The life of a sister.

Chapter 2: A Summer Journey of Sibling Bonding

"...Want to learn from me?"

Um. My sister nodded. Isn’t this taking off your pants to fart – unnecessary?

Does this count as having an independent opinion? Still have no idea?

It should be a good thing to follow through on things, but if this continues, will it really be okay for my sister to grow up to next year? I'm quite worried.

I will also be implicated, but it is not exaggerated enough to affect the future.

Despite this, I will think about the future for my sister. My brother is also quite high-minded. I mean, brother, what is that?

Compared with brother - Du, which one is more decent? I couldn't help but think about it.

Should we say that history will repeat itself? During the summer vacation of the following year, I discovered early that my sister was holding a drawing diary. "That sister over there!" The reason why I called her in such a strange way was probably because I was quite shocked.

"Brother—what's the matter—?"

A way of speaking that feels like there is no progress. Thinking this way means that I am used to her talking like this.

"That's a drawing diary, right?"

My sister trembled and silently handed the diary towards me. "Wait a minute." I stretched out my palm to stop:

"Your brother——hasn't his speed increased?"

I didn’t know what it was, but it was something my sister had said before, so I tried to ask. "What is that?" As a result, my sister looked at me in confusion. Has this kid even forgotten what he said before? By the way, the act of imitating my brother only lasted three days and then stopped. My sister seems to be quite hot for three minutes.

"Anyway, it's still early for me to appear...you really still have nothing to write about?"

My sister nodded slightly. Maybe it was because the summer vacation had just started a few days ago, so although his expression was melancholy, it was not to the point of crying.

You have to take precautions before she cries for help.

"Well...that's right. Why not write an observation diary? What do you think?"

My sister's problem is that she lacks subject matter for her diary. In this case, just create your own themes. I gave examples casually, but my sister tilted her head:

"Observe what?"

Do I even have to propose this part? I scratched my hair and thought about it:

"If you want to observe, how about sunflowers? For plants, you can write them down even if you don't observe them carefully."

"Then let's take sunflowers."

So fast. Obviously he can't even think of the subject matter, but he is extremely decisive when making decisions.

No matter what you do, but there is nothing you want to do?

"Do you really want to observe?"

"want."

My sister opened the diary. Although it was almost blank, the date and weather had been written on it from the first day.

At least there was a little bit of growth, and I was a little touched by this, but I felt like something was wrong.

Forget it, it doesn’t matter if it’s a sunflower or whatever.

"There should be sunflowers in the school garden."

I once helped water the flowers during my birthday rotation. The flowers were blooming at that time, but if they were lazy and didn't water them carefully during the next duty day, they might have withered. I mean, if that's the case, I can still write a diary with the theme of withered sunflowers. Recording flowers that have withered may be quite special.

"Going to school?"

"Well, that's right. If I don't go, I won't be able to write."

"Brother--will you go too?"

Why do you think so? I won't help you write a diary. I looked away.

"Well, why don't you go to school by yourself..."

Halfway through my words, I found that my sister just opened her eyes wide and looked up at me without blinking.

I knew immediately what that look meant, but it took me a while to find the way to ask.

"Should I go too?"

"Go."

That seems to be the case. She should be asking me to pick her up.

After all, she took the initiative to ask, so it was difficult to refuse her request.

Are you already a mistress? Although I wanted to say this, after imagining the scene of my sister going out alone, I just felt nervous. I'm afraid it's because I'm not used to seeing that kind of scene, and my sister never goes out. As for myself, apart from going to school with my sister, I have never taken my sister out with me.

My sister came to the entrance with a diary, drawing supplies and an umbrella. The surface of the umbrella is white and the inside is black. It seems to be a parasol. I'm just going to school. Isn't it exaggerated to use this kind of equipment?

"You don't like being tanned?"

Same as mother. It should be said that it is because I imitate my mother that I don’t want to bask in the sun.

"This will have a beautifying effect on your skin——"

My sister replied in a flat tone. I guess I learned this from someone.

I groaned and responded casually. Although I don’t know what that beautiful skin means.

The umbrella for adults is big and heavy. My sister tried her best to stretch her hand as far as possible and opened the umbrella. Not only her, but also me was covered under the umbrella. It was not a rainy day, but standing under the umbrella, the dim feeling made my head feel heavy, as if someone was pressing on the top of my head.

