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“In short, the richest person in your unit is Qin Yuan, and the poorest is Tang Xizhou.” While drinking her milk tea at Miao le Mi , Huang Yuanbao announced the results of her investigation. “Chu Yao quietly accumulates wealth, so he barely escaped being second to last and became third from the bottom. Second to last is him...”
Huang Yuanbao pointed to Song Lang, who was busy making milk tea.
Jiang Beibei shared her thoughts: “I’m going to buy a pig’s knuckle for my second brother today!”
Huang Yuanbao: “Oh, by the way, a reminder—those who earn the least still make more than you.”
Jiang Beibei: “Did I just say whom I’d buy the pig’s knuckle for? No name mentioned, right? Okay, I plan to buy a pig’s knuckle to treat myself.”
Huang Yuanbao rolled her eyes and continued, “So, I decided to arrange the broadcast order based on income.”
With her mouth occupied by the milk tea straw, Jiang Beibei raised her hand to her head and formed a question mark toward Huang Yuanbao.
“The first one to be broadcast is you, tonight—remember to watch. Then it’s Brother Two, followed by Big Brother Song, your boyfriend, your eldest brother, and Brother Peach Blossom Qin Yuan.”
Jiang Beibei let go of the straw and complained, “Don’t give my brothers random nicknames.”
“Let me repeat,” Huang Yuanbao, with nothing better to do, didn’t mind wasting words, “We’ll go from poorest to richest: first you, then your second brother, your fourth brother, your boyfriend, your eldest brother, and your third brother. Is that okay?”
“Absolutely no problem!” Jiang Beibei nodded, “Very satisfactory, especially since you firmly referred to my boyfriend as my boyfriend.”
Huang Yuanbao: “Journalist Jiang, take my advice: strive hard and aim to become the deputy station chief. Use stacks of pink, cute bills to outshine all these brothers of yours!”
“Good! Everything depends on future Chief Huang!”
Huang Yuanbao took this opportunity during an outing for inspiration to meet up with Jiang Beibei and visit Song Lang’s shop to foster their bond.
On weekdays, the milk tea shop wasn’t too busy. After handling the delivery orders, Song Lang picked up a bucket of water and led his dog outside to clean the windows.
Passing by Huang Yuanbao, he flicked her forehead.
Huang Yuanbao reciprocated by biting his finger.
Song Lang: “Heh, this strength feels like a tickle.”
“To hell with you!” Huang Yuanbao punched his rock-hard chest muscles. Song Lang chuckled and rubbed his chest before heading out.
Only Song Lang could say to Huang Yuanbao, who was over 1.7 meters tall, “Yuanbao, you’re such a delicate little bird; your punches don’t hurt.”
After Song Lang left, Jiang Beibei lowered her voice and asked, “There’s something I’ve really wanted to ask ever since you two started dating. Today, please satisfy my curiosity and answer. My question is somewhat private...”
“Oh dear! What gossip are you after now?”
“Well... I’m asking on behalf of the gossip group.” Jiang Beibei sipped her milk tea for courage and asked, “Doesn’t it bother you that my fourth brother snores loudly when he sleeps?”
“…What? Snores? Who? Big Brother Song?”
“…” Jiang Beibei, “You must have slept with a fake fourth brother!”
Huang Yuanbao: “I haven’t heard anything like that…”
After a long silence, both stood up and slammed the table.
Huang Yuanbao: “How the hell do you know he snores?”
Jiang Beibei: “Ah! If you didn’t hear it, it must be because... hehehe.”
Then they sprayed milk tea all over each other.
“Jiang Beibei, you’re supposed to be a law-abiding good citizen! Since when did you learn to beat around the bush with dirty jokes!”
“Huang Yuanbao! I know he snores not because I’ve slept with him, so please block your filthy mind, OK?” Jiang Beibei sipped her milk tea to calm down and explained, “Who doesn’t hear my fourth brother snore? Even if I sleep on the rooftop, I can hear him! Everyone in our unit can hear him! You don’t even need to sleep next to him to hear it! As for you, has love made you deaf?”
