414: 403 414: 403 “Aunt Lin, would you hurry up and go?” Song Yuxue said, coaxingly pushing on Aunt Lin’s back.
“Alright, alright, it looks like you just can’t wait to chat with Song Yun.
Oh, you little vixen, what are you scratching me for?
Last night you couldn’t sleep a wink because you missed your Brother Song so much—mmph mmph!”
Song Yun laughed upon hearing this.
After Song Yuxue had sent Aunt Lin out the door, the two of them didn’t know what to say next.
“Would…
would you like some water?” Song Yuxue asked in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s.
“What?” Song Yun had been lost in thought and hadn’t heard her at first.
“I…
I was asking if you wanted some water.”
“I’m not really thirsty right now.” Song Yun said with a silly smile, touching the tip of his nose, but he was already cursing himself internally, goddamn Song Yun, where’s your usual eloquence gone now?
Why can’t you think of even a single topic of conversation?
After an awkward pause, Song Yun asked, “How have mom and dad been feeling lately?”
After asking the question, Song Yun felt like slapping himself.
Dammit, hadn’t he just asked that very question earlier?
Repeating it now must seem quite abrupt.
“They’re doing well.” Song Yuxue nodded and said, “Mom even told me a lot about your childhood.”
“Heh heh.” Song Yun forced a laugh, and the atmosphere turned strange once again.
This couldn’t go on.
Was he really going to just sit here with his sister from dawn until dusk?
Swallowing hard, Song Yun hesitated and said, “Truthfully, I didn’t know I had a sister.
I was sent away by dad and mom when I was three.”
“Today, when I heard about it from Uncle Xu, I felt like my head was going to explode.
I didn’t even know how to meet you.
When I was standing at the door earlier, I was debating whether to come in and act familiar and say hello, or be more reserved and just say hello.”
“But then you suddenly opened the door, and when I saw you for the first time, I was genuinely taken aback.
I never expected us to meet this way—it wasn’t like anything I’d envisioned.”
At this point, Song Yun started to relax and continued, “Maybe it’s because of our blood relation.
Even though I didn’t know what to say when I saw you for the first time, here…”
Song Yun pointed to his right side and said, “I felt as if something filled my heart, a warm feeling that’s hard to describe.
I don’t know how to put it into words, but one thing I do know is that in the future, I might not be alone anymore.”
Upon hearing these words, tears began to well up in Song Yuxue’s eyes.
When she was very little, her father would often hold her as they sat by the sea, and he would point towards the east and say, “Your brother is out there.”
Back then, she was too young to understand loneliness, but as she grew up, she learned more and more about Song Yun, and she realized how pitiable her brother truly was, sent away by their parents to join a sect at the age of three.
And then he had lived alone until he was twenty-two.
The news often included reports of Song Yun’s missions, and every time her parents mentioned that her brother was heading to the battlefield again, she would lock herself in her room and pray to the heavens, alone, hoping her brother would be alright.
This time, when she heard that her parents were sending her to Sunan to meet her brother, she hesitated.
She didn’t know what kind of feelings to have when meeting him.
She herself had lived a happy life with her parents since childhood while her brother had been racing against death, experiencing countless brutal battles.
She feared her brother would despise her upon seeing her, yell at her, and tell her to get lost.
But when she met Song Yun in person, she found that he didn’t react that way.
Instead, he seemed bashful and at a loss for words.
Song Yun didn’t know how to start a conversation with her, and how could she not feel the same?
For so many years, she had continually played out scenarios in her mind of meeting Song Yun.
Today, she finally met him—the moment she opened the door and saw Song Yun’s face, she immediately recognized the man before her as her brother.
Earlier, when she fell to the ground and Song Yun reached out to help her up, she was keenly aware of the calluses on her brother’s hands.
This was her brother, who should have lived a carefree life of luxury, but it had turned out this way.
Whether overseas or at home, what were those in their early twenties from big families doing?
Partying every day, car racing, but what about her brother?
Not to mention being in his early twenties, he had already endured so much training and pressure since his teens.
Thinking of this, Song Yuxue suddenly began to cry loudly.
Song Yun, caught up in his monologue, was taken aback by her sudden tears and clumsily didn’t know what to say.
He sucked in a breath of cold air and said, “Yuxue, don’t cry.
Did I say something wrong to upset you?
Please stop crying, it troubles me to see you this way.”
“Brother…
Brother has suffered too much,” Song Yuxue sobbed.
“Your hands, all rough with calluses, and your body must be even worse.”
“Ah, I thought I said something to make you cry.
Don’t cry anymore.
What’s wrong with a man having callused hands?
That’s how it should be,” Song Yun said, moving forward to embrace Song Yuxue and trying to comfort her.
“I’m not a woman; why would I need soft, smooth hands?
As long as they’re useful, that’s what matters.”
Hearing this, Song Yuxue cried even harder, clutching at Song Yun’s clothing, burying her face in his chest, and wailing, “Brother, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”
“You silly girl, what are you apologizing to me for?
What have you done to be sorry about?” Song Yun said softly, stroking her head.
“Everything I’ve done before was for our family to be together, so there’s no grievance worth mentioning.”
“But…
but,” Song Yuxue tried to continue but was choked by sobs, unable to get the words out.
“There, it’s okay, let’s not talk about sorry within the family.
You haven’t done anything to let me down, not now, not ever in the future.
You are Song Yun’s sister, and that will never change,” Song Yun assured.
“You know, every time you went on a mission, our parents got news.
Every time I overheard their conversations secretly, I would worry about you so much,” Song Yuxue cried.
“Brother, you should have been living the life that others your age live, carefree, but now you’re carrying so much burden.”
“They are them, I am me.
I can’t be compared to those people.
I alone am worth a bunch of them,” Song Yun said with a slight smile.
“The sharp edge of a sword comes from sharpening, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold.
Without those trials, how could I have the abilities I have now?
You wouldn’t want your brother to be a good-for-nothing reliant on parents, right?”