"Is there something you don't understand?" Yang Ze was also a little at a loss. Facing Wan Qiu, he couldn't find a way to communicate normally for a while.
Wan Qiu's eyes wandered from the huge bright room to Yang Ze's face. After a long while, he stammered, "Thank you."
Does Wan Qiu understand that this is his bedroom?
So are you happy? Do you like it?
But Yang Ze did not find the emotion he hoped to see, Wan Qiu seemed to have just accepted it.
"Do you want to take a shower now?" Yang Ze asked.
Wan Qiu raised his head and nodded to Yang Ze.
He had a smell on him, the smell of disinfectant that my mother didn't like.
The bathroom in the huge bedroom is illuminated by lights that make the wide space bright. Compared with natural and even sunlight, the carefully designed lights illuminate the entire space like a house carved with gems that only appears in dreams.
Wan Qiu's dark pupils stared straight at the bathroom.
Very clean.
How can you clean it so cleanly?
It was obvious that no matter how hard he tried to clean the mirror at home, he could never make it this clean and clear.
If it gets dirty...
Can he recover?
Standing in such a place, Wan Qiu felt for the first time that his existence represented dirt.
Yang Ze couldn't guess what Wan Qiu was thinking, but he could clearly feel Wan Qiu's nervousness.
They had been holding hands all the time, but Wan Qiu's fingers were as stiff as icicles under the eaves.
Unconsciously panicking, but not knowing how to struggle.
"Press this red button to get hot water. If it's too hot, press the blue button here to adjust the water temperature..." Yang Ze tried to explain to Wan Qiu how to use the water in the bathroom, diverting Wan Qiu's attention. During the explanation, Wan Qiu did not ask any questions. "Do you understand?"
Wan Qiu stood where he was, his eyes fixed on the place Yang Ze had told him about.
"Let's give it a try?" Yang Ze suggested.
Wan Qiu reached out and pressed the red switch for hot water.
The water flow suddenly tilted down, and Wan Qiu took a step back so as not to be wetted by the shower water.
Wan Qiu stretched out his hand to touch the thin and dense water flow. The water flow he touched was extremely gentle, as if the water flow had removed all its strength and wanted to use its warm body to gently embrace humans.
Suddenly, Wan Qiu felt a sting on his hand and reflexively pulled it back. The water temperature was too high and it was already scalding hot when it touched his hand.
Yang Ze was startled and subconsciously opened his hands, but did not touch Wan Qiu: "Are you burned?"
Wan Qiu shook his head and looked down at his hands.
There wasn't even a red mark on his fingers.
Yang Ze breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the water flowing down from the shower head that was already emitting scorching hot steam in the bathroom, and asked Wan Qiu: "Do you know how to run cold water?"
Wan Qiu pressed the blue button.
"Yes, press it once and it will get cooler." Facing his brother who was already fourteen years old, Yang Ze treated him like a strange child.
When the water temperature reached the right level, the warm and comfortable water flow wrapped around the fingertips, and the feeling of the fingers being washed made Wan Qiu feel comfortable.
Rather than testing the water temperature, Wan Qiu seemed to be playing with water unconsciously. The child's bright eyes seemed to be reflected in the ripples of the flowing water.
Yang Ze stared at Wan Qiu's profile and said in a mysterious way, "Wan Qiu, do you want my second brother to help you take a bath?"
After hearing Yang Ze's words, Wan Qiu raised his head, and Yang Ze was reflected in his clear eyes.
Yang Ze vaguely felt that under these eyes, it was not so much that he was looking at Wan Qiu, but rather that he was looking at himself in Wan Qiu's eyes. His emotions were illuminated by these eyes and nothing could hide.
Yang thought Wan Qiu would refuse, but Wan Qiu nodded.
Yang was a little surprised.
He did want to get close to Wan Qiu, but he didn't really want to give Wan Qiu a bath on the first day they met.
I just asked inquiringly, but I didn't expect to get a positive answer.
It seems that for Wan Qiu, vigilance and shyness will only be short-lived, and he seems to have let down his guard very quickly.
In other words, Yang Ze realized that Wan Qiu quickly changed his fear and vigilance towards him after Yang Xiaoyu trusted him.
