Chapter 18: Why do you smell like someone else?

“Lu Weiyu, I’m back.”  

Pushing open the door and entering the Ward, Lu Weizhu smiled.  

The Ward was brightly lit, and under the white lights, Lu Weiyu was lying on the bed with her eyes closed, resting. 

On the nightstand beside her, there was a small pile of unknown medicines. 

Lu Weizhu sat down by the bed.  

“Ah…Ah, Sister? Welcome back.”  

It was really late, and Lu Weiyu, drowsy with sleep, spoke with a heavy weariness in her voice.  

Lu Weizhu felt a pang of guilt, regretting coming back so late.  

“Lu Weiyu, you don’t have to wait for me next time.”  

Reaching out, Lu Weizhu touched the girl’s forehead.  

She took out the Mobile Phone she bought from her bag.  

“Sister bought you a Mobile Phone. When I’m not around, you can read a Novel or play a Game to pass the time.”  

She inserted the SIM card and handed the Mobile Phone to Lu Weiyu.  

She had specially chosen a clean, pretty white model, and asked the seller for a pink phone case. 

Though it wasn’t very expensive, it still looked quite nice.  

“………………Actually, you didn’t have to buy me these things.”  

Lu Weiyu accepted the Mobile Phone, staring blankly at the heavy object in her hand.  

She owed her Sister more and more, and the word ‘family’ alone was clearly not enough for Lu Weiyu to accept Lu Weizhu’s kindness with peace of mind.  

Should she say, as expected of real Sisters? 

Both were bound by a sense of morality and self-respect.  

Lu Weizhu simply smiled and said nothing.  

“By the way, Sister, did you have to work overtime today since you came back so late?”  

Compared to the gifts Lu Weizhu brought, Lu Weiyu cared more about the reason she came home late.  

“Uh.”  

Mentioning this, Lu Weizhu was caught off guard.  

“Yeah, the place where I work has been pretty busy lately, so I came back late today.”  

She lied to her beloved little Sister again.  

Come to think of it, even though the other person was her dearest Sister, she had already lied to her countless times.  

What a terrible Sister she was.  

Sighing inwardly, Lu Weizhu felt a bit guilty.  

Lu Weiyu stared at Lu Weizhu without saying another word.  

What needed to be said had already been said. 

She knew she couldn’t persuade Lu Weizhu to relax.  

All she could do, perhaps, was give her hard-working Sister a hug after a long day.  

With this thought, Lu Weiyu opened her arms.  

“Hmm? Do you want a hug? Lu Weiyu, after the hug, it’s time to sleep, okay?”  

Not thinking too much, Lu Weizhu hugged Lu Weiyu tightly.  

“……Sister……”  

Lu Weiyu buried her head in Lu Weizhu’s arms, her tone muffled and low.  

Her nose twitched, and she caught a faint scent of Lavender.  

A bit confused, she rubbed her head.  

“What’s wrong, Lu Weiyu?”  

Lu Weizhu gently stroked the girl’s hair.  

“Why do you have someone else’s scent on you?”  

Lu Weiyu was certain that this Lavender fragrance didn’t belong to her Sister.  

As soon as Lu Weiyu finished speaking, Lu Weizhu’s smile froze.  

She had spent too much time with Bai Lu, so much so that she picked up the scent of that person’s Shower Gel. 

Why hadn’t she noticed it herself?  

Lu Weizhu didn’t know how to explain for a moment.  

As she stroked the girl’s back, Lu Weizhu’s fingers tightened unconsciously.  

“Mm…Sister?”  

Lu Weiyu let out a soft whimper, her delicate voice tinged with a nasal sound, making her seem even more pitiable.  

Right?  

Her mind in chaos, Lu Weizhu bit her lower lip where Lu Weiyu couldn’t see.  

Why was her Sister’s sense of smell so sharp? 

It was hard to understand, and even harder to accept.  

All Lu Weizhu could do was quickly weave another lie. 

If Lu Weiyu ever discovered the truth about her work, everything would be over.  

She would be hated, and her Sister might refuse treatment, even to the point of dying.  

Lu Weizhu couldn’t accept such an outcome.  

“Sister?”  

Lu Weiyu started urging her, wanting an answer from Lu Weizhu.  

“The scent on me is the boss lady’s Perfume. I was cleaning for a long time and got all sweaty. To cover up the sweat, I used some Perfume.”  

Lu Weizhu tried to gloss things over.  

While lying, she silently apologized in her heart, dragging in someone she shouldn’t have.  

“I see, I understand.”  

Fortunately, Lu Weiyu didn’t seem suspicious.  

“You’ve worked hard, Sister.”  

She tried her best to trust Lu Weizhu, because Lu Weizhu was the only family she had left in the world.  

“It’s okay, it actually wasn’t that hard.”  

Letting go of Lu Weiyu, Lu Weizhu shook her head.  

“Get some rest.”  

Having covered things up, but still feeling unsettled, Lu Weizhu got into bed and lay down beside Lu Weiyu as usual.  

“Mm, good night, Sister.”  

After saying good night, Lu Weiyu settled in and said no more.  

When the light in the Ward was turned off, their vision was swallowed by darkness. 

Lu Weizhu bit her nails.  

“I can’t be so careless next time.”  

Though unspoken, Lu Weizhu felt a sense of relief.  

Her heart still pounding, she couldn’t fall asleep, so she simply closed her eyes and daydreamed about the future, imagining the days ahead.  

When Lu Weiyu recovered, she could go back to school, and Lu Weizhu could take her to travel across the country. 

After that, she could watch her beloved little Sister walk down the aisle.  

As for herself… 

Lu Weizhu no longer expected to find someone to love, nor could she imagine getting married.  

Deep down, she still felt unclean. In this situation, to be with someone—wouldn’t that be unfair to them?  

With a bitter smile, Lu Weizhu shook her head and cleared her mind.  

Beside her, Lu Weiyu was just as sleepless.  

Her drowsiness had somehow vanished without a trace.  

Turning over, she faced away from Lu Weizhu.  

She tried her best to trust Lu Weizhu, but she still couldn’t let go of that strange Lavender scent.  

“……Sister…”  

In the pitch-black darkness, Lu Weiyu murmured softly.  

Sweat… 

Her Sister had often come home exhausted and covered in sweat before, but when had she ever cared about that so-called sweat smell?  

But, aside from trusting Lu Weizhu, what else could she do? 

What could a useless, weak body like hers possibly do?  

Hating her own frail body weakened by illness, Lu Weiyu clenched her fists.  

She wanted to ease her Sister’s burdens, to study with her at school, to have her Sister tutor her like when they were kids, to accompany her everywhere she wanted to go.  

If nothing else, she at least wanted to work and earn money together, instead of lying in bed waiting for death.  

If only her life could just end like this.  

Lu Weiyu closed her eyes.  

The two Sisters, sharing a bed but lost in different dreams, both thinking only of the other.  

Drip, drip. Outside the Ward window, the faint sound of water could be heard.  

It was raining.  

The Rain fell harder and harder, the pattering sound of Rain becoming the best lullaby.  

In this gentle Rain, the two soon fell asleep.  

“Ha…Ah, I…I’m not. Hm?”  

The next morning, Lu Weizhu woke up suddenly to the sound of Rain.  

She’d had a dream, a nightmare where everything about her was exposed, where her beloved little Sister called her a shameless woman and wanted to sever all ties.  

“Huff…Huff…Just a dream…”  

Panting heavily, Lu Weizhu touched the sheets beneath her. 

A patch was damp with sweat.  

“The scent is gone.”  

She brought her forearm to her nose and sniffed. 

The Lavender scent had already disappeared.