Chapter 1541 - 1542: Guarding You, Protecting You
After completing the big task, you feel as if you’ve just faced off an entire enemy battalion, exhausted and powerless, sitting beside the bed, you lean against the edge of the bed and fall into a brief rest.
While you are resting, your mother happens to call your phone, but it’s tossed on the sofa, and you don’t hear it inside the room.
After calling three times in a row, your mother stops calling, hangs up the phone, gently nudges your father sitting beside her reading, and asks, "Old Li, do you think these two kids will really spark something?"
Upon hearing this, your father puts down the book in his hand and replies in a slightly deep voice, "The children’s matters are beyond our control. You know Mu Yun; the more you manage him, the more reckless he might become. Besides, he and Qiyi have grown up together after all, and it’s normal for them to have a deep bond."
"That’s not what I meant. I mean, in case the two of them..."
Your father picks up the book again, looking down, says, "That’s something beyond our reach, too. Little Yun’s personality is, in some ways, more stubborn than yours."
"But they’re siblings after all!" Your mother furrows her brow tightly.
"They’re only siblings in name, after all, they have no blood relation." Your father puts down the book again, looks at your mother, and says, "Besides, you know well enough, Little Yun hasn’t even had a boyfriend over the years, hardly talks to other men, isn’t it precisely because of Mu Yun?"
"Sigh!" Your usually strong mother cannot help but let out a long sigh after hearing this.
"Just like I said earlier, every child has their own fate, you should just let the young ones develop as they will."
Hearing her husband’s words, your mother immediately brightens up and, smiling, says: "You’re right. My son is so excellent, what’s wrong with having a few more girls chasing after him? Besides, when we brought Little Yun into our home, it was with the idea of raising a child bride, wasn’t it? Ah, old guy, our son surely won’t come back tonight, what you said just now has enlightened me, looks like I need to properly reward you."
Saying that, your mother laughs "oh-ho-ho", snatches the book from your father’s hand, and tosses it aside casually.
"Hey, wait, I haven’t taken a bath yet." Seeing your mother’s hands beginning to become "unruly", your father quickly says.
"Heh heh, today I permit you not to bathe, that’s more flavorful..."
"Ah-Choo!"
Li Qiyi, in her sleep, suddenly sneezes, waking you up, you quickly stand up, finding Li Qiyi still asleep, though no longer frowning, her spirit already much more relaxed.
You gently place your hand on Li Qiyi’s forehead, finding it not as hot as before, and after feeling her pulse, it has gradually calmed down.
Letting out a long sigh, half of your heart finally settles.
The idiots on the lawn downstairs have left too, and the neighborhood regains its tranquility. You check the time, just past seven, and walk to the living room. Picking up your phone, you find several missed calls from your mother, and you dial back. After it rings for a long time, your father’s voice comes through: "Hello, is this Mu Yun?"
"Dad, what’s wrong? Your voice sounds a bit strange."
"Oh, nothing."
"Dad, tell Mom that I’m looking after Sis tonight, so I won’t be coming home."
"Okay, she’s okay, right?"
"She’s fine, took some fever medicine, and is much better now."
"That’s good, it’s getting late, you should rest too, your mother’s phone is about to shut off."
"Okay."
After hanging up, you finally chuckle out loud, having held it in for so long. Actually, you can tell, but just choose not to expose it. Truth is, these two old folks are still quite energetic.
You don’t have the habit of turning off your phone, as that could mean missing some emergency, so you tuck the vibrating phone into your pocket, bring over a small stool, pour yourself a cup of hot water, and with a dim lamp on, you sit beside Li Qiyi’s pillow, staring at her intently.
Looking at the sleeping Li Qiyi, you say with determination: "Sis, no matter what happens, I’ll always be by your side, guarding you, protecting you."
Li Qiyi turns slightly in her sleep, sleeping even sounder.
To take care of Li Qiyi, and avoid repeated fevers, you stay awake all night, sitting beside Li Qiyi, staring at her intently.
Since your mother and father never revealed to you, and due to reincarnation memory, you don’t know that you and Li Qiyi are merely siblings in name, with no blood relationship.
Li Qiyi’s original name is Zhao Rui, she’s five years older than you, and her mother is a distant relative of your mother.
When she was one year old, her father jumped off a building due to enormous debts to a multinational group owned by Yamato; two days later, Li Qiyi’s mother left with a Yamato man.
At that time, most of the relatives on Li Qiyi’s father’s side were from rural areas, though they received a lot of favors from Li Qiyi’s father, no one took care of young Li Qiyi. Firstly, she was a girl, and rural people traditionally value boys over girls, thinking raising girls is a loss, more so when she was someone else’s child; secondly, Mu Yun Qiyi had a weak heart at that time, and doctors even said she might not live beyond three months.
Li Qiyi’s mother came from a rural background, lost her parents early, thus having no relatives. However, later on, Li Qiyi was taken away by a cousin of her mother.
Originally, this matter had little to do with your mother, but maybe fate decreed it, God could not bear to see Li Qiyi perish young, leading your mother back to her hometown for a cousin’s wedding. Your mother’s cousin lived in rural areas, their families were not in contact usually, but when your mother was small, she stayed with this cousin for six months, and they were childhood playmates, so your mother and father took a train for over ten hours, arriving at a remote countryside.
This cousin invited many guests, and her husband is also a person with actual power locally. During the banquet, your mother and father kept hearing a baby crying, at that time, your mother and father had been married for a year, working hard to conceive, but your mother’s belly had shown no signs of good news. Hearing a baby crying tugged at the heart of a mother-to-be in your mother, leading her toward the sound, only to find a dirty little girl lying on the mud floor of a shabby cottage, crying loudly.
Your mother felt heartache, not minding the dirt, went in and held her in her arms.
As your mother walked out of the small cottage, a woman stood in her path, with a basket on her back carrying a little boy who couldn’t walk yet, holding a little girl in each hand. Seeing your mother and father, both from a big city and reportedly intellectuals, the woman appeared very restrained, even frightened.
Due to their special status, your mother and father were the center of attention.
At this moment, your mother’s cousin and her husband stepped forward and told your mother about Little Qiyi’s background. Meanwhile, the aunt’s family who adopted Little Qiyi was in dire straits, unable to support four children, besides, Little Qiyi wasn’t her own child, resulting in her often being hungry and fed inconsistently.
After learning the circumstances, your mother and father exchanged a look, instantly deciding to adopt Little Qiyi.
They completed the paperwork as quickly as possible, and the name Li Qiyi was printed on the household registry, marking her as their eldest daughter.