(The IF route has no connection to the main storyline)
Before I knew it, another Spring Festival had arrived.
It’s been years since we graduated high school, but I still can’t help recalling that night.
Snow and tears, chains and police lights flickered in the pitch-black darkness. The chaotic snowflakes flew like headless flies, disturbing my already unsettled thoughts.
However, that was all in the past. Now, she had graduated from university over a year ago, found a high-paying stable job, and life with the little one was steadily getting better.
‘I just wonder how much longer it will take for the little one to recover?’
“Ah.”
Looking at the pure white outside the window, Liu Yinuo sighed again.
This was already who knows how many times she had sighed today.
She knew it wasn’t good—the elderly said sighing in the new year would spit out all one’s fortune—but she couldn’t help it.
Fortunately, this low-pressure period ended quickly. Figuring the little one would come find her soon.
Sure enough, soon the sound of wheels came from behind her.
She turned around and saw the person she’d been thinking about all morning. A girl… holding a toy bear.
Nervous expression, head lowered, sitting in a wheelchair. Compared to a few years ago, her expression had improved a lot, but the sense of timidity on her hadn’t disappeared; instead, it had grown stronger.
Liu Yinuo knew what caused this.
She smiled. The warm sunlight hit her profile, golden and radiant.
She walked over to the girl’s side. Though the two were similar in height, because the girl was in a wheelchair, she now completely occupied the higher position.
“Did you have another nightmare?”
Petting Ye Xingmian’s head, Liu Yinuo said with a smile.
“…A… little…”
The soft, gentle voice hadn’t changed much from years ago, but the emotions contained within were completely different.
If in the past, it was probing, then now it was full of dependence.
Along with some imperceptible anxiety and fear.
Thanks to Qin Haiyue, her legs had lost all feeling. It was now the fifth year she had been in a wheelchair; maybe she should have gotten used to this life by now?
But Liu Yinuo could still often see unease and fear in her eyes.
Liu Yinuo knew what she was afraid of, but until today, she had no good solution.
“It’s New Year’s, don’t be so unhappy. Smile—you’ll feel much better.”
The heating seemed a bit high; Liu Yinuo turned it down a notch.
“Mhm…”
Ye Xingmian managed a somewhat ugly smile.
Then Liu Yinuo lifted Ye Xingmian from the wheelchair and placed her on the sofa.
“Hungry? I’ll make you dinner.”
Since “that incident” happened, Ye Xingmian had moved into her home. With her legs inconvenient, Ye Xingmian rarely cooked. Fortunately, she had put in the effort to learn cooking, so she no longer had to worry about feeding this little one.
“Mhm… I… I want to help…”
Hope flickered in Ye Xingmian’s eyes.
But how could Liu Yinuo agree? Letting a disabled person assist her—not to mention the inconvenience, whether she would be more of a hindrance was hard to say.
After all, it had been so long; the other’s mental state had improved, but it hadn’t fully healed.
Liu Yinuo smiled and patted her head.
“No need. Just sit here obediently and wait for me to come back.”
“Mhm…”
Ye Xingmian lowered her head, looking a bit dejected.
After that, Liu Yinuo went into the kitchen. Unfortunately, she hadn’t learned how to make dumplings, so she simply bought a pack of frozen ones and put them in the fridge.
Maybe someone else would come over later, so she’d also need to prepare some dishes on the coffee table in the living room for entertaining.
She busied herself in the kitchen for a good while, finally bringing the boiled dumplings to the table.
The two ate. Because of her legs, Ye Xingmian had trouble picking up food, and in the past, she had fallen because she couldn’t keep her balance.
Since then, Liu Yinuo always sat next to her during meals.
Either accompanying her or feeding her.
Today, it was the feeding kind. She could tell the little one wasn’t in a good mood today, so she took extra care.
“Come, open wide.”
Caringly blowing on the freshly boiled dumpling to cool it down, she held it with chopsticks and placed it into the girl’s mouth.
“Mmm…”
“It’s New Year’s. Is there anyone you want to see?”
Though she hadn’t meant to bring it up, seeing the girl’s shoulders tremble, Liu Yinuo realized she might have said the wrong thing.
“Anyone I want to see…”
She lowered her head, staring blankly at the toy bear in her arms.
Having been together so long, Liu Yinuo also knew the origin of this toy bear.
It was half a keepsake left to her by her mother, and the arm that had been crudely stitched up—perhaps it also symbolized a not-so-beautiful memory.
She knew she had said something wrong.
Ye Xingmian’s mother had died five years ago, and she had no close friends. The people she knew…
Qin Haiyue was still in prison, and as for Lin Ziyan? Forget her.
Other than that, the autistic little pitiful one had no one familiar.
“I’m sorry, I…”
But her apology caused a strong reaction. Ye Xingmian nervously shook her head.
“No… no… it’s okay…”
Liu Yinuo fell silent.
Since that incident, she had never seen any emotion in the girl’s eyes besides anxiety and fawning.
She was still thinking… what would it take to make the girl completely trust her and feel safe?
It was a nearly unsolvable problem; she didn’t know what to do.
She had thought about trying, but in the end, it came to nothing because of the girl’s fragile body.
“It’s New Year’s, don’t stay cooped up at home if you have nothing to do. Go out and get some fresh air. Want me to push you for a walk?”
“Huh? This… no… it’s okay…”
Liu Yinuo read this thought from her eyes:
If I go out, will I be abandoned?
Knowing it was an unfounded worry, she didn’t correct it.
Those were all superficial solutions; she understood.
So the idea of going out was dropped.
After all, it was the first day of the New Year. Normally, she should have gone to reunite with her parents.
But considering she had to take care of Ye Xingmian, she even turned down her parents’ invitation to come over.
Still, she didn’t feel she had made a great sacrifice for Ye Xingmian.
In her view, it was all worth it. After all, treating the person you like well doesn’t need a reason.
But… she wondered when the clumsy Ye Xingmian would understand this.
Before she knew it, night had fallen. Liu Yinuo lay on her bed.
Even though they had been living together for so long, considering Ye Xingmian’s feelings, she had given up the initial idea of sharing a bed.
She still couldn’t forget the day she rescued Ye Xingmian from that place.
The dark basement, the ornate pink cushions, the ferocious chains, the girl with no light in her eyes, and the mottled bloodstains on her legs.
Though the perpetrator was eventually punished, the victim’s trauma would never fade.
She frowned, then suddenly opened her eyes.
There was the sound of wheels outside the door.
Had she come to find her? But was too timid to knock?
After thinking for a moment, Liu Yinuo got out of bed, put on slippers, and opened the door.
Because the lights weren’t on, it was dark outside.
The girl in the wheelchair, holding the toy bear, carefully looked up, her timid eyes looking at her uneasily.
“Can I come in?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.