"How could I not know? Wouldn't that be lying?" Ethan Clark muttered to himself, and couldn't help but complain again, "The way they ask questions is just like Peashooters, firing off like machine guns as soon as they start, not even a word of greeting."

He sounded so childish at first, but ended with a fancy word. Ryan Cooper found it a bit funny. "So you do know about greetings."

Feeling underestimated, Ethan Clark frowned. "Of course I do."

"Our Lele has grown up. Back then, you didn't even know what a 'sister-in-law' was." At this, Grace Miller couldn't help but laugh. "You even said you wanted to be your own sister-in-law."

Ryan Cooper glanced at him after hearing this, then casually looked away.

That was a long time ago. Ethan Clark started learning Chinese later than other kids, and especially couldn't make sense of the complicated family relationships in China. Every time he heard classmates talk about uncles, aunts, or nephews, he was completely lost. One day, he heard a classmate say he had a pretty sister-in-law, and was very curious. When he got home, he asked Ryan Cooper what a sister-in-law was.

"A sister-in-law is your older brother's wife," Ryan Cooper answered.

And Grace Miller just had to tease from the side, "Once he gets married, he'll have to leave home."

That sentence left a huge impression on little Ethan Clark's heart.

His little mind worked for a long time. If Ryan Cooper gege got a wife, and he had a sister-in-law, then they would have to separate. He would have his own family and would never live with him again.

That wouldn't do!

Ethan Clark clung to Ryan Cooper's arm and acted cute. "Xiao Yu gege, I don't want a sister-in-law."

Papa Song teased him, "How can that be? If you don't want a sister-in-law, your brother can't get married?"

Ethan Clark looked innocent. "Then I'll be your sister-in-law!"

Ryan Cooper was full of question marks, and Ethan Clark suddenly realized something was wrong, immediately correcting himself, "No, no, I'll be my own sister-in-law!"

From then on, this childish slip became Ethan Clark's black history in the Song family, and everyone would joke about it from time to time. Every time it was mentioned, you could see the rare sight of Ethan Clark getting flustered.

Like now.

"I was only five then, you guys are too much!" he said as he walked out, looking like a stiff little robot, imitating what it looks like when humans are angry.

"Exactly, at that age you were practically a child bride." Grace Miller was so amused by Ethan Clark that she leaned on her son's shoulder laughing, when suddenly a shriek came from outside.

Ryan Cooper waited two seconds, put down his bowl, and went to the living room, only to see Ethan Clark holding Cotton Candy. "How did you eat like this? Who told you to sneak dragon fruit? Hm? Are you trying to dye your fur?"

Cotton Candy, who should have been snowy white, now had bright magenta juice all over its mouth and face, looking very innocent with its two grape-like eyes.

"Looking at me won't help. Next time, you can't just sneak food. What if it's something you can't eat? Do you want to go to the hospital again? Every time we go, you throw a tantrum."

False alarm. Ryan Cooper stood at a distance, watching him lecture the puppy as if he were a little kid pretending to be an adult. He sounded so convincing, every word so familiar.

"Really, you never let people relax." Ethan Clark finally threw out this line, looking every bit the adult, then picked up Cotton Candy and, turning around, almost bumped into Ryan Cooper.

"Watch where you're going," Ryan Cooper said.

Ethan Clark slipped into the bathroom to bathe Cotton Candy, and then himself. By the end, he was exhausted, lying on the bed as his QQ kept vibrating. Ethan Clark had no choice but to force himself to reply, telling them he didn't know the answer to the friend request question, and that he wasn't allowed to give out his QQ. If he made decisions on his own, he'd be in big trouble.

He really would be in big trouble—he'd done this kind of thing as a kid.

After replying, Ethan Clark turned off his phone and fell asleep immediately. He dreamed of being coaxed by older girls in elementary school to deliver a love letter to Ryan Cooper, only to be ignored by Ryan Cooper for a whole week, which nearly scared him awake.

Turning down admirers for Ryan Cooper without mercy was something Ethan Clark rarely did, but it was very effective—he had peace for several days.

But what he didn't expect was that because Ethan Clark rejected the upperclassmen, and the two of them didn't interact much, all sorts of strange rumors started at school: things like being half-brothers from a blended family, or living under someone else's roof, making it even more dramatic than a soap opera. But among all the rumors, there was one constant theme: the brothers didn't get along.

The rumors spread and eventually reached the people involved. Ethan Clark felt like a little mouse scrambling around, falling from one gray pit into another, with trouble never ending. He explained over and over, but no one listened.

After two periods of math, Ethan Clark's head felt numb, as if he'd been anesthetized. He absentmindedly took the homework from the math class rep, pulled out a red pen to correct it, and as he looked, started chewing on the end of the pen.

"Miscalculated the arc length again..."

Jack Harris didn't even open his homework. "Finally, the first PE class of the semester!" He tugged on Ethan Clark's arm. "Come on, let's go."

"Mm..." Ethan Clark took a breath, suddenly tasting something sweet in his mouth. Looking down, he realized the pen he'd just bitten was leaking ink!

Ethan Clark's first reaction was to touch his mouth—and sure enough, his hand was covered in red.