8
“Enough!” My brother suddenly roared, startling everyone. His eyes red, he looked at me, his voice terribly hoarse. “Nanny, you really don’t want your brother anymo- re?” I clung to Alex’s neck, suddenly remembering my birthday a few days ago. I had sat on the stairs in my princess dress all night, while my brother was with Clara, watching a movie. Then, I had called him, just like this, asking, “Brother, are you really not celebrating my birthday with me?” But he hadn’t even finished listening
before hanging up.
An unbidden tear escaped, falling onto Alex’s shoulder. I felt his arm tighten slightly.
“Daniel,” Alex’s voice was unusually emotional. “You’re scaring the child.”
That sentence was like a knife, piercing my brother’s defenses. He stumbled back two steps, and Clara caught him before he fell. “Let’s go home,” Alex said, carrying
me as he turned to leave Snowball trotted along.
Once we were home, I felt distracted, worried that Alex might also like Clara, and that he would eventually abandon me. I didn’t even notice Snowball secretly standi- ng up and stealing my cheese stick. Alex, seeing it, tapped my little head. “What are you thinking about? A brain the size of a walnut, what worries could it possibly
have?
I gathered my courage “Big Brother, do you like Auntie Clara?”
“Everyone likes her My brother likes her, Teacher Emily likes her, and my brother’s friends like her too.”
They say they’ve never seen such a kind and ambitious girl.”
I had told my brother I didn’t like her. My brother had lectured me, saying I was spoiled and lacked tolerance. But my stomach could only hold five cheese sticks. How could it hold such a big Clara? Alex unwrapped another cheese stick for me and put it in my mouth. “She’s not made of gold. Why would I like her?”
He didn’t like Clara either? That’s not right in my dream, he liked her a lot! I tilted my head, confused. “But you saved her.”
Chapter 2
She was in front of me at the time. She walked down a flight of stairs slower than a turtle, and she was wearing four inch heels! When she fell, she was like a brick
If I hadn’t caught her, I’d have been her cushion”
Tm not stupid I suddenly understood!
“But she’s ambitious Don’t you like that?” Alex asked
“Who told you she’s ambitious?”
“My brother,” I counted on my fingers. “He said she studies for her master’s while working, and often stays up late on projects
Alex threw the cheese stick wrapper into the trash and wiped his mouth. “The other night, last month, she went to meet Mr. King from Starlight Media Do you know what she was wearing?” I shook my head Snowball tilted its head cooperatively. “A short skirt and a low cut, off the shoulder blouse,” Alex said, his voice faced with sarcasm. “And who is Mr. King? A notoriously old pervert in the industry. His office couch has been replaced three times ” My eyes widened My brother had never
mentioned this!
“True ambition,” he gently pinched my cheek, speaking slowly, “is understanding your partner’s preferences and taboos in advance. It’s bringing a complete proposal
and negotiating with boundanes, not relying on showing your legs!”
“That’s not ambition. That’s foolishness.”
Me??? This was a lot of information! My brother had praised Clara to the skies, saying she was the best thing since sliced bread, but in Alex’s eyes, it was just dumb
behavior?
“Then… did she succeed in getting the deal?” Lasked softly. Alex snorted “She was forced to drink three bottles of liquor, and the contract was signed for a three–to-
seven split. She got the three.” Though I didn’t understand the numbers, I knew three was smaller than seven
On the fifth day after school, my brother was standing at the kindergarten gate again. This time, he wore casual clothes and carried a cake box in one hand and a pink teddy bear in the other. The sunlight stretched his shadow long and thin, making him look surprisingly lonely.
“Nanny!” He saw me and immediately crouched down, opening his arms. “Look what Big Brother brought you!” I slowly walked over, Snowball clinging to my leg.
Ever since Alex started picking me up, my brother came by every day, like a persistent ex
“Mango crepe cake,” my brother said, opening the box like he was presenting a treasure. The golden yellow cake emitted a sweet, cloying aroma. “Your favorite.” I stared at the golden mango slices on the cake, and took a step back. “I can’t eat mango. It makes me itchy. ” My brother’s smile froze. “What?”
