Chapter 197: Brother, Please Help Me

Er!

Hearing Yang Cai’s question, Yang Xun instantly fell silent, his expression turning utterly bizarre.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again, momentarily at a complete loss for how to answer.

But he soon came to terms with it.

Yang Cai had never been in a relationship. She was diagnosed with an illness at fifteen and had spent her time shuttling between the hospital and home ever since. She had barely experienced a normal school life, let alone anything to do with men and women. She probably only had a hazy understanding of even the most basic biology.

It was perfectly normal for her not to know about these things.

"Bro? Why aren’t you saying anything?"

Yang Cai’s voice, tinged with anxiety and unease, sounded again in the darkness. "What’s wrong with me down there? Am I sick? Should we go to the hospital?"

"Bro! Say something!"

When Yang Xun still didn’t answer, Yang Cai grew anxious and nudged his arm.

Yang Xun sighed, rolled over to face away from Yang Cai, and said in a low voice, "Nothing’s broken, and you’re not sick. It’s... a normal physiological reaction."

"A physiological reaction? What does that mean?"

Yang Cai looked completely bewildered.

Yang Xun rubbed his temples. ’This is getting impossible,’ he thought.

But on second thought, their parents were gone. Someone had to tell her about this stuff.

It was better for him, her brother, to explain it to her clearly now than for her to be tricked by some scumbag later without even knowing what happened.

With that in mind, Yang Xun cleared his throat, trying his best to sound serious and proper.

"Xiaocai, listen carefully. I’m going to tell you some things... things you should know at your age."

Then, in the most direct and simple language he could manage, Yang Xun gave Yang Cai a crash course on the basics of relations between men and women.

From normal bodily reactions and the sensations caused by touch, to the reason for that indescribable, tingling itch, he tried to speak as objectively and calmly as possible, like a teacher giving a lesson.

Of course, he kept his back to Yang Cai the entire time, not daring to turn around.

Yang Cai, for her part, listened quietly, occasionally murmuring a response.

After Yang Xun had finished explaining everything, the room fell silent again for a few seconds.

"So... I’m not sick?"

Yang Cai asked in a small voice.

"No."

Yang Xun answered decisively.

"That’s good..."

Yang Cai breathed a sigh of relief, but then she grew troubled again. She fidgeted for a long while before asking, "Then, Bro... how do I make this feeling go away? I feel so awful, I can’t sleep at all..."

Yang Xun closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking. "Either you wait for it to fade on its own, or... you use your fingers to find some release. But you can’t do it too often; it’s not good for your body."

"With my fingers?"

"Mhm."

After saying that, Yang Xun fell silent, intending to end the mortifying conversation right there.

Yang Cai didn’t press him further, and the room returned to silence.

About a minute or two later, Yang Xun faintly heard some soft rustling from behind him. Apparently, Yang Cai was trying the method he’d suggested.

His entire body tensed up even more. He desperately circulated his True Qi to suppress the improper thoughts in his mind, wishing he could just leap out of bed and flee the room.

"Ah!!"

Suddenly, Yang Cai let out a shriek filled with pain.

Yang Xun’s heart clenched. He reflexively rolled over and asked urgently, "What’s wrong?!"

"It hurts... *sob*..."

Yang Cai curled up, clutching herself below. Tears welled up from the pain, and her voice was choked with sobs. "Bro, it hurts so much when I do it..."

Yang Xun quickly sat up and switched on the bedside lamp.

As the dim yellow light flickered on, Yang Xun grabbed Yang Cai’s hand to look and couldn’t help but give a wry, helpless smile.

On her fingertips, all ten of her nails were exquisitely manicured. Not only were they coated in pink gel polish, but each nail had also been significantly extended, making her fingertips look like ten sharp little blades.

No wonder it hurt!

Poking such a tender place with nails that long, it would have been a miracle if it *didn’t* hurt!

"Your nails are this long, of course you can’t use them."

Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, Yang Xun put her hand down.

"Then... then what do I do...?"

