Chapter 14 A car accident happened!

The night Zhou Ke slept at Lin Ye's house was the most peaceful night he had slept in years.

Even though Lin had already said that he could stay here indefinitely, Zhou Ke still felt a strong sense of detachment when he first started living in this house.

He clearly understood the difference between himself and Lin Yu. Lin was also her uncle, and they were related by blood. In fact, Lin Yu's household registration was on the same household registration book as Lin Qiang's. He loved Lin Yu very much, and everyone knew that.

But he was different. He only had the opportunity to briefly end his days of wandering because of Lin Ye's momentary sympathy. Lin Yu's grandmother didn't like him and felt that he was the only outsider in the family.

For a long time, Zhou Ke lived in this house with a mix of happiness and trepidation. He was afraid that one day Lin Ye might regret it and not want him anymore, and would kick him out of the Lin family.

In this life of fear, he tried to make himself more noticeable. For example, when Jiang Huifang was doing something, he would take the initiative to help her and try to gain her approval. Besides that, he did most of his job of taking care of Lin Yu. He would clumsily try to style her hair in various ways. Although it was crooked and messy at first, he was able to braid it into nice braids through daily practice. He would secretly accompany her to feed stray cats downstairs in the neighborhood, tell her stories, teach her to read and do math, and take care of her when she was sick.

Days passed by, and Lin Ye's work became increasingly busy. Since Lin Yu started kindergarten, Jiang Huifang returned to her hometown. As a result, in this small home of less than 100 square meters, only Lin Yu and Zhou Ke were present most of the time.

Zhou Ke had a habit of bringing her two different candies after school every day, and Lin Yu also had a habit of looking for her brother as soon as she got home every day.

As time slowly passed, everything was moving in the right direction, towards happiness.

One day, for reasons unknown, Lin suddenly had a big argument with Jiang Huifang.

That year, Lin Yu had just turned ten. She listened to Jiang Huifang's hysterical voice and her uncle's pale questions through a door and window, as if looking at flowers through fog.

"She's already dead, what more do you want? Do you want me to pay for her life?!"

“I’m not saying it’s for your own good, but she’s dead! Yet you’re still alive. Because of her, you lost your job as a police officer, served ten years in prison, and ruined your prime years! Can’t I hate her? What do you want me to do? Am I supposed to wish you well? Twenty years have passed, how can you not forget her and start a new life?”

Jiang Huifang, sobbing uncontrollably, uttered the words she had kept hidden in her heart all these years, words that pierced Lin Ye's heart, tearing his already fragile soul into shattered pieces.

Lin Ye did not become more energized because of Jiang Huifang's words. He was like a weed that had been growing for a long time, which was suddenly uprooted. No matter how tenacious the weed was, it could not withstand the fact that its stem and veins were forcibly broken.

Since learning the truth, Lin has been drinking heavily every day, his work has stopped, and he has become visibly depressed. His eye sockets have become sunken, and the once talkative person has suddenly become silent, with a numb and empty look in his eyes.

When the night was deep and quiet, Lin Yu came out of the room and found him sitting hunched over on the balcony, completely enveloped in darkness. His head was down, his back was bent like a fully drawn bow, and his shoulders were trembling.

Lin Yu walked over and, by the moonlight, saw tears glistening in her uncle's eyes. She was stunned by Lin Ye's appearance; she had never seen him so dejected. Standing beside him, Lin Yu looked at him and asked in a muffled voice, "Uncle, why are you crying?"

Hearing the voice, Lin slowly raised his head and looked at her. They looked at each other and remained silent for a long time. Finally, Lin turned his head away and squeezed out a sentence: "It's nothing. Uncle just found out some things and suddenly misses someone."

To think means to miss. When Lin Yu was very young, the only word she could understand was when she was in kindergarten. She would miss her brother, want him to play with her, and want him to tell her stories.

But this longing was rewarding; every day when she returned home, she could see her brother.

Lin Ye's longing is endless.

Lin Yu reached out and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, asking innocently, "Then why doesn't Uncle go to find her?"

No one knows which word touched him, but Lin Ye suddenly lowered his head and began to sob without warning. He thought of what Jiang Huifang had said that day, and sat blankly on the floor with his arms on his knees, muttering to himself, "It's gone, it's gone forever."

But Lin Yu was too young at the time to understand what her uncle meant by "cannot find".

Many years later, Lin Yu finally learned about their story and the woman he had loved for twenty-two years.

After New Year's Day, heavy snow fell for three days and three nights, covering the entire city. The world was clear and bright, and the sky was grayish due to the reflection of the snow.

Lin Ye's condition has been getting worse lately. Jiang Huifang came to his house several times, but he wouldn't listen to anything she said. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore and asked him to leave.

Thus, the mother and son parted on bad terms.

On the day the final exams ended, Lin Ye offered to pick Lin Yu up from school and buy her a cake from the cake shop on Chunxi Road. This was what Lin Ye told Lin Yu at the dinner table before she left home that morning.