My sister and I moved forward under the shadows created by parasols. My sister doesn’t know how to ride a bicycle, and our parents don’t allow us to carry two bicycles, so we have to use a walking bicycle. But it takes three minutes to ride to school and only five minutes to walk, so there’s not much difference between the two.

During the holidays, it was amazing to get to school without going swimming. The scorching sunlight that seemed to scorch my skin when I was riding out was blocked by the parasol, and pure sultry heat filled my body. The scorched, stagnant atmosphere enveloped my skin, and I felt like I was being sucked into the summer scenery and melting together.

My sister held the umbrella unsteadily, and the ribs hit my head from time to time. I endured it and kept silent.

When we walked into the campus from the back door, we could see the flower garden set up at the other end of the school building. The plants planted in each class are different. Sunflowers grow in the flower beds of three classes in four years. Although a little withered, the flower bush is still healthy overall. In the gardens of other classes, there were dried loofahs and various flowers that had withered due to the heat. The dirt floor is covered with petals of various sizes, which looks dazzling. Where there are many plants, there are naturally many insects. Although I am not afraid of most insects, I am not afraid of bees. Because being stung seems to hurt. When I saw the swarm of bees circling around on the other side of the loofah, I felt scared and didn't dare to approach it.

My sister didn't seem to see the bees. She calmly took out the diary utensils. But the drawing diary must be written every day. Does this mean I have to accompany her every day? Although she wrote the diary herself, it was troublesome to accompany her sister to school every day. If I had known earlier, I would have stopped talking about sunflowers and should have talked about the flowers grown in my yard. I regret it a bit.

However, I don’t know the name of the flowers blooming in my yard.

I helped my sister hold the parasol. "Brother - so tall -" my sister said, looking up. Does tall mean my height? Being told I'm tall doesn't feel bad. My sister opened the diary, held the pencil she brought hard, and began to draw sunflowers. The petals are sharper than real flowers. If you reach out and touch them, you might get your fingers cut off.

Sharp flowers are completely different from the soft impression they give. But forget it.

Because this is the flower described by my sister.

I observed my sister while she was painting sunflowers. My skin looks pale due to not being exposed to the sun for a long time, and my black hair is the same color as mine. But the hair is much longer than mine and a bit curly. Paired with the soft face, there is a sense of stability. It can be seen from her expression that she is not a very independent person. In addition, she is more than a head smaller than me. To be honest, I feel that my sister looks nothing like me.

When I grow up, my sister will probably be more popular than me. I wonder.

But, will you grow up in the future? This feeling came back to me. Looking at my sister, I feel that if she had remained so petite, I would have been able to immerse myself in the feeling of summer vacation.

The constant heat from morning to night, the long days, the chirping of cicadas.

Summer always gives people the illusion that time will last forever.

But summer vacation never lasts forever.

Every summer vacation starts with my great anticipation, and then disappears after glowing with various colors.

The color of this summer vacation should be the color of sunflowers.

In this way, I began to see sunflowers every day that I had never seen during last summer vacation.

"Oooh!"

The sound of the flapping wings of insects reached my ears, and I ran away on reflex. After putting some distance away from the insect, I lowered my body and looked back. It was indeed a bee. The orange-yellow and black-brown body is frighteningly bright in the sunlight.

The sister on the side continued to draw the picture without taking the bees seriously. But I, who was responsible for holding the umbrella, ran away. The pure white diary reflected the sunlight, making her wrinkle her face due to the glare. Why not feel afraid? I was surprised and waved to her eagerly.

"Come here quickly."

"This is a bee that doesn't sting."

My sister said as she looked at the bee that flew in front of her and seemed to be observing her. Is there a way to tell them apart at a glance? Even if a bee lands on her sister's shoulder, she doesn't take it seriously. Finally, the bee left on its own, probably returning to its nest. After I made sure that the bee flew away, I returned to my sister.

I have been writing the sunflower observation diary for a week, and this time I did not give up after writing the drawing diary for only three days. "Brother - let's go -" As long as I hear my sister say this, I can't refuse. Is this what being an older brother is like? After school starts, ask your classmates who have younger siblings at home.

Having said that, I think the sunflowers I draw every day all look the same. Is it because my sensibility is too low?

"Brother--are you afraid of bees?"

