People die.
Wan Qiu first came to understand the concept of death when Wan Xiaohua died.
It looks like it's fast asleep, except it doesn't snore, doesn't turn over, and isn't warm.
Grandma will no longer angrily raise her calloused hand; she will no longer suddenly fall ill and wreak havoc everywhere; and she will no longer hurl insults at the villagers who point fingers at her.
Lying on the dirty ground that she would have disliked when she was lucid, it was as if she no longer cared about anything.
Wanqiu later witnessed many kinds of death.
A toad crushed into bloody foam and congealed on the asphalt by a car wheel; a rat rotting and stinking in a garbage dump, reduced to nothing but a withered pelt; a withered, leafless tree by the roadside, its claws outstretched yet its branches easily snapped...
I remember that as he was nearing death, he hugged himself, curled up, not knowing what he was about to face, yet he was resisting.
That must be because he wants to live, right?
The sun was so hot that it made him uncomfortable, but Wanqiu loved the sunshine so much.
He didn't want to die, and he didn't want everything in this world to be irrelevant to him.
The car drove away.
Wanqiu stood there, listening to the sound of the car leaving.
In the silent, empty world, the sound of the car seemed like a memory from before death.
Wanqiu had the chance to grab Ning Qiaozhen's clothes and beg her to stay, but Wanqiu couldn't do it.
It was as if the sack that had bound him that snowy night was still on his body, restricting him and preventing him from moving freely.
The only difference was that this time he could see his mother's departing figure.
Did my mother pass away in the same way?
The snow crunched underfoot, never stopping for a moment.
Wanqiu looked up. The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and sweat dripped from his forehead into the corners of his eyes before sliding down.
Wan Qiu felt dizzy and unable to support himself, so he knelt on the ground. The scorching heat from the ground burned his legs.
Will you die if you are abandoned?
The scorching sun seemed to contain intense flames in every ray of sunlight, penetrating his skin and burning his body, boiling his internal organs.
With thin, withered fingers covering his chest, Wan Qiu felt that his heart would probably be roasted alive soon.
His consciousness was already somewhat blurred, and the feeling of exhaustion made him mistakenly believe it was a sign of impending death.
A voice faintly reached Wan Qiu's ears.
It's the sound of shoes stepping on the ground.
Thump thump thump—
soon.
Wan Qiu blinked hard, trying to clear his mind.
"Wanqiu!" An anxious, familiar female voice that slightly cleared Wanqiu's mind.
A pair of slightly cool hands cupped his cheeks, leaving a cool sensation on his hot skin.
That touch of coolness was like finding a wisp of cool moisture in a deep sand pit after digging deep into the desert. Even if it was just a little bit, it was a glimmer of hope for Wanqiu in the desert.
"Wanqiu, Wanqiu, it's Mom."
Yang Xiaoyu's voice finally reached Wan Qiu's ears.
Wan Qiu's gaze gradually focused, and Yang Xiaoyu's anxious expression appeared before him.
"Wanqiu, Mom is here to pick you up." Wanqiu's body was burning hot from the sun, and she was unusually soft and weak. Even Yang Xiaoyu could easily hold her small body in her arms. "Don't be afraid, Wanqiu, Mom will take you home. Mom will not abandon you."
Turning his gaze slightly to the side, Wan Qiu saw Yang Xiaoyu's chestnut-brown long curly hair, which reminded him of the waves in the TV commercial. His burning heart felt as if it had been doused with the coolness of seawater, and the seawater no longer burned as intensely as before.
Wan Qiu blinked, then suddenly remembered that he had a mother.
A new mother.
Wan Qiu reached out and hugged Yang Xiaoyu.
"Mom." Wan Qiu nuzzled Yang Xiaoyu's hair in a dependent manner.
It's a fragrance, a scent he likes.
He was not abandoned.
He still has someone who hasn't abandoned him.
Wan Qiu trusted Yang Xiaoyu, just as he had trusted Ning Qiaozhen before.
Wanqiu fell into a coma.
Wanqiu was dreaming, and he tried to piece together the chaotic fragments of his memories into unfamiliar words.
A strange memory surfaced deep within his mind. He couldn't quite recall it; it seemed to be written words. Wanqiu could understand them, but he couldn't quite decipher them.
