The two teenage boys lying on the bed, even unconscious, still frowned and murmured.
Shen Ruyi leaned closer and heard them repeating, “Don’t touch my little sister, don’t touch my little sister.”
Her heart ached at the words. After helping the baby with her needs, she played with her for a while.
The little one, seeing the two older brothers, tilted her head once, then leaned against Shen Ruyi and fell asleep.
So small, so soft—Shen Ruyi’s heart melted just holding her.
For a moment, she even thought of taking the baby home to raise herself.
But glancing at the bedridden older boys, she realized that without the little sister, their lives would be miserable.
It wasn’t until late afternoon that the older boys woke up, weak and barely able to sit up. The first thing they did was call for their sister—Shen Ruyi was exasperated.
“The little one’s in my arms. Eat something first, or you won’t even have the strength to hold her,” Shen Ruyi said, unable to stand watching these skinny teen boys fawn over their sister.
The food shop next door had kindly kept the wontons warm for them.
Shen Ruyi held the sleeping baby in one arm while helping the boys sit against the wall to eat.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” The baby woke, rubbed her eyes, and pointed excitedly at her brothers’ bowls.
The boys, completely engrossed in their sister, forgot they themselves were injured. Shen Ruyi couldn’t help but roll her eyes at these extreme “sister-obsessed” kids.
“Alright, alright, eat quickly. Your sister’s too small to finish this; I’ll get her a bowl of porridge.”
Shen Ruyi didn’t know exactly how old the baby was, but if she didn’t intervene, the boys wouldn’t be able to eat at all with the baby crying beside them.
The baby drank half the porridge, leaving the rest for the older brothers.
Shen Ruyi barely got a bite herself—having a baby around made it hard to eat properly.
“Do you have anything to pack? If not, I’ll rent a cart, and you can come back with me for tonight. It’s getting dark.”
The boys looked at her in disbelief.
“You’ll let us stay with you?”
“For now, yes. We’ll sort out the rest tomorrow. It’s too late for your little sister to spend the night outside,” Shen Ruyi said.
Hearing about their sister, the boys didn’t object.
Shen Ruyi helped them down, gave twenty coins to the clinic apprentice who had rented a cart, and within half an hour, they arrived at the West City camp.
She paid for the cart and led them back to her home.
Once inside, she hesitated: the baby could sleep with her, but where would the two boys sleep?
There were only two rooms with beds: hers and Nie Wenyong’s.
Although Nie Wenyong had been gone for a long time, the house was still under his name.
Letting two unknown boys sleep in his room felt inappropriate. What if there were secrets in there?
“I don’t have extra beds. I’ll give you a mattress—you can sleep in the back room, and your little sister will sleep with me.”
The boys nodded eagerly—so long as their sister was safe, they didn’t care about the floor.
After placing the baby on her bed, Shen Ruyi fetched the bedding from Nie Wenyong’s room for the boys. They chose the northern room on the west side.
Shen Ruyi couldn’t help rolling her eyes: “Full-blown sister-obsessed syndrome confirmed.”
They would risk their lives just to hold their sister safely.
The next morning, Shen Ruyi was woken by the little ball of chubby energy pressing against her face.
“Ah, ah, ah!” The baby seemed frantic, clapping Shen Ruyi’s face and babbling incoherently.
“Benefactor, you’re awake! The baby needs to go—she can’t hold it any longer!” shouted the boys outside the door.
Shen Ruyi picked up the baby, handed her to her brother, only for the child to laugh gleefully, soaking both her and her brother’s clothes.
Shen Ruyi patted her head awkwardly.
If she had known the baby would be this cute, she might have let her sleep with the two brothers all along. The baby’s charm was irresistible.
“Do you have clothes to change?” she asked the drenched boys.
“We don’t. Only our sister does, but they were left in a dilapidated temple outside East City. We didn’t go back last night, so we don’t know if they’re still there,” one boy replied.
“Have you been living with your sister in that temple all this time?”
The boys nodded but didn’t elaborate further. Shen Ruyi didn’t push.
After the baby finished, she retrieved a piece of old clothing from Nie Wenyong’s wardrobe for the drenched boy, and another piece from her own storage for the other boy.
With everyone clothed, she went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
With three extra mouths to feed, including a baby, she cooked porridge, steamed sweet potatoes and potatoes, boiled three eggs, and made a steamed egg custard.
She considered adding corn but realized it wasn’t in season yet.
Though small, having three extra people made things a little inconvenient.