When we got back home, it was no surprise—after two or three days of our whole group being gone, Uncle Gazi and the others were worried sick.
Yangyang looked noticeably more worn out.
When he saw me getting out of the car, he stood there blankly for two seconds, then suddenly widened his eyes and lifted his chin.
Whenever he feels like crying but forces himself to hold it in, he does that to stop the tears from falling.
He’s a sensitive and emotional kid.
I walked up and patted his shoulder, pretending to be relaxed as I asked, “Hey! Kid, did you miss your beautiful sister?”
Yangyang kept his head tilted back for a moment, as if steadying his emotions, then looked at me again.
His voice was still a little hoarse. “Sis, where did you guys go these past few days?”
I pointed at Lili and the others. “We ran into a few minor issues. It wasn’t convenient to come back.”
Uncle Gazi didn’t question us right away.
Instead, he waved us in. “Come on, come on, everyone inside. Let’s talk inside.”
After everyone went in, Lili warmed up some milk for Xuanxuan and fed her.
Once the baby fell asleep, she carried her upstairs to a room before coming back down.
Taozi had been missing for a few days too, and Zhou Wen had lost a lot of weight.
When he saw Taozi just now, the moment he rushed over to hug him, his hands were shaking uncontrollably.
Yangyang later told us in private that Zhou Wen had been promoted quickly for his outstanding performance and had already become an excellent trainee.
He could be assigned to a combat team at any time.
What happened at the mall was tightly suppressed, and not many people knew exactly what had gone on.
But since the villa district was mostly housing for insiders’ families, Xu Shu and Uncle Gazi had spent the past few days asking around and had more or less learned what happened that day.
After chatting for a while, it was a relief that everyone was safe and no one was hurt.
Not long after, it was almost time for the power to be cut, so we all went back to our rooms.
Lately, I realized I had been neglecting Yangyang a bit.
Maybe I’d been too eager for him to grow stronger and more independent, so I ended up seeming like I didn’t care enough.
And with me suddenly disappearing for a few days, he seemed completely dispirited.
When Suo Tian and I went back to our room, he followed in silently.
“Sis, I want to talk to you.”
Suo Tian grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to shower.
I pulled Yangyang over to sit on the sofa and asked, “What do you want to talk about?”
He hesitated for quite a while, his eyes flickering, before finally speaking haltingly, “I want… to go to the U.S. to find Mom and Dad.”
“What?!” I couldn’t help but cry out. “Go to the U.S.?”
“Yeah.” After saying it, Yangyang actually seemed more resolute.
“We’ve managed to survive until now, so Mom and Dad must have too. Let’s go find them. I really miss them.”
I frowned tightly and said, “But… do you even know what lies between China and the U.S.? Putting everything else aside, can you even find a ship or a plane to take us there? And even if we make it, can you find where Mom and Dad live? And even if you could, would they still be there?”
Yangyang lowered his head and said nothing.
I tried to reach out and pat him, but he dodged.
Looking at my empty hand, I froze for a moment before speaking again.
“If there’s a chance, I’d really like to find them too. But you have to look at reality right now. Just surviving is already not easy for us.”
Yangyang still kept his head down.
I reached out again, and he immediately avoided me.
My nose stung almost instantly, and the grievance I’d been holding inside flared up all at once.
“Find Mom and Dad! Find Mom and Dad! Chen Yang, can you stop giving me impossible problems all the time?! I know what you’re thinking—you think I’m ignoring you, that I don’t care about you anymore! But have you ever thought about why I’m like this? Who I’m doing this for?! The moment you feel wronged, you want to run off to find Mom and Dad—do you think things are still like before? That we can just spend a few thousand and buy a plane ticket to fly over?!”
The more I spoke, the more agitated I became.
My voice rose without me realizing it, and by the end, tears were streaming uncontrollably down my face, my voice trembling badly.
Yangyang shifted slightly but still didn’t respond.
It felt like I’d thrown a heavy punch into cotton—suddenly all the strength drained from my body.
The grievance that had just surged up faded away just as quickly.
I let out a deep sigh, turned my back to him, and wiped my tears.
“I love you very much. There’s no one in this world who loves you more than I do. But after everything we’ve been through, I know how incapable and small I am. I don’t even know how long I can keep surviving. So all I can do is try to let go and make you stronger. I want you to be like a man—not necessarily someone who can hold up the sky, but at least someone who can protect himself.”
“Compared to me… you care more about Brother Suo Tian.” Yangyang’s voice was soft, but at least he finally responded.
I crouched down in front of him, doing my best to keep my voice steady.
“That’s different. I love him—that’s romantic love. I love you—that’s family. Yangyang, listen carefully to your sister. This time—just this time—when I was trapped in that mall, I was almost certain I wouldn’t make it out alive. But I wasn’t afraid, because I thought you had already grown strong enough. Even if I died, you’d still be able to live well on your own. I had no regrets.
