Chapter 137: The grief that connects them

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A few minutes before Xin Lei came.

Liao Huifang ran out of the room and randomly climbed upstairs with no specific destination to go to. She just wanted to be away to have a breath of fresh air. She didn't even realize that she was unconsciously holding her breath for the whole time she watched her sister in that video.

She pushed the terrace door open, rushed towards the railing, and collapsed on the ground, holding onto it.

All the memories she spent with Liao Chuntao came rushing to her at once. 

Sis... why can't this be a bad dream? Why can't I wake up and realize that everything was a lie? Sis, I want to see you again…

Weren't you going to cheer me on in my upcoming art competition? I wanted to win for you. I wanted to show you my best art until now. I wanted to tell the whole world that it was because of you that I became so capable. I wanted to show how amazing my sis is.

Why? Why can I not do it anymore!? 

Liao Huifang cried loudly as she let her heart out.. gripping pain squeezed her heart as she recalled how her sister suffered at the hands of those bastards and how she breathed her last.

Liao Huifang kept wiping her tears, but more of them continuously rolled down.

Then she felt a soft presence on her shoulder. Tremblingly, she raised her head, and her teary and wet gaze met Luo Zhiqiang's. His expression was unreadable.

Luo Zhiqiang whispered. "Get up. You will catch a cold here."

Liao Huifang bit her lip and said while gasping as she cried. "L-leave. I want to be alone." She desperately tried to wipe her tears again.

She didn't mind him coming here, but she felt a little embarrassed about showing her crying face. Her cheeks were all wet, and she thought that she looked ugly.

Wait, why do I care if I look ugly in front of him? She thought while still shedding tears.

Silence.

Luo Zhiqiang slowly helped her get up. He paused. "Wait for a moment."

He quickly disappeared and already reappeared in a flash, bringing a glass of water. "You will feel better."

Liao Huifang blinked her eyelids.

Again?

"You already offered me water just a few minutes ago."

Luo Zhiqiang blankly looked at her. His expression didn't twitch a bit.

"Right."

He withdrew his hand and then seemed to be in deep thought. "Do you want to drink juice or cola or shake?"

She sniffled. "Why are you so insistent in letting me drink something?"

"Do you want to eat instead?" He seriously asked back.

She burst into soft laughter. She lowered her head.

*Plop*

Luo Zhiqiang stayed quiet for a moment. "Your sister was a strong woman."

Liao Huifang trembled. She smiled amidst her falling tears. "E-en."

She fiddled with her fingers and said, "She may not have looked like it, but she always protected me. She would always seriously fight back for me whenever anybody bullied me when I was little. She took care of me more like a mother than a sister. But when...when now it was my turn to protect her, I couldn't. I saw her getting fooled into love. I wanted to save her...but.I couldn't do it at all!"

The corner of her eyes ached as she felt helpless.

"Why? Why am I so useless? Sis was always there by my side. Yet when she needed me, I could be of no help. Even if I had my suspicions, I couldn't act on time to save her. And now she is gone! All because of me!"

Liao Huifang broke down. Luo Zhiqiang quietly listened to her.

"If I had acted sooner, then sis would have been alive!" She bit her lip hard. "My sis...she didn't deserve such death. Such a kind and loving woman who always thought of others, who didn't think even for a second before dropping out of high school to pave the way for my studies..., S-she didn't deserve this at all...she was supposed... supposed to be present in my arts competition."

She fumbled and took out her phone. Her fingers trembled as she unlocked it and opened a picture.

"See?"

Luo Zhiqiang looked at it. It was a beautiful art piece with two women's backs in it, holding hand in hand. They were just their backs, but the emotions it gave off from the woman who looked older than her were so heart wrenching that it would shake anybody's core. The color and shades to that background and the intrinsic details were so beautifully carved out that it was breathtaking.

He slowly said, "It's you and your sister, right?"

She pursed her lips, and her vision blurred. "...Yes. I wanted to dedicate this to sis. The art competition is organized at a big scale, and I-I wanted to show her this...it was my dream...that...that...she would sit in the audience, and I would present this picture on the stage…" 

She laughed. "Sis always said that she didn't understand art, but I know...I know that she would have definitely understood this. I wanted to show that it's all because of her that I am here today...I wanted to see her expression. I wanted to see her shocked and surprised to know that I dedicated my first art to her…I wanted to see her beautiful smile.... wanted her to pat me on my back…I was confident I would win, and I wanted to bring her on stage with me to show everyone who she was..."

Tears fell on her phone screen and on the woman's picture that depicted Liao Chuntao. She clutched her phone hard.

"Every person who ridiculed her for being lifeless like a doll, who insulted her for not smiling often and being... boring, I wanted to show them that my sis is the strongest person on Earth. She is the best, and nobody could be ever like her... What she did for me needed guts and sacrifice. How many people can selflessly pull that off? She might have definitely felt sad that she couldn't study more, but she never once complained. Luo Zhiqiang...my sis and my dream...I couldn't pro-protect them. Why? It was supposed to be my turn to pay her back, but she...left me…Please...I want her back...I cannot see her cold body like that. I want to see her alive and smile at me once again..."

Liao Huifang raised her head and cried hard. She didn't know why she was sharing this with him. She barely knew him, and until now, she hated him because she misunderstood him. 

She didn't know. But something about his presence affected her. Luo Zhiqiang didn't say much. He didn't ask much. He just silently listened, and perhaps that was what Liao Huifang needed - perhaps somebody who just quietly listened to her about how amazing her sister was, about her own hopes and her dreams. He had something inexplicable in him that made her want to let out her cries and sorrow.

Liao Huifang covered her face with her hands. She slowly felt a soft hand on her head. It rested on it, and he gently patted her.

Luo Zhiqiang said, "I know. I understand."

She smiled. She knew he was consoling her.

"You think that I might be consoling you, but I am not. I lost my younger brother in an accident."

Liao Huifang widened her eyes and looked at him, stunned.

"It was an ordinary day. We were returning from school. I was twelve, and he was nine. I remember to buy something from the stationary store for my school project. I got so engrossed tin buying different stuff for my project. I was excited. I didn't realize when he left my side and got out of the store. He got attracted by a balloon vendor across the street, and he ran towards him. The signal was green. He suddenly tried to cross the road and the incoming car driver was startled. He couldn't stop his car on time. My brother...the car hit him, and he was thrown to the other side. He died on the spot."

Luo Zhiqiang retold the past with such an impassive and dead expression that one could feel that he felt nothing at all.

But the reality was the exact opposite.

A storm raged in his heart every time whenever he would think about his younger brother being thrown away by the car.

Liao Huifang covered her mouth in disbelief. 

"I was his elder brother. I was supposed to protect him, right? Like how your sister always protected you. But I failed. Just a few seconds of distraction cost his life. So trust me when I say that I understand how you feel."

Suddenly, a new wave of tears burst out, and she crashed her head on his chest. 

He is the same...he has also lost his brother. He blames himself too.

The pain of losing and failing to protect their loved ones connected them, so she couldn't help it.

Luo Zhiqiang froze. That was the first time any woman was so close to him. His gaze softened as he lowered his head and saw her crying hard.

And that was when Xin Lei came and saw them together.