"Wan Qiu can't take a bath by himself now?" Yang Ze asked.
Wan Qiu blinked, as if confused by Yang Ze's question again, but replied, "I will."
Yang was silent.
Then why would he let himself bathe him?
Because he asked?
Looking at Wan Qiu who was standing there looking at him, Yang Ze asked tentatively: "Do you want my second brother to help you take off your clothes?"
Wan Qiu was looking at him, his shadow always reflected in those clear eyes. Wan Qiu nodded again.
Staring at Wan Qiu, Yang Ze's eyes were complicated, and he bent down: "Raise your hands?"
Wan Qiu raised his hands obediently.
Wan Qiu’s obedience was enough to prove Yang Ze’s guess—Wan Qiu would never refuse any request.
Yang asked Wan Qiu to take off his clothes just to check if he had any wounds on his body so that he could take good care of them. Soaking the wounds in water would not be conducive to their recovery.
Wan Qiu was only wearing a very thin layer of summer clothes. After taking them off, his body, whose ribs could almost be seen, was exposed in front of Yang Ze.
In Yang Ze's hands, Wan Qiu's clothes hung limply between his fingers. The remaining body temperature of Wan Qiu was not even as warm as the temperature of his palm.
Looking at the thin and scarred body, Yang Ze felt as if his throat was suddenly strangled.
Silence and darkness were like black thorns, piercing into his flesh and blood and binding his bones.
There were still many traces of medicine on Wan Qiu's body, all smelling of medicine and disinfectant. His overly thin body made his head look very big, as if it was difficult for him to even support his head.
Fourteen years old.
Yang Ze clearly remembered Wan Qiu's age.
But how could this be the body of a fourteen-year-old?
"Are there any open wounds?" When Yang Ze found his voice again, he felt his throat dry and the strange emotions deep in his heart made him dizzy.
What does an open wound mean?
Wan Qiu didn't understand and didn't say anything.
Yang Ze said in a deeper voice than before: "Wan Qiu, turn around."
Yang was unhappy.
Wan Qiu keenly noticed Yang Ze's mood, which changed from not very happy to unhappy.
Why? What to do?
I can't escape, but I don't know how to resist.
Wan Qiu tried hard to think of an effective solution, but he couldn't think of one.
He simply opened his arms and turned half a circle in front of Yang Ze.
Wan Qiu's eyelashes trembled constantly, hiding his nervousness.
"Has this been injured recently?" When Wan Qiu came from behind, Yang Ze noticed a relatively obvious scar on the outside of Wan Qiu's arm, which should be the mark of an open wound.
Elsewhere, there are more bruises and scars.
Wan Qiu lowered his head to look at the wound that had almost healed. It was from a car accident some time ago. The bleeding wound at that time has almost healed now. He replied, "It was from the car accident."
Yang Ze looked at Wan Qiu. There were still traces of messy sutures on the largest scar, which was enough to show that there were quite a lot of scars, and they even threatened Wan Qiu's life.
Yang Ze wanted to touch these scars, but his hands were suspended in mid-air and he didn't even have the courage to touch them.
"Wan Qiu." Looking at the slender Wan Qiu with her back to him, without the gaze of those eyes, Yang Ze finally found the courage to say what he dared not say, "Do you still remember my second brother?"
How many people can remember their memories before the age of five?
Why do you ask such a question? Do you hope Wanqiu will remember, or are you afraid that Wanqiu will remember?
Wan Qiu blinked.
He turned around and looked at Yang Ze.
Yang Ze's eyes were very dark, as if they were filled with thick, insoluble ink.
Wan Qiu couldn't tell what kind of answer Yang Ze wanted.
Not knowing how to answer Yang Ze what he wanted to hear, Wan Qiu, feeling extremely unhappy, chose the safest method and remained silent.
"Sorry, second brother won't ask anymore." Yang Ze covered his eyes, or rather he would rather cover his face.
He didn't want his expression to make Wan Qiu nervous.
"There are no wounds. Go wash them." Even after hearing about Wan Qiu's condition, Yang Ze found that he couldn't really stand in front of Wan Qiu normally. "Second brother is waiting for you outside. If there is any pain and you can't wash it, you can call me in."
