Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Being so good to me_1 Chapter 216: Chapter 216: Being so good to me_1 Nan Fei’s hand slowly clenched into a fist, already drenched in cold sweat. She couldn’t clearly articulate her innermost thoughts – the uncertainty, complexity, bitterness…
A deep-rooted fear emerged from within her. Her left foot on steady ground, her right foot over an abyss, everything hinged on Zhuanzhuan’s response.
“I’m sorry, sister,” Zhuanzhuan said apologetically, shaking her head. “While I didn’t forget your instructions, I didn’t exactly take them seriously. We didn’t have any incidents going to the river every day, so I thought you were overreacting. It’s all my fault, I take all the blame! You can blame or hit me all you want, I promise I won’t complain or hold any resentment.”
“I couldn’t believe that our little brother would fall into the water. By the time I noticed, he was already in the river. I was terrified and jumped into the river to save him, but I can’t swim… I’m really useless.”
As Zhuanzhuan spoke, she hit herself with the hand that was bandaged like a bun. “If only I could swim, our little brother wouldn’t have been in danger, and you wouldn’t have nearly lost your life. If I knew how to swim, I could have saved him in no time.”
Nan Fei let out a heavy sigh, her body slumped against the pillow. Unconsciously, cold sweat had soaked her thin hospital gown.
Had Zhuanzhuan confessed that she had forgotten her instructions, Nan Fei might have never been able to come to terms with it.
But Zhuanzhuan sincerely disregarded her warning and apologized forthrightly.
Nan Fei scoffed at herself in her heart. She had been truly scared by this incident, the proverbial ‘bitten once, shy for ten years’. She saw everyone as a potential threat, overly reactive to every slight.
“It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have asked you that question.” Her question had been so loaded, Zhuanzhuan must be heartbroken! “Are you mad at me, Zhuanzhuan?”
Zhuanzhuan tilted her face upward, twinkling a smile at her, shaking her head.
“Sis, how could I blame you when you saved me, risking your own life at such a critical moment!” Zhuanzhuan gazed at Nan Fei, her eyes filled with candor.
“I know! We’re a family, even with broken bones, the tendons still connect us!” Nan Fei suddenly felt a loss of energy, her head swam and she sank back into the pillow.
She had no more mental bandwidth to think about the tangled mess from her previous life.
Various images flashed before her eyes as they entered her thoughts, her commentary following suit.
“Today is the 28th! School starts on the 1st of September. I need to recover quickly.” Peering at Zhuanzhuan, whose normally rosy cheeks were now somewhere between pale and cold white.
There was a morbid translucency.
“I earned some money on my last trip to the city. I’ll buy you a bicycle when we get back home. That will make it much easier to get to school!”
“Sis…” Zhuanzhuan whimpered, “Why are you so good to me?”
“We’re a family!” Nan Fei chuckled, “And you’re good to me too! Every time we have a meal, it’s you who makes it. I’m lazy and clumsy, so you end up doing most of the housework!”
“But you do the laundry! And you feed the chickens!”
Nan Fei could only laugh. If it were her previous life, she would have found this amount of chores unbearable. After all she’s been through, she realizes that her sister even did more.
Zhuanzhuan was diligent, smart, with excellent academic performance. While Nan Fei, as the older sister, had to deal with people’s gossip, Zhuanzhuan managed to keep a low profile despite crushing her studies and coming first in their grade.