CH 89

We were caught off guard by the sudden return of our parents, and all the peace and happiness was gone, and both Li Xin and I could not relax in the face of our parents.

And my father also broke his leg and spent all the money he earned, which added insult to injury. The money I had originally saved was also given to them, which meant that the plan to take my sister to go out during the winter holidays went out of the window.

I sighed slightly in my heart, we really always are suffering.

I decided to take Li Xin out of this heated atmosphere, and it was still early, so us going out wasn’t that odd. I took her for a walk around the entire city, but there was a lot of people watching us, and Li Xin got more and more affected by them, and finally I took her to the mountains. 

At the mountainside here, there was no one, especially during the winter. I took her to the bottom of the mountain and we sat down together. I really wanted to comfort her, but I didn’t know what to say.

The two of us sat in silence for a while, and once again I felt powerless, I can protect her, but I can’t even make her happy or feel safe, my parents still terrify her.

I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize she was leaning on my shoulder. I brushed away the hair that was clinging to her lips, she smiled at me: “I’m okay.”

I thought for a while, then asked her in a quiet voice: "Why don't we just run away from home?"

She was shocked and flustered: "Run away? Like an elopement?"

I tapped her on the head: "What are you thinking about? I mean let's rent a house, otherwise this week will be tough."

She was surprised and happy, but still shook her head: "But ...... parents will not agree, they'll say renting a house is a waste of money, all they want me to do is to go to work."

I said don't be afraid, I still have some money, enough to rent a house. She is still very worried, she is afraid of her parents, she doesn't even want her existence to be known by them, let alone her actually leaving home, and buying her own house.

But I didn’t even want her living at home; I had to help her escape that place. I tried to convince her for a bit, and finally took her home. She followed me nervously, and in the middle of our walk, she said we should buy some food for our parents.

I said yes, we went and bought some food, they were already cooked and prepared, so Li Xin was a little more at ease.

Then we went home, my parents had already cleaned up the house, and it looks like they already showered.

I gestured for Li Xin to go to them, and her face was filled with fear, but she carried the food over: "Mom and Dad, please eat this."

My mother reluctantly smiled and Li Xin breathed a sigh of relief and set things on the table, but my father immediately scolded her: "Why did you buy so much? Are you rich?!"

Li Xin was so tense that her hand shook and a portion of meat fell to the floor, and she panicked and started tearing up. I saw my father was about to get angry again, and hurried over and said in a calm voice: "Don't scold her, she bought it specially for you to eat."

My tone was a bit harsh, and my father was about to scold me too, but my mother was already trying to keep us from shouting:  “Okay, okay, it’s very nice of her to do that, let’s all eat now.”

Li Xin hid behind me a little, and bowed her head, sobbing softly. I let out a breath, and spoke bluntly: “I plan on taking my sister and renting out a house somewhere in the city here so we’ll stop bothering you here.”

Li Xin became even more nervous, and both our parents were surprised, and father went into a rage: “Can you not live here? Renting a house? Don’t you know how much you’re wasting? No way!”

I didn’t reply to him, my mother was also against this: “It’s very loud in the city, there are a lot of hooligans, and it’s very costly there. Your father also needs money for his checkups.”

I said I had friends in the city and could ask them for help. My father still shouted angrily: "I said no. Do you even have a house you can rent? Li Xin, was this your idea?”

Father coldly stared at Li Xin, and Li Xin immediately grabbed the corner of my coat, and she began to tear up again. I also got angry and shouted: “I’m the one who suggested this idea, and we don’t even need your money, don’t worry about it!”

This completely angered my father, he stood up at once, and fiercely stared at us: “I worked so hard out there to support you, and you still, after all this time, disobey me, I dare you to go rent out a house, I’ll break your legs!”

I said back if he really wanted to, come and break my legs, my mother rushed over and dragged me into another room and I pulled Li Xin with me.

I saw that my mother was also crying, she was too miserable, I didn’t want to do something like this to her, but unfortunately I couldn’t help it.

"Li Chen, don't argue with him, okay? When he falls asleep you guys can just go away, go wherever you like."

My mother cried a lot, my heart ached, but I couldn't really comfort her.

Li Xin lowered her head and reached for her pocket, and pulled out a few dozen bills and stuffed it in her mother's hand, and mother kept crying, and I went to my school bag and took out the remaining three bills I had, and gave it to her, and she kept saying she didn't want it, saying I needed it to rent a house.

I said I really have friends who can help me, don't worry. She took it anyway, and then she went out to calm my dad.

