"But the girl gradually realized something was wrong and questioned the boy. The boy realized he couldn't hide it any longer, so he told the girl everything."

“The boy’s family has already found him a marriage partner and wants him to go back to get married. They also said that the marriage certificate they obtained doesn’t count until he is registered in their family’s ancestral home, then he will be considered a member of their family.”

"The girl and the boy had a big fight, and the boy was threatened by his family that if he didn't go back, they would make the girl disappear forever."

“The boy was afraid that his family would really hurt the girl. At that time, he didn’t have enough power to fight back, so he came to me and asked me to help take care of the girl while he went back to deal with his family.”

“I agreed to take care of the girl when he wasn’t around. But the girl thought both the boy and I were disgusting and never accepted my help.”

“The boy would call every day to ask how things were going. If the girl didn’t answer, he would call me instead. I didn’t hide anything from him and told him everything.”

“The boy is worried about the girl, so he will make time to come back. Even if the girl doesn’t want to see him, he will still try his best to see her and take care of her.”

"The boy was fighting against his family while trying to come home. He grew up very quickly because of this, but he also lost a lot of weight. The last time he saw the girl, he fainted and fell into a coma due to overwork."

"The girl eventually softened her heart towards the boy and promised to take good care of herself, so that he could focus on fighting for a place for both of them and wait for him to come and pick her and the child up."

“After the boy went back, I continued to take care of the girl for him, and the girl’s mood gradually improved as she entered her late pregnancy.”

"The guy said he'd come back, but on his way to the airport, his car broke down and he was in an accident. His last call before he died was to me... begging me to take good care of the girl and their child..."

"I agreed..."

"The girl seemed to sense something that day; she was at home when she inexplicably tripped and fell, triggering premature labor..."

"After the child was born, she tried to call the boy but couldn't get through, so she came to ask me again. At that time, I was very sad because my best friend had suddenly passed away. I wanted to keep it from the girl, but I couldn't control my emotions."

"The girl suddenly realized what had happened, cried silently, and never mentioned the boy again."

"For the first three months after the baby was born, I would go and help her take care of the baby whenever I had time. At first, she didn't really like me, but later I don't know why she was happy to let me help her."

“Until the child was three months old, she told me that she wanted to register the child under my household registration because I have a household registration in the provincial capital, which would be beneficial for the child in the future.”

"After the household registration was completed, I thought she would ask me to help her raise the child, but I didn't know that she would take the child back to her hometown alone."

"I could still contact her occasionally during the first year, but then we lost contact."

“I didn’t think too much about it at first, but then one night my friend appeared in my dream. He said he dreamed that the girl and their child were not doing well and asked me to help check on them.”

"Then I contacted the girl's former classmates and finally found out the location of her hometown. I searched for more than half a month in that small town before I finally found the place where the girl's mother lived."

"It was only then that I learned the girl had committed suicide the year after she left. And that child received no love whatsoever from his grandmother. When I found him, he was washing dishes at a small restaurant nearby, and all he got in return was leftover food from customers..."

The man was sobbing uncontrollably, and Lu Ying's shoulder was soaked with sweat; her eyes also reddened.

"He wasn't even six years old then. It was the dead of winter, snowing, and he was wearing a worn-out, ill-fitting thin coat. On his legs, he wore one of those old, dark-colored, patterned thermal underwear sold at street stalls. His cotton slippers were probably hand-picked up; they were black and dirty..."

He squatted beside a large basin covered in oily food scraps, a layer of snow on his head, washing the bowls in the basin with his thin, bony hands. His hands were blue and bruised from the cold, but he seemed numb, mechanically washing one bowl after another...

As the man spoke, Lu Ying was already in tears.

She dared not imagine what it would be like if that child were her precious baby...

Her heart was breaking.

She hugged Xi Jun to comfort him, "It's not your fault, you didn't know at the time..."

"No, you don't know..." Xi Jun said emotionally, "If it weren't for me, she wouldn't have been deceived, wouldn't have experienced that disgusting thing, and none of what followed would have happened. My friend wouldn't have died, and she wouldn't have committed suicide..."

"She later committed suicide because she accidentally ran into the man from back then and learned the truth about what happened back then. She felt that she had hated the wrong person, but at the same time she felt suffocated, feeling that none of us had really considered her feelings and were all treating her in a way that we thought was for her own good."

"Although she hated the wrong person, she will never forgive us..."

"So even now, I still don't know if bringing that child with me was a good decision..."

"For my friend, I kept my promise to him and helped him take care of his child..."

"But for her, leaving alone with the child and not asking for my help already meant she didn't want anything to do with me anymore. But I couldn't contact her at that time, and seeing the child so miserable, I took it upon myself to bring him back..."

Lu Ying hadn't experienced it firsthand and couldn't fully empathize with him, so she could only offer comfort from an objective perspective.

“Xi Jun, I can’t fully empathize with you, but I can tell you objectively that your decision is good.”

“That child suffered so much at such a young age. You brought him back and spared him from his suffering, taking care of his life and growth. That’s good.”

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