Chapter 174: At the End of My Rope, I Suspect There’s No Path ⑤
Li Kai saw that although Li Mingxue was smiling at him, tears were falling down one by one. His heart tightened, and he suddenly felt a bit flustered. He pulled out tissues from the coffee table and clumsily wiped Li Mingxue’s tears, stammering, “Sis? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Did someone bully you? Sis… don’t cry! Who bullied you? Tell me, I’ll teach them a lesson! Sis…” His elder sister was a few years older than him, so he had never seen her cry since he was little. Seeing Li Mingxue cry for the first time, Li Kai felt completely at a loss.
If he found out who made his sister cry, he would definitely break that person’s legs!
At this moment, Li Mingxue desperately needed comfort from her family. Li Kai’s anxious appearance made her even more sorrowful. She reached out, hugged Li Kai’s neck, and burst into tears.
There are many kinds of love in the world. She just met the wrong person at the wrong time, and accidentally fell in love, that’s all.
Li Kai was stunned. He had never seen such a fragile Li Mingxue before. He hadn’t even taken off his schoolbag yet. He reached out and gently patted Li Mingxue’s back, letting her vent. He thought that at this moment, she didn’t need comfort, but rather to vent properly.
Nie Qiu and Nie Aifang helped Nie Aiwen home together, and they helped him to Nie Aifang’s room and put him on the bed. Nie Qiu brought water, and Nie Aifang used a warm towel to wipe Nie Aiwen’s face and feet, then covered him with a quilt.
After doing all this, the mother and daughter went to the bathroom on the balcony to wash up. Because Nie Aiwen was there, the mother and daughter had to sleep together tonight. Nie Qiu couldn’t enter her space. However, since it was a holiday in the morning and the school had informed them that the program would end after 8 PM, she was afraid she wouldn’t have time to go to the warehouse in the afternoon, so she had already placed tomorrow’s vegetables in the warehouse.
After washing up, the two lay down on the bed to sleep. Since it was a single bed, they could only sleep on opposite sides to barely fit.
To be honest, after so many years, Nie Qiu had never slept with her mom before. So, although it was a bit crowded at this moment, in the slightly cool autumn, it was very warm. In this warmth, Nie Qiu closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.
Nie Aifang couldn’t sleep. She carefully turned over, but still couldn’t sleep. The fast-paced life of the big city made her live a tense and complicated life every day. She went to work, came home, and slept, her life a straight line between the market and home. If it weren’t for Qiu Qiu’s performance today, she might not have stopped to slowly appreciate the scenery of life or deliberately enjoy it.
Today was the only time in many years that she wasn’t rushing around for money, but simply went to appreciate Qiu Qiu’s performance at the school’s art festival.
Suddenly, there was a clattering sound from the kitchen. Nie Aifang frowned. Had a thief broken into the house? She carefully got up, glanced at Nie Qiu, picked up a stool from the corner, lifted the curtain of the room, and walked towards the kitchen.
Nie Aiwen was vomiting uncontrollably in the bathroom in the kitchen. In his daze, he saw Nie Aifang walking over. He smiled, chuckled, stood up unsteadily, and rushed forward, hugging Nie Aifang. He deeply sniffed the scent on Nie Aifang’s neck and chuckled again.
Nie Aifang, who was holding the stool as a weapon, put it down on the floor when she saw that it was Nie Aiwen in the bathroom. Before she could react, Nie Aiwen rushed forward and hugged her. Nie Aifang’s heart trembled. She reached out and turned on the kitchen light. Seeing Nie Aiwen’s face pale from vomiting, she couldn’t help but reach out and pat his face, “Aiwen? Are you okay?”
Nie Aiwen chuckled, carefully stepped back a little, and stared at Nie Aifang with a lost look. He shook his head as if trying to sober himself up. Then, he slowly pressed his lips against Nie Aifang’s lips, lingering, sucking, and deepening the kiss.
Nie Aifang was stunned. The person in front of her had his eyes closed, a look of infatuation on his face, soft lips, and… a mouth full of sour, fishy, and foul odor! She snapped back to reality, pushed Nie Aiwen away, and he fell to the ground from the force. He didn’t cry out in pain but fell asleep.
Nie Aifang was so angry that her chest heaved. She pointed at Nie Aiwen but dared not curse loudly and wake Nie Qiu. She could only fiercely wipe her mouth and rinse her mouth with water from a bowl in the kitchen cabinet.
While rinsing her mouth, she glared angrily at Nie Aiwen lying on the floor. Although… Aiwen’s lips were quite soft, Nie Aiwen had just vomited, and the smell was truly unbearable.
Nie Aiwen half-closed his eyes. Nie Aifang’s reaction made him feel a little sad. The excitement of the whole day made him uncontrollably want to get close, to kiss, to be with her. But he forgot that Nie Aifang always believed he was her brother, her real brother. When she saw him with a girlfriend, she would be happy for him and care if he would be happy, but she wouldn’t be jealous.
Pushed away, he could only pretend to be asleep. Tomorrow, he would act like nothing happened. Perhaps then he could get away with it. He gave a bitter smile in his heart, the unspeakable lump in his throat making him feel miserable.
After Nie Aifang finished rinsing her mouth, she glared at Nie Aiwen and decided to ignore him lying on the floor. She turned to go to Nie Qiu’s room, but after a few steps, she turned back. In the end, she was afraid he would catch a cold. She carefully put Nie Aiwen’s arm over her shoulder, exerted force to lift him up, and then half-carried, half-supported him into the room.
Their room floor was not tiled, but cement. Nie Aiwen had gone to the bathroom barefoot, so the soles of his feet were covered in mud and sand. Nie Aifang sighed, went to the kitchen to get water, wiped Nie Aiwen’s feet, and then stayed by the bed, worried that Nie Aiwen might get up again in the middle of the night.
Her throat felt a little dry. Nie Aifang stood up and went to where the thermos was kept in the room to pour some water.
The moonlight from outside the window spilled in, casting a soft glow on Nie Aifang’s hair, inexplicably gentle, just like back then when she sent him to the city to work at the station, just like every time her heart fluttered.
Nie Aiwen’s throat choked up, and tears flowed out unconsciously. “Sis, I love you.”
Nie Aifang, who was pouring hot water in the room, froze upon hearing this. She turned to look at Nie Aiwen on the bed. Nie Aiwen on the bed had his eyes closed, tears reflecting in the moonlight. He was sleeping soundly, murmuring in his dreams.
Nie Aifang walked to the bedside, pulled out tissues from the drawer, and wiped away Nie Aiwen’s tears.
“Sis… you are so beautiful…”
“Sister… I love you…”
“Sis, I love you…”
“Sis, I love you… not for long, but for a lifetime…”
Nie Aiwen’s sleep-talking continued all night, and Nie Aifang, who was wiping his tears, did so all night.
