Hailan Dormitory, Jinling University.

Jiang Silu was participating in the Landscape Architecture Cup design competition with her upperclassmen, so for the past two days, she’d been using all her free time to work on a draft in her dorm.

Her computer would lag terribly whenever she ran the design software.

The upperclassmen had told her to just sketch a rough draft with a pencil for now.

But after two straight hours of sketching, she had only finished a small part of it.

Her neck was starting to ache from the effort.

Just then, Song Miaomiao returned.

She asked in surprise, "Lulu, are you still drawing?"

Jiang Silu explained, "I don’t have class this afternoon, so I figured I might as well finish this draft."

Song Miaomiao walked over and shook her head in shock. "You... You’ve been at this for over two hours and you’ve only done a small portion. How long is it going to take to finish the whole draft? Why aren’t you using a computer?"

Jiang Silu said awkwardly, "My computer lags when I use programs like CAD or SketchUp. It might even be slower than drawing by hand."

"Then use mine," Song Miaomiao said, immediately walking over to her own desk and handing her laptop to Jiang Silu.

"No, it’s okay," Jiang Silu said with a smile. "Don’t you have a show to watch later? I didn’t want to take your laptop."

"What does that matter?" Song Miaomiao replied. "I can just watch it on my phone. Use the laptop for as long as you need. Don’t make things harder on yourself."

Hearing Song Miaomiao’s words, "Don’t make things harder on yourself," Jiang Silu bit her lip. She thought of the laptop Lu Fan had given Jiang Sifan, which was now under her bed.

’Maybe that laptop could run the software?’

’But it was a gift from Lu Fan to Jiang Sifan. It would be rude to just take it and use it without asking.’

So, Jiang Silu sent Jiang Sifan a message on WeChat: [Bro, are you busy?]

Jiang Sifan was lying in bed, thinking about the 10,000 yuan in startup capital. When he saw the message from Jiang Silu, he replied: [What’s up? Every time you call me ’Bro,’ I get a bad feeling.]

Jiang Silu: [What do you mean? Am I not allowed to call you my brother anymore?]

Jiang Sifan: [When there’s no problem, it’s ’Jiang Sifan.’ When you need something, it’s ’dear brother.’ Go on, what do you need your big bro to do for you?]

Jiang Silu: [It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to tell you something.]

Jiang Sifan: [What is it?]

Jiang Silu: [You know how he sent us that box of gifts before?]

When Jiang Sifan saw that Jiang Silu was bringing up that man again, he instantly lost the desire to continue the conversation.

Jiang Sifan: [What about it? Were the gifts he bought from Pinduoduo? Are they broken already?]

Jiang Silu: [Of course not, they wouldn’t break that easily. Actually, I wanted to tell you that he came to see me again afterward.]

Jiang Sifan: [He came to see you again? Seriously? Are you really treating him like your father now? He gives you an iPhone and you start calling him ’Dad’ all happily? Don’t you forget how hard Mom worked all these years to raise us. How could you forget where you came from?]

Jiang Silu: [Jiang Sifan, who are you calling ungrateful?! He came to see me about you.]

Jiang Sifan: [About me? I’m doing just fine. What could possibly be wrong with me?]

Jiang Silu: [He must have heard from Mom that you don’t have a laptop and that you need one for your major. So, in that box of gifts, there’s a really nice laptop. He also took your preferences into account and bought you a pair of Owen’s basketball shoes and a Kobe celebrity jersey.]

When Jiang Sifan read this message, his brow furrowed slightly.

Indeed, any 18-year-old boy would probably be thrilled for a while if they saw those gifts.

Jiang Sifan was only human; he had his own feelings of joy, anger, and sorrow too.

He had his eye on a pair of Owen’s basketball shoes for a while, but they were too expensive, so he never brought himself to buy them.

But most importantly, he hadn’t expected Lu Fan to actually buy him a laptop.

He really did need a laptop for his assignments because of his major.

But whenever he thought about how deeply that man had hurt their mother...

...how he’d been called a bastard for over a decade because of him...

...Jiang Sifan’s anger became an impossible knot to untangle.

