Chapter 4 Bitterness: Who can resist the kindness of a brother?
As Lin Yu expected, Zhou Ke still didn't go to the bar on the second night after returning.
The old-style apartment building didn't have an elevator, but luckily Lin Yu's apartment was only on the third floor. As she walked up the narrow, old stairs, a middle-aged woman rushed towards her. Upon seeing her, the woman suddenly raised her voice in surprise and exclaimed, "Lin Yu!"
Her tone carried a hint of surprise and disbelief, but when Lin Yu raised her chin to look at her, she suddenly smiled and said happily, "I thought I had mistaken you for someone else, but it really is you. When are you coming back?"
Upon seeing her, Lin Yu first politely greeted Aunt Zhong before replying, "I just got back yesterday."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying's smile widened, and wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes. "No wonder, I only saw you today. Are you on vacation? Did you come back for summer break?"
Lin Yu nodded and smiled, saying yes.
Zhong Ying is a resident upstairs from Lin Yu's family. She has lived here for almost ten years. Her job is as a head nurse at the nearby People's Hospital. She is a warm-hearted person. As the saying goes, a close neighbor is worse than a distant relative. Zhou Ke was adopted by Lin Yu's family as an orphan. When Lin Yu was born, her mother had a difficult childbirth. Her father wanted a boy and, seeing that she was a girl, he was not willing to take care of her. Instead, he blamed her for causing her mother's death. Later, it was Lin Yu's uncle who bravely rushed to the Jiang family and took Lin Yu away to raise her.
After her uncle died, Lin Yu severed ties with her maternal grandmother's side of the family, and in recent years she and her brother have lived together, relying on each other for survival.
Zhong Ying was a kind-hearted person. Knowing that there were no elders to take care of this family, only the brother and sister, she would always visit them during festivals to bring them things. Some of these things were handmade by her, while others were brought back to the city from her parents' home in the countryside.
After receiving gifts so many times, Zhou Ke and Lin Yu felt uncomfortable accepting them anymore. Zhong Ying, however, would put on a stern face and pretend to be angry, always having to persuade the siblings to accept the gifts.
After Lin Yu's uncle died, Lin Yu fell seriously ill. At that time, Zhou Ke had to juggle his studies with taking care of her.
During my hospital stay, I was very grateful for her care.
Zhong Ying genuinely cared for Lin Yu. Having not seen her for almost a year, they inevitably had a chat: "You look like you've lost a lot of weight. Are you having a hard time out there?"
"No, no," Lin Yu shook her head repeatedly.
Zhong Ying sighed and said, "Life outside is never as good as home. It's rare for you to come back. Tell your brother to give you some extra nourishment. Your chin is so thin it's practically sticking out. Oh, by the way, Lily is on vacation too. Come over and visit sometime. I have to rush to the hospital for my night shift right now. I'll be home during the day tomorrow. Come over for lunch. I'll cook something delicious for you."
Lin Yu felt too embarrassed to trouble them, so she simply smiled and politely declined.
Zhong Ying, as always, said in a haughty tone, "Hey, why are you being so polite with me? It's settled then. I'll be going now, or I'll be late."
Before Lin Yu could even speak, he hurriedly left.
Lin Yu was left standing there, blinking helplessly.
When I got home, my brother was busy in the kitchen.
Lin Yu walked towards her brother in her slippers. Hearing the noise, Zhou Ke turned around and glanced at his sister. "You're back."
"Hmm." Lin Yu leaned against the kitchen door frame, watching her brother deftly pour chicken pieces into the pot, the aroma of the meat wafting through the air to her nose.
Zhou Ke glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw a hint of weariness on her face. He asked, "Are you tired from playing?"
"A little."
Knowing she had gone out with friends, but now she came back empty-handed, Zhou Ke pressed her for an answer: "Why didn't you buy yourself anything?"
Lin Yu has a very low desire to shop and rarely goes out shopping. At school, she spends most of her time in the library or working part-time.
Every year at the start of the school year, Zhou Ke would deposit a sum of money into her account, and then another sum every month thereafter. She wasn't short of money; she only took part-time jobs to suffocate herself and numb her nerves so that she wouldn't have any more delusional thoughts.
During the meal, Lin Yu and Zhou Ke talked about their encounter with Zhong Ying in the stairwell.
“Go ahead,” Zhou Ke said. “I have something to do tomorrow and won’t be able to cook for you at home.”
Lin Yu didn't ask him what it was about, she just nodded and said okay.
