Chapter 107 A Lifetime Together (Zhao'er's Side Story)
"Zhao'er, Zhao'er," Mr. Shui Jing gently tapped the table.
He quickly raised his head and looked at Mr. Shui Jing.
"When reading, you must concentrate." Mr. Shui Jing put down his book and sat down beside him. "What were you thinking about just now?"
Zhao'er shook her head and said only, "I'm worried about leaving my sister home alone."
“It’s understandable that you’re worried about your sister,” Mr. Shuijing nodded and smiled.
“Sir!” Zhao’er suddenly stood up abruptly. “I want to go home and visit.”
“Zhao’er…” Mr. Shui Jing frowned slightly, “Your studies should be your priority.”
"In Zhao'er's eyes, nothing in the world can compare to her sister."
Mr. Shui Jing was slightly taken aback. "You do whatever your sister tells you to do?"
"yes."
"What if your sister is wrong?"
“Sister can’t be wrong,” Zhao’er said firmly.
"What if we're wrong?" Mr. Shuijing insisted.
"What defines right and wrong?" Zhao'er blinked and asked in return.
When asked out of the blue, Mr. Shui Jing pondered for a moment.
“Sister once said that truth lies in the hands of the majority. So, can this be interpreted as the majority being right?” Zhao’er asked herself and answered, then smiled and said, “Even if everyone in the world thinks that sister is wrong, in Zhao’er’s eyes, sister will always be right.”
Mr. Shui Jing frowned and placed a hand on Zhao'er's still thin shoulder. "Zhao'er, you are intelligent and quick-witted, but your mind is not yet settled. If you are guided onto the right path, you can achieve great things and do great good. However, those with quick wit are most likely to go astray, while those who are not will be doomed."
“Sir, please don’t take it to heart. Everyone has their own destiny, and fate is determined by heaven.” After saying this, Zhao’er stood up, bowed deeply, and turned to leave.
Mr. Shui Jing gazed at that slender figure, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He had a premonition that the child would not come back.
Zhao'er hurried back, her steps quickening. Her sister was pregnant, and although she was always laughing and joking as usual, Gou'er always felt that something was missing from her expression.
As soon as I reached the gate of the courtyard, I heard a voice coming from inside. It was a woman's voice, but not my sister's.
"There are some things... I don't know if I should say them..."
"Since you've already brought it up, could you please not say anything more?" came the older sister's voice, calm and indifferent.
“These are words I shouldn’t be saying, but… do you know what everyone is saying about you, sir…”
"How so?" Her sister's voice remained calm and even, but Zhao'er could detect a faint trace of pain in it.
“They say that the gentleman is a hypocrite, that the gentleman… that the child in Miss Pei’s belly… is the gentleman’s.”
His sister didn't answer, and there was silence. Zhao'er's heart ached uncontrollably, but he didn't dare to rush into the courtyard. He knew his sister didn't want him to know these things, so... could he pretend not to know?
"Miss Pei...is the child the master's..."
The voice rang out again. Zhao'er gritted her teeth. What right did this woman have to question her sister like that?
"No." The older sister's voice finally rang out, carrying a hint of a smile.
“Miss Pei… I know I’m being a bit harsh, but…” The woman paused, seemingly waiting for her sister’s reply.
What a ridiculous woman! She's already hurt people so badly, yet she still wants to put on a hypocritical face?!
"The child... should be born soon. I heard from my mother that the blood from the birth will stain the place... If the man isn't the father, then... there will be bloodshed... And... what will the villagers think of the man? He's innocent, yet he has to bear such a stigma..."
"What do you want me to do?" the older sister asked in a calm voice.
"I want to... leave here as soon as possible before the baby is born, after all..."
Zhao'er clenched her fist and kicked the door open.
The older sister and the woman both looked towards the doorway.
The woman's face turned pale instantly. She hurriedly said "sorry" and turned to leave.
As Zhao'er watched the woman leave, her fingertips pierced her palm. "Sister, let's go."
