Chapter 53
The sound of rubbing against the skin
As Lin Jin finished speaking, the only sound in the cramped bathroom was the rubbing of a towel against skin.
Cheng Sangluo did not immediately answer whether she was curious about Lin Sheng.
She bent down and carefully wiped the madwoman's thin body. After a brief silence, she sighed softly, "Lin Jin, you are too thin."
In the eyes of this tall and burly retired soldier, the woman in front of him was as thin as a sheet of paper, as if she could be torn apart with the slightest force.
Even through the thick towel, she could still feel the protruding spine irritating her hand, so she moved very lightly, as if she were wiping a fragile, beautiful piece of porcelain.
This exclamation transcends all barriers; it is an unacknowledged stirring of emotion rippling with heartache.
Lin Jin felt drowsy in the warm room. Hearing the puppy's words, which contained a hint of concern, she smiled faintly through her hazy eyes: "Really?"
"Yes," Cheng Sangluo answered firmly, her fingertips tracing along her spine until they swept over the undeniable scar, where she couldn't help but carefully trace its outline.
She stared at the ugly scar, thinking that it must hold an equally ugly story, before slowly continuing the previous topic: "Although I know that someone with your eccentric temper is bound to make enemies, I never expected to encounter something so dangerous. So I'm curious about who the other person is and why they attacked you. Of course, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
Cheng Sangluo genuinely wanted to know more, but contradictorily gave Lin Jin ample respect.
After all, no one wants to reopen old wounds and talk about painful past events, just like she doesn't want to think about being falsely accused and imprisoned by Xu Songheng.
Because I've experienced it myself, I can empathize.
She went to the sink and re-wetted the towel with hot water, hoping it would stay at a comfortable temperature so the crazy woman wouldn't feel cold.
Cheng Sangluo hadn't realized that the tenderness poured into the details came from instinct—an instinctive desire to take care of the injured, crazy woman.
Lin Jin leaned lazily against the tiled wall, looked up at the little dog with its back to her, her eyes filled with a complex mix of melancholy and helplessness.
In just one month, this person's back had lost the sharpness it had when she was released from prison. Whether it was the spine bent by life or by her own clumsy methods, she couldn't quite tell.
That one glance filled her with intense self-reproach, and it was also that one glance that allowed her to see through the unmasked tenderness, causing her feigned strength to melt away like mud.
She tilted her head, her eyelids blinking slightly, as if her mind was wavering.
Perhaps tonight is the right time to peel back the scars on our backs and calmly talk about the long-buried past.
“Lin Sheng is my half-brother, but we are fundamentally different. He is an illegitimate child, while I should be the rightful heir.”
Cheng Sangluo was rubbing a towel vigorously with her head down when she suddenly heard Lin Jin's heartfelt response. She paused in her work, then turned around and walked closer.
She lifted Lin Jin's arm and wrapped the still-hot towel tightly around it, so that the languid woman could absorb more warmth. At the same time, she raised a strange question: "A half-brother, but an illegitimate child? I don't quite understand this kind of relationship. It sounds very complicated."
"Is it complicated?" Lin Jin looked at the puppy's serious expression as she pondered, then suddenly grabbed her hand and said in an unusually conciliatory tone, "Carry me back to my hospital bed. Same as before, we'll make a trade. You hold me while I sleep, and I'll tell you a bedtime story."
"Okay." Cheng Sangluo said concisely, then, wondering if she was being too eager, she mumbled awkwardly, "This deal sounds like I'm not at a disadvantage, um... wait a minute..."
Lin Jin was about to praise the puppy for its good behavior tonight when she saw that Lin Jin was about to leave. She hurriedly grabbed the hem of her clothes and refused to let go, asking, "Where are you going?"
Cheng Sangluo could hear the panic in the crazy woman's words, so she held the hand that was clutching the hem of her clothes and comforted her: "I'll go get you a hospital gown. You can't go into bed naked, can you? No matter how sterilized the things in the hospital are, I still feel they're not clean. Wouldn't someone as delicate as you be even more disgusted?"
"I'll give you only ten seconds." Lin Jin reluctantly released her hand and began the countdown: "Ten..."