I sat in silence in the room with Li Xin. Our money problems can be solved somewhat easily, but it’s obvious that right now any talk of money is no good. And money isn’t really a stable buttress for any kind of familial relationship. 

How much longer will we even be family?

A little after three in the afternoon, my mother went to the both of us after Li Xin and I both packed our things, and told us we could leave. She also said that she would explain it all to Dad.

Without saying a word, I took Li Xin's hand and headed to the curb to wait for the bus. It wasn't dreary outside, but our hearts were dreary and Li Xin didn't even want to talk.

It wasn’t until she got on the bus where she relaxed. I shook my head not wanting to think about what is happening at home, so my goal was to earn money and send it back home too.

I looked at Li Xin: "Where do you want to live?" She said with a bit of energy: "Anywhere, can we live together?"

She looked at me very softly and pitifully, and I said yes, we live together. She then finally smiled and all of a sudden hugged my arm and leaned her head on me: "Then it doesn't matter where......"

She must’ve been under a lot of stress and just wanted to rely on whatever I did. I stroked her hair and tried thinking for a bit.

We’d need to rent a room near her school, otherwise she might be late to work or school, but I didn’t mind too much, we were poor students anyways.

Right now I don’t have a lot of money, but I can always ask the landlord for help, maybe he has a room for rent that's cheap, then again, if I was really desperate I could borrow money from Yang Han Lu, at the most she’ll tease me a bit.

I figured out that things were not as bad as I thought, and I did not face a desperate situation, I pinched Li Xin's little nose: "I have thought about it, we have nothing to worry about."

She did not question me, but let out a sweet smile, how endearing.

The bus traveled for about an hour or so and finally reached Takasu Middle School, and when we got here, Li Xin was more relaxed, it seemed she treated school as an actual home.

I also felt more relaxed, since there wasn’t anything too drastic going on, why would I be so stressed? And I could live with my sister which was a good thing.

So I would drag her along to meet up with the landlord later, but for now we went to see Sister Xia, who was very surprised at seeing us: “What happened to you?”

I said I came to the city to rent a room, we are planning on living here now. Sister Xia did not pay much attention to me, because she saw Li Xin's face, she grabbed Li Xin for a moment and whispered to her, and then lamented: "Really ...... all the apartments near the schools are very sought-after, and are probably all gone, you’ll probably have to walk down a few streets to find anything.”

I said I have friends who we can rent from, and it's not very far. Sister Xia urged me: "Find a better house, do not let Xinxin suffer."

I nodded solemnly and took Li Xin to the landlord. It wasn’t that far, it took about less than twenty minutes to walk there, but I'm not satisfied, I don't want Li Xin to walk twenty minutes every day to get home.

So I don’t really want the building where the landlord lives.

The landlord was home at this time, sleeping like a hibernating bear. I went over and kicked the door, he yawned and came to open the door and complained: "Why are you always so rowdy...... Huh? Who is this, so beautiful."

Li Xin busily greeted: "Hello uncle, I am Li Chen's sister." The landlord surprisingly swallowed his saliva and pulled me over with one hand: "Your sister, huh? Selling her underwear? This kind of innocent little sister definitely will earn-"

I slapped him on the head: "Get lost! I'm here to rent a room ......"

He immediately agreed: "Okay, I can give you a 50% discount, come, do you want an upstairs or downstairs room?”

I said I’m not going to buy a damn room here, I don’t want to live here, you should be okay with the few tenants you have. Is there a room close to Takasu Middle School?

He was very reluctant : "Live here, I can take care of you here..."

I strongly rejected him again, and he took a step back: "It's okay to live with Han Lu, her apartment can accommodate up to four people, and the more the merrier…."

I thought about this possibility, but I still rejected it. Yang Han Lu is not an ordinary woman, Li Xin also does not like her, I do not want my sister to live every day with Yang Han Lu's harassment issues, Yang Han Lu will certainly be more and more extreme.

I said stop talking nonsense, I already know what I want. He sighed: "Well, are you going to live with your sister or will she live alone?”

I said we're living together, he thought for a moment and then spoke: "Ten minutes from  Takasu Middle School, there is a small apartment where no one lives, but the two of you need separate rooms, so I'll need rent for two people."

Damn, I said you are so black-hearted? He laughed: "It's not my house, if it's my house I'll let you live for nothing, it's my uncle's ah, he'll check it regularly, you won't make me pay for it, right? I want to marry a wife, I'm 28 years old ......"