Chapter 76 I am the outsider

At that time, he had just started elementary school and was not familiar with the way home, so someone had to take him to and from school every day.

Boys in primary school are all naughty, jumping around and trying to do tricks. Lin Layue starts school later than his peers, and Lin Jingzhe also starts school later than his peers. People have short legs, and if they can't keep up with the little shrimps and little fish, or the little fish and the big fish, they will be despised.

The kids didn't care whether the words were hurtful or not, they just said whatever they wanted to say. As the little kid who was holding the team back, Lin Jingzhe was disliked by everyone.

He still remembered the beginning of that day very clearly. When he was going home from school in the afternoon, a few older kids who had been holding a grudge against each other suddenly had a bad idea and wanted to see if Lin Jingzhe could go home alone, so they agreed not to wait for him.

Lin Layue also didn't like playing with his short arms and legs, but others could do without him, but he couldn't. Lin Layue was unhappy about being dragged down, and walked very fast along the way.

Lin Jingzhe was also angry, and was sure that Lin Layue would not dare to abandon him, so he deliberately walked slowly behind alone.

The final result was naturally that Lin Layue returned home, as he was trapped in the mountains.

The forest was pitch black at night, with shadows of trees looming. From time to time, the chirping and flapping of birds could be heard in the air. There was no moon that night, and it was so dark that it seemed as if he was the only one left in the world.

He was so frightened that he could not move. He did not dare to cry out loud, let alone look back, for fear that if he turned around he would face the female ghost.

He stayed in the mountains for half the night, and only cried out when his parents mobilized the neighbors to look for him.

When I got back, I saw Lin Layue kneeling in the main room crying with her buttocks red and swollen from being spanked after her pants were stripped off.

He cried too, so his mother beat Lin Layue even harder.

Later, he felt a little guilty about Lin Layue being beaten and bedridden for many days, but when he thought about it carefully many years later, he did not think that he had gone too far at that time. He was just angry for a moment, and he felt very uncomfortable for being despised for so many days, but Lin Layue was his biological brother, how could he really abandon him in the mountains.

More than ten years ago, there were wild boars and jackals in the deep mountains and forests. He was really lucky to return home safely.

But he wouldn't say these self-righteous words out loud. Instead, he said in a roundabout way, "We were young and ignorant at that time. We didn't understand the seriousness of the matter and let it turn out like that without thinking."

Gu Nan has no brothers or sisters, but he can probably understand the past described in his words.

She wasn't involved in the incident, so it wasn't her place to judge their rights. She simply said, "Your brother told me he was beaten to death. He was terrified of seeing Mom and the bamboo sticks. He didn't even dare to speak. He was so frightened by the beatings."

Lin Jingzhe said, "I'm scared too. It's really dark in the mountains at night, and the birdsong is really creepy."

He reacted as soon as he finished speaking, and subconsciously looked at Gu Nan. Those clear eyes looked at him calmly, but it seemed as if they saw through his hypocrisy in an instant and shattered his disguise.

He gripped his cane tighter and pursed his lips.

Gu Nan also paused. She could tell that he actually cared about it, but he just didn't say it.

"Do you still blame him now?" she asked.

Lin Jingzhe lowered his eyes, "I was ignorant at that time, it's all in the past."

Gu Nan saw his escape and sighed in his heart.

The incident of being lost in the mountains may be over, but there will definitely be other things that cannot be overcome.

Perhaps, he felt that he broke his leg while saving money for Lin Layue's tuition, and would be disabled for the rest of his life, unable to run or jump. He felt wronged and felt it was unfair.

Gu Nan could understand, but didn't want him to get stuck on this.

Lin Jingzhe felt sorry for himself and unwilling to accept the fact that Lin Layue might not be living a better life than him.

In the original novel, he fell into the world of pleasure and was played with by others at will. In this life, he is still mediocre, leaving home early and returning late. Like many people in this city who are busy making a living, he earns a meager salary, endures the cold shoulder of his boss, and shoulders the pressure of his family.

If it weren't for her, even if the honest and hardworking Lin Layue could repent and escape from the quagmire one day, she would probably have been stuck at the stove construction site for the rest of her life.

He was no luckier than others, nor did he gain any benefit from Lin Jingzhe's suffering.

On the contrary, he cherishes Lin Jingzhe, his only relative, and cares a lot about this brother who shares the same mother.

But one of them was not good at speaking, and the other was secretly angry and annoyed, and they unexpectedly developed a rift with each other.

Gu Nan felt that it was a bit ridiculous, but when he looked at the stubborn yet cautious boy in front of him, he thought, isn't that what life is like? With more ties, life has meaning.

She patted Lin Jingzhe's shoulder and pointed to a bookstore not far away, "Come in and sit down."

Lin Jingzhe was very nervous, thinking that Gu Nan would blame him, but he didn't expect her to suddenly ask him to go to the bookstore to read.

He stood there for a while, and it took him a long time to follow with his crutches.

The bookstore was deserted in the evening, with only a few students wandering around the teaching aids area and the literary classics area. The cashier was playing with his mobile phone boredly, looking tired and lazy.

Gu Nan put the things on the sofa and whispered, "Buy a few books to read when you get home. I'll give them to you."

Lin Jingzhe pursed his lips, feeling that she wanted to use the book to teach him moral lessons. He was a little resistant and stood there stubbornly, not wanting to move.

Gu Nan wandered around the literary classics section for a while, picked up a few books, and seeing that he didn't move, he said, "Is there nothing you want to read? Any book will do, classics, encyclopedias, comics, novels, just buy what you want."

Lin Jingzhe stood there, staring at her, and said dryly, "No."

He felt that she was a little ridiculous. She was clearly on Lin Layue's side, yet she pretended to be kind and fair in front of him.

He recounted the hardships he had experienced, and it was impossible for him to make peace with fate, let alone tell Lin Layue to let it go.

His incomplete life can be seen to the end at a glance. He is always the weirdest one standing in the crowd. Why should he let go? Why should he let go?

A feeling of being chosen suddenly surged in her heart. No matter how good Gu Nan was, he was on Lin Layue's side. The first person she thought of was always Lin Layue, not him.

He told himself in his heart that he should stop liking Gu Nan. He would not be someone else's vassal. He would rather not have someone who was not determined to choose him, no matter how good the person was.

Gu Nan knew from his expression that he was thinking about something else, so he picked up the book and sat down.

"If you don't have anything you want to read, forget it. Come back and buy some when you find something you want." She looked at the stubborn and gloomy Lin Jingzhe and said softly, "As an outsider between you two brothers, I shouldn't have any say in your relationship. Just think of it as me overestimating my own abilities. I really hope that you two brothers can communicate well, rely on each other, and live a good life in this strange city with your feet firmly on the ground."

Gu Nan always speaks very sincerely, which makes people angry but unable to vent it, and unable to say the hurtful words in their hearts.

He wanted to reveal his scars to her and make her feel distressed, but he was unwilling to give in so easily, so he said angrily:

"He has you, only me, nothing else. I am the outsider."

Gu Nan chuckled, "Silly boy, you and your brother are the closest people in this world. Blood is thicker than water. No one can surpass the friendship you have for decades to come."