Huang Yuanbao: “Ah, maybe it’s because of what you guessed. Damn, every time I see him, I’m exhausted. I sleep like a log anyway—who the hell can hear him snore?”
“Wow, Huang Yuanbao, you’re amazing! When my fourth brother snores, the ground shakes and mountains tremble. How can you not hear it? And sleeping next to him, you can’t even feel the bed vibrating?”
“After experiencing an earthquake of magnitude eight, can you still feel a minor tremor of magnitude one?” Huang Yuanbao smirked knowingly, hinting at something slightly suggestive.
Jiang Beibei fell silent.
Oh, she understood.
Huang Yuanbao sat down: “Is that all you wanted to ask? You said you had a more private question. I thought you were going to ask about special forces combat capabilities—I prepared a whole eloquent speech ready to brag about how awesome my man is...”
Jiang Beibei quietly put down her milk tea, covered her ears, and recited “Amitabha Buddha”: “Forgive me... I shouldn’t have let you touch my fourth brother, Amitabha.”
After spilling their lack of scruples, Jiang Beibei skillfully took out her cane and went home.
Song Lang offered to see her off, but Jiang Beibei said, “I’m going to stop by Brother Two’s place to pick up some pig knuckles. No need to see me off—it’s hard to park there.”
The pig knuckles Jiang Beibei liked were from a small husband-and-wife shop next to the Public Security Bureau. She bought two large ones and carried them to find Tang Xizhou.
Deputy Lin sitting near the entrance saw her and burst into laughter, slamming the table.
“Little Sister Bei is here! Came to see Captain Tang, huh? Hahaha... Watching you hobble over with that grandma cane from the doorway, I thought it was the girl who twisted her ankle catching a thief yesterday coming to give us a commendation flag! Oh wow! That smells good! Did you buy pig’s knuckles?”
“Deputy Lin... Talking to girls like this, aren’t you afraid of being single forever?”
“Little Sister Bei already has a boyfriend; she’s beyond my target range.”
“Ah! She has a boyfriend?”
Tang Xizhou came out holding a thermos, poured himself a cup of hot water, and said, “Nonsense, my girl doesn’t have a boyfriend.”
Jiang Beibei: “Brother Two, do you want the pig’s knuckles or not?”
Tang Xizhou calmly replied, “My girl has a fiancé.”
Deputy Lin slapped his thigh: “Right, damn it, they’re getting engaged.”
A young colleague across the room: “You guys are terrible! Why are you telling me these things! I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear it!”
Another colleague reminded: “Xiao Wang, calm down. Engagement gifts aren’t required.”
“Oh, you scared me to death.” That colleague immediately calmed down, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. “I thought I’d have to spend money, it really scared me.”
Jiang Beibei: “No need to give a gift, just having my brothers come is already giving face.”
She handed the pig’s knuckles to Tang Xizhou: “Brother Two, here you go. I picked a pig with at least size 42 feet, guaranteed to fill you up!”
“Listen to this!” Tang Xizhou boasted, “Listen! Just ask if you’re envious or not! My sister hurt her own foot but still came to buy me pig’s feet, and they’re size 42 big feet!”
Deputy Lin gave a faint smile, staring at the pig’s feet. After a moment of silence, Deputy Lin slapped his thigh as a signal: “Grab!”
The size 42 feet were instantly halved, becoming child-sized feet.
“Little Sister Bei, want to ride in the police car back?” Deputy Lin joked.
“No, no, no, leave it for those in need. I’ll walk home with sheer willpower.”
Jiang Beibei walked away with her cane.
As soon as she left, there was a new notification in the WeChat group.
Tang Xizhou glanced at the WeChat group, laughed heartily, and loudly announced, “Remember to watch ‘The People Around Us’ tonight! Channel three, channel three, starting at eight o’clock! It’s my sister! Today, I’m preparing to flood my friends’ circle. You’d better be ready—those who want to flatter me, seize the opportunity!”
