Chapter 89 Brother, Don’t Cry
In deep winter, thick snow weighs down the branches outside the window. Occasionally, the snow wind blows by, and you can hear the sound of snow falling.
Li Ziyue was staring at the note with the address written on it in his hand in a daze.
He graduated from "school" more than two months ago. In addition to receiving a pardon that allowed him to "go home", he also received this note.
【Have you been abandoned by the people around you? 】
[Do you find survival difficult and snowy nights hard to endure? ]
Is your life hopeless?
[Please find us according to the address, we will introduce you to the infinite world and help you create the fantasy town you have always dreamed of]
【Here, all your troubles will disappear】
[This is the real gift we give you to successfully pass the school assessment]
There was a deadline at the end of the note. He had three months from the time he left school to consider whether to go to the address on the note. If the deadline was exceeded, the note would be invalid.
Li Ziyue's eyes darkened, and his hand holding the note tightened.
"elder brother."
Hearing someone calling him from behind, Li Ziyue put the note away.
Zhang Lian had just woken up in the morning. As usual, he stared blankly for a while with lifeless eyes. The only time he was awake was when he called out "Brother". By the time Li Ziyue came over, he had almost "successfully turned on the computer".
Li Ziyue put his hand on his forehead: "It's not hot anymore, how do you feel?"
At three o'clock in the morning last night, Zhang Lian had a high fever again. Li Ziyue was so worried that he couldn't sleep all night. Near dawn, Zhang Lian's condition improved slightly.
Zhang Lian was sitting on the bed, his eyes still narrowed, his hair messy to one side, and he looked like he had not yet woken up.
Feeling Li Ziyue's touch on his forehead, he pulled Li Ziyue's wrist down with both hands, then put his face in Li Ziyue's palm obediently, his voice a little hoarse from the fever: "I don't feel anything."
At this time, Zhang Lian was 14 years old. He was beginning to become more self-aware and alienated from his relatives, but he only wanted to stick to Li Ziyue.
He followed Li Ziyue wherever he went. When Li Ziyue wanted to sleep, he would shrink to his side. Except for burying his head in the crook of Li Ziyue's neck before he would fall asleep, he was very obedient in other aspects.
Li Ziyue helplessly pulled his cheek lightly: "Zhang Lian, you are already 14 years old."
Zhang Lian had not fully grown up at that time, and there was still some childish baby fat on his face. His eyes blinked and his mouth was slightly pulled down. He was very good at pretending to be aggrieved.
"..." Li Ziyue was silent for a while, patted his back and sighed, "Come closer."
Li Zi is more susceptible to soft words than to hard ones, and often raises the white flag to Zhang Lian with a look of tears on his face.
Zhang Lian has one advantage that makes Li Ziyue very satisfied - he is not picky about food and is easy to feed. He can even drink many medicinal soups that Li Ziyue cannot stand the smell of as if they were plain water.
Li Ziyue was very surprised at first.
"I thought a child like you who cries when you're not supported when sleeping would be very delicate," Li Ziyue put away the quilt for him, "After drinking such bitter medicine, don't you want to suck a candy?"
He used to work on other people's windows and saw rich young masters taking medicine in this way, with several servants surrounding them to serve them.
Zhang Lian blinked at Li Ziyue, then stretched out his hand: "Brother, come here."
Li Ziyue was confused.
Zhang Lian put his arms around Li Ziyue's waist and rubbed his face against his chest.
"alright."
He slowly let go of Li Ziyue, picked up the medicine in front of the bed, and drank it without any hesitation.
Li Ziyue supported half of his face and looked at Zhang Lian thoughtfully.
The fact that the medicine tastes bitter is just an introduction.
After spending some time together, Li Ziyue discovered that Zhang Lian was very patient and had a high acceptance of many situations that were objectively very bad.
Originally, Li Ziyue naively thought that Zhang Lian was emotionally stable. However, one time when Zhang Lian had a nosebleed, Li Ziyue saw Zhang Lian holding up his bloody finger in front of him with an expressionless face.
The bright red blood slowly flowed down the curve of his face.
He just stared at her, his eyes so cold that he didn't show any concern for his own safety.
This is obviously not normal.
Li Ziyue couldn't tell whether Zhang Lian was truly indifferent to his own life or was just habitually suppressing all his desires and wishes.
Zhang Lian’s cough often felt muffled in his chest, his hands and feet were frozen red from the cold, and his mental state became worse.
But he didn't say a word, the only willful thing he did was to hold Li Ziyue's hand.
Li Ziyue's eyes drooped, his mood was so complicated that it was hard to describe.
"You've suffered too much following me, Zhang Lian."
"Brother," Zhang Lian raised his head, but suddenly froze, his voice trembling with hoarseness, "Don't cry."
"I..." Li Ziyue turned her face away and hid her tears in the snowflakes of deep winter.
"I don't."
During that period, Zhang Lian's physical condition was extremely poor. He was like a beautiful and fragile little vase, and he would get fever easily. Medicines were scarce and expensive. In order to take good care of Zhang Lian, Li Ziyue took every step with great difficulty.
It is common for him to go out early and come back late. He has done dirty work, heavy work, high-risk and filthy work... As long as it is a job that can earn money, Li Ziyue has basically done it.
Zhang Lian's condition was unpredictable, and even if Li Ziyue spent every penny carefully, he was often unable to save enough to pay for the medical expenses Zhang Lian suddenly needed.
