Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Family

Tang Ningyue has not forgotten her childhood. Although she has no conscience, she also has things that she cherishes, such as the memories of the days before she went abroad.

It was a long time after Tang Ningyue was sent to Zhou Su's house that she saw Li Jinglang. At that time, he was still a little child. She was scared and nervous when she saw Li Jinglang for the first time. Before that, she had never heard that Zhou Su had a son.

She was so afraid of being abandoned that she kept following Zhou Su.

It was a very chaotic day, with adults busy arguing and children busy crying. She only heard a few conversations through the crack in the door, saying that the child's father had passed away, so the child must be given to the biological mother. No one else wanted to take responsibility and no one wanted to take on a burden.

Li Jinglang was pushed around that day. He had no expression on his face and just stared at the little girl in a princess dress who was being held by her mother.

The little girl held Zhou Su's hand tightly, fearing that if she held the little boy's hand, he would let her go.

The events of that day were already very vague in Tang Ningyue's memory. She only remembered that she later had a little brother, and that Zhou Su was surrounded by a group of adults while holding the hands of two children and shouting at the top of his lungs.

I only remember her hysterical——

"How could I not want my child?"

After that day, Li Jinglang moved into her and Zhou Su's small home, dragging his high-end suitcase that could be transformed into a small car.

Although Tang Ningyue was unfamiliar with this sudden visitor, no, family member, this family member.

When she was young, she understood the words "death" and "bankruptcy," but she also didn't. She knew they weren't good words, and every time she heard them, the adults around her would cry, and this time was no exception.

On that chaotic day, the little kid who was shorter than her hid behind the sofa and cried for a long time. Zhou Su was busy dealing with the adults and had no time to take care of him. Tang Ningyue plucked up the courage to leave Zhou Su and ran behind the sofa to give him a piece of fruit candy, but the little kid threw it to the ground.

"I don't want to eat this candy. I want to eat the chocolate my dad bought..."

Li Jinglang cried loudly at first, but no one comforted him. There was only a girl he didn't know standing next to him. At first she tried to coax him, but later she ignored him and even pinched his face to threaten him not to cry because she was annoyed by his crying.

No one had ever treated him like this before. In his little life, she was the first person who did not coax him. Only then did he vaguely realize that his father's halo was gone and that someone had started to bully him.

But he didn't know that Tang Ningyue was not like this because his father died, but she was just like that. When she was young, she was a kind-hearted bad kid, but when she grew up, she became a completely bad woman.

At first he would struggle, but later he realized that no one really cared about him, so his crying turned into sobs of grievance. Tang Ningyue picked up the candy on the ground, peeled it, and stuffed it into his mouth in one go. Li Jinglang was so scared by her that he stopped crying and just stared at her blankly.

At that moment, he really realized that the father his aunt was talking about had passed away, and he was really going to have a hard life. He would never be able to eat chocolate again, and could only eat unpalatable fruit candies.

In fact, Zhou Su had been separated from Li Heyun for a long time at that time. She had no money and could not get custody of her child. Li Jinglang was taken away by Li Heyun when he was just a few months old. Although she often visited Li Jinglang, she lacked his company after all, and he was not very close to her.

But fate is unpredictable. Zhou Su suddenly found a daughter, which filled the void she had left in her heart after losing her child. Since Tang Ningyue came, Zhou Su's fortune has been surprisingly good, and her career has gradually got on track. Although her life is still very tight, at least she has paid off all the debts she owed from her previous business ventures, and she has finally started to make money.

On the day after paying back the money, Zhou Su specially bought cherries that Tang Ningyue had wanted to eat for a long time. He bought two boxes at once. Tang Ningyue was so happy. It was also on that day that Li Heyun got into trouble.

During Zhou Su and Li Heyun's short marriage, their relationship was not good. Zhou Su quit her stable job to start a business. Li Heyun thought she was crazy, especially after she refused to be a full-time housewife at home. The two separated completely.

Zhou Su wanted to realize her own life value, but it was really too difficult. Life was not that easy and starting a business was hard. She owed a lot of money in those years. Li Heyun always thought that she was possessed by the devil and gave up the life of a rich wife and chose to go out and make a living, and she owed so much money. He did not allow her to see her son for a while, for fear that she would go crazy and sell the child for money.

Zhou Su always felt that Tang Ningyue had suffered a lot with her, and had been with her through thick and thin. Although Tang Ningyue had no memory of these things after growing up, Zhou Su still felt indebted and tried desperately to be nice to her. But in Tang Ningyue's memory, she always wore princess dresses, and she never lacked anything that other children had. She had everything she needed.

Life should have continued like a parallel line until Li Heyun died, and this straight line was finally broken.

The young master had just arrived at Zhou Su's house and was not used to everything. Zhou Su's career had just started and he was busy making money. Tang Ningyue patted her chest and said that she didn't need to worry about her little brother, she would help take care of it.

At first, Tang Ningyue was really nice to him, coaxing him to eat and sleep. Li Jinglang gradually adapted to his new home. Although the conditions were not as good as before, he still accepted it.

In Zhou Su's eyes, Li Jinglang had been very well behaved since he arrived. He never made her angry and never made any mistakes. He was completely different from the spoiled brat he had been when he was with Li Heyun. Even Tang Ningyue said that the little brother was very obedient.

