CHAPTER 813: CHAPTER 810: GIFT

"Huh, why is there a child calling?" Dou Dou directly ran towards the door.

Jiang Yingxue stood up but didn’t open the door immediately. Instead, she asked Shen Siyuan, "Should we let Dou Dou and the others..."

Her meaning was clear: should Dou Dou and the others become visible in front of others?

In fact, it wouldn’t matter if they appeared, just worried that it would be hard to explain if they suddenly disappeared.

Shen Siyuan thought about it and figured it would be simpler, so he reached out, and Dou Dou, who was running towards the door, suddenly appeared in Shen Siyuan’s arms.

"Huh?"

Dou Dou looked up in surprise and found herself sitting on Shen Siyuan’s knee.

She then flashed a silly smile, "You want to hold me?"

Shen Siyuan: ...

"You and Duoduo should not appear in front of outsiders first." Shen Siyuan advised.

"Oh, alright then."

Hearing this, Dou Dou looked a bit disappointed and then directly "disappeared" from Shen Siyuan’s knee.

At this moment, Duoduo also ran over, climbed onto Shen Siyuan’s knee, and then disappeared.

Everyone: ...

"You really are well-liked by the kids." Ruan Hongzhuang remarked with amusement.

"Uncle, Aunt, Sister, are you home?"

Outside, Yu Xi and Xiao Tong, seeing no response from inside, started calling out again.

"Coming, coming..." Jiang Yingxue went to open the door.

Meanwhile, Shen Siyuan was listening to Duoduo talking.

"Her name is Cai... Cai..., you can call her Mili."

"My name is Cai Yunong, call me Mili, not Little Mili." Mili softly explained.

At the same time, she curiously sized up Shen Siyuan.

"How old are you this year?" Shen Siyuan asked.

He actually already knew about Mili’s existence because Lin Jianming had called him last night, so they felt assured to drive home first.

However, he didn’t expect Mili to be so small, appearing barely older than Duoduo.

"Seven years old." Mili said.

"Seven years old?"

Shen Siyuan noticed she was only slightly taller than Duoduo and looked quite frail, not quite like a seven-year-old, so he curiously asked, "How did you pass away?"

"Illness, she died very quickly." Dou Dou interjected from the side.

Just then, Jiang Yingxue opened the door, and Yu Xi and Xiao Tong rushed inside.

"Oh, it’s two big sisters."

Dou Dou was immediately drawn to them, curiously running over, though she was not visible.

And behind them, Ruan Manman also followed in.

She greeted Shen Siyuan as soon as she entered the room.

"Happy New Year, Xiao Shen."

"Happy New Year to you too, Aunt." Shen Siyuan had to stand up from the couch.

"Hello, brother."

The sisters Yu Xi and Xiao Tong ran up to Shen Siyuan, curiously looking at him.

They were very curious about their sister’s boyfriend.

In their hearts, Ruan Hongzhuang was absolutely idolized—not only was she beautiful, skilled, gentle, and kind-hearted—she was perfect in every way.

And for such an older sister, any man she fancied naturally piqued their curiosity.

"Doesn’t look very handsome."

"But he’s very tall."

"When he smiles... wow..."

Their faces turned red because when Shen Siyuan smiled, they felt a warmth spread throughout their bodies.

There is a phrase that describes a smile as bright as the sun, and using this phrase for Shen Siyuan was not metaphorical but literal; they seemed to actually feel warmth.

Sure enough, how could the man sister fancy be ordinary? The two sisters thought.

They were fifteen and thirteen, respectively, at the ages most fond of dreaming, and having grown up abroad, they were relatively mature, so they surely thought more than their peers upon seeing Shen Siyuan.

"Such impolite big sisters." Dou Dou softly grumbled from the side.

Because just as Duoduo and Mili were talking to Shen Siyuan, they suddenly crowded around.

Of course, another reason was that they ignored her.

Even though she was invisible, and they couldn’t see her, did that mean they weren’t at fault at all?

They just ran past her, not even glancing her way.

Hmph, Dou Dou was aggrieved and turned into a peculiar flavor bean.

"Happy New Year."

Shen Siyuan took out two red envelopes, giving one to each sister.

Ruan Hongzhuang knew Shen Siyuan still had matters to attend to, so after they received the red envelopes, she pulled them over.

"New Year’s gift."

Aunt took out a nicely wrapped gift and extended it to Shen Siyuan.

"Huh? For me?" Shen Siyuan was quite surprised.

"Of course, it’s the New Year, and as an elder, I naturally should make a gesture." Ruan Manman continued to hold out her hand.

While Shen Siyuan was hesitating whether or not to accept, Ruan Hongzhuang already reached out and took it.

"Then thank you, Aunt."

"You’re welcome."

Ruan Manman smiled graciously and then turned to converse with Ruan Xiangqian and his wife.

Naturally, the Ruan Xiangqian couple knew her intentions, but thinking such a small favor could get them a "Divine Pill" from Shen Siyuan was like drawing water with a sieve.

However, they did not expose her, after all, Ruan Manman wasn’t short on money and didn’t mind these expenditures.

By this time, Ruan Hongzhuang was eagerly unwrapping the gift box.

And found it was an Agarwood Bracelet.

This was not the fake kind from the market but genuine agarwood, more valuable than gold.

"This is really something good." Shen Siyuan was also a bit surprised.

He reached out to take it, feeling the smooth beads and a faint fragrance; the gift was very much to Shen Siyuan’s liking, much better than the watch from last time.

"Thank you, Aunt." Shen Siyuan sincerely expressed his gratitude to Ruan Manman.

"As long as you like it." Ruan Manman replied.

Shen Siyuan put the bracelet on his wrist and walked towards the balcony.

Duoduo, upon seeing this, hurriedly pulled Mili along to follow.

Meanwhile, Dou Dou remained curiously circling around the two sisters.

She was curious about the nail polish the sisters wore, the small jewelry on their hands, and why there seemed to be something different about them, a quality unlike other sisters...

On the balcony, having listened to Duoduo and Mili’s account, Shen Siyuan understood the situation.

"You couldn’t bear to leave your parents? Is that why you stayed?" Shen Siyuan asked.

Mili shook her head.

"Was it reluctance to leave your little sister?" Mili shook her head again.

"Then what made you linger in the Mortal World?" Shen Siyuan asked curiously.

"Because... because I promised Xiao Peng that when we grew up, we would go ice skating, build snowmen, and have snowball fights together..."

"Xiao Peng? Who’s that?"

Shen Siyuan was a bit surprised; how did Xiao Peng suddenly come into the picture?

"Xiao Peng is my best friend; he, like me, also had leukemia." Mili said.

Understanding dawned on Shen Siyuan; most of her life had been spent in hospitals, so knowing a fellow patient was unsurprising.

Mili proudly added, "But he didn’t die as fast as I did."

Shen Siyuan: ...

What’s there to be proud of?