Chapter 110 The Past

The electrical noise in the recording had not yet completely dissipated, but it seemed as if all the heat in the control room had been sucked away.

Ye Heng sat on the chair like a statue. Lin Yao looked at his back, feeling sad.

When the familiar voice from the recording just now came out, Ye Heng was no longer shocked or angry.

There was only a kind of calmness that was almost dead, as if one had already made sufficient preparations in the mind.

But he is now full of loneliness, which shows that he is actually in a very bad state.

"He..." Lin Yao just opened his mouth when he was interrupted by Ye Heng.

"Bian Miao," Ye Heng's voice was cold and even a little deliberately calm.

"Go check the engine's backup circuit. I felt a strange noise after accelerating just now."

Bian Miao was stunned for a moment, looked at Ye Heng, then saw the hint in Lin Yao's eyes, and immediately grabbed the tool kit:

"Yes, I'll go right away!"

He walked quickly, and when he reached the door, he did not forget to glance back.

Seeing that neither of them looked at him, he quickly and quietly closed the door, locking the solemnity in the room inside.

There were only two people left in the control room.

Ye Heng remained stiff, the light from the control room falling on his shoulders like a layer of cold frost.

Lin Yao didn't say anything, but just quietly walked to the seat next to him and sat down, staying silent with him.

After a long while, Ye Heng finally spoke slowly, his tone so calm that it seemed as if he was talking about someone else:

"Yun Ling and I are good brothers who grew up together."

Lin Yao didn't respond, but just listened quietly.

The Ye family and the Yun family are old friends, and Ye Heng and Yun Ling grew up together.

The two old houses were separated by only a road on the Central Star.

Ye Heng's voice was filled with a hint of nostalgia, as if he were flipping through a yellowed old book:

"The Ye family and the Yun family are old friends, and their old houses are both in the Gilded Lane of the Central Star.

There is a narrow stone-paved road in the middle, and there is a tree beside the road.

My grandfather and his grandfather planted it together."

Ye Heng's fingertips unconsciously traced the air lightly, as if outlining the outline of the tree.

"We were only six years old at the time. As kids, all we did was get into trouble or be on our way to getting into trouble."

-

It was noon that day and the sun was shining brightly.

Yun Ling peeked out from behind Ye Heng's wall, calling out to him:

"Heng, come and see! There's a super perfect bird's nest on your old tree. I think there must be eggs in it!"

Six-year-old Yun Ling had a short haircut that was never neatly combed, and half of the hem of his shirt was tucked into his trouser waistband.

His eyes were full of cunning and pride, and he was standing on tiptoe to look up at the tree.

Ye Heng was squatting at that time, piecing together the wooden bird's nest his mother bought for him, and he didn't pay any attention to Yun Ling's invitation.

He just verbally advised Yun Ling not to climb trees. He was beaten by his father for climbing a tree the day before yesterday. It was like he had forgotten the pain after the wound healed.

Ye Heng devoted himself to assembling the bird's nest. He worked on it for two days and just pushed the last tenon in.

Just when I was about to share my triumph with my friends, I looked up and saw Yun Ling had already climbed up the tree trunk.

The branch where the bird's nest that Yun Ling liked was located was not very thick. The six-year-old child climbed on it like a wobbly little monkey.

Yun Ling was still moving upwards, shouting "Almost there, almost there, just a little bit more", but his feet suddenly slipped.

There was a 'bang', followed by a 'crash'.

Yun Ling fell down and hit the wooden bird's nest that Ye Heng had spent two days building.

The bird's nest, which was not big to begin with, broke into countless small pieces of wood and scattered all over the ground.

Ye Heng looked at the broken wood on the ground, and his eyes gradually turned red.

Yun Ling fell to the ground, holding onto the gravel with his hands, and took a deep breath.

There was something wrong with his arm. His wrist was swollen like a steamed bun and he couldn't bend his knuckles.

Under normal circumstances, Ye Heng would have to help him up first.

But that day, Ye Heng was furious when he saw the broken wood on the ground.

Right next to it was Ye Heng's mother's favorite flower, which was in full bloom.

Various colors are piled together softly, like a group of small clouds.

Ye Heng reached out and pulled out the thickest one, and the whole plant drooped.

Ye Heng chased Yun Ling holding a flower, shouting for Yun Ling to compensate him for his bird's nest!

The flower stem was soft and it didn't hurt at all when it hit the body, but Yun Ling's hand was dislocated!

