Lu Zhu’s eyes turned red and his voice choked.
“I’m sorry—”
The apology was more than twenty years too late.
Actually, Qiao Nian didn’t know how she had been kidnapped. At that time, she was still too young to remember anything.
However, when she heard Lu Zhu’s words, she suddenly thought of something.
She said gently, “Brother, stop feeling guilty. I don’t blame you. No one has forgotten me all these years. I don’t remember either of you at all. Sometimes it’s a blessing not to remember, isn’t it?”
Lu Zhu’s body stiffened slightly.
“You’re the one in pain. Sigh…” Qiao Nian couldn’t help but sigh.
If she had been able to recover her memories earlier, even if it was just a little earlier, or if she had discovered her background earlier and realized that she was not a member of the Qiao family, she might have gone to find her family long ago.
Fortunately, it was not too late.
“Brother, does your wound still hurt?”
As Lu Zhu listened to Qiao Nian’s voice, he felt her hand caress his back again and again. His uneasy heart gradually calmed down. He couldn’t help but recall his childhood.
When he had done wrong in the past, his father had punished him by making him kneel outside the ancestral hall.
At that time, Sugar was only two years old. She actually climbed over the threshold of the ancestral hall and fell on her butt. But she didn’t cry. She ran toward him.
He picked her up and carefully dusted her off.
That was when Sugar called out to him in her baby voice, “Brother.”
Her voice was soft and sweet, and as soon as he heard it, his discomfort vanished.
“Does it hurt?” He lifted his eyes to hers.
“Sugar doesn’t feel pain, brother. Your knees. Does it hurt?”
As long as Lu Zhu thought of what Sugar had said in the courtyard of the ancestral hall, his heart could not help but tremble.
At the thought that Lu Zhu’s injuries had yet to recover, Qiao Nian looked at him worriedly. She lifted her head from his arms, wanting to check on Lu Zhu’s injuries.
At the thought that Lu Zhu’s injuries had yet to recover, Qiao Nian looked at him worriedly. She lifted her head from his arms, wanting to check on Lu Zhu’s injuries.
“Brother.”
A thousand words. In the end, she said only one.
Even though it was just a form of address, it made Qiao Nian realize that she had family. She wasn’t alone.
Lu Zhu looked at Qiao Nian’s exquisite face. Her eyes were filled with tears and guilt.
He reached out his trembling hand and carefully touched Qiao Nian’s face. His throat moved as he said with heartache, “Sugar, you must have had a hard time all these years!”
Qiao Nian couldn’t bear to see Lu Zhu so upset. In order to make Lu Zhu feel better, she shook her head and explained, “No, Brother. Actually, I’m doing very well. Everyone treats me very well and likes me. I…”
“Actually, you don’t have to lie to me. You can’t fool me. Back in the ghost town, when the situation was so dangerous, you tried to save me by putting me in danger. If someone lived in a stable, peaceful, and happy world, how could she have done such a thing? How could she have the personality you have now?”
Lu Zhu’s words instantly broke Qiao Nian’s defenses.
Perhaps only a real relative would notice so many details and care if you were doing well.
Qiao Nian felt a lump in her throat, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
“Brother…”
Lu Zhu didn’t help Qiao Nian wipe her tears. Instead, he pulled her into his arms again. His voice was low and hoarse, but it was like a spring breeze. It was extremely gentle. “Sugar, just cry it out!”
Hearing Lu Zhu’s words, Qiao Nian instantly felt an incomparable warmth. This was the kinship she had always wanted.
She was thinking that if she never found her loved ones, she would live her own life.
But when she found her family, she realized that she had always hoped for kinship.
The feeling was especially warm, and she couldn’t help but sink into it.
Qiao Nian bit her lip, trying hard not to cry.