But she didn't say that when Li Jinglang lost his temper, she threw him into the sandbox and ignored him even when he cried until his throat was broken. She also didn't say that when he was naughty, she bit his hand and asked him to apply the medicine with his other hand.

In Li Jinglang's eyes, Tang Ningyue is a man-eating demon.

But the devil was really kind to him. He would hold him in his arms during thunderstorms and tell him not to be afraid. He would beat other children to the ground when they bullied him. He would protect him behind his back when his aunts and uncles came to visit him, telling him that no one could take him away.

On countless deserted nights, the devil and the little boy fell asleep in each other's arms.

She really loves to bully him, and she really loves him.

The older he gets, the more he depends on her.

He liked her, but others liked her too. Many people competed with him for her. First, they were his elementary school classmates, then his junior high school cram school friends, and later his high school seniors. She said that those were all her friends, but they clearly wanted to snatch her away from him.

Li Jinglang didn't know when he started to become more and more silent. He no longer liked to cry loudly like he did when he was a child, nor did he make a big fuss. Instead, he locked himself up and sulked. Tang Ningyue also became less and less patient with him. Sometimes she would ask him if he was angry, but she just asked. If he didn't say anything, she would ignore him.

But he knew that he was different from others in her heart. If he was hurt, she would really take care of him for a long, long time until he recovered. At that time, she would be especially gentle and would not go out with her so-called friends. He knew that he was more important than them.

But when he got better and stopped tugging at her clothes and saying it hurt, she disappeared again. He was furious, but she was unaware of it. She said he was always angry like this, and she didn't like him being like this, so she ignored him.

Li Jinglang had been made to cry by her several times, and felt ashamed. He would hide away and cry every time, but the result was that she really didn't care about him.

Since entering puberty, the two of them have always been awkward with each other. Except when Li Jinglang was sick, the days of their reconciliation were almost zero. Just two or three words could make them unhappy.

But even so, life goes on.

Even if they fight or kill each other, they have to eat under the same roof, go back to the same home after school, and hang their clothes together.

The first time Li Jinglang felt scared was during an international call. Zhou Su was silent for a long time that day, staring at a certain place in a daze. Li Jinglang didn't ask what happened, but was so anxious that he couldn't speak.

That day, Li Jinglang ran to the high school department to make peace with Tang Ningyue. He took out all his pocket money and said that he would never quarrel with her again. He begged her to pay attention to him and not be angry.

"Are you crazy?" Tang Ningyue scolded him with a smile.

Li Jinglang lowered his head and shook her hand. He pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time before speaking, as if to act coquettishly with her: "Is it okay?"

"Okay." Tang Ningyue agreed readily, "I forgive you."

It turns out that forgiveness is so easy. Li Jinglang smiled twice for the first time in a long time and followed her home. She did not go out with her friends that day, but stayed at home with him for the whole night.

"You're not going to leave, are you?"

Li Jinglang held it in for a long time and knocked on her door before going to bed. Tang Ningyue was stunned by his question and pinched his face while brushing her teeth.

"Where am I going?"

"What are you doing so crazy so late at night? I already said I'm not going out to play today."

"I mean later."

Although Li Jinglang was still in junior high school at that time, he was already much taller than Tang Ningyue. When he stood in front of her, she subconsciously tried to rub his head, but she couldn't reach it even after standing on tiptoe, so she rolled her eyes at him.

"How will I know in the future? If someone asks me to, how can I not go?"

"That's not it."

"If it's not this, then what is it?" Tang Ningyue asked patiently, "Are you sleepwalking? What are you doing so late at night?"

"I mean, you won't leave me, ever, right?"

Li Jinglang held her shoulders and questioned him. No matter how hard Tang Ningyue tried to break free, she couldn't. For the first time, she realized that Li Jinglang had grown so big.

"Yes, yes, I will never leave you."

Tang Ningyue was so annoyed by him that she had no choice but to go along with what he said.

He was finally happy and hugged her, putting his head in the crook of her neck and rubbing against her like the big golden retriever at the grandma's house next door, making her feel itchy all over.

Li Jinglang has always believed in her. The person he trusts most in the world is Tang Ningyue.

For the next month, everything was peaceful. The two of them were even more inseparable than when they were in kindergarten. The international calls stopped coming in. Life had returned to normal.

Li Jinglang treated it as an episode and soon forgot about it. He even secretly saved his pocket money to buy a camera for Tang Ningyue.

Because she said she wanted to record her high school life and take lots of photos, he said yes, and both of them were very excited that night.

But in the end she deceived him.

The day Li Jinglang returned with the camera, Tang Ningyue suddenly disappeared. Everything related to her in the house was gone, as if she had never existed, she had vanished from the face of the earth.

Zhou Su said that Tang Ningyue had left. Li Jinglang asked her where she had been and whether she had gone out to play with her friends again.

Zhou Su said while crying that she was going home, back to her own home.

Li Jinglang didn't believe it, so he ran to the school to look for her, and then to her favorite dessert shop, the beach, the amusement park, and even the home of the boy she had a crush on, but he couldn't find her anywhere.

Li Jinglang had never believed the gossip of outsiders in his life. That was the first time he admitted that they were not really a family.

-----------------------

The author has something to say: I will post more the next day because I am running out of manuscripts - Private Marseille.