“But now, I’m actually grateful I didn’t die… because you haven’t grown at all. You’re still the same Chen Yang as before—whenever you feel wronged, you just want to run to Mom and Dad.”
He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then wiped his face hard with his sleeve.
Looking up at me, he said, “I’m sorry, Sis. I’ve been too immature.”
In many ways, I was the one who raised him.
My love for him always carried something between that of a sister and a mother.
Hearing his apology, my heart filled with relief.
I stepped forward, hugged him, and patted his back. “Good boy.”
When Suo Tian came out of the bathroom, Yangyang was just about to leave.
Standing by the door, Yangyang glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, then said, “Brother-in-law, be good to my sister.”
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and ran downstairs.
Suo Tian stood there staring at the doorway for a while, then went over to close the door.
As he wiped his hair and sat down beside me, he casually asked, “So as long as Yangyang is okay, you’re not afraid of dying, is that it?”
He tilted his head up to look at me, his black-and-white eyes calm and unreadable.
“Then what about me?”
It seemed he had heard our conversation just now.
I froze for a moment, then turned to grab a clean towel and some sleepwear.
“You’ll be fine. You’re invincible. Nothing can hurt you.”
I was about to walk past him toward the bathroom when he suddenly grabbed me and pulled me back.
I fell heavily onto the sofa, and before I could react, he leaned over me.
He stared at me for a long time before slowly saying, “Chen Yang, I’m human too. I feel sadness. I get hurt. I can die.”
After he said that, I was completely stunned.
All this time, I claimed I loved him.
All of us claimed to treat him like family.
But in truth, in the eyes of so many of us, he was like an endless wishing well—whenever there was a problem or difficulty, we went to him to fix it.
Yet deep down, none of us truly cared about his inner world.
Including me—I rarely cared whether he was happy or sad.
Without realizing it, we had taken his extraordinary abilities and turned them into impenetrable walls around his heart.
Since we couldn’t understand or see through them, we simply stopped paying attention.
I shifted my arm slightly, looking at him—his expression calm, yet carrying a trace of disappointment and exhaustion I couldn’t quite explain.
After years of learning perfect grammar and language, I suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Just then, a burst of hurried footsteps came from downstairs, rushing toward the third floor.
Seconds later, there was a knock at the door, followed by a middle-aged man’s low voice.
“Boss, something’s happened.”
Suo Tian looked at me twice more, then stood up and turned around.
When he opened the door, at least a dozen black-clad men stood outside—it was the uniform of Team C.
The middle-aged man leaned in and whispered a few words into Suo Tian’s ear.
As soon as he heard them, Suo Tian’s brows furrowed sharply.
He gestured for them to wait downstairs, then turned back to start getting dressed.
I quickly pulled out some clothes from the cabinet and handed them to him.
“You’re going out this late? What happened?”
He changed quickly, glanced at me, but didn’t answer.
He stepped forward, kissed my forehead, and left me with a single sentence: “Go to sleep. Don’t wait up for me.”
Then he slipped out the door.
By the time I chased downstairs, they had already driven off.
Only Xu Shu, who had opened the door earlier, remained, looking at me curiously.
“Coming to take Suo Tian out this late—what happened?”
I watched the car lights fade into the night and shook my head. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”
“Mm.” Xu Shu closed the door and turned back, patting me on the shoulder.
“If Suo Tian’s handling it, even if something’s wrong, it’ll be resolved quickly. Don’t worry. It’s late—go wash up and get some sleep.”
After she said that, I followed her upstairs—but suddenly paused, my steps faltering without realizing it.
Noticing my hesitation, Xu Shu turned back and asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” I waved at her and forced a smile.
“You should go get some sleep. I suddenly feel like having a glass of water.”
“Alright, I’ll head back then. Make sure you sleep soon.”
“Okay.”
I watched as Xu Shu returned to her room on the second floor.
Taking a couple of deep breaths, I started walking toward the rooftop.
Just as I stepped onto the top floor, the power went out again, and all the lights in the area went dark.
Fortunately, the moonlight was bright, and it wasn’t pitch black like that previous night.
I sat quietly on the rooftop for a while, letting the breeze clear my mind.
Only after I felt more clear-headed did I get up and return to my room.
The room still carried Suo Tian’s presence.
I walked over to the sofa where he had just been sitting and lay down without even changing clothes.
Images of Yangyang and Suo Tian kept flashing through my mind.
After sitting in the wind for a while, my thoughts seemed to have become clearer.
(Sometimes, the meaning of our existence in this world doesn’t come only from ourselves, but also from the love and reliance of those who are indispensable to us.)
— The end of the Chapter–
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