He didn't care where she went; he couldn't bear to see his sister humiliated like that. She always had that smiling face, as if nothing mattered, but deep down, she was probably heartbroken… She wasn't actually that strong; she couldn't face everything with a smile…
I hate it so much, I hate it so much... I wish I could grow up overnight, I wish I could have strong arms to lean on overnight...
That way, no one can bully her anymore...
“Xiangyang is so big, we can go somewhere else,” Zhao’er said with a smile as she turned around.
"Didn't you become Master Shui Jing's disciple? How can you just leave like this?"
"The master said I am naturally gifted and quick to understand. I have already learned eight or nine tenths of it, so it's not a problem," Zhao'er said with a shake of her head and a smile, without telling her the truth about what Master Shuijing had said.
When we left, my sister fell asleep in the carriage; she looked very tired.
"I am not alone... not alone..." the older sister murmured in her sleep.
Zhao'er helped her sister lean against her so that she could sleep more comfortably.
"I am not alone... Zhao'er needs me... I am needed..." With a furrowed brow and her eyelashes trembling slightly, she seemed to be dreaming, her tone a murmur as if trying to convince herself.
"Yes, you're not alone. Zhao'er needs you." Zhao'er leaned against her, speaking softly in her ear to comfort her.
"I'm just afraid of being alone... I'm really... terrible..." Her voice trailed off as she drifted off to sleep.
"Sister, you're not alone. Zhao'er will always be with you." Zhao'er gently put her arm around her shoulder and whispered.
His mother told him a secret as she was dying.
She told him that her son had died at birth.
So, who can tell him who he is?
His name is Gou'er (Dog).
It's an unpleasant name, or even a name at all, but when a person has trouble even eating, they won't think about anything else.
Every single day, he followed his father and begged for a living.
Until that day, I met my sister.
She fed him tofu that smelled terrible but tasted delicious, and told him strange but interesting stories.
For the first time, someone had been so kind to him.
His mother was a top courtesan at a brothel. She lived in a beautiful house and wore beautiful clothes. Many times, he would secretly watch her from the corner of the wall. He had fantasized that his mother would wash away the dirt on his body with her own hands, change him into beautiful clothes, and then smile at him gently.
However, her father was beaten to death in front of her mother.
That time, he carried his father across most of Xuchang City. Penniless, he had to sell himself into servitude to bury his father, because… he didn't want his father to be a wandering ghost even in death. (16)
She followed him across most of Xuchang City, and with the only twenty coins she had, her sister buried her father for him.
At her father's grave, she held him in her arms and put something in his mouth—a rich, incredibly sweet fragrance.
She gave me a warm hug and said, "If you want to cry, then cry. Don't hold it in."
And so he really cried.
His sister washed away the filth all over his body by hand, and bought him beautiful clothes, even though... they were for girls...
I still remember my sister wiping the dirt off his face, then staring at him with amazement and saying, "Wow, you're so beautiful!"
At that moment, he thought that if his sister could always be so happy and laugh like that, he would be willing to dress like that and stay by her side for the rest of his life.
Later, my mother also died. She hanged herself in my father's beggar's den after she had taken her revenge.
Before he died, his mother told him that her son had actually died at birth.
She said that he was forcibly put into her arms by a man when she was visiting the lantern festival.
So, who exactly is he?
My mother said that the man was dressed in fine clothes, and if we could find him, we would have no worries about food and clothing.
He had no interest whatsoever in finding out his origins, because he had sold himself to his sister, and thus he belonged to her for life.
He stubbornly followed her, as long as he was with her.
Twenty coins wasn't a price; it was the only reason he could follow her.
Because she bought him, he has to follow her, he has to follow her for the rest of his life, for the rest of his life...
How long is a lifetime?
From Xuchang to Xuzhou, from Xuzhou to Xiangyang, from Xiangyang to Danyang...
He had a new name: Sima Zhao.
He is Zhao'er, but only his sister's Zhao'er.
Through heaven and earth, to the netherworld and the yellow springs, we will never abandon each other in life or death, and will stay together for life.
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