However, these incomprehensible and nonsensical characters made Wanqiu suddenly realize that being abandoned by Ning Qiaozhen was an inevitable event.
It was something he had known for a long time, but had forgotten.
After this inevitable event, Wan Qiu will return to Yang Xiaoyu's mother's side and live a peaceful life...
What kind of life will they lead?
Wanqiu couldn't understand it. The words were blurry, some he didn't recognize, and some he couldn't even understand when they formed sentences.
His Chinese language grades have always been poor; he can't understand so many words and long sentences.
It can only be understood vaguely.
It seems he wants to go back to his biological parents, and then... he'll bully someone.
Who are you bullying?
He bullies people, but he gets bullied back, and he even dies.
Chu Wanqiu was expelled from the Chu family and abandoned by the Chu couple. He was left to fend for himself and would be killed in retaliation.
The vocabulary in this sentence was unfamiliar, but Wan Qiu seemed to understand its meaning.
He will be abandoned by his parents, and then he will die.
Why was he abandoned? Does abandoning mean discarding?
Like his mother, will he suddenly abandon him without any reason?
Would his parents abandon him now?
I don't want to be abandoned.
How can I avoid being abandoned?
Don't you bully people?
What is bullying?
Who did he bully?
A name that lingered in his chaotic mind was Chu Yigui.
Wan Qiu suddenly opened his eyes.
Before him was a snow-white world, and there was a strange smell in the air. Wan Qiu smelled it; it was the smell of disinfectant.
There was a color that wasn't white. Wan Qiu turned her head slightly and saw the owner of the name in her mind: Chu Yigui.
Chu Yigui was wearing a loose white short-sleeved shirt, but his body was not thin. His hair was slightly long and fell casually, loosely covering his very beautiful eyes. Against the white wall, he seemed even more handsome.
"Are you awake?" Chu Yigui's eyes turned to Wan Qiu, who had opened his eyes.
"Chu Yigui." This name kept lingering in her memory, but when Wan Qiu uttered it, it felt very unfamiliar.
"How are you feeling?" Chu Yigui put down a thick book in her hand and smiled at Wan Qiu.
Wan Qiu nodded, and in his daze, those troubling memories seemed to gradually recede into the depths of his memory because of Chu Yigui's voice.
Wan Qiu turned his head and saw that he was receiving an IV drip. There was an unfamiliar 'television' on the bedside table. The snow-white hospital bed was soft and comfortable, and the bedding smelled of laundry detergent.
It's a hospital.
“I have no money,” Wan Qiu said.
“Mom and Dad have money.” Chu Yigui sat down by Wanqiu’s bedside, looked down at Wanqiu, and held Wanqiu’s hand. “You don’t need to pay, brother.”
"Brother?" Wan Qiu repeated the unfamiliar address blankly.
“Your parents are also my parents. You are a few months older than me, so you are the older brother.” Chu Yigui’s voice was slow, and he would pause after each sentence to make sure Wan Qiu understood.
brother.
Wan Qiu suddenly understood something, and he and Chu Yigui became brothers.
Everything in my memory is becoming reality.
"You're my brother?" Wan Qiu had never imagined that he could have any other family members besides his parents.
More than doubt and fear, there was a sense of novelty and subtle joy at being able to have an even closer connection.
“Yes,” Chu Yigui replied.
"Aren't we friends anymore?" Wan Qiu was reluctant to let go of this relationship.
“We are friends, and we are brothers.” Chu Yigui’s fingers intertwined with Wan Qiu’s slender fingers. “We are closer than anyone else.”
Wanqiu's mind couldn't process it.
He was closer to Chu Yigui and would bully Chu Yigui.
What is the relationship between bullying and intimacy?
"She's gone, do you remember?" Chu Yigui asked, directly puncturing Wan Qiu's memory that she hadn't completely hidden.
Wan Qiu stared blankly at Chu Yigui. Unbeknownst to Wan Qiu herself, the words "gone" welled up with tears that stubbornly streamed down her face.
Chu Yigui quietly looked at Wan Qiu, then reached out her other hand to touch the corner of Wan Qiu's eye and collected the tear droplets in her hand.
