Chapter 74 Turning Scars into Armor

"I was born into a poor family. I only had one mother, and she seemed to hate me. I don't know why, but it probably has something to do with my father, whom I never met..."

"In my earliest remaining memories, I seem to have been crawling on the ground like a dog, picking up food to eat... I started learning to do housework when I was three years old... My hearing in my left ear is very poor because she slapped me twice... I have a burn on my foot and can't wear sandals... I have a scar under my bangs... I almost couldn't go to school... She also locked me in a dark room... She thought it was my fault when I was bullied... She made me wash clothes in cold water all day in the dead of winter, and I felt like my hands were going to freeze off..."

Li Shuwei listened quietly to Zhou Mu's story, and was somewhat speechless, only saying, "You are so strong!"

"If I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't be as strong as you. After all, while I was having a mental breakdown because of her oppression, you were still struggling to make ends meet and survive."

“You’re so strong and hardworking, you must really dislike my decision to give up on myself, right? So you asked me if it was worth it? You think it wasn’t.”

Zhou Mu nodded, "I do think it's not worth it, but you have no worries about food and clothing. It's understandable that you would break down in the face of such oppression. It's due to your environment and experiences."

"That's understandable, but you should learn to turn your scars into armor, even though it's a long and arduous process."

"If you die, there are only two possibilities for them: either they will part ways and slowly move on from their grief to start a new life, or they will reflect on themselves, have another child, and make up for what they owed you through that child. But either way, it will have nothing to do with you."

Li Shu smiled and said, "I don't have your strength. This is all I can do. I don't regret it now. I hope I can meet loving parents in my next life."

Zhou Mu: "It definitely will."

"I hope you continue to be strong, and with my support, you will surely have a bright and promising future!"

When Li Shuwei disappeared, Zhou Mu realized that everyone around him had long since vanished. It was a conversation between two girls who shared the same plight.

It was an extremely chaotic dream, and it seemed there was more to come, but Zhou Mu had already woken up and forgotten the rest of the dream.

The moon on this summer night wasn't bright enough; it was hazy, as if draped in a thin veil. Zhou Mu didn't know why she had this dream, but she couldn't fall asleep.

The next day, Zhou Chenglong returned early in the morning, covered in fog. Zhou Mu prepared breakfast, greeted Zhou Yue and Zhou Chenglong, and then went to school.

Nobody paid any attention to her, and she was happy to be relaxed and carefree.

As Zhou Yue ate her rice porridge, she looked at Zhou Chenglong, who had large dark circles under his eyes, and asked, "How much longer do you have to work the night shift?"

Zhou Chenglong gulped down the porridge and steamed bun. "Last night was the last day. I can finally get a good rest for two days."

He didn't want to go back to his hometown, and he had gotten into trouble and owed Zhou Yue a large sum of money, so he had no choice but to obey her orders and go to work.

"That's perfect. You should rest well for a day. I'll take you for a check-up tomorrow. The construction site is dusty, and you've been working late all night. We need to check your heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys."

"Third sister, there's no need, I'm perfectly fine."

Zhou Chenglong hesitated and refused. Who knew if he would have to write an IOU for the medical examination fee again? He couldn't afford to owe any more money. He could renege on the money he owed his eldest and second eldest sisters, but he dared not renege on the money he owed his third sister.

He felt that even if he went back to his hometown now, his third sister could still kill him and take care of him. Besides, his documents were being held by her, and he didn't know anyone else, so he had no way to escape.

Zhou Yue saw through his thoughts at a glance. "I don't want you to write an IOU. It's not that I care about you. I'm afraid you'll die before you've paid off the debt you owe me."

"Oh, okay, thank you anyway, Third Sister."

Zhou Mu went to find Feifei at noon and almost bumped into Zhou Yue. Fortunately, she hid in the music room in time. She also noticed that Zhou Yue was peeking out of the music room for a while, which scared her. She thought she had been discovered, but luckily she left after a short while.

After finishing lunch, Feifei strolled to the music room, where Zhou Mu had already been doing his homework for a while.

"Mumu, you're here!"

"Yes, I wanted to come and see you."

The moment their eyes met, they understood each other perfectly: they had experienced yesterday's accident together.

"I had a dream last night," Feifei said.

Zhou Mu nodded quickly, "Me too, I dreamed about... Li Shuwei."

They fell silent again...

Seeing the piano, Feifei felt a pang of sadness. She had played "Farewell" so beautifully in yesterday's finals; was she truly saying goodbye to the world? Li Shuwei was only 12 years old… her life had just begun…

Feifei sat down at the piano, and Zhou Mu turned around and leaned on the back of the chair to watch her. She gently pressed the keys, and a soft, low piano sound flowed out. The gentle melody brought out a faint sadness. All noon, one person played the piano and the other listened in the music room until Zhou Mu had to go back to his afternoon classes. Only then was the sadness that lingered in the music room blown away by the wind.

As Zhou Mu ran, she thought about last night's dream. She knew she couldn't give up on herself, and she had to live on for Li Shuwei's sake too.

She ran to the school in less than ten minutes, and arrived at the classroom three minutes before the bell rang, taking another two minutes. By the time the teacher came in, she had already calmed her breathing.

Everyone was already used to Zhou Mu's aloofness and elusive nature. They all assumed she went out to collect recyclables at noon, since Zhou Mu had been making money this way all along, and she hadn't given up even though she was isolated and disliked by her classmates for it.

Zhou Yue received Zhou Chenglong's medical examination report, first flipping to the page on kidneys. When she saw the result was healthy, she breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

She happily bought a large bag of vegetables, a whole chicken, and a large piece of pork ribs to take home.

When Zhou Chenglong got home from get off work and saw how good the meal was today, he quickly and eagerly went to the kitchen to help. "Third Sister, what can I help you with? By the way, where's Mumu?"

Zhou Yue pushed the chicken and ribs in front of him. "Chop up the ribs and chicken. That brat never comes home at night. She's probably begging for scraps under some bridge."

Zhou Chenglong picked up a cleaver and started cutting ribs. Zhou Yue bent down to wash vegetables. When she turned around, her elbow accidentally bumped into Zhou Chenglong. The gleaming cleaver sliced ​​open his index finger, almost cutting off the piece of meat. Blood gushed out immediately.

ah--

"Third Sister!"

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to." Zhou Yue quickly pulled Zhou Chenglong's hand to check.

Zhou Chenglong cried out in pain, completely unaware that his blood was flowing into a sterile plastic box on the cutting board.

Glancing at the box out of the corner of her eye, Zhou Yue pushed Zhou Chenglong out with a look of disgust. "Alright, alright, you can go now. We don't need your help anymore. Hurry up and go to the clinic up ahead to disinfect and bandage your wound."

"I have no money..." Zhou Chenglong's meaning was clear when he looked at Zhou Yue. She was the one who caused the accident, so she should be responsible, right?

Zhou Yue, her face dark, pulled out fifty yuan and threw it at him, saying, "Get lost."

Zhou Chenglong left with the money. After Zhou Yue saw him walk away, she immediately closed the door, poured the blood from the box into a test tube, and sealed it.