Yang Cai’s small face was scrunched up, her eyes red, and her voice full of grievance.

"Just bear with it. It’ll fade on its own after a while."

Yang Xun pulled his hand back, turned off the light again, and lay back down in his spot.

However, a few minutes later, Yang Cai was still tossing and turning beside him, clearly unable to fall asleep, tormented by that persistent, feverish feeling.

"Bro... I really can’t take it anymore, it’s awful..."

Yang Cai’s voice was muffled, thick with frustration and grievance. "It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t touched me, I wouldn’t feel this awful! Now I can’t even sleep!"

Faced with his sister’s accusation, Yang Xun didn’t get angry. After all, he really had caused this. It was an unintentional mistake, but the result was undeniable.

"Just bear with it a little longer. It’ll be okay soon."

Yang Xun could only try to soothe her gently.

"I can’t bear it anymore. I’ve been trying for so long, and it’s just getting worse..."

Yang Cai’s voice grew softer and more aggrieved.

Just as Yang Xun was wondering what to do, he suddenly felt a small hand grab his right hand.

Yang Cai’s fingertips lightly brushed against his, and she found that his nails were trimmed short, the pads of his fingers smooth and flat.

In that instant, Yang Cai’s eyes lit up in the darkness.

"Brother, your nails are so short..."

Yang Xun froze, a dreadful premonition flooding his heart.

"Brother, why don’t you... help me with it."

BOOM!!

Her words struck him like a bolt from the blue, exploding next to his ear!

He felt as if he’d been struck by lightning, his mind going completely blank.

"No! Absolutely not!!"

Without a second thought, Yang Xun refused, his tone exceptionally firm. "You’re my sister! How could I possibly do something like that for you?!"

"But I can’t do it myself..."

Yang Cai clung to Yang Xun’s hand, her voice thick with pleading. "Bro, I really feel awful, my whole body is burning up... please, just help me..."

"No means no!"

Yang Xun tried to pull his hand away, but Yang Cai held onto his wrist with a death grip, her strength seemingly much greater than usual.

"Bro, didn’t you just say we aren’t blood-related? And it’s not like we’re *doing that*. You’d just be helping me with your fingers..."

Yang Cai used the words Yang Xun had just taught her to refute him.

"When did I say it was okay just because we’re not blood-related? I was saying you were talking nonsense!"

Yang Xun gritted his teeth in frustration.

"But I really feel awful... *sob*..."

Yang Cai sniffled, and tears started to fall again, PLIP PLOP. Her voice was full of grievance and helplessness. "I don’t know who else to ask for help... you’re the only family I have. If you don’t help me, who will? It’s all your fault... you’re the one who made me like this. You have to take responsibility..."

Watching his sister cry so pitifully, the defenses around Yang Xun’s heart began to crack, inch by inch.

He knew Yang Cai wasn’t trying to seduce him. She was genuinely that innocent, that naive.

In her world, Yang Xun was her sky, her everything. Whenever she ran into any trouble, her brother was the first person she thought of.

Including this.

"Just this once..."

Yang Xun closed his eyes, his voice so hoarse it didn’t sound like his own. "Never bring this up again, you hear me?"

"Really? Thank you, Bro!"

Hearing this, Yang Cai immediately stopped crying and nodded obediently. "Mhm! Just this once!"

Yang Xun took several deep breaths, slamming shut the final floodgate in his mind, the one labeled "reason."

He slowly rolled over, turning on his side to face Yang Cai in the darkness.

"Close your eyes."

Yang Xun said in a low voice.

"Mhm."

Yang Cai obediently closed her eyes. Her long lashes trembled slightly, and her hands nervously clutched the corner of the blanket.

Yang Xun reached out with his right hand. He slipped his fingers under the thin blanket, gently landing them on Yang Cai’s smooth, flat stomach.

Her skin trembled slightly, radiating a fine layer of heat.

His fingers moved slowly downward, crossing that soft borderline, and touched that tender place, as smooth as jade and completely bare.

An astonishing softness spread from his fingertips...