Late that night, Qing'er quietly got up.
He took out a brazier and a stack of paper money for the dead.
Today is the anniversary of Qing'er's father's death.
Ever since he could remember, ever since his father passed away, he would burn paper money for his father every year.
In the brazier, the flame was burning, the flames were jumping, and reflecting Qing'er's beautiful eyebrows and eyes.
The paper money was put into the brazier and burned rapidly.
Qing'er sat in front of the brazier and spoke after a long time, as if he was facing his father.
"Dad, it's been fourteen years since you left. Are you doing well over there? Or maybe you've been reincarnated."
"Dad, I actually never understood why you ended up in Chun Man Garden back then. You're beautiful and talented, and you could have gone to a better place and married a better family, but you chose to go into Chun Man Garden and live a life of drunkenness and debauchery."
"I don't understand why you were so sad when you didn't like your brother and the doctor said he would never be able to speak again."
"I don't understand why you jumped off the building. I think you were quite cruel, leaving like that, all alone, leaving behind me, who was only four or five years old, and my brother, who had just left the house."
"When you left, I thought I still had a younger brother, but he was also kidnapped. I was the only one left in this big world."
"I sometimes wonder why you didn't take me away back then. I was so tired. As I grew older, I had the urge to jump from the building several times."
"You brought me into this world, and left me so suddenly. You never showed me the beauty of this world, but left me alone in the Spring Garden, letting me see and taste the filth of the world."
"At that time, I resisted and struggled, but I was alone and my power was too small."
"Do you know what it was like when I was forced to receive my first guest? Do you know what it's been like for me over the past decade, as I fell from light to darkness, from hope to despair, from desperately wanting to escape, to finally falling into a life of drunkenness and debauchery with you?"
"You left, my brother was kidnapped, and I was all alone in this world. Even my body was getting filthier and filthier. Liang'er kept me going, muddled through. But my heart was still corroded, terribly empty. Until later, that person appeared... I cherished her cautiously, but was too self-conscious to dare approach. Later, I finally took a big step forward, but in the end, that person was gone. I know she's still in this world, but I don't know where she is, or if she still remembers me."
"With that glimmer of hope, I met Zhao Chuchu and Zhang Xiuyuan... They are both very good people. They saved me from suffering and allowed me to retain my last bit of self-respect."
"And now... they've led me to my brother."
Having said this, the sadness on Qing'er's face was gradually replaced by relief.
But Qing'er didn't know that at this moment there was a slender figure standing at the door, staying there.
"My younger brother is back, his name is Shen Ci."
When Qing'er said this, the figure's pupils suddenly constricted, his hands clenched tightly, and even his breathing stopped for a moment.
Qing'er continued, "It's said that he gave it to himself. That's impressive, isn't it? He's really amazing. Even without a good learning environment, he still learned to read and write on his own. He can also write beautiful and touching storybooks. He has a good personality, too. He's a very wonderful young man."
"Unfortunately, for fourteen years, I, his brother, have had no involvement in his life. I couldn't share all his hardships, suffering, pain, and sadness. I lost him, and then made him suffer all this. I really don't deserve to be his brother."
At this moment, a sound suddenly came from behind.
The young man walked towards Qing'er until he came in front of him.
He raised his drooping eyes, looked at Qing'er, and gestured, "You are a very good brother. He has always hoped to have a brother like you."
The young man looked at him, his glass-like eyes suppressing turbulent emotions. He once again said firmly, "You are a good brother."
Then, he paused and gestured carefully, "Are you really my brother? My real brother?"
For the last few words, Shen Ci's movements were very light and slow, fearing that Qing'er would not understand. He carefully confirmed,
The moment Shen Ci appeared, Qing'er's eyes were filled with tears.
He rushed over and hugged the boy's slender figure, sobbing: "Yes, I am your brother, your biological brother."
All the emotions that Qing'er had suppressed in recent days found an outlet at this moment and burst out at once.
"Xiao Ci, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Qing'er hugged her brother tightly in her arms and said sorry countless times.
Soon, Shen Ci felt his shoulders getting wet, and he hugged Qing'er back.
[You don't have to say sorry to me, you are my brother, I am very happy.] He gestured, his eyes gradually reddening.
Shen Ci remembered that he hadn't felt the urge to cry for a long, long time.
I remember the last time I cried was six years ago, when my adoptive father carried me to the mountains and abandoned me in the middle of the night.
After that, he never cried again, because he knew that crying was useless.
It took a long time for Shen Ci to calm Qing'er down.
Qing'er's eyes were still red, but she didn't cry anymore.
He continued to take the remaining paper money, put it into the brazier and burned it, saying: "Today is the anniversary of my father's death."
Chen Ci remained silent, picked up the paper money next to him, and put it into the brazier to burn with him.
Qing'er: "Dad, did you see that? This is my younger brother, Xiao Ci."
Shen Ci had no impression of his biological parents, and his mood was very complicated at the moment.
The paper money burned silently. Qing'er kept waiting for Shen Ci to ask about the past, but he didn't.
Qing'er later asked him why he didn't ask.
He said, "As long as you are by my side, brother, that's all that matters."
In fact, Qing'er was relieved when Chen Ci didn't ask. After all, he used to be in Chunmanyuan. Chunmanyuan was a brothel, a dirty place in his eyes countless times, and he was the one who grew up in that dirty place.
He was actually afraid that Shen Ci would dislike him after knowing it.
Qing'er didn't know. It wasn't that Shen Ci didn't want to ask, he just didn't want to ask Qing'er directly.
He basically heard everything Qing'er said just now.
He could guess that his brother had not had a good life in the past.
He didn't want to open his brother's scars.
So he endured it and planned to ask other people tomorrow.
After they burned the paper money, they returned to the house.
This time's recognition was a coincidence. In fact, Qing'er was not prepared to recognize each other today, but she did not expect to be accidentally encountered by Chen Ci. Perhaps, this was the arrangement of the dark.
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