Xu Nianhua, carrying stuff, shouted loudly at him, startling Xu Nian’an.
Xu Nian’an rubbed his eyes in surprise, thinking he was seeing things.
"Second Brother, what’s wrong, scared of me coming?" Xu Nianhua winked playfully at him, glancing in the direction the girl had just left.
Xu Nian’an hadn’t expected this scene to be fully observed by her; it would have been fine with just the younger sister there, but Pei Yining was there too.
Xu Nian’an cleared his throat, explaining, "She came to me about some school matters."
Xu Nianhua drew out her tone, her eyes clearly showing disbelief, but she didn’t expose him. Instead, she tossed the food she had bought onto him and said, "I’m exhausted, Second Brother, we haven’t had lunch yet."
"Wait a minute." Xu Nian’an carried the items and ran towards the dormitory building.
Soon after, Xu Nian’an came down gasping for breath and said, "Let’s go, I’ll take you to eat some delicious hotpot from our school."
"It doesn’t matter what we eat, as long as it fills the belly." Xu Nianhua patted her flat stomach. Since the morning at the factory, then buying food, and taking the ride to school, Xu Nianhua felt like the pancake-fruits she had in the morning had totally digested and disappeared.
"How have you been recently?" Xu Nian’an asked, since he had been busy these few weeks and hadn’t been able to visit Xu Nianhua.
"Doing great, Big Brother’s Zhuangzhuang is growing better and better!" Xu Nianhua started talking non-stop about her eldest brother’s family and Zhuangzhuang, almost wishing she could go home right now to see her chubby grandnephew.
Xu Nian’an gave her a sidelong glance and asked, "You haven’t seen him, how do you know he is getting better and better?"
"How would I not know? I often call mom, and she always says Zhuangzhuang is doing better and better, chubby and super cute." When Xu Nianhua thought of Ji Ying speaking about her grandnephew over the phone, she felt a special anticipation for this grandnephew she hadn’t yet met. Last week, after she got her paycheck, she bought a bunch of lovely clothes and shoes for the baby and sent them home.
"Soon, in just over a month, we’ll be on vacation as well." Xu Nian’an had also called home, and he led them to the hotpot restaurant, which had all kinds of hotpot dishes that Xu Nianhua and Pei Yining liked.
The siblings hadn’t seen each other for half a month, and Xu Nianhua and Xu Nian’an shared their recent experiences.
"There’s an exam next week. How about it, Second Brother, feeling confident?" Xu Nianhua asked with a grin. The knowledge he had learned from Doctor Du was extensive, more than enough to handle minor ailments.
With such a foundation, studying at the medical college should give him an edge over others.
"Of course." Xu Nian’an affirmed. Since the semester started, he had either been visiting Xu Nianhua or cooped up at the school studying, or immersing himself in the library soaking up knowledge like a dry sponge thirsting for water.
"Come on, let’s cheer for Second Brother, wishing you great success." Xu Nianhua held up her orange soda, which clearly was soda, yet she managed to make it look like she was drinking hard liquor.
Xu Nian’an had already had lunch, and now he drank a bottle of soda. Looking at his younger sister’s beaming smile, he said, "Alright, I’ll take your good luck, if I don’t come back with a first place, I’d be letting you down."
Xu Nian’an jokingly said, "I heard that my little sister is quite famous at Beining University. In foreign languages, she has never ranked second after ranking first the first time."
Even though he was at Ningbei University, he still heard from classmates about that Xu Nianhua from Beining University, who always ranked first. Especially since Xu Nian’an and Xu Nianhua’s names differed by only one character, many people quietly inquired about their relationship.