After school, the four friends walked together as usual towards the school gate. Ye Ziming quickened his pace to catch up with the others, walking backward as he said to them:
"Aren't we supposed to have hot pot? Let's do it this Sunday. We all did pretty well on our exams, so let's celebrate."
"Sure, I'll give you this chance to show your respect for me," Lu Chuan replied with a mischievous expression, clearly in a good mood.
Ye Ziming wanted to curse, but he restrained himself, thinking that his recent progress was largely due to Lu Chuan's help.
"Alright, it's a deal. See you on Sunday."
"Liu Ruyan, come down."
After dinner, Liu Ruyan carried half a watermelon back to her room, turned on her computer, and prepared to reward herself by watching her idol's anniversary concert video. Just as she was getting into the opening, she received a message from Lu Chuan.
Interrupting her idol-watching and with an order-like tone, Liu Ruyan immediately refused without a second thought.
"Not going!"
"Hurry up, this is your first task. You have five minutes to meet me at the usual place. If you don't come, you'll face the consequences."
Liu Ruyan was fuming but gritted her teeth and reluctantly went downstairs, not even bothering to change out of her pajamas.
It was nearly nine o'clock at night, and it was already dark outside with hardly anyone around. Liu Ruyan spotted Lu Chuan standing by the horizontal bar in the community playground, and next to him, a swinging swing?
"Ah—Lu Chuan, what are you doing there? Come over here."
Due to the weak lighting near the swing, Liu Ruyan hadn't seen the person on it. She only heard the squeaking noise and thought the swing was moving on its own, so she quickly covered her face and shouted towards Lu Chuan.
"Liu Ruyan, what are you doing? Hurry up and come here."
Hmm? That childish voice sounds a bit familiar. Liu Ruyan peeked through her fingers and opened one eye to see that a little boy was sitting on the swing.
When she recognized the boy's face, she was taken aback. How did this little tyrant end up here? Is it too late to run now?
Liu Ruyan turned to escape but was grabbed by the scruff of her neck by Lu Chuan. "Trying to run? No chance."
"Why is this little troublemaker here?" Liu Ruyan asked through gritted teeth.
"My aunt and uncle are on a business trip this weekend and can't take care of him, so they sent him to my place."
"But you can't take care of him either!" Liu Ruyan's brows were tightly furrowed.
"Do you think I wanted him here? As soon as I got home from school, this little troublemaker was already lying on my bed eating chips. What could I do? I can't just throw him out."
"Ugh, I don't care. Being a servant to just one person is already bad enough, but now I have to be his servant too? I'm not doing something that might put my life at risk!" Liu Ruyan said, trying to run back home again.
Lu Chuan, having anticipated her reluctance, blocked her way once more. "It's not that dramatic. He's just a kid. How about this: you help me take care of him for two days, and I'll reduce your monthly service time by one week."
"Make it half a month."
"Deal!"
"What are you two whispering about over there?" The little guy, now bored, called out from a distance.
The two of them had left the child alone while they negotiated, and if someone didn't know better, they might think they were plotting to sell him.
"Coming, coming, little troublemaker, oh no, I mean, little sweetheart~" Liu Ruyan's ability to change her demeanor was impressive; now she was a warm and caring older sister.
This little troublemaker, who Liu Ruyan was referring to, was Lu Chuan's cousin, Lu Yuhang, a five-and-a-half-year-old with dreams of becoming an astronaut when he grew up.
Lu Yuhang looked very much like Lu Chuan, just a smaller and chubbier version—fair-skinned with a pair of black almond eyes, exuding intelligence.
However, his energetic personality was quite different from Lu Chuan's aloofness. He seemed to have endless energy, often leaving Liu Ruyan and Lu Chuan to take turns playing with him until they were exhausted, while he would continue to demand more playtime.
He was smart and had a good memory, so trying to fool him was impossible. He remembered promises made last month about going to the zoo and would accuse adults of being unreliable if they tried to come up with excuses.
He expected to get whatever he wanted, was quick-witted, and had top-notch acting skills. If things didn't go his way, he would report to the adults, his tears making him look pitiful. Lu Chuan's parents thought it wouldn't be fair for the kid to be upset on his occasional visits, so the ones who ended up suffering were Lu Chuan and Liu Ruyan.
Liu Ruyan had always been the queen of the local kids, but even she, the little troublemaker, was afraid of this super little tyrant. Every time they parted, she hoped they would never see each other again.
"Liu Ruyan, long time no see. You've put on weight," Lu Yuhang greeted with a soul-crushing remark.
Liu Ruyan was infuriated but couldn't hit him.
She held up her finger and wrote the character "忍" (endure) on her forehead, took a deep breath, and with a smile showing all her teeth, said softly, "Good Yuhang, call me 'sister~'"
The little tyrant turned his head away, his soft, watermelon-like hair shaking with him. "No, you're even more childish than I am!"
Fine, if he didn't want to call her, Liu Ruyan crouched down in front of him. "What time is it? Why aren't you home and in bed? Look, there's no one around."
"I don't want to stay with Lu Chuan. He's too boring and dull."
It turned out that after Lu Chuan got home, he had only greeted Lu Yuhang when he walked in and then ignored him for the rest of the night, focusing on reading at the table. Lu Yuhang, feeling bored, had been begging to go downstairs to play, refusing to go home even after all the other kids had left.
Liu Ruyan looked at Lu Chuan, who was now leisurely playing on his phone after letting her handle the little troublemaker.
Suddenly, she heard her name being called. Lu Chuan glanced at them, saw that they were getting along harmoniously, and went back to playing his game.
Great, Liu Ruyan pressed her lips together. "He's indeed quite boring, so what do you want to play? Sister will keep you company, but it's too dark outside, so let's play at home."
Liu Ruyan thought that if she could exhaust his energy by playing a bit longer, he would eventually get tired and go to sleep, allowing her to complete her task and return to watching her idol.
However, things were not as simple as she had hoped.
After returning to Lu Chuan's house, Liu Ruyan played hide-and-seek with him for twenty minutes, house and house for another twenty minutes, and was the villain being shot at with a toy gun for yet another twenty minutes. The little guy's eyes were still wide open, showing no sign of wanting to sleep.