One day, on a sunlit street, her usually arrogant elder brother leaned against a wall and gazed at her, his eyes shining with tenderness. His voice was as gentle as water.
"Your brother knows he was wrong. I'll give you anything you want. Won't you come with me?"
[1] Since Chai Ling had been brought in from outside, everyone agreed that she was the illegitimate daughter of the Chai family. In time, even she almost believed it.
Over ten years together, her elder brother Chai Jin had watched her grow from an innocent child into a young woman. Chai Ling knew that although he was arrogant and unruly, he had always treated her wonderfully. So wonderfully that, before she knew it, she had become lost in his tenderness, wanting to keep him all to herself for the rest of their lives.
So she sabotaged Chai Jin's engagement banquet... That day, reeking of alcohol, Chai Jin cornered her and gripped her chin. His voice was chillingly cold. "Don't even dream of it. You and I can never be together."
[2] From then on, her foolish heart was scorched beyond repair. She resolved to stop dreaming and devote herself to medicine and healing the sick. Her life was comfortable and fulfilling, and a queue of suitors waited for her to choose one.
But trouble kept cropping up.
At the Lantern Festival, the young master of the Gu family invited Chai Ling to admire the lanterns. But on his way to pick her up, his boat sank in the middle of the lake.
"?"
On the eighth day of the first lunar month, the young master of the Li family set out to ask for Chai Ling's hand, only to be beaten so badly along the way that even his own father wouldn't recognize him.
"???"
After one promising match after another was ruined, Chai Ling pretended to let it slip that she would meet someone on the Magpie Bridge on the night of the Double Seventh Festival...
This time, she was the one who was abducted. The "kidnapper" dragged her into a dark room. In the dimness, the man's eyes burned with emotion as he gazed at her, angry yet holding himself back.
Chai Ling suddenly understood. "Brother, are you sick?"
She heard him laugh at himself. "I am. I'm lovesick."
● Not actually siblings
● Mutual pining. The older brother is five years older than his sister.
● Unhinged older brother vs. divine-doctor younger sister
Theme: Having all sorts of fantasies about you