Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The day I woke up, everyone was there.

Uncle Xu was the first to notice I was awake. He slipped a bank card into my hand.

“There’s some money in here. Buy yourself something nice. Your aunt just had surgery and couldn’t make it back, but she’s been thinking about you. This is a little something from her.”

Nian Nian and Ji Yunbai were there too.

Nian Nian came up guiltily and took my hand. “I’m sorry. Ruan He, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

I pulled my hand out of hers, inch by inch, with absolute resolve. Then I gave her a faint smile. “It’s okay.”

Brother Wu, whose face was swollen and bruised from who knew whose beating, covered his face with both hands and sobbed until tears and snot streamed down. “I’m sorry, little sister. I was drunk that day. I was spouting nonsense. Don’t take it to heart.

“The truth is, you’re so, so good. You’re the most well-behaved little sister I’ve ever met.”

I said, “It’s all right, Brother Wu. You should go. I don’t hate you. It’s just… whenever I see you, I feel like I can’t get past that voice. Please go, okay? I’m fine. Just don’t come looking for me again.”

Brother Wu grabbed my hand. “Little sister, you can’t be this heartless. You can’t be this cruel. Do you know Xu Ge broke off his friendship with me because of you? You two can’t do this.”

I pulled my hand free and stopped speaking, only smiling quietly.

Ji Yunbai walked over, her eyes suddenly reddening.

“Ruan He, I… Do you blame me?”

I looked at her in confusion.

Why would she ask me that?

Why would I blame you?

Having a bad family of origin, being rejected and isolated, being forced to transfer schools, being liked by everyone-none of that was your fault.

I shook my head. “I’ve never blamed you.”

I was leaning against the headboard, staring blankly at the rain outside, when Xu Ge came in carrying longan porridge, accompanied by a doctor in a white coat.

“She was overstimulated for a moment, which caused an irregular heartbeat. It’s nothing serious. Just be more careful from now on.”

After the doctor closed the door and left, only Xu Ge and I remained in the ward.

He set the porridge on the small table beside my bed. “Eat a little. Aunt Su spent the whole morning making it.”

I didn’t have much of an appetite. After two bites, I couldn’t eat anymore.

I simply set down the spoon in irritation and asked him directly.

There was a hint of sulking in my voice.

“Do you think that too?”

I lowered my head, feeling a little awkward. “I know Brother Wu had a point. I’ve been living in your house, eating your food for free, but…”

I blinked and said, a little dejectedly, “But I’m still in high school. When I start working later, I’ll pay you all back. I won’t just freeload.”

“No.”

I slowly lifted my eyes.

He was sitting at the foot of the bed, quietly looking at me.

“Me, my parents, Aunt Su, Uncle Zhang-none of us have ever thought that.

“It doesn’t matter whether you repay us or not. When my dad brought you home, all he wanted was to treat you well. He only told me that a girl one year younger than me would be coming and that I should treat her like a younger sister. He never had any other thoughts.

“It’s still the same now.”

Behind him was a rainy view from high up, framed by the sliding window.

Damp, hazy, and overcast, beneath the cold white light of the hospital ward.

And yet, at that moment, my mood slowly began to improve.

I lowered my head, picked up the spoon, and continued drinking the porridge.

Then I thought of Big Yellow, and my eyes reddened again before I could stop them. “Big Yellow is dead.”

“I know.”

How do you know that too?

Bewildered, I looked up at him.

“After I found out your life wasn’t in danger, I went back to W Town. Uncle Wu and I buried it under the osmanthus tree at your house.”

He stood up and placed a thumb-length canine tooth, white with a faint yellow tinge, on the table. “I looked. It passed peacefully. One of its canine teeth had fallen out, so I brought it back for you. Consider it something to remember it by.”

My lashes tensed as I stared at that tooth, and I almost burst into tears again.

“If you want to cry, then cry.”

The young man walked to the door and tilted his head, his voice light and gentle. “I won’t listen. I’ll wait outside.”