The water droplets, like a continuous stream, moistened the dry beach, leaving a small puddle between Chu Yigui's fingers.
Time is passing by little by little.
"Stop crying." Chu Yigui's voice finally rang out, "You can't cry too much."
The obedient Wanqiu blinked hard, trying to suppress the soreness in her eyes.
"You now have a new home and a new mother."
Soft, gentle, slow.
Chu Yigui's voice gradually shaped a simple, blurry shadow in Wanqiu's memory.
"You don't need to be sad anymore." Chu Yigui's words didn't sound like comforting words, but rather like guidance.
Wanqiu would listen to everyone, especially since Chu Yigui said they were very close.
“You have a new mother. Talk to her and don’t cry.”
Chu Yigui's calm eyes were like a heavy stone, as if all the tears of a thousand autumns were suppressed under his gaze, hidden beneath this heavy stone.
Wanqiu watched and watched.
He seemed to understand Chu Yigui's words, yet he also seemed not to.
The door opened, and footsteps approached. Chu Yigui released Wanqiu's hand, stood up from beside Wanqiu's bed, and tucked her wet fingertips behind her back.
"Wanqiu, Wanqiu, is our baby awake?" Yang Xiaoyu's eyes were full of joy when she saw Wanqiu awake, but after the joy came even more worry.
"Mom." Wan Qiu's soft, youthful voice carried an almost imperceptible trust and reliance.
His mother.
Wan Qiu thought of that strange text that was bound to happen.
Even his most beautiful mother will surely abandon him.
But Wanqiu still remembers his mother saying, "I will not abandon him."
Wanqiu couldn't decide between the two differing perceptions.
"I'm sorry." Yang Xiaoyu rested her head on Wan Qiu's forehead and looked into those beautiful eyes that she had inherited from her.
Her eyes, though still clear and untouched by the clouds, seemed even more empty, like a blank world, where even the most stubborn paint in the world could not leave a mark.
"I'm sorry, baby, I'm so sorry." Yang Xiaoyu knew what they had done.
They forcibly tore apart Wanqiu's dependence, and now Wanqiu will surely be even more bloodied than they have seen.
"Mom," Wan Qiu remembered to speak to Yang Xiaoyu, or she would cry, "I have no home anymore."
Wanqiu, who had been abandoned three times, was now homeless for the third time.
The rented room in that dimly lit, old neighborhood often smelled faintly of alcohol, Ning Qiaozhen's cosmetics, and soap. The old wooden furniture, the cramped little bedroom, and his single bed were all there.
These are all things that are filled with happiness and that Wanqiu loves.
He could no longer go back to that place he always seemed to return to.
Dad abandoned Mom.
His mother abandoned him.
The rented room, which was breathtakingly beautiful when the afternoon sun shone in, was finally shattered in Wanqiu's memory.
Once he recalls it, Ning Qiaozhen's resolute abandonment of his image will occupy his vision, freeze his blood, and let the pain flow through his veins, congealing his life.
“Baby, you have a home.” Yang Xiaoyu lifted Wan Qiu’s head, which had been lowered, and looked intently into Wan Qiu’s eyes. “You have a home. Mom’s home is your home. Mom and Dad will take you home together.”
Wan Qiu had no doubts; he knew he was about to have a new home.
"Mom and Dad will always love you." Yang Xiaoyu tried her best to rekindle Wanqiu's dependence and hope.
Wan Qiu was looking at Yang Xiaoyu.
Wanqiu can only distinguish emotions, but he doesn't know what is true and what is false.
Yang Xiaoyu kissed Wan Qiu's forehead, and Wan Qiu closed her eyes.
—You have a new mother.
Chu Yigui's voice rang in my ears.
When he didn't know what to do, his friends and brothers gave him some direction.
“Yes,” Wan Qiu replied.
"Wanqiu, my darling, does your face still hurt?" Yang Xiaoyu tenderly stroked Wanqiu's bruised face. It was still a little blue, but it had healed a lot.
"It doesn't hurt," Wan Qiu said.
"Are you hungry?" Yang Xiaoyu asked.
"Hungry." Wan Qiu truthfully expressed his thoughts.
Wanqiu received a bowl of porridge.
The porridge was in a small bowl, and it looked very pretty. The plate on which it was served was also very pretty. Wanqiu wanted to take the pretty and delicate little spoon.
