Chapter 1362 - You’re Mad with Me?

“How should I reward you?” Yin Shuiling asked.

Yin Muchen cupped her chin with his long, slender fingers. He studied her graceful figure for a moment, then said, “There is something you can give me now.”

Yin Shuiling felt her whole body go numb under Muchen’s predatory gaze. She was about to die from mortification at this rate. It seemed to her that it became more difficult to resist the older he got.

Hastily, she slapped his wandering hand away. “You old fox! I’m going to see Ling’er!”

Shuiling scurried out the door before Yin Muchen could try anything else.

...

Yin Ling’er was sent to the Zhou family home, and Jian Han bathed her.

After the bath, Yin Ling’er wore a pair of pink pyjamas that she had brought with her. Ling’er’s skin was like a freshly peeled lychee dyed in alternating shades of lustrous whites and pinks. She was beyond adorable.

Jian Han dried her hair with a towel. “Ling’er, would you like to sleep with me tonight?”

“Then where will Uncle sleep?”

“I’ll ask him to sleep in the guest room,” Jian Han said with a smile.

Yin Ling’er thought for a moment. “Auntie, I want to sleep with Pingan Gege.”

“Ah, this...”

Zhou Pingan was eleven this year, a boy on the cusp of puberty. Jian Han had already begun educating her son about the birds and the bees. It was not appropriate for boys his age to be sleeping with girls. Not wanting to disappoint Ling’er, Jian Han found herself in quite the pickle as to how she should respond.

“Auntie, can’t I sleep with Pingan Gege? I really want to sleep with Pingan Gege!” Yin Ling’er hugged Jian Han, rubbing her face coquettishly against the hem of her nightdress. “Auntie, I like you a lot. You smell so good, and you’re so beautiful. You’re just like Mommy. You’ll treat Ling’er as well as she would, wouldn’t you?”

Jian Han did not know whether to laugh or cry. Ling’er had such a honeyed tongue that she found it impossible to say no.

“Alright, alright. Ling’er can sleep in her Pingan Gege’s room, but you’ll be sleeping on the bed while he sleeps on the sofa.”

“Okay!”

Jian Han brought Yin Ling’er to Zhou Pingan’s room. Zhou Pingan was sitting at his desk, fiddling with various bottles and jars with a serious look.

“Pingan Gege, what are you doing?” Yin Ling’er ran up to him happily.

Zhou Pingan detected the unmistakable fragrance of a young girl. Turning around, Pingan came face to face with Ling’er. Her skin was as smooth as polished jade; her eyelashes were as delicate as the wings of a butterfly; her large watery orbs shone with a curious light. She was so close that had she been any closer, the two of them could have kissed.

Zhou Pingan’s youthful face burned a bright pink. He edged backwards, pulling away from the gross invasion of personal space.

Unconscious of his discomfort, Yin Ling’er took a step closer and said, “Pingan Gege, let’s sleep together!”

Zhou Pingan looked at his mother questioningly.

Seeing her son struggle under Ling’er’s fiery assault, Jian Han grinned. It was cute in a way only a mother would understand. “Pingan, you’ll sleep on the sofa while Ling’er sleeps on your bed. Take good care of Ling’er, alright?”

Zhou Pingan did not know how to respond to his mother’s casual words.

...

Later that night...

Yin Ling’er slept on the bed while Zhou Pingan slept on the sofa.

“Pingan Gege, I heard that you’re going to skip grades?” Yin Ling’er stuck her head over the side of the bed and looked at Zhou Pingan, who was lying on the sofa.

Zhou Pingan nodded. “Yes.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Can you not choose not to skip grades?”

“...Why?”

“Because I want to be with Pingan Gege.”

“Well, I’m afraid I can’t...”

Before Zhou Pingan could finish his sentence, he heard a soft sobbing sound. Yin Ling’er was crying.

He quickly sat up and asked nervously, “Little Sister Ling’er, what’s wrong?”

