"I took point B, hurry..."
Xiao Xun shouted excitedly, gripping the mouse. The light from the computer screen reflected in his eyes, and the headphones blared with deafening sounds of traditional Chinese opera, laced with an excessive amount of vulgarity.
"Damn, this kid's cheating, all F11..."
Xiao Xun's hysterical screams followed: "You losers, if you can't handle it, don't play! If you have the guts, say..."
"Bang!"
Just as Xiao Xun was at the peak of his hysteria, the bedroom door was kicked open. A 'tough girl' dressed in a velvet slip dress appeared in the doorway.
She had a head of messy long hair and glared fiercely at Xiao Xun, who was now curled up on the gaming chair like a startled rabbit.
"Can you keep it down? What time is it? You don't have to work, but others need their rest."
Xiao Xun took off his headphones, hung them around his neck, and looked pitifully at his cousin, who was three years older than him.
Xiao Xun's cousin was Liu Shijia. She was originally a quiet young girl, very beautiful and knew how to dress up. Perhaps because she was too outstanding, no one dared to pursue her.
Whenever she spoke with her family, she often mentioned that if she still couldn't find a partner in a few more years, she would have to join the ranks of blind dates.
Liu Shijia always presented herself as a well-behaved girl next door to everyone, but she would reveal her 'tough girl' nature only in front of Xiao Xun.
It might be due to their incompatible personalities, but the two of them had grown up together, and it was always Xiao Xun running to his mother in tears, "Sis, she's bullying me again... *sob sob*..."
When Xiao Xun went to college, he was in the same city as Liu Shijia. Liu Shijia's father, who was also Xiao Xun's maternal uncle, called her every day to take good care of her younger cousin.
At first, Liu Shijia was unwilling because she had rented an apartment close to her workplace in the city, and the rent was cheap, making everything convenient.
But she couldn't resist her father's firm stance. He was actually afraid that Liu Shijia would be bullied while living alone, so he doubled the rent and rented another two-bedroom apartment far from her company.
Fortunately, Xiao Xun's mother was very considerate and secretly gave Liu Shijia an extra thousand yuan for rent each month, which made Liu Shijia complain less, except when taking the bus.
Perhaps Liu Shijia felt that the reason she hadn't found a boyfriend was because Xiao Xun lived with her. Or perhaps it was because since Xiao Xun moved in, he spent all his time playing games at home, not looking for a job, nor earning money by playing games, though he did cook his own meals.
Xiao Xun, who had been bullied by his cousin since childhood, now lived under the same roof, making it even easier for her to bully him. He was even treated like a bonded laborer, constantly being asked to clean, cook, take out the trash, heat water, and wash clothes...
Of course, when she encountered unpleasant things at work, she would often take it out on him.
Liu Shijia had a hot figure and frequently worked out. Since she and Xiao Xun grew up together, they were quite casual with each other and relaxed at home.
Seeing Liu Shijia's appearance, Xiao Xun quickly tried to appease her, "Sis, did you get criticized again? Just try to think positively. That menopausal 'old maid' is just like that. Tomorrow I'll make you something delicious, okay?"
Liu Shijia ignored him and went straight to twist Xiao Xun's ear, pulling him out of the computer chair. Xiao Xun, afraid of breaking his headphones, quickly took them off his neck and tossed them onto the keyboard.
Since his feet were bare, he instinctively took a step forward and stepped on Liu Shijia's slippers.
Liu Shijia stepped back, Xiao Xun pushed forward, and the two of them fell heavily onto the ground.
Xiao Xun, fearing he would crush his cousin, instinctively hugged her waist and used his other hand to shield the back of her head, bracing himself with his elbow.
Due to long-term lack of exercise leading to osteoporosis, his left arm fractured with a 'crack'.
"Ah!"
He let out a heart-wrenching scream. The intense pain caused him to break out in a cold sweat.
Although Liu Shijia was held by Xiao Xun, she also fell quite hard. She clearly heard the sound of bone cracking. Forgetting her own pain, she quickly got up to check on Xiao Xun's injury.
"Are you... alright?"
As she spoke, she reached out to help Xiao Xun up, but he grabbed her wrist and said with gritted teeth, "Don't move, it hurts!"
The flustered Liu Shijia then remembered to get her phone and call an ambulance.
On the way to the hospital, Liu Shijia anxiously asked the doctor beside them, "Is my cousin okay?"
The doctor cut open Xiao Xun's clothes and carefully disinfected and fixed the limb to prevent further injury.
"We'll know for sure after taking an X-ray at the hospital. Preliminarily, it's a fracture." He didn't want to make any definitive statements.
Liu Shijia looked distressed and self-blaming, holding Xiao Xun's other hand, "It's all my fault, it's all my fault."
Although Liu Shijia said that at the time, after the X-ray confirmed the problem wasn't too serious, her demeanor immediately changed.
The young doctor looked at Liu Shijia while applying a plaster cast to Xiao Xun.
Liu Shijia looked at Xiao Xun's right arm, which was encased in plaster, "You're a man, and you make such a fuss over a small thing. You have no manly spirit!"
Facing his cousin, Xiao Xun could only offer a big smile and dared not say anything else. This was the power of familial bloodline.
He then turned to the young male doctor, who was lost in thought, "Doctor, can I say something?"
The male doctor was pulled back to reality by Xiao Xun's words, "Go ahead, say it..."
"My left arm is fractured..."
"..."
It was past three in the morning by the time they got out of the hospital.
It was difficult to get a taxi late at night, so the siblings decided to go back on shared electric bikes.
Xiao Xun stood in front of the shared bike and patted his left arm in the cast, "Cousin, you're really making things difficult for me! How am I supposed to ride like this!"
Liu Shijia looked at Xiao Xun's left hand, which was in a cast and supported by a sling, and covered her mouth as she laughed, "Serves you right! Now you can't play games!"
Xiao Xun smiled, "I can still use my right hand to play 'Match-3' games!"
"Ha... *bang*..."
Liu Shijia flicked her middle finger against her thumb, blew on it, and gave Xiao Xun a 'pop' on his forehead.
Xiao Xun instinctively raised his left hand to rub it, forgetting about the freshly applied bandage. He gasped in pain, and under the double agony, his face contorted into a 'mask of suffering'!
This made Liu Shijia laugh heartily. Xiao Xun looked at her with displeasure, "Cousin, can you show some sympathy! If I hadn't been trying to protect you, would I be like this!"
Liu Shijia immediately became serious and pointed at him, "Don't even try it. If you hadn't stayed up all night, none of this would have happened. How dare you say that? I think you brought this upon yourself. You deserve it."
Xiao Xun had nothing else to say and just chuckled foolishly, "Then how about we walk back! It's not that far anyway..."
"Walk your head! I worked all day, and finally, I get to rest at night. You're constantly causing me trouble. By the time we get home, you'll barely have time to sleep before you have to go to work again. Can't you, an unemployed person, show some consideration for me..."
Xiao Xun silently recited: *I won't listen, I won't listen, the toad is chanting.*
Liu Shijia unlocked a shared electric bike with her phone and patted the seat, "This seat is big enough. You sit in the back, I'll sit in the front."
There was no other way now. Shared electric bikes weren't very big, and Xiao Xun got on with one leg.
Liu Shijia looked back at Xiao Xun, "If I drop you, don't blame me!"
Xiao Xun was confused, "What's wrong?"
Liu Shijia glanced at his right hand, which had nowhere to rest, and said with displeasure, "Your waist-hugging! Are you performing acrobatics here?"