Yun’er stepped forward, bending one knee to squat beside Ye Zhibai. With gentle care, she brushed aside the silver hair from her ear and whispered all the information she had gathered earlier from Tang Yuzhu.
Once she finished, Yun’er considerately stepped back, no longer interrupting.
For Ye Zhibai, who had listened intently to everything…
Her head buzzed loudly.
The sensation was even more intense than the time she had accidentally drunk the wasabi that Guang Yu had squeezed into her water cup.
Once her mind steadied, Ye Zhibai looked squarely at Little Qiu in front of her. The girl’s legs were still weak, and she couldn’t quite stand on her own.
So… Little Qiu was another poor child who had gone through the pain of life and death at a young age.
Why “another”?
Because Ye Zhibai had been through the same thing herself.
She had personally witnessed the hollow despair in Sister Liang’s eyes that day at the crematorium, when she still didn’t know the truth.
That wasn’t the Sister Liang she knew at all… She was utterly desolate, her soul seemingly adrift.
If even a strong girl like Sister Liang could end up in that state, Ye Zhibai could hardly imagine how this little one had endured it back then.
If someone had helped her through the psychological trauma at the time, Ye Zhibai would have to respectfully call them a master counselor!
Not to mention… beyond Sister Liang’s example, Ye Zhibai could relate all too well herself.
Who hasn’t experienced the separation of life and death?
I watched with my own eyes as my past-life self was fed into the incinerator!
Does anyone understand how that felt?! Huh?!
The more she thought about it, the more her emotions surged, the more that sour ache welled up inside her.
The more she dwelled on it, the more she pitied the poor little netizen before her eyes.
And when that pity and righteous anger fermented in her heart to a certain point, it turned into a catalyst for action!
Ye Zhibai felt her nose sting. Ignoring the medical reports slipping from her grasp and scattering like raindrops, she abandoned her tiring squat. Instead, just like Little Qiu, she plopped down onto the ground in a duck-sit position, legs splayed out.
The clouds parted, and the bright moon shone once more.
Bathed in its pure glow, Ye Zhibai leaned forward and pulled Su Yuqiu into a tight embrace!
These words weren’t just for Little Qiu—they were for herself too!
“Don’t worry… Things will get better in the future… You have to have faith. Being alive is the greatest luck there is…”
“Yezi?! Y-Y-Ye… Hug… Yezi’s hugging me…!”
“It’s so bony…”
“Ye…! Uh, Yezi… Did you just say something that hurt my pride again?”
“No… I meant, you need to stay strong.”
Stay strong…?
Whenever the moonlight pierced through the clouds, it bathed the eyes of everyone gazing at the sky without obstruction.
This moment was fortunate enough already. Even more fortunate was that, ever since five years ago, the light in Little Qiu’s eyes had never dimmed again.
Dark clouds came and went… But what kept the moonlight shining eternally in my eyes?
The moon—she was right here.
Su Yuqiu’s arms trembled slightly.
Even though her heartbeat raced faster than it ever had, even when she needed her medication, she slowly raised her hands… wrapped them around Ye Zhibai’s back, and returned the embrace.
Mmm… My heart’s pounding
so fast, yet it doesn’t hurt.
My breathing is just as rapid and uncontrollable as during an episode, but this rhythm… Su Yuqiu didn’t hate it at all.
Gradually leaning her full weight into Ye Zhibai, Su Yuqiu narrowed her eyes.
The flush on her cheeks hadn’t faded, but a smile already curved her lips.
Ah… It’s been so many years since I relaxed like this…?
Warm… soft…
If we keep hugging like this, I might get addicted.
Was the one who needed to stay strong really Su Yuqiu?
Of course, Su Loli had to be strong, but at least right now, the one who needed strength more was Ye Zhiyun.
In the hazy moonlight, it wasn’t clear, but Tang Yuzhu felt like this young lady from the Ye Family was gritting her teeth… with her fists clenched tight?!
“Yuqiu seems really happy today… Uh… Miss Ye? Are you okay? Do you feel unwell? This is a hospital—maybe you should get checked out…”
“No need. This is a matter of life and death. I know the priorities well enough.”
“?”
Out of Tang Yuzhu’s line of sight,
Yun’er was viciously twisting the flesh of her own thigh with her right hand!
