The little monkey settled down in their home. Being loyal, it would escape from Shen Tianyou's room every night, and be caught by Shen Tianyou in the morning. Shen Li wanted to help it, but it was having so much fun fighting with Shen Tianyou that she didn't need to help. Every time Shen Tianyou wanted to catch the little monkey to play, the little monkey would jump on Shen Tianyou's shoulders, pull his hair, or use the fart method, and would never give in.
Once Shen Tianyou got tired of it, Shen Li said she would take care of it, so Shen Tianyou immediately regretted it. Sometimes, Shen Li wondered if the little monkey really understood human nature and was actually helping her. Even if it didn't play a prank on Shen Tianyou, it would still make him suffer. Looking at Shen Tianyou's somewhat rosy face, Shen's father and mother even felt that Shen Tianyou had become a lot more lively, and praised Shen Li for bringing the little monkey back by accident.
"Hmph!" Shen Tianyou held the little monkey in his arms, afraid of hurting it because he was too strong, and afraid that it would run away because he was weak. He was trembling with fear, looking like the little monkey's "shit shoveler". The little monkey sitting on his arm looked like His Majesty the King, full of vigor and vitality.
Shen Li found it funny but didn't dare to laugh. She was afraid that her brother, who had a very strong sense of self-esteem, would get angry if he heard it.
Shen Tianyou snorted and said to his parents, "I'm going out for a while."
Shen's mother hurriedly asked: "Going out? What for? The pollution is severe today! You are not allowed to go!" It was rare for Shen Tianyou to be humiliated. Shen Li leaned on the sofa and watched the show. Although she felt a little sour in her heart, she was still happy to see Shen Tianyou unhappy.
"Li Mingcheng, do you remember him, mom?" Shen Tianyou explained, "My classmate, he will be going abroad soon. He asked me to return the book I borrowed from him before."
Shen's mother didn't care: "You can invite them home so that you don't have to go out and get caught in the wind!"
Shen Li found it funny. She borrowed someone's things and asked them to come and pick them up. What kind of thing was that? As expected, Shen Tianyou was not happy about it. He argued with Shen Ma for a long time but she still didn't agree. Shen Ma had no choice but to point at Shen Li who was sitting on the sofa and said, "You can help Tianyou run a trip."
Shen Li was surprised and pointed at the tip of her nose: "Me?"
When you sit on the sofa, disaster may come from the sky.
Shen Li refused: "I won't go. How can I go to return his book..."
Before she finished speaking, Shen's mother's face turned ugly: "It's just a small matter. You won't lose any weight if you go. It's the weekend anyway." Seeing that Shen Li ignored her, Shen's mother emphasized, "You are my sister!"
Shen Li gritted her teeth and stood up without waiting for Shen's mother to say something like "sister has to take care of brother and said, "Okay, I'll go! Where is the book?"
"It's on my desk. Eight of them."
Eight... eight books? Shen Li looked at Shen Tianyou questioningly, and instantly understood his trick. He did it on purpose!
Shen Li took the subway with eight books and went through the city to return the books to Shen Tianyou's classmates in the south. When she returned to the city center, it was already four o'clock in the afternoon. The weekend for the "prospective senior high school students" was only a few hours away. She got off the subway halfway and called Li Zi, who lived nearby.
Li Zi was indeed a very friendly person and he arrived at the mall in less than ten minutes.
"How come you have time today? Don't you have to take care of that sickly kid?"
Shen Li shrugged, not minding being embarrassed in front of her friends: "He snatched the little monkey I brought home. The little monkey was a little noisy, and he couldn't beat the little monkey, so he took it out on me and asked me to go to the south of the city to return the book for him."
"South of the city? Are you sure? Your family lives in the north of the city!" Li Zi was furious. She had long been fed up with that sickly guy. "How can you tolerate this?"
Shen Li bit the straw of her drink. She was unhappy but there was nothing she could do. "My mom, you know."
"Angry! What the hell is this!" Li Zi slammed the table, looking like he was about to curse, but stopped himself from saying anything.
No one can tolerate others insulting their mother, and Shen Li is no exception. But Shen Li knew that Li Zi was really angry, and was angry for her. It's funny to say that when her younger brother was born, she had just started elementary school, and the whole family revolved around her younger brother and had no time to take care of Shen Li. Shen's father and mother never went to school once. It was not until the home visit in the third grade of elementary school that the teacher knew that Shen Li was not an orphan with only her grandmother, but had both parents.
