Birthday was supposed to be a happy day.
That had always been the shared understanding between Xu Duyan and Su Ziyan since they were children.
But for some reason, the atmosphere between the two of them now felt inexplicably tense.
After Xu Duyan and Su Ziyan sat down on opposite sides of the dining table, the air instantly fell silent, leaving her feeling a little lost.
After all, Xu Duyan was definitely more sensitive to this kind of tense atmosphere than Su Ziyan, because Su Ziyan lacked certain channels for obtaining information from the outside world.
That is, his sight.
Xu Duyan had originally planned to have a serious talk with Su Ziyan and wore a solemn expression. What she didn’t expect was that when she looked up, Su Ziyan also had a solemn look on his face.
The two of them sat at the dining table with the same expression, naturally making the atmosphere extremely heavy.
Unlike Xu Duyan, Su Ziyan couldn’t see the expression on his sister’s face, so he simply asked,
“Elder Sister, why did you suddenly stop talking?”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
After Su Ziyan spoke, Xu Duyan finally snapped out of the somewhat eerie atmosphere in the restaurant.
“It’s just that your expression suddenly became so serious. For a moment, I didn’t know what to say.”
“I see…”
Su Ziyan’s words paused slightly before he continued,
“That’s right. I do have something I want to say to you.”
“Ah… okay.”
Because her own intended words had been preempted by him, Xu Duyan was caught off guard for a moment.
“There’s nothing we can’t talk about between us, so you don’t need to be so serious.”
“No, I think these words need to be said seriously,” Su Ziyan shook his head.
“Because if I don’t say them with this kind of serious attitude, you definitely won’t agree.”
After Su Ziyan finished speaking, what answered him was Xu Duyan’s long silence.
She had a feeling that if he said everything today, she would definitely lose something.
But she still endured the ominous premonition in her heart and said,
“What nonsense are you talking about? How could I possibly refuse your request?”
“That’s good.”
After receiving her answer, Su Ziyan finally continued,
“I want to say that starting from today, the two of us should live separately.”
“Although we’re siblings, and I’m still a patient, my condition has mostly recovered now. We’re also no longer young, so it’s better for us to live apart.”
Xu Duyan couldn’t help but freeze. She suddenly recalled that ever since the injury, when the two of them slept together, Su Ziyan had never once tried to take advantage of her or touch her inappropriately.
She had originally thought that Su Ziyan simply wasn’t in the mood because of his injury. But now, another thought rose in her mind… a thought that filled her with fear.
She wanted to say something, but Su Ziyan took hold of her hand.
Ever since he got sick, the two of them had been sitting side by side, so even with his blindness, Su Ziyan could clearly find where her hand was.
Feeling the slight tremble at the tip of his fingers, Su Ziyan let out a soft sigh. He thought back to that accident, when the two of them had embraced each other on the blazing high-speed road.
At that time, Xu Duyan had said she had always loved him.
He had originally thought that was just a lie Xu Duyan told so he wouldn’t pass out.
Looking at it now… forget it, it didn’t matter anymore.
Everything was too late. Whether it was a lie or the truth, the two of them no longer had any possibility of being together.
He continued: “I can handle washing up and changing clothes by myself now. I won’t keep troubling Elder Sister anymore.”
“I know you’re worried about me, Elder Sister, but I am ultimately an independent adult. Even if I’m blind, I can still take care of myself. You should spend more of your time on your own matters.”
Su Ziyan paused. The next words would be hurtful, but he still gritted his teeth and said them: “We’re only siblings. No matter how close we are now, we will eventually have our own families and lives in the future, so…”
“I can’t keep relying on my elder sister endlessly like this.”
After he finished speaking, the air fell silent. Su Ziyan could feel the other party seemingly break free from his hand in a mix of shame and anger.
That was fine…
Even though he had already mentally prepared himself, a few traces of disappointment still rose unavoidably in Su Ziyan’s heart.
The two of them were siblings after all. Even if they weren’t blood-related, they were on the same household register. If they wanted to be together, it would undoubtedly be an unethical decision.
But in the past, he had been so young and so full of vitality.
Back then, he really, really liked Xu Duyan—so much so that even when he got a girlfriend, he had only treated her as a substitute.
He believed he could protect Xu Duyan and fight the entire world for her.
If at that time she had said she liked him…
Su Ziyan froze for a moment, but then shook his head.
There were no “ifs.” Just like how he had intended Cheng Qingyun to be a substitute, yet ended up falling in love with her and could only hurriedly pull away.
Fate was always a mess, and once something happened, it could never be undone.
Now he was already a cripple. He no longer had the right to think about those romantic feelings, so it was better to…
“Slap!”
A loud sound rang out—the sound of a palm hitting the back of a hand.
After breaking free from Su Ziyan’s hand, Xu Duyan reached out and instead grabbed his hand tightly, so forcefully that it made a loud slapping noise.
“You never… used to say things like this before.”
Xu Duyan’s voice, thick with tears, reached his ears.
“You said you would stay with Elder Sister for a lifetime, that no matter what, we would never separate…”
Su Ziyan subconsciously closed his eyes. He felt truly heartbroken.
Elder Sister was a very strong person. Except for when Grandmother and Father passed away, he had almost never seen her cry.
He had sworn countless times that he would protect his elder sister and make sure she never shed tears again in her life. If she did cry, they should only be tears of happiness.
But things never went as planned. Ever since that accident, he had thought he would protect her so she wouldn’t cry anymore, yet she had still shed so many tears for him.
Even though he had tried his best to act like his old self, it was still just a drop in the bucket…
But those times, she had cried because of what happened to him. This time was completely different.
This time, she was truly crying because of the words he himself had said—because he had hurt her.
Her tears made his heart ache so much that he could barely breathe. He could only close his eyes to escape.
It’s just a short pain, he told himself silently.
It’s only a short pain.