Chapter 70: A Warm Respite

Su Yutao curled up on the bed, hugging Qiansui, listening to those sounds.

A moment later.

Lin Qingxue came back with a bowl, sat down on the edge of the bed.

She scooped up a spoonful of porridge and held it to Su Yutao’s lips.

“Come on, open up.”

Su Yutao hesitated, then opened her mouth.

The porridge was warm, soft and sticky.

She chewed, swallowed.

Lin Qingxue scooped another spoonful, then another, then another.

Su Yutao ate slowly, her body still stiff, but a little better than before.

After feeding the porridge, Lin Qingxue put the bowl aside and took out the first-aid kit.

She gently pulled Su Yutao’s arm to examine the wounds.

Cigarette burn scars on her arm, round, red, the skin turned up.

She picked up the iodine, dipped a cotton swab, and gently applied it.

Su Yutao flinched in pain, pulling her hand back.

Lin Qingxue paused, her voice softer: “Bear with it, it’ll be over soon.”

Su Yutao gritted her teeth and let her apply it.

On her ear, the bite mark was still obvious, swollen.

Lin Qingxue wiped it with iodine, and Su Yutao gasped in pain.

She didn’t dare move, didn’t dare dodge.

She was afraid.

Afraid that if she dodged, she would be hit, be punished by the night her.

Lin Qingxue’s hand touched her calf, where a large bruise was swollen.

Su Yutao’s leg instinctively shrank, her knee hitting Lin Qingxue’s wrist.

Lin Qingxue winced, “Ah,” a red mark appearing on her wrist.

Su Yutao froze, not daring to move.

She hurt her.

She hurt the daytime her.

Her body started trembling, trembling like a sieve.

She remembered what that person said –

“Move again, and I’ll throw you out the window.”

“Bite again, and I’ll pull your teeth out one by one.”

She hurt the daytime her. Would the nighttime her hit her even harder?

She didn’t know.

She only knew she had to apologize, beg for mercy, curl up, tremble, and pray not to be beaten again.

Lin Qingxue looked at the red mark on her wrist, then at Su Yutao curled into a ball.

The little blind girl was shaking all over, her mouth open, making a “heh heh” sound, as if saying sorry, as if saying don’t hit me.

Lin Qingxue’s eyes turned red.

She reached out and gently stroked Su Yutao’s head.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt.”

“Don’t be afraid.”

Lin Qingxue bandaged the last wound, threw the iodine swab into the trash, and looked at Su Yutao curled up in the corner of the bed, hugging the penguin.

Bandages wrapped around her arms and knees, a band-aid on her ear.

She frowned. This little first-aid kit was too unprofessional, not enough for these injuries.

The cigarette burn was already starting to get inflamed, red around it. The bite mark on the ear was swollen and shiny. The scrape on the knee was oozing blood.

She had to take her to the hospital.

She picked up her phone and checked the date.

Today was the day for the rabies vaccine, the third shot.

After the last shot, the doctor said she couldn’t miss it, or she’d have to start over.

Lin Qingxue put down her phone and sat down next to Su Yutao.

Su Yutao felt the mattress sink, and her whole body tensed up again, her fingers tightening around Qiansui.

Lin Qingxue looked at her like that, didn’t reach out to touch her, just said softly:

“Xiao Tao, how about we go to the hospital?”

“The wounds on your hands, your ear, and your legs all need to be seen by a doctor.”

“Today is also the day for your rabies shot.”

“After the shot, we won’t have to worry about getting sick.”

Su Yutao curled up, not moving.

She didn’t want to go to the hospital, didn’t want to be touched by strangers, didn’t want to be held down for a shot, didn’t want to hurt anymore.

But she didn’t dare shake her head. She was afraid the daytime her would get angry.

Lin Qingxue saw no reaction, thought for a moment, and lowered her voice even softer:

“Today, you be good, obedient.”

“After we’re done, I’ll take you to the amusement park, okay?”

“You’ve probably never been to an amusement park, right?”

Su Yutao was stunned.

Amusement park?

She remembered when she was little at the orphanage, the head nun said she would take them to the amusement park, but it never happened.

Then she grew up, and she definitely wouldn’t go.

Now this person said she would take her.

She didn’t know what an amusement park looked like, didn’t know what color the carousel was, didn’t know how tall the Ferris wheel was.

But she knew it was a good place, a place where normal children went.

She wasn’t a normal child. She was a blind and mute little beggar, that person’s dog.

An amusement park wasn’t for her.

Lin Qingxue saw she still didn’t respond, thought she didn’t want to go, and thought again:

“Then where do you want to go? Wherever you want, I’ll take you.”

Su Yutao buried her face in Qiansui’s fur.

She wanted to go back, back to her original world.

Back to the orphanage, back to Xiao Douzi’s side.

And back to her own healthy body.

But this person couldn’t give her that.

Qiansui whispered in her ear:

“Go to the hospital.”

“The wounds need to be treated, or they’ll get infected.”

“The shot will be quick, just bear with it.”

Su Yutao nodded in her heart.

She hugged Qiansui tighter and gave a slight nod in Lin Qingxue’s direction.

Lin Qingxue saw her nod, breathed a sigh of relief, stood up, and changed clothes.

After changing, Lin Qingxue stood by the bed looking at Su Yutao.

The little blind girl was still wearing her clothes – a loose T-shirt, the collar slipping to one side, revealing her shoulder.

On her shoulder was a round cigarette burn scar, red, the skin turned up, especially glaring against her fair skin.

Lin Qingxue stared at that scar for two seconds, then looked away.

After seeing the doctor, she would buy her some clothes.

She couldn’t keep wearing hers, too big, and not appropriate.

Lin Qingxue bent down and picked Su Yutao up from the bed.

Su Yutao was held in her arms, hugging Qiansui, curling up.

She smelled that laundry detergent scent, and the smell of sunshine.

Not the smell of blood, not the smell of smoke. It was clean and warm.

She leaned against that person, not daring to move.

Lin Qingxue carried her out, passing through the living room, grabbing keys and a bag.

Opened the door, closed it, went downstairs.

When the unit door opened, sunlight flooded in, shining on Su Yutao’s face, warm.

She could feel the warmth, from her face to the back of her hand, from her arms to her knees.

Not like the cold of last night.

Lin Qingxue carried her through the neighborhood. Some passersby glanced over.

Su Yutao could feel those eyes on her, and she curled up tighter.

Lin Qingxue felt it, tightened her arms a bit, pulled her closer, and said softly, “Don’t be afraid.”

Su Yutao buried her face in the crook of Lin Qingxue’s neck.

She didn’t want to be seen, didn’t want to be seen wearing an adult’s clothes, hugging a penguin, being carried.

She was like a monster.

But she could hear that person’s heartbeat, right by her ear, thump, thump, thump, very steady, very slow.

Not like the nighttime person. The nighttime person didn’t let her hear her heartbeat. The nighttime person was only cold.

This daytime person had a heartbeat, had warmth, had the smell of sunshine.

She couldn’t tell if they were the same person.

She only knew that the person holding her now hadn’t hit her, hadn’t pinched her, hadn’t bitten her. She was just holding her, walking in the sunlight.

Lin Qingxue carried Su Yutao out of the neighborhood. The sunlight was nice, warm on her body.

Su Yutao leaned in the crook of her neck, listening to her heartbeat, eyes closed.

She didn’t want to open them – though they had always been closed.

She just wanted to stay like this, not think about the night, not think about that person, not think about those wounds.

Then Lin Qingxue’s footsteps stopped.

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