"Oh dear, you really are..." Upon hearing her words, the puppy took off running, as if it had returned to the military camp, where everything had to be done on time.
"Nine."
"eight."
"seven."
"six."
"..."
Hearing the sounds coming from the bathroom, Cheng Sangluo grabbed the hospital gown from the bedside table and rushed inside. "Alright, alright, stop the countdown. It's making me feel like I'm in military drills."
She complained irritably, quickly dressed the crazy woman, and then busied herself carrying her to the hospital bed.
Lin Jin hugged the puppy's neck, habitually refusing to let go, and insisted on pulling her into the bed, saying, "Come in quickly, don't dawdle."
"What's the rush? I need to adjust your foot position. Dr. Chi said the swelling needs to go down quickly, otherwise the surgery can't be scheduled." Cheng Sangluo muttered to herself as she turned around and brought out the blankets and pillows from the next bed to prop up Lin Jin's feet. "How's this height? If it's uncomfortable, you have to tell me."
Lin Jin lay down and looked down at her feet. She liked the puppy's serious expression as it adjusted the height, so she teased it, "Ouch...it hurts a little...is it too high?"
"Wait a minute, let me fix it again." Cheng Sangluo believed her and smoothed out the folded pillow again. "How about this?"
"Ouch...it still hurts...could it be too low again?"
The puppy glanced at the madwoman with a wicked grin, and immediately saw through her. "Are you playing a trick on me?"
Lin Jin shifted to her side-lying position and teased, "You're not that smart, are you? You only just realized that."
As she spoke, she propped her cheek up and patted the space she had deliberately cleared beside her, "Come here, little puppy, I need to hold you to sleep~"
Cheng Sangluo seemed to have developed an immunity to the term 'puppy,' and silently leaned against Lin Jin. This position saved her from taking off her shoes, didn't take up too much space, and allowed her to gently lean the clingy girl against her waist. "Let's leave it like this. The bed is too small. If I really lie down, it will crowd you."
"No way." Lin Jin refused coldly, seemingly determined to get her way. "I said I wanted a hug, and I have to hug you. I want a hug... a hug... a hug... Nobody can sleep without a hug!"
Hearing the repetitive, manipulative pressure, Cheng Sangluo had no choice but to concede: "Fine, fine, just shut up..."
It wasn't that she couldn't handle the crazy woman; it was just that when the words of refusal reached her lips, a few ridiculous words floated through her mind: "Garlic bird, garlic bird, she's a wounded bird."
She lay down as Lin Jin suggested, then stretched out her arms to pull him into her embrace. "Is this alright now? Can I tell you a bedtime story?"
"That's more like it." Lin Jin buried her face in the puppy's paws, inhaling its satisfied scent, and mumbled, "So... where should we begin the story..."
Actually, Cheng Sangluo wasn't really in the mood to listen to the story anymore. Firstly, she was too tired to concentrate, and secondly, the intoxicating scent of cedar was so strong that it made her sleepy.
She gently rested her chin on the madwoman's head, inhaling the scent intentionally or unintentionally, and murmured wearily, "Hmm... just say whatever comes to mind..."
Yesterday was the anniversary of my mother's death.
This unexpected opening remark brought Cheng Sangluo back to her senses. In the dim light, she glanced at Lin Jin's expression.
Her beautiful face was not only thin with clearly defined features, but also pale and bloodless, making her look pitiful at first glance.
Tonight, both of them have lost the sharpness they had during the day.
Cheng Sangluo changed her usual aloofness, and Lin Jin became unusually clingy. It was as if they had found a safe haven in the turbulent ocean of life, so they unconsciously grew closer to each other because of their injuries.
Cheng Sangluo hesitated for a moment before cautiously asking, "So what does the anniversary of your brother's death have to do with it? Um... I'm sorry... about your mother..."
"It's alright, she passed away more than twenty years ago." Lin Jin's reaction when talking about her mother was too calm, like a stone thrown into a stagnant pool, leaving no ripples.
Cheng Sangluo already knew some things about the Lin family, and through these few sentences of conversation, she could roughly infer that Lin's mother's death was related to Lin Sheng, and possibly also to the scar on her back.
Even though her curiosity could kill the cat at that moment, she still didn't ask any questions.
