Warning: This chapter contains flashbacks of physical and sexual child abuse. Nothing overly graphic or explicit, but if itâs a traumatic/triggering topic or something that you would rather not read, you can skip reading after the red line. Iâll provide a short summary at the end of the chapter so you can get a gist of the story.
Generally speaking, women were more emotional than rational.
Their decisions and behaviour were more likely to be guided by the emotions they were feeling.
Because they were of the same kind, Liu Lin could usually guess what the girl was thinking just by looking at her.
However, he forgot the fundamental difference between themâif the little girl was a boy, she wouldâve held back her anger and swallowed it into her stomach, simply because she wouldnât be able to beat a man who was stronger than her.
The little girl was just like him, irascible and crazy, so she was even more emotional than ordinary girls.
When it came to her, Liu Linâs method of oppression would undoubtedly be counterproductive.
He had no idea that she had already decided never to let them go, planning to thoroughly entangle them until the end. So much so that even upon feeling the murderous intent coming from the girl, he didnât take it seriously.
He only thought that the little girl was really way too inexperienced because she couldnât even control her own bloodlust.
âFive minutes. If by that time you still canât keep it in check, then come and get another slap from me.â Liu Lin told her as he continued playing his game.
Four minutes later, the girl finally restrained her murderous aura and lay down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
At about seven oâclock, Yao Qiâs head began to stir on Liu Linâs thigh. After lying down for two more minutes, he slowly opened his eyes, waking up.
Getting up from his slumber, Yao Qi felt that he would have been better off not sleepingâhis whole body felt sore and numb, and he could even hear his bones cracking when he straightened his back.
He groaned as he thumped on his numb back.
âHow bad is it?â Liu Lin bent down to take care of his shoulders, patting them to help with the circulation.
âStill fine.â Yao Qi forced himself to stretch, all of his joints cracking from his movements, but he did feel much better after he was done with the stretching.
Liu Lin nodded and stared at him.
Inadvertently, he saw Liu Lin shifting his legs and suddenly remembered that he had been lying on the manâs lap since last night. Liu Lin must have had it much worse than him. Feeling sorry for him, Yao Qi curled up his fists and used them to massage Liu Linâs legs.
At this moment, he really looked like Liu Linâs little lackey.
The person on the bed started to moveâof course, this person was not Yao Qi, but that little girl.
Yao Qi looked at her and pondered about how he should broach the topic, but at last, he decided to do it straightforwardly.
âI sent you to the hospital, and Iâve also paid the bills for you. You can stay here for about five more days.â After saying that, Yao Qi paused for a moment before continuing, âFor the sake of saving you, can you tell me exactly what did I do to provoke you?â
The moment she heard this question, the girl froze in place.
The corners of her mouth began to twitch, as if she was going to laugh, but then she didnât. A film of tears dampened her eyes, which were filled with grievance.
But Yao Qi just kept looking at her indifferently.
In the end, instead of crying, the girl parted her lips for a grin, putting on a smile that was even harder to look at than a weeping face. Her gaze turned ferocious. âYes, of course you donât remember.â
âHow could you possibly remember. To you, Iâm no different than a passer-by, to be forgotten the moment you left.â
These words⊠why did they sound so ambiguous?
Yao Qi felt rather stupefied.
According to what she said, they must have known each other before.
But the reality was that he didnât have the slightest recollection of meeting this girl.
âI really donât remember,â Yao Qi honestly admitted, his voice turning solemn, âbut I donât think Iâve done anything that would warrant you wanting to kill me.â
He had always treated others with gentleness.
As long as anyone didnât touch his bottom line, he wouldnât care too much about what they did, let alone take the initiative to harm them.
He had figured out his sexuality a long time ago, and all the people he had slept with were fellow men.
Whether or not the little girlâs appearance suited his taste didnât even matter, because just by looking at her age, he couldnât even stomach the thought of doing anything with her.
One by one, he ruled out all the possible scenarios he couldâve committed to evoke another personâs hatred. Yao Qi once again confirmed that he hadnât done anything to warrant this amount of malice.
He couldnât help but wonder, when and where exactly did he meet this little girl?
âNothing, you saidââ The words sounded as though they had been squeezed out of her throat.
A hideous expression took over her pretty face.
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The girl frantically sat up, her eyes turning red.
