Chapter 472 Collapse & Endurance
"We all thought she was just... having a little tantrum."
"We would play with her more, buy her more things, coax her to sleep, feed her, take her shopping..."
Lu Yannan's voice was barely audible: "She thought this would make up for the biased and absent tenderness of her parents in her world."
Ji Linshen didn't say anything, not even his expression changed, he just clenched his hands at his sides.
Lu Yannan's entire body sank, filled with the pain of a belated realization: "She's not throwing a tantrum at all, she's... imitating!"
"She thought that only by being like Lin Yanxin could she be loved, and only then could she... receive even a little bit of the gentle attention her parents gave her."
The immense pain and deep sense of powerlessness finally overwhelmed this elder brother who had always been as reliable as a mountain.
He suddenly buried his face deep in his hands, his broad shoulders trembling slightly.
The usually strong back now has its armor removed, leaving only a fragile curve.
The words, choked with suppressed sobs and broken with self-blame, were squeezed out intermittently from between his fingers: "It's me...I, as the eldest brother, didn't do my best. It's me...I didn't see through it sooner, didn't help her cut off the root of her true feelings when she first started hiding them."
The last word "root" brought with it a sharp pain of being uprooted and bloody, falling heavily into the dead air of the night.
It also hit Ji Linshen's heart hard.
The question was answered, but it also brought an even more painful feeling of suffocation.
But Ji Linshen always felt that this was not the case, it was more than that.
But he couldn't find it, couldn't touch it, only a vague thought told him that it was more than that, it wasn't that simple.
He moved his lips, trying to comfort Lu Yannan, but his throat felt like it was blocked with cotton and no sound came out.
Ji Linshen stepped forward, reached out and gently patted Lu Yannan's shoulder.
Silent comfort is better than a thousand words.
The sound of footsteps outside the door, accompanied by the sound of glass bottles colliding, came from far away.
Lu Chixu walked in holding two bottles of wine.
"Brother, there's really no good stuff down there. It's all these low-quality things, nothing like the treasures you locked in the cabinet. How about you show some mercy..."
Before he finished speaking, Lu Yannan on the sofa suddenly stiffened and he quickly sat up straight.
All fragility was wiped out in an instant.
The only flaws were the scarlet corners of the eyes and the water marks on the cheeks that were not completely wiped clean.
Lu Yannan sat up straight, his thumb seemingly casually but with unusual force, rubbing quickly under the corner of his eye. His Adam's apple rolled, and his voice was low and hoarse: "Don't even think about it."
These four words blocked all of Lu Chixu's subsequent attempts.
The abnormally hoarse voice and the signs of misconduct that could not be completely concealed were like a needle piercing Lu Chixu's heart.
Lu Chixu's body, holding the wine bottle, suddenly froze in place.
My heart was instantly frozen, and sharp pain mixed with helpless sorrow instantly swept through my body.
Big brother is crying?
My eldest brother actually cried!
This realization hit Lu Chixu's nerves hard.
His fingers holding the bottle trembled slightly, and his body swayed for a moment.
My throat felt dry and painful, as if it were filled with a hot iron.
Lu Chixu almost couldn't control himself and rushed over to hug his elder brother, just like the day he was found, when his elder brother hugged him and comforted him...
But he knew he couldn't.
The eldest brother's actions showed that he didn't want to be seen.
Lu Chixu used almost all his life's strength to suppress the sob in his throat and the burning and wetness that surged in his eyes.
He turned around and was pressed against the sofa. He tried to sound relaxed, with a hint of the complaint from before: "Tsk, it was just a joke, so stingy." His voice was a little out of tune, with an imperceptible tremor at the end.
He quickly walked to the coffee table in front of the sofa and placed the two bottles of wine on the table with a loud clatter. His movements were very loud, trying to hide his inner feelings with rudeness: "Forget it, forget it. It's garbage. It's better than nothing."
Lu Chixu didn't dare look at Lu Yannan again. He turned around and walked towards the bar. He tried to maintain a normal tone, even with a hint of deliberate disdain: "I'll go get a few cups to rinse my mouth. This wine probably only has this effect."
Almost as soon as he walked to the bar sink and turned his back to the two of them, Lu Chixu's forced breath suddenly deflated.
The cold reflection of the faucet in front of him irritated his eyes so much that they could no longer feel heavy and sore.
The hot tears burst out without warning, big drops, silently hitting the smooth sink.
He bit his lower lip hard, supported himself with his hands on the cold table, and his shoulders shook slightly violently, but he quickly restrained himself.
Lu Chixu closed his eyes tightly, and when he opened them again, there was only a forced calmness left.
He turned on the faucet, turning it up as high as it would go.
The sound of the huge flowing water covered up his silent collapse and suppressed sobs.
"Lu Chixu, how long will it take to get a wine glass?" Lu Yannan's hoarse voice came from behind, with a subtle urging.
Lu Chixu's body stiffened, and he quickly lowered his head. Under the cover of the sound of running water, he washed his face twice to wash away the mess on his face.
He wiped it roughly with the back of his hand, turned around and forced a perfunctory smile: "Why are you in such a hurry? The cup is dirty, wash it." His tone was full of dissatisfaction at being disturbed, and it was vivid.
He quickly brought over three clean wine glasses and placed them on the table, his fingers trembling uncontrollably.
Lu Chixu didn't dare to look into Lu Yannan's eyes.
I was afraid to watch it, because the emotions that I had suppressed with great difficulty would collapse again.
Outside the window, the cool moonlight streamed in through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows.
The three of them sat on the sofa next to the coffee table.
Lu Yannan occupied the single main seat, his sitting posture still upright, but his body slightly relaxed as he sank into the soft sofa, his fingers gently stroking the cold wall of the wine glass.
Lu Chixu sat on the long sofa at the side, facing the moonlight, with half of his face in the light and the other side in the shadow, and his expression was not very clear.
Ji Linshen was still sitting on the armrest of the sofa next to Lu Yannan, leaning forward slightly, his elbows supporting his knees, his figure blending into the shadow of Lu Yannan's seat.
No one spoke.
There was only the soft patter of ice melting at the bottom of the glass and the sound of wine being swallowed.
"Actually..." Lu Yannan said, but he didn't know how to continue. He changed the subject: "I will go to Mo Ning tomorrow. No matter what, this time... I have to pull it out."
Lu Chixu's Adam's apple rolled: "Brother, I will never forget the look in her eyes when she saw them holding Lin Yanxin..."
"I will never forget it as long as I live." Lu Chixu's breathing became heavy, and veins bulged on the back of his hand holding the wine glass.
"Fuck! I'm going to find those three guys tomorrow and beat them up."
"damn it!"
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