What is it now?
“Suisui, we're going to the hospital to visit a patient today. Isn't it inappropriate to dress up like this?”
Zhou Sui'an spoke in a flat tone.
Hah. Just because she was going to see that brat Jiang Zongyan, she had to dress up?
As if he deserved it!
The thought made Zhou Sui'an feel as though a stone were lodged in his chest. He was uncomfortable all over.
Suisui had no idea what he meant. She lowered her head and glanced at the perfectly ordinary dress she was wearing.
It showed neither her arms nor her legs.
All she had done was put on a light layer of makeup to cover the redness and swelling on her face.
How had it become inappropriate in her brother's eyes?
“Brother, is there something wrong with how I look?”
“Something wrong?”
Hah.
Zhou Sui'an let out a cold laugh. It was too beautiful, if anything.
He turned his face away guiltily and said stiffly, “Go wash your face. This makeup doesn't suit you at all.”
Nearby, Cui Wu was preparing a gift box. Hearing this, she stopped what she was doing and said in confusion, “Young Master, what doesn't suit her? Miss already has delicate features, and she's beautiful even without makeup. With a little light makeup today, she looks like a beautiful porcelain doll.”
Suisui gave Cui Wu a look that clearly said, *At least you understand me.*
Cui Wu smiled at her. “Miss, I think it suits you perfectly.”
“I said it doesn't suit her, so it doesn't suit her!”
Zhou Sui'an grew flustered and angry. He gritted his teeth and glared at Suisui. “Go wash it off when I tell you to. Stop asking so many questions!”
His sister was already so beautiful that, without makeup, she attracted endless love letters from all the troublesome boys at school.
He had lost count of how many of those toads eyeing his sister he had secretly dealt with behind the scenes.
If she deliberately dressed herself up as well, who knew how many annoying flies she would attract?
Looking at her brother's expression, Suisui finally understood.
Her brother's old-fashioned patriarchal habits were acting up again.
In his eyes, his little sister was a flower, loved by everyone—a fairy. Every man in the world would want to come over and take a couple of bites.
Suisui sighed helplessly inwardly. Then, pitifully pointing at her face, she spoke in a soft, tender voice.
“But, Brother, my face is swollen.”
“What? Your face is swollen?”
The moment Zhou Sui'an heard that, he became nervous. He hurriedly reached out and gently held her chin, carefully examining her face.
“Where is it swollen? Let Brother take a look! What happened?”
Suisui obediently held her face out for him to examine and explained in a small voice, “I stayed up too late studying the materials last night and accidentally fell asleep with my face on them. When I woke up this morning, my face was a little swollen, so I put on some powder to cover it.”
So that was what had happened.
Zhou Sui'an immediately felt a pang of sympathy, and his tone softened.
“You silly girl, you can't stay up so late just to study.”
Suisui blinked her dewy eyes and asked obediently, “Brother, should I still wash my face?”
“Don't wash it, don't wash it. The swelling will go down in a while. Leave it like this—it looks pretty.”
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Sui'an added, “While we're at the hospital, we'll get you some ointment to put on it.”
“Mhm. My brother is still the best to me.”
“Cut it out with the nonsense.”
Zhou Sui’an had been led off track, and the anger she’d felt moments ago had long since vanished without a trace.
The coffee table in the living room was already piled high with all kinds of carefully prepared supplements.
The night before, Zhou Sui’an had specifically asked Cui Wu to simmer a pot of free-range chicken soup, filling two large containers to the brim.
Now, she instructed the servants to load everything into the car.
She herself rose and headed outside. As she passed Zhou Suisui, she naturally reached out, took the little bag from her hand, and carried it for her.
“Give it to your brother.”
A faint smile curved Zhou Suisui’s lips. Her brother really was easy to placate.
Yet at the same time, she couldn’t help feeling troubled.
Precisely because her brother was too kind-hearted and too easily swayed, Su Wan had been able to take advantage of him.
There were plenty of clever people in this world—and even more slippery ones.
Especially in their circle, where people skilled in calculation and manipulation were everywhere.
Sincerity and straightforwardness were such rare and precious qualities.
Unfortunately, some people simply didn’t know how to appreciate her brother.
Lost in thought all the way, she barely noticed when the car came to a smooth stop in front of the hospital.
The siblings carried the supplements into the top floor of the inpatient building, which had been temporarily converted into VIP wards.
When they pushed open the door to the room, Mrs. Jiang was leaning against the headboard, pitifully complaining to her son.
“Zongyan, your mother is getting old. My health is getting worse by the day. Who knows how much longer I have to live?”
“Mom, don’t worry. You can eat and sleep just fine. You’re guaranteed to live to a hundred.”
Jiang Zongyan sat beside the hospital bed, quietly peeling an apple. Seeing his mother grow increasingly outrageous, he finally paused and lifted his eyes to glance at her.
Watching him remain so unconcerned, Mrs. Jiang felt her chest tighten with frustration.
“How am I supposed to talk sense into you? If you can’t even win over a girl as wonderful as Suisui, then don’t bother coming home.”
Ever since he had returned after taking Suisui home yesterday, he had seemed absent-minded and out of sorts.
He spent all day like a silent, stuffy gourd, impossible to read.
Mrs. Jiang was beside herself with anxiety.
Before she had entertained the idea, she had only worried aloud and had not actually done anything.
But now that the thought had taken root, the more she considered it, the more anxious she became.
Suisui had grown up.
At eighteen or nineteen, a girl was at the age when her first feelings of love began to stir—an age when she could easily be sweet-talked away by some man.
And yet her son was a block of wood.
What advantages did he even have? Money? Good looks? So what?
These days, young men had endless tricks for charming girls.
The more she thought about it, the less likely her son seemed to stand a chance!
At that, Jiang Zongyan merely said calmly, “I have a plan.”
“What plan could you possibly have?”
Mrs. Jiang was about to elaborate when footsteps sounded outside the door.
Zhou Sui’an and Zhou Suisui entered the room together.
“Auntie, are you feeling any better today? Is anything bothering you?”
Zhou Sui’an handed the supplements to a Jiang family servant, then walked to the bedside, her eyes full of concern.
