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Join the ServerLin Qingxue frowned. She needed to buy the girl some clothes.
She couldn’t keep wearing the same outfit.
She carried Su Yutao into a children’s clothing store on the roadside.
The shop was small, the walls covered in colorful clothes. Dresses, T-shirts, pants.
The saleswoman was a woman in her thirties with a ponytail and two dimples when she smiled.
She came up and her eyes landed on Su Yutao, the child curled up in the adult’s arms, wearing obviously ill-fitting clothes, bandages on her exposed arms, band-aids on her knees, gauze wrapped around her ear.
The saleswoman’s smile froze for a moment, but quickly recovered. Her voice was still warm. “What kind of clothes do you need? What size?”
Lin Qingxue looked at Su Yutao. She didn’t know her size either.
She just gestured at her height and said, “About one and a half meters, very thin. Could you please pick out a few pieces?”
The saleswoman nodded, took down a few T-shirts and pants from the rack. All light colors, cotton, looked very soft.
Lin Qingxue set Su Yutao on the sofa in the store, made her sit, then held the clothes up against her one by one.
Su Yutao shrank back, afraid to move. She didn’t know what was happening, only that someone was touching her, pulling at her clothes.
Lin Qingxue selected a few items and took them to the register to pay.
While bagging them, the saleswoman glanced at Su Yutao on the sofa and lowered her voice to Lin Qingxue. “That child… how did she get those injuries?”
Lin Qingxue’s voice was very flat. “She fell.”
The saleswoman opened her mouth, wanted to say something but swallowed it back. She handed over the bag and said softly, “Be careful.”
Lin Qingxue took the bag. Her fingers trembled slightly.
She turned and walked back to the sofa, bent down, and picked up Su Yutao.
Su Yutao leaned against her chest and heard the saleswoman whisper to another coworker, “Those injuries on the child, they don’t look like from a fall.”
“Look at the gauze on her ear, and the bandages on her arms. She must have been beaten.”
Another voice said, “Don’t meddle. Her parent is right there.”
“What parent? That woman is so young, she looks like a college student…”
The voices faded, cut off by the shop door.
Su Yutao buried her face in the hollow of Lin Qingxue’s shoulder.
She heard those words.
They said she was abused.
They didn’t know, she really was abused.
But not by the daytime her.
It was the nighttime her, that person who looked exactly like her.
Lin Qingxue carried her out of the shop. The sun hit her face again, warm, but Su Yutao felt cold.
She curled up in Lin Qingxue’s arms and held Qiansui tighter.
Lin Qingxue stood by the roadside, waiting for the traffic light.
She looked down at Su Yutao in her arms. The little blind girl had her eyes closed, eyelashes trembling.
She remembered what she’d said that morning, “After we’re done, shall I take you to the playground?”
She opened her mouth, wanted to say “Let’s go to the playground now.”
But looking at Su Yutao’s pale face, her bandaged body, she swallowed the words back.
She’s hurt. She trembled from the pain during the injection. She curled up in fear during the X-ray.
The playground is so noisy, so many people. She’d be even more scared.
Lin Qingxue said softly, “Xiaotao, let’s go home first, okay? We’ll go to the playground another day.”
“When you’re a little better.”
“We’ll go then, okay?”
Su Yutao didn’t move.
She didn’t want to go anyway.
The playground wasn’t for her.
She just wanted to go back, to complete the mission, to leave this place.
The light turned green.
Lin Qingxue carried her across the street.
Su Yutao leaned against her, listening to her heartbeat.
Thump, thump, thump.
Very steady, very slow.
She remembered the doctor saying “repeatedly many times.”
She remembered the saleswoman saying “abused.”
She remembered Luo Qianning saying “see you next time.”
She didn’t want to go back. She didn’t want to return to that house, didn’t want to wait until dark, didn’t want to wait for that person to wake up.
But she had to go back.
Qiansui whispered in her ear, “Endure a few more days.”
“Just a few days.”
“The main storyline is almost over.”
Su Yutao held Qiansui even tighter.
Lin Qingxue walked along the road. The sun stretched their shadows long.
She said softly, “Xiaotao, I will protect you.”
Su Yutao buried her face deeper.
She believed her.
She wanted to believe her.
But she knew the daytime her couldn’t do it.
The nighttime her was that person.
She couldn’t protect her.
She couldn’t even protect herself.
They were home.
Lin Qingxue set Su Yutao on the sofa, took out the new clothes, folded them one by one, and placed them beside her.
Su Yutao shrank into the corner of the sofa, holding Qiansui, afraid to move.
Lin Qingxue went to the kitchen to cook.
The sound of the faucet, the sound of pots and bowls, the sound of chopping.
Su Yutao curled up on the sofa, listening to those sounds. Occasionally she could feel Lin Qingxue peeking at her from the kitchen. That gaze was gentle, warm, but she dared not respond.
She was afraid that if she responded, she would start to crave that warmth, and would be even more afraid of the cold at night.
Lin Qingxue finished cooking, brought it to the coffee table, and sat down next to Su Yutao.
She scooped up a spoonful of rice and brought it to Su Yutao’s lips. “Come on, open up.”
Su Yutao opened her mouth, chewed, swallowed.
Lin Qingxue fed her while talking. “Do you want to watch TV? I’ll turn on the sound, you can listen.”
Su Yutao shook her head. Lin Qingxue said, “How about music?”
Su Yutao shook her head again.
She didn’t want to hear anything. She just wanted to sit quietly and wait for the storm at night.
Lin Qingxue sighed and continued feeding.
After the meal, Lin Qingxue cleared the dishes, washed her hands, came back, and sat beside Su Yutao.
She looked at the gauze on Su Yutao’s ear, was silent for a while, then spoke. “The injury on your ear, the more I think about it, the more wrong it feels.”
“How could Zhou Ye have bitten that spot?”
Su Yutao’s whole body went stiff.
Lin Qingxue continued, “That row of teeth marks is very small. It doesn’t look like a man’s.”
Su Yutao’s hands began to tremble.
She was suspicious.
She was suspicious that those injuries weren’t caused by Zhou Ye.
But she couldn’t remember.
She couldn’t remember anything.
Lin Qingxue rubbed her temples. The headache was starting again.
Every time she tried to recall last night, her head felt like it was splitting.
She gave up and said softly, “Forget it. I won’t think about it.”
“Anyway, I won’t let him come anymore.”
Su Yutao breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn’t know if the daytime her kept thinking, would she remember something?
She didn’t dare to think.
The sky began to darken.
The sunlight retreated from the floor-to-ceiling windows, little by little, like an ebbing tide.
Su Yutao felt the change in light and her whole body started to shake.
Lin Qingxue saw her trembling, thought she was cold, and draped a blanket over her. “I’ll do the dishes. You rest for a bit.”
She stood up and walked toward the kitchen.
Su Yutao reached out, wanted to grab her, but her hand stopped in midair and pulled back.
She couldn’t keep her. She couldn’t keep her.
It was dark.
Lin Qingxue finished the dishes and came out to see Su Yutao curled up on the sofa, shaking all over.
She walked over, crouched down, and touched her head. “What’s wrong? Are you thinking about something bad?”
Su Yutao shook her head.
Lin Qingxue looked at her like that, sighed, picked her up, and put her on the bed.
“Sleep nicely tonight. Don’t fall off like last night.”
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