The next day, when Lin Yu woke up, Zhou Ke had already left home. On the dining table was the breakfast he had bought earlier and a light green sticky note with flowing handwriting that read: "Remember to eat breakfast."
Breakfast was her usual three things: soy milk, fried dough sticks, and a tea egg.
Thinking about what Zhong Ying said yesterday, since she was going to visit, she couldn't go empty-handed. After breakfast, Lin Yu took her keys and went to a fruit shop near the community, where she bought some seasonal fruit and a seven-pound watermelon.
The scorching sun beat down on the city. Even though the fruit shop wasn't far from the neighborhood, Lin Yu was still sweating from the heat as she went back and forth, and her cheeks were flushed from the sun.
Lin Yu carried the two bags of fruit and struggled to climb to the fourth floor.
The plastic bag left two indented red marks on her fair palms. She put down the bag and knocked on the door twice.
The door opened shortly after, and Zhong Ying greeted him with a smile, "You're here."
Lin Yu hummed in agreement and was about to go inside with her things when Zhong Ying saw her and shook her head with a tsk tsk: "You're here, why are you carrying anything?"
Lin Yu smiled slightly, revealing two small dimples, "It's too hot outside, Aunt Zhong has worked hard on all this."
"You're still as sensible as ever." Zhong Ying helped carry the things into the house, then turned around, poured a glass of water and handed it to Lin Yu, before shouting into the room behind her, "Lily, come out quickly."
As soon as she finished speaking, a girl with messy hair peeked out from the room. She was wearing a floral camisole top and shorts, and she was yawning as she came out. But soon, when she stood in the house with Lin Yu, she exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Sister Lin Yu, when did you get here?"
Lin Yu put down her cup and said, "Just arrived."
At this moment, Zhong Ying came out of the kitchen, glanced at Lili, and scolded her with a stern face: "You always turn day and night upside down when it's a holiday. The sun is already high in the sky when you finally get out of bed."
Lily couldn't stand Zhong Ying's nagging the most. Upon hearing this, she immediately covered her ears, let out a long sigh, and took Lin Yu's hand. "I won't listen, I won't listen. Sister, come to the room with me."
As soon as she entered the room, Lily sprawled out on the bed, complaining, "Isn't vacation supposed to be for sleeping? Otherwise, how am I supposed to make up for all the sleep I lose during school every day?"
Lin Yu didn't answer but asked in return, "I remember you'll be a senior in high school in September, right?"
“Yes,” Lily sighed. “What’s coming my way is a year of intense academic life.”
As they were talking, Zhong Ying brought a plate of sliced fruit from outside and placed it on the desk in the room: "Have some fruit first, dinner will be ready soon."
Lily sat up in bed, picked up a fork and poked at a piece of cantaloupe. Then, as if remembering something, she suddenly turned to look at Lin Yu: "Sister, you're not going to stay for a few days again after you come back this time, are you?"
Lily was referring to last year's winter break, when she took a part-time job as a copywriter at a company through her senior's introduction. She didn't return until just before the Lunar New Year, only stayed at home for four days, and then hurriedly returned to Jiangcheng.
Lin Yu shook her head and said, "No, I will stay until the start of the semester."
"That's good, then I can come and play with you every day."
Lin Yu laughed at her: "The college entrance exam is just around the corner, and you're still thinking about playing?"
"Oh dear, am I even balancing work and rest? I'm doing test papers every day, even in my dreams. I'm practically turning into a square test paper myself."
At the same time, Lin Yu, now a junior in college, still remembers those days of oppression, helplessness, and struggling in a lonely sea.
That was also the first time she realized her feelings for Zhou Ke.
She secluded herself in this sea, letting wave after wave of waves soak her. She lost her way, yet she still guarded this secret that no one could know.
Footsteps approached her ear. Lin Yu looked out the window at the dazzling sunlight. Outside the room, Zhong Ying smiled and said to the two children, "Come out quickly, it's time to eat."
When she was little, Lin Yu had eaten at Zhong Ying's house many times. Now, eating this meal, it still tasted just like she remembered. Zhong Ying put a chicken wing in her bowl and said, "Try it and see if Auntie's cooking skills have deteriorated."
Lin Yu picked up her chopsticks, took a bite of chicken, and praised, "No, it's still just as delicious."
"Come to Auntie's often if you like it." Zhong Ying said, "By the way, this summer vacation isn't too long, but it's not too short either. Have you thought about how you're going to spend it? Are you planning to go out and play with your friends or what?"
Lin Yu: "I have no other plans for the time being, so I'll just stay at home."
"I see." Zhong Ying's smile faded. "Xiao Yu, Auntie wants to discuss something with you. Do you think it's alright?"
