Chapter 49: Let go

“Heh, I suppose you’re right.”

“How could you not love someone as outstanding and beautiful as my sister?”

“Is something wrong, Miss Yun Rou?”

Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, and her dull gaze was faintly tinged with a glimmer of relief.

The wind blew past her snow-white neck and onto my face, carrying her sweet yet sour scent.

“Miss Yun Rou, you… do you love Sister Yuan?”

At my sudden question, Yun Rou’s eyes widened in surprise.

Her elegant, slender lashes fluttered for a moment before falling helplessly, half-covering her eyes.

“Yes, I do.”

“I love my sister.”

“As a younger sister, and also as…”

“To think you saw through it.”

“I’m really not good at hiding my feelings.”

“Can you talk with me for a bit?”

“Lu You.”

Yun Rou sat down, leaning her back against the chain-link fence, her head hanging dejectedly.

The cement ground was warm from the sun.

I walked over and sat down beside her, quietly waiting for her to speak again.

“Sister has always been a perfect person, you know?”

“So beautiful, so smart, so capable… so perfect that she… almost seems unreal.”

“Yeah, Sister Yuan… she’s truly incredible.”

Yun Rou lifted her head, turned to look at me, and a faint, self-deprecating smile crossed her lips.

“And my sister truly loves you.”

“Loves you enough to leave me and Mom for you, to leave the home she lived in for ten years.”

“She used to be that gentle with me, too.”

“She gave me everything, sheltered me under her tenderness, kept all the pain and sorrow behind her, and made me… made me love her so much.”

“I’m the one who took Sister Yuan away from you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Lu You, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It was Sister who fell in love with you.”

“The only one who can make her pour everything into a single person has always been herself.”

“Instead of saying you took my sister away, it’s more like she took you away.”

“My sister has actually always been a very unreasonable person.”

“She’s unreasonably gentle, unreasonably stubborn, and also unreasonably… cruel.”

“Cruel?”

“Yes.”

“My sister gave me a beautiful dream, then cruelly shattered it to pieces.”

“Leaving without a backward glance right after I had completely fallen for her… isn’t that cruel?”

As she spoke, she curled her legs up and buried her head in them, tears falling silently and slowly.

It was quiet all around.

No voices, no birdsong, not even the sound of the wind.

There were only Yun Rou’s intermittent sobs and her muffled, mournful complaints.

“Sister… why… could you be so irresponsible, so unreasonable… clearly… clearly… I was always so careful, never making her angry.”

‘This probably has nothing to do with whether Sister Yuan is angry or not.’

‘Although her reasons for getting angry at me are always strange, I’ve definitely made her angry many times.’

Tears gradually blurred Yun Rou’s face.

Watching her look so sad and pained, my heart wavered.

After a long, silent pause, I gently leaned over and carefully hugged her, lending her a shoulder she could lean on for a while.

Seeing Sister Yuan’s important younger sister cry so heartbreakingly, I really couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

My shoulder became damp with her tears.

I said nothing, just as Sister Yuan had held me while I cried last night.

I held the crying Yun Rou, letting her vent all her sorrow and discontent.

After an unknown amount of time, the sobbing stopped.

Yun Rou gently pulled away from my embrace and wiped the corners of her tear-filled eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“You must think I’m a joke.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind… and I won’t tell anyone.”

“I kind of understand why my sister likes you so much now, Lu You.”

“Hugging a girl at a time like this… it’s very easy to make her fall for you.”

“But you won’t fall for me, right?”

“Right.”

“Of course I won’t fall for you.”

“You’re my love rival, the person who stole my beloved sister.”

“You just said I wasn’t the one who took Sister Yuan.”

“Heh, just kidding.”

“Lu You, can you… call me ‘sister’ once?”

“You’re Sister Yuan’s younger sister, and you’re older than me.”

“I should be calling you that anyway.”

“Sister.”

A smile as bright as a blooming flower reappeared on Yun Rou’s face.

The dried-up, withered river was filled with pure, clear flowing water.

She stood up and patted her butt, walked to the door, and then turned her head to look at me.

“Let’s go back.”

“Class is about to start.”

“And also…”

Her figure vanished into the dim stairway, and a faint “thank you” drifted back.

I touched my sticky, damp left shoulder and closed my eyes, feeling the gentle morning sunlight.

‘I’ll wait for my shoulder to dry before I go back.’

“What are you doing hiding up here?”

“You even dare to skip my class?”

A pair of familiar black sneakers had appeared quietly beside me at some point.

Sister Yuan sat down next to me and lightly tapped my head.

“Class hasn’t started yet, Sister Yuan.”

“The air is nice up here, so I was just sitting for a bit.”

“I’ll head back now.”

With that, I stood up to leave.

“Sit down.”

“Look at me.”

Sister Yuan pressed down on my shoulder, giving a gentle command.

She rubbed the damp spot on my shoulder that she had touched, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Lying about something like this… Xiao You, you’ll really make me angry.”

“It’s not what you think, Sister Yuan.”

“This is Yun—”

“It’s Xiao Rou’s, isn’t it?”

“I know.”

“Xiao You, if you were covered in the scent of another woman right now, you wouldn’t be seeing such a gentle sister.”

Sister Yuan tilted her head back and gazed at the clear, clean sky, where a few pure white, cotton-like clouds were kneaded into strange shapes.

She reached out to stroke my head and smiled helplessly.

“Xiao Rou… she’s just like Xiao You.”

“No, she’s even more of a crybaby than Xiao You.”

“After all these years, it looks like she’s grown up, matured.”

“But in reality, the moment she’s back by my side, she reverts to that little girl who loves to cry and whine.”

“But… the embrace she could hide in and cry her heart out… I can’t give her that anymore.”

“That’s a privilege that belongs only to Xiao You now.”

“And Xiao You only gets this one time, okay?”

“From now on, no one else is allowed to hide in your arms.”

“Xiao Rou ultimately has to grow up on her own.”

“She should learn to correct and calm her own emotions, to recognize what she should do and what she can do.”

“Having one person like Xiao You who gives me so much trouble is more than enough.”

Listening to Sister Yuan’s lament, I gradually understood her attitude and actions towards Yun Rou.

Cruel, but with a purpose.

‘Wait, could Sister Yuan have heard everything we just said? Then the part about me saying I love her…’

“Sister Yuan, you weren’t eavesdropping just now, were you?”

“Eavesdropping?”

“I just got here.”

“Eavesdropping on what?”

“Huh?”

“You just got here?”

“That’s right.”

“Xiao You, look at the time.”

“Class started several minutes ago.”

“I didn’t see you in the classroom, so I came up here to find you.”

“Sister Yuan, you just ran up here to find me?”

“What about the other students?”

“I gave them a worksheet to do.”

“See how important you are, Xiao You?”

“Making the entire class wait for you.”

“Get up now.”

“That worksheet… Xiao You, you have to do it too.”

“…Alright.”

“By the way, Sister Yuan, how did you find me?”

Sister Yuan gave me a meaningful smile and pressed her index finger to my lips.

“Secret~”