Chapter 2 A Bitter and Rainy Summer
In the summer of 2012, Shen Qingli graduated from junior high school. Her parents, who usually only brought their eldest daughter home on important holidays, were suddenly called back home.
The family was huddled in the living room when the grandfather, the head of the family, suddenly made a decision, instructing Shen's parents to take her back to Su Town.
Upon hearing this, no one in the entire living room, except for the two elderly people, agreed.
Father Shen was the first to frown and object, saying, "Dad! You know that Xiaoyun has never been in good health. My husband and I are already struggling to take care of her. If you bring Qingli over, won't that just add to our burden?"
“Yes, Dad, hasn’t Xiaoli been living quite well with you and Mom? There’s no need for her to move in with us,” Mother Shen echoed.
Although she knew they would never agree, hearing her own parents despise her and even see her as a burden still made her feel bitter. She lowered her eyes and forced herself not to show the slightest sadness.
But her heart felt like it was being squeezed tightly, as if she couldn't breathe. Shen Qingli knew that she would probably never find a way to relieve this discomfort.
"Is it unnecessary? Xiaoli will be going to high school this year! How far is No. 1 High School from our village? Do you want her to get up early and stay up late to go to school? What if it interferes with her studies?" Grandpa Shen looked at his granddaughter who was not saying a word. He did not expect his son and daughter-in-law to say such biased things, and he was immediately furious.
"Dad, don't say that in front of the children..."
Perhaps following her father's gaze, he noticed his daughter's silence beside him, so he quickly smoothed things over and asked his mother to take Shen Qingli out first.
"Qingli, would you like to go for a walk outside with Grandma? Your father and I have something important to tell Grandpa." Shen's father's voice was almost gentle, but the underlying dislike in his words was impossible to hide.
"Okay." She pretended not to notice anything, nodded obediently, and was pulled out by Grandma Shen.
She had only taken a few steps outside the door when she unexpectedly heard her mother's muffled voice from inside the living room: "Dad, if Xiaoli finds it inconvenient to go to and from school, we can arrange accommodation for her, so that you can have some peace of mind."
"Provide accommodation? You pamper Xiaoyun and want to carry her around with you all the time, but you just leave Xiaoli at school? How can there be parents like you in the world... If you do this, be careful that your child will hate you when she grows up!" Grandpa Shen couldn't believe he could hear such absurd words and slammed his fist on the table in anger.
"Dad...that's not what we meant..."
"Alright, that's enough. Just do as I say. Anyway, Xiaoyun and Xiaoli are in the same school and live together, so they can take care of each other." Grandpa Chen continued firmly, not giving them a chance to object or refuse. "You two, don't forget, this is your own daughter, not your mother's or my responsibility!"
...
Grandma Shen naturally heard the sounds coming from inside the house. Looking at her granddaughter beside her, a look of heartache appeared on her aged face. She sighed helplessly and advised, "Xiao Li, don't blame your parents. They've had a hard time too. You... you have to understand them."
"..."
Shen Qingli bit her lip tightly and didn't reply.
It may be true that it wasn't easy, but it's also true that he abandoned her for so many years.
She just couldn't understand why children should always be expected to understand the hardships adults face, since coming into this world is never their own choice, but rather a result of their parents' actions.
She has experienced all the injustices, and in the end she is still asked to be understanding?
Can she really do it?
Thinking of this, she gave herself a light laugh, but what did it matter whether she could do it or not? In any case, it was all beyond her control.
After thinking it over, a deep weariness welled up in her heart. She stepped out of the living room, where the air was filled with an uncomfortable, stuffy heat, and the cicadas chirping in the trees only added to her irritability.
Shen Qingli looked up at the gloomy sky outside; it looked like it was about to rain.
-
In the end, Shen Qingli's parents couldn't persuade her grandfather, so she moved away from the place where she had lived for more than ten years before the start of this summer vacation.
On the day she left her grandparents' house, she waved goodbye to her two closest relatives with reluctance, saying that she would come back to visit them often.
When I stepped out of my house, it was still raining outside.
Carrying her meager luggage, she glanced at the green pear that her mother had casually tucked into her arms before boarding the train. Suddenly, she stopped, as if remembering something. She turned her head, her gaze lingering on something for only a moment.
"Xiao Li, what are you standing there for? Get in the car quickly, your sister is waiting for us at home," Mother Shen urged from behind.
Upon hearing this, she withdrew her gaze and said calmly, "Okay."
As the car drove along the muddy road ahead, she turned around in the back seat and looked through the rear window at herself getting further and further away from the place she had lived. She was forced to start a completely new life with a feeling of unease.
