Chapter 27

Lin Miao was enjoying life. She was a rather simple person by nature, especially since she had lived in the deep mountains before. Although she went to school in town, she didn’t have many friends in her class. Later, she stayed with the Yu family, but her social circle remained limited.
So, when she thought about not being able to see her brother for a long time, Lin Miao felt a little disappointed, but soon, she cheered up again.
Before dinner, Shui Shui’s father came home.
Lin Miao’s mother stuck her head out. “Did something happen at the construction site?”
“A worker got into a fight with his wife. They couldn’t stop them, so they asked me to go take a look,” he explained. He didn’t say anything more since there were two children around.
Lin Miao’s mother thought that since he was back, it must mean everything was fine.
Lin Miao and her younger brother helped bring the dishes to the table.
At dinner, Lin Miao ate particularly well. The food was all her favorites, and she didn’t have to worry about table manners.
At bedtime, her mother came in to sleep with her.
Back at home, she used to sleep with her mother all the time, but when she was working, she had to sleep alone. At first, she wasn’t used to it.
Lin Miao excitedly told her mother about her brother teaching her English and how he had helped her learn to read.
Lin Miao’s mother listened, knowing that Lin Miao truly saw the other person as her brother, just like the little young master, who was genuinely good to Shui Shui. She patted Lin Miao’s head. “When you’re on holiday, I’ll take you to the city to see your brother.”
Lin Miao wasn’t sure when that “later” would come.
Finally, lying in her mother’s arms, Lin Miao slept soundly without a single nightmare all night.
It wasn’t just Lin Miao who slept peacefully. Her mother, who had not slept this soundly in a long time, also had a good rest.
Lin Miao’s family lived on the third floor of an old apartment building. There were many neighbors around. The school was close, so most of the families were renting for their kids. It was almost New Year, and the children were all home. The nearby school was an elementary school, so the kids were young.
Within a couple of days, Lin Miao had become close friends with all the children in the neighborhood.
Of course, Lin Miao was still busy. She couldn’t play with them all the time. Although she was the youngest of the group, she was the only one who had come back from the big city. They thought she was amazing, so they invited her to play badminton with them, but she didn’t have the time. It wasn’t because she couldn’t play, but because on the first day of the new year, she had to go back to her hometown to pay respects to the ancestors.
Her younger brother wasn’t in good health and couldn’t walk that far, so he didn’t go.
He was only six years old, and Lin Miao couldn’t leave him alone at home, so their mother also stayed behind.
That left Lin Miao and her father to return to their hometown to pay their respects.
Lin Miao carried her own candy. After all, she had promised her little friends that she would buy them some.
After walking for a bit, her father ended up carrying her small backpack along with the other things they needed for the trip.
Walking on the familiar mountain roads, Lin Miao was out of breath, but she was also very happy. This was her hometown! She had walked this road every day before!
Before they even reached the village, they heard a “woof woof woof.”
Out came a mighty Da Huang dog. Lin Miao’s eyes lit up. “Wei Feng!”
Wei Feng ran up to her, circling her non-stop. Lin Miao took out a pack of dog treats from her backpack.
She had, of course, remembered Wei Feng when she went shopping.
At that moment, Xiao Mei and the others came running over. “Shui Shui!”
“Xiao Mei! I’m back from working!” Lin Miao said, giving Xiao Mei a hug.
“Shui Shui, you’re finally back! Are you thirsty? Do you want some water?” Xiao Mei said, “Shui Shui, you’ve gotten prettier! And taller too!”
Lin Miao felt great hearing this. She also thought she had gotten much fairer.
At first, she hadn’t noticed, but after seeing the photo her mother had at home, she realized she looked much thinner and darker before.
Shui Shui’s father talked to a few adults nearby, then came over to call Lin Miao. “Shui Shui, we’re going to the ancestral tomb now.”
Lin Miao remembered the main task, quickly handing out candies to her friends. “I bought you all some candy. My mother says I should study more. Working outside is really tough…”
This was what her brother had told her to say when she came back, to remind them not to drop out of school and to study hard, because working outside was tough.
Although Lin Miao didn’t find it difficult and thought it was fun, she still passed on the message.
Then, they went to the tomb to pay their respects, which was actually quite simple.
They set off firecrackers, burned paper money, and bowed.
Just after finishing, Lin Miao heard Xiao Mei calling her from the side. “Shui Shui, someone called for you!”
Lin Miao found it strange. Why would someone call her? And it was even to the village chief’s house. Suddenly, she realized who it might be.
She had told her brother that they went back to their hometown every year on the first day of the new year to pay respects.
She quickly ran over and picked up the phone receiver.