"How about Mom feeds our Wanqiu baby?" Although she said it as a question, Yang Xiaoyu had already put the spoon to Wanqiu's lips.
Wanqiu obediently opened her mouth, sipped the spoon, and let Yang Xiaoyu pull it out. The delicious porridge instantly whetted Wanqiu's appetite.
"Xiaoyu, Wanqiu is already fourteen years old." Chu Jianshu couldn't help but remind her when he saw Yang Xiaoyu feeding Wanqiu spoonful by spoonful.
"What does it matter? He's my child anyway." Yang Xiaoyu wanted to feed him every meal, not just this time, so that her precious Wanqiu would gain weight and become more and more beautiful with such delicate features.
Wan Qiu blinked and realized that Yang Xiaoyu was praising him.
Yang Xiaoyu watched Wan Qiu obediently eating her porridge and found it incredibly adorable. Her eyes clearly held the soul of a fourteen-year-old, yet they were even more innocent and pure.
"Wanqiu." Yang Xiaoyu held the bowl and spoon with some worry as she fed Wanqiu the last mouthful of porridge. The memory of her previous rejection was still vivid in her mind. "Do you really want to go home with Mom?"
"Yes," Wan Qiu replied.
Yang Xiaoyu's eyes lit up. Having been rejected so many times, she asked again with some unease, "Really?"
Wan Qiu, however, had an even stronger desire than Yang Xiaoyu: "I want to go home with my mother."
Yang Xiaoyu hugged Wan Qiu tightly.
When Wan Qiu hugged Yang Xiaoyu back, her stiff, long curly hair became tangled in her fingers.
Those words told me that this was the last mother.
For Wanqiu, 'mother' is a unique word, the most special person in his life.
But things are different now.
He met someone who was also very special.
His brothers, his friends, the people he bullies, the people who will abandon him.
Wan Qiu turned his gaze to Chu Yigui beside him.
He was a special person.
——
Wan Qiu underwent a full-body physical examination.
Under the condition that Ning Qiaozhen abandoned him, Wan Qiu no longer refused to take off his clothes.
Chu Jianshu and Yang Xiaoyu didn't miss a single one of the wounds all over his body.
Wanqiu also underwent examinations and tests.
The conclusion was that Wanqiu did not have pathological intellectual disability, which was strange. However, Wanqiu's behavior was clearly abnormal compared to that of a normal person, and the doctor thought that he should perhaps see a psychiatrist.
Upon hearing this news, Yang Xiaoyu and Chu Jianshu's expressions worsened.
The answer to what situations can trigger psychological problems is obvious.
Fortunately, with guidance and correction in the future, there is still hope.
Wanqiu has multiple marks all over his body from previous injuries, and it's clear that he hasn't received proper treatment. However, because of his young age and strong vitality, he seems to have recovered quite well.
Yang Xiaoyu requested that Wanqiu's scars be removed, to erase all the marks, big and small, left on Wanqiu's body by her past life.
Wanqiu's health was actually quite good; apart from severe malnutrition, he didn't have any major problems in any aspect.
According to the doctor, he was born with a strong vitality.
Wan Qiu was discharged from the hospital soon; what he needed was nutrition, not hospitalization.
"Brother," Chu Yigui said, sitting side by side with Wan Qiu on a hospital bench, "Are you tired?"
Wan Qiu shook his head.
"You also have two older brothers, who are also brothers."
brother.
Wanqiu pondered the numbers for a moment and said, "Did Mom have four children?"
“No, my mother had three children.” Chu Yigui held Wan Qiu’s hand, something he would do when no one was around. “I wasn’t born to my mother.”
Wan Qiu quickly understood what he meant.
Wan Qiu nodded.
However, Chu Yigui turned her head to meet Wan Qiu's gaze: "Brother, don't you find it strange at all?"
It took Wanqiu a long time to react before she said, "I'm not my mother's child either."
Chu Yigui was taken aback, then realized Wan Qiu's logic.
Having experienced being an 'adopted son,' Wanqiu's views were inherently different from those of normal people.
For Wanqiu, there was probably no difference between an adopted son and a biological son. If Ning Qiaozhen hadn't abandoned Wanqiu, Wanqiu would have treated Ning Qiaozhen as his own mother.