The torrential rain outside pounded against the car window beside her, slowly blurring her vision.
The humid summer officially began with a heavy rain.
It was a rainy summer. Shen Qingli later wondered if the reason she remembered that summer so vividly was because it was the rainiest summer she had ever experienced in her life.
She always felt that time had beautified the past, and that the summer she remembered most vividly in her life probably didn't have much to do with Lin Xiaqing.
-
After returning home, she saw her frail and sickly older sister, Shen Qingyun, again after several months.
I heard that she was born with poor health, and her parents took her around to seek medical treatment all year round, so they had to leave her, as the younger sister, in the countryside.
Shen Qingyun, who was standing in front of him, did not look well. She was very thin, as thin as a sheet of paper, and had a sickly appearance.
They don't see each other often. Su's home is two or three hours away from the countryside, and she is in poor health and can't handle too much travel. So, unless it's an important holiday, the two sisters don't see each other very often.
Therefore, she didn't think there was much affection between her and Shen Qingyun.
But the woman standing in front of him didn't seem to think that way; she had a bright smile on her face from the moment she saw him enter.
Shen Qingyun stepped forward to help her with her luggage, saying as she walked over, "Ali! You've finally arrived! Mom and Dad said they wanted to pick you up, and I've been so happy for days. Were you tired from the journey?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she tried to take the schoolbag from Shen Qingli's hand. Shen Qingli was about to refuse when her mother, who had just walked in, noticed her quickly. She shouted and ran to Shen Qingyun, saying anxiously, "These things are heavy, Xiaoyun, don't take them randomly."
After saying that, she seemed a little angry and turned to her, saying, "Xiao Li, your sister isn't well. How could you let her carry such heavy things for you? What if she gets tired?"
"..."
She opened her mouth, wanting to explain that she hadn't asked Shen Qingyun for help, and also wanted to say that her bag wasn't very heavy.
But when the words reached her lips, she suddenly couldn't utter a single one. She glanced at her mother and Shen Qingyun, and saw that her mother's anxious expression towards Shen Qingyun was almost pathological, as if her own sister were some kind of porcelain doll.
She had always known that her parents were very protective of Shen Qingyun, but she really hadn't expected it to go this far. Thinking of this, Shen Qingli lowered her eyes, remembered her grandparents' instructions before she left, and silently shut her mouth, clutching her bag even tighter.
"Mom! I wanted to get it for Xiaoli myself!" Shen Qingyun, standing to the side, was even more anxious than the wronged woman. Seeing that her mother had misunderstood, she quickly explained.
"That won't do either... How can you be so insensible?"
Listening to Shen's mother's strange and cautious words, it was clear that she was saying that Shen Qingyun was being unreasonable, but her words, which seemed to be blaming her, were actually full of doting.
Shen Qingli stood to the side, listening to her mother's two completely different attitudes toward her and her sister. She didn't know what kind of expression she should wear at this moment, whether she should be sad or frustrated.
It seemed like none of that was necessary. She felt like a wooden doll standing in this house, an outsider who didn't belong anywhere.
...
Fortunately, the awkwardness didn't last long, and Shen Qingyun quickly led her to her bedroom.
In her room, the other person chatted with her for a long time. Shen Qingyun looked very gentle and refined, but she didn't expect her to be so talkative.
She seemed completely at ease with herself, much more so than Shen Qingli.
However, after such a mishap right from the start, she no longer had any unrealistic expectations for their future interactions.
Even though she admits that when she first stepped into this home, she had a ridiculous expectation that she might one day be able to have her parents' love, just like Shen Qingyun.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but despise herself for the little fantasy that had just popped into her head.
Shen Qingli, from now on, just act like you're invisible. Don't expect anything, don't want anything. She stared at the empty room, lost in thought.
And that was indeed the case. She spent two months getting to know this house, and apart from becoming more familiar with Shen Qingyun, almost nothing else changed.
Shen Qingyun's parents worked long hours every day to earn money for her illness. Even when they came home, they would mostly just talk to Shen Qingyun, sometimes exchanging a few words with her, but that was about it.
Later, on several occasions, when she went to the living room to get a drink of water at night because she couldn't sleep, she heard her mother complaining to her father more than once.
“I don’t think Qingli is close to us at all. Look at her, she’s usually quiet. Look at Xiaoyun, she’s so lively. They don’t seem like sisters at all…”
"Yes, it's different when they're not children raised by your side."
...
After hearing those words, she stood expressionless in the dark living room, slowly drinking the ice water in her glass. The ice water made her gums ache, but it also kept her very awake.
A note from the author:
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Sorry for the wait, double update today -v-, Chapter 3 will be released at 19:00~
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