Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I dragged Noah all the way to an arcade, recharged 300 yuan worth of game coins, and stuffed them in front of him.

Noah refused to take them. When he noticed I'd loosened my grip on his hand, he 甩开 me and turned to leave.

I spoke quickly behind him: "Let's make a bet. If you win against me, I'll stop bothering you."

Noah stopped in his tracks, though he didn't turn around right away. He seemed to be hesitating. After a few seconds, he finally came back, a cold look on his face. "How do we play?"

I waved my hand broadly: "Pick any game machine here. But let's make it clear—if I win, you have to listen to whatever your sister says from now on."

Noah tilted his chin up, his tone arrogant. "You can't win."

Two hours later.

I was beaming, while Noah's face was ashen.

There was no way I would've made that bet without being absolutely sure I'd win.

Over the past two years, I'd spent all my free time at arcades. I was so good at every game here that even with a slight illness, I could still beat Noah easily.

I told Noah to call me "sister." He looked extremely reluctant and didn't say a word for ages.

I leaned in close to him, smiling. "A man should keep his word, you know."

Noah turned his head away, but finally, he squeezed out a word between his teeth: "Si... ster."

"That's the spirit," I said, in a great mood. I took his hand. "Come on, sister'll treat you to a family bucket."

This time, Noah didn't push my hand away—but he didn't let me pull him along either. He frowned and asked: "Why are your hands so hot?"

"Hot?" I didn't feel anything out of the ordinary—except that my breath felt a little warm and my head felt heavy. "Maybe it's because I got so excited playing the games."

As I spoke, my head felt dizzy for a moment. Instinctively, I grabbed Noah's arm to steady myself.

Noah's expression flashed with panic. He 下意识 reached out to support me. [Paid Content]

The boy's cool palm pressed against my forehead. His tone was urgent: "Hey, you have a fever?!"

"It's just a slight fever, it's nothing," I corrected how he'd addressed me. "Also, I told you—from now on, you have to call me 'sister.'"

Noah ignored the second part of what I said. His handsome brows were furrowed tightly. "You call this a 'slight fever'? I'm taking you to the hospital."

A few hours earlier, I'd been the one dragging him around. Now, it was Noah who was holding my hand and pulling me to the hospital.

38.9 degrees Celsius.

I had no idea arcades had such magic—they'd turned my low-grade fever of around 37 degrees into a nearly 39-degree fever in just a few hours.

Noah's face was grim. "Are you out of your mind? You had a fever and still went to the arcade?"

I was getting an IV drip, looking innocent. "It really was just a slight fever at first."

Besides, this wasn't the first time I'd gone to an arcade with a fever.

But that wasn't something worth bragging about.

Noah took a deep breath several times, his tone sharper. "That's exactly why I said you're out of your mind! If you have a fever, why didn't you go home and rest?"

I felt even more innocent. "I saw you've been distracted these past few days, and you looked terrible at breakfast this morning. I was just worried about you."

Noah opened his mouth as if he wanted to scold me again, but the words died on his lips.

He turned his head away and fell silent.

The IV drip was slow. As I waited with the IV pole, I was so sleepy I could barely keep my eyes open. Suddenly, I heard Noah ask: "Why?"

I opened my eyes, sleepiness fading. "Why what?"

The boy's voice was low: "Why are you being so nice to me?"

I didn't even think about it. "Because I'm your sister. It's only natural for a sister to be nice to her brother."

Noah clearly didn't believe me. "But just a few months ago, we were strangers, weren't we?"

I brushed it off. "So what? Now we're family."

I sat up slightly, looked him in the eyes, and said seriously: "I truly see you as family. This isn't some 'family game' to me."

This was the first time I'd spoken to him so seriously.

Noah froze for a long time. His eyes flickered, as if he was a little moved. "I..."

I ruined the moment in a second: "So can you help your sister go to the bathroom? I've had too much IV fluid—my bladder's about to burst."

Noah: "……"

My mom and stepdad never found out that Noah and I had skipped class, but they did notice that our relationship had gotten better.