latelenovela Chapter 308 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (19)
Chapter 308 Obedient and Clingy Younger Brother (19)
Lu Liruan did consider giving more, but she immediately rejected the idea, realizing that her sympathy and care for the child might not be what he needed.
Imposing your good intentions on others might be seen as embarrassing by them.
As they spent more time together, their relationship did become closer. Lu Liruan sometimes noticed that Jin Shuhe was no longer as reserved as before when he was with her.
Lu Liruan initially thought he was shy and introverted, but later discovered that he was actually very opinionated, unlike a child his age.
Sometimes, he would remember things that Lu Liruan herself could only vaguely recall.
Lu Liruan unpacked a bunch of packages at home, but didn't finish sorting them out that day. As a result, she forgot which box the little decoration she was looking for was in the next day.
"Hey... I remember it being here!" Lu Liruan muttered.
"Sister Li Ruan, what are you looking for?" Jin Shuhe, who was tidying up in the kitchen, heard the voice and looked over to ask.
"I was going to bring that box of mini fridge magnets that I said looked nice yesterday to the store, but I don't know where I put it." Lu Liruan didn't even look up as she continued to rummage through the pile of delivery boxes against the wall.
“It’s not there.” Jin Shuhe wiped his hands with a tissue as he walked out, bending down to examine the pile of boxes that Lu Liruan had already rummaged through.
"Is it here?"
Lu Liruan was about to rummage through another pile when Jin Shuhe stopped her.
"It should... be here."
Jin Shuhe stood still, pointed to several boxes, then took one out from the corner and handed it to Lu Liruan.
"Huh? I remember it was a small box..." Lu Liruan was skeptical, but when she opened it and looked inside, it really was there.
Seeing that she had found it, Jin Shuhe turned around and went back to continue packing, leaving Lu Liruan quite surprised: "How did you know it was in this box?"
She was the one who opened these packages yesterday. When the two of them came back from the store, Lu Liruan opened the packages while Jin Shuhe was in charge of washing the dishes and cleaning the table. How come he knows more about it than she does?
"Sister Li Ruan, didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to bring the refrigerator magnets and the samples of the new plates you bought to the store together?" Jin Shuhe replied, "You said you could just put them in one box and take them with you."
"Ah... I think I did... say that." Lu Liruan tried hard to recall, feeling that her brain was like mush after only one night.
"Then how did you know there were plates inside this box?" Lu Liruan looked at the box. She had a habit of tearing off all the information on the package after unpacking it to avoid leaking personal information when throwing it away.
"Sister Li Ruan, you forgot? I picked up these packages myself. I checked the information on the boxes when I was at the courier point," Jin Shuhe said casually.
Lu Liruan blinked: What an amazing memory...
With so many packages being delivered lately, almost all of them were picked up by this child. Lu Liruan couldn't even remember when this plate was picked up, but Jin Shuhe actually remembered what was in each box.
This is not a coincidence.
Knowing her own forgetfulness, Lu Liruan asked the locksmith to keep two spare keys when changing the locks on her house. She kept one at home, used one regularly, and kept the other in her bag.
If you lose one key outside, you still have a spare in your bag, so you won't be completely locked out.
Then one day, Lu Liruan walked heavily to the door, touched her pocket, and her heart skipped a beat: the key was gone!
Lu Liruan subconsciously looked for the spare key in her bag, and thankfully it was still there.
Jin Shuhe noticed her series of movements: "Sister Li Ruan, what's wrong?"
“I think I’ve lost my keys…” Lu Liruan said with a bitter face. Because she lives alone, she is usually very concerned about safety.
She lost her key and started considering changing the lock. Although she didn't know where she had lost it, she was still worried.
"Not lost."
As Lu Liruan opened the door with the spare key, Jin Shuhe stepped inside and said calmly.
"what?"
"Here you are. Did Sister Li Ruan not go out yesterday?" As he spoke, he opened the small drawer on top of the shoe cabinet and hooked out several small, fluffy keychains hanging on it with his index finger.
"yesterday I……"
Lu Liruan remembered that yesterday, Friday, it rained all day with thunderstorms. Lu Liruan gave herself the day off and lazily stayed at home playing games and watching anime. She really didn't step out of the house at all.