Lin Yu nodded, choking on the egg yolk and unable to speak. Zhou Ke glanced up and handed her the milk in front of him.

Lin Yu finally swallowed the unpalatable egg yolk with her milk and asked, "Is anyone having a birthday today?"

Lin paused, holding his chopsticks, and replied with feigned profundity, "You'll find out tonight."

When they went out early in the morning, the snow was still heavy. Zhou Ke looked down at his sister, who was wrapped up like a dumpling, and suddenly laughed. Lin Yu heard the laughter. Looking at her own appearance, she suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon and said dejectedly, "Don't you think I look like a clumsy penguin right now?"

"No." Snowflakes fell on his head, and a gentle light slowly welled up in Zhou Ke's eyes as he truthfully replied, "They're very cute."

A thick layer of snow covered the sidewalk, and when you stepped on it, your shoes made a crunching sound, leaving two long trails of footprints.

Lin Yu looked up, snowflakes landing on her long eyelashes. She raised her cheeks, which were red from the cold, and called out "Brother" in a sweet and soft voice.

Zhou Ke turned his head and gave a very soft "hmm".

Lin Yu: "The snow is getting heavier. When you get home from school, can you come downstairs with me to build a snowman?"

"Can't."

"Why?"

"Your cold isn't better yet," Zhou Ke said helplessly, looking at her. "If your uncle finds out, you'll be punished by having to copy ancient poems again."

With his lifeline in his grasp, Lin Yu completely backed down.

Zhou Ke's high school was just across the street from Lin Yu's elementary school. The two schools were not far apart. After dropping Lin Yu off at school, Zhou Ke leisurely walked to the zebra crossing and waited for the red light to turn green.

Lin Ye is usually busy with work and rarely picks Lin Yu up from school. Most of the time, the two siblings go to school by themselves. But today, because of Lin Ye's words, Lin Yu looked forward to it all day long.

The last subject exam was scheduled for 4 PM. Due to the heavy snow, there were significantly more parents picking up their children today than usual.

Ms. Yang, the homeroom teacher, stood at the classroom door and warmly greeted each child as they left.

When she turned around, she found that Lin Yu had already packed her schoolbag and was standing in front of the window waiting for her uncle to pick her up. The temperature difference between indoors and outdoors was large in winter, and a thick layer of fog had formed on the glass. She raised her hand and drew a little rabbit on the glass with her finger.

Seeing this, Teacher Yang walked over, bent down, and looked at Lin Yu: "Hasn't your uncle arrived yet?"

Lin Yu lowered her head and shook it expressionlessly.

"Should the teacher call Uncle and ask if he's almost there?"

Lin Yu pursed her lips, her clear pupils flashing with tiny glimmers of light. She nodded, then looked expectantly at Teacher Yang, who was taking her phone out of her pocket. Teacher Yang straightened up, found Lin Yu's parents' number in her contacts, and dialed it without hesitation.

Seeing that Teacher Yang hadn't said anything for a while, Lin Yu's bright eyes quickly dimmed. Watching the children in the class being picked up by their parents one by one, the teacher could only smile and comfort her: "It's okay, maybe the uncle had something to do and was delayed on the way." After saying that, she guided Lin Yu to look around, "Look, there are still several students waiting."

Lin Yu turned her head and looked around at the students who were also waiting for their parents, her eyelashes trembling slightly.

...

The snow on the streets was just beginning to melt after the heavy snowfall, and Lin walked along the street wrapped tightly in her cotton-padded coat.

The red light at the intersection came on, and he stopped to rub his frozen fingers. Suddenly, a screeching sound of tires skidding came from his right. An out-of-control car was hurtling toward the crosswalk, and in the middle of the road stood a little boy.

At that moment, time seemed to be stretched into slow motion. Lin looked up and suddenly saw the boy's mother's terrified and distorted face, the passersby's open-mouthed screams, and the little boy's still figure.

The incessant blaring of horns pierced the cold silence, and Lin stared wide-eyed as the truck drew ever closer to the little boy.

"careful!"

In an instant, his body reacted before his mind could react, and he sprinted towards the middle of the road.

In the instant he lunged forward, he used all his strength to push the little boy away, but at the same time he was met with an unavoidable impact. The excruciating pain came swiftly and decisively, and the world spun in his vision.

The snowflakes were still falling, gently landing on the pool of blood.

Lin closed his eyes and heard the sound of a child crying beside him. The sound reminded him of how Lin Yu used to fall down when he was a child.

He struggled to open his eyes, but soon he found a warm liquid flowing down his forehead into his eyes, turning the gray sky a scarlet blood color.

As his consciousness faded, he heard someone shout in alarm beside him.

"Someone's been hit! Someone's been hit! Call an ambulance!!"

"He's bleeding!!"

The sounds around me grew farther and farther away, until they gradually, gradually disappeared.

The sound seemed to come from an extremely distant place, yet it became exceptionally clear in my ears.

A note from the author:

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The siblings' past was a little bit tragic, but after they grew up, there weren't any more tragic parts; it was basically just a lot of emotional entanglements. [Facepalm and peeking]