Yang closed the bathroom door, stood there, and listened to the changing sounds of the water.
Leaning weakly against the wall beside the bathroom door, Yang Ze couldn't even sigh.
He fled in a hurry.
The wounds on Wan Qiu's body and his calm expression, as if he didn't care about the wounds, seemed to be accusing him.
Those scars, left by who knows who and for what reason, all seemed to have turned into dark and vicious fingers pointing at him, mocking, despising, and accusing...
'This is all your fault.'
'You are the cause of all this that happened to him!'
'Because you lost him!'
Wan Qiu stood in the bathtub, and the delicate feeling of the warm water rushing over his skin was very comfortable.
Why is this happening?
Is it because the shower head is different?
Wan Qiu raised his head to look at the shower head. There was not a single blocked hole in the shower head, and the water flowed down finely and evenly. Wan Qiu blinked, as if he saw the shower head like a blooming flower.
Wan Qiu unconsciously stood on tiptoe, wanting to take a closer look at the shower head.
My feet suddenly slipped, my body lost balance, and I subconsciously fell to the side.
His hands were waving around unconsciously, and suddenly he grabbed the safety handrail set up on the side, but his other hand unconsciously pushed away the toiletries placed on the edge of the bathtub.
Things were scattered all over the floor.
The moment Yang Ze heard the sound, he suddenly opened the bathroom door. Wan Qiu was kneeling in the bathtub, holding the safety rail with one hand.
The moment Wan Qiu raised his eyes to look at Yang Ze, Yang Ze suddenly saw panic in his eyes, which were slightly obscured by his wet, slightly long hair.
"Wan Qiu..." Yang Ze suddenly called Wan Qiu's name, but saw Wan Qiu suddenly closed his eyes and let go of the safety handrail.
He curled up in the bathtub, wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in his arms. His whole body was tense and curled up, as if resisting what was about to happen.
Yang Ze suddenly stopped where he was.
The toiletries were scattered all over the floor, blocking the two of them in a mess.
It seemed that to Wan Qiu, this piece of land was the evidence of his guilt.
Wan Qiu did not tremble. His thin fingers were clenched tightly and huddled in a corner where the water could not reach him.
Yang opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't even make a sound.
Bending down, Yang Ze picked up the toiletries on the ground. For a moment, Yang Ze didn't even have the courage to look up at Wan Qiu.
However, a thin hand stretched out from the bathtub and picked up the scattered items in Yang Ze's sight.
Yang Ze paused his fingertips and looked up at the child in front of him.
Wan Qiu's moist eyes seemed to be afraid of something, and his eyelashes were trembling slightly. He was like a cat that had spilled the cat litter, curled up into a ball, but at the same time wanted to save something, so he moved closer to his owner with his ears drooping.
Even though he was so scared that he was frozen, he still had to clean up the mess himself.
Yang Ze even wondered if his actions of cleaning up were a silent threat to Wan Qiu.
"Does it hurt anywhere?" Yang Ze asked again when he didn't get Wan Qiu's answer.
Wan Qiu shook his head.
Yang Ze looked at the safety handrail. Although it was installed just in case, he didn't expect to use it on the first day. He was... glad.
Yang Ze reached out and patted Wan Qiu on the head, but Wan Qiu closed his eyes and his whole body was as stiff as a stone.
The water droplets in Wanqiu's hair stained Yang Ze's palm, and the coolness of the water seemed to flow along his palm and into his heart.
"It's okay, just continue washing."
Yang Ze's clothes were all wet with water vapor, and the feeling of the gray shirt sticking to his body was not pleasant, this sticky feeling that he couldn't get rid of.
Rather than being in his body, it was more like it was stuck in his blood vessels, blocking every movement.
Wan Qiu returned to the water flow again, but opened his eyes and secretly observed Yang Ze.
Wan Qiu's eyelashes were wet, water dripped from the corners of his eyes, and the soft and sticky boy was washed by the clear water.
Only panic and fear were washed away, not trust.
"sorry."
Amid the delicate and faint sound of water flowing past his ears, Wan Qiu seemed to hear a sound even softer than the water.