âIâve been abused by you since I was a child!â
âYouâre hungry? You think you can eat my snacks just because youâre hungry? Give me the needle! If I donât sew your mouth shut, then my surname is not Yao!â
âYouâd beat up me whenever youâre in a bad moodââ
âYou damn bitch! Youâre happy that I got dumped, right? Fuck! Just keep screaming! Iâm gonna kill you!â
âYou gave me to your friendâŠâ
âHey, your little sister looks so cute, why are you so mean to her? ⊠Come here, little sis, if you help me to lick it, Iâll tell your brother to treat you better.â
âYou tricked me and said youâd take me out to play, but you actually sent me to the red light districtââ
âListen to me and wait here, Iâll come back after buying some things, donât run around.â
âYou lied to me, you clearly said that youâd tell me a bedtime story tomorrowââ
âYao Yue is a good girl, right? ⊠A good girl should go to bed by now, so, will Xiao Yue be good and go to sleep? ⊠lâll come tomorrow as well, donât be afraid⊠Yes, Iâll come again tomorrow and tell you another story.â
ââŠI want to call you brother, can I call you brother?â
There was always a gentle smile on that handsome face.
He looked at you as if he was looking at his whole world.
As if he had put you inside a jar of honey.
Eventually, this face overlapped with another face in her memory.
Aahh, this was her big brother.
This was her true brother.
The girl had shouted out everything.
Her voice was filled with such deep fury.
And an equally deep grief.
Everyone in the ward looked at Yao Qi.
They pinned those eyes full of disgust onto Yao Qiâs body, as if wanting to burn a hole in him.
It was unclear who uttered the word.
Liu Lin snapped his head and glared at the direction of the voice, then looked back at the hysterical girl on the hospital bed. With a sneer, he reached out to grab her neck.
Out of her whole tirade, only the last sentence sounded like something Yao Qi could do. Aside from that, he didnât believe a single word of what she said.
She slandered his Yao Qi.
So he would teach her a very, very, very good lesson.
A hand grabbed hold of his wrist, stopping his blow from hitting the girl who was frightened off into ducking away by him.
He looked at the owner of that handâit was none other than Yao Qi.
Yao Qi sat still on his spot, his expression as dull as it could be.
There was no emotion in his eyes, no smile on his face, he just looked straight at her.
Quietly, silently, looking at her.
No words, no smiles, just a pair of cold eyes.
It made the girl feel as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water on her, and her frenzied emotions began to calm down.
Without knowing why, a feeling of dread crept inside her heart.
Then, she watched as Yao Qi finally moved his lips.
He said, âI remember who you are.â
âYao Yue, female, ten years oldâshould be fifteen by now, right? Developed severe autism due to prolonged abuse since childhoodâbut now it seems like that diagnosis was incorrect. Both of your parents as well as your older brother died after your house was burgled, but you managed to narrowly escape death by hiding. After that, you were sent to Huaâer Orphanage.â
âYouâre my former patient.â
âânot my younger sister.â
âYouâre lying!â The girl screamed in denial.
âWho am I?â Yao Qi did not refute her, but changed the subject.
âYouâre my big brother!â
âThen whatâs my name?â
âYao Qi! Youâre Yao Qi!â
âIâm not Yao Qi. You say Iâm your brother, but you donât even know my name?â
âYouâre lying! You are Yao Qi! You are my brother!â
âMy name is obviously Yao Yu, who is Yao Qi?â
âNononoâyou liarâyour name is Yao Qi!! Youâre called Yao Qi! How can you call yourself Yao Yu! Your name is not Yao Yu!!â She screamed and viciously pulled her own hair, going through a mental breakdown. Her shrill voice rang deafeningly within the ward.
âIâm your older brother, and my name is Yao Yu. Who is Yao Qi?â
Yao Qi was her big brotherâ
âso who was this person sitting in front of herâŠ?
Her true brother was the person sitting right in front of her!!
âMy name is Yao Yu, who is Yao Qi?â the man was still asking.
Yao Yu was her true brother!
âFuck! Bastard, you canât go on a day without asking for a beating, huh? I told you to take off your clothes, are you deaf!?â
âIt hurts? Hahahahaâthatâs how itâs supposed to be, now scream louder!â
âNo, no, noâyouâre notâyouâre notâââ
âHow could you not be Yao Qiââ
âHow could you be that scumââ
She was like a drowning person, tightly clutching the clothes on her chest as if she could no longer breathe and was about to sink.
Tears flowed freely down her face.
Her eyes were wide open, but they were devoid of light.