Lin Yu looked up: "Please speak."
Zhong Ying put down her chopsticks and crossed her arms on the table. "Look, in the blink of an eye, Lily will be a senior in high school in the second half of the year. However, her grades have always been mediocre. I was thinking of enrolling her in a tutoring class during the summer vacation, but she refuses to go no matter what. I was thinking, you were also among the top ten in the province to get into Jiangda University, and our families live close by. Do you think you could spare some time each day to tutor Lily? Don't worry, Auntie won't let you work for nothing. I'll pay you the market rate for tutors per hour."
Upon hearing this, Lily immediately put down her chopsticks and bowl, and in a drawn-out tone, called out to her mother, "We're eating, why are you suddenly bringing this up?"
Zhong Ying glared at her and said, "Isn't this all for your own good? If your grades were as good as your brother Zhou Ke and sister Lin Yu, I wouldn't have to worry about this."
Lin Yu didn't expect Zhong Ying to talk to her about this. Over the years, Aunt Zhong had helped them a lot, so she wouldn't refuse such a small favor. Besides, she really didn't have any plans for the holiday. "Aunt Zhong is too kind to talk about money. As long as Lili is willing, I can set aside three or four hours every day to tutor her."
Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, she has no choice. I'm so grateful to you. But I still have to give her the money, otherwise I won't feel right about it."
Lin Yu: "Really, no need. If you want to talk to me about money, I'm not coming."
Seeing Lin Yu say this, Zhong Ying didn't insist. She just smiled and then put another piece of meat on Lin Yu's plate. "Then thank you for your trouble. Come to my place for meals when you have time. Your brother is busy, and you're all alone at home. Why bother cooking? Just come to my place. It'll be more lively with more chopsticks."
Lin Yu looked at the ever-growing amount of food in her bowl and smiled helplessly, "Thank you, Auntie, I can get it for myself."
Back home, Lin Yu told Zhou Ke about tutoring Lili.
A foreign film was playing on the television in the living room. Zhou Ke turned to look at his sister and said, "I've thought it through."
Lin Yu ate the washed grapes from the plate. "Hmm, Aunt Zhong has helped us a lot in the past. It's just tutoring, nothing special."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ke knew what his sister was thinking. He said directly, "Don't be polite. If you don't want to go, then don't go. I'll talk to Aunt Zhong and ask her to come back for summer vacation. I don't want you to be busy with this and that again. Vacation is for resting." After saying that, he continued to ask, "There are still more than fifty days of vacation left. Have you thought about where to go?"
Lin Yu, with a grape in her mouth, said, "Jiayi invited me to visit her uncle's summer resort."
Zhou Ke knew Jiayi; she was his sister's good friend and a very lively and active girl. He had met her quite a few times. With such a long holiday, it would be boring to stay at home every day.
After listening, Zhou Ke picked up his phone, fiddled with it for a while, and the next second, Lin Yu heard her phone ring.
She picked up her phone, which was lying to the side, and saw a bright transfer amount. Her slender fingertips tapped the screen, and when she saw the amount, Lin Yu couldn't help but take a deep breath. She looked up at her brother in disbelief: "Why did you suddenly transfer money to me? And such a large amount as ten thousand?"
Zhou Ke: "Here's your vacation time, take it and have some fun."
Lin Yu didn't know whether to laugh or not. She put down her phone and said, "I have money. I've earned quite a bit from part-time jobs over the years."
It's unclear which two words touched a nerve, but Zhou Ke's originally calm expression suddenly turned cold and stern. "Don't mention your part-time job in front of me. People who don't know better will think your brother isn't supporting you anymore. Why are you putting yourself through this during your school years?"
Lin Yu paused in her chewing, a tingling sensation in her heart like ants biting her. She lowered her head and said absentmindedly, "I'm just being considerate of my brother's hard work in earning money."
Zhou Ke: "No matter how hard you've worked all these years, I haven't let you go hungry, have I? Isn't your brother's money meant for your sister to spend? Or is it that now that you're an adult, you can't wait to separate from your brother and don't even want to spend money on him anymore?"
The fruit in her mouth suddenly lost its flavor, and Lin Yu sat on the sofa in a daze, even her breathing slowed down.
She had already embarked on a path of crime; how could she possibly accept her brother's kindness?
The bathtub was overflowing with water, but he kept adding more, his chest heaving. Lin Yu turned her head to look at her brother's gentle eyebrows and handsome features, as well as his ever-gentle eyes, under the light.
Who can resist the kindness of an older brother?
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