“Aw, my Suisui lost a tooth! Don’t touch it with your fingers, or your new tooth won’t grow in.”
“What’s wrong with Suisui today? You don’t want to eat? No appetite? That’s okay. Big Brother will make you some noodles with tomato-and-egg sauce... You’re not being spoiled. In Big Brother’s eyes, Princess Suisui will always have the right to be spoiled...”
“Who said my Suisui is ugly? Tell me who it was, and I’ll beat him up! What terrible taste! My Suisui is obviously the prettiest little princess in the whole world!”
“Sixty-one in math? My little sister is amazing—she passed... Hmm... Big Brother will tutor you himself tonight...”
“Remember this: You don’t study to rise above everyone else. You study to understand reason and know how the world works, so no one can bully you in the future...”
Everything her brother had ever said played over and over in her mind like a binding spell.
She hugged her brother, burying her face in his broad shoulder as scalding tears streamed freely down her cheeks.
Again and again, she sobbed, “Big Brother, I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I didn’t know any of this...”
She had no idea what her brother had done to give her a complete and happy childhood.
He was clearly still just a child himself, yet he had straightened his back to hold up the family and taken on the role of its head.
Whenever she was bullied, her brother protected her.
But who protected him?
Who was there to protect her brother when he was the one being bullied?
Just like her, he no longer had a father or mother.
Their parents’ love for them had been paid in full—multiplied a hundredfold—the day of the accident. After that... all he could do was rely on his memories, replaying that shattered, despairing love from his parents over and over again.
“What did you do wrong?”
Zhou Sui'an lowered his eyes and looked at her tear-streaked face. He reached out to wipe the tears from her cheeks, but his own tears fell even harder.
“What does this have to do with you? You were only three back then. You didn’t understand anything.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me all these years?”
After hearing her brother describe what had happened, her heart hurt so badly she could hardly bear it.
Then... how much pain had her brother endured?
It must have been unbearable.
Just like the key clenched in her hand now.
Her brother had treated it like a treasure, repeatedly reminding her not to lose it.
But what about her?
She had known the key was missing. She had known it was the key to the attic. She had even guessed long ago that their parents’ belongings might be stored up there.
Yet she had never felt any urgency.
The key could be found anytime.
She could go to the attic whenever she was in the mood.
It was as if... even though she had lost her father and mother, she still had Zhou Sui'an.
Zhou Sui'an would give her so, so much love. He would give her so, so much tenderness and patience...
Her childhood had been happy and abundant, filled to the brim with love.
She had never felt that life was hopeless simply because she had lost her parents.
That was because her foolish brother had burned himself away, little by little, to fill the emptiness in her life...
“Ugh... sob...”
Zhou Suisui clutched the shirt over her brother’s chest with both hands and sobbed uncontrollably. “You could have told me! I could have borne it with you! I’m not a child anymore! I don’t want to watch you suffer alone and carry everything by yourself!”
“My foolish girl. It seems you really have grown up.”
Zhou Sui'an closed his eyes and stroked her head, his voice gentle yet bitter.
He had originally thought this matter would rot away in his heart, becoming a piece of diseased flesh inside him—painful, but impossible to cut out.
But after hearing his sister say those words, he suddenly felt relieved. Everything he had done all these years had been worth it.
Let it be this way.
This pain was enough for him to bear alone.
His little sister only needed to grow up happily.
“Big Brother, you’re so foolish. You were worried that I would be sad, but I worry about you too. Su Wan doesn’t love you at all...”
“I know.”
“I thought you loved her...”
“It isn’t love. Whenever I see her, I think of our mother. Even if all I can do is look at her face, I’m satisfied.”
“But, Big Brother... You’ve supported her unconditionally just because she has the same face as our mother. Don’t you know she’s a poisonous snake? Once she climbs to the top and gets everything she wants, she’ll bite you back. She’ll destroy you.”
“Suisui, don’t worry. This time, she incited her fans to smear you and attack you online. I won’t have anything more to do with her.”
Zhou Sui'an gently wiped the tears from her face, his eyes full of remorse. “I saw everything you did during this time to make me cut ties with her.”
It wasn’t because Su Wan had toyed with him that he had finally made up his mind.
It was because his sister had been bullied.
The knot that had bound him for seventeen years was time to let go.
Greed, anger, and delusion.
Meeting those one hates, parting from those one loves, and wanting what one cannot have.
The eight sufferings of life.
He had tasted every one of them. What else was there that he could not see through?
All he wished for was that, for the rest of their lives, he and Suisui would remain safe and blessed.
Zhou Suisui shook her head, her voice filled with pain.
“Big Brother, I had a dream... In the dream, Su Wan had you killed. The police called me and asked me to come identify your... You have no idea how desperate I was. The sun was shining brightly that day, but my entire sky had gone dark...”
Zhou Sui'an’s whole body turned cold. He held her face firmly in both hands and spoke with solemn conviction, as though making an oath.
“It won’t happen! I absolutely will not let something like that happen again!”
Zhou Suisui rubbed her tear-damp face against his palm. Crying and smiling at once, she nodded.
“Mm. I believe you, Big Brother. Don’t cry.”
Seeing how heartbroken he was, she raised both hands and held his face, desperately trying to wipe away his tears.
But the more she wiped, the more tears fell.
“As for Su Wan...”
“Suisui, I’ll handle it.”
Zhou Suisui shook her head firmly. “No. This is between her and me. There’s still one very important matter between us that needs to be settled.”
The hatred from her past life and the grievances of this one had to be reckoned with. She and Su Wan needed to settle their score.
Now that she understood the truth, how could she bear to let her brother deal with Su Wan himself?
For the past seventeen years, her brother had lived every day in endless guilt and longing.
Most likely, the moment he looked at Su Wan’s face, his reason would begin to crumble.
The debts Su Wan owed would be repaid by her, one by one.
From now on, she would be the one to protect her brother.
-
That’s all for today’s update!~~
