The Lin's Patriarch is weird.

The sun had slipped past its peak, casting a golden light into the inner courtyard of the Lin family estate.

At the centre of the courtyard center stood two small girls and several maids stood nearby, all pretending to busy themselves with their work while secretly watching the two girls.

Hong Shaoyun ignored the curious gazes from the maids and only focused her eyes on the frail figure standing before her.

"Elder Sister, what are you doing. Let go of the rail and walk to me."

Hong Shaoling clung nervously to the wooden railing beside the corridor.

Though the physician had cured the illness that had plagued Hong Shaoling for years, her body remained frail after spending so much of her life confined to a bed.

Simply standing on her own drained her strength, and the thought of taking even a single step felt insurmountable.

"I... I don’t think I can."

"You can," Hong Shaoyun replied without the slightest hesitation.

Shaoling lowered her gaze and slowly shook her head.

"I... I’m scared."

Without another word, Shaoyun closed the distance between them until only a couple of small steps remained.

She looked up at her older sister with quiet confidence before speaking again.

"There. Now it’s even closer."

She gently patted her own chest.

"If you show even a single sign of falling or tripping, I’ll catch you before you hit the ground."

A reassuring smile spread across her face.

"So there’s nothing to be scared of anymore."

The older girl lowered her head, her gaze fixed on the ground beneath her feet.

She knew her little sister was trying to encourage her, but that only made the feeling in her heart become heavier.

She was supposed to be the elder sister.

She was supposed to be the one protecting Shaoyun and standing in front of her whenever danger appeared.

Yet ever since she got bedridden due to her illness, their roles had been reversed.

Even now, something as simple as learning how to walk required her little sister to guide her forward.

"I’m useless..."

The words escaped her lips in a quiet whisper, almost disappearing into the gentle breeze.

But Hong Shaoyun heard it and her expression immediately turned serious.

Without saying anything, she walked back to her sister and wrapped her arms around her in a gentle embrace.

"Don’t ever say that."

Her voice was soft, but there was an unmistakable firmness behind it.

"You’re not useless, Elder Sister."

Hong Shaoyun held her sister tightly.

For a moment, she remained silent before her voice suddenly became rough.

"What happened to that stupid sister of mine who made sure I stayed oblivious to whatever she was going through?"

Hong Shaoling froze and Shaoyun’s eyes became red as she continued.

"You should get well as fast as possible so that I can beat you up for lying to me all those years, saying that you were fine."

Her voice trembled as she spoke, but she still tried to sound angry.

"You idiot... you really thought you could hide it from me forever?"

The anger that had been building inside her finally broke apart.

Tears started flowing down her face.

"I was your little sister... Why didn’t you tell me?"

Hong Shaoling could no longer hold back either.

She hugged Shaoyun tightly, her own tears falling uncontrollably.

"I’m sorry..."

The apology was filled with guilt and regret.

She had wanted to protect Shaoyun and let her live without worrying about her illness.

But she never realized that hiding everything would hurt Shaoyun even more.

The two sisters cried together, holding onto each other like children who had finally found a place where they could show their true feelings.

Lin Xuan who had just arrived to check on how the two sisters were doing, quietly stood at the entrance of the courtyard.

He never expected to see such a scene, so he found himself completely unsure of what to do.

Should he comfort them?

Should he pretend he had not seen anything?

Or should he quietly leave?

But didn’t the rumors state that Hong Shaoling had already begun to walk?

From what he was seeing, it did not look like someone who had recovered enough to walk normally.

Instead, she appeared to still be learning how to walk.

While Lin Xuan was still contemplating, one of the nearby maids quietly approached him.

She lowered her head respectfully before speaking in a soft voice.

"Patriarch..."

Lin Xuan turned to look at her and the maid glanced toward the two sisters before lowering her voice even further.

"At times like this, it is best if we give them their own space."

She paused for a moment before adding gently.

"Don’t you think so too, Patriarch?"

Lin Xuan glanced at her, a bit taken aback.

This was the first time one of the family servants had talked to him,after a brief silence he nodded.

"You are right, let’s leave them alone."

With those words, Lin Xuan turned around and quietly walked away from the courtyard.

The maid respectfully followed behind him until he reached the outer corridor. After confirming that the Patriarch had left, she finally stopped and returned to her duties.

However, when she arrived near the servant quarters, several other maids immediately surrounded her.

"Are you crazy?"

One of them lowered her voice in disbelief.

"Do you know who you were speaking to just now?"

The maid blinked.

"The Patriarch?"

"Exactly!"

Her fellow maid looked at her as if she had done something unbelievable.

"That’s the Patriarch!"

"Knowing that, you actually still gave advice to him?"

The group fell silent for a moment.

It was an unbelievable sight.

A servant girl, someone who usually stood at the edge of the room and waited for orders, had actually approached the Patriarch and suggested what he should do.

Even the other maids who heard about it found it difficult to believe.

The maid being questioned only tilted her head.

"But... wasn’t what I said reasonable?"

Her simple response left the others speechless.

After a moment, one of them sighed.

"You really are fearless, Sun Yuxi."