Chapter 12 I Want My Brother When We Meet
Not long after Lin Yu was born, Lin Xiangyun suffered postpartum hemorrhage. In an era of scarce medical resources, this alone could be fatal. Despite the hospital's best efforts, they could not change the fact that she died two hours after Lin Yu's birth.
After Lin Xiangyun's death, Jiang Guohua became even more despicable. He was obsessed with his son, but who would have thought that he would give birth to a girl? Thinking of this, he had no heart to take care of the two children. When Lin Yu was born, Zhou Ke was only six years old. At the age when he was still a child himself, he was forced to take on the responsibility of taking care of Lin Yu.
Lin Yu's uncle already looked down on Jiang Guohua, and when he learned that Jiang Guohua was such a terrible father, he was furious. He stormed into the Jiang family home, grabbed Jiang Guohua by the collar, beat him until his face was bruised and swollen, and looked at him with eyes like knives, saying, "Since you don't want to raise him, then the child will stay with me from now on."
The Jiang family initially refused, even though it was a daughter, she was still their Jiang family's child.
Lin Ye, however, was not accustomed to them. He had a bad reputation. He was a policeman in his early years, but was later sentenced to ten years for manslaughter. After finally getting out, he made a living on construction sites. He was strong and could beat Jiang Guohua like a chick. Jiang Guohua's face was swollen from the beating. When Lin Ye said that he would let him raise the child, he said he would come to the door once every two weeks. If he couldn't find him, he would come once a week.
Jiang Guohua didn't want to take care of the child in the first place, and the injuries on his face were still throbbing. When Lin Ye threatened him like this, he felt like he was holding a hot potato and hurriedly said, "Fine, fine, you say you'll raise the child, so you can raise the child."
And so, Lin Yu was wrapped in thick swaddling clothes and brought out of the Jiang family home by Lin Ye.
Just as he was about to leave, a small figure blocked the doorway. The moment Lin Ye stepped out of the house, the figure reached out and grabbed Lin Ye's clothes. Lin Ye looked down and saw a child who was only half his height. The child looked up and stared at him with his dark eyes.
Lin looked down at the child, who was only up to his waist, and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"
Zhou Ke pursed his lips, his eyes revealing a melancholy beyond his years, and pleaded softly, "Can I see my sister again?"
Lin Ye was taken aback when he heard this, but then he slowly remembered that his sister had adopted a boy from an orphanage. Thinking of this, Lin Ye's question was put aside. However, he was not sure if he could hold such a small child. After hesitating for a while, he simply squatted down to make it easier for Zhou Ke to look after his sister.
Zhou Ke lowered his eyes, staring intently at his younger sister sleeping soundly in her swaddling clothes. Her eyes were quietly closed, her nostrils twitching slightly, and her soft hair. His gaze lingered on her for a long time. When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with reluctance. He looked at Lin Ye and asked, word by word, "You will treat her well, won't you?"
Lin blurted out, "Of course."
"That's good."
After Lin Yu left, Zhou Ke was left alone in the family.
Jiang Guohua didn't care about Lin Xiangyun when she was alive, let alone after she died.
He wished Zhou Ke could just live or die on his own.
Thus, Zhou Ke endured a long period of hardship, often going hungry and cold, relying on the free lunch provided by the school every day. Later, Zhou Ke fainted from hunger at home, and a kind-hearted neighbor, unable to bear seeing his plight, would bring him to their home for a hearty meal.
It was from that time that Zhou Ke gradually developed an awareness of making money. After school, he would go along the street to collect cardboard and plastic bottles from the trash cans, accumulating them little by little, and then drag them to the recycling station to sell. The first money he earned in his life was three 10-cent bills, which was just enough to buy a few sesame cakes and barely enough to fill his stomach.
The turning point came when Lin Yu was three years old.
That summer, Jiang Guohua was hit by a truck on his way home in the middle of the night while drunk. He died before he could even get to the hospital.
When the news reached Lin Ye, he put his hands on his hips and cursed under his breath, "Serves him right, God really has eyes."
But when he got home and saw Lin Yu sitting on the sofa quietly reading a picture book, he still seemed lost in thought for a while. After all, he was still a father.
There's no need for people to meet while they're alive, but when someone dies, it's always appropriate to burn some paper money as a tribute.
On the day of the burial, Lin also brought Lin Yu back to the Jiang family for the first time.
That was the first time Zhou Ke had seen Lin Yu in three years.
