Baihuan and Qianle peacefully buried their mother's cold body.
Wan Sheng, who had just come to this world, huddled in his swaddling clothes made of a few rags without crying or fussing. He was full of hope and curiosity. He stared at the few twinkling stars in the black-blue sky above his head.
For a moment, the brothers' faces covered the stars.
Wansheng doesn't even have a name yet.
"Brother, what should we do? What should he do?"
"What else can we do?" Zhao Baihuan, who was in his early tenth year, followed Wan Sheng's gaze and looked at the sky. "He is our younger brother, let's take care of him."
"But...he can't eat the food we eat."
Zhao Baihuan withdrew his gaze and looked at the small grave under the tung tree.
The picture was blurred, Zhao Baihuan took a breath, and slowly it became clear again.
"Let's go down the mountain."
My mother took them and tried to sneak down the mountain many times. Every time, they were caught by the villagers led by that person and were beaten severely.
But this time, it's different.
They ran and ran, ran and ran, and gradually the village was lost to sight.
For the first time in their lives, they saw what the mountain looked like.
The little baby in his arms never cried, until his brothers, who were crying with joy, came over and kissed his forehead. Then Wan Sheng stretched out his little hand, grabbed his brother's finger and sucked it, although he still couldn't fill it up.
Hungry, but contented, he fell asleep with a smile on his face.
This is a day that Zhao Baihuan will never forget.
——————
"Later, when we arrived at the foot of the mountain, an uncle bought milk powder for Wansheng. The uncle's daughter was a kind little sister. She begged the uncle to give us a lot of things from the store. Before leaving, she also gave us some money.
, it was with that money and things that we finally made it to the city and survived."
Before Zhao Baihuan's story was finished, everyone's attitude towards him had already changed.
The fool carefully helped him to the chair. Qin Yin took out all the band-aids on his body and applied them to the wounds on his face together with Qiao Nian.
Xiaolan tried not to recall the story of Lianshui Village, and tried not to think about the possibility that the kind uncle and sister were Miao Miao's family. She shook her head and focused on Zhao Baihuan's words again.
"Because we didn't have anything to prove our identity, we were taken to the welfare home in Fengwu by the police. We...we had never been to such a nice place, and we were finally able to eat normal meals. We told what happened on the mountain
We told the story to the police, and they promised us that they would help my mother find justice, but after that, I never saw them again."
Everyone gathered in a circle and listened quietly to Zhao Baihuan's hoarse story. No one interrupted or questioned.
"You may laugh when I say it, but...but those years in the orphanage were my happiest days. Qianle and I watched Wan Sheng grow up day by day. Wan Sheng's name was given by the aunt in the orphanage.
, we originally hoped to grow up in the orphanage until adulthood, and then Qianle and I would go out to work to make money and support our lives until...until..."
Zhao Baihuan's voice trembled even more. Xiaolan thought and ran back to the hall, turning left and right. Sure enough, he saw the mineral water that had not been thrown away on the shelf behind the bar.
Zhao Baihuan drank a large amount of water and then coughed weakly a few times.
Qin Yin lightly slapped his back, "What happened next? Speak slowly, don't be in a hurry."
After Zhao Baihuan breathed evenly, he supported his knees with one hand and his forehead with the other hand. Although he lowered his head, Xiaolan still saw the painful expression on his face.
"I...I had a fight with someone in the orphanage."
"Ah," Qin Yin grinned and patted him on the shoulder, "That's it. What's the matter? How can a child not fight?"
"No, it's not that simple." Zhao Baihuan held her hair tightly with both hands, "I...I and other children who had conflicts were taken to the dean's office. They asked us a few words there. I
By... I was discovered..."
"Discovered..." Although she understood what Zhao Baihuan meant, Jasmine still muttered it out.
"They discovered what was in my mind," Zhao Baihuan lowered his shoulders as if giving up the struggle, "They said I was abnormal, and then I was sent to a mental hospital."
"Mental hospital?!" Everyone almost shouted in shock.
"How could they send you to a mental hospital? You... you are just a child!" Luo Jiutian, who was almost stabbed to death by this child, said angrily.
Zhao Baihuan smiled bitterly, "But fortunately, I didn't stay in there for long. Later, they thought that my disease had been cured by them. When I came out, it happened to be the year when Qian Le and I came of age. Wansheng also grew up.
Now that we are older, no matter what, we are reunited."
"The days in the mental hospital must be very difficult," Jasmine said softly.
Zhao Baihuan seemed to have remembered something related to that experience, and his pupils trembled uneasily a few times, but he quickly calmed down and continued talking.
"Originally, Wan Sheng went to an ordinary elementary school," Zhao Baihuan frowned, "But, children, you also know that there is no scale for children's cruelty, because other children said about us...and us
According to my mother, Wan Sheng lost his temper at school. That was the only time Wan Sheng lost his temper. Like me, Wan Sheng was arranged for psychological questioning. The school found that... Wan Sheng had the potential to suffer from some mental illness.
He also informed Qian Le and I that if not handled properly, serious consequences may occur. I thought of the days in the mental hospital. If the final consequences were like this, then I would never let Wan Sheng go through those things again.
So Qianle and I decided that an ordinary elementary school is not suitable for Wan Sheng. Wan Sheng needs a safer place, a place where even if some minor accidents occur, they will not be overly magnified. After that, we will use fake
The illness was used as an excuse to cover up Wan Sheng's real problem, and Wan Sheng was sent to a special school."
As the story goes deeper and deeper, Zhao Baihuan's condition becomes worse and worse.
From a miserable beginning, to the top of the mountain where we saw the dawn, and then fell into the bottomless hell.
The fact that their affairs have evolved into what they are today is inseparable from the wrong decisions made by these two immature brothers.
"Qian Le and I didn't understand. We thought... Wan Sheng got this disease because of my infection, so after sending Wan Sheng to school, I didn't visit him in person very often. I was afraid,
I was afraid that being with me would make him more serious. When I secretly went to school to see him, I saw him having fun with other children. I thought Wansheng was finally safe, but as expected, I never,