Eating mango makes my skin itchy,” I repeated, word for word. “My face turns into a pig’s head.” The cake box clattered to the ground. My brother’s face turned pale. “Impossible… How could you be allergic to mango? You clearly loved it when you were little…”
“Nanny, you love mango so much,” Clara’s voice suddenly interjected. She wore a pale yellow dress today, like a ripe mango. “Daniel even waited in line for two hours specially for you. I pouted, feeling wronged. “Teacher Emily knows I get itchy from mango too.”
“Then why didn’t she say anything?” My brother’s voice began to tremble. “Because she said I was being dramatic.” Teacher Emily used to secretly put mango juice in my food. After I turned into a pig’s head, she’d take pictures with her phone and send them to the group chat.” “She said I had an infectious disease.” My brother’s hands were trembling violently. “The nanny didn’t tell me either…” “She gave me a pill and said I’d be fine after a sleep. By the time you came home, I wasn’t swollen
anymore”
Memones surged like a tide. That day, I was curled up on the bathroom floor, breathing shallowly, while the nanny’s laughter from watching happy videos in the living room pierced through the door. By the time my brother finally returned, I could only manage to say “mango” before the nanny cut me off: “The child was cravi ng sweets, must have secretly eaten something she was allergic to. I already gave her medicine. She’s fine now.”
“Nanny, Big Brother really didn’t know…” My brother’s eyes were red. He tried to hug me, but Snowball growled, blocking him. Clara stood awkwardly to the side Maybe it’s a misdiagnosis? My cousin’s child also said they were allergic, but it turned out to be psychological…” My brother hesitated. He didn’t believe mel
“Do you need me to eat a piece right now for you to see?” I said, feeling even more wronged, pointing at the cake on the ground.
“No need!” Alex emerged from the classroom, holding my little blanket in one hand. With the other, he scooped me up, looking down at my brother. “Whether he beli eves it or not is his business, not yours.”
“You don’t need to hurt yourself for someone who doesn’t believe you” My brother stumbled as if struck by lightning. Timmy suddenly rushed out of the kindergart en, holding a clay sculpture he made in art class “Queen Lily! Look at the Snowball I made!” It was a crooked dog’s head, its eyes made of two shiny buttons. I took it, deliberately saying loudly. “So cool! A hundred times better than some ugly bear someone bought!” The toy bear in my brother’s hand suddenly seemed pathetic.
10
He probably didn’t know that my room was now piled high with limited edition teddy bears Alex had given me, in every color imaginable!
“Daniel, let’s go “Clara tugged at my brother’s sleeve ‘Nanny doesn’t seem to want…”
You shut up My brother suddenly exploded in fury, shaking off her hand “You clearly told me that Teacher Emily said Nanny loved mangoes most Clara recoiled two steps, her eyes instantly reddening 1 I might have misremembered.”
Alex carried me to the car without looking back. The moment the car door closed, I saw my brother kneeling on the ground, picking up the smashed mango cake. while Clara stood nearby, her gaze drifting towards Alex in the car Snowball enthusiastically licked my face. I took the opportunity to wipe my tears on its furry neck Alex glanced at me in the rearview miror, said nothing, but turned on the warm air conditioning.
Chapter 2
“Big Brother Alex,” I whispered.
“Hm?”
“I want cheese sticks.”
00.32
The car stopped at a red light. He turned and handed me an insulated bag. Inside were six neatly arranged cheese sticks, along with an ice pack. Alex knew I didn’t like them melted. My hand, opening the packaging, suddenly paused. “How did you know I’d want to eat them?” Alex pushed up his glasses, matter–of–factly. “You
always want to eat these after you cry.” Snowball barked in agreement.
I bit into a cheese stick, looking out at the scenery rapidly receding outside the window. In the rearview mirror, my brother’s figure grew smaller and smaller, finally becoming a blurry black dot disappearing around the corner. That night, Alex packaged all the evidence of the nanny and Teacher Emily’s mistreatment of me and
sent it to my brother. I heard he immediately kicked Clara out of the company and decided to sue the nanny and Teacher Emily.
My brother’s friends all accused him of slandering Clara, claiming that everything was done by others, and Clara was completely unaware. One of his friends, Julian, took Clara in, and even punched my brother, calling him a bastard! In my dream, Julian was the male protagonist. He even had a beautiful fiancée!
On the weekend, while I was playing with Snowball at home, Alex suddenly glanced out the window and said my brother had arrived. I awkwardly kicked the rug,
What’s he doing here?”
