Xuan looked at Ji'an, tears welling in his eyes once more. He didn't care about the dishwashing.
He didn't care about the chores. He had found his older sibling, and his older sibling was a terrifying, incredibly capable badass who made the best food in the world.
"Thank you, Third Brother," Xuan whispered, bowing his head respectfully.
"Yeah, yeah, save the tears for peeling the spirit onions tomorrow," Ji'an grumbled, though she couldn't hide the fond, affectionate smile touching her lips.
As the hearth fire burned low, casting long, peaceful shadows across the kitchen, Lin Ji'an realised her life had just gotten infinitely more complicated.
She had a mountain to run, a terrifying cultivation method to master, a massive debt of extorted money to hide, and now, a little brother to raise.
But as she looked at Xuan's sleeping form an hour later, curled up on a cot in the corner of her cabin, she didn't feel overwhelmed.
