"Brother..." Xu Ying wasnât sure if she had heard him correctly. She slowly lifted her head to look at him and reached out to touch him again.
Once again, thereâs nothing to touch.
Her gaze completely dimmed.
...So, was she really going crazy?
Did she really never have a brother?
Was it all just a figment of her imagination?
But... but...
"Yingying!" Xu Xin shouted.
Suddenly, Xu Ying trembled all over.
"With your little girlâs abilities, donât even dream of getting into a university at my level in this lifetime! Just drop out of high school and find a good man to marry!" Xu Xin shouted directly.
Xu Yingâs eyes immediately widened.
This was something they often argued about in the past.
During that period, he failed his postgraduate entrance exam and continued studying at home.
And Xu Ying, this silly girl, always looking for trouble, always leading to them arguing.
Though Xu Xin didnât really want to argue with her, some of her words were really hard to listen to.
During Xu Yingâs summer vacation in high school, it was usually just the two of them at home, and he couldnât remember what caused them to argue; truthfully, he didnât want to argue, always brushing it off casually.
But Xu Ying got heated, and she directly started firing from different angles.
"You failed your postgraduate exam, and now your only option is to try again, and youâre embarrassing me in front of my classmates!"
This really hit a sore spot for Xu Xin at the time.
Failing the postgraduate exam wasnât an easy thing, especially for someone like him, who had always attended the best schools locally, had consistently excellent grades, and performed normally in the college entrance exam, entering a top university. Everyone had high expectations for him.
Everyone believed he was the kind of person who couldnât possibly fail.
He thought the same of himself.
Xu Ying probably bragged to her friends ahead of time, saying her brother was about to go to some prestigious university for grad school.
But the year he chose the school, its cutoff scores skyrocketed, going up by nearly forty points compared to the previous year!
And he couldnât choose to go to a lesser school than his undergraduate institution for grad study.
Ultimately, it was a bust.
So after Xu Ying said those words, he got heated and started arguing.
Then he said the words he just repeated.
Xu Yingâs original academic performance wasnât particularly outstanding; her high school wasnât the best locally. Of course, it wasnât badâjust a bit average.
So when Xu Xin said those words, she couldnât refute them and ended up crying from anger.
After that, she started studying hard.
The improvement in her grades was incredibly fast; in less than half a year, she was among the top ten in her school.
At that time, she came back and threw her report card in Xu Xinâs face, bringing up the words from before again.
Xu Xin laughed at her stubbornness at the timeâa simple sentence made such an impactâand she ended up getting pummeled by his sister.
And until he left, Yingyingâs grades remained at a very high level; his words had undeniably a huge impact.
Upon hearing the words that caused such significant impact, Xu Yingâs entire being felt like sheâd been doused with boiling water, her eyes widened, pointing at Xu Xin, face turning red with anger.
"And your hair, all messed up, whatâs the deal? You donât wash your face, probably didnât brush your teeth either, arenât you aware? Look at you and your friend xx..."
Xu Xin deliberately chose words that would get Xu Ying fired up, continuously saying them.
"Iâll beat you to death!" Xu Ying couldnât hold back any longer; she didnât care whether the Xu Xin in front of her was imagined, she jumped up and charged at Xu Xin.
Then fell short, crashing to the floor with a cry of pain, growing even angrier, lifting her head to glare fiercely at Xu Xin.
"Yingying!" Mother watched Xu Yingâs manic state, her heart sinking.
Seeing Xu Yingâs mental state improve, Xu Xin immediately spoke up, "Yingying, perhaps you donât believe the current me youâre seeing, but I truly exist. This matter is complicated, but letâs send mom away first, weâll talk privately."
There was no choice; without sending mother away, whether she took Yingying to see a doctor, he and Yingying couldnât communicate normally, or theyâd be mistaken for being mentally ill.
Xu Yingâs corner of the eye twitched.
Sheâs a smart girl, very quick-witted, otherwise she wouldnât be able to work hard and rank in the top ten of her entire school.
She didnât speak to Xu Xin again, choosing instead to lower her head silently.
Perhaps she was organizing her expression.
"Yingying..."
"Mom... can you let me have some peace..." When Xu Ying raised her head again, she had an expression that was somewhat lost and bewildered. She stood up and said softly, "My head is a bit messy, I donât want to go out now..."
She put on a look as if she had realized she had a problem but needed some quiet time.
Motherâs eyes lit up, surprised and pleased, she covered her mouth, "Yingying, you... you admit what you saw was a hallucination?"
"Mom!" Xu Ying put on a pleading expression, "Let me think carefully."
"Alright, mom will stay with you!" Mother didnât insist on her going out anymore.
But she still wanted to stay at home, because Xu Yingâs current state was unstable; who knows if she might do something foolish.