"How do you know I didn't go out?" Lu Liruan was very puzzled. How did he know where her keys were and where she was yesterday? She should have been at school all day yesterday!
“When Sister Li Ruan came back the night before last, she put the key in the lock,” Jin Shuhe pointed to the door.
Lu Liruan vaguely remembered that she often did this. She had heard people say that if you insert the key into the lock from the inside, it will be impossible to unlock it from the outside.
Also, if she took it off, Lu Liruan would have to look for it again the next day when she went out. Leaving it on the door would save her a lot of trouble.
"I took it down when I left and put it in the drawer. I told Sister Li Ruan about it, but Sister Li Ruan doesn't remember?"
"I forgot..." Lu Liruan said truthfully, she had no recollection of it at all.
Lu Liruan didn't go out yesterday. When she went out this morning, she probably saw that there was no key on the door and just opened it without thinking about this. If she hadn't had a spare key in her bag, she would have had to call a locksmith today.
"correct."
That's all for today. Lu Liruan took out another spare key from the drawer.
"Xiao He, this is for you."
"Huh?" Jin Shuhe didn't understand what Lu Liruan meant and was stunned for a moment.
“If you need anything… I’m not home, just come in.” Lu Liruan was referring to the debt collection incident from last time.
Jin Shuhe's eyes flickered, and he lowered his gaze. Instead of reaching out, he pulled his arms behind his back and unconsciously twisted the hem of his clothes.
"What's wrong?" Lu Liruan noticed his emotional fluctuation and asked, puzzled.
"Sister Li Ruan... I can't take it."
Jin Shuhe said in a low, strained voice, his hand clenched into a fist, preventing himself from extending it.
"What's the big deal... You don't mean I'm worried I'll catch you one day saying something's missing from the house, do you? Don't worry, my house is bare, the most valuable thing I own is myself..." Lu Liruan thought he was just being thoughtful and overthinking things, so she joked with a smile.
But Jin Shuhe still didn't look up.
He tried his best not to look at Sister Li Ruan's face, not to feel her gentle smile, and not to experience the trust she placed in him.
He couldn't accept it... nor dared to accept it. If he did, he would be unable to help but fantasize about what it would be like if Sister Li Ruan were truly his family.
They were destined to be from different worlds. Jin Shuhe didn't even know where her future lay. They were probably destined to part ways eventually, weren't they?
If I don't let myself overthink things now, will I feel less bad later...?
Jin Shuhe was a pessimistic child. Even when he was happy, he didn't dare to immerse himself in the moment or think too much...
Nothing lasts forever.
Lu Liruan didn't know what the young boy was thinking, but she could sense his persistence, so she didn't try to persuade him anymore.
"If anything really happens to you, you must tell me, okay?" Lu Liruan sighed almost imperceptibly.
"it is good."
Since the business won't open until next semester, Lu Liruan wasn't in a hurry and decorated the place very meticulously.
As the days passed, Lu Liruan was surprised to find that her videos not only did not see a drop in views because of her resignation, but actually saw a significant increase.
However, once an account reaches a certain number of followers, it becomes easier to add more followers compared to an account with a smaller follower base, like a snowball rolling downhill.
In addition, Lu Liruan's content is both heartwarming and healing, as well as novel and interesting, so her viewership has steadily increased. Combined with Lu Liruan's previous viral videos, her income over the past two months has been quite considerable.
She also received some new business offers. Most of them were related to food, which Lu Liruan attributed to the fact that her "cooking skills" were indeed very useful.
But what exactly is the other cheat code for?
Lu Liruan was completely baffled.
For students in the north, the end of each semester is a difficult experience.
The temperature can reach over 30 degrees Celsius at noon. There is no air conditioning in the classroom, and students have to wear school uniforms. They take a nap at their desks, and when they wake up, their clothes are soaked with sweat.
Yet it was also unforgettable; the leaves outside the classroom window were exceptionally green, and the smell of dust on the rubber track on the playground was unlike anything I'd ever experienced elsewhere…
The setting sun, filtering through the gaps in the teaching building, tinged the surrounding clouds with pink.
By the end of June, students were already looking forward to summer vacation.
Wenbei's birthday is at the end of June.
He's popular and has been saying for a while that he'll invite his classmates to his house for his birthday party. The class has been discussing it for days.
