"Because I was once just like them," Su Xuan said, and a lancholic aura seed to pour out of him. With that one sentence, Su Zimo understood everything in an instant. Her heart ached, and large tears rolled down her cheeks. She gently grasped his hand, silently comforting him with her tenderness.
So that’s why... On the surface, he’s so sunny, but there’s always a hint of lancholy about him. He was once just like this brother and sister—alone and helpless. That’s why he understands them. He knows what they truly want. He can connect with them so easily.
"Su Xuan, your parents..." Su Zimo trailed off. After a mont of silence, she looked up and asked softly, "When did they pass away?"
Damn author, get out here! Does killing off the main character’s parents really grant infinite power?
(Zhao Ankang’s voiceover): I always knew Su Xuan was an orphan. I felt so sorry for him that I often treated him to als. Who would have thought he’d be the one to help get into Lycar? Hahaha!
Su Xuan pursed his lips. "Around the ti I was thirteen or fourteen, I guess."
"How did you manage after that?" Su Zimo asked.
Su Xuan gave a faint smile. "That’s all in the past, so it doesn’t matter. I’m doing very well for myself now. It’s these two I’m worried about."
"You’re right," Su Zimo said. "They’re not like other victims who just need supplies. They need psychological help too."
"Exactly," Su Xuan agreed.
After that, Su Xuan began cooking with the siblings. With his warm and friendly deanor, who would have guessed he was a multi-billionaire? The brother and sister were just as enthusiastic about him, incessantly asking how he had managed to catch so many cicada nymphs. Su Xuan boasted that he had practiced a lightness skill, allowing him to fly up into the trees to catch them. The siblings didn’t believe him, so Su Xuan promised to give them a demonstration later.
Through casual conversation, Su Xuan learned more about the pair. Their parents had died in a mining accident when they were only eight or nine. Their big black "dog" wasn’t a dog at all, but a real wolf they had found as a cub one winter and raised themselves. The sister loved music and dread of becoming a pianist. The brother loved carpentry and dread of building a piano for her with his own hands.
While Su Xuan and the children were cooking, Su Zimo and the others quietly brought the disaster relief supplies inside the siblings’ humble but clean house. They arranged the food, clothes, and other necessities, then laid out several bedrolls for everyone to sleep on for the night. Just as they finished, Su Xuan announced that dinner was ready.
The natural disaster had knocked out the power, so they lit kerosene lamps inside the house. The flickering flas cast a warm, almost romantic glow.
"It’s a sha we don’t have any alcohol," Guo Yuxiang said with a hint of regret, gazing at the impressive spread of food on the table. He really wanted to share a drink with Su Xuan, the man who had saved his life.
"We have so," the brother said. He imdiately left the room and returned with a large jar of wine. He secretly told Su Xuan that his father had brewed it himself before he died. There was a lot left, and he often snuck sips without his sister knowing, believing it was quite good.
"This is great!" Guo Yuxiang exclaid after one sip, giving a thumbs-up. "It’s as good as Moutai!"
And so, with food and wine aplenty, everyone sat down together and began to eat and drink rrily. During the al, Guo Yuxiang told a few la jokes that made the others laugh, but the siblings didn’t get the punchlines and didn’t crack a smile.
The sister whispered, "Brother, I don’t get it. Why would a girl be marked absent from work for not wearing makeup?"
The brother shook his head. "I don’t know."
Listening to them, Su Zimo felt a pang of heartache. She realized the siblings, having grown up in poverty deep in the mountains, had no idea that makeup was one of Asia’s "three great sorceries." A woman could look like a completely different person after putting it on, to the point of being unrecognizable. The sister, especially, had probably never worn a touch of makeup in her life.
Su Zimo quietly took out her compact and tugged on the girl’s sleeve. "Want to do your makeup?"
"No," the sister replied flatly.
Su Zimo reluctantly put her makeup away. It seed that aside from Su Xuan, the children still hadn’t accepted the rest of them.
"How about a ga of cards?" Su Xuan suggested after everyone had eaten their fill. The delivery package he’d brought happened to contain a deck of cards, along with a few other gas like chess and Go. "Want to make it interesting? Play for a little money?" he added, a sly look in his eyes.
"Yes, definitely!" Guo Yuxiang agreed enthusiastically. This was the perfect opportunity. He would intentionally lose so money to Su Xuan as a small token of gratitude for saving his life.
To his dismay, Su Xuan’s card skills were so atrocious that Guo Yuxiang could have beaten him with his eyes closed. They played late into the night, long after Su Zimo and the others had settled onto their bedrolls and fallen asleep. Not only had Guo Yuxiang failed to lose a single penny to Su Xuan, he had actually won two or three hundred yuan from him! He was so embarrassed that he couldn’t bring himself to play another hand.
"Old Guo, how about we raise the stakes?" Su Xuan proposed, seeing it was just the two of them left awake.
"How high are we talking?" Guo Yuxiang’s interest was imdiately piqued. This ti, he would lose to Su Xuan no matter what.
"How about a million a hand? Dare to play?"
"What’s there to be scared of? Let’s do it!"
"Simple high card?"
"Deal!"
Guo Yuxiang drew a card first. He glanced down and saw the three of clubs. Breathing a sigh of relief, he laid it on the table. "Well, I’ve definitely lost this ti."
When Su Xuan saw the three of clubs, he couldn’t help but smile smugly. Without even showing his own card, he said, "You certainly did. Send the money over."
Guo Yuxiang picked up his phone to transfer the money, but Su Xuan reached out and pressed a hand over the screen, stopping him. "Old Guo, let’s make a deal," Su Xuan said. "You don’t have to give the money to . How about you use it to sponsor these two kids instead? Now that we’ve t them, we can’t just stand by and watch them waste their lives away, right?"
A look of deep respect crossed Guo Yuxiang’s face. "Right!"
"I’ll leave their sponsorship to you, then," Su Xuan said.
Guo Yuxiang thumped his chest. "Brother Su, you can count on !"
Su Xuan dusted himself off and went to his bedroll to sleep. Guo Yuxiang yawned, ready to turn in as well, when a sudden wave of curiosity washed over him. He crept over and surreptitiously flipped Su Xuan’s card over. He couldn’t help but curse under his breath. "Damn it!"
Su Xuan’s card was even lower than his. It was the two of hearts. He had lost the whole ti. Su Xuan had been bluffing!
But Guo Yuxiang said nothing. He just lay down quietly on his own bedroll and fell asleep, a contented smile on his face as snores soon filled the room. What a guy, he thought. I love him for this!
But what neither of them saw—or even sensed—was that two pairs of eyes had been secretly watching them the entire ti. Two pairs of ears had been secretly listening to their every word.
Around one in the morning, the brother silently rose to his feet. He tiptoed over to Su Xuan’s bedroll... and quietly drew the Rabbit-Slaying Dagger.
Reviews
All reviews (0)