Hold it together… I have to hold it together… Suppress that jar of jealousy in my heart. Don’t cause trouble for big sis!
Wahhh, I know that little one needs comforting right now, but big sis is hugging her so tight!
It’s fine… It’s fine… Comforting the heart requires some physical contact. It’s all normal, totally normal.
Ahh… Big sis! Keep some distance between your chests! Isn’t that already touching?! Distance, distance!
Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Namu Amida Butsu, clear mind, still as water.
Yun’er pinched her thigh until it turned purple, nearly chanting the Great Compassion Mantra in her heart.
Fortunately, the brief embrace didn’t last too long.
Even though Su Yuqiu was still immersed in it, Ye Zhibai couldn’t keep holding on forever!
Good grief, she’d gotten caught up in the moment earlier and hugged her. Midway through, she realized this was basically molesting a loli, so with a natural motion, she ended the embrace before it could get her arrested.
Then, Ye Zhibai saw the moon.
Not the one in the sky.
But the moonlight reflected in Little Qiu’s eyes as they faced each other again.
Bright as the moon itself, hence the name.
Tears glistening like light, hence the glow.
“Feeling better now?”
“Mm… Much better, both body and heart… Mm, anyway, sorry for the trouble, Yezi. Heave-ho…!”
Little Qiu was a strong loli at heart.
She patted her shaky legs, mustered her strength, and hopped to her feet. With her remaining energy, she extended a small hand to Ye Zhibai.
Of course, Ye Zhibai wouldn’t refuse the gesture. She took the hand and…
“Uh… Little Qiu?”
“Eek…! Hah! Yezi, get up already! I can’t pull you! Eek… Hah…”
“……”
I’d weighed myself before. Miraculously, I weighed under a hundred pounds my whole life—around ninety, actually. Pretty skinny.
Yet, even as Little Qiu exerted all her strength to pull me up, I didn’t feel a thing.
Hmm.
Ye Zhibai once again marveled at the wonders of loli physiology.
She stood up on her own. After the two of them dusted off their pants, Yun’er and Tang Yuzhu came over to help pick up the scattered medical reports from the ground.
Everything that could be done had been done.
Ye Zhibai knew she wasn’t good with words. She was glad she’d hugged Little Qiu directly instead of saying too much.
Otherwise, with her clumsy mouth, she might have said something that would send Little Qiu straight to the hospital.
There was one thing, though… that Ye Zhibai truly admired.
“Little Qiu.”
“Mm? What’s up… Cough cough, anyway, give me that first. What a huge fail, carrying this thing around…”
Oh, you mean the protective amulet you’d written by hand? Here, take it—but you have to hear my question first.
Once she handed the paper full of hope back to Little Qiu,
Ye Zhibai lifted a hand to hold down her silver hair fluttering in the evening breeze.
Her voice was distant and faintly cool.
“I just think… you’re way stronger than me.”
“Eh? Why say that all of a sudden?! Am I that amazing?!”
“Of course.”
I remembered that back at the crematorium, I’d teared up.
In comparison, Little Qiu was incredibly strong.
“I figured you’d bawl your eyes out. Didn’t expect you to stay so composed.”
“Bawl…? Only kids do that. Uh… Wait, didn’t I just cry earlier? Look, there’s still tears here.”
“Just sand-in-the-eye level. Doesn’t count.”
“Really?”
Hearing that,
Little Qiu started admiring herself a bit!
But Yezi… The credit for not crying shouldn’t all go to me, you know?
Su Yuqiu suddenly clasped her hands behind her back, gripping the protective amulet she’d written. She turned away.
With a playful hop, she bounded back onto the step she’d been standing on earlier.
Glancing back halfway, she flashed Ye Zhibai a mischievous side profile, her cherry-colored hair dancing cutely.
“Not crying? That’s because the ones who should cry already have! Didn’t I just say? Only kids cry forever!”
“You already cried…? When? Before I got here?”
“Secret~”
I’m not telling you, you rascal Yezi.
How dare you even ask.
Five years ago, those words you sent—I read them over and over, watched them again and again. They made me cry my heart out.
My tears dried up long ago!
You’re the “culprit” who left me nothing but smiles.
You don’t even qualify to ask!