She wore two shoulder-length braids and a pretty light blue dress. Standing in the drab crowd, she was a bright spot. At that time, the economy was booming, and Lin also made a lot of money at the construction site. He had no material desires and used all the money he earned to support Lin Yu.
He would buy Lin Yu lots of nice clothes and shoes that she could never wear. Even the old lady couldn't stand it and said that children grow up so fast, why buy so many things? They could never wear them all. But Lin Yu always ignored her.
Young ladies should dress up beautifully.
A grown man, just getting by, even learned how to braid a young girl's hair.
Many times, when he saw Lin Yu babbling and walking unsteadily, he would feel a little dazed, always feeling that it was fortunate that he still had some attachments in the world, otherwise, how bitter life would be.
After the memorial service, Lin Ye was about to leave with Lin Yu, but this time, he was stopped by Zhou Ke once again.
Lin looked at the twelve or thirteen-year-old boy in front of him. He could hardly remember what the boy looked like back then, but when he met the boy's dark and bright eyes, he vaguely remembered: "You are the one my sister adopted back then?"
Zhou Ke nodded.
Lin looked down at him, noticing his worn and ill-fitting clothes, the sleeves too short, revealing his thin wrists. A thin red mark was faintly visible on his arm. He looked thinner than his peers. Lin frowned, feeling a pang of unease. He asked, "Were the injuries on your body inflicted by your father?"
Zhou Ke shook his head and said, slowly and deliberately, "He is not my father."
Lin squinted, clearly seeing that his life in the Jiang family wasn't easy either. Now that Jiang Guohua was dead, he figured no one in the Jiang family would care about his life or death anymore. The child was so young; if no one took care of him, he'd probably end up homeless on the streets.
He crouched down, sighed deeply, and looked at Zhou Ke earnestly: "He's dead. Have you thought about how you're going to live your life now?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke lowered his head and fell silent.
He never experienced what home was; perhaps from the moment he was abandoned by his biological parents, he was destined to be a wanderer.
Seeing that he didn't speak, Lin Ye's heart began to waver slightly. Just then, Lin Yu walked over with small steps. She leaned softly against Lin Ye's side, looked up, and asked in a muffled voice, "Uncle, aren't we leaving yet?"
Zhou Ke was drawn to her soft, sweet voice. His fingertips curled involuntarily, and he lowered his head even further. Everything about him looked so disheveled—the ill-fitting clothes, the chapped skin—while she was so beautiful, like a carefully nurtured pearl, radiant and dazzling. Subconsciously, he didn't want his sister to see him in his current state.
Lin Qiang reached out and touched Lin Yu's braid, saying softly, "Wait a moment, we'll be back soon."
Lin Yu hummed softly, then tilted her head to look at Zhou Ke, her round eyes filled with curiosity, and asked, "Uncle, who is he?"
Hearing this, Lin Ye glanced at Zhou Ke and saw his chin slightly lowered, his gaze fixed on the ground. He took Lin Yu's hand, pointed at Zhou Ke, and told her, "Call him brother."
Lin Yu stood opposite Zhou Ke, her clear, bright eyes blinking as she looked at him. A strange feeling suddenly rose in her heart. She pursed her lips and called out softly, "Brother, brother."
Upon hearing those two words, Zhou Ke was slightly taken aback. This was the first time he had heard Lin Yu call him. He slowly raised his head and met Lin Yu's innocent gaze. Seeing Zhou Ke looking at her, Lin Yu smiled at him.
Seeing this, Zhou Ke's lips curved into a gentle smile, and he stared at her with clear, bright eyes.
Seeing this scene, a thought vaguely popped into Lin Ye's mind. He looked at Zhou Ke and thought, raising one is the same as raising two, and Lin Yu can at least have a companion.
So he looked at Zhou Ke and asked, "Do you want to come with us?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he couldn't believe it: "Is...is that possible?"
Lin didn't speak, but instead asked Lin Yu's opinion, "Do you like this older brother?"
Lin Yu nodded, her bright black eyes crinkling into a crescent moon as she smiled. "I like it."
Lin then asked, "What if he lives with us in the future?"
Lin Yu frowned slightly, seemingly unable to understand what living together meant. Lin Ye then explained gently to her, "It means that from now on, you can see him every day, just like your uncle and grandmother, who can be with you every day."
Upon hearing this, Lin Yu immediately understood. She looked at her uncle, and then, under their expectant gazes, nodded emphatically and said with a smile, "I want a brother."
"Okay." Upon receiving the reply, Lin Ye laughed heartily. He picked Lin Yu up and patted Zhou Ke's shoulder with his other hand. "Let's go home."
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