SYLFS 05

SYLFS

Posted by Hari, Released on October 18, 2025

Chapter 5:

“I Won’t Let My Sister Endure Anything”

In the corner of the living room, Jiang Yucheng sat on a single armchair, his expression perfectly calm.
On the table before him, a ring of water spread out from a teacup that had spilled slightly.

After a long silence, he slowly tilted his head toward Jiang Su and asked quietly,

“Xuxu is my daughter. Are you saying my daughter isn’t worthy of being called your sister?”

The confidence that had filled Jiang Su’s face moments ago drained away, leaving it tight and uneasy.
“U-Uncle, I didn’t mean it like that…”

Beside them, Jiang Huai smiled faintly, but when his father’s gaze silenced his younger brother, that same smile carried a trace of amusement. Then, he turned his eyes toward Lu Xuexi and spoke.

“Xuexi, you’ve been living in the Jiang household. Do you have any complaints?”

Lu Xuexi’s face instantly turned pale. She shook her head in a fluster.
“N-No, Brother Jiang Huai, you misunderstand. I didn’t mean anything like that…”

“Then from now on, try not to say things that might be misunderstood.”

His tone was still gentle, a faint smile lingering at the corners of his eyes—but there was no sweetness in his words.
Like a flower hiding thorns, beautiful and still, yet carrying an unspoken force that no one could take lightly.

Lu Xuexi opened her mouth, but no words came out. She could only lower her head and bite her lip, her silence revealing all that she felt.

Sensing the tension, Yao Lin quickly tried to shift the mood.
“My mistake, I wasn’t thoughtful enough. It’s only about a room—no need to make a fuss.”

But Jiang Huai responded lightly,

“Indeed, Second Aunt, your consideration was lacking.”

He was the eldest son of the Jiang family—and never held back, even with his elders.

“Xuxu is my sister and the rightful eldest daughter of the Jiang family. Giving her a room that used to belong to an outsider’s child—imagine what people would say if they heard. They’d laugh at us.”

As he spoke, Jiang Huai gently drew Xuxu closer, his arm protectively resting around her shoulders—as if guarding a precious treasure, proud and unyielding.

“My sister just came home. I won’t let her suffer—not even a little.”

Whether he said it deliberately or not, those words made Lu Xuexi’s cheeks flush.
Just moments ago, she had subtly hinted that she was the one who had been “made to suffer.”
Now Jiang Huai’s words had flipped the situation—implying that giving Xuxu her old room was an insult.

It was as if he had struck directly at her pride.

Meanwhile, Jiang Xuxu, suddenly embraced, froze.
She couldn’t tell if it was his words or his touch that made her tense up.

Truthfully, it wasn’t such a big deal—nothing compared to what she had endured in the Guan family.

But—
this was the first time someone had ever stood up for her.

For the first time, someone had asked if she was hurting.

A small, warm glow spread through her chest.
Maybe… this was what “family” was supposed to feel like.

Across the room, Yao Lin’s face stiffened, embarrassment flashing briefly before she forced a graceful smile. Inside, though, her resentment toward Jiang Huai deepened—he always finds a way to make me look bad.

She glanced toward Jiang Yucheng and the Jiang family’s elder matriarch, but neither spoke a word.

Left with no choice, she forced her composure and said,

“Jiang Huai is right. It was my oversight. I’ll make new arrangements for the room.”

“Thank you, Aunt,”
Jiang Huai said with a mild smile, nodding politely.

Then, as if the tension in the room didn’t concern him at all, he added,

“I’ll take Xuxu to see the garden,”
and led his sister out of the living room.

When they left, the room fell into a strained silence.

Yao Lin opened her mouth, about to make another excuse—when the butler entered.

“Sir, a lady with the surname Guan has arrived. The gatekeeper just informed us.”

“Guan?”

Everyone immediately thought of Guan Xuxu.

“Did the Guans follow her here already?”
“Maybe they came to see her. Perhaps they couldn’t bear to part with her.”

The Jiang family’s Third Aunt chuckled, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

Indeed, she too had been wondering—when Xuxu arrived, she hadn’t brought any luggage.
Perhaps someone from the Guan family had come to deliver it.

After all, now that it was known Xuxu was a Jiang daughter, even the Guans wouldn’t be so shameless as to send her away empty-handed.

But the butler hesitated, then said quietly,

“Madam Guan wishes to see the Third Madam.”

The Third Madam’s smile froze.

“Me? Why…?”

Why would Madam Guan come for her, and not her own daughter?
What could she possibly want?

Meanwhile…

The Jiang family’s garden was in a classic European style. Roses bloomed along the vintage iron fence surrounding the villa’s side yard, and the carefully tended lawn glowed a vivid green beneath the summer sun.

Guan Xuxu followed behind Jiang Huai, listening as he introduced the various parts of the garden. But her mind kept drifting back to the scene in the living room—to the moment he’d spoken up for her.

It was a strange, delicate feeling.

After a while, she whispered softly,

“Thank you…”

Jiang Huai stopped and turned to her with a gentle smile.
Then, reaching out, he patted her head lightly.

“No need to thank me. We’re siblings.”

Xuxu looked up at him, her head still under his hand.
There was a dazed, innocent sweetness in her expression, and Jiang Huai’s smile grew even softer.

He was about to say something else when his phone rang.
He glanced at the screen, then gestured to Xuxu: go ahead, look around.
Stepping aside, he answered the call.

Xuxu wandered alone for a bit. After ten paces, she noticed a middle-aged woman wiping down a table and chairs in a small pavilion at the edge of the garden.

The woman looked to be around fifty—ordinary in appearance—but from Xuxu’s eyes, a dark, shadowy aura clung faintly to her body.
It was something that only appeared on those touched by misfortune or malign fate.

Xuxu usually avoided meddling in others’ affairs.
Intervening meant becoming entangled in their karma.

But this woman’s aura was strong—if left unchecked, it might harm others in the household.

So she approached her.

The woman was wiping mechanically, her expression empty and unfocused.
Her eyes kept darting toward a certain spot, though Xuxu couldn’t tell what she was looking at.
When Xuxu got close, the woman suddenly seemed to snap back to awareness and bowed hastily.

“M-Miss…!”

“You know who I am?” Xuxu asked, surprised.
She’d only been here less than half an hour—and hadn’t even met everyone in the family yet.

“The butler showed us your photo, miss. He told us to remember your face so we wouldn’t offend you.”
The woman smiled nervously as she explained.

Xuxu blinked, a little surprised.
That was an impressive level of attentiveness—subtle but thoughtful.
So this was what being part of a great family was like.