Jiang Sifan: [I will not accept those gifts. Even if they’re all things I want, I have my principles. I have no right to interfere with your choice. If you accepted the gifts, I can only respect that.]

Jiang Silu: [That’s the problem. You wouldn’t take them, so he found me and gave me the box. He said that if you couldn’t finish your assignments and your grades dropped because you didn’t have a computer, it would be a huge loss. He asked me to find a time to talk to you about it.]

Jiang Silu: [A few days ago, my advisor asked me to help my upperclassmen with the Landscape Architecture Cup design competition. It’s a great opportunity to gain experience, but my computer is so slow. When I run the design software, the mouse won’t even move.]

Jiang Silu: [So I was wondering if I could use the laptop he gave you. After all, he gave it to you, so it’s yours. I need to get your permission before I can use it.]

Only then did Jiang Sifan understand what was going on.

’His sister must have wrestled with this for a long time before finally messaging him.’

’Otherwise, with her personality, she would never use anything from that box unless it was absolutely necessary.’

Thinking of this, Jiang Sifan couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.

He had just spoken to his sister in such a harsh tone.

’But if he agreed, wouldn’t that be an indirect admission that he had accepted that man’s gifts?’

’As long as he hadn’t agreed to accept that box, Jiang Sifan could still hold his head high and hate him with a clear conscience.’

’But if he agreed and let Jiang Silu use the things from his box, it would mean he had accepted that man’s gesture of goodwill.’

Jiang Sifan was suddenly caught in a dilemma.

On one hand, there was Jiang Silu’s difficult situation with the design competition; on the other, there was the hurdle he couldn’t get over in his own heart.

After a few seconds of indecision, Jiang Sifan finally gave up his internal struggle.

Compared to his own discomfort, he would rather his sister have it a little better.

Jiang Sifan: [It’s fine, go ahead and use it. Mom told me before that if that man sent any gifts, we shouldn’t feel burdened by them. It’s all just what he owes us. That being the case, if I’m not going to use it, you might as well.]

Jiang Sifan: [Besides, you need that computer for your design competition. We can’t let your talent go to waste.]

When Jiang Silu saw these two messages, her eyes grew moist.

She knew her brother was proud and stubborn, a man who stood firm in his principles.

The decision he just made must have been the result of an intense internal struggle.

Jiang Silu: [Don’t worry, Bro. I’ll definitely do a good job on the design, and I’ll try to place in the Landscape Architecture Cup with my upperclassmen.]

Jiang Sifan: [Placing isn’t good enough. You have to take first place. I believe my little sister definitely has the talent for it.]

Jiang Silu: [I’m just a freshman right now, helping out the upperclassmen. I’ll probably only contribute about 20% to the whole project. What talent does that require? lol.]

Jiang Sifan: [It’s all about building a solid foundation and accumulating experience. You’re already in a competition as a freshman. By the time you’re a sophomore and an upperclassman yourself, won’t you be able to hold your own?!]

Since they were little, Jiang Sifan had always used this kind of "brainwashing" praise to motivate Jiang Silu.

It was also why Jiang Silu’s grades had always been a little better than his.

But Jiang Silu knew her brother was smarter than she was.

It was just that over his years of schooling, he had been affected by too many distracting factors. Coupled with his poor English grades, even though he excelled in math and science, he ultimately couldn’t make the cutoff score for Jinling University.

However, Jiang Silu believed that with Jiang Sifan’s ability and resilience, he would definitely be able to make a name for himself in the future!

Jiang Silu: [Bro, muah!]

Jiang Sifan: [???!! Who possessed my sister? Give her back, right now! My sister isn’t like this.]

Jiang Silu: [Jiang Sifan, are you asking for a death wish? I was actually touched for once.]

Jiang Sifan: [Okay, thank you, Lord Body-Snatcher, for returning my sister to me.]

Jiang Silu: [@#*&(...%￥##)]

And with that, after grumbling a bit about Jiang Sifan, Jiang Silu bent down and pulled the box out from under her bed.

Just as she opened the box, Lu Yao returned.