Chapter 3 : You said I have an older brother?
Facts proved that sometimes pretending to be pitiful was indeed useful, especially in front of family.
Of course, afterward she couldn’t avoid a bout of inner self-guilt.
She was quite selfish, but not completely selfish to the point of ignoring even the most basic human morals.
Mainly… she felt that if she didn’t take the initiative to make this request, given how worried her family was about her, they would probably prefer her to stay in the hospital forever to feel at ease, and that was exactly what she truly feared.
“Huu…”
“Sorry, I know this isn’t good, but… I can’t endure this kind of life anymore, sorry…”
In the empty hospital room, she stared blankly at the ceiling and murmured to herself.
Perhaps her persistence moved the heavens, in the following days, her body’s recovery gradually showed slight improvement, compared to before, although overall it still often made her feel pain, but fortunately the changes were quite obvious.
Like in terms of activity, before she was so weak she couldn’t even walk, after a period of conditioning, she could already gradually walk slowly while holding onto things, at this rate it seemed not impossible in the future to stroll like a normal person.
In this way, the standard for discharge seemed no longer so distant, this sudden surprise made Xu Jiu somewhat excited.
Not just her, even her family was very agitated upon learning this news, to the point that visits became more frequent.
Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction, perhaps it truly reflected that saying, life has no eternal lows.
“Mom, when can I be discharged?”
In the hospital room, she sat quietly on the bed letting the other comb her hair, occasionally looking back with inquiring eyes.
“Don’t rush, it’s not like we’re saying you can’t leave, pfft, a bit of good news and you’re this excited.”
“Wu… because staying here all the time is really boring.”
“And, a few days ago it seemed someone in the hospital died again… I’m a bit scared.”
“Xiao Jiu, Mommy doesn’t allow you to say such things!”
The woman who had always been gentle to her suddenly spoke sternly, startling her more or less.
“Wu, sorry…”
“But I really don’t like the feeling of people around me constantly leaving, it always makes me involuntarily imagine if I’ll be the next one.”
She said with apologetic eyes, while her body subconsciously curled up slightly.
The woman took all this in, suddenly becoming unusually silent, Xu Jiu thought she would continue to be scolded after saying this, but the reality seemed not as she thought…
“Baby, your hair seems to have grown a bit longer, feels like it’s almost longer than mine.”
“Then… should we cut it…”
“Keeping it long seems a bit inconvenient, how about cutting it to the same length as Mom’s.”
She answered carefully, she was sure the other had heard her earlier words, but just didn’t know why the other deliberately chose to ignore it.
“Cut it the same as mine?”
“Mm.”
“I think Mom looks good like this, and since I’m about to be discharged, I feel I should change my style to welcome a new life.”
She said softly.
“Xiao Jiu…”
“Although, Mom still thinks you should keep your current look.”
“My daughter’s hair is so nice, definitely can’t just cut it casually, I’d feel heartbroken even if one strand is missing.”
The woman’s humorous words carrying a trace of affection made Xu Jiu slightly silent, at this point, she could be considered to understand what position she held in the hearts of these strangers.
Setting aside the father she hadn’t met yet, the mother’s care for her could be said to be meticulous, if this family had no issues, then the attitude of the others toward her probably wouldn’t be bad either.
And precisely because of this, she was determined to leave this lonely and boring cage.
“By the way, why hasn’t Dad come for so long?”
“Your dad is busy with work back home, and your brother is in high school there, one of us has to stay to watch him, otherwise who knows what trouble he’ll get into.”
The woman said somewhat helplessly.
“Brother…?”
‘I actually have a brother?’
Xu Jiu was slightly stunned, but held back from showing it on her face.
“Mm, your brother is in his second year of high school now, all day either dating some little girls or hanging out with his pack of bad friends not doing proper things, if he could be half as sensible and obedient as you, Mommy would be satisfied.”
Saying this, the woman sighed slightly.
To be honest, this amount of information was still quite a shock to Xu Jiu, not just the fact that she had a brother she had never met, but the other’s delinquent-like persona also slightly shocked her.
But soon, after associating it with her family situation, she didn’t find it strange.
If she had a materially abundant family, could she settle down and study honestly, probably spending the whole day thinking about how to live it up after school.
“So brother has actually become like this now…”
“In my previous impression he was still a very honest person, how now…”
She pretended to sigh, while observing the other’s reaction with the corner of her eye.
“Alas, it’s me and your dad who didn’t teach him well.”
“He’s busy with work, and I have to take care of you here, your brother was gradually neglected by us like this, at first we still had some confidence in him, didn’t expect this guy to become harder to manage as he grew older.”
After speaking, the woman helplessly shook her head.
Xu Jiu remained silent upon hearing this, just from the other’s few words, she had a rough personality portrait of this brother she had never met.
After all, she would probably have to interact with him in the future, so preparing more beforehand was good.
“But to be honest, if we suddenly bring you back, I think your brother will probably be very surprised, after all you siblings haven’t seen each other for many years.”
“This guy, probably even forgot he has a sister.”
The woman shrugged, her words carrying a trace of dissatisfaction and reproach.
Of course, this definitely wasn’t toward her.
“Mm…”
“Maybe brother has something to be busy with? After all Mom you said he’s a big boy now.”
She said faintly.
“Tch, what could a high schooler be busy with, in the end he’s just lazy, and cares too much about those bad friends of his, anyway it’s definitely not a reason he can’t find time to see his own sister.”
“Xiao Jiu don’t speak up for that guy, he’s not worth you defending.”
She helplessly smiled upon hearing this, although she also wanted to join in cursing this bastard brother, but to maintain her persona, she could only surface a tolerant and understanding appearance.
No way, who made her have to walk carefully every step now, she didn’t want to one day cause suspicion because of carelessness.