Her hair was dishevelled, covering half of her desperate face.
She looked like a complete lunatic.
Just the sight of her could easily send shivers down your spine.
âAm I not the scum who abused you, beat you whenever Iâm unhappy, and threw you in the red light district?â
The voice of the devil echoed in her ears.
She frantically shook her head, refusing to admit it, âNo⊠youâre not him⊠youâre not that scum⊠youâre my ideal big brother⊠youâre not himâŠâ
Her voice was hoarse, but she kept murmuring softly, denying Yao Qiâs words.
âIâm Yao Qi,â he said.
The girl felt as if someone had pressed the pause button on her body. Her voice, her movements, everything abruptly stopped in an instant. And then gradually, bit by bit, she raised up her head.
Yao Qiâs face came into view.
The man repeated, âIâm Yao Qi.â
The girl was ecstatic; with a deranged smile on her face, she rapidly nodded at him, eager and excited beyond belief, like a person who was about to die of thirst finding an oasis.
âIâm Yao Qi, and I abused you.â
The girl yelped, cowering and quickly shaking her head, âNo⊠no⊠Yao Qi didnât do it!â
âIf itâs not me, then whatâs the name of the person who did all that to you?â As gentle as an angel, Yao Qi smiled and softly asked, cradling her face in his hands.
ââŠHis name is Yao Yu⊠His name is Yao YuâŠâ She was bewitched. The only thing her eyes could see was this man with his gentle face, and so she murmured the name she had painstakingly erased from her mind long ago.
âSo, the one who abused you was Yao Yu, and not me, right?â
The girl exclaimed in response, nodding excitedly.
âSince it wasnât me who abused you,
âhow could I be your brother?â
He revealed this incomparably cruel fact to her with a smile on his face.
He was gentle as an angel, yet his words were that of a devil.
He was gentle as an angel, speaking words of a devilâs.
Shao Qing: *grabs some popcorn and nudges Ah-Lin* Do you think Xiao Qi is an angel or a devil?
Ah-Lin: How could Xiao Qi be a devil? Xiao Qi is obviously the best angel there is *dreamy face*
Shao Qing: Alright⊠(this person is completely hopeless)
Xiao Qi: *putting away his devilâs horns and tail to wear the disguise of an angel, looking all gentle and kind* Ah Lin, Iâm home.
Shao Qing: *points the microphone at the little girl* Let me interview you, do you think Xiao Qi is an angel or a devil?
Yao Yue: How can my brother be a devil? QAQ If heâs not an angel, who else deserves to be an angel!?
Shao Qing: Great, yet another one.
Xiao Qi: How long are you going to obsess over this issue? *helpless*
Shao Qing: Because I used to be one of them back then (ă=Đ=)ăâ»ââ»
Xiao Qi: So youâre not anymore now? *laughs*
Shao Qing: âŠâŠYao Xiaoqi, you should quickly think about how youâre going to buy me a meal, donât forget that youâre a pauper now â°(*â`*)âŻ
Xiaoqi: (Aiya, made him angry)
T/n: Hereâs the summary for those who skipped the part:
â The girlâs identity is finally revealed. Her name is Yao Yue, sheâs 15 years old, and 5 years ago, she was Yao Qiâs patient (and no, theyâre not blood related at all, the same surname is just a coincidence)
â Sheâs been abused physically and sexually by her own older brother since she was a kid and became twisted as a result of it
â At the age of 10, her whole family died (due to âburglaryâ) and she was sent to an orphanage, where she met Yao Qi
â Yao Qi was very kind and gentle to her, a perfect ideal of what an older brother shouldâve been in her eyes, but later he suddenly disappeared from her life
â That basically snapped her last straw. Desperate to lock away the traumatising memories of her dead abusive brother & longing for Yao Qi, their identities eventually overlapped in her mind, and she became obsessed with Yao Qi
â She had a whole meltdown in the hospital, accusing Yao Qi of doing things her dead older brother did (which made Liu Lin angry coz the whole ward was like wtf @ Yao Qi)
â Yao Qi finally remembered who she was, and after a round of mind games with the in-denial Yao Yue, made her face the reality that he wasnât her brother
That pretty much covers the storyline of this chapter. It wonât affect your reading of subsequent chapters, so you donât need to read the part after the red line if you donât feel like it, coz even though nothing was described in detail, the allusions are still pretty horrifying. Take care and see you next chapter!