After her brother was born, Shen Li developed the habit of not looking for her parents no matter what happened, because it was useless. They always promised to help her, but then forgot about it and added a sentence afterwards: "My brother is not feeling well, mom and dad have to take care of him, next time, next time for sure."
Next time, next time, who can wait forever for "next time"? Her expectations are limited, and promises are always difficult to fulfill, so why give herself hope?
Shen Li looked at Li Zi's angry look, and her mood actually improved. She knew that she didn't have to go against Shen Tianyou, nor did she have to achieve an overwhelming victory. She just wanted someone like this who didn't care who was healthy or weak, but simply stood by Shen Li, spoke for Shen Li, and got angry for Shen Li. That was enough.
Shen Li stretched out her hand and pinched Li Zi's angry face: "Don't be angry anymore, I asked you to come out to play, let's not waste time on this and ruin our mood! Didn't you say you wanted to eat barbecue? Let's go eat barbecue!"
The two of them ate and drank in the barbecue restaurant, and Shen Li finally got a chance to breathe. She didn't have to think about what to say or what not to say, whether the food would harm Shen Tianyou's health, or whether she would be scolded. In front of Li Zi, she could unscrupulously put down her mask and just be Shen Li.
Shen Li told Li Zi about the struggle between the little monkey and Shen Tianyou. They were very amused by the sight of Shen Tianyou suffering a loss.
"So the little monkey is still very loyal! In fact, you can consider posting the little monkey's story on Weibo!"
Shen Li nodded: "I have thought about it. I plan to draw their story. The name is "Monkey Playing with Naughty Kids"."
Li Zi's eyes widened in astonishment as he asked, "Are you willing to paint?"
Shen Li lowered her head and smiled, feeling a sense of emotion in her heart. Her mother was surprised to see her buy a drawing tablet and asked her when she would learn to draw. However, Li Zi could express what was on her mind in one sentence.
The word "willing" is really sad. When Shen Li was young, she was very good at drawing. Her art teacher once suggested that the old lady let Shen Li take systematic lessons. However, the old lady only cared about her precious grandson, so how could she remember to communicate with Shen's parents? It was not until Shen Li won the award that Shen's parents realized that their daughter had a talent for drawing. They were happy for a while, but eventually gave up because they had no time to pick her up.
At that time, Shen Li held the drawing board and watched her parents circling around Shen Tianyou. She looked at them pitifully but received no glances from them. The old lady said kindly, "Look, mom and dad are both busy. Shen Li, you should be more sensible."
Then just give up wisely.
Since then, Shen Li never asked to learn painting again, but she never gave up. Shen's parents didn't have time to take care of her, and just gave her money out of habit, so she kept buying books and painting supplies and practicing painting secretly. Shen's parents didn't notice these things that were done in private, so Shen's mother said, "Why buy a digital tablet? When learn to paint?"
After Li Zi's questioning, Shen Li replied: "I can't say whether I am willing or not, but I just feel that there is no need for me to be upset with myself just because they don't pay attention to me and stop expressing my desire to paint."
Li Zi laughed, patted her arm and said, "You should have thought so a long time ago!"
After eating, Li Zi went to pay the bill. Shen Li, who was a step late, was stopped by someone as she left the barbecue restaurant.
Shen Li looked at the strange boy who was pulling her, confused. He was tall, with sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, and he didn't look like a bad person. So she stopped and wanted to listen to what he had to say.
"Hey, do you have a monkey at home?"
The boy's words were not as gentle as his appearance, and his attitude was quite aggressive. Shen Li didn't understand why, so she asked, "Yes, what's wrong?"
The boy was delighted, but his tone was still arrogant: "Was it a fat middle-aged uncle who sold it to you? That monkey is mine. That middle-aged uncle is my father, and he secretly lost my monkey!"
Shen Li was panicking. The information about the middle-aged fat uncle was correct. Could it be that this boy was the owner of the "Monkey King"? That day, the middle-aged uncle clearly didn't like the little monkey, so he threw it to her. This boy didn't look anxious, but his tone was very aggressive and his attitude was not good. Shen Li didn't want to cooperate with him.
