Lu Zihao’s devilish chuckle made Iris realize that her brother was only teasing her. His closed-off expression finally revealed a trace of real emotion which was a big brother’s doting love and care for his beloved little sister. When she saw this, her eyes reddened.
“I missed you so much, Big Brother,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
He sighed and beckoned her by opening both of his arms. She didn’t waste any time and jumped from her seat into her brother’s embrace. His arms immediately wrapped around her, giving her the brotherly warmth that she always took comfort in. She took a deep inhale of his scent—
“Ugh.”
Her body stiffened before quickly pushing away from him. She covered her nose and mouth, and then ran to the farthest corner of the room. She used her hand to support herself on the wall, leaning weakly against it, as she took deep breaths in a pathetic manner.
Lu Zihao stood up, a concerned scowl on his face, and headed towards her. However, she raised her other hand to ward him off.
“Stay there. Don’t go near…”
His scowl deepened. “Tell me what’s wrong first. If you don’t, I’ll haul you to the hospital right now whether you like it or not.”
The look she gave him was both sad and guilty. “Big Brother, I’m sorry but…you stink.”
He blinked. One time, two times. “What?”
“You’re stinky.”
Lu Zihao was displeased but still went ahead and sniffed at his shirt and armpits. “I don’t smell bad. I took a shower before heading here to Dragon Palace.”
“Trust me, Big Brother. You really stink. I’m sorry but I don’t think you should come close to me for a while. Otherwise, I’ll feel…ugh.”
He didn’t know how to react. He wasn’t even sure if he should feel offended. His sister just called him stinky and was acting like he had the plague. Then he realized something.
“Are you like this because you’re pregnant?”
She only hesitated for a moment before nodding.
He felt relieved. At least, that proved that he wasn’t really stinky. The fault didn’t lie on him but on her pregnancy hormones that were messing up with her sense of smell. Then his mood that just improved took a dive again because this incident only cemented the fact that his beloved sister was indeed pregnant. He didn’t give a damn what her real age was. No matter how old she was, she would forever be his precious baby sister. And that baby sister was pregnant!
“You’re like this to all people?” he asked.
She shook her head. “It depends on the person. I feel okay with other people’s smells but for some…I find their scents revolting.”
“Like mine,” he said in a flat voice.
“I can’t control it.”
He sighed once again. “How about your man? You were all over him earlier. You’re okay with his scent?”
“Oh, I love Liwei’s scent. He smells so good! The best!” Then her eyes lit up. She pulled the collar of Jin Liwei’s shirt that she was wearing and began smelling it. “Ah, that feels better. I only need to take a sniff and I’m already okay.”
“That’s his shirt?”
She nodded and took a deeper inhale of the shirt.
Lu Zihao’s mood worsened. He knew that she didn’t mean to offend him but it still didn’t feel good hearing that she needed to smell another man in order to recover from smelling his “stink”. What was he? Some sort of pollution she needed to purify by using her man’s scent?
He couldn’t help but release another sigh, the heaviest so far. “Sit down, Evelinka. You’re pregnant. You shouldn’t be standing for too long.”
She looked at him warily.
He threw her a helpless look before glaring at her. “I won’t come close to you so come here and sit down.”
“Okay.” She obeyed and returned to her original position on the couch. Then she told him, “You shouldn’t call me Evelinka anymore, Big Brother.”
“My sister is Evelinka, not Xiulan.” His expression became closed-off again.
She didn’t have a retort to that because he was right. If she wasn’t Evelina or Evelinka as he liked to call her, then they wouldn’t be siblings. After waiting in silence for a few seconds, she asked him with a hesitant but hopeful tone, “Are you not mad at me anymore for being pregnant before marriage?”
“Still mad. Furious.”
Her hope was dashed. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please read this novel on W e b n o v e l. Thank you! -Arria Cross]
“But don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t make a scene and cause trouble. I heard that you fainted at the hospital the day you received confirmation that you’re pregnant.” He looked at her up and down with critical eyes. “That body is too weak, Evelinka. Too fragile. Although you eat healthy and workout regularly, you don’t do much else to strengthen your body. You also stopped training your combat skills.
“The Systema that Yu Mo kid is training you with is only good for performances, not for real combat. You know that since you’re a master yourself, even though your specialty is on defence rather than offence. Hell, your skill level in Systema is several leagues higher than Yu Mo and yet you’re still playing student to him. I let you do what you want, but I don’t understand what you’re thinking.
“Not only that. You also have a chance to maintain your sharpshooting skills at Lin Yehan’s shooting range in his farm villa. Shooting is what you’re best at, Evelinka. I was hoping that you’ll keep it up to prevent your skills from deteriorating from lack of regular practice, but you don’t. You stick to that joke version of Systema and dancing and those sissy workouts.”
She didn’t know how to reply at what he said. His gaze was heavy, full of pressure. It was critical, yet also filled with genuine concern for her.
“How can I rest easy when my sister is content with her weak body?” he asked. “And now you’re telling me that you plan on carrying two babies inside that fragile body?”
