“Relax, bro, Dad’s taken care of everything. All the paperwork and procedures are totally OK. You just need to stay with Sister and live happily ever after.”

“I don’t believe it.” James Carter pulled out his phone and dialed. After a while, a deep, serious voice came through the receiver: “Jimmy, what’s up?”

“Dad, I want to live on campus.” James Carter said bluntly. At that moment, Sister reached out and pinched him hard.

“There’s no need for you to live on campus. Don’t we have an apartment here in University Town? Stay with your Sis. She’s a girl living alone—your mom and I both worry. If you want to stay in the dorms, you can go occasionally.” The head of the family finished speaking and hung up.

Sister got into Fudan with excellent grades, while her younger brother James Carter seemed to pale in comparison. He worked himself to the bone, barely scraping by with a score just high enough for the neighboring University of Finance and Economics. If their dad weren’t a professor there, the college might not have even accepted him as the last one in.

The IQ gap between The Carter Siblings was huge. James Carter knew he and Sister weren’t biological siblings. As a child, he’d once overheard his mother on the phone. Her intense words made him realize that between him and Sister, one of them wasn’t a child of the Qin family.

His mother made the call in secret, never naming names, so James Carter didn’t know whether it was Sister or himself who was adopted. He was very young then, and with a frightened little face, he told Sister about it. Sister threatened him: “Jimmy, actually, you were a freebie from topping up the phone bill, so you can’t tell anyone about this. If you do, you’ll be sold off.”

All these years, James Carter still didn’t dare dig deeper, afraid his family would fall apart.

The Carter Siblings tacitly pretended nothing had ever happened.

Since they were children of faculty, it was no problem for a freshman not to live on campus. James Carter sighed.

Three years flew by. Now James Carter was a junior. Sister was two years older, graduated last year, and worked as a secretary to the general manager at a foreign company.

He opened the door. A faint scent of perfume mixed with alcohol hit his nose. The room was dim, blackout curtains tightly drawn, the air conditioner blasting cold air. A woman lay sprawled on the bed, covered with a thin blanket, arms and legs flung out in all directions. Just from her sleeping posture, you could tell how carefree she was.

James Carter turned off the air conditioner, pulled open the curtains, and pushed open the window. A breeze and sunlight flooded the room, blowing away the smell of alcohol.

“Breakfast is ready, get up!”

The woman’s chestnut curls were loose, her face hidden, and she grunted like a lazy pig, continuing to sleep soundly.

James Carter tried to recall—yesterday was Sister’s birthday, so she’d invited her girlfriends over for a party. The girls were all different shapes and sizes, looking cultured and goddess-like. But after a few bottles of wine, their true colors showed—they were all drinking champions, able to drink all night. Clever Sister had dragged her Younger Brother out of the kitchen to help block drinks, and she herself only had a few beers.

Even I, who got drunk as a dog, am up already. What right do you have to sleep in!

James Carter lifted the thin blanket and shouted, “Get up…”

His voice caught in his throat. The person on the bed had a curvy figure: delicate collarbones, smooth white shoulders, a chest that defied gravity even lying down, a suddenly narrowing waist, and long, toned legs that, in internet slang, “could be played with for ten years.” Her fair, fair body was right in front of him.

Damn, this woman wasn’t even wearing pajamas.

James Carter stared blankly at her chest—not because she was well-endowed (he’d long known Sister was a 36D), but because she was wearing a set of black lace, semi-transparent lingerie. After living together for so many years, she’d never had this kind of sexy underwear.

“You pervert, where are you looking?” Sister kicked James Carter in the face, grabbed the blanket to wrap herself up, and put on the most fake “shocked beauty” act possible. “I never thought you were this kind of James Carter.”

James Carter rubbed his stinging face. “Wow, sexy lingerie, huh? When did you get so fashionable? Which guy taught you this?”

“No guy taught me! Sister has never even dated anyone. My life is such a failure.”

“Yeah, keep pretending.” James Carter rolled his eyes and walked out of the room.

Chapter 2: Dreams and Stars

The most painful thing in winter is getting up early—you just want to stay wrapped up in your blanket forever. But this was clearly the increasingly hot summer. James Carter silently finished his bread, bacon, and fried egg. After waiting ten minutes, she finally appeared, shuffling out in loose bear pajamas and slippers, eyes half-closed.

“I’m the one who got half-killed by your group of girlfriends last night. What’s with your overindulged look?” James Carter wondered aloud.

“You’re the one who’s overindulged.” Sister shot him a tired glare, slumped lazily into a chair, and pouted her moist, thin lips. “After you passed out, they were almost done too. I had to clean up the mess. The ones with boyfriends called them to come pick up the bodies, and the single dogs I had to call cabs for one by one. I didn’t get to sleep until 3:30 a.m., okay? I woke up starving.”

“Serves you right!” James Carter took a sip of milk and slapped away her hand reaching for the bacon. “Go wash your face and brush your teeth.”