"Didn't he hit me in the end?" Zhao Ling showed her her wrist. "There's still a wound here."
Zhao Xuning: "The one who provoked first..."
"Sister Ning!" Zhao Ling exclaimed anxiously, her eyes wide. "What are you saying? Who is your brother here?"
"Support what is right, not what is personal," Zhao Xuning said.
Zhao Ling: "..."
He gritted his teeth in anger, "I bet you're helping that older sister, what's her name again... Shen Hui?"
Zhao Xuning: "It's none of your business."
Zhao Ling was so angry at Zhao Xuning that she was about to explode. Liang Shi sighed from the side, "Were you bullied like this by her since you were a child?"
Zhao Ling immediately looked aggrieved and went to complain to someone, "Yes, Sister Liang, let me tell you, my cousin is just a..."
"Smack."
Zhao Xuning slapped Zhao Ling on the shoulder, "Would you die if you didn't talk?"
Zhao Ling: "..."
"You saw that, didn't you?" Zhao Ling immediately moved far away from Zhao Xuning. "She's a violent maniac."
“I call this using violence to control violence,” Zhao Xuning said.
Zhao Ling made a face at her.
The atmosphere between the two was quite intimate, which was quite novel for Liang Shi, who had never experienced kinship with his compatriots.
Although after arriving here, Liang Xinzhou and Liang Xinhe made her feel a little bit of...
However, both of them were older and had families, so their concern for her was mainly about her living needs and finances. She was also always reserved and wouldn't have such a relaxed atmosphere for chatting with them.
This way of getting along is a bit like that of children.
They bicker and tease each other, but they don't hold grudges. Even if they argue, they make up in no time.
That's quite enviable.
"Have you been like this since you were little?" Liang Shi asked.
Zhao Ling nodded: "Yes, I was her and my sister's punching bag."
Liang Shi chuckled, "Then I pity you."
Zhao Ling nodded repeatedly, "Both of my older sisters are ruthless and inhuman."
“I’ll call your sister,” Zhao Xuning said.
Zhao Ling immediately admitted defeat, "No, Sister Ning, I was wrong."
Zhao Xuning glanced at him sideways but didn't say anything.
Zhao Ling followed Liang Shi around like a sycophant, and couldn't help but sigh, "Compared to you, Sister Liang, you're like a fairy, the kind that doesn't eat the food of this world."
Liang Shi was amused by him and teased, "Even if you praise me like that, I won't pay your bill later."
"I'll pay," Zhao Ling said. "You've helped me so much, how could I let you pay?"
Zhao Ling complained to her about Shen Siyan, that nitpicky and aloof weirdo, and even mentioned her name.
“He seems to have three older sisters,” Zhao Ling said. “But his third sister died shortly after birth.”
"So he just used his sister's name?" Liang Shi asked in surprise.
"No," Zhao Ling said. "Think about it, Siyan. She misses her third sister, right? That's why I said she's definitely a sister-complex guy."
Zhao Xuning said coldly from the side, "It's better than your treasonous behavior."
Zhao Ling: "...???"
//
Zhao Ling's life consisted of being bullied by Zhao Xuning and Zhao Ying, and constantly teetering on the brink of being driven to death by her two older sisters.
He was used to Zhao Xuning's sharp tongue, but he still opposed Zhao Xuning's blatant favoritism towards outsiders.
The main reason was that he felt Zhao Xuning and Shen Hui were unlikely to get together.
"Sister," Zhao Ling thought for a while but couldn't help but say, "I used to think that they weren't good enough for you, but now it's obvious that we're not good enough for them."
Just as they reached the restaurant entrance, Zhao Ling pushed open the door and said, "I advise you to give up on that idea. How can you glue a broken mirror back together?"
"Watch out—" Several voices rang out at the same time, startling Zhao Ling.
He turned around and saw that Shen Siyan, who was holding a plate, had a dark face. The soup and rice in the plate had spilled out, and some of it had splashed onto him.
Zhao Ling: "..."
Wow, what a coincidence!
Liang Shi witnessed the whole process from behind.
When Zhao Ling opened the door, he was talking to Zhao Xuning, so he was a bit reckless. Shen Siyan, who was holding the plate properly, almost bumped into Zhao Ling when she turned around unexpectedly. Afraid of accidentally hurting Zhao Ling, she moved the plate in front of herself, and it ended up getting on her clothes.
"Watch your step," Zhao Ling said preemptively. "There are people coming and going here. What if you bump into someone?"
