Shen Ruxue knew very well that if her younger sister and the others found out what she had been doing behind their backs, she would surely be despised.
Acting selfishly and intruding upon others regardless of their feelings was something she had no right to do, even if she was Chi Yingyu’s sister, Le Yi’s mother, and Jiang Lai’s wife.
Shen Ruxue knew her actions were wrong, but she also knew that if she didn’t get some news about her family, she would truly go insane.
She should have been the person closest to Jiang Lai, yet now they were like strangers.
She peeked into their lives silently like a rat in the shadows, fantasizing about everything in her heart, not even daring to reveal herself.
Shen Ruxue was truly afraid she would lose her mind.
For over ten years, she had suppressed her true emotions. Long-term suppression had turned into an illness, and her personality had become very gloomy; she would keep outsiders at a distance of thousands of miles.
The happy daily life she once had was right before her eyes, yet now they were the most familiar of strangers.
Shen Ruxue felt that since she could not participate in the lives of Jiang Lai and the others, she should at least know what was happening to them. This would bring some small measure of comfort to her heart.
When her younger sister had not replied to her for so long, Shen Ruxue contacted the people she had sent over that very night. Although it was impolite to disturb them so late, Shen Ruxue desperately wanted to know what her sister had done since arriving here.
At the hotel, Chi Yingyu only ensured she got the most basic amount of sleep before getting up to visit the piers she had scouted yesterday to ask the locals.
After Chi Yingyu finished a simple cleanup, she packed only the most basic equipment. Carrying a small bag for light travel, she prepared to leave the hotel. In the lobby, she spotted a strangely familiar figure.
From a distance, Chi Yingyu looked at the elegant and dignified girl sitting on a chair in the lobby. She looked to be only eighteen or nineteen years old. Although she had just reached maturity and still carried a hint of youthful innocence, that was merely an external impression.
Sister?
Why would her sister suddenly appear at this hotel…
Chi Yingyu had originally intended to reply to her sister’s message on the way to the pier, but she hadn’t expected her sister to find her on her own.
Compared to Chi Yingyu’s stunned expression at her sister’s sudden arrival, Shen Ruxue, who had been sitting in the lobby for an unknown amount of time, stood up and jogged over the moment she saw her younger sister.
Shen Ruxue had arrived very early. Yesterday, when she heard from her contact that her sister’s current situation was completely inexplicable, her heart had been filled with worry. She had come over on the earliest ferry from Holiday Island at four o’clock this morning.
What Shen Ruxue understood now was still quite shallow. After all, her people had always been observing Chi Yingyu and the others from a distance. All they could know was where they went and what they did.
As for the specifics of what happened during those times, there was still no way to know clearly. Sending someone to secretly observe the family was already a foul and disgusting thing to do; she couldn’t think of any way to know more details other than installing surveillance cameras.
But even if Shen Ruxue lost her mind, she could never bring herself to install cameras.
“…”
While Chi Yingyu was dazed by her sister’s sudden appearance, she heard a familiar call. The voice was cool, yet it held a unique tenderness within it.
“Sister, why are you here?”
Chi Yingyu was a bit lightheaded now. Even if her sister had known which city she was in yesterday and took the earliest flight, she shouldn’t have arrived this early.
The lobby.
Or had her sister never been far from them all along…
“This isn’t the right place to talk. Let’s go outside and chat!”
Seeing that her sister was safe and sound, the worry in Shen Ruxue’s heart finally eased a little. The gaze she cast was warm and soft.
As she turned, she habitually reached out her hand and naturally took hold of Chi Yingyu’s, just like in the past. The two sisters left the hotel hand in hand.
On the way, Shen Ruxue had not yet organized her thoughts. She didn’t know how to answer the question her sister had just asked. Should she lie?
Shen Ruxue was not good at lying to those closest to her. At least in her eyes before, there should be no secrets between family members. But now, she hesitated over a decision she would have made without a second thought in the past.
After walking for a distance, Shen Ruxue finally released her sister’s hand and answered the question asked back in the lobby. “I’ve been here for a few days. After I found out you were here yesterday, I kept thinking about coming to find you. But Xiao Yu, you never replied to my messages. I was worried something might have happened, so I took it upon myself to come this morning.”
Shen Ruxue lowered her eyes slightly, her aura weakening by half. Although she desperately wanted to return to the time when the family was close-knit, she had been gone for too long after all. She didn’t even know what kind of reaction her sister would have to these words.
Previously, she had always been adept at facing her family, able to guess their thoughts just by looking at their subtle movements and facial expressions, but now it was completely impossible. Everything was different.
“Xiao Yu, aren’t you curious how I knew you came here, even though no one told me anything…?”
“It’s okay. Whatever you do is fine, Sister.”
Looking at her sister, whose voice carried a hint of apology, Chi Yingyu’s heart suddenly tightened. In these ten-plus years, she had taken everything related to her sister, even usurping her position.
If anyone should feel apologetic, she was the one who should apologize most. However, even if she did apologize, she would absolutely never change her ways.
“Because I trust you. No matter what happens, Sister, you would never hurt us.”
“Thank you.”
Shen Ruxue ultimately could not maintain her calm facade. Her eyes welled with watery tears as she once again gripped her sister’s hand tightly, dispelling the despondency that had been lingering around her.
Chi Yingyu looked at the sister who had appeared before her. Since her sister had arrived here a few days ago, she wondered if she might have heard any news about Holiday Island.
Chi Yingyu’s mindset was simply to treat a dead horse as if it were alive. She would tell her sister about it; even if her sister didn’t know, once the two of them reached the pier, they could split up to ask around.
“Sister, can you help me look for someone?”