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Join the ServerLin Qingxue was stunned.
Orphanage?
Send Su Yutao away?
She remembered finding her that morning in the corner, curled up, trembling all over.
She remembered feeding her porridge, how she slowly opened her mouth like a bird finally willing to eat.
She remembered her curled up on the sofa with the penguin, small and soft. She didn’t want to send her away.
But she didn’t know how to keep her.
She had no identity, no guardian, and the injuries on her body couldn’t be explained.
When Su Yutao heard the word “orphanage” from the bed, her whole body stiffened.
Orphanage.
She wanted to go.
She wanted to leave this place, leave that person, leave the person who came at night.
She wanted to go to the orphanage. Even if it wasn’t a home, at least she wouldn’t be beaten, wouldn’t be pinched, wouldn’t be chained up like a dog.
She wanted to leave. She wanted to leave now.
Qiansui whispered urgently in her ear:
“No! You can’t go to the orphanage!”
“If you go, you won’t be able to complete the main storyline!”
“You need to stay at Lin Qingxue’s for a few more days to finish this story arc.”
“It probably won’t involve her after this, since in the original story she’s just an ordinary person.”
“Although it feels like you’re not exactly ordinary… you’ve got to endure a few days!”
“Besides, once you complete the task and move to the next mission node,”
“I can legitimately apply for mission items for you.”
“That way you can leave Lin Qingxue’s place directly.”
“And maybe, just maybe, I could apply for”
“well, a lethal weapon. What if we could off that Black Snow?”
“Anyway, she’s a side character, so we should be able to get this kind of item.”
Su Yutao couldn’t cry, but something blocked her heart.
She didn’t want to endure anymore.
She had endured enough.
But she had to go back.
She had to go back alive.
She couldn’t go to the orphanage.
She had to stay with that person.
More importantly, could she really get a lethal weapon?
The doctor saw Lin Qingxue’s silence and thought she was hesitating. Her voice softened a bit:
“I’m not trying to force you.”
“But this child’s situation… you really can’t handle it.”
“She needs professional medical and psychological care. She needs help finding her family.”
“You look like a college student, right? How can you take care of her?”
Lin Qingxue lowered her head and looked at Su Yutao, who was curled up on the bed.
The little blind girl hugged the penguin, trembling all over.
She didn’t know what she was thinking or whether she wanted to leave.
She walked over, crouched down, and asked softly:
“Xiaotao, would you like to go to the orphanage?”
Su Yutao shook her head.
She shook it desperately.
She didn’t want to go.
She had to stay.
She had to complete the mission.
She had to go back.
She thought about all the suffering she had endured before.
More importantly, she really wanted to kill Black Snow.
Seeing her shake her head, Lin Qingxue felt relieved inside, but also an indescribable sadness.
She stood up and said to the doctor:
“She doesn’t want to go.”
“I’ll take care of her a bit longer.”
“If it still doesn’t work, I’ll contact the orphanage.”
The doctor looked at her, was silent for a few seconds, then sighed:
“Fine.”
“But you need to sign a guarantee.”
“Also, I’ll document her injuries. If you come back again, I’ll report it directly.”
Lin Qingxue nodded.
The doctor treated Su Yutao’s wounds, re-bandaged them, and prescribed medicine.
When it was time for the injection, Su Yutao shrank into Lin Qingxue’s arms, trembling all over.
She remembered the last time, when that person had lifted her off the bed, grabbed her shoulder, and ‘crack.’
This time, the daytime her held her, gently patted her back, and said, “Don’t be afraid, it’ll be over soon.”
When the needle went in, Su Yutao flinched from the pain, but didn’t cry out.
She just curled up, holding Qiansui, burying her face in Lin Qingxue’s shoulder.
Lin Qingxue felt her trembling and tightened her arms a little.
After the injection, the doctor wrote a prescription and told them to get an X-ray.
Lin Qingxue carried Su Yutao out of the examination room. Su Yutao leaned on her shoulder, eyes closed.
Qiansui whispered in her ear: “Just endure a few more days. A few days.”
Su Yutao hugged Qiansui tighter.
A few days.
She could endure it.
She had to endure it.
***
The door to the X-ray room closed.
Su Yutao was placed on a cold metal plate. The chill seeped into her back, and her whole body trembled.
Qiansui was taken away by Lin Qingxue and placed on a chair outside. She couldn’t hear its voice.
Around her was the hum of machines, and a nurse adjusting her position. Her arms were pulled above her head, her shoulders pressed against the hard board.
“Don’t move. It’ll be over soon.”
The nurse’s voice was muffled behind the mask.
Su Yutao didn’t dare move. She just lay there, staring into the eternal darkness, waiting for the invisible light to pierce her shoulder.
Outside, Lin Qingxue sat on a bench in the hallway, holding Qiansui.
Qiansui lay motionless in her arms, silent.
Lin Qingxue looked down at the fluffy penguin, her fingers unconsciously stroking its fur.
She didn’t know what magic this little thing had that made Su Yutao stop trembling when she held it.
Maybe because it was soft, maybe because it wouldn’t hurt her.
The door opened. The nurse came out and said the X-ray was done, and they’d wait for the doctor to call them.
Lin Qingxue nodded, holding Qiansui as she continued to wait.
After about ten minutes, the doctor pushed the door open with a grave expression and waved her over:
“Come in.”
Lin Qingxue walked in holding Qiansui.
The lights in the consultation room were dim. The light box on the wall was bright, holding an X-ray, the outline of bones clearly visible on the black-and-white film: scapula, humeral head, glenoid cavity.
The doctor pointed with a pen at a white area on the film, his voice heavy:
“This is her right shoulder.”
In a normal person’s shoulder joint, the gap between the humeral head and the glenoid cavity is even, moving smoothly.
But look here, the pen tip pointed at the edge of the joint. The gap was widened, the joint capsule clearly lax.
“This means her shoulder has been dislocated habitually, and not just once.”
“From the thickening of the periosteum and the wear on the glenoid rim, she’s been dislocated at least three or four times, maybe more.”
“Each time, it was forcefully taken off by someone, then forced back in.”
“The surrounding ligaments have been sprained, and the joint capsule has become like a loose rubber band, it can never return to its original tightness.”
He put down the pen and looked at Lin Qingxue with a scrutinizing gaze.
“This kind of injury isn’t caused all at once. It’s repeated many times. She needs long-term rehabilitation, or this hand will be useless.”
“In the future, even lifting things will be difficult, let alone carrying heavy objects.”
Lin Qingxue listened to these words, her nails digging into her palms.
She remembered the bandages on Su Yutao’s hands, remembered the way she curled up on the sofa, afraid to move her right arm.
She thought it was just a fall.
It wasn’t a fall. It was dislocated and put back in by someone.
Who? Zhou Ye? No matter how much of a scumbag Zhou Ye was, he wouldn’t do something like this.
She remembered what the doctor said: “repeated many times.”
Not a day or two. A long, long time.
What exactly had Xiaotao been through?
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Illusionary Dream! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Illusionary Dream
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