My sister asked a question that made me feel harsh with her innocent eyes. She saw my useless side.

"It's not that I'm afraid, I just don't like them. What about you? Aren't you afraid of insects?"

My sister's eyes drifted to the right, she paused and then shook her head.

"I hate cockroaches."

"Hmm - I don't like cockroaches either."

When doing sweeping work in schools, I sometimes see cockroaches infested. The girls will scream and scatter; the boys will swarm up and kick the cockroach to death like a cat playing with its prey. Although cockroaches have strong vitality, their endurance is very low. I have never seen a cockroach come back to life after being kicked until it became immobile and then thrown into the trash can with other trash.

While I was alert to the approach of bees, I rotated my parasol because I was too idle. Matching the shape of the umbrella, the shadow danced on the ground. I watched the changes in the shadows and felt a slight cool breeze on the tip of my nose, which seemed to blow away the heat accumulated in my body. It's a brief, comfortable time under the scorching sun.

But turning your head would be distracting. My sister was not very happy with this. So you can't keep spinning.

"Phew—what are you doing?"

Suddenly, someone called my name. I turned around and saw my friend riding a bicycle looking towards me through the pale barbed wire fence. It’s not even August yet, and this friend who joins the youth soccer team is already as black as charcoal.

A friend saw me and my sister together. I felt inexplicably anxious.

I feel very embarrassed. Although that friend is not someone I usually particularly care about his thoughts.

"Uh - something happened..."

I spoke vaguely, unable to explain myself fluently. Because the other party is far away from here, I can't explain it properly. After a slight pause, my friend wiped the sweat from his neck and asked:

"I'm going to A Yuan's house to play video games now. Do you want to come?"

Being invited by a friend like this made me shake my heart. There is an illusion that the umbrella pole is melting and deforming. On the other hand, feelings similar to anxiety became stronger. The reason why I feel uncomfortable is probably because my friends see a side of me that I usually don’t let them see, and I become restless. Not as a classmate or friend, but as an "older brother". It’s because I’m not the kind of person who is full of confidence, so I feel so ashamed when others see a side of myself that others don’t know about.

Since I also had such feelings, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have the urge to throw down my parasol and go play with my friends.

"Ah-uh...but I have something to do now."

I pointed at my sister and said vaguely. Maybe it was because it was hard to stay in the bright sun all the time. "Oh - that's right -" my friend responded casually and quickly rode away. The sound of wheels turning gradually faded away.

To put it this way, I haven’t gone out to play with my friends since this summer vacation.

The person responsible for my inability to hang out with my friends had long since stopped and looked up at me. Part of the reason why I felt awkward just now was also because of that line of sight. The sight was like a thread, penetrating into my skin, pulling me and making me move.

"Is that brother——'s friend?"

"yes."

I replied with a nod and started to spin the parasol. After standing for too long, the soles of the feet and the sockets of the knees begin to heat up.

"You, don't you have any friends?"

I think the same question was asked last year. Asked again this year.

The shadow gradually expanded, leaving the area directly under the parasol and extending to the playground at the other end of the garden. I looked up at the sky, and the clouds blocked the sunlight like natural parasols. The sun is hidden behind layers of white clouds. This is the so-called Taoguang hiding place.

I was under a large shadow covering the ground, and my sister's voice seemed to come from somewhere in the shadow. At least, this year I’m not on the verge of crying.

"I have an older brother——Yeah."

My sister's answer was a pretentious and positive admission to this fact.

"Although I have no friends, I have a brother——" The complete sentence should be like this.

Friends and brother should watch it separately, right? I thought. However, these words were stuck between the teeth and could not be said.

Is the so-called brother-sister relationship a relationship that can replace the relationship between friends?

Having said that, is interpersonal relationship something that can be freely replaced?

I stood under the scorching light of the sun again, thinking about this problem that was not suitable for me.

Sunflower observation journals can only be written on sunny days. Because rain will get the diary wet.

For this reason, there is no need to go out when it rains. Isn’t it a strange situation to go out with an umbrella when it’s sunny and stay at home when it’s raining?

Whenever plant observation was interrupted by rain, I would play with my sister.

Because you have to create a theme for writing a diary.

But in this case, wouldn’t it just mean finding activities to do specifically for the purpose of writing a diary? I'm a bit confused by this putting the cart before the horse.