“Probably looking for punishment,” Alex’s tone was cold. I cowered. Punishment? What was that? Alex opened the door. The sight of my brother standing there alm- ost made me not recognize him. Usually meticulous, his shirt was wrinkled, his lips bruised, his eyes bloodshot. He looked nothing like a domineering CEO anymore.
Nanny?” My brother’s voice was terribly hoarse. Alex blocked the doorway. “She doesn’t want to see you.” Surprisingly, my brother didn’t get angry. Instead, he said
in a low voice, “Please.., let me talk to her.”
“Why?” Alex sneered. “Because you abandoned her to an abusive nanny? Or because you discarded your own sister for a woman?” His fists clenched, turning white, but then he suddenly relaxed them. “…You’re right.” My brother raised a hand to wipe his face. The gesture made him look strangely like a lost child. “I’m not a good
big brother.”
I hid around the corner of the stairs, momentarily stunned. In my memory, my brother always looked down on people, chin held high. The last time the board tried to oust him, he could calmly brew tea while verbally sparring with the elders until they were speechless. When had I ever seen him like this… so humble? Snowball sud- denly lifted its head, sniffing towards my direction. I quickly pulled back. Just then, a warm droplet landed on my hand.
11
I stared at that tear for a while, puzzled. Huh? When did I start crying? Downstairs, Alex continued his verbal barrage: “Since you know that, then transfer guardians-
hip to me!”
“Mr. Vance… I only have this one sister…” My brother pleaded, his voice suddenly choked, as if someone had grabbed his throat. Through the banister, I saw him blink hard, his eyelashes wet. “That day, on her birthday… I promised to have cake with her…” My heart suddenly clenched. A dull ache.
“Nanny…” My brother suddenly looked up towards the stairs and called out. He knew I was eavesdropping. “Big Brother was wrong…” I instinctively covered my ears, but the movement threw off my balance, and I landed on the floor with a thud. Snowball immediately barked, rushing upstairs, exposing my location.
“Oh no, oh no!” I frantically rubbed my sore bottom as I stood up, meeting those red eyes from downstairs. Alex sighed, stepping aside to make a gap. “Five minutes.” I slowly ambled downstairs, Snowball sticking to my leg like a guard dog. When I reached the third step from the bottom, I stopped. This height allowed me to be eye–level with my crouching brother. The bruise on his lips was worse than I thought, a terrible purplish–red. I couldn’t help but reach out my small hand, but pulled it back just before touching. “Does it hurt?”
“No… Nanny… My brother carefully extended his hand, as if afraid to break me. “Come home with Big Brother, okay?” I stared at his outstretched palm. When my parents divorced, neither of them wanted me. I cried, stumbling after them, hugging my mother’s leg, only to be kicked away, almost hit by a car. It was my brother who, just in time, pulled me back and shielded me with his body. His hand broke that day. My brother had said, “You all don’t want Nanny. I do! I’ll raise her for life!”
And now, this fool who promised to raise me for life, after losing me, was crouching at someone else’s doorstep, bruised, begging for my forgiveness. “Idiot…” I sudd- enly launched myself into his arms, wiping all my tears on his wrinkled shirt. “You big, giant idiot!” My brother’s arms stiffened in mid–air, then after a few seconds. gently wrapped around me. I heard an irregular tremor in his chest, like suppressed sobs.
“I promise…” His chin rested on my head, his voice terribly hoarse. “Never again…”
Alex, standing by, suddenly cleared his throat. I looked up and saw him expressionlessly point at his watch. “Five minutes are up.”
“Mr Vance can I stay with Nanny a little longer?”
Aler asked if I wanted to forgive my brother. I hesitated, then took a step back, taking Alex’s hand. “It depends on your performance”
Teacher said that if you know your mistakes and correct them, you’re still a good child!”
But in my dream, my brother almost committed suicide when he heard Clara got married. After being rescued, he gave all his family assets to Clara as a wedding gift. My brother nodded vigorously “Nanny, no one is as important as you are to me! You wait, Big Brother will definitely bring you back!”
Alex “Hmph”
Snowball Wooff
Ever since my brother had his epiphany and decided to be a good big brother, my kindergarten life became exceptionally exciting