He bared his teeth every time he raised his arm, and he limped when he ran. There was no way he could outrun the healthy and angry Ye Heng.

Yun Ling shouted as he ran, his voice sharp and clear:

"Ah Heng, I was wrong! My hand hurts! Mom! Ye Heng hit someone!"

The shouts could be heard throughout the entire Gilded Alley.

A neighbor poked his head out to see what was happening. Seeing the two naughty kids, he smiled and shook his head, "They must have gotten into trouble again."

In the end, Ye Heng's mother came out, grabbed one child in each hand, and carried the two children back to the yard.

Yun Ling's wrist was reconnected by the doctor, wrapped with thick gauze, and sent back.

But later they were both kicked out. The adults of both families wanted the two naughty kids to reflect on themselves.

Yun Ling was of course there because he climbed a tree, and Ye Heng was there because he plucked his mother's favorite flower.

As a result, the two of them did not reflect on the matter at all. Instead, they hid under a tree and shared the pastries that Yun Ling brought from home.

The pastries were broken into pieces because Yun Ling was running while dodging his mother's hitting hands, and he had to grab the pastries on the table quickly and accurately.

—

"His mother made it, and it's so sweet it makes your teeth choke." Ye Heng's tone finally showed some emotion when he said this.

"Then I entered the White Tower with him." Ye Heng's mouth curled up, but there was no smile in his eyes.

"On his first day, he took apart the instructor's pocket watch, saying he wanted to see how the gears inside worked.

In the end, I had to take the blame for him and was punished by standing in Baita Square for an entire afternoon."

Listening to Ye Heng's story, Lin Yao could imagine the young Ye Heng standing under the scorching sun, his back straight.

Yun Ling was probably hiding behind a pillar, secretly handing over the water.

"We lived in opposite beds in the dormitory of the White Tower." Ye Heng tapped his palms lightly with his fingertips, talking about the time he and Yun Ling spent in the White Tower.

The sweat shed during training and the time spent studying hard, the friendship between the teenagers grew rapidly.

"Later, I joined the regiment." Ye Heng's voice sank.

"He went to Feiyu, and I went to Chiying. The day before we set off, we drank half a bottle of liquor at Star Harbor.

He said, "In the future, no matter who achieves merit first, both of their names will be engraved on the city wall of Central Star."

I laughed at him for being stupid. How could you just carve any words on the wall of Central Star?

But he said, 'You have to have some thoughts in your mind, otherwise, if you fight for too long, you'll easily forget why you're fighting.'"

Ye Heng spoke the last sentence very softly, but it was like a stone, creating ripples in Lin Yao's heart.

“I thought we would have the chance to plant another tree on Gilded Lane, just like our grandfather did, as we talked about when we were little…”

Ye Heng's voice returned to its cold tone.

He turned his head and looked at Lin Yao. There was no ripple in his eyes, only calmness:

"Did you know that when he and I were in the White Tower, we once raised a wounded starfinch together?

He always said, 'Everything has a spirit, even insects, and they shouldn't be used as weapons.'"

"I always tell myself, he's my brother, I grew up with him, how could he hurt me?"

Ye Heng's fingertips were trembling, "Maybe someone forced him..."

"I even thought about whether he had made a deal with the Lin family. I forced myself not to believe it.

But in the recording just now, he said those words without even a hint of hesitation."

Lin Yao reached out and gently pressed his arm.

Ye Heng's arms were tense, like a bowstring stretched to the limit, about to break with the slightest force.

In those recordings, Yun Ling's voice was so clear that even the habitual pause at the end of the voice was exactly the same as in Lin Yao's memory.

There were no signs of tampering, no panic caused by coercion, only calm instructions.

"When he was little, he broke his leg climbing a tree, and I carried him three miles to the infirmary."

Ye Heng's voice lowered, and the light in his eyes dimmed little by little.

"He lay on my back and said, 'Heng, no matter who comes to harm you in the future, I will protect them for you.'"

He raised his hands to cover his eyes. The skin beneath his fingertips was burning hot, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

"I'd rather believe that all the evidence is wrong than believe... that he would kill me."

Lin Yao opened and closed his mouth, but in the end no word came out.

The control room was so quiet that you could hear each other's breathing.

Lin Yao knew that Ye Heng's heart was collapsing.

It was not pushed down by others, but was destroyed by the person who had protected me since I was a child and who also protected me.

He just accompanied Ye Heng silently. Some answers could only be answered by the person himself.

Maybe it was betrayal, maybe it was hardship, but at least now, he had to stay with him and wait for the answer.