Recalling this, Hu Liena, who had buried her head in her knees, felt her small face heat up, a smile rising from the depths of her heart, causing her to giggle softly.
Her red cheeks were like apples, rosy and incredibly cute.
"Sister, what are you thinking about? Why is your face so red?" Xie Yue asked curiously.
"Brother, do you remember Zhuo Bufan?" Hu Liena asked with a smile.
Hu Liena's smiling question caused a surge of murderous intent to rise uncontrollably within Xie Yue.
"I remember. If that scoundrel hadn't died early, I would have made him regret ever being born."
His words were chilling, his killing intent almost tangible. The mere thought of Zhuo Bufan's cruel bullying of Hu Liena when he wasn't around made Xie Yue wish he could go back in time and chop the guy into mincemeat, piece by piece.
He took a deep breath, suppressing the killing intent in his heart, and asked with confusion, "Nana, why did you suddenly think of that guy?"
"Hmph, who's thinking of him," Hu Liena rolled her eyes and scoffed. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Oh! It's not him, then it must be Wang Zhong," Xie Yue narrowed his eyes, grinning slyly.
Hu Liena's fair, jade-like earlobes suddenly burned like fire at this remark.
"No, no!" she exclaimed loudly, but her charming retort lacked conviction.
"I remember when we first entered the orphanage, he didn't have a name yet," Xie Yue recalled.
"Mm, not yet. Back then, I didn't even know what to call him."
...
"May I ask why you go there every so often, sometimes even staying for several days?" Walking back to the orphanage, Hu Liena lay lazily on Wang Zhong's back, asking curiously.
Her wounds, after being cleaned, were bandaged with gauze soaked in a green liquid. A cool sensation spread from the wounds, soon replaced by a warm, fiery feeling. These alternating sensations made her extremely comfortable, so much so that Hu Liena felt drowsy and wanted to fall asleep.
"I'm thinking about some things," the little boy carrying Hu Liena on his back replied indifferently.
"Thinking about what?" Resting her chin on his shoulder, Hu Liena gently pressed.
Feeling Hu Liena's warm breath near his ear, the little boy felt a tickle. He gently rubbed his small face against hers to get rid of the itch, chuckling as he replied.
"Thinking about the past, and also thinking about who I am."
"Thinking about who you are?"
"Yes, you're Hu Liena, your brother is Xie Yue. You both have names and a past, which might be good or bad."
"But I'm different from you. I don't have a name, nor do I have a past. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was the orphanage director's curious and probing gaze."
"He asked me my name. But I searched my entire memory and couldn't find an answer."
"I can read and write. I can speak and communicate with anyone. I can identify many medicinal herbs that even the director doesn't know, and I recognize all sorts of spirit beasts. I also know all sorts of strange and peculiar knowledge."
"But even though I remember so much, I've forgotten who I am, who my parents are, and what I've been through."
"It's a blank, yet not entirely blank."
"I keep returning there because the director told me he found me there. And I hope to recall something there."
"But, it's no use."
The arms around Wang Zhong's neck tightened slightly. Hu Liena inexplicably felt a sense of loneliness and desolation creep over her, as if trying to engulf the person carrying her. To be an orphan is misfortune; for an orphan to have no past is a cruel tragedy. Without a past, he was like a rootless duckweed, drifting and swaying in the great sea of reality. Where he drifted, there he stayed. But no matter where he was, it didn't belong to him! The world was separated from him!
"Is the past really that important?" Hu Liena pressed her cheek tightly against his side, wanting to offer him some warmth. She could hear and feel the sorrow and helplessness in his heart.
"Perhaps, for someone like me, who remembers the past so clearly, these words are disgusting. I have a past, yet I'm telling you, who doesn't, not to pursue it."
"But I truly want to tell you, the past isn't important."
"The meaning of the past's existence is only for the future that has yet to unfold."
"If you really care so much about the past, then let this present moment be your anchor."
"What you remember in your mind is your precious past!"
"Please don't be so sad or so lonely in your heart anymore. I will be with you, creating beautiful and warm past moments together."
