On the weekend, Lin Wanyue grabbed Lin Shiyu again to accompany her out to play, so they went to the little garden by the roadside where they often went.

The weather had been good these days, and wherever the sun could reach, it was warm. Lin Shiyu sat by the slide, basking in the sun, unable to help but yawn. Last night, for some reason, Lin Wanyue suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and started screaming. Lin Hui and Lin Shiyu were awakened by the noise and spent a long time coaxing and patting her to calm her down before she fell asleep again with a little blanket.

Lin Wanyue occasionally became restless like this, but compared to other children with more severe conditions, she was much better. The teachers at the educational institute also unanimously agreed that Lin Wanyue was the gentlest child with Down Syndrome they had ever seen. Apart from having difficulty concentrating and slow progress in learning, she could be considered obedient.

Lin Wanyue also didn’t bother Lin Hui and Lin Shiyu much. She often played happily by herself, but of course, she would be happier if her mom and brother could join her. Just like now, the girl was swinging alone, laughing and full of energy, making Lin Shiyu sigh with admiration.

After swinging on the swing for most of the day, Lin Wanyue probably got tired. She climbed down from the swing and ran to Lin Shiyu, squatting in front of him.

Lin Shiyu patted her head. “What’s wrong?”

“Brother.” Lin Wanyue reached out and grabbed his finger, shaking it, and called out, “Brother.”

Lin Shiyu followed her lead. “Why are you calling me?”

After squatting in front of him for a while, Lin Wanyue suddenly stood up clumsily and climbed onto his leg. Thinking she wanted to act cute, Lin Shiyu lifted her up and sat her on his lap.

Lin Wanyue leaned into Lin Shiyu’s arms, quietly hugging him for a while, then raised her chubby hand to pat his shoulder and touched his face.

Lin Shiyu was somewhat amused and bemused by his little sister’s actions. “What do you want to do?”

“Brother, let’s play.” Lin Wanyue touched Lin Shiyu’s face and smiled at him foolishly. “Brother happy, happy!”

It took Lin Shiyu a moment to realize that his sister was trying to comfort him.

“I’m very happy.” Lin Shiyu whispered to his sister. “Where do you see that I’m not happy?”

Lin Wanyue pulled at the corners of Lin Shiyu’s mouth. “Smile.”

Lin Shiyu’s face was reddened by her somewhat heavy-handed touch, forcibly pulling up the corners of his mouth. Lin Wanyue seemed to find it very amusing and burst into laughter, hugging him tightly.

Not arguing with the little kid, Lin Shiyu removed Lin Wanyue’s hand from his face helplessly.

Just before lunchtime, Lin Shiyu finally left the little garden with his sister, who was still not tired of playing.

As they crossed the road and turned a corner, they ran into Zhong Qi walking out of a building with a guitar on his back.

Both of them hadn’t expected to meet each other, and were surprised when they saw each other. Lin Shiyu averted his gaze, while Zhong Qi looked at him, then glanced at Lin Wanyue.

Lin Wanyue instinctively felt nervous in the presence of any male other than her brother. After hiding behind Lin Shiyu, she suddenly seemed to realize something and pointed happily at Zhong Qi. “Guitar!”

Then she absentmindedly hummed a little tune, and Zhong Qi recognized it as the melody of a song he had played during winter vacation.

Zhong Qi only glanced at Lin Wanyue for a moment before shifting his gaze back to Lin Shiyu. “You are accompanying your sister out to play?”

Lin Shiyu wasn’t about to get angry in front of his sister, so he responded coldly, “Yes.”

Zhong Qi had something to say, but seeing Lin Shiyu’s complete lack of interest in talking to him, he swallowed his words along with the lump in his throat. Lin Wanyue couldn’t sense the tension between the two at all and was still happily chanting “guitar.”

“Your sister really likes my guitar,” Zhong Qi said.

Lin Shiyu couldn’t stand it for another moment. He didn’t understand why Zhong Qi still wanted to talk to him voluntarily. Wasn’t he supposed to be reticent? Wasn’t he supposed to keep his distance from everyone? Did he really think Lin Shiyu’s tolerance for him had reached a point where he could do whatever he wanted?

Lin Shiyu clenched his fists and said coldly, “So what if she likes it? Are you going to buy one for her?”

As he led Lin Wanyue past Zhong Qi, he added, “If you’re not interested, don’t ask, and don’t talk to me anymore. If I’m not annoyed, you’re still annoying me.”

With that, he walked away, leaving Lin Wanyue who was still reluctant to leave.

Zhong Qi stood alone in the bustling street for a while before muttering to himself. “Okay.”

He turned around and went back into the building, taking the elevator to the music studio on the seventh floor. Yu Chaole’s cousin was sitting there playing the drums. When he saw that Zhong Qi had returned, he asked, “What’s up? Did you forget something?”

“I’m going to buy a guitar,” Zhong Qi said.