Chu Yigui lowered her eyes, then raised them again, a smile in her eyes: "Brother is really amazing."
Wan Qiu didn't know why Chu Yigui said he was powerful, but since Chu Yigui said so, then he probably was.
Chu Yigui and Wan Qiu intertwined their fingers: "Although there are other brothers, we are different. Brother, you and I are different. We are closer."
Wan Qiu lowered his head, looking at his and Chu Yigui's hands together. One looked slender and beautiful, while the other was thin, weak, and ugly. They didn't match at all.
But they were entangled together, and Wanqiu felt that this was probably what intimacy was.
“Yes, we’re even closer.” Wan Qiu unconditionally believed what Chu Yigui said.
Chu Yigui smiled, but Wan Qiu, watching, didn't think it was 'happiness'.
Wan Qiu never understood why Chu Yigui was different from ordinary people; he was always 'unhappy'.
When the doctor's door opened, Wan Qiu felt the hand holding hers being pulled away.
Before she could even look at Chu Yigui, she was suddenly embraced by a woman with a pleasant fragrance.
Looking at her beautiful chestnut-brown curly hair, Wanqiu reached out and grasped her mother's hand.
“Wanqiu, my darling, let’s go home.” Yang Xiaoyu hugged Wanqiu, the child she had lost but who had returned to her arms.
Wan Qiu couldn't see Yang Xiaoyu's face, so he was a little at a loss. He looked up at Chu Jianshu.
However, a thick, warm hand pressed down on his head again, stroking it gently several times. Wan Qiu blinked, feeling as if he were enveloped in warmth.
A strange feeling.
"How about Mom carries you into the car?" Yang Xiaoyu asked, holding Wan Qiu's shoulders.
Chu Jianshu raised an eyebrow: "Xiaoyu, stop fooling around. Wanqiu is a fourteen-year-old boy, after all."
“She doesn’t look fourteen years old at all; she’s not even up to Yi Gui’s shoulder,” Yang Xiaoyu said.
Chu Jianshu also glanced at Chu Yigui, who had already stood up. Indeed, Wan Qiu could not compare to Chu Yigui in terms of height or build.
"Come on, let Mommy give you a hug?" Yang Xiaoyu stood up, opened her arms, and made a gesture to Wan Qiu that she really wanted a hug.
“Wanqiu can be shy too.” Chu Jianshu felt helpless about his wife’s unpredictable ideas.
Yang Xiaoyu said quite frankly, "Wanqiu doesn't understand."
Chu Jianshu choked up immediately.
When Wan Qiu stood up, the air suddenly fell silent.
Wan Qiu was looking at Yang Xiaoyu.
Although Yang Xiaoyu had a smile on her face and looked relaxed, Wan Qiu could sense her nervousness and anticipation.
Wan Qiu stepped forward, opened his arms and wrapped them around Yang Xiaoyu's shoulders, embracing her with his thin arms.
This hug was the limit of what Wan Qiu knew he could give.
However, Yang Xiaoyu suddenly grabbed Wan Qiu's leg and picked him up.
As Wan Qiu left the ground, he instinctively hugged Yang Xiaoyu even tighter with both hands, his eyes wide open.
"...So light." Yang Xiaoyu was also a little shocked. The child in her arms was unbelievably light. Her lips twitched down involuntarily, but she quickly composed herself and smiled again. "Let's go, let's go, Mommy will carry you down the elevator."
Chu Jianshu and Chu Yigui exchanged a glance, then looked at Wan Qiu at the same time.
Wanqiu is currently in a completely dazed state, unaware of the current situation.
He was picked up.
It was suspended in mid-air.
All of her weight was on her mother.
This is the first time such an event has occurred in the world of Wanqiu.
Can he actually be picked up?
Wanqiu remembers this gesture; she only ever saw mothers holding their babies like this on the street.
The other people in the elevator saw this strange mother and son pair and their eyes were full of smiles.
Wan Qiu held Yang Xiaoyu's neck tightly with both hands, stunned.
Others who see them will feel a little 'happy' and smile.
Wan Qiu vaguely sensed that it might be strange to be hugged like this in public.
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