"We have a little monkey at home..."
The boy didn't wait for her to finish and said, "Give it back to me! How much money do you want? I'll give it to you!"
Who does he take her for?
Shen Li rolled her eyes at him. No wonder the little monkey stuck to her as soon as he saw her. Both the father and son were not normal people. Was she really going to hand the little monkey over to him?
The little monkey has lived in her house for a while, and she has feelings for it anyway. Besides, the little monkey can help her torment Shen Tianyou. It's not easy to get a little monkey that can torment Shen Tianyou openly. Does she really want to return it?
Shen Li was in agony, with all kinds of thoughts intertwining in her mind, and the balance kept tilting. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she still decided to keep the little monkey.
Seeing Li Zi finish paying the bill and waving at her, Shen Li cut the Gordian knot and said, "I don't know what middle-aged uncle you are talking about. Your monkey was lost by your father. I'm sorry, but there are so many little monkeys in the world. I think this is just a coincidence." After that, Shen Li left quickly, leaving the boy standing there in disbelief.
"Let's go." Shen Li walked to the door and pulled the confused Li Zi away.
Li Zi staggered as she ran, thinking it was the boy trying to flirt with Shen Li: "Why are you so scared? He's a handsome guy!"
What's wrong with being handsome? Just being impolite can lower your score.
Li Zi suddenly seemed to remember something and said, "Why do I feel that guy looks like your idol - Qiao Ziyao? He is the senior who was admitted to a prestigious university and came back to our school to give a speech. Didn't I ask for his WeChat ID for you last time? Have you talked to him?"
Li Zi changed the subject very quickly. Shen Li was glad that she didn't have to explain to her that the boy was the owner of the little monkey, nor did she have to confess that she didn't want to return the little monkey.
"No, I just added him as a friend and looked at his Moments."
Li Zi slapped her on the back and said, "Let's chat! Ask him how to get into Fudan University, ask him if he has the top scorer's notes or something like that. How can you be so stupid? You wasted such a great opportunity!"
Shen Li was still worried about whether the boy had caught up with her, so she didn't have the energy to talk about these things. She smiled perfunctorily and parted ways with Li Zi at the subway entrance. Several times during the journey, she felt that someone was following her, but when she looked back, there was no one.
Shen Li stood at the subway station waiting area, looking at her reflection in the glass, and said self-deprecatingly, "I still can't do anything that's against my conscience. I don't have the courage."
Shen Li stepped onto the subway and didn't notice a figure hurriedly running down the escalator. When she saw the subway door closing behind her, she waved her fist in anger.
If Shen Li had eyes behind her back, she would have discovered that this person was the boy who had just asked her about the little monkey.
The phone vibrated violently in her pocket. Shen Li took out her phone and saw the name on the screen. She sighed silently: "Hello? What's up? I'm on my way home. It's not convenient to pick up Chinese medicine without passing by the Chinese medicine store..."
There was silence on the other end of the line for two seconds, and then a huge roar broke out: "Sister - help! The little monkey has gone crazy!"
Shen Li took the phone away slightly and asked, "What did you do to it again?"
Shen Tianyou was silent and evasive: "What can I do to it? It's a monkey, I'm a human, and I can't reason with it!"
Are animals unreasonable? Animals have their own habits. For example, a cat will behave well if you stroke its fur. On the contrary, humans are more unpredictable and cannot be predicted by common sense because of their temper, personality, and inexplicable self-esteem.
Shen Li said coldly: "Do you think I will believe it?"
Shen Tianyou looked around and said, "Come back soon, it's best to finish this before mom and dad come back! The little monkey has made a mess of the house!"
Shen Li stared at the hung up phone in astonishment, the corners of her mouth curled up in self-mockery, she was clearly smiling but leaned weakly against the back of the chair.
The subway moved forward quickly, overlapping with the billboards in a flickering pattern. The light and shadow were projected on Shen Li's face, and there was an unprecedented confusion in her eyes.
She learned a term from Weibo called "Sister Only Theory". She is that kind of sister, with only obligations but no rights.
No matter whether it is dad, mom, or Shen family’s baby “Tianyou”, no matter what she does, they will only ask her to do something by saying “you are the older sister”.
"You are the elder sister." No one remembered that in addition to being Shen Tianyou's elder sister, she was also the daughter of the Shen family.