Luo Zhanyu shook his head and sighed. "There is nothing I can do. The men here outnumber the ladies, and there is no way out for us. By the way, what did you call me a while ago?""Brother." Gu Xijiu responded with a smile. "You seem like my brother!"
Perplexed, Luo Zhanyu stared at her fixedly. "Weird…"
"What is?"
Luo Zhanyu looked at her for a few moments. He then pursed his lips into a line. "When you talked about the general, I could somehow feel a little aversion towards him, like I intuitively did not wish to hear his name. As for you, however, I could feel a sense of proximity, as though I used to take care of you when you were little."
There was a sudden realization that occurred to Gu Xijiu. When Gu Tiannuo disappeared, Gu Xijiu was only a little over a year old. Perhaps her brother had indeed spent some time with his little sister.
An image flashed before her eyes. A little baby was lying in the cradle, trying to babble out her first speeches. A boy, aged ten or so, suddenly emerged next to her and touched her little face gently.
"Sister, don"t you be afraid, I will love you with all I can. I will never let others bully you."
The baby kept giggling. The little boy then took the baby in his arms. "My little sister, I am your brother. Say "brother". If you say "brother", I will bring you out to play with me."
The little baby did babble a little saying "Brother", but it sounded blurry and unclear.
However, the boy was immediately delighted and took the baby outside with him. "Be good. Let me show you the flowers."
The boy placed the baby on the gra.s.s so he could perform some kung fu moves for her to watch.
The baby was happily clapping her hands while watching her brother. It was a very heartwarming moment.
The young boy had to go to the washroom, so he took a moment to tell his sister, "Sister, you have to be on your own for a while. Don"t move around. I will be back very soon. Behave yourself."
Then, the boy ran away quickly. Soon after he left, some children came by to play. Among them, there was one boy whose age was about seven years old. There were some young girls too. They saw the baby who was sitting patiently waiting for her brother and had a sudden idea to play a prank on the baby. Under the leaders.h.i.+p of the young boy, the children threw mud b.a.l.l.s at the baby while grabbing her little braids and shredding her clothes. The baby turned into a dirty little doll with mud all over her body. She sat there crying out loud.
The older boy came back running frantically and saw his beloved baby sister turned into a mess. Furious, he immediately knocked the boy down and pushed the other children onto the ground as well. All of them were well covered in mud.
He then lifted the baby in his arms and warned the other children in all seriousness, "If anyone of you dares to bully my little sister again, I will make you pay for it."
The baby"s loud cry had attracted the adults" attention. When Gu Xietian came to check on them, the children complained about their encounters to him, one after another. Gu Xietian was annoyed, so he reprimanded the boy. "Tiannuo, how could you mistreat your siblings? You should love each other. You should not fight."
Gu Tiannuo was determined. "It was them who bullied my sister first! I will never allow anyone to bully my sister!"
Gu Xietian frowned. "Tiannuo, they are your brothers and your sisters as well."
Gu Tiannuo turned his head to the side in disagreement. "They are not! I only have one sister! If they dare to challenge me again, I will make sure they get more than they bargained for."
The words had made an impact on Gu Xietian.