Chapter 72: Protecting Him

The restaurant was exceptionally quiet. For some unknown reason, the air conditioning was still turned on despite the autumn chill, filling the air with a biting, bone-chilling cold.

It was as cold as a bitter winter from over a decade ago.

That year, he was five years old.

The military residential compound was peaceful and serene. His father was a soldier defending the country, and due to the specialized nature of his unit, he could not often return home, so he entrusted him to a family living in the compound.

Yet, everyone shared the same profession.

No family was much better off than the others. Parents had no time to look after children, and during the day, the kids were mostly left to keep each other company.

Before long, his father married a woman, who brought along a little younger sister.

The woman was very pretty, and the little sister was adorable to the extreme.

He felt he ought to treat the little sister a bit better.

The neighboring children often mocked him for not having a mother over the most trivial conflicts. Since the compound was mostly populated by boys, escalations in conflicts frequently led to fights.

Although he was used to it and did not care much, on that particular occasion, a chubby boy threw a stone at his eye, causing it to bleed profusely. He could not see the path ahead and lost the ability to fight back.

The little sister had only been walking for less than a year and a half. Hearing the commotion, she stumbled several times as she ran out.

At that very instant.

The girl's usual gentle temperament seemed to vanish entirely. She stood in front of him with her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at the others, her soft cheeks puffed out to the utmost, her voice laced with rage: "You're the ones without a mother! My mommy is his mommy, and he is my older brother. Why are you hitting people? I'll beat you to death!"

With that, she charged forward, grabbing the chubby boy and scratching and biting him. Her baby teeth biting into his padded jacket didn't hurt, but it chipped one of her own teeth.

He did not refute the claim, but he knew the little girl's mother was not his own.

Yet this soft little girl was undoubtedly his sister.

The wind that day blew so hard it ached down to the bone. The little girl covered his wound, crying and screaming the whole time until she managed to cry out for the adults to save him.

She even tearfully lodged a complaint, accusing the chubby boy of calling him motherless. The chubby boy's grandmother was furious, grabbed the chubby boy, and beat him for a long time.

After that, whenever friction arose, no one ever used his mother's sore spot against him again.

The little girl held his hand and said very gently, "Older brother, don't be afraid. Even though you're the one who protects me most, I can protect you from now on, too."

The winter wind was biting, and he could taste the flavor of his own fresh blood, but the soft warmth of the girl's palms was soothing, like summer sunlight hidden away in secret.

Later on, there was an occasion when all the families in the compound went to watch an open-air movie.

Places overgrown with weeds often harbored snakes.

Because of the incident from before, the chubby boy was still holding a grudge. At an age when he knew nothing of the immensity of heaven and earth, and unable to tell which snake was venomous, he thought it looked frightening and caught it, putting it in the place where his family stored firewood.

The moment he stepped out, he was bitten by the snake.

The chubby boy squatted beside him, laughing, and even kicked him. Provoked by the noise, the snake reacted defensively and bit him right on the backside.

Soon, weeping echoed throughout the entire compound.

The chubby boy's mother was a sharp-tongued mountain-bred wife. After beating the snake to death, she demanded to know who had been playing with it.

Terrified of getting beaten, the chubby boy pointed two fingers right at him, his eyes swimming with tears: "Mom, he put a snake there to bite my butt!"

Furious, the chubby boy's mother grabbed a rolling pin covered in flour dust and brought it straight down onto his body, each blow harder than the last: "Disobedient, dead child! Is a snake something to be played with? I'll discipline you in your father's place, you little brat."

No one would save him.

He was in excruciating pain. At the age of five, he was frail and sickly, still pressing his hands over the wound where the snake had bitten him.

It was the little girl who heard the commotion, rushed over, and shielded him with her body. Although there was fear in the depths of her eyes, she still hugged him tightly, taking several blows from the stick until her adorably chubby, plump arms were dislocated.

