Lu Xiaoxiao was utterly charmed by Lu Jiaoyue's furtive, cat-like peeking. She pressed her lips firmly together to suppress a smile and kept her voice carefully level. "What is it? Come in and tell me."
Only then did Lu Jiaoyue step inside, closing the door behind her. After positioning herself beside Lu Xiaoxiao's bed, her restless hands began nervously twisting the hem of her skirt.
"Sister, I think… I think I've upset Third Brother."
Rewind to half an hour earlier. With nothing particular to do, Lu Jiaoyue had planned to practice her musical instrument for a while.
When Lu Xunli heard she could play the qin, he suddenly remembered an ancient qin score stored somewhere in the house. He couldn't recall which of Song Zhilan's friends had gifted it or when, only that it was supposedly quite valuable.
Back then, no one in the family was skilled in musical instruments, so the score had been forgotten. He vaguely remembered it being stored somewhere in the storage room and asked if Lu Jiaoyue would be interested in finding it to try playing.
Intrigued by her elder brother's mention of the score, Lu Jiaoyue immediately agreed and headed alone to the storage room.
The Lu Family's storage room was neatly organized with everything in its place, but the sheer volume of items made locating a thin qin score quite challenging. After searching for a long time, Lu Jiaoyue still couldn't find any trace of it.
Suddenly, she noticed a large wooden cabinet in the corner. Suspecting that books might be stored inside, without a second thought, she reached out to pull open the cabinet door to see what was within.
To her surprise, the scene inside was nothing like what she had imagined.
The cabinet wasn't storing any objects, but it wasn't empty either.
At that moment, a slender young man was curled up inside, hugging his knees with his head buried deep in his arms. Motionless, he sat there silently like a frozen statue.
Lu Jiaoyue was genuinely startled by the sight but managed to stifle a gasp.
Though she couldn't see his face, she certainly recognized the boy in the cabinet—it was her third brother, Lu Baichen.
Since returning home, Lu Jiaoyue had had little interaction with this third brother, rarely even making eye contact. Yet among all the siblings besides Lu Xiaoxiao, he was the one she paid the most attention to.
The reason was simple: her mother had told her that she and Lu Baichen were twin siblings, inseparable since early childhood.
Lu Jiaoyue had an indescribable feeling about Lu Baichen. Perhaps it was the peculiar connection between twins, but she always sensed that beneath his silent exterior lay turbulent emotions, roaring with immense waves.
Yet Lu Baichen often remained so quiet that those around him sometimes forgot his presence.
Like now—before opening the cabinet door, Lu Jiaoyue never would have imagined a living person hidden inside.
Even after pulling it open and seeing Lu Baichen there with her own eyes, he seemed as light and ethereal as a mist ready to dissipate at any moment.
Lu Jiaoyue tried to breathe softly and cautiously reached her hand forward.
She wanted to wake Lu Baichen up so he wouldn't sleep alone here.
But just as her outstretched hand was about to reach him, Lu Baichen—who had seemed completely unaware moments before—suddenly lifted his head. His dark eyes fixed directly on Lu Jiaoyue, his expression sharper than she had ever seen.
"Bro… brother?" Lu Jiaoyue's hand froze mid-air, her lips unconsciously parting as she uttered a faint whisper.
She realized Lu Baichen seemed angry and intended to explain, but in the next moment, she was shoved away forcefully.
Despite Lu Baichen's slender appearance, the push was surprisingly strong.
Already unbalanced from bending over, Lu Jiaoyue fell hard onto the floor, tears welling up in her eyes from the pain.
The moment he saw her fall, Lu Baichen froze as well. His lips were pressed so tightly they turned pale, and his eyes seemed momentarily vacant.
He raised his hand as if to reach for something, but ultimately touched nothing. Instead of helping his fallen sister up, he staggered past her and quickly disappeared from the storage room.
When Lu Jiaoyue recovered and stood up, her first instinct was to chase after Lu Baichen to apologize. But fearing she might upset him further, she decided to first consult someone else about her third brother's condition.
Ten minutes later, Lu Jiaoyue knocked on Lu Xiaoxiao's door.
…
After hearing Lu Jiaoyue's account, Lu Xiaoxiao felt slightly surprised—the events matched the original storyline exactly.
Having grown accustomed to plot deviations lately, and with the System's recent confirmation that "this world really has some issues," encountering a normal storyline felt strangely novel.
But this was good. If the plot deviated completely from the original, wouldn't she lose her foresight advantage entirely?
"Sister, will third brother hate me forever?" Lu Jiaoyue asked, her voice filled with guilt and self-reproach.
"You're overthinking it," Lu Xiaoxiao replied distractedly. "Lu Baichen treats everyone equally like air—how could he possibly hate you?"
[Well… that's not entirely true. He's been quite talkative around me lately, but whatever. Let's comfort my precious sister first.]
When Lu Jiaoyue heard that Lu Baichen spoke frequently around Lu Xiaoxiao, her eyes widened slightly in surprise.
So even third brother would open up in front of sister? Her sister was truly amazing, possessing such magnetic charisma!
At this thought, her gaze toward Lu Xiaoxiao grew even more admiring.
"Then… sister, do you know what desserts third brother likes? I want to make him something tomorrow to apologize."
Lu Xiaoxiao: "Of course—"
Just two words in, the System urgently interrupted: "Host, don't use your knowledge to help the female lead!"
"…Of course I don't know!"
Lu Jiaoyue nodded disappointedly: "Alright, I'll head back to my room now. Sorry for disturbing you tonight, sister."
As soon as she turned around, she heard Lu Xiaoxiao's inner monologue.
[Ahhhhh baby don't be sad, I know, I know! Lu Baichen likes macarons, tiramisu, Black Forest cake, soufflé, Napoleon cake, cream puffs, mousse cake, brownies, crêpes, and egg tarts!]
[By the way, could you make a little extra for me to try? I like strawberry mille-feuille, blueberry cheesecake, mango mousse, durian mille-feuille, raspberry tart, peach cream cake, banana pound cake, apple pie, orange cake, grape shortbread…]
[Wahhh I can't take it anymore! Talking about all this late at night is making me hungry. Lu Xiaoxiao, you're such a greedy girl!]
Listening to this long list of desserts recited like a menu, Lu Jiaoyue nearly laughed out loud. Fortunately, she was facing away from Lu Xiaoxiao and didn't need to hide her amused expression.
So my sister loves desserts this much!
Lu Jiaoyue suddenly felt very grateful for her previous interest in cooking, which now happened to be perfect for pleasing Lu Xiaoxiao.
Well then, let's start with strawberry mille-feuille!