Yin Ling’er was curled up on Pingan’s bed; her large sparkling eyes were filled with tears. She looked at him pitifully, sobbing all the while.

“Pingan Gege, why... I’ve tried so hard to grow up, but you still... want to leave me. I can’t bear to... leave you. I want... to be with you forever... sob...”

Zhou Pingan had an excellent impression of Yin Ling’er. She was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, and her voice was sweeter than any sugary treat. Since kindergarten, she had shared her sweets with him, constantly following him around wherever he went. Ling’er had worked hard to grow up just so that she could be with him always. A boy fortunate enough to meet a girl like her was blessed indeed.

Now that she was crying so wretchedly, Zhou Pingan did his best to comfort her. “Sister Ling’er, don’t cry...”

“Pingan Gege, promise me... Promise me that you won’t skip grades...”

“I...”

“Sob, sob, sob. Pingan Gege still wants to skips grades. Pingan Gege doesn’t want Ling’er. Ling’er is sad. Pingan Ge... is mean. If you skip grades, Ling’er won’t talk to you ever again! Ling’er will go and be... friends with someone else...” Yin Ling’er said as she rocked back and forth, her glistening tears falling like raindrops.

... Becoming friends with someone else?

The scene that flashed in Zhou Pingan’s mind was one of Yin Ling’er chasing another boy and calling him ‘gege’. It was too horrible to imagine!

“How dare you?!” Zhou Pingan frowned, shouting unhappily.

Yin Ling’er cried out louder. “Pingan Ge is scolding me!”

Zhou Pingan was on the verge of a breakdown. “I’m not!”

“But you’re still shouting at me!”

“... I’m sorry.”

“... Will you promise me not to skip grades...?”

Zhou Pingan seriously considered Ling’er’s question. Seconds seemed to pass like hours before Pingan shook his head and said, “Fine. I won’t skip grades.”

Yin Ling’er instantly stopped crying, and her eyes curved into cat-like crescents. “Pingan Gege has promised not to skip grades. Pingan Ge isn’t allowed to go back on his word. Pingan Ge is the best!”

The swiftness by which Ling’er’s emotions flip-flopped informed him that he had been tricked. Sighing deeply, Zhou Pingan stared up at the crystal chandelier hanging overhead and repeated his previous assertion, “I won’t skip grades. Sister Ling’er, go to bed.”

Life is filled with choices – some more important than others. This choice of Zhou Pingan’s was one of his most important. It was a choice he never regretted. There were things in life more important than one’s studies.

Although Zhou Pingan had grand ambitions, they were no match for the piercing golden jewels that were Yin Ling’er’s sorrowful eyes – such was the power of her feminine wiles.

Zhou Pingan closed his eyes and went to sleep.

A while later, he heard Ling’er crying again.

“Little Sister Ling’er, what are you...”

Before Zhou Pingan could finish his sentence, a corner of his blanket was raised, and Yin Ling’er crawled under it to lay beside him.

“Pingan Gege, I had a nightmare. I don’t want to sleep alone. I’m scared.” Yin Ling’er turned sideways, wrapping her lotus-like arms around his waist.

Zhou Pingan wiggled uncomfortably.

“Pingan Gege, I won’t be scared if I hug you to sleep. Goodnight.” Yin Ling’er dozed off, hugging Zhou Pingan.

The eleven-year-old Zhou Pingan did not need any sex education at all. After all, he was a doctor. By the age of four, he was already studying human anatomy; he knew the differences between men and women.

He often saw children around him asking their parents how they were born. Those parents would always answer vaguely, saying that they were too young to understand the complexities of love. Zhou Pingan had laughed it off before. Unlike his peers, Pingan knew that sexual intercourse had to occur to produce a child – merely sleeping with another member of the opposite sex was insufficient.

Nonetheless, he tactfully agreed with his mother when she told him that boys and girls could not sleep together.

Yet... here now was a girl was lying next to him, hugging him like a teddy bear.

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