Wan Qiu raised his head, but his eyes narrowed slightly due to the water droplets hitting him, so he couldn't see Yang Ze's expression at this moment.
Wan Qiu felt that Yang Ze was a strange brother.
Clearly, unhappiness was written all over his body, but he seemed to be trapped in that human-shaped frame, with no intention of spreading out.
Yang turned his back, as if he wanted Wan Qiu not to see his face.
"Aze, Wanqiu, are you not done yet?" Yang Xiaoyu suddenly knocked on the bathroom door. Her clear voice broke through the bathroom door, breaking the sound of water in the bathroom. "Can mommy come in?"
"Xiao Yu." Chu Jianshu's helpless voice sounded beside him.
If Chu Jianshu hadn't been there, Yang Xiaoyu would probably have broken in by now.
"Wanqiu baby, mommy brought you several pieces of clothes. Can you come out and let mommy try them on?" Yang Xiaoyu knocked on the bathroom door, obviously not going to give up until the door was opened.
Yang sighed, also feeling relieved.
Yang Ze pulled the white bath towel and wrapped Wan Qiu in it. He had never felt that a bath towel was so big.
Wan Qiu poked his little head out from the soft white bath towel, and his beautiful eyes were so cute when he looked at him.
Short, thin, and fragile.
Both the Chu and Yang families have good genes, and it is rare to see short offspring.
Thinking that Wan Qiu was suffering from long-term malnutrition, the idea of "cute" seemed to be mocking Yang Ze's ignorance.
Wan Qiu walked out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel. His overly thin body was hidden in the bath towel. At first glance, it was impossible to tell whether it was Wan Qiu wearing the bath towel or the bath towel wearing him.
Yang Xiaoyu looked at Wan Qiu, who was washed clean and exuding moisture, and suddenly bent down and buried his head in Wan Qiu's neck.
Wan Qiu raised his head high and allowed Yang Xiaoyu to do such intimate things, with his arms wrapped around the bath towel, as if the towel would fall apart if he let go of his hands.
"Our baby, you smell so good after taking a bath." Yang Xiaoyu looked at the thin shoulder blades in the bath towel, "Mom will work hard to raise you into a little sweet pig."
Although Wan Qiu didn't know what a mini pig was, he knew what a pig was.
Pigs are animals that can be eaten.
Humans cannot be transformed into pigs, nor can they be eaten.
This is an impossible task.
"Mom, let me apply the ointment for you first?" Yang Xiaoyu half-hugged Wan Qiu and went to the sofa.
When Chu Jianshu saw Yang Xiaoyu pulling Wan Qiu into the room, he looked at Yang Ze who was wiping his wet shirt with a dry towel in the bathroom.
"Is this child noisy while taking a bath?" Chu Jianshu glanced at the well-behaved Wan Qiu and felt that it was not the case.
"It was just an accident." Yang Ze said.
"Go change your clothes, dinner will be here soon," Chu Jianshu suggested.
Yang nodded, but when he reached the door, he paused and turned back to ask, "Dad, is there anything that my third brother shouldn't eat?"
"It seems that there is no such thing now. The child eats everything." However, Chu Jianshu thought about it and said, "He likes fruits very much. Maybe he will prefer sweet things."
"What about the annoying ones?"
However, Chu Jianshu sighed slightly: "I'm not sure."
"I know, Dad. I'm going to change my clothes."
Yang Ze left, but Chu Jianshu remained silent.
As a father, he noticed the change in Yang Ze's mood.
I turned around and looked at the two people applying medicine on the sofa.
The areas covered by Wan Qiu's clothes were enough to show that he inherited Yang Xiaoyu's fair skin, but probably because he was scavenging outside in the summer without any protection, the areas exposed to the sun were tanned a lot.
Malnourished and thin, if it weren't for his outstanding facial features, this child would probably be ugly.
The young man sitting on the sofa, with his head tilted up, his bright and clear eyes were always empty when facing them, but now they were filled with Yang Xiaoyu.
Even at the age of fourteen, Wan Qiu does not seem to have the thinking ability that a normal person should have. His instinct makes him rely on someone, and he seems to be particularly dependent on the identity of "mother".