“Don’t you already have one?”

“It’s for kid.”

“Oh, okay. Are you buying it for your younger siblings?” He stood up and walked to the wall covered with guitars. “What size do you want for the kids? Do you want a good one or a cheaper one?”

“About six years old, a girl. Get a good one.”

“Okay, then a 36-inch or 38-inch would be better. How about this one?” His cousin took down a classical guitar from the wall. “This has nylon strings, which are softer than steel strings and are suitable for kids’ fingers. You can try it.”

Zhong Qi took the guitar and tried playing a few notes. The sound was good, and the feel was nice. The action was low, so it should be suitable for Lin Wanyue to play.

“I’ll take this one.”

“Wow, don’t you want to ask about the price?”

“Just give me the total.”

“Okay, since you’re so generous, and you’re my little brother’s classmate, I’ll give you a family discount. You can have it for 1800.”

Zhong Qi didn’t bother to haggle and just scanned the QR code on his phone to pay.

His cousin turned around to get a guitar case, and Zhong Qi, holding the guitar, played a few notes, checking the tuning keys and the tension of the strings, looking at the shiny new guitar with some contemplation.

“Brother Yu,” Zhong Qi stopped Yu Chaole’s cousin who was rummaging around, “can you distress a guitar?”

“Sure. Do you want to distress this guitar?”

“Yeah. Just a regular distressing, no need for engravings or patterns.”

The man was a bit puzzled. “Don’t kids usually like new things? If you distress this guitar, would the child be willing to use it?”

Zhong Qi didn’t want to explain too much. He just said, “It doesn’t need to be too exaggerated, just make it look like it’s been used for a while.”

“Do you want to just buy a second-hand one then? I have a bunch of second-hand guitars, and I can give you one for free.”

“Second-hand ones don’t have good sound quality, and there are no suitable sizes.” In short, he didn’t want a real second-hand one.

Fortunately, this cousin had been immersed in the music scene for many years and had seen all kinds of people, so Zhong Qi’s desire to distress a newly bought guitar into a second-hand one was within the normal range. He wasn’t too surprised. “Okay, I’ll do it for you. It’s easier for you and I don’t even need to paint it. I’ll just use sandpaper and solvent to distress it. Leave the guitar here with me, and come back to pick it up in three days.”

Zhong Qi thanked him and left the studio.

When he stood at the entrance of the building, Zhong Qi calculated the money he had on him and realized that for the next half month, he could only rely on others for food.

Was it impulsive? Maybe, but he rarely acted impulsively before, so he might as well make up for all the missed opportunities today. Anyway, he had to take effective measures. Lin Shiyu was too stubborn. When he was really angry, he didn’t give anyone any room to maneuver and acted like he wanted to completely cut ties with Zhong Qi.

Even so, Zhong Qi’s patience was limited. Whether it was the distance Lin Shiyu had put between them or the time he spent not talking to him.

Zhong Qi’s patience for all this was very limited.

After a series of sunny days, the weekend came to an end and the work week began, along with the unexpected arrival of rain.

The rain stopped for a while in the morning, then started drizzling again. When Lin Shiyu got off the bus at the school gate, it had turned into a moderate rain.

He opened his umbrella and was about to cross the road when a taxi pulled over by the roadside, and Gao Jie got out of the car, running towards the breakfast shop on the street in the rain.

Gao Jie had just been lazy for a moment. When he went out, the weather seemed fine, so he didn’t bring an umbrella. Yet halfway there it started raining, so he had to hail a cab to get to school. He queued up at the breakfast shop and bought a baked pancake, but when he reached the door, he saw that the rain was getting heavier and heavier, causing him to worry.

An umbrella swung over, and he lifted his head to find Lin Shiyu standing under it.

Seeing him, Gao Jie hurriedly approached. “Shiyu, perfect timing, I didn’t bring an umbrella. Can I squeeze under yours?”

Lin Shiyu showed a bit of disdain, but didn’t refuse to let him squeeze under his umbrella. Gao Jie was taller, so he took Lin Shiyu’s umbrella and held it over them.

The street was crowded, with students and commuters passing back and forth. Gao Jie casually put his arm around Lin Shiyu’s shoulder and chatted with him. “Did you have breakfast, Brother Lin?”

“I did.”

“I had breakfast at home, but I wasn’t full, so I bought another pancake, hehe.”

Gao Jie would rather get rained on than skip a meal. Lin Shiyu’s appreciation of Gao Jie’s appetite reached a whole new level.

“You’re eating so much without exercising, didn’t you say you had high blood pressure before?”

“Hey, I can’t engage in vigorous exercise now, just a little movement and my eyes–”

Gao Jie didn’t finish his sentence when someone with an umbrella, head down and eating breakfast, bumped into Gao Jie’s arm, almost stumbling and dropping the buns in his hand.

The person immediately exclaimed, “What’s going on? Can’t you see where you’re walking?”