“Hello?” Lin Miao said.
On the other end, a pleasant voice quickly replied, “Shui Shui.”
“Brother!!” Lin Miao called out excitedly, even though she had already guessed it might be her brother. But hearing his voice still made her so excited and happy. She quickly said, “Brother, Happy New Year!”
Yu Jingxuan could tell from her happy tone that she was doing well, and probably had already met her friends.
“Happy New Year, Shui Shui.” Yu Jingxuan said.
“Brother, Mom said when I have a holiday, she’ll bring me to visit you,” Lin Miao said. “Brother, does Da Huang listen to you? Oh, I also saw Wei Feng! It looks just like Da Huang!”
Yu Jingxuan felt a bit sad inside and replied, “I have something to do. We’ll talk later.”
Then, he hung up the phone.
Lin Miao was a little dazed. There were so many things she wanted to tell her brother, and she wanted to tell him that she missed him…
Holding the receiver, she slowly hung it up.
Shui Shui’s father had already come over.
“Shui Shui, we need to go home now.” Shui Shui’s father said.
Lin Miao nodded and said goodbye to her friends.
Their family’s pomelo tree had quite a few pomelos this year. Xiao Mei had actually saved a dozen for them, but they couldn’t take them all back, so they only took five.
After returning home, Lin Miao peeled the pomelos and shared them with the kids upstairs and downstairs. She kept one for herself in her room.
She couldn’t bear to open it.
Her younger brother, having undergone surgery, wasn’t able to run around or jump anymore. Lin Miao noticed he had become very quiet, totally different from before.
Not only that, but her younger brother was actually reading. He was looking at her old textbooks.
The kids invited Lin Miao to play badminton, and her mother had, of course, agreed. She even bought Lin Miao a racket and shuttlecock.
Lin Miao thought about taking her brother with her, but he didn’t want to go. He wanted to read. Lin Miao looked at him in bewilderment. Her little brother was only six and he wanted to stay in the room reading…
“Shui Shui, you go ahead, but don’t play too late.” Her mother was happy that Lin Miao had made so many friends. At least with these friends at the new school, she wouldn’t be bullied.
Also, the school they were taking Lin Miao to was the new school she would be attending, so it was a good idea to get familiar with it in advance. Moreover, Lin Miao didn’t seem too happy since returning from her hometown, so her mother guessed that maybe it was because she had to leave her old friends behind.
Once Lin Miao left, her mother went to check on her younger son.
He was still deeply engrossed in his book.
Her younger son had attended a local kindergarten in the village, but had stopped due to illness. In the past six months, he had changed the most. After learning that his sister had gone to live at someone else’s house because of his illness, he no longer complained about the pain.
For the past six months, her mother had taken care of all the meals for the construction workers. Soon, when the workers began working again, she would need to continue cooking for them.
Lin Miao then joined her new friends on the school’s playground.
Although it was a holiday, the playground was still open.
There were originally five of them, but only two rackets, so they had to take turns. One person had to wait.
Now with Lin Miao, and her mother buying her a racket, they didn’t need to wait anymore, and they could play in pairs.
But since Lin Miao didn’t know how to play, the oldest, Mei Mei, paired up with her to teach her badminton.
At first, Lin Miao kept missing the shuttlecock, but after she managed to hit her first shot, she gained confidence!
She was quick on her feet and became more and more excited.
The games she used to play with her brother mostly involved intelligence and were more quiet in nature.
This was totally different! Lin Miao was full of energy, and she couldn’t stop!
Eventually, Mei Mei was worn out. “I can’t do it anymore! I need a break! You two can take over for me! Look at Shui Shui, she could play forever!”
Lin Miao couldn’t help but exclaim, “This is so fun!”
Then, someone else came to replace Mei Mei, and Lin Miao continued playing.
Seven or eight hours later, when Yu Jingxuan finally arrived, accompanied by Da Huang, who had gained weight and was running happily with his pups, he saw Lin Miao playing badminton with a group of girls, laughing with all her heart.
The young master, who was usually generous and never held grudges, suddenly felt a heavy heart and didn’t want to approach.
Da Huang didn’t care about this. As soon as he saw Lin Miao, he ran over with his pups!
Da Huang had grown a lot too. He had always been fierce, but now, he was even more excited and running really fast. The sight of him charging towards the girls left them all terrified, their faces pale and their legs shaking.
Lin Miao turned around and was overjoyed. “Da Huang! Fei Fei! Jia Jia!”
Da Huang rubbed his head against Lin Miao non-stop.
Lin Miao patted his head, comforting him. “Da Huang, you’ve gotten so much fatter!”
More importantly, she asked, “Why are you here? Where’s brother?”