Lan Yijing had been praised all her life. Her looks, personality, grades, and family background were all excellent. Like a doll, she didn't have to do anything to win people's admiration.
Until the year she turned six, when she found a little boy. Soaked through by the rain, he was shivering behind her family's car, covered in grime.
"Come home with me."
From then on, Lan Yijing had a nameless, familyless little shadow following her around.
Ever since Lan Ting could remember, his ears had been filled with his parents' endless arguments. Whenever they finished fighting, they would slam the door and leave him alone. He was used to it.
After one such argument, his mother crouched down and asked him, "Who do you want to live with?"
Lan Ting didn't want to live with either of them. He ran, and ran for a long time, like a stray dog with no home, letting the downpour beat against him.
He thought, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to die here.
But someone reached out to him and gave him a hot meal. Tears streamed down his face before he knew it.
"Does rice taste good with tears in it?"
Lan Ting shook his head. For many years afterward, he never ate rice mixed with tears again.
Lan Yijing thought she had done everything a big sister should. She gave him everything other little brothers had, and even things no one else had.
He was sensitive, suspicious, introverted, and quiet, so she gave him a sense of security and stood up for him. "Lan Ting is my little brother, Lan Yijing's. Insult him and you're insulting me. Let's see who dares talk behind his back now."
Everyone exchanged glances. Who didn't know the Lan family's power in City A? If Miss Lan wanted the moon and stars, her family would pluck them from the sky for her.
Even so, Lan Ting went astray. He skipped class, smoked, got tattoos, raced cars, and got into fights. He picked up every bad habit he could.
Lan Yijing was thunderstruck. She slapped him in front of everyone.
"Lan Ting, get out."
Lan Ting had an intense fledgling-bird attachment to Lan Yijing. His dependence, possessiveness, even the way his heart beat around her, all seemed like perfectly normal familial affection to him.
Gradually, he began to resent everyone who came near Lan Yijing. He knew something was wrong. Reason told him he couldn't act this way. Lan Yijing was his sister.
He tried to find an outlet for his feelings, but he was still found out. That pair of parasitic parents tracked him down and threatened him. What could he do?
Lan Ting told himself this would be the only time. After this, he would leave and never appear in front of her again.
"Lan Ting, are you trying to die?"
Lan Yijing couldn't find Lan Ting. He had vanished from her world, as if he had never been part of her life.
Lan Yijing thought maybe it was for the best. She was just a little unwilling to let go.
Why should the dog Lan Yijing raised go wandering?
Lan Yijing said, "Stop running off. Come back. Your sister won't hit you."
Lan Ting nestled into her shoulder. "Sis, I'm sorry. I'll listen to you from now on, okay?"
There was nothing wrong with taking in a stray dog. He was just a little fierce.
Pretty kitty x unruly stray dog
Theme: Love can overcome every obstacle
