lightly patted me and told my sister, “Say thanks to Sister Wu. Look around—this is the best room upstairs and downstairs.”

My sister wasn’t the hugging type. She shyly snuggled close and whispered, “Thank you, Sister Wu.”

Chen’s mother, hearing her daughter had returned, stood by the staircase on the second floor with swollen red eyes. She wanted to come in but feared upsetting my sister.

The fruit-selling aunt on the third floor saw Chen’s mother and asked curiously, “Xiao Wu, who’s this old lady? Why are her eyes like that?”

I had no extra rooms to rent out, so she wasn’t a new tenant.

The cheeky aunt immediately fabricated, “She’s my aunt. She had a fight with her daughter-in-law, who kicked her out, so she’s hiding here for now.”

I grabbed my sister’s hand. Seeing she didn’t resist, I pulled her to Chen’s mother and said, “Little sis, this is your aunt. Auntie, this is my little sister I just found today. She’s young—please take care of her eating, drinking, and everything else.”

Chen’s mother nodded repeatedly and continued the story along my lines, “I have nowhere else to go anyway. Staying here to cook and do laundry for you two sisters keeps me busy.”

See? I’m not tricking her into being a maid—she came looking for the job herself.