"Shuhe! You're here too!"
After playing basketball in PE class, he returned to the classroom and saw Jin Shuhe sitting in his seat. He came over and put his arm around Jin Shuhe's shoulder.
"I have something to do on Saturday, I'll give you the gift when you come to school." Jin Shuhe bent down to prevent his sweaty hands from touching her.
"The best gift you could give me is to let me copy your homework again next semester!" Wen Bei chuckled heartily. "Come on over! My mom even asked you if you were coming!"
"I really have something to do on Saturday, please say hello to Auntie for me." Jin Shuhe said helplessly. He could tell that Wen Bei was saying this because she thought he didn't want to be with his classmates.
"Oh, something really happened? Okay, I'll save you a piece of cake!"
"No way, have fun, happy birthday." Jin Shuhe smiled and patted Wen Bei on the shoulder: "Congratulations on coming of age!"
He and Wen Bei were elementary school classmates. At that time, most of the children in their class started school at the age of seven, so they would be eighteen years old before their senior year of high school.
Wen Bei grinned, showing off his white teeth: "Thank you, little brother Jin Shuhe who is underage!"
An eighteenth birthday holds irreplaceable significance for every child.
This means that you have reached adulthood.
Although life may not have changed, I always feel in my heart that I am an adult now.
But Jin Shuhe felt uneasy, as if something was about to happen as the days went by, rushing to coincide with his eighteenth birthday.
That day, when Jin Shuhe entered the house, he saw Aunt Chun rummaging through the room looking for something.
He pulled out all the storage boxes under the bed and threw a jumble of clothes and bedding all over the floor.
"Oh, you're back!"
Hearing the voice, she turned around and greeted her. Jin Shuhe saw that she was wearing a nightgown that hadn't been washed in who knows how long, and her hair was disheveled, but the expression on her face revealed an obvious joy.
Jin Shuhe nodded, intending to return to his room, but was stopped by her.
"Look! I just found it today, otherwise I would have forgotten about it!"
She beckoned Jin Shuhe over and pointed to a small pouch made of a handkerchief placed on the bedside table.
At her prompting, Jin Shuhe opened the handkerchief, revealing a small ring inside.
The narrow, plain ring must be made of gold.
Seeing Jin Shuhe's puzzled look, Aunt Chun put down what she was holding, stood up, lit a cigarette for herself, and raised her chin: "Damn it."
Jin Shuhe was startled and suddenly looked up.
"Damn it, your deadbeat father gave me this thing back then to coax me into living with him. I only found out later that it was your mother's... What a heartless bastard!" she said with a hint of sarcasm.
Jin Shuhe looked at the small ring. He was young then, but he remembered that his mother was not wearing a ring.
"Your grandma bought this for your mom when they got married. I heard the old lady really liked your mom," Aunt Chun said casually.
Jin Shuhe knew nothing about these things.
All he knew was that his parents got married in their hometown, and when he was one or two years old, they took him with them to work in other places.
After traveling through several cities, I finally settled in Pucheng.
Jin Shuhe didn't remember his grandmother from his hometown very well. He had only seen her once or twice when he went back for the Chinese New Year. The old lady had a face full of wrinkles and only a few teeth left when she smiled. She called him "my dear grandson" in the local dialect.
He passed away quite early.
"I was thinking of selling it, but then I found out where it came from..." Aunt Chun exhaled a smoke ring: "It's your mother's stuff, keep it as a souvenir."
Jin Shuhe took the handkerchief back to her room and gently placed it on the table.
After a long while, he finally extended his fingertip and carefully, slowly, caressed the thin ring.
But he couldn't feel anything.
Finally, he wrapped the ring up again and put it at the very back of the drawer.
His eyesight was excellent. Just now, on the middle finger of the hand where Aunt Chun was holding the cigarette, there was a sparkling ring, but Jin Shuhe couldn't tell what material it was made of.
But she had never worn it before.
Jin Shuhe didn't know what this meant, but he felt a vague emptiness in his heart. He couldn't make any decisions or control his own life.
The man who always argued with Aunt Chun hasn't shown up for a long time, it seems like it's been since that debt collection incident...
Jin Shuhe had seen him for several years, but now he had disappeared without a trace, without any warning.