Chapter 61 Why can my brother-in-law do it, but I can't?
"But……"
When Lan mentioned Senior Sister Yingxue, Pipa's eyes were momentarily lost in thought, but she quickly put on a nonchalant smile again.
"No matter how similar we are, we are two completely different people. Just like no matter how much of the past of Master Yu Qingzhou I experience in my dreams, when I wake up, I can only be, and will only be, a loquat."
Looking at the boy and hearing his words, Lan felt a pang of pity for the first time in a long time. He asked, half-jokingly, "Haven't you thought about the relationship between you and him?"
Surprisingly, Pipa did not admit to anything.
"Yes, I have thought about it."
Pipa turned his gaze to the window. Although there was nothing there except the darkness of night, he seemed to see mottled white against the black.
It was like that year when he leaned on the windowsill and looked up to see the first snow in the twilight.
Without even turning around, one could imagine the smug, nonchalant expression on the gray-haired boy's face beside her.
Time flies. If Li Xiao from back then were standing in front of me now, I would be old enough to call him "brother".
However, given Young Master Li's personality, he definitely wouldn't agree.
As Pipa pondered this, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself.
But at the same time, I felt a lump in my throat.
That's strange.
It seems that whenever he thinks of Li Xiao, he always ends up like this, laughing and crying at the same time.
Pipa suppressed his slight, strange emotion, because he knew Lan was still waiting for his answer.
"But then I stopped thinking about it."
Why?
"Because of fear."
This answer clearly surprised Lan, who couldn't help but ask, "What are you afraid of?"
Pipa looked down at his palms, watching them clasp together and then open again. He suddenly looked up and asked, "Lan, is there anything you're particularly afraid of losing?"
Lan was speechless for a moment when she saw the boy's serious expression.
"No?"
Pipa didn't wait for Lan's reply, but continued to speak to herself: "If that's the case, it's actually quite nice."
"..."
“When I was very young, I thought my mother’s love was everything to me. I never thought that one day I would be separated from my mother. Later, she was gone, and I became all alone.”
"..."
"I don't know why I live, or why people live. But I already knew that death was terrible, so I tried my best to live, even though living itself wasn't so wonderful. I didn't like being beaten or starving, but at least it was better than dying miserably."
The boy recounted his own story in a gentle, unhurried manner, his face devoid of any emotion.
"Until later, I met Young Master Lan. Young Master Lan was very kind to me, but I always felt uneasy. I always felt that since he was kind to me for no reason, he might just disappear one day for no reason. Later, Li Xiao told me that Young Master Lan was only being kind to me because he remembered his sister who died young."
Upon hearing this, Lan, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up: "Do you really think so?" Her words seemed to reveal a hint of displeasure.
The boy, lost in his memories, seemed not to notice and simply answered softly.
"Whether it was true or false was not that important to Pipa at that time. What was important was that believing that story was equivalent to finding a reason to stay by Young Master Lan's side with a clear conscience."
"Will there be any difference?" Lan asked, puzzled.
Yes, it will.
Pipa nodded gently, and gave an unexpectedly cheerful laugh.
"Because that way, I will know that if one day Young Master Lan no longer needs me, it will only be because he no longer needs a vessel to hold his thoughts of the dead."
Looking at the boy who suddenly smiled, Lan remained silent for a while before crossing her arms and slowly saying, "Isn't this the same result?"
Upon hearing this, Pipa showed a slightly embarrassed expression.
"Yes... but, what was it again? At least I should die knowing why, so I wouldn't have to keep speculating and overthinking. But..."
"In the end, it was actually that young master Lan who died."
Lan smiled faintly and continued Pipa's words with a hint of sarcasm.
"So, did you feel more at ease afterward?" Lan asked, somewhat abruptly.
As the words fell, the candlelight in the room flickered.
Although the loquat didn't feel the air movement, it saw the sudden, chaotic smoke.
He looked up, somewhat confused, and found that Lan had already sat up without him noticing.
The long table placed between the two wasn't very wide; they were already within arm's reach. But now, because of Lan's actions, they were unexpectedly brought closer together.
Suddenly, a tangling sensation came from my wrist; it was the cool, flowing strands of hair, as delicate as water plants.
"……orchid?"
"That's really cunning."
My shoulder was gently pressed, and a cool breath floated beside my ear.
The soft touch felt like the intimate whispers of lovers.
Stunned, Pipa heard Lan's soft voice: "Let's go, leave with that little girl from the Lu family. And never come back. Otherwise, I can't guarantee—"
—What guarantees?
Before Pipa could ask a question, a gentle yet irresistible force came over her.
Pipa suddenly stumbled backward, and in his swaying vision, Lan's face became somewhat blurry, but he clearly saw the bright red beauty mark at the corner of the young man's eye.
Like sparks of red fire.
He recalled the story he had heard countless times, the one about the boy who stood beside the crazed girl with a faint smile at the end.
...So it really is Lan?
His head did not hit the cold ground as expected.
Pipa sat up from the table, staring at the bright white sky outside the window, unable to come back to her senses for a long time.
The feeling of falling backward was so real that his palms were already soaked with cold sweat.
—And then there's what the young man in the dream said.
When Lan says she will never come back, does she mean the dream in which the former is located, or the place where she is located?
And that girl from the Lu family...
Could it be referring to Lu Qingyao?
Perhaps it's a case of what you say coming true.
The next moment, just as he was thinking this, Cui Zhu's hurried knocking and anxious call came from outside the door: "Young Master, Young Master, are you awake? That young master from the Lu family is here again, and he's heading this way right now—"
Before she could finish speaking, Cuizhu suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
Immediately afterwards, the door was flung open from the outside with a bang.
Before long, accompanied by light footsteps, a handsome young man with delicate features turned into the inner room with ease and sat down gracefully on the neatly made bed, looking quite smug.
Lu Qingyao glanced disdainfully at Cuizhu, who hurriedly followed her in, and said, "Look, isn't your young master already awake?"
Cuizhu stammered, unable to speak, and could only turn her pleading gaze to her young master.
"It's alright, I'm here. You can go out now," Pipa said calmly.
"Oh, young master, Cuizhu has gone out."
Cui Zhu nodded, then added, "But if anything happens, be sure to speak up immediately. I'll be right outside the door."
Lu Qingyao realized that the little girl's words were clearly directed at her, and her smile became even more smug.
"Alright, alright, you tactless little girl, your young master already told you to leave, yet you're still dawdling here. Aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourself?"
Cui Zhu clearly had a breath stuck in her throat, but she finally lowered her head and reluctantly retreated.
Seeing this, Lu Qingyao chuckled and turned to the boy sitting by the window, saying, "Does that little girl really think that if I wanted to do something to you, her small frame could really stop me?"
Instead of directly answering Lu Qingyao's question, Pipa calmly said, "You shouldn't have come to a place like this. What if others find out your identity?"
"So what if we know?"
Lu Qingyao suddenly stood up from the bed, seemingly somewhat indignant: "Everyone else is coming, why can't I? It's not like I can't afford it."
Pipa felt somewhat helpless. This wasn't the first time. He knew he couldn't reason with the other party, but he couldn't simply ignore them.
“You know that’s not what I meant,” he sighed.
"So what do you mean?"
Lu Qingyao, with an unyielding and stubborn look, walked a few steps to the boy, appearing both aggrieved and indignant: "Why can my brother-in-law do it, but I can't?"
"..."
"Say it!"
As Lu Qingyao spoke, her previous arrogant demeanor vanished, her eyes reddening as if she were about to cry: "Or are you just bullying me because I'm a girl?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
