Chapter 121: Hope and the Courage of Rebirth

Thin Jin Xiu stared intently at the tiny figure perched on the tree, his brow furrowed.

The little girl sat atop the branches, swinging her chubby legs gently. “The river water is very cold at night, and that feeling is unpleasant,” she said.

Though she looked young and spoke with a childish tone, her words carried a sharpness beyond her years.

“Go away,” ten-year-old Thin Jin Xiu snapped, a flicker of anger crossing his face.

At that time, his heart had already turned to stone. Though only ten, as heir to the family, he possessed a maturity approaching that of an adult.

He had just learned the family’s darkest, most shameful secrets—those best left hidden from the light.

Adding to his torment was Thin Wan Hua’s persecution.

His hospitalization was due to her cruel act of pushing him—afraid of water and unable to swim—into the swimming pool.

He struggled desperately beneath the water, his lungs slowly losing air.

Bit by bit, he sank to the bottom.

Thin Wan Hua stood coldly by the poolside.

Under the water, the ten-year-old could still see the icy indifference in her eyes through the rippling surface.

In that moment, Thin Jin Xiu was utterly broken.

He thought death might be better.

Yet, the butler found him and pulled him from the bottom.

By the time he was rescued, he had already suffocated for several minutes.

The matriarch wept as she rushed him to the hospital.

When he awoke, Thin Wan Hua was standing by his bedside.

He lied, claiming he remembered nothing.

The doctors suggested his amnesia was temporary, caused by oxygen deprivation.

But he remembered everything.

He remembered how Thin Wan Hua had pushed him in with her own hands.

He remembered calling out to her, “Sister, save me,” as he struggled.

She watched coldly, unmoved.

He remembered the despair and helplessness as he sank deeper.

And above all, he remembered the hatred and disdain in her gaze.

He was only ten.

Suddenly, life seemed meaningless and hope elusive.

He felt he should never have been born—that his very existence was tainted, a stain of sin and filth upon the family.

His being was the original sin, an unclean shame and darkness that could never be cleansed.

He was not born from love, but as punishment for all.

Better to die.

Everyone would be freed.

He even harbored a flicker of vengeance.

Since Thin Wan Hua had pushed him into the pool with her own hands—

Would she be shocked to find his body in the river at dawn?

Would she feel triumphant or shed a tear?

Would she mourn him at all?

At that moment, ten-year-old Thin Jin Xiu nearly leapt.

If only five-year-old Jiang Ci You hadn’t appeared that day.

Though the boy tried to drive her away with malice, the little girl didn’t leave.

Instead, she jumped down from the tree in a few strides and stood before him.

“If you jump, I’ll save you,” she said.

Thin Jin Xiu frowned. “You’re so small—you’re overestimating yourself.”

“I know I’m overestimating myself. I just learned to swim and I’m not good yet, so if I try to save you, I might get dragged down and drown too.”

A flash of surprise crossed Thin Jin Xiu’s eyes. “I don’t want you to save me.”

“But I can’t just watch you die.”

He looked at the short, small girl before him.

A complicated feeling stirred within.

A stranger’s child said she couldn’t bear to watch him die, while his own blood relatives had pushed him into hell.

In that instant, he felt immense sorrow.

He fell silent, gazing quietly at the calm river surface, though inside, waves raged.

The little girl asked again, “Brother, why do you want to die?”

No one could guard their heart against a five-year-old’s question.

“Because I can’t find a reason to live.”

The young boy’s eyes brimmed with sadness. “No one wants me to live.”

The girl blinked. “Then I’ll give you a reason.”

He turned to look at her. “What reason?”

“You live for me.”

Thin Jin Xiu was taken aback. “For you?”

“Yes. You said no one wants you to live, but I want you to live. From now on, you can live for me.”

At that moment, he found her childish—simple and innocent.

Yet tears streamed down his face.

That seemingly frivolous, offhand reason became the very reason he survived when pushed to the brink all those years.

“Brother, you’re so handsome, don’t give up. Mom says to be strong when facing difficulties. Life is precious. Look at every tree, every flower here—they don’t ask why they live or find reasons to live. They just live.”

“If you have no friends, I’ll be your friend. If no one loves you, I will love you. Okay?”

“Brother, live well.”

Though so young, she seemed to see through his heart.

Her innocent face hid words as sharp as knives, cutting through the fog that clouded his life.

She awakened him.

If others wished him dead, why should he comply?

If they wanted him gone, he would live well—just to see them suffer.

If he was born a demon, then he would be their demon.

From that day forward,

Thin Jin Xiu awoke fully, relinquished his obsession, and took a stand against Thin Wan Hua.

Thus began decades of rivalry and conflict.

Whenever despair threatened, he recalled the small voice with a lollipop in its mouth.

And her words:

“If you have no friends, I’ll be your friend. If no one loves you, I will love you…”

Yet Jiang Ci You had long since forgotten that chapter of the past.

After all, it was just the innocent babbling of a five-year-old.

He, however, had taken it to heart for over a decade.

Later, during their time in the hospital,

She came to see him every day.

Like a little shadow, clinging to him, coaxing him to take her out, tricking him into buying ice cream with his pocket money.

He knew why she was hospitalized.

Because she suffered from headaches, apparently some minor neurological irregularity in a small part of her brain.

Doctors said it might be due to incomplete neural development and could heal as she grew.

But it might worsen.

At least, with current medical knowledge, there was no cure—only observation.

Eventually,

She was discharged.

Her departure was sudden.

On the day she left, he was far away buying crab roe buns for her and missed their farewell.

When he returned to her room, it was empty.

No trace remained.

The only thing left was a small rabbit hairpin found beneath the bed.

It was the only token she left behind.

He kept it for many years, taking it out to look at from time to time.

The rabbit’s nose was a larger blue gem among many tiny crystals.

Of course, it was fake, likely glass.

One day, that blue glass gem fell off.

He had it made into an earring.

He still wore it on his ear.

Jiang Ci You noticed the earring several times and asked who had given it to him.

He longed to tell her.

It was the hope and courage for a new life that five-year-old her had given him.