“Are you asleep?”
Shi Lingge’s voice drifted lightly from outside the door, pulling Su Ziyan’s thoughts back to reality.
“Not yet, I’m not sleepy. What’s up?”
Su Ziyan reached out with the remote to turn on the light, then got up and walked to the door to open it.
The moment the door opened, the aroma of food washed over him. He tilted his head in confusion but still stepped aside to let Shi Lingge in.
Shi Lingge carried the food over and placed it on the small table, speaking as she did.
“That’s what I thought. After all, you slept the whole day, so you definitely wouldn’t be sleepy at night.”
Then, she gently tugged on Su Ziyan’s sleeve, guiding him to sit at the small table in the bedroom.
“True enough.”
Su Ziyan paused for a moment before naturally following her lead and sitting on the sofa.
“So, you came to bring me a midnight snack?”
“Well, if you count the time, you haven’t eaten for a whole day either.”
Shi Lingge rested her chin on her hand, watching Su Ziyan sitting across from her, a trace of a smile curling in her eyes.
“I was afraid you’d be hungry, so I made you some shredded pork over rice and packed a sandwich for you too… See if it suits your taste.”
Su Ziyan was taken aback. Only then did he realize just how hungry he actually was.
That’s how people are. When you’re very busy, you don’t remember you’re hungry. But once you’re reminded of anything related to hunger, you suddenly feel ravenous.
Su Ziyan now undoubtedly fit this description. After a day of busyness, he hadn’t felt particularly hungry. It was only after Shi Lingge pointed it out that he realized how famished he actually was.
“Ah… Thank you…”
Su Ziyan thanked her, fumbled around the plate in the dim light, and found the spoon handle. It was then he suddenly noticed that everything Shi Lingge had made was very convenient for him to eat.
The shredded pork over rice could be eaten directly with a spoon, and the sandwich could be picked up by hand.
However, just as he was about to taste her cooking, Shi Lingge called out to him as if she had suddenly remembered something.
“Ah, how could I forget.”
Shi Lingge stood up and walked over to Su Ziyan.
“Let me take you to wash your hands first. I haven’t told you yet, have I? There’s a bathroom in your bedroom.”
Su Ziyan paused, then followed her as she stood up. Only then did he notice another door in his bedroom. Led by Shi Lingge, he washed his hands.
After washing, he was about to ask her where the towel was, but she directly wrapped his hands with a towel, carefully drying them for him.
Her gentle movements made Su Ziyan freeze for a second. He subconsciously superimposed Xu Duyan’s image onto her, only to find that her actions were completely different from Xu Duyan’s, yet somehow even more comfortable.
“Thank you.”
Su Ziyan expressed his gratitude, then asked, “Your movements feel so practiced. Did you learn this from taking care of the Young Lady?”
“No, not really.”
After wiping the water droplets from Su Ziyan’s hands, Shi Lingge hung up the towel and guided him back to the small table.
“There’s actually a story behind it. I’ll tell you.”
Su Ziyan was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to suddenly tell him a story. Before he could react, Shi Lingge continued.
“Aren’t you curious why I’m so sincere with you? You’ll understand after I finish.”
Su Ziyan was taken aback again, then nodded. He intended to listen seriously to what Shi Lingge was about to say, but he didn’t expect her to laugh.
“Hey, why such a serious posture?”
Shi Lingge was amused by Su Ziyan’s posture, which looked like a student ready to listen to a teacher’s lecture.
“Just eat while you listen. The rice won’t taste good if it gets cold.”
***
Shi Lingge had a twin brother, but she didn’t like him.
Because there were complications during his delivery, a lack of oxygen damaged his brain. Not only was he born blind, but his intellect also remained forever at a child’s level.
Therefore, the whole family paid great attention to her brother. From a very young age, Shi Lingge could clearly sense her parents’ favoritism. She felt truly unbalanced.
She believed she was much better than her brother. She was smarter and more obedient than him. Whether it was academic performance or doing things, she was so much better. Yet, her parents’ first concern was always her brother.
She was really unhappy. She thought perhaps she would never like this brother in her entire life.
But to say she hated him wasn’t quite right either, because her brother was just stupid, not bad. Whenever he encountered something delicious, he would share it with his sister first.
Later, Shi Lingge slowly grew up. Because treating her brother’s condition required a lot of money, her parents were very busy working to earn it. So, from that time on, they had Shi Lingge take care of her brother.
Although Shi Lingge couldn’t say she liked her brother, she took on the task of caring for him to ease her parents’ burden.
She started taking care of him going to and from school, and also looking after his three meals a day.
But in this repeated cycle of care, Shi Lingge only felt more and more jealous of him. She really couldn’t understand why her brother could always go through his days mindlessly grinning like a fool.
He clearly caused so much trouble for others, clearly kept their parents running off their feet, and clearly left her with no time of her own… How could he still smile like that?
Shi Lingge knew the reason for his foolish grin was his brain condition, but that didn’t mean she could accept it.
After all, a troubled person seeing someone else smile foolishly only gets more annoyed, especially when that person is the source of the trouble.
So, Shi Lingge grew increasingly dissatisfied with her brother. But she was the most outstanding child in her parents’ eyes, so she could only hide this dissatisfaction deep in her heart.
She had to be a good child, at least not add to her parents’ troubles.
But suppressed emotions always have a day of eruption. It was during a physical education class, her rare free time, while she was chatting with a few female classmates.
Her classmates were discussing a TV drama that aired the night before. She hadn’t had time to watch it, so she couldn’t join the conversation.
But that didn’t affect her happiness. After all, this was her rare leisure time. Only in this moment did she feel like a normal middle school girl.
Until a classmate ran over, calling for her to come, saying her brother had hit someone. The girls who had just been discussing the drama all turned their eyes to her, the outsider.
Shi Lingge’s face flushed red instantly. She had never felt so humiliated.
Under the strange gazes of that circle of female classmates, she ran to the scene. Her brother was sitting on top of another student, continuously throwing punches. The classmates nearby couldn’t pull him off.
It was only when she spoke that her brother got off the other person, standing obediently by her side with a well-behaved expression. The beaten classmate lay on the ground, sobbing.
As her brother came to her side, everyone’s eyes gathered, looking at Shi Lingge standing next to her brother.
Just like looking at a freak among the crowd.