After the crowd dispersed, she didn't cry out in pain. Instead, she supported him on the way to the clinic while weeping in terror.

The doctor gave him an injection, saying it was a matter of life and death, and that if they had delayed any longer, he wouldn't have been saved.

The chubby boy's mother was frightened out of her wits.

Hearing this, the girl flew into a rage. Using her newly reset arm, she lunged forward and bit the chubby boy again. Amidst her incoherent sobs, only he could understand what she was mumbling: "My brother wouldn't let snakes bite people! It definitely wasn't him! It was you, right? You're the worst, you always love bullying people, you're a bad person."

She wasn't brave; in fact, she was somewhat spoiled and exceptionally good at endurance. From a young age, she had sensed that her mother was reluctant to come home and didn't like to grow close to her, so she always thought it best to just let things go.

Whenever she was bullied, all she knew how to do was hide behind him and cry, while pulling on his clothes to keep him from stepping forward.

Yet whenever she threw a temper tantrum, it was always for his sake, and she stood resolutely on his side.

Every single time, however, she could only resort to biting people, which had cost her two teeth.

For a period after that, she whistled through the gap whenever she spoke.

The little girl loved to look pretty. Because of her missing front teeth, she was often surrounded by a circle of children who pointed and laughed, calling her the "toothless hag," while the adults teased her as well.

Every time this happened, she would place one hand over her own ear, use her other hand to cover his ear, and flash her remaining white teeth in a bright, radiant smile.

Her voice came out in a breathy whisper: "Don't listen, don't listen, they're talking nonsense. I'm not ugly. Older brother, don't be angry, and don't hit people. This is my proof of protecting my older brother. Just like the adults say, scars are medals, too."

He knew the girl was afraid he would be blamed by those children's parents, so she swallowed her tears and grievances, forcing a difficult smile, and only dared to hide under the quilt to cry in sorrow later.

Children like them, with no one to guide or discipline them, inherently carried a disadvantage, and people were naturally more inclined to favor their own offspring.

Only she genuinely favored him, telling him over and over again: "Older brother, you are truly the smartest and most amazing person in the whole world."

That little face possessed a radiance warm enough to scorch a person's soul, and every single "older brother" she called out was filled with absolute sincerity.

He was infinitely grateful to the heavens for sending him a little sun to redeem his humble soul.

Being good to her ought to be the most justified thing in the world.

Fang Ye's momentary distraction lasted only a fraction of a second.

He immediately reached out, pushed the strawberry pudding on the table closer to the girl, and said in a gentle tone, "Try the cake. Eat more."

Bai Li picked up the small spoon placed to the side, scooped up a small piece of cake with strawberries and cream, and put it into her mouth. The smoothness of the dairy cream combined with the sweet-and-sour taste of the strawberries, and the sponge cake was exceptionally soft. She couldn't help smiling, raised her gaze to look at Fang Ye, and said, "Brother, it's delicious. You should eat some too."

Fang Ye raised his hand, took a light sip of clear tea, and replied, "Mn, brother will eat."

Once the meal came to an end.

Fang Ye picked up the jacket resting behind his chair and accompanied her back to school.

Along the way, Bai Li carefully took out the card, tucked it into the side pocket of the passenger door, said her goodbyes, and skipped away happily.

Inside the dim car interior, the overhead dome light cast a glaring illumination.

Fang Ye stared as her figure disappeared down the parasol-tree-lined avenue before reaching out to take out the card.

The evening breeze blew through the withered green roadside trees, causing several leaves to flutter down, and he recalled the words the young girl had just spoken.

"Although I don't understand why you're so good to me, there is no one in this world better than you."

He understood yet another thing.

A soft-hearted and brave girl seemed only to remember how others treated her well, never once reflecting on the kindness she herself radiated toward others.

He laid the card aside, took out his mobile phone, and made a call: "Could you find the phone number for the head counselor of the law department... my sister's class? I'd like to pay my sister's tuition fees."

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(End of this chapter)