A great sorrow surged in her heart, and tears streamed down her small face like a broken string of pearls. Hu Liena didn't understand why she had suddenly burst into tears. An inexplicable sadness and sorrow swept over her, making her weep uncontrollably.
"These aren't my tears, nor are they my emotions. They are his. I just don't know why I'm feeling them." Hu Liena stared at the little boy's profile, who had stopped walking at some point. She watched the sadness, pain, joy, and excitement in his eyes, thinking silently to herself.
"Thank you!" the little boy said sincerely, his voice hoarse.
Hu Liena's lips curved slightly, and her bright eyes held a smile. The arm around his neck tightened even further. The sorrow and melancholy weren't her emotions, but the affection and tenderness contained in the words "I will be with you" were a true reflection of her feelings.
"Can you tell me about Zhuo Bufan?" As the little boy started walking again, Hu Liena pursed her lips and asked softly.
This question made the little boy frown with disgust.
"He's a scumbag, a cockroach in the orphanage, trash."
"I wasn't the first person to be treated like this, was I?" Hu Liena asked calmly, as if the one who had experienced all this wasn't her.
"Yes."
"Many people in the orphanage were bullied by him, but you were the worst."
"Wait, if that's the case, didn't anyone report him! Didn't the director punish him at all?" Hu Liena couldn't understand. She had thought the little boy had a conflict with Zhuo Bufan, and she was treated this way for helping him, but it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
"Hu Liena, do you know?"
"The orphanage director, the uncles and aunties, the old grandpas and grandmas, their care, their protection, their affection for us are all genuine, without a trace of pretense."
"But precisely because of this pure affection, they never suspect us of malice."
"Even if Zhuo Bufan's actions were reported, he would just say, 'I didn't do that, I was just playing with him, I didn't mean to,' and the director would just reprimand him for not knowing his limits, and then gently comfort the person who reported him."
"Even in your case, he would just say, 'I accidentally pushed him into the thorns, I wasn't bullying her,' and these things would be dismissed lightly."
"When you face the sincere care of the old grandpas and grandmas and the uncles and aunties, you really can't bring yourself to say anything more." The little boy let out a heavy sigh, his tone filled with helplessness and regret. Originally, this was a place of love and harmony, but the existence of certain people had turned it into moldy bread coated with honey. While sweet, one bite would cause diarrhea, and too many would be fatal!
"Even though Zhuo Bufan had a life on his hands, he's still alive and well." This last sentence, spoken almost like a murmur, made Hu Liena's pupils tremble.
"He killed someone?" The little boy shrugged and replied, "I don't know!"
"That was before I arrived. Although he argued that it was an accident and had nothing to do with him, I'm sure it was him!"
"A girl stumbled and fell into a well, and he just happened to be nearby. An accident! Ha, who in the entire orphanage believed that!"
"Only those who wholeheartedly cared for and protected us in the orphanage would unreservedly believe that flimsy lie!"
"How could a child kill someone? That's why they believed it."
"And because he had a criminal record, that's why I was so anxious when I discovered you both were missing. I searched everywhere and only then found you there." The sudden words, with their inexplicable undertones, made Hu Liena's heart skip a beat, and then it began to pound faster.
She murmured, "Why were you so anxious!" Her slender lips pursed, and her beautiful eyes trembled slightly. She didn't know why she was asking such a question, but she wanted to hear something that implied she was very important to him.
"The director, the old grandpas and grandmas, and the uncles and aunties, they all liked you very much. If anything happened to you, they would be sad, and I didn't want to see that."
The corners of her pursed lips twitched involuntarily. Her trembling eyes instantly became calm. Hu Liena instinctively looked up at the sky, and then her chin sharply bumped against his shoulder.
"Is that so? Then I really thank you."
"Hey, do you believe me? I will repay the pain Zhuo Bufan inflicted on me tenfold, a hundredfold."
"I believe you!"
"When I helped you, you didn't cry out for me to avenge you, nor did you make a fuss asking me to get justice for you. You accepted everything calmly, and I knew then that you were like a swan stretching its neck."
"Your pride doesn't allow anyone to insult you."