Seeing An ZhiAng's furious look, Liu Ling couldn't help laughing out loud.
From the heart, this feeling of being cared for really wasn't bad.
"You even dare to laugh. It looks like you didn't take my words to heart at all." Seeing her silly and carefree appearance, An ZhiAng was even more annoyed.
He went to be a soldier, and she got married quietly. He didn't come back for two years, and good heavens, she directly gave birth to a bunch of kids. She really didn't know how to take care of herself at all.
"Of course I took it to heart. Those were the words of my fourth brother. No matter whose words I don't take to heart, I still have to take yours to heart!" Liu Ling hugged his arm coquettishly with a smile, "Fourth brother, it's not that I don't know how to take care of myself. Look, I'm fine, and the kids are already so big, it's not like I can stuff them back in. You came back for a rare visit, so don't scold me anymore, okay?"
An ZhiAng, who had already matured, was a bit taller than when he went to be a soldier. Even though Liu Ling had also grown taller, the two of them still had the same height ratio as before when standing together.
He stretched out his hand worriedly and stroked her smooth hair, explaining sincerely: "I'm not scolding you, I'm telling you to remember that you yourself are the most important, then comes everyone else, not even the children or your husband, can have a place in your heart that exceeds your own, Liu Ling, promise your brother that you will never wrong yourself just to cater to others. You have to remember that your brother will always love you."
An ZhiAng was no longer a child. He understood that growing up in that kind of environment, she must have an extreme lack of love, so she desperately wanted to grasp everything around her, which was why she gave birth to so many children for Pei Jing.
It was also because he was useless himself. Even though he struggled desperately and became the strongest among his cohort of teammates, he still always lost to Pei Jing whenever he challenged him.
He admitted that Pei Jing was very strong, but that was not a reason for him to bully his sister.
Liu Ling was young and ignorant, yet he was already a grown man, how could he still be so ignorant?
Just look at his mother. Just because she gave birth to a few brothers, she wasn't even that old yet she already had all kinds of illnesses, complaining about pain here and there every day.
He didn't want his sister to live like his mother in the future. She should have been a little princess held in the palms of people's hands, not an old lady serving the whole family.
And so, even after so many years, An ZhiAng still couldn't stand Pei Jing.
"I know." Liu Ling hugged An ZhiAng tightly, "Fourth brother, I will always love myself and never put anyone above myself. In my heart, I will put myself first, hmm...you second, then my few kids, Pei Jing can only be at the end!"
Only then did An ZhiAng show a big smile, though his mouth said, "I knew you were just coaxing your fourth brother."
Liu Ling hurried to change the subject, "Oh my, stop talking about me all the time. Tell me about yourself."
"What is there to say about me? Still the same as before. I make a living under that Pei fellow every day. He wouldn't even let me ask for leave to come back and see you." An ZhiAng spoke matter-of-factly, but he had other plans in his heart, he was secretly tattling.
Although he complained that Pei Jing made his sister give birth to so many children, at least besides that one aspect, he couldn't pick out any other faults.
Liu Ling didn't take his bait and asked, "Fourth brother, you're 25 now, is there a girl you like?"
The benefits in the army were already not low, and the special forces got even better benefits. An ZhiAng could average sixty yuan a month, but fifty of that still went to Liu Ling, and the remaining 10 yuan was what Liu Ling forced him to keep for himself.
Of course, Liu Ling was only temporarily keeping that money for him, she certainly wouldn't let him really spend it as he wished like he said.
An ZhiAng directly rolled his eyes, "What girls are there? I'm holed up on that mountain every day, let alone girls, even chickens I haven't seen."
"If you want to find a partner, let mom spread the word, wouldn't our family's threshold be trampled flat?"
"No way." An ZhiAng hurriedly refused, "Third brother is still single. Why am I in such a hurry? Anyway I don't have the mindset for it right now. Don't go blabbing to mom."
Otherwise next time he'd be forced into arranged meetings.
Right now he only had one thing on his mind, which was to improve his own strength to defeat Pei Jing. As for everything else, he didn't want to think about it for the time being and would just go with the flow in the future.
In the living room, An JingZhi was talking to Pei Jing, An Zhiren was holding a child and walked in, "Where are little fourth brother and little sister? Why don't I see them?"
"They must be whispering in the room. Liu Ling had just come in and was pulled away by old fourth. Those two went into the room and haven't come out yet." An JingZhi laughed.
Zheng Suchun had just helped out in the kitchen for a bit and took the chance to sigh, "Fourth brother and little sister have such a good relationship, they really live up to being twins, I heard that twins have a spiritual connection, I wonder if those two do?"
"You don't know that when fourth brother was still at home before, he protected Liu Ling like the apple of his eye. It's just that he rarely gets to come back now..." An Zhiren said.
Just as he was speaking, Liu Ling opened the door and came out, she happened to hear her name and asked, "What bad things is second brother saying about me? I heard it!"
"Praising you, why can't you think more positively." An Zhiren glared at her.
Liu Ling sat down next to him, "Praising me for what?"
"Praising how beautiful and smart you are. It really is quite unexpected that you tested into Jin Cheng University this time. You don't know that dad goes around bragging to people about you getting into university everywhere now, he's put your second brother's glory in the shadows."
After all, Liu Ling hadn't even gone to school before. Even if she could self-study at home, generally speaking she still couldn't compare to people who had truly been to school.
Yet while Zheng Suchun and Liu Ling hadn't tested in, she had tested into university. This was absolutely not something that could be achieved just by cramming at the last moment.
It seemed that over these years she really had been studying diligently to make up for her lack of schooling, only then could she have achieved such a meteoric rise now that astonished everyone.
Liu Ling glanced at An JingZhi and he became rather embarrassed, quickly avoiding her gaze.
"Still can't compare to second brother. You tested into Peking University, and you were even the city's high school graduate with the highest exam score. That kind of glory is hard for ordinary people to eclipse."
An Zhiren smiled, he didn't actually feel proud at all.
He had always been teaching classes, repeating the knowledge countless times. If he couldn't even test into university with that, then he might as well go farm the countryside.
The real challenge was for those who had been away from knowledge for years yet could still have a meteoric rise. That was real success.
Everyone in the living room chatted and laughed. The children also came to fool around.
Zheng Suchun got up to clear the table for the meal since the rich aroma of lamb was already very thick wafting in from the kitchen.
Liu Ling hurried to help out too. Pei Jing and An ZhiAng went to bring out dishes.
Incidentally, when Pei Jing was little he had lived at the An family home for a very long time. His familiarity with the An family even exceeded Liu Ling's. Other than feeling awkward about having to change how they addressed each other at first, they interacted very naturally now.
After everyone was seated, only then did Liu Ling realize, "Sister-in-law?"
She had seen Liu Ling go out earlier so she assumed she had gone to help out in the kitchen, but Zheng Suchun had already come out while she still didn't see her.
"Wasn't she speaking with all of you in the living room the whole time? Where did she run off to now?" Zheng Suchun's words made everyone rather puzzled.
With a sniff, Zheng Suchun said, "I saw her get up and go back to the room when we were talking. She still hasn't come back out."