Gao Jie remained calm. Seeing the person was dressed like a commuter and getting so worked up over dropping a bun, he chuckled. “Uncle, maybe you weren’t looking where you were going? I already made way for you, otherwise your bun would’ve landed right in my arms.”

“I wasn’t looking? You fatso blocking the road, who can pass by! Do you know I’m in a hurry to go to work? I only took a few bites of that bun, and it’s all on the ground because of you, how annoying.”

He complained loudly, attracting the attention of passersby. Lin Shiyu looked at him expressionlessly, his demeanor gradually turning cold.

Gao Jie whispered to him, “This person either got dumped by his wife or scolded by his boss, so now he’s probably a bit neurotic, let’s not bother with him.”

Then he said to the person, “Sorry, my eyesight is a bit poor and I didn’t see the road clearly. I apologize to you, let’s just go, okay?”

Gao Jie led Lin Shiyu to walk past him, but the person wouldn’t let it go. “A blind person still wants to walk on the road and go to school! Hurry back home and stay there, don’t go out causing trouble for people!”

Grumbling and cursing, he kicked away the buns on the ground and turned to leave. However, a hand suddenly grabbed the back of his collar, pulling him back with force. The person almost fell backward entirely, hastily shouting and stepping back a few steps before managing to stand firmly on his feet.

He was about to curse loudly when his collar was grabbed again, and a pair of fierce, bright eyes met his.

“Apologize,” Lin Shiyu said coldly.

Gao Jie gasped for breath.

“I apologize for your–”

“Bang!” The person was pressed against the advertising board at the bus stop, and the rolling advertisement inside the sign rattled loudly.

“Apologize,” Lin Shiyu repeated.

Gao Jie quickly grabbed Lin Shiyu. “Brother Lin, it’s okay, don’t bother with this kind of person, let’s go, it’s time for class.”

Still the person kept struggling and cursing, lifting his foot to kick Lin Shiyu. Lin Shiyu’s shoulder was soaked by the rain, and he visibly lost patience, becoming irritable and aggressive. Gao Jie saw him about to hit someone and had to pull him back. “Brother Lin, don’t be angry, don’t get angry with this kind of person.”

Lin Shiyu pushed Gao Jie’s hand away, and Gao Jie, helpless, took a step back.

Unexpectedly, at that moment, Gao Jie’s heel unexpectedly stepped on a raised tile and his foot slipped backward. He couldn’t grab onto anything and yelled, his body falling heavily to the ground.

Lin Shiyu froze, turning to look at Gao Jie.

The umbrella rolled aside, and Gao Jie sat on the ground, blinking hard, shaking his head, and rubbing his eyes.

“Brother Lin, don’t worry about that person, come and help me look at…” Gao Jie’s voice was anxious. “I think I can’t see very well.”

Lin Shiyu let go of the other person, half-kneeling in front of Gao Jie, looking more at a loss than Gao Jie. “What’s wrong?”

The angry man was in disarray because of Lin Shiyu’s actions. He wanted to continue cursing, but seeing a student fall to the ground as if he were seriously injured and people gathering around, he had to reluctantly give up, muttering a few more words and hurriedly leaving.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, you know my retina isn’t very stable, maybe I just fell and dislocated it a bit.” Gao Jie was obviously having trouble seeing now, he couldn’t even open his eyes halfway, but he remained calm. “It’s okay, help me take out my phone, it’s in my pocket, and call my mom.”

Lin Shiyu did as he was told, took out his phone and made a call. Gao Jie briefly explained the situation to his mother on the phone and then hung up.

“My mom will come to pick me up soon,” Gao Jie said, trying to stand up from the ground, but struggling to see anything, he had to sit back down. He looked a little dizzy, holding his head, his eyes closing and opening alternately.

Lin Shiyu picked up the umbrella, held it over Gao Jie’s head, and asked tensely, “Can you still see things?”

“Don’t worry, it should just be temporary blindness, mainly I’m feeling a bit dizzy now, probably because of the change in vision…”

Someone nearby came over and asked what was going on. The noisy voices and the sound of rain made Lin Shiyu’s head buzz. He fell from a moment of extreme anger to huge self-blame, making it difficult for him to breathe.

Was it because he pushed Gao Jie? Lin Shiyu tried hard to recall the details, remembering that he did push Gao Jie’s hand.

“What’s going on?” A familiar voice sounded, followed by hurried footsteps approaching. Ruan Zhikai and Mao Sulu squeezed through the crowd, seeing Gao Jie sitting on the ground and Lin Shiyu half-kneeling beside him, they were stunned.

The two of them rushed to help Gao Jie, but for a while, Gao Jie couldn’t see things clearly, dizziness overwhelming him, so he waved his hand randomly to reassure them not to worry.

Fortunately, Gao Jie’s mother soon arrived by car. The four of them helped Gao Jie into the car, then watched the car drive away.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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