Brothers in Conflict (19)

"Still feeling unwell?"

Cheng Yu gently set Si Jiu down, bending over to touch her forehead. Her skin was icy cold.

"Where does it hurt?"

Si Jiu shook her head, refusing to speak.

However, cold sweat continued to pour from her, and soon she began to retch again.

Just as Cheng Yuan entered the room carrying a bowl of soup, Si Jiu was crying and murmuring to Cheng Yu, "I want Second Brother."

"Second Brother made this soup for you." Cheng Yuan stepped forward to rescue Cheng Yu, who was on the verge of losing his temper. "Drink some."

He awkwardly thrust the bowl right in front of Si Jiu.

The familiar aroma of the broth wafted over. Her churning stomach found some comfort, easing her nausea just a bit.

Si Jiu made no move to take the bowl.

"Your second brother isn't even here. Do you expect me to feed you?" Cheng Yuan said expressionlessly.

So Si Jiu turned her gaze to Cheng Yu.

Cheng Yu: "..."

"You have hands and feet of your own. Can't you drink it yourself?"

He roughly snatched the bowl from Cheng Yuan's hand and shoved it into Si Jiu's grip. Moving too hastily, he sloshed a good portion of the soup over the rim. Some of it soaked into Si Jiu's dress, while the rest splashed onto her hand, instantly scalding her skin red.

Cheng Yu froze for a fraction of a second. "Why are you... so delicate?"

Could she really get burned by this? Did she need ointment? Or should they run it under water?

Yet Si Jiu didn't even glance at her reddened hand; she simply cradled the bowl and began to drink.

As she drank, large tears fell plop-plop into the bowl. Before she had even finished half, she retched again, and the remaining half of the soup was knocked from her hands onto the floor.

At this point, both Cheng Yuan and Cheng Yu completely lost their tempers.

"Cheng Yinyin, are you doing this on purpose?" Cheng Yu stared at the young woman who had made such a mess of the bed. "You're eighteen, not three. Are you going to throw a tantrum just over drinking a bowl of soup?"

Hearing him speak so harshly, the young woman's tears fell even faster.

She didn't argue back, either; she just looked at him, tears streaming down her face.

Being watched like this felt like being silently condemned, prickling like needles against his back.

Unable to hold out any longer, Cheng Yu reached out. "Ahem... Let me see your hand..."

The young woman violently swatted him away and tucked her hand behind her back.

From the obvious dependence and need she had shown just moments ago when Cheng Qian was carrying her, to now treating him like discarded trash—wasn't all this happening in the span of just ten or twenty minutes?

Cheng Yu simply didn't know how to describe his feelings.

"I just want to see if you got burned," Cheng Yu said, his tone harsh because of his foul mood.

"I want Second Brother."

Cheng Yu: "Damn it..."

"Xiao Yu," Cheng Yuan interrupted.

Cheng Yu clamped his mouth shut, a flicker of regret crossing his face.

Ever since Cheng Yinyin suddenly pierced through his facade, he found it increasingly difficult to keep his temper in check around her.

Yet he had genuinely wanted to care for her just now.

And yet she refused to appreciate it!

She kept crying for Second Brother, so why had she thrown herself into his arms earlier, why had she called out to him like that?

Cheng Yuan said, "Cheng Yinyin, stop being so willful. Burns are no joke. Let me see."

"I want Second Brother." She tucked her hand even tighter behind her.

Cheng Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose hard. "I swear you're just asking for a lesson."

With that, he suddenly lunged forward and grabbed Si Jiu by the arm.

Si Jiu parted her lips and bit down hard on his hand.

"Hiss—Cheng Yinyin, you've really grown bolder, haven't you? Let go..."

Si Jiu had no intention of letting go.

She still remembered the grudge from earlier when this guy had pressed his finger directly onto the wound on her forehead.

"Are you letting go or not?" Cheng Yuan gritted his teeth, his expression furious.

Seeing that Si Jiu remained completely unresponsive, he lost his grip on his patience as well. He reached out with his free hand to pinch her cheek, forcing her to finally release her bite.

Her skin was tender, and a single pinch left a distinct thumbprint. With a thumbprint on one cheek and three finger marks on the other, she looked rather startling.

Cheng Yu's eyelids twitched at the sight. He reached across to separate the two of them. "Alright, both of you—"

And immediately got bitten on the arm as well.

"Damn it! Cheng Yinyin, are you part dog? Why are you biting everyone you see?" He instinctively jerked his arm away.

Truth be told, Cheng Yu's muscles were rock-hard when tensed, and biting him was almost enough to crack Si Jiu's teeth.

His reflexive jerk was likely purely instinctive, but nobody expected that "delicate and frail" Si Jiu would be hurled right off the bed by the motion.

It was precisely at that moment that the bedroom door was pushed open.