Chen Siyan remained silent, her brows furrowed. "It's because you don't watch where you're going."
He had a very dashing appearance, which didn't match his name at all. His voice was also unusually cold. In particular, his eye color was light brown, making it look like he was wearing colored contact lenses, which made his dashing face look a bit seductive.
Liang Shi glanced inside and immediately spotted Shen Hui sitting there.
Shen Hui was originally looking down at her phone, but after hearing the noise, she looked up and stared silently.
Liang Shi's gaze met Shen Hui's in mid-air. She smiled and nodded, which was her way of showing a friendly attitude.
Shen Hui showed no reaction, her expression indifferent.
Liang Shi then noticed her eyes, which resembled Shen Siyan's, both having light brown pupils, a rare sight.
That eye color looked particularly cold and indifferent on Shen Hui's face.
Even with the midday sun reflecting off her skin and making it translucent, she still looked unapproachable.
Liang Shi looked at them and felt inexplicably that their eye shapes were familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen the same eyes before.
Meanwhile, Shen Siyan and Zhao Ling were already at each other's throats. Both were young men in the prime of their lives, each more passionate than the last.
They couldn't agree on a few words and started glaring at each other angrily.
Zhao Xuning finally spoke up: "Zhao Ling, apologize."
Zhao Ling was surprised, and asked in a wronged tone, "Sister Ning?"
He pronounced the word "Ning" in a very convoluted and exaggerated way.
"Apologize." Zhao Xuning's tone was serious and his voice was cold; it was an order.
Zhao Ling got angry and retorted, "No, I didn't do anything wrong."
They're blocking the door, so the guests behind can't get in, while the guests inside are just watching the spectacle.
Chen Siyan glanced at him, frowned, and after a moment said, "Never mind."
He carried away the spilled soup and rice, and after sitting back down, Shen Hui handed him a tissue to wipe the oil stains off his clothes.
This is a self-service food pick-up area with three pick-up points. The one that Chen Siyan just used has the fewest users, but most people don't use it because it's easy to get your food caught in the door.
As lunchtime approached, people arrived in droves.
Because of the unpleasantness earlier, Zhao Ling was less talkative, but since Liang Shi was still there, he maintained basic politeness, went to the front desk to order food, got a number, and then came back to ask Liang Shi what drink he wanted.
Liang Shi ordered plain water, but Zhao Ling, secretly sulking with Zhao Xuning, didn't even ask what she wanted to drink and just handed her an iced cola.
Zhao Xuning crossed his arms and looked at him, "Why didn't you apologize just now?"
Zhao Ling had just opened the can, his fingers still inside, when he heard this and frowned: "Why should I apologize?"
"You weren't watching where you were going and you bumped into someone," Zhao Xuning said. "Why aren't you apologizing?"
Zhao Ling: "Can't you just talk to me properly?"
Zhao Xuning: "..."
A few seconds later, Zhao Xuning's tone softened, "I'm sorry."
Zhao Ling: "..."
Zhao Ling was taken aback when she received Zhao Xuning's apology so easily, then said with a hint of happiness, "It's okay, I forgive you."
Liang Shi watched from the sidelines, deeply moved.
Is this what family is?
One second they were locked in a tense standoff, the next they were all smiles.
Zhao Ling then came to her to verify the situation, asking about what had just happened, and Liang Shi told her the truth.
Zhao Ling sat there for a moment, then got up to find Shen Siyan.
Liang Shi sat there, holding a cup of hot water to warm his hands, with steam rising from the hot water in front of him.
Zhao Ling walked righteously to Shen Siyan's table, placed two drinks on their table, coughed lightly, called to Shen Siyan, and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, I was wrong just now."
Liang Shi was shocked.
She thought that boys that big could fight, but they would never apologize.
Zhao Ling overturned her understanding.
Shen Siyan's answer also brightened her eyes, "It's okay, my attitude just now wasn't good either, let's just let it go."
Liang Shi: "..."
She looked at Zhao Xuning and couldn't help but sigh, "They all have such good family upbringing."
Zhao Xuning raised an eyebrow, as if to say—isn't this the proper thing to do?
After Zhao Ling returned, the atmosphere remained the same as usual, with everyone chattering away, and Liang Shi just listened to the commotion.
However, during the meal, Liang Shi and Zhao Ling chatted casually, and Liang Shi suddenly said, "Shen Hui and her brother have such beautiful eye colors, they look very familiar."
Zhao Ling: "?"
He swallowed his soup and rice whole and looked at Liang Shi in astonishment.