Some things need to be spoken out by the parties involved in order to provide a basis for an unknown judgment. This is Cheng Sangluo's respect for Lin Jin, and it is also the result of her inherent kindness.
Lin Jin remained silent for a long time, probably trying to organize her thoughts and recall those horrific scenes.
She was trapped in the abyss of that night, and all her fear was written in the details.
Her brows furrowed as she recalled the past, her slender fingers gripping the puppy's clothes turned white, and then a shiver ran through her body.
"The lightning that night was purplish-red, and the thunder roared as if it would split my head open at any moment. The torrential rain washed over the back mountain, starting as a rushing stream and later turning into a flash flood."
Memories surge forth like a flood bursting its banks, or like countless sharp shards of glass. The first scene that remains unforgettable is always the ominous weather that night.
Lin Jin dared not close her eyes, afraid that she would feel as if she were actually there.
She could only look up to meet Cheng Sangluo's gaze. Perhaps looking at the person she longed for would give her some confidence. Or perhaps she wanted to find a sense of security in the puppy's eyes so that she could pull herself out of the vortex of memories at any time.
Cheng Sangluo finally understood why the madwoman was afraid of thunder and lightning on a stormy night, and she did not remain a passive bystander.
Even though everything was calm outside, she still decisively covered Lin Jin's ears, just like that night in the closet, gently and patiently keeping him company.
Perhaps, the person she wanted to cover her ears for wasn't just Lin Jin at this moment, but also the little girl shivering in the downpour more than twenty years ago.
Lin Jin did the same thing, just like that night, and pressed her ear against the puppy's chest, "I still prefer to hear your heartbeat."
She was quiet for a while, then her thoughts jumped to other things: "My mother was a well-acclaimed dancer. She should have been performing all over the world and winning awards when she married my father. They got together because of a family alliance, so there was no love in the marriage. Logically speaking, I shouldn't have come into this world. If I hadn't come, how wonderful it would have been."
Lin Jin tried her best to suppress the sadness that was rising in her heart. Her "How wonderful" was said with a light laugh, but it became even more heartbreaking because of the uncontrollable sobs and trembling.
In Cheng Sangluo's memory, the woman in his arms was always going crazy without restraint, disregarding others and using ruthless methods; that was the arrogant Lin Jin.
Cheng Sangluo was already used to her strong personality, so this sudden sense of devastation caught her off guard. She panicked and couldn't say anything comforting, so she could only gently stroke her head with her palm and say, "Let's not tell stories anymore, okay?"
"Is it good or not?" was Lin Jin's catchphrase. She would often ask this question when she was gently treating the puppy.
Unexpectedly, tonight, these words became a suffix to the puppy's name.
The puppy's gentle treatment stems from strong empathy. The bad things brought about by one's family of origin can accompany a person throughout their life, and she and Lin Jin are both pitiful victims.
They need healing, but this world is desolate, and love is more precious than gold, so healing is never a simple matter.
At this moment, Cheng Sangluo wrapped her arms around the vulnerable person, filling her with a silent embrace. The strength seemed to say: It's always better to be there than to bear it alone, and we are already living in a better future. Don't be afraid, I'm here.
"You're so strange. I was willing to patiently answer your questions, but in the end you didn't want to listen anymore." Lin Jinming knew that the puppy didn't mean it that way, but he still misinterpreted the meaning behind the words.
For no other reason than that she simply enjoys being unreasonable, and the person who is ridiculously clueless about relationships will tolerate everything she does.
"I don't want you to be sad." This usually stubborn puppy rarely reveals its true thoughts so openly.
She did not avoid Lin Jin's deep eyes, as if she knew that the poor madwoman needed her unwavering gaze.
Perhaps they sensed that Lin Jin had a strong urge to express herself tonight, and even though she was struggling with the fear in her memories, she still wanted to open her heart and reveal her wounds. So why spoil her mood?
Cheng Sangluo pressed her face close to the madwoman's ear and whispered, "Then... what happened next... how did Auntie die?"
[Author's Note]
1. It is recommended to read this chapter and the next chapter together.
2. The title was changed several times, but it eventually returned to its original name: "Post-Marriage Fall".
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