Li Ziyue never thought in his life that he would kneel down to someone else without hesitation.
Li Ziyue was never a good student. He had his own pride and persistence. During his time at school, even though he was isolated by most people, he never lowered his posture.
Behind his extremely cold face lies a warm and gentle heart, as well as an arrogance that actually makes him look down on everyone.
Li Ziyue has his own intelligence, and this intelligence makes him proud and aloof.
Such a person, however, put aside his youthful spirit time and time again for Zhang Lian.
His 17 years were filled with compromises with others.
On countless cold nights, with the wind and snow on his body, he knocked on other people's doorbells lightly and heavily.
"Please, I will sell myself to you..."
He knelt on the frosty snow, his hair roughly pulled up by the person in front of him, and he had no choice but to turn his thin face towards the person.
"A beautiful child." The man laughed. "Do you know what it means when a beautiful child tells me that he wants to sell himself to me?"
There was no expression in Li Ziyue's eyes. He was originally thin, and now he was just a skeleton.
With a numb expression and stiff movements, the Li Ziyue who once said to Liu Yuche with a little pride, "My hands won't shake, I can do everything well" seemed to have died in another winter.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of another young man hiding against the wall in the room, peeking at them.
He was about the same age as her, with one side of his face covered with new and old scars, and horrible bruises.
And behind this young man, there are countless more.
Perhaps they have been hidden under the silent snow.
Through this little bit of light, Li Ziyue seemed to have seen the road to death that he was about to take.
He suddenly fell to the ground, coughing violently, but the man seemed to be blind to his pain and pulled him into the house without mercy.
The cruel door covering death was closed, the snow was still falling, and all traces of his journey would be gradually covered up.
On the other side, in the dark room, Zhang Lian was suffering from a fever.
Li Ziyue collapsed in a daze in the mess. The man was breathing weakly and had been beaten to the point of temporarily losing consciousness.
He didn't dare to delay, and despite the pain, he got up from the ground, staggered, and groped around the house for what his real employer needed.
When he was about to leave, the boy who had been hiding by the door and peeping at him came out timidly.
He smiled shyly, holding a small blanket in his hand: "Take this, it's too painful outside."
There were also some painkillers and fever-reducing drugs under the blanket.
Li Ziyue was stunned.
"He's already unconscious," Li Ziyue hesitated, "so... you can take advantage of this time to escape."
The boy just smiled and shook his head.
"I can't run away."
"If I go out, I'll freeze to death. There's no food outside, so I'll starve to death sooner or later." He gradually choked up. "In fact, the world doesn't leave any way for people like us to survive. There's no escape. The world is a huge cage. No matter where we go... we'll die."
Li Ziyue took the blanket that the man handed over.
He pursed his lips and spoke in a hoarse voice: "There will be a way out. As long as you keep going, you will..."
"How are you doing?" the man suddenly interrupted him. "I think you are not doing well. You haven't had a full meal for a long time. Where is your way to survive?"
Li Ziyue turned and left.
The voice came through the whistling wind, with a hazy uncertainty.
He seemed to be answering the wrong question.
"I have a very good little brother who needs my care."
The employer paid him a little more because he was seriously injured. This little salary was enough to buy Zhang Lian's medicine and also for Li Ziyue to buy a candy.
The place where they were living had been severely damaged at that time, and most people had difficulty surviving normally. Candy became scarce and a luxury.
Li Ziyue held the candy in his hand and felt a little anticipation and happiness for the first time in the cold night.
Even if Zhang Lian didn't need it, he still wanted Zhang Lian to have a piece of candy after drinking the bitter medicine.
Because that was what Li Ziyue looked forward to most when he was a child.
Through the small window, he could see many people eating candy.
He would eat candy when he fell down, when he was angry, when he didn’t want to study, and when he couldn’t sleep, he would hold candy in his mouth to coax him to sleep.
At this time, Little Leo would touch his hungry stomach and the bruises on his face where he had just been beaten, and sigh with melancholy and helplessness.
Only those who are loved can have candy.
And he had no one to love.
When Zhang Lian was comatose with a fever, he liked to call out his name, but got no response. Li Ziyue thought about this and hurried back.
However, this time it seems a little different.
Parked outside the shabby bungalow was a high-end car that Li Ziyue had never seen before.
Even the snow around was swept away.
He suddenly felt a little timid and his heart began to beat fast.
Li Ziyue was not stupid. The moment he saw the car, he could probably guess what had happened.
When Zhang Lian was first picked up, he said that he was also a wanderer, but Li Ziyue didn't believe him.
In that period, it was impossible for a young, well-dressed child to end up wandering.
What's more, Zhang Lian gets sick every now and then, and an average family simply can't afford to spend so much time with him.
However, everything came to an abrupt end when Li Ziyue saw the scars Zhang Lian hid under his clothes.
He touched Zhang Lian's head and cleared the snowflakes stuck in his hair.
On that cold night, for the first time, he did not push away Zhang Lian who was approaching him, but instead gently held him in his arms.
"I'm sorry," Li Ziyue lowered his voice, and the warm liquid fell on the ends of Zhang Lian's hair, "I... I didn't know. I made you wait for me outside for so long... I'm sorry, I didn't know."
…
Li Ziyue knew this day might come, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.
Spring is still far away and the note deadline is only a few days away.
Snowflakes are flying, layers of snow and fog are overlapping, it is a bone-chillingly cold winter.
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