Jiang Beibei even made walking into an art form. As she walked, she began to beat time in her heart: one big step, two small steps, using her cane as a pivot, dancing the waltz.
Qin Yuan spotted her from afar, slowed down the car, and leisurely stopped. He rolled down the window and whistled: “Beauty, want a ride?”
“How foolish you are, my name is Qin Luofu.”
“Cut it out.” Qin Yuan laughed, “Going home? What did you buy? Is it food? Give me some if it’s edible—I’m starving to death, hurry up, I haven’t eaten lunch...”
Jiang Beibei hopped over, climbed into the passenger seat, and performed a powerful tearing of the pig knuckle. Qin Yuan, possessed by a hungry ghost, reciprocated with a three-second chew of the meat and a five-second spit of the bones.
“Eat slowly, careful not to choke...”
Qin Yuan retrieved two bottles of green tea from the trunk, threw her one, leaned against the car door, and gulped down half a bottle in one breath, comfortably exclaiming, “Ah... My heartbeat finally returned to normal; I was about to go crazy from hunger...”
Jiang Beibei: “Then why don’t you eat? There are many roadside snacks—eat something to tide you over.”
“I thought I’d be home soon.”
“What if your mom didn’t cook dinner?”
Qin Yuan replied: “Then I’ll prepare to beg for food all the way from the first floor to home... Chu Yao is back.”
Jiang Beibei had already seen him in the rearview mirror. Chu Yao saw Qin Yuan’s car and parked next to it. Walking over, he smiled.
Jiang Beibei rested her chin on her hand, stuck her head out of the car, and kissed him.
Qin Yuan said: “See that? The two of us eating meat and drinking tea in the car. Jealous?”
Chu Yao: “You can keep the meat; I’ll take the person.”
“Alright, Brother Three.” Jiang Beibei abandoned her cane, hopped out, linked arms with Chu Yao, and happily bounced into his car.
Jiang Beibei had a special skill—words coming true. Unfortunately, only bad things seemed to happen.
She unintentionally remarked, “What if your mom doesn’t cook dinner tonight?” True enough, Qin Yuan’s family ran out of food.
Qin Yuan’s parents went out for a candlelight dinner, so Qin Yuan, holding an empty bowl, knocked on Chu Yao’s door, asking for shelter.
Mother Chu: “Oh, one son just left, and here comes another. Come in, eat as much as you like!”
“Where’s Yao’er?” Qin Yuan realized that only Mr. and Mrs. Chu were home.
“He flew off as someone else’s son-in-law; call him back if you can.” Mother Chu said, “Go, Yuan, challenge him! Tell him we’ve got braised pork at home!”
Qin Yuan turned around and knocked on Jiang Beibei’s door, full of righteousness: “Hmm, I’ll go scout the enemy situation for Captain Yao.”
Then Qin Yuan defected, never returning to eat that plate of braised pork.
Qin Yuan even shouted from the balcony: “Aunt Yao, the enemy forces are too strong—chopped pepper fish head, marinated beef, and rice wine tangyuan—I can’t handle it. Forget about me.”
Mother Chu said to Father Chu: “See that? He’s perfect material for being a son-in-law.”
Grandma Beibei was delighted. With two young men visiting, cooking and eating became lively, plates were cleaned, and the house felt vibrant.
After a while, Father and Mother Chu came to raid the battlefield across the hall.
Mother Chu: “Ha! Caught two ungrateful little traitors!”
Qin Yuan: “Captain, don’t shoot. My heart is with Cao Cao, but my body is with Han.”
Chu Yao: “I should thank you for remembering you have a son and knowing to check in after dinner.”
Mother Chu: “Hahaha, little rascals. Beibei, I saw the preview last week—it airs tonight at eight o’clock, right?”
Jiang Beibei blushed: “Oh dear, everyone is watching, I feel so embarrassed...”
Father Chu: “We specially bought popcorn and brought Coke.”
