A Song of War and Love

Chapter 005: I'm not a sis-con!

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟏𝟗𝟏 𝐂𝐄 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐲.

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"We have a final challenger!" The announcer cried out to the loud clapping of the crowd watching from below the platform.

The three girls and Zhou Yu watched with different expressions about them as Sūn Ce jumped into the ring and faced off against the returning champion.

"Zhou Yu..." Dà Qiao asked with a worried whisper to the completely calm boy, tipping her wide-brimmed hat slightly upwards as she spoke. "Is your blood brother any good at fighting?"

Xiao Qiao's ears immediately picked up the strange concern her sister had for this strange boy they only met today as she gave her a suspicious side-eye.

Zhou Yu seemed to find some irony in her worries, though as he brushed away her concerns with a tap of his jade flute against his opposite palm. "I can assure you, Sūn Ce is more than capable. In fact, I actually feel sorry for the poor conman he's facing."

Indeed, it seemed like the tall, brown-robed boy was having far too easy a time in defeating the other elder contender, making it look like he was almost having fun with him.

Approaching Sūn Ce from the left in one smooth step, the man's right hand took the form of a palm blade swung at the teen's neck at an angle, though it was easily blocked by the rise of his left arm in a leisurely manner, preventing his palm from making them move.

Shouts and calls of "good show!" and "the young boy is beating him!" were heard from the crowd, infuriating the conning adult martial artist.

The little Sūn Ren seemed to be having difficulty seeing due to her shortness, so Xiao Qiao unabashedly scooped her up and held her higher to view, making the six-year-old somewhat embarrassed.

After a few bouts into the match, the Sūn Ce's footwork changed all of a sudden. He approached the man abruptly and threw a blast punch after a stride forward. His punch went with great power as if it could break a mountain open, sending out the sound of wind which stunned the audience into silence.

"E...e...end match!" The announcer gathered his wits about him as the gong was struck.

"Huh." Xiao Qiao blinked at the skill of the obnoxious Zhou's sworn brother. Casting another glance towards her sister, she didn't miss that weird admiring look she had on. Wait...wasn't her sister supposed to hate purposeless fighting? Why was she giving that guy such looks?! ლ(ಠ_ಠ ლ)

While her gaze was trying to analyze her sister's hypocritical admiration, Zhou Yu cast his own look towards her, covering his small smile at her cute confused and bewildered look. He really couldn't get bored watching her.

Hopping down from the platform and accepting the congratulations from random members of the audience, he strangely seemed to have charmed them some with his confidence, laughing and mixing in quite well before Zhou Yu grabbed his collar and yanked him back towards the group of sibling pairs.

"Eh? Zhou Yu?" Sūn Ce's inherited warm brown tiger-like eyes widened as he stumbled backwards towards them and his prize money of a hundred gold tael and ending up in his blood brother's hands.

"What to do with the money..." Zhou Yu seemed to debate by himself for himself as the little Sūn Ren laughed loudly at her brother's dejected face before her stomach rumbled, bringing all eyes to the youngest among them, who was still in Xiao Qiao's arms.

"...I suppose we could go find ourselves a feast." Sūn Ce finished with a confident grin, hooking Zhou Yu under his arm and dragging him vengefully along to find a restaurant.

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Finding a quiet restaurant, the group made their way to a spacious room upstairs on the second floor, where they settled themselves around a table, awaiting their orders.

Dà Qiao seemed terribly shy at being dragged around and having to eat with people she just met though her sole comfort was that her cheerful little sister was present with her.

"Your family name was Sūn, you said?" Xiao Qiao hummed in question towards the elder boy in specifics. This one dared make eyes at her sister! Let's find out who you are exactly!

Zhou Yu poured himself some tea while he waited and made a knowing look as if he knew exactly her purpose in asking. Really, if she wasn't busy dealing with this Sūn Ce, she would've whacked him over the head for giving her that patronizing look.

Though it was only her eyes that it looked condescending. He was just genuinely amused by her interrogation tactics.

"That is correct." The tall boy nodded his head towards the younger girl, his eyes confident in a way that annoyed her personally.

"That must make you the son of General Sūn Jian, then." Xiao Qiao's eyes were fiercely ablaze in query while Dà Qiao sat there red as a tomato, her anxiety kicking in.

"You're well informed." Sūn Ce nodded in a friendly manner as the dishes were served and Sūn Ren dug in immediately without a single care for the conversation.

"Well, the Qiao family is a clan of scholars."

"And we from a line of military men." Came the unflinching shot back.

"Exactly, completely different ends of the social sphere." She pushed the intent behind her words.

"Qiyuè!" Dà Qiao finally found her voice again in her discomfort of being out of her element, surprising everyone as her face was still red and she had to clench her fists to speak so loudly to interrupt. "You are being rude."

The youngest Qiao daughter became immediately silent with her sister's scolding, placing her head down to eat quietly and focusing on her meal as the little Sūn Ren was doing as a role model, tucking her long hair behind her ear to concentrate.

She really did have a sister-complex, was the thought that echoed into everyone's minds who saw the scene.