When Chu Jianshu met Wan Qiu for the first time, he also saw how much Wan Qiu relied on Ning Qiaozhen.
Looking at his wife who was jumping for joy at this moment, she was obviously completely immersed in the joy of having her lost child return to her side, and had completely forgotten about Wan Qiu's abnormality.
Mom is very happy.
Wan Qiu kept looking at Yang Xiaoyu. Yang Xiaoyu's joy was completely clear on her face, but she seemed unhappy when she was applying medicine to herself.
Yang Xiaoyu's hand stopped at the most obvious wound on Wan Qiu's chest. The mark left by the sutures was still clearly visible on the wound. His fingers stroked the scar, as if he had traveled through time and saw the hideous appearance of the bloody and flesh that once existed.
"It must have been very painful at that time?" Yang Xiaoyu's eyes were fixed on the scar.
Wan Qiu didn't say anything. He didn't see any indication from Yang Xiaoyu's expression that he needed to answer.
But in fact, Wan Qiu didn't feel much pain.
I spent most of the time in a fever and feeling groggy.
Because his grandmother was always taking care of him, Wan Qiu felt that he was not sad even though he was injured and had a fever.
"If you get hurt in the future, you must tell mom, okay?" Yang Xiaoyu looked at the scar and thought that Wan Qiu was still young, and with recuperation and medication, the scar should be able to fade to the point where it is invisible.
"Yeah." Wan Qiu remembered.
"Come on, Wan Qiu, wear this dress and show it to your mother?" After all the scars were coated with ointment, Yang Xiaoyu unfolded a piece of dress and handed it to Wan Qiu.
Wan Qiu took the clothes, but the clothes in his hand were soft and the fabric was something Wan Qiu had never touched before.
Wan Qiu pinched the clothes, and his hands tightened unconsciously.
Wan Qiu's fingers have calluses left by holding a pen for a long time every day, and by carrying pliers when going out every day. These thick and not delicate calluses seem to be able to easily damage these overly delicate clothes.
"Do you want your mother to help you put it on?" Yang Xiaoyu asked when she saw Wan Qiu's slow movements.
Wan Qiu raised his eyes and saw that Yang Xiaoyu's expression was more playful than serious. He shook his head and put on his clothes.
The clothes are pure white, with a neutral design and are slightly fluffy, which slightly covers Wan Qiu's overly thin and protruding joints. The clothes are light and very comfortable against the skin.
"Our baby still looks young, and it's the perfect time for her to look cute wearing clothes like this." Yang Xiaoyu's gaze fell on Wan Qiu's legs. Wan Qiu was wearing shorts with his entire legs exposed.
It is slender and slightly curved, but not very pretty, with prominent joints. However, with her appreciation of beauty, she will definitely become very beautiful in the future.
Wanqiu is still in the growth stage of those annoying scars, and they will slowly disappear with the help of medication.
Yang Xiaoyu felt bad whenever he thought about the origin of these scars.
While Yang Xiaoyu was silent, he noticed that Wan Qiu had sat down.
She didn't just sit down, but curled up her legs, with her snow-white long sleeves covering her thin legs, as if she was intentionally hiding the scars on them.
Yang Xiaoyu was stunned and looked at Wan Qiu again. Wan Qiu's extremely beautiful and outstanding eyes had their eyelashes slightly drooped, as if he was nervous.
Those clear eyes flickered slightly, then turned to look at Yang Xiaoyu.
At this moment, Yang Xiaoyu understood Wan Qiu's actions.
Wan Qiu caught her emotions after seeing the scars, and he tried to ease her unhappy mood by making it invisible to himself.
Yang Xiaoyu suddenly realized that he was the real factor affecting Wan Qiu.
Yang Xiaoyu smiled bitterly. After being a mother for so many years, this was the first time she understood this truth so clearly.
"Come on, mom will take you to eat." Yang Xiaoyu suddenly stood up, took Wan Qiu's hand, and walked out the door.
Chu Jianshu rarely saw his wife controlling her emotions so carefully and patiently.
The Chu family felt a little depressed.
This is because they as parents failed to bring a positive direction to the family.
Is it too late to change now?
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