They were treating it like a movie night!
At seven-thirty, Tang Xizhou rushed back and shouted: “Are you all upstairs?”
“Yes!”
“Come up!”
“Got it!” Tang Xizhou called Yan Qingming, “Where are you? Hurry up, the weather forecast is on—it’s halfway through, you can still make it!”
Song Lang returned with Song Dami, set up a table of snacks, brought small stools from home, sat beside them, knitting a sweater while waiting for the show to start.
Qin Yuan said: “Fourth Brother knitting gives me the feeling of Zhang Fei doing embroidery.”
Song Lang: “I’m knitting a hat for Dami, planning to dress him up to become an internet-famous dog to earn some extra money for the family.”
Tang Xizhou laughed: “Such lofty ambitions.”
Jiang Beibei: “...Suddenly, I feel so much pressure. If I had known, I would have asked Yuanbao to air your episodes first.”
Mother Chu: “Everyone gets a turn! When it’s Chu Yao’s episode, I’ll let you see what textbook-style sarcasm looks like!”
Chu Yao whispered in Jiang Beibei’s ear: “On that day, let’s go out and watch alone.”
“Alright!”
When Yan Qingming returned, the advertisement countdown had just begun.
Yan Qingming sighed in relief: “Made it!”
“Grandma sits in the center seat!” Jiang Beibei had Grandma sit in the middle while she squeezed next to Chu Yao, ready to use him as a shield at any moment.
The prelude of the program started, introducing this episode: “The siblings of Unit Two, Public Security Residential Building—the new generation investigative journalist, Jiang Beibei.”
Jiang Beibei: “...So embarrassing.”
“The People Around Us” narration began, showing their unit building on the screen.
“This is a public security residential building located in Jiangbei District, City X...”
Qin Yuan: “Suddenly feels like our unit isn’t that shabby.”
Tang Xizhou nodded: “Yeah, looks pretty good from this angle.”
A group photo of the six siblings appeared on the screen, introducing: “Jiang Beibei is the youngest sister among the six.”
In the group photo, Jiang Beibei stood between Chu Yao and Qin Yuan, making rabbit ears with her hands. Tang Xizhou had his arm draped over Yan Qingming’s shoulder, posing a V-sign to the camera. Song Lang pressed down Song Dami’s head, squatting in front with a wide grin.
Everyone exclaimed in unison: “There’s even a group photo!”
Song Lang: “Ah, the later episodes definitely have this one too!”
Tang Xizhou: “This photo selection is nice; Big Brother looks very young...”
Yan Qingming: “Wasn’t this taken when Beibei entered university? Under the magnolia tree by the school’s side gate, asking a passing female student to take the photo. We even sacrificed Brother Two’s contact information.”
Tang Xizhou: “Oh, you remember so clearly.”
Yan Qingming: “Mm, you SWAT team member, you were in your prime then.”
Qin Yuan: “...Why was I sporting a 7-3 part hairstyle? Unacceptable! No wonder fewer people approached me than Brother Two.”
Song Lang: “Brother Two and Yao’er were the best. They attracted followers wherever they went. Brother Three was different—he provoked trouble wherever he went and almost got proposed to by a wealthy woman, wanting to marry him right away.”
Qin Yuan: “Bringing a dog to campus to show off, surrounded by female students petting the dog, has no right to criticize others!”
Jiang Beibei remained silent, tightly gripping Chu Yao, unsure if he could sense her reason for choosing this photo for Huang Yuanbao’s post-production.
Chu Yao smiled and softly said: “This is the closest Beibei has ever been to me in any group photo.”
Previously, Tang Xizhou and Qin Yuan always stood by her side. He only stood on the edge, afraid that his proximity would make Jiang Beibei’s smile tense.
Only in this photo did she happily pull him over.
“Big Brother Yao, stand closer!”
It was also on that day that he suddenly realized she had grown up.